Lights On

09.20.12 vol. xliv, no. 3 The Indy is turning itself on.

Cover Design by

ANNA PAPP AND MIRANDA SHUGARS

FORUM 3 Blue/Pink 4 L ate N ights in the L evant 5 P reserving the U nion

Senior Staff Writer Will Simmons '14 Staff Writers Clare Duncan '14 Travis Hallett '14 Yuqi Hou '15 Cindy Hsu '14 Mohammed Hussain '15 Marina Molarsky-Beck '15 Sarah Rosenthal '15 Kalyn Saulsberry '14

Picks of the Week

the

B ull

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 Co-Presidents Whitney Lee and Gary Gerbrandt (president@harvardindependent.com). Letters to the Editor and comments regarding the content of the publication should be addressed to Editor-in-Chief Meghan Brooks (editorinchief@harvardindependent.com).

For email subscriptions please email independent1969@gmail.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 © 2012 by The Harvard Independent. All rights reserved

www.harvardindependent.com independent1969@gmail.com

Christine Wolfe '14 Carlos Schmidt '15 Sayantan Deb '14 Curtis Lahaie '15 Michael Altman '14 Angela Song '14 Will Simmons '14

Guest Design Alex Chen '16 Orlea Miller '16 Tarik Moon '15 Anna Papp '16

ARTS 8 A R uby in the R ough 9 J uicy R eturns 10 (N o ) rmality

2

News and Forum Editor Associate News Editor Arts Editor Associate Arts Editor Sports Editor Design Editor Columnists

Gary Gerbrandt '14 Whitney Lee '14 Meghan Brooks '14 Miranda Shugars '14

Graphics, Photography, and Design Staff Maria Barragan-Santana '14 Travis Hallett '14 Nina Kosaric '14

NEWS 6 H ousewarming 7 A N ew L eaf

SPORTS 11 C ut ting T hrough

Co-President Co-President Editor-in-Chief Production Manager

A Separation (film): Free Screening When: Thursday, September 20th, 6 - 8 p.m.

Where: Wiener Auditorium, Taubman Building, Ground Floor, Harvard Kennedy School What: The 2012 winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, A Separation is a home-grown Iranian drama focusing on the decaying marriage of a husband whose father is dying from Alzheimer's and his wife, who is trying to leave the country with their daughter. Covering themes ranging from aging to class issues to life in modern Iran, it's an emotional minefield and a truly beautiful film. With subtitles.

Titus Adronicus Where: The Loeb Experimental Theater When: Friday, September 21st at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, September 22nd at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, September 23rd at 7:30 p.m.

A modern take on Shakespeare's classic, this show promises plenty of thrills. Considered one of his most gruesome plays, Titus Adronicus has all of the elements that Shakespearean tragedies are made of. Add to that a talented ensemble cast, and the excitement of the first show of the season, and you have the recipe for a perfect way to start your weekend revelries.

09.20.12 • The Harvard Independent

Forum

indy

Point/Counterpoint Are Traditional Gender Roles Still Valid?

Just open the damn door. Don't box me in.

I

f you’re a woman, you’ve

probably had a man, jokingly or not, ask you to make him a sandwich. And if you’re a man, you’ve probably had a woman, never ever jokingly, ask you to kill virtually every insect on the planet.

Now, if we examine those two gender role expectations, the first is infinitely more frowned upon by society as a whole, by women in particular.

Why is that? Why is it that the female stereotype is viciously torn down while the male stereotype is almost nobly upheld?

I see no sense in this. Both physical gender roles exist for good reason. (Note that I say physical; my argument does not extend into the realm of intelligence or mental capability.) Men kill things, women cook things. Men move things, women clean things.

It can even be viewed from an economic perspective — gender roles are essentially a form of specialization that dates back to prehistoric times. Men and women are built differently — why should they be expected to perform the same physical tasks with the same level of skill?

Because of their biology, men are physically stronger than women. Why shouldn’t my guy friends help me carry boxes up flights of stairs?

Women are more aesthetically inclined and detail-oriented.

Why shouldn’t we be in charge of interior design and upkeep?

I do realize that not every male/female is identical, but in general, these rules are applicable across gender lines.

