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12.04.14 VOL. XLVI, NO. 10 CONTENTS FORUM 3 Halfway There 4 Gym Class Zeroes NEWS 5 A Winding Rhode, part 1 6 A Winding Rhode, part 2 ARTS 7 Turkey Television, part 1 8 Turkey Television, part 2 /Artful Procrastination SPORTS 9 Squash: Not Just a Vegetable 10 While you were eating...

11 While you were sleeping...

As Harvard College's weekly undergraduate newsmagazine, the Harvard Independent provides in-depth, critical coverage of issues and events of interest to the Harvard College community. The Independent has no political affiliation, instead offering diverse commentary on news, arts, sports, and student life.

For publication information and general inquiries, contact President Albert Murzakhanov (president@harvardindependent.com). Letters to the Editor and comments regarding the content of the publication should be addressed to Editor-in-Chief Shaquilla Harrigan (editorinchief@ harvardindependent.com).

For email subscriptions please email president@harvardindependent.com.

The Harvard Independent is published weekly during the academic year, except during vacations,

by The Harvard Independent, Inc., Student Organization Center at Hilles, Box 201, 59 Shepard Street, Cambridge, MA 02138.

Copyright Š 2014 by The Harvard Independent. All rights reserved.

The Indy is dreading Reading Period.

12.04.14

The Leftovers Issue

Inside: Fitspiration, Decoding the Rhodes, Squashing the Competition

Cover design by Anna Papp

President Vice Presdient Editor-in-Chief Director of Production News Editor Forum Editor Arts Editor Sports Editor Associate Forum Editor Associate Arts Editor

Albert Murzakhanov '16 Farhana Nabi '16 Shaquilla Harrigan '16 Anna Papp '16 Aditya Agrawal '17 Ritchey Howe '17 Michael Luo '16 Caroline Cronin '18 Caroline Gentile '17 Andrew Lin '17

Illustrator Yaara Yacoby '17 Designers Alice Linder '17 Abigail Parker '17 Staff Writers Whitney Gao '16 Manik Bhatia '16 Terilyn Chen '16 Yuqi Hou '15 Chloe Li '16 Dominique Luongo '17 Orlea Miller '16 Albert Murzhakanov '16 Carlos Schmidt '15 Frank Tamberino '16 Jackie Leong '16 Andrew Lin '17 Madi Taylor '16 Shreya Vardhan '17 Peyton Fine '17 Michael Luo '16 Eloise Lynton '17 Caroline Cronin '18 Hannah Kates '18 Chris Riley '17

Forum

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True Confessions of a JWUG

Funny(ish) Reflections from My 5th Semester.

By SHAQUILLA HARRIGAN

I

cannot believe that I have (almost) made it through my third fall semester at Harvard. Each semester seems to pass more quickly than the one before. Each semester I learn more lessons and know how to “do Harvard better,” better. The problem, however, is that there is less and less time to actually utilize my newfound knowledge.

I hope that this short reflection is useful in some way; whether it makes you giggle, think about your own Harvard experiences, or make you feel better because your final essays are better written, I hope that some part of this resonates with you.

I think the overarching lesson that I have learned this semester is that SWUGs are not alone.

No, no, this is not some sort of intervention designed to slap neon mini skirts on all of the SWUGs. This is instead, my saying that I am in solidarity with the SWUG lifestyle. I consider myself to be a Junior Washed Up Girl; a JWUG, if you will. While SWUGs and JWUGs are often written off as girls who have given up, I can say that from my own experiences, JWUG-dom has been liberating.

Knowing that my time at Harvard is nearing its end, I make an extra effort to be intentional about how I spend my time. I have started to take the pressure off of myself to constantly put on this façade of “put-togetheredness.” If I want to stay in on a Friday night, wear baggy sweats, and binge-watch True Blood, then I will.

(Though, if I am being completely honest, anyone that actually knows me knows that I am kind of a hot mess. But you know what, that’s okay. At the end of the day I am like the castle from the movie Howl’s Moving Castle.

I may be kinda clunky and occasionally huff and puff as I move around, but at the end of the day, I am still pretty effective.)

JWUG-dom has also taught me that the only person I need to please at the end of the The Harvard Independent • 12.04.14

day is myself. I should push myself to go after the things I want and think critically about finding the things that make me happy. I shouldn’t constantly freak out about every little thing that goes wrong. I shouldn’t change myself just to make someone else happy. I should make time for self and the things and people and activities that I care about.

Another lesson that I have learned this semester is finding grace in my faults and weaknesses. How do I go about doing that?