Let’s face it — men and women can physically carry out any of the tasks normally assigned to one gender or the other (cooking, cleaning, killing bugs, being in labor… all right, maybe not the last one). But the point is that we don’t have to. That’s the beauty of gender roles; they exist because they make life easier. If men had to cook for themselves The Harvard Independent • 09.20.12

By WHITNEY GAO By CHRISTINE WOLFE

or choose to eat out, the restaurant business wouldn’t be touched by an economic recession. And if women suddenly were possessed with a notion to move things by themselves, then we really wouldn’t have any need for men at all.

Last week, my desk chair came in. I had a guy friend help me carry it to Holworthy (thanks Jeff!) where I figured I’d assemble it and then wheel it to Weld. Ten minutes and only two steps into assembly of said chair, I bruised myself.

As I write this, the ugly brown bruise still stubbornly glares up at me from my thumb.

Thankfully, Jeff’s friend John offered to help. That chair was assembled in probably a third of the time it would have taken me to do it alone.

I have absolutely no problem with making him a meal or vacuuming his common room in return. (John, if you ever actually want a sandwich or a free one-timeuse cleaning pass, I’m your girl.) Life’s all about trade-offs and compromise, right? It was so nice of him to do that! It’s so nice to have men around!

Women don’t have to assemble chairs! Welcome to the 21st century!

But in all seriousness, the sexes will always have certain expectations of each other. I, as a woman, will expect my man to open doors, kill gross things (I don’t want to touch a cockroach, ever), offer to help me carry heavy stuff, drink beer, and watch football. And I realize that he will expect me to make sandwiches, clean the house, and birth children.

It’s the way of the world, and I’m totally okay with it. As long as he doesn’t assume he’s smarter than me all the time. And doesn’t expect me to keep my mouth shut. And does what I tell him…that’s really all I ask.

Whitney Gao ’16 (whitneygao@college) is not afraid to admit she’s looking for a Prince Charming.

T

he mention of traditional

gender roles renders the modern liberal university student slightly nauseated. We are all too familiar with the criticisms arising around gender, especially at a place as diverse and fiercely argumentative as Harvard. Yet, we are not alone. The refusal of a traditionally gendered society, for at least the last twenty years, has permeated many elements of popular culture. However, the emergence of the modern American yuppie — with his tendency to use fabric softener and her executive flair — does not indicate that these conceptions of so-called “proper” behavior have been cut from society.

This categorization only drives the tendency to classify people as their economic specialty and not a diversely talented individual. Furthermore, the acceptance of a gendered division in all aspects of life continues to uphold violent, dangerous, and oppressive societies across the globe — the issues are significant enough to raise a passionate challenge.

Human beings are a sexually dimorphic species — that is, a species that exhibits different biological characteristics between the two sexes (male and female – I refer here to biological methods of sex classification). I agree with the empirically based conclusion that males were genetically selected upon to perform intense physical tasks relative to females. Anyone who has ever witnessed a football player stand next to even a muscular woman could not deny the difference in build. As such, a muscular man will be better at performing certain physical tasks than a muscular woman, simply due to biomechanics. However, the real problem arises when we as a society inform people’s choices based on this piece of physical evidence. No one should be denied what he or she wants to do simply because of the average measurement of whatever population they fall into. Because gender roles are economized in the minute and highly specific ways they are today, it is very difficult to break out of what you have been “assigned.”

One of the other issues that arises around gender roles is this idea of “tit-for-tat” (not that kind — that’s another story). Women and men function very specifically

within the economy to make our society as efficient as possible. And because we give so much value to economic productivity, there arises an expectation of men and women’s roles as functional IOUs. The typical problem here is that whatever payback is given is typically within the confines of traditional gender roles, which have so much societal baggage attached to them that there’s really no way to escape the oppression and/or hostility created around these “trades.”

Perhaps most crucially, it has been shown that women get the short end of the stick when it comes to gender roles. Even if being supported and having children do not seem that bad — which they are not necessarily when taken on their own terms — women are not granted the independence that men have. The problem is not only that one set of skills is valued more highly than the other, but that the very nature of some of these “womanly skills” are demanding in a way that other occupations are not (sorry, Mom). It also just doesn’t make sense to me that women are better at cooking, cleaning, and decorating then men.