Well, today I was given excellent advice from one of my greatest mentors at Harvard. She said that people should play to their strengths and work around their weaknesses. This doesn’t mean we should ignore our areas of growth, but that we should instead put energy in the spaces that would give us the greatest leverage. We should also accept that none of us are Beyoncé and therefore cannot be perfect.

Not as directly tied to my realization of my JWUG status, the end of the semester makes me reflective in other spaces. I think

this is the first semester that I have walked away from all of my classes feeling like I have learned something. Not just the course material for the course’s sake, but I have been able to take the lessons (formal and informal) from class and apply them to other aspects of my life. I sincerely hope that every person who passes through Harvard has this experience at least once. Coursework not existing in a vacuum is actually kind of fulfilling. It reminded me why I love school and learning so much.

I also would like to write about how truly inspired I am by all of the student activism on campus this semester. Seeing the Harvard Double Tree Workers alongside students from SLAM two weeks ago and this week’s Ferguson demonstrations reminds of how dynamic Harvard can be. These demonstrations, especially the Ferguson die-ins, are not only working toward justice and the breaking down of oppressive institutions, but they are also providing a community for all of the sad, outraged, and confused reactions to the repeated lack for justice for people of color in this country.

In closing, I hope that people reflect on their semesters in their own way. Even if things didn’t go exactly as planned remember two things: 1) There is always next semester, and 2) life in general happens serendipitously. Finally, I hope that more people embrace the WUG lifestyle and find solace in not only in sweatpants, but their own personal abilities.

Shaquilla Harrigan ‘16 (sharrigan01@college. harvard.edu) says that she didn’t choose the JWUG life. The JWUG life chose her.

Photo courtesy of Shaquilla Harrigan. harvardindependent.com

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Muscle Milk Mike True stories from Hemenway Gym.

By CAROLINE SILBER

I

don’t know how you convince yourself to go to the gym, but my preferred technique is self-deception. When I use the elliptical, I always enter my weight at 300 lbs. Factoring in my massive size, the machine calculates I’m burning more than 900 calories in 30 minutes. Hey, it keeps me motivated.

At the Hemenway gym, I find myself surrounded by Harvard Law students.

Sometimes it looks like the exercise room is a courtroom. Yet people manage to leave their pencil skirts, glasses, and massive sized books. All except for one man. He’s big, he’s buff, and you can’t miss him because of the loud grunts he emits during his workouts.

Sometimes he graces the gym with his dance moves, all while on the machine. He’s always at gym when I am, so either he’s stalking me or he’s just there 24/7.

Now, I’m a creature of habit — I always use the same elliptical machine the way I always sit in the same seat in lecture. I guess this guy — let’s call him, I don’t know, Muscle Milk Mike — is the same way, and his machine of preference happens to be the one right next to mine.

Awkward.

During our odd mutual workouts I’ve noticed him glancing over at my machine, taking in my amazing numbers, trying to process them in his tiny stegosaurus brain. One day when he was finished with his workout, ineffectively wiping sheets of sweat off his display, he suddenly barked, “Hey, I got a question — what settings are you on?” I barely looked his way and replied nonchalantly, “I usually keep the incline flat and set the resistance to 6.” He seemed relieved. “Oh, well then that machine must be broken. I got mine at 25, but I keep looking over at you and wondering, jeez, how the hell is she burning so many calories?” I nodded 4 harvardindependent.com

politely, considering the conversation over, and went back to my book. But Mike wasn’t finished: “Okay if we switch machines next time?” he asked.

Next time? What, we were in a relationship now? Gym-dating? One of the top selling points of this health club with its preAlzheimer’s types taking their mechanicallyenhanced constitutionals was that no one knows me; I don’t have to interact with anybody beyond a casual “thanks” to the nice lady who dispenses towels. But now

Muscle Milk Mike was threatening to pierce my little fortress of cardio solitude.

I’m really not competitive by nature. I now work out simply to release stress or get some endorphins. I’ve rejected the notion that in order for me to succeed others must fail. Through nearly all of my years of school — including a cutthroat college application process perfectly designed to pit friends against friends, late nights in Lamont trying to perfect the P-set — I’ve truly believed the mantra that I should rate my performance against my own goals, not compare it with the achievements of others, despite what curves tell you. Perhaps man is competitive

by nature — survival of the fittest and all — but I could rise above this primal instinct.