Aesthetic inclination seems too abstract a concept to assign to a group of people just because they have a long sociological history of dressing in sparkly gowns. The only way we could know if someone is better at something without looking at past social histories, which could include repression and assumption, is by looking at biology, and as of now there are not a lot of indicators that women can use a stove so much better than a man can.

I do not have space to address questions of sexuality. However, I believe that the role of sexuality in this debate is to serve as an example of the harm gender roles can do for people who want to work outside of them rather than the reason we should abolish gender roles. The need for abolishment stems primarily from the trend to categorize men and women as economic commodities rather than human beings.

If Christine Wolfe ’14 (crwolfe@college) is going to mother anyone’s children, he better have more skills than carrying heavy stuff.

independent1969@gmail.com

3

Forum

Season of Migration to the East Crashing a Bedouin bachelor party.

By CLARE DUNCAN

W

adi Musa is a small outside Pe t r a , Jo rd a n , f i l l e d w i t h overpriced tourist shops and rectangular sand-colored houses packed tightly together. My study abroad program took us — 32 Arabic-studying Americans — to visit Petra, and we stayed in a hotel in Wadi Musa the night before we explored the ancient city. It was around ten p.m. that evening that I found myself crashing a Bedouin bachelor party.

Some of my friends and I were wandering the streets of the town, taking advantage of a temperature that (for once) was below 90 degrees. We passed by a courtyard from which we heard loud music and the cheers and chatter of a large group of people. There was a man standing close by, directing the

4

independent1969@gmail.com

arriving guests, and as we passed by, we said a customary hello. I suppose he was amused by the quizzical looks on our faces and our very obvious foreign-ness. Perhaps that was why he invited us in.

The courtyard was filled with seventy or eighty men — yes, all men. The older shaykhs were sitting on chairs wearing traditional Jordanian clothing, talking and observing the younger men, most of whom were dancing.

Small children were running around and getting underfoot, trying to dance before being pulled away by older brothers and uncles. The moment we entered the courtyard the host offered us a place to sit and tea to drink, and it was then we found out his son was getting married the next day. (This “finding out” took a bit, since he spoke little

English and we were all at varying levels of Arabic.) Not five minutes into our arrival, however, I found myself being pulled out of my chair and into the dabka — and boy, was it a dabka.

The dabka is a traditional Jordanian dance in which participants move in a six-step pattern in a very large circle, holding hands and linking arms. Having six American girls and four American guys dancing at a bachelor party was an absolute novelty for the men.

Many of the younger guests (especially the preteen boys) had never interacted with non-familial women before, and our presence was cause for a remarkably large number of pictures and videos to be taken — I suppose we were something like the equivalent of strippers at an American bachelor party, though perhaps not quite that exciting.

Traditions of hospitality in Arab culture stretch back to pre-Islamic times. A guest visiting a tribe was offered three days of accommodation as a sign of good will. He would be provided with the best food and the company of tribal leaders and notables. The advent of Islam only strengthened this tradition; the new faith stressed the importance of welcoming and hosting others in an effort to keep personal connections strong. This tradition gave rise to the great Orientalist monolith of “Arab hospitality” so remarked upon by everyone from T. E. Lawrence to contemporary American politicians. The act of welcoming is one ingrained in the fabric of contemporary Jordanian culture, and the Bedouin bachelor party is a prime example.

Intimately related to the tradition of hospitality is the insider-outsider dichotomy, that is, the distinctions between people in terms of tribe, religion, nationality, or political allegiance. The guest is necessarily an outsider, but tradition and culture dictates that he be provided with the experience of an insider, at least for a time. He is welcomed as a family member or friend might be. This was my exactly Drawing by Miranda Shugars.

my experience: I was as different from my hosts as I could possibly be — blond-haired, blue-eyed, female, American — and yet I had the opportunity to interact with them in a fairly open manner and take part in one of their celebrations. Yes, that was partly because these partygoers were interested in and thrilled by the chance to interact with American girls, but it was also because they were hospitable, welcoming, and open. The host extended to us the same hand he would extend to a family member or a village friend.

Was I fulfilling some of their stereotypes? Yes. There I was, wearing shorts and a short-sleeve shirt, dancing with strange men, but I was still offered a place at the gathering. The men and I talked, laughed, danced, talked some more, danced even more, and talked again. I am not ignorant of the reason behind some of the interest in me (I received a couple of marriage proposals), but that does not mean that my experience with this group was any less legitimate, enlightening, or enjoyable.