Couldn’t I? When I arrived at the gym the next day Mike was already there — of course — and he was using my machine! Sweat rained from his pores and veins bulged in his neck and forehead. Clearly he saw it as his solemn mission to demonstrate that this machine — formerly my machine — had gone haywire and was awarding bonus calories for no good reason. But on another level he seemed to see it as a rematch — against me. He even managed a weird little smile when he saw me, as though to say, “Ha, I can do it too.” As I watched him strain to equal my impossible totals, I wondered if the law would somehow hold me accountable for his inevitable cardiac arrest. Luckily for me, I am surrounded by lawyers in Hemenway.

Now, I could have ignored all this. I could have simply slipped on my headphones, snapped open my book and forgotten there was a loud, smelly, unpleasant man blocking me from my preferred machine.

My machine was a new dance floor, sweat basin, for Muscle Milk Mike.

I could have chosen a different exercise and thus declared myself above this petty rivalry. I could have remembered that in war the truly victorious are those who choose not to fight.

Instead, I mounted the next machine over and punched in 3-0-0 lbs.

Caroline Silber ‘17 (csilber@college.harvard.edu) will try not to have you prosecuted for aggressive gym behavior.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

12.04.14 • The Harvard Independent

News

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A Rhodes to Remember Chatting with Rhodes winner and visionary computer scientist Ruth Fong '15.

By ADITYA AGRAWAL

T

he Rhodes Trust announced the people to pursue careers in STEM fields, and my own hands (or really, typing fingers).

2014 Rhodes scholarship winners on frequently leaves the lab to understand (and AA: Being the heavily male dominated Saturday, November 22. Three Harvard hopefully help solve) "real-world" problems students made it to the list – Ben D. Sprung like making the blind see (with glasses that field that it is, how receptive is CS to women Keyser ’15 (Economics, Kirkland), Ruth can process visual information for them) and coders in the industry? Have you ever felt Fong ’15 (Computer Science, Mather), and the lame walk (with robotic prosthetics that marginalized because of your gender in your Fritzi Reuter '14 (Economics, Lowell). The mimic human neural circuitry). When those own experience? announcement, for me, was fraught with plans don't work out, I'd like to be a learn how RF: Tech knows it has a problem; it just disappointments – chief amongst which to fly and be a superwoman mom. doesn't know how to solve it. This is good were the inability of the quad to produce to a winner and the overshadowing of our AA: What inspired or motivated you to because admitting [its problem] is the first step. The CS community is eager to have own three victories by the filthy Eli’s six. study Computer Science? more female members, but I However, as with all good things think there are larger, unspoken in life, there came a delightful cultural issues that may be silver lining threaded into the impeding that effort. Here are announcement: a girl coder "Great CS folks don't need to have two (there's many more). was getting recognition! As a One, the brogrammer myth. computer science major and a programmed from a young age, play video budding feminist myself, I saw games, or like Star Trek, or live to Great CS folks don't need to have programmed from a young this victory as a sign, perhaps, of things to come; a sign of things code from sunrise to sundown. They don't age, play video games, or like changing, the world moving, and come in one shape, look, or size and Star Trek, or live to code from sunrise to sundown. They don't landscapes reshaping. I sat down with Ruth in the aftermath of they don't come with the same interests come in one shape, look, or size her victory for a small tête-à- - both inside and outside of the tech and they don't come with the same interests—both inside and tête, where we discussed issues outside of the tech sphere. Here's close to Ruth’s heart and her sphere." - Ruth Fong just one aspect of this false CS amazing success as a female ideal: There's a perception that computer scientist. Safe to say, some areas of CS are "girly-er" I was inspired by the profundity and "softer" while others are of her answers accented with "harder" and "more legit." I think this can her brilliant wit and her raw passion for the RF: I'm a nerd, and my friends will readily be particularly worrisome for female techies things she does. nod their heads. I grew up playing with who enjoy those areas that are described Legos, K'Nex, and RadioShack electronic AA: What are your eventual plans for kits. Thanks to a fantastic woman Mrs. Gall, as more "girly", as they can question their your future — academia, research, private I learned how to code in high school. But, I interests and their legitimacy in the field, industry, public service? always thought that programming would when they're doing amazing things!