What with the constant media and political hype about the Middle East, we tend to forget that American wars in the region and the supposed tensions between “us” and “them” are fought on a very political and ideological level, and do not necessarily have the same effect on the average person as did World Wars I and II. Most Jordanians can (and do) differentiate between the policies of the American government and the beliefs and individualities of American citizens. No matter what the media may insinuate or politicians may tell us, it is indeed possible to meet people and engage in genuine and meaningful relationships despite our very different backgrounds. There was not one bit of animosity on account of my American-ness at the Bedouin bachelor party, and I felt none whatsoever in any other part of my daily life in Jordan. The overarching political issues did not affect the hospitality offered to me, and I was able to interact in a powerful way with people whom American culture would have me believe harbor hostile feelings towards me.

We danced for three hours that night.

Five cups of the best tea I’ve ever had, two marriage proposals, and a thousand pictures later, it was time to take our leave. I’m sure there are now multiple YouTube videos from that evening, and I look forward to the day my grandchildren find them and ask me what on earth I was doing at a Bedouin bachelor party.

Clare Duncan ’14 (cduncan@college) would like to make it clear that she is not, in fact, a stripper.

09.20.12• The Harvard Independent

Forum

indy

Words

from an

Exile

Life off the yard.

By MILLY WANG

Photos courtesy of Tarik Moon.

T

here are three standard questions that freshmen often ask one another when they first meet: “What’s your name?”, “Where are you from?”, and “What dorm do you stay in?” My answers to the first two questions usually garner very little interest. I mean, my name is fairly normal — spelled just as it is pronounced — and I’m not from anywhere exotic. But when I tell people that I live in Hurlbut, their reactions usually get more interesting. Most ask “Hurlbut?” in a questioningly tone. Now, most of the time I don’t know if they mean it as in, “Gee, what a funny name!” or as in, “Where in the world is The Harvard Independent • 09.20.12

that?” or, “Man, I feel sorry for her — she lives so far away!”. And so I clarify by explaining that I am indeed one of those unfortunate souls who hasn’t the good fortune of living on the Yard proper. Of course, occasionally, I also meet people who nod understandingly and say, “Oh, Hurlbut, I know where that is”. Often, these are my neighbors from Greenough and Pennypacker — the two of the three other freshmen dorms that are off the yard — but there are also some very knowledgeable in-Yarders. On the other hand, there are also those who nod understandingly and then a few seconds later ask me, “Err... so where is that, exactly?” (typical

Harvard know-it-alls).

Of course, you can hardly blame a lot of the freshmen for not knowing about those of us living off the Yard. In fact, even tour guides — those who actually make their living from knowing everything about Harvard — ignore us. I mean, they go around announcing at the top of their voice to all the tourists listening rapturously that “all the freshmen live in the Yard” — which, clearly is not true as I myself am a freshmen living off the Yard. In fact, the blaring of tour guides is one of the freshmen rituals that I miss out on because I live off the Yard. No tour groups ever go past my dorm in the early hours of the morning

and no tour guide ever starts announcing local attractions and their historical significance outside of my windows. No tourists try to peak through my windows to see what I’m doing inside — of course, it could also be because I’m on the fourth floor, but that’s beside the point. In fact, none of the tourists are even interested in creeping in the dorms to take a look inside (as they have attempted to do to my friend’s dorm). Out here in the Union dorms, we get no traffic, no hustle and bustle, and definitely no tourist groups. What a downer.

But it’s not only the tourists that we miss out here. Remember the freshman fifteen? Well, I can forget about that. It’ll probably be more like freshman negative fifteen considering how far I am from Annenberg and the long route that I’ll have to walk back to the dorm every day — not even to mention the stairs that I have to climb. I will be in Olympic shape come spring finals.

Being serenaded by church bells? We don’t even get that experience.

I miss out on waking up every morning to the resounding bells of Memorial Church — bummer. But to be fair, I do wake up to the lovely tunes of construction outside my window every morning. Yippee!

But in all seriousness, walking home in the dark can be a pretty daunting task, both physically and psychologically made

all the more difficult after receiving two emails about on-campus sexual assaults before even arriving on campus. And, of course, we don’t often get to sit outside our dorms in the Yard on those nice, colorful, and expensive-looking lawn cairs.

Despite the lack of monochrome outdoor furniture and tourist hordes, living off the Yard may end up being the greatest experience of all. Isn’t it true that here at Harvard we live to gain experience? In fact, those in the Union dorms may have an upper hand when all of the freshman move off of the Yard next year — sophomores from the Yard proper will have a lot to get used to.

Milly Wang ’16 (keqimillywang@ college) knows that irony demands a sophomore year spent living in the Quad.

independent1969@gmail.com

5

News

The Migration

From the Yard to house life.

Photo courtesy of Miranda Shugars.

By KALYN SAULSBERRY

N

ow that class schedules are finalized and study cards submitted, campus life appears to be settling into a regular routine of classes, meetings, and meal times. However, for members of the sophomore class transitioning from campus life in the Yard to the Houses, the regular routine may not be so routine.

When I enjoyed my first meal back at Pforzheimer House for my junior year in August, I was surprised to realize that I had

6

independent1969@gmail.com

not met almost one third of my housemates.

I came to realize that transitioning from life in the Yard to life in an upperclassmen house creates the need for substantial adjustments, for it means an end to the entryways carefully crafted by resident deans, no more weekly study breaks, and oftentimes having to wake up earlier to make it to class in the Yard — especially from River and Quad houses.

There is less handholding and babying from the administration as PAFs, proctors, and

the Freshman Dean’s Office become a thing of the past.

However, despite dramatic lifestyle changes necessitated by the move out of the Yard, sophomores are learning to adjust to their new houses. A sophomore in Quincy, Kalina Grabb, recalled looking forward to House life as a freshman, “because it meant a change in scenery and a time to meet new people.”

Grabb’s transition to House life is particularly unique — she resides in swing housing while Quincy undergoes renovations. However, Grabb does not see physical separation from her House as an issue, because her suite “has an apartment feel. It doesn’t just feel like a dorm room. It’s a little smaller than DeWolfe rooms, but I like it because it has a lot more character.”

Liz Strong, a sophomore in Cabot, explained that even though she was disappointed at first to be assigned to the Quad because of the distance, she has come to enjoy the separation between life in the River and life in the Quad, stating, “I like the feeling of coming home at the end of the night after working in the River.” Even though a few Quad sophomores were not thrilled about the trek from the Quad to the River, the reliance on shuttles, and the potential to embarrassingly trip while running after shuttles, some, including Lewin Xue of Currier House, appreciated the Quad for the peace and quiet. A Computer Science concentrator, Lewin explained, “I have problem sets all the time, so I like the quiet.”

Nevertheless, the distance cannot be ignored, as friendships that thrived in the Yard with the crutch of Annenberg seem to fizzle away in what becomes a long distance relationship between quadlings and river dwellers. Xue acknowledged that “I have a bunch of friends that ended up in Eliot, and we used to play basketball together pretty often. But now it’s harder to see them.”

Even though distance may make visits to some friends’ rooms less frequent than when they were right across the Yard, Liz Strong views house life as an opportunity to forge a stronger community than the one that existed in the Yard: “When we were in freshman dorms, we knew we would all be split up, but here in our houses, we’re together for the next three years.”

As the sophomores are becoming acclimated to their new environments, it is important for upperclassmen to take a moment away from their routines and established friend groups and make sophomores feel welcome in their new homes. Quincyite Grabb found herself lamenting the change from entryways to anonymous hallways and acknowledged that “I haven’t really met anyone new from Quincy yet.” As long as juniors and seniors reach out to sophomores, and the class of 2015 makes the effort to get involved in house life, everyone will be able to proudly proclaim, “My house is the best house.”

Kalyn Saulsberry ’14 (ksaulsberry@college) remembers the days of being Pfresh in Pfoho.

09.20.12• The Harvard Independent

News

indy

Harvard Thinks Green 2 W

hen Professor Daniel P. Schrag, Director of Harvard University’s Center for the Environment and current member of President Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology took the stage at Tuesday night’s Harvard Thinks Green 2, he elected to begin with an example.