Two, a 50-50 gender ideal. I'd love to just be a hobby of mine. It wasn't until I RF: God willing, all of the above. I'm arrived on Harvard's campus that I seriously live in this universe. However, not only interested in answering questions like: how considered pursuing Computer Science. is this out of touch with reality, I think it do humans learn, how do computers see, and After participating in HackHarvard's mini- hampers the progress towards that ideal. how can we make machines learn and see incubator winter session and taking CS51, HR statements implicitly driven by this more like humans? Eventually, I'd like to be much to my biologist parents' dismay, I chose ideal make me question whether I earned an a Computer Science professor who conducts to concentrate in CS over MCB because I fell accolade or offer based on my credentials or research in biologically-inspired machine in love with the beauty of neat programs and my chromosomes. learning, teaches and encourages all kinds of experienced the joy of building things with The Harvard Independent • 12.04.14

harvardindependent.com

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News

A Rhodes to Remember - continued from pg. 5 Chatting with Rhodes winner and visionary computer scientist Ruth Fong '15.

By ADITYA AGRAWAL

Thankfully, throughout most of my technical experiences, I've been encouraged to success in the field and mentored well, so I don't think I've ever felt marginalized. I have been sensitive to the fact that I often am the only or one of few women in a classroom, lab, or team at a company. I think this can affect me by adding subtle pressure that I succeed not only for myself, but for all women in the world (which is ridiculous). This is reductionist, but rings with some truth: We need bad and mediocre female programmers.

There are bad and mediocre male programmers, individuals who love it, but frankly aren't amazing at it. I know few bad female programmers that stay, and I think part of the problem is this pressure that women in tech sometimes feel that they need to do well for the rest of us. When the tech community is inclusive enough to allow initially mediocre engineers of all types to grow and develop their programming skills, then it'd be a more inclusive community for all.

field makes it easier for you to imagine yourself succeeding in that space. Obviously, this suggests a chicken-and-egg problem (where do we get these female role models?). Nevertheless, at Harvard,

AA: How would you describe your personal work ethic?

RF: This is what it's not: “I never miss a class I'm lightning on the bus And that's what they don't see, mmmmmm That's what they don't see, mmmmmm” My roommates and I were competing in Mather's Louie Cup, an inter-house yearlong Olympics competition, and wrote a Mather-themed song sung to the tune of Taylor Swift's Shake It Off. Above is part of the lyrics that I sung.

To quote one of my roommates: "Ruth, I want that to be my ringtone so that I can go to some of your CS classes, have my phone ring, and listen to you sing that lie."

I'd like to think I optimize for efficiency and not perfection.

AA: What, in your opinion, would be a good strategy to promote CS amongst girls, to promote more "Ruths" at Harvard and beyond?

RF: First of all, K-12 education should include CS. Education research has shown that around the ages of 12-14, children formulate their world of future possibilities. If by that age, a girl hasn't been exposed to computer science, it's much less likely that she will pursue a career in technology. Examining the toy industry, boys are more likely to be exposed to computer science and engineering themes than girls. Thus, my proposition is that basic computer science education be included in K-12 education.

Secondly, there is a certain idea of “Self-Concept” where women seeing other women in a certain field feel more empowered.

This idea explains that seeing someone physically like you (be it gender, ethnicity, etc.) in your 6 harvardindependent.com

Women in CS club is doing a fantastic job at this, but I'd encourage every female CS concentrator to think about ways she can be active in Harvard's computer science community. An example of where we can improve is encouraging female concentrators to TF upper-level computer science courses. Until I pulled in another female friend, I was going to be the only female TF for CS121, the only truly required computer science course with over 140 students enrolled this year.

AA: How would you describe your time at Harvard in three words?

RF: Stressful. Crazy. Fun. Aditya Agrawal '17 thinks the path to Rhodes has lots of interesting twists and turns.

Photo courtesy of Ruth Fong. building the community of women in CS and structures for formal and informal mentorship are easy avenues to practice "self-concept". The 12.04.14 • The Harvard Independent

Thanksgiving will be Televised

An exploration of the portrayal of Thanksgiving in popular culture and art.

By ANDREW LIN

W

ithin the confines of the great and storied calendar of holidays that make up the American recreational canon, Thanksgiving occupies a unique place.

Though certainly not of the same obscure ilk of federally legislated and popularly neglected holidays such as President’s Day and Columbus Day, Thanksgiving nonetheless occupies a somewhat less rarefied place in the American consciousness. Certainly in feasting and consumerist consumption Thanksgiving is not bested; whilst the dueling Thanksgiving turkey and Christmas ham (or the reverse) may hold each other at bay, Thanksgiving’s single Black Friday consumerist burst is utterly outclassed by the sustained six-week sales barrage that is the holiday season.