Schrag set two satellite images of the Arctic Circle in the month of September side by side on the giant projector screen above the stage in Sanders Theatre. The image on the left showed ice extending from the southern reaches of Greenland up over the Arctic Sea and to the northern Siberian coast, while the image on the right showed ice significantly receding over Greenland and the once-covered channel between the ice sheet and Russia gaping wide. The juxtaposition was designed to shock — more alarming, however, were the years attached to the images. The photo on the left represented the extent of polar ice in 2007, and the photo on the left its extent just a few days ago at its record minimum. The images showed a 20% decrease in Arctic polar ice coverage in the last five years, overwhelming proof of massive climate change occurring on a rapidly quickening scale.

As Schrag continued to stack evidence against the planet’s wellbeing — citing this March when overnight highs crushed the overall high record temperatures as a close-to-home example — the mood in the eco-conscious audience darkened. Yet, Schrag had not come to Sanders Theatre to throw the problem of climate change on the stage and leave it there. Rather, like the five other Harvard professors invited to speak at Harvard Thinks Green 2, Schrag had an idea, and his starts with undergraduate students at Harvard. “A liberal education for the 21st century”, he calls it, a vision for the future in which every Harvard student graduates with some understanding of the climate energy challenge, whether it be through sciences, social sciences, or in any other department.

Only by harnessing the academic, social, economic, and political capital of Harvard alumni in the real world, Schrag argued, can the university affect real change in environmental sustainability.

Unsurprisingly for a Harvard event modeled after the world-renown TED talks

The Harvard Independent • 09.20.12

By MEGHAN BROOKS

Where green is the new crimson.

and the university’s own Harvard Thinks Big, Schrag’s presentation was followed by five other innovative ideas from some of the brightest academic minds working on sustainability today. Each of the six professors was given ten minutes on stage to explicate a big problem and advocate for a solution, and after almost two hours (as the past three years of “Harvard Thinks” series have proven, ten-minute lectures exist only in theory) the ideas in the theatre had snowballed into a wave of inspiration.

After Schrag left the stage to a round of applause, Assistant Professor Joyce Rosenthal from the Graduate School of Design stepped out to discuss environmentally sustainable, or “green” cities. Looking to traditionally planned cities of Europe against the suburban sprawl of American cities, Rosenthal argued that the key to reducing carbon emissions in cities is density. She advocated for “pedestrian pockets”, numerous city neighborhoods where daily needs are within walking distance and public transportation is easily accessible. It is this quick and easy access to amenities and public transportation that significantly reduces carbon emissions from automotive transportation.

Assistant Professor Joseph Aldy of the Kennedy School was next. Another former White House advisor, Aldy looked at finding real solutions for climate change with economic incentives moving from the federal government downwards, echoing Schrag’s assertion that real change will come from properly educating the people in power. By putting a price on carbon emissions, Aldy believes, the government will be able to convince businesses that environmentalism is low-cost. “Let’s look at the successful record we have historically at harnessing the market for the environment,” he proposed. Such efforts have worked in California, Alberta, and British Columbia thus far. The “bigness” of Aldy’s idea, then, is not in its novelty but in its ambition.

James G. Anderson, the Phillip S. Weld Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry, began his ten minutes by banishing the term “global warming” in favor of “climate instability”.

“There’s no political imperative [with the term “global warming”]…it carries the connotation

of slow change that’s reversible,” he said. “The reversibility of that term is the serious aspect of not embracing what’s actually going on in the environmental structure.” Because “climate instability” carries the connotation of irreversibility, Anderson argues, it is more likely to spark the real concern needed to push reform in public policy. Using the same polar ice data Schrag introduced, Anderson then went on to discuss rising sea levels, drawing a big laugh from the audience when he described the potential flooding of MIT before Harvard. And, like Schrag, Anderson stressed the responsibility universities have to prepare their students to face the climate energy challenge across disciplines.

Amy C. Edmonson, the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Business School, understandably took a different tack. Focusing on the clashing cultures of the different stakeholders in the implementation of sustainable solutions, she argued that a key to actually building green efficiently is equally efficient communication between developers, builders, architects, government, and IT people, emphasizing that one of the most challenging issues sustainable projects face is interpersonal interaction.

Last, recent Harvard acquisition Daniel G. Nocera, the new Patterson Rockwood Professor of Energy and the inventor of the much-heralded “artificial leaf ”, arrived on the stage to much applause. “2050”, he said, and then he began to paint the world’s increasing energy needs direly. Currently the world’s energy needs amount to 16 terawatts. By 2050, as the “have nots” begin to catch up with the “haves” in terms of energy access, we will need almost twice as many terawatts. At the current rate, we simply cannot produce that. This is where the “sustainocene” comes in, a new epoch in which the challenge is to grow economies and maintain national GDPs while conserving fuel resources in developing and developed countries alike. In the new sustainocene, Nocera said, “You have to do science and engineering in different ways…’I have the brightest and shiniest and best thing in the world.’ Guess what? Who cares. When you’re poor you want the cheapest thing.”

This is where Nocera’s invention — built at MIT —comes in. The artificial leaf is a

cheap, easily mass-produced metal device that when placed in water and exposed to sunlight, separates the oxygen from the hydrogen in streams of bubbles. Theoretically, these bubbles can be collected and stored in fuel cells before combining them, again using only water, to generate an electric current. If this could actually be put to work, Nocera said, the water in Harvard’s Blodgett Pool would produce 38 terawatts, enough electricity to power 2050’s world and then some. It was with this last big idea that Harvard Thinks Green 2 ended to a raucous round of applause.

While Harvard Thinks Green is a more visible aspect of sustainability at Harvard, the university’s efforts to build an environmentally friendly campus are extensive and wide reaching. Lisa Hogarty, Vice President for Campus Services opened Tuesday night’s event, saying, “Sustainability and in particular the university-wide greenhouse gas reduction goal continues to be a top priority for our community, as we seek to use our campus as a living lab for addressing global environmental challenges.” And Harvard seems to be trying to prove it. In 2006 Harvard set universitywide goals to reduce carbon emissions by 30% by 2016. Speaking just after Hogarty, Heather Henriksen, the Director of the Office for Sustainability, reported that although the campus has grown 17% in the past six year, emissions are down 7.3%. We are far from reaching our goal still, but new innovations such as the introduction of composting bins in university cafés, biodegradable one-use utensils, the installation of solar panels on the roof of the Gordon Indoor Track and Tennis building, the availability of free energy-efficient light bulbs, and other such programs have us on our way. On October 22 nd President Drew Faust will release a report detailing how far we have come and what we will have to do to move closer to our 30% carbon emission reduction rate. In the interim, however, as Harvard Thinks Green 2 emcee Zack Guzmán ’14 said Tuesday night, when it comes to sustainability, “there are no prerequisites for making a difference. The only qualification is simply to care.”

Meghan Brooks ’14 (meghanbrooks@college) is a vegetarian. Planet, you’re welcome.

independent1969@gmail.com

7

GAINED

and college kids to have a group of their does not wait for you. Do whatever it takes own peers to meet once a week or at [the] to pursue that burning feeling that is so very least, every other week. [During] my deep inside you! It’s that hope, dream, wish journey, I realized how important it was that will not let you go. Fight to live out to talk with someone about what you’re your passion. It’s your life, your God-given going through. I have started doing boot destiny! You can do anything. You can do camps and “Real Time with Ruby.” My this; do not drop out. Do it for you! Fight to goal for the group, before I leave, is to live your passion! When it is hard, you stay have them commit to meeting with each in the boxing ring and fight…if you stay in other to exercise, and, most importantly, the ring you will be the last one standing! to leave them with a group of people from Then, with your arms up, you will be saying,

By WILLIAM SIMMONS their area to meet and talk with. There is “I did it! I really did it!” There is no greater so much [you can] learn when talking with feeling or happiness or completeness in life uby Gettinger a group of people. You find you are not than fighting for your God-given destiny captured alone and you find people that have gone and never giving up! You can do this! Do the hearts through some of the same struggles that not drop out! Fight to live your passion! of Americans from you go through.

Together, you help each all walks of life on other and keep one another accountable. 5. You have often stressed a message of her acclaimed show High school and college kids go through a personal empowerment. How can we “Ruby,” the highest lot of changes, and they are left trying to remind ourselves that we are worthy of rated program on figure it all out on their own.

They [come] living healthy, happy lives?

Style Network. I spent from the only place they call home, and the entire month of also [bring] a lot of baggage along with I believe we all have a God given destiny!

June watching her incredible series on them.