Nevertheless, Thanksgiving has managed to carve out its own small niche in the American pop culture landscape, and a diverse one at that. From its altogether dignified portrayal in the American historical lexicon to its uniquely un-rarefied place in the swamps of made-forTV movies, Thanksgiving as a cultural motif has certainly evolved throughout its long and storied history–a history some 300 years in the making.

The archetypical history of Thanksgiving, at least as enumerated by primary-school history books and heartwarming television specials, has become one of the many staid and traditional scenes within the American historical lexicon. The classic historical narrative of Thanksgiving centers on good and pure Pilgrims who land on the virgin shores of the New World and share a friendly harvest meal with good-natured natives (a tale perhaps best exemplified the seminal Peanuts TV special “This is America, Charlie Brown”). Historically, however, New World harvest-time feasts existed long before the Pilgrims of 1621. French fur-traders and explorers in the 1500s held harvest-time services, and even the English colonists at Jamestown celebrated a routine Thanksgiving feast as early as 1607. Indeed, the very concept behind Thanksgiving–that of a harvest feast–transcends the bounds The Harvard Independent • 12.04.14

of American colonialism; harvest feasts as cultural ceremonies have existed the world over–an expression of the simple human joy at the continued renewal of the bounty of nature.

In the world of the paintings and drawings that compose what is now popularly termed Americana, however, Thanksgiving has made a lasting and meaningful (and uniquely American) contribution. Of course, harvests and the accompanying festivals have inspired much in the way of artwork throughout history (the laboring farmers of Millet and Courbet come to mind), and Thanksgiving is no exception. But perhaps the single most famous Thanksgiving picture, the seminal image of Thanksgiving as rendered in oil paints and disseminated all over the nation, is Norman Rockwell’s 1942 “Freedom from Want”, another Saturday Evening Post cover depicting a Thanksgiving feast as emblematic of the freedoms America fought for during World War II. Even in this rallying call of Americana, however, there lurks a subtler message. In the accompanying essay originally published in the Post with Rockwell’s cover, writer Carlos Bulosan (himself a migrant laborer) skewered the inequality he observed in America, and discussed the role of Thanksgiving as an opportunity to contemplate the necessity of greater state intervention in ensuring the prosperity of all.

More recent popular culture has taken notice of the somewhat co-optive nature of the American Thanksgiving canon as well.

Certainly the holiday is regarded with some scorn by the original hosts; the United American Indians of New England celebrate a yearly Day of Mourning at Plymouth on Thanksgiving Day that marks the deleterious and damaging effects of the American colonization of formerly American Indian lands. Many oppose what Thanksgiving has become; bemoaning the glutinous overeating, rampant commercialism, and historical whitewashing that hide the realities of the oppression of Native Americans and the

less fortunate. More modern media has highlighted the historical whitewashing of Thanksgiving as well. The 1993 film “Addams Family Values” eschewed the slapstick of its 60s’ predecessor by lashing out at sanitized portrayals of American Indians as savages, climaxing in Wednesday Addams’ Indian uprising during the children’s Thanksgiving matinee. The single greatest insult to the American vision of Thanksgiving, however, came in the form of the vitriolic 1999 CBS television sitcom “Thanks”, which in six episodes brutally skewered the idea of the first Thanksgiving as anything other than a desperate struggle for survival.

These weighty historical themes, however, fall by the wayside in comparison to the chief purpose of Thanksgiving as a modern holiday, namely a time during which families may break bread in a moment of brief unity. In this regard, Thanksgiving serves a helpful backdrop for many television series, and indeed a Thanksgiving special is a rite of passage for most sitcoms and television series. These have grown more and more subversive in tone over the years. The happy Thanksgiving transplantation of characters characteristic of 70’s-era sitcoms such as “Happy Days” and “Bewitched” has long since given way to a stream of dysfunctional Thanksgivings. In between the criticism hurled at Thanksgiving for its historical undertones and the dread many thousands of retail workers face for Black Friday, however, Thanksgiving as an institution has come under sustained fire in popular culture.

Cartoons lambast the decline of family values amidst a sea of consumerism even as their parent newspapers trumpet the best available deals, and amidst the hustle and bustle of advertising the American family of the 21st century sits down in a haze and a blaze of turkey and stuffing, wondering just where the value of the holiday actually lies.

continued on next page harvardindependent.com

7

Thanksgiving will be Televised - continued from pg. 7

By ANDREW LIN

Study Break Artistic Distractions for Reading Period.

By MICHAEL LUO

Reading period is officially here, and The Harvard Independent is here to distract you from your studies. We have compiled a list of the must-see movies, shows, concerts, and galleries for your pleasure.

In the midst of this modern pop-culture war over the soul of Thanksgiving, the Pilgrim colony founder John Winthrop (namesake of Winthrop House) would almost certainly express not inconsiderable confusion over the help given to him by some American Indians. Indeed he should be confused, for Thanksgiving represents as much a contradiction in American history as anything else, a holiday implicitly celebrating the demise of a whole way of life in favor of something better. Yet that very something, at least in the eyes of the American popular consciousness, increasingly seems less and less satisfactory; the cynical nature of the modern Thanksgiving special on popular television signifies that much, what with its pillorying of the consumerism, historical whitewashing, and familial dysfunction the holiday has come to commemorate. And indeed, two of the three components are perhaps corrupted beyond repair: the consumerism during and immediately after is a valuable boost to 8 harvardindependent.com

a beleaguered service economy, and the historical context unfortunately cannot be effectively reversed. But family, at least, can be cherished as a properly human thing to celebrate, and something that deserves commemoration.

And in that regard, Thanksgiving rises above all the comedy and criticism as a celebration of the basic virtues of filial love and warmth, an expression of the fundamental warmth of a holiday that was originally celebrated as a simple coming together of disparate individuals in a strange and bountiful new world.

Sounds rather like the collegiate experience, doesn’t it?

Andrew Lin ’17 (andrewlin@college.harvard.edu) is heartily regretting eating far too much at Thanksgiving this year.

HARVARD MOVIES & THEATRICAL PRODUCTIONS Hiroshima Mon Amour Harvard Film Archive December 7, 2014 at 5PM December 8, 2014 at 7PM December 12, 2014 at 9PM December 13, 2014 at 7PM A non-linear love story between a French actress and a Japanese architect.

School For Lies Loeb Experimental Theater Friday, December 5th at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, December 6th at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, December 7th at 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, December 11th at 7:30 p.m.

Friday, December 12th at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, December 13th at 7:30 p.m.

Bright, witty, satire by Molière set in 1666.

Assassins OBERON Friday, December 5th at 7 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.

Sunday, December 7th at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Monday, December 8th at 7:30 p.m.

Musical exploring the attempted and successful murders of the President of the United States.

Composer/Instrumentalist David Amram Farkas Hall December 4 at 3 PM American musical Renaissance man specializing in jazz and folk world music.

DANCE Alice by the Harvard Ballet Company Farkas Hall Friday, December 5th at 7 p.m.

Saturday, December 6th at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Alice in Wonderland brought live to stage through dance.

GALLERY OPENING Boston MFA Goya Order and Disorder Until January 19, 2015 Ann and Graham Gund Gallery (Gallery LG31) MUSIC RELEASES 2014 Forest Hills Drive by J. Cole, released December 9, 2014 Tha Carter V [Part 1] by Lil Wayne, released December 9, 2014 MOVIE RELEASES Inherent Vice Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson premieres December 12, 2014 Exodus: Gods and Kings Directed by Ridley Scott premieres December 12, 2014 Michael Luo '17 (michaelluo@college.harvard.edu) thinks the arts are the best kind of study break.

SYMPOSIUM A Conversation and Concert with 12.04.14 • The Harvard Independent

Sports

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Harvard Squashes Dartmouth The Crimson Squash teams win in Home Openers.

By CAROLINE C. CRONIN

T

he beginning of December brings another long-awaited season of excellence to Harvard—that of the National Championship winning squash team. After months of pre-season and intensive training, we finally have the privilege of seeing these hardworking athletes at work. It was most certainly worth the bone-chilling walk across the river to do so. Both the men and women’s team officially opened against Dartmouth on Tuesday, December 2nd at the Murr Center.

The men’s team is ranked No. 1 this year after ending last year’s season with a perfect 18-0 record and earning Harvard’s 32nd Potter Cup, as well as the Ivy League Title.

The men graduated six seniors, but made up for the loss by adding five new world-class freshmen players. The Dartmouth men’s team is ranked 11th this year after a 6-10 2013 season. Harvard has an all time 72-0 record against the Big Green. At Tuesday’s match, Harvard won 7-2. The positive start to the season perhaps suggests another winning season and an Ivy League title!

The Harvard women’s squash team is also outstanding and has multiple internationally ranked players to boast of. Speaking of boastworthy players, Amanda Sohby ‘15, who has never lost a match in her college-career, is currently competing for Team USA as the team’s number one player. The team and its supporters wish her well at the world team championships and will be cheering her on throughout the week!