A lot of college-age kids have “the We all have something inside us that tugs Netflix with my best friend Ray, and I cannot perfect child” syndrome, and feel that they at us! We all have a purpose and were begin to explain what a transformative can’t make any mistakes or they will let created for a reason. Do not let family, experience it was for the both of us. their parents down…They are starting friends, strangers, substance and time At her heaviest, Ruby weighed over 700 their adult lives without dealing with their steal it from you! Write something daily pounds. With the help of professionals, mental, spiritual, emotional, and physical to yourself that is positive and keep telling family, and friends, Ruby has lost over problems.

They may think that by leaving yourself you can do this. Yes, it is hard work 400 pounds. She is the author of “Ruby’s home they can leave it all behind, but it but hard work is what will get you to your Diary: Reflections on All I’ve Lost and will sneak up on them.

Instead of dealing goal!

Yes, you can do the impossible! It is Gained,” a poignant and comical memoir. with it, they bury it in alcohol, drugs, important to write it down daily, and not Ms. Gettinger also travels across the overeating, under-eating…and getting only read it, but also write it so it will be country to deliver her inspiring message involved with every destructive behavior burned in your soul forever.

Do not doubt of self-empowerment. Here, the Indy finds that helps them avoid what’s really going yourself.

Fear will keep you frozen in time! out how Harvard students can find time to on!

Their behavior becomes compulsive and Run to the edge and fly to your freedom. put themselves back on their to-do list: they are only creating bigger problems for 1. Harvard students face daily stresses that themselves that they will eventually have For more information, see http://www. undoubtedly put a strain on our ability to to deal with. So, why not make a place to rubygettinger.net. take care of our bodies. How do you deal talk, vent and share? Once someone starts with difficulties in daily life that may sharing, everyone begins to get help in William Simmons ’14 (wsimmons@college.harvard. listening, venting, etc. edu) thanks Ruby for her honest and passionate trigger intuitive eating? portrayal of a struggle that so many of us face.

3.

What is the most inspirational thing Our health is so important. Just because you are young does not mean that bad someone has told you? health habits will not sneak up on you. One of the worst things for the body One of my biggest issues was overeating. is stress, and the first thing we may want Oprah said to me, “You have to find out to do is crawl in bed, hide, and never get what you’re feeding!” WOW! It was truly out! Another big mistake [is] to find a eye-opening and haunting! That’s what substance to make you avoid or forget your we are all doing, in some way or another, problems. We must force ourselves to do the if we do not deal with our inner pain and opposite. Find someone to talk to, or walk, hidden issues. We have an empty hole ride a bike, etc. The most important thing in us that we are trying to fill instead we must do is start training our bodies of face. while we are still young and it is easy to move. Find something you love doing, 4. If you could give college-age Ruby one whether it is running, dancing, walking, piece of advice, what would it be? riding a bike, tennis, etc. Do it four to five wanted to be times per week for 45–60 minutes. It is the I a psychologist! I went best hour you can give to your body and to your health (physical and mental!). If you to college for two are stressed, move your body! I am finding and a half years out that moving your body frees your mind. and dropped out because I started 2. How can we build a community where getting too big to fit we all are committed to each other’s health, in the desk. I would especially when academic and personal have said, “Ruby talk to someone! pressures may get in the way?

Get help now!” But, Photo courtesy of Ruby Gettinger I feel it should be mandatory for high school I didn’t, and time

The Indy interviews Ruby Gettinger.

8

independent1969@gmail.com

R

09.20.12 • The Harvard Independent

FAVORITES all for our

:

tools of procrastination 2.0

The changing of the seasons brings back our favorite dramas.

By WHITNEY LEE

A

American naturalist and poet Edwin Way Teale once said, “Autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together.” Though much has changed, his words still hold true today. Autumn is, more than ever, a time for gathering together, only now... in front of the television.

This autumn sees the return of many long-anticipated fan favorites to the silverscreen. We covered the sitcoms earlier, so here is a little primer of the dramas that should be on your radar. s

SWITCHED AT BIRTH 9/3 » Though we’re coming in a little bit behind on this one, the second season of ABC Family’s Switched at Birth premiered the first week of September. Switched at Birth is the story of a simple hospital mistake with devastating consequences. It follows the story of two families, the Kennishes and the Vazquez’s whose lives were joined together when their daughters were switched at birth. To add to the complication, one of the girls contracted a fever as an infant