Other top players were missing from the line-up due to injuries, including one of the two captains (Megan Murray ‘15 and Haley Mendez ‘15). Mendez is recovering from a stress fracture but promises to be back on the court in no time, which will only serve to strengthen the Crimson’s line up. The women are also ranked No. 1 after their 14-1 season last year, losing only to Trinity in the Howe Cup championship game. Although, they couldn’t secure a third consecutive National Championship, they did come away with the Ivy League title. The team graduated one senior last season and added two allstar freshmen this year; Alyssa Mehta of Toronto and Sue Ann Yong of Malaysia. The Dartmouth team is ranked No. 10 this year The Harvard Independent • 12.04.14

after last season’s 5-10 finish. The all-time record is Harvard leads 44-3 and added to that lead with Tuesday’s 9-0 sweep.

Yong is one of the bright and upcoming freshmen on the team who played her first collegiate match today. When asked about the preparation for this match she stated, “We have been training, especially in fitness, throughout the pre-season so I think the

be successful for both the men and women’s teams. With new players who have come to prove their worth and old ones who hope to go out with a bang, it will no doubt be an eventful and fruitful season. So come out to the courts and see for yourself! For you will see that amid the sneakers squeaking and the balls bouncing, spectators look on with pride as both teams take their wins

team is generally much fitter. This match is important to set the tone for the coming season. I am excited to get the nerves of the first match out of my system.”

Some could argue that the stakes are high for this season, but the girls seem to do well under pressure. Yong continued with “[the team] added 2 freshmen to top nine and did not graduate anyone from top nine so on paper we are a very strong team. There are high expectations but we are concentrating on one match at a time. The Nationals are at the end of the season and now we are looking towards our Ivy League rankings and the title. So we are very excited for this season.”

As they should be! This year promises to

and losses with dignity. The bright white of the walls, the clarity of the glass, and the historical excellence of the Crimson banners hanging imbue all with a sense of refined competition. The game of squash is just so; it requires a will and a drive to succeed in the face of physical hardship. The Harvard squash players do the school, and the sport, a great honor with their victories.

Caroline C. Cronin ‘18 (ccronin01@college.harvard. edu) will continue to cheer on the squash team as they head into their winter season!

Photo courtesy of Alyssa Mehta. harvardindependent.com

9

Sports

#ICYMI The Indy Recaps Harvard Athletics.

By SHAQUILLA HARRIGAN

W

hile most of us were at home nursing our Harvard-Yale hangovers and engorging ourselves on hormoneladen turkey and buttery mashed potatoes only to fall into a deep tryptophan-induced coma, some students stayed on campus to cull athletic glory in the name of Harvard over Thanksgiving break. Now back on campus, our student-athletes touch down in Cambridge just in time for final exam season only to be shipped all over the country, and in some cases the world, for winter break competition. In the mean time, the Harvard Independent is here to give you a written highlight reel of Harvard Athletics, get you pumped for upcoming match ups, and recognize outstanding student-athletes.

Game Recap

32, UMass leading by one. UMass went on to accrue five unanswered points going into the second half.

The second half went on in much the same way as the first—a neck-in-neck battle until the buzzer. Forward/center Zena Endosomwan ‘17 and Corbin Miller ‘17 came off the bench to contribute to the Crimson’s efforts. Both players’ inputs added fire to Harvard’s play.

However senior forward Wesley Saunders was the true closer of the game. After making both his free throws, Saunders bumped the Crimson to 75-73 with one-second left to play. The Minutemen attempted to clinch the victory with a 3-pointer to no avail.

On Wednesday night, the Crimson’s defense played a key role in shutting down Northeastern. Not once during the game did the Crimson ever trail Northeastern.

Standout players include Captain Steve Moundou-Missi ‘15, a forward, who led the Crimson with seven rebounds. Saunders continues to be the Crimson’s top scorer, raking in 27 points against UMass and 12 against Northeastern. Insanity for Saunders might be in order because he has led the Crimson in points for six games straight.

Saunders has surpassed Jeremy Lin’s 20092010 season five-game record.

Bay State Battles: Men’s Basketball defeats UMass and Northeasterm Last Saturday, the Crimson took on UMass in front of a sold-out crowd in Lavietes Pavilion. In a heated cross-state match up, the Harvard men’s basketball team clinched a narrow 75-73 win over UMass. Yesterday, the Crimson took on and defeated Northeastern 60-46.

The Minutemen kept the Crimson busy throughout the entire game. Both teams were Harvard Highlights going back and forth for dominance. With two minutes left in the first half, forward Last Sunday, the women’s basketball Evan Cummins ‘16 brought Harvard to 33- team had a disappointing showing against 10 harvardindependent.com

Temple. The team lost 81-69 on the last day of the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame Challenge. Despite the loss, Harvard should be incredibly proud of senior forward Temi Fagbenle. Collecting 24 rebounds, the former Olympian broke Harvard’s record for rebounds in addition to putting up 23 points against Temple. The team went on to beat UMass 75-62 yesterday. Senior captain Erin McDonnell, a forward, and Fagbenle led the charge against Massachusetts. Harvard has beaten UMass for the last seven years straight.

On November 29th, the Harvard men’s hockey team took down No. 4 UMass Lowell 4-2. This brought the team to a four-game win streak. Harvard scored on two of its five power plays. Forward Tyler Moy ‘17 was the first Crimson player to put Harvard on the scoreboard. The Crimson travels to Quinnipiac and Princeton this weekend. For those who will be in New York in January, be sure to check out the Rivalry on Ice against Yale at Madison Square Garden on January 10th.

Harvard women’s hockey defeated Ivy League rival Dartmouth 4-1 this past Tuesday. Forward Miye D’Oench ‘16 scored first with a power play in the first period.

This was her eighth goal of the season. The No. 10/10 Crimson are currently 4-2-2. The women’s team also faces Princeton and Quinnipiac this weekend.

12.04.14 • The Harvard Independent

Sports

Athlete Spotlights Hockey players, Jimmy Vesey ‘16, a forward, and Steve Michalek ‘15, a goalie, both received monthly awards from ECAC. Vesey is the first Crimson player to receive the Player of the Month award. Michalek is the second Harvard goalie to earn the goalie of the month award. Vesey has accrued three power plays, the most of anyone on the team, and has scored eight goals so far this season.

Michalek made 286 saves this season, giving him a .947 save-percentage.

Captain Kyle Criscuolo ‘16 also earns honors for the Harvard men’s hockey team. Criscuolo, a forward, is this week’s COOP Athlete of the week. He earns the honor after key performances against top-ranked BU and UMass Lowell.

Earning accolades is a habit for senior guard Wesley Saunders of the men’s basketball team. Saunders has been named Ivy League Player of the Week for the ninth time this week. This is his first award (of presumably many) during the 2014-2015 basketball season. Saunders is the Crimson’s lead scorer and averages 21.8 PPG. He has also been named to the top-fifty watch list for the Naismith Award.

While there are no more games to recap after their 31-24 crushing of Yale, Harvard’s football team still continues to rack up honors and awards of various sorts. The Crimson’s long-time coach Tim Murphy crowns his eighth Ivy League Championship with a Coach of the Year Award from the Ivy League.

The 2014 season also marked Murphy’s third perfect season. Junior wide receiver Andrew Fischer should wear the ‘1’ on his chest proudly given his recent MVP award. During The Game, Fischer collected 264 yards and caught the game-winning touchdown. Perhaps Harvard’s eminent defensive player, Zack Hodges ‘15 recently earned All-America honors from College Sports Madness. Hodges closed out his senior season with 8.5 sacks, the most of anyone on the team.

Hopefully newly elected captain Matt Koran ‘16, a linebacker who amassed 60 tackles this season, can continue the current winning dynasty of Harvard football.

Harvard’s successful alumni can be found all over the world and in just about every industry, including professional football.

Houston Texans quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick ‘05 just earned AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors. Fitzpatrick led the team to a franchise-high 45 points over the Tennessee Titans. He completed 24-of-33 passes for 358 yards and helped convert 11 third-downs.

Fitzpatrick also made history by being the 12th player in NFL history to throw over 300 yards for four different NFL teams. Other fun Fitzpatrick facts: he has one of the five highest scores on the Wonderlic test, the NFL’s entrance exam.

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Upcoming Home Games

• Women’s Ice Hockey versus Princeton December 5th @ 7pm • Women’s Fencing versus Tufts December 5th @ 6pm • Women’s Swimming and Diving versus MIT December 5th • Women’s Ice Hockey versus Quinnipiac December 6th @ 4pm • Women’s Squash versus Boston College December 7th @ 2:30pm • Men’s Basketball versus Boston University December 8th @ 7pm

Shaquilla Harrigan ‘16 (sharrigan01@ college.harvard.edu) is hoping Santa will gift Harvard with lots of wins this holiday season.

Photo by Shaquilla Harrigan

The Harvard Independent • 12.04.14

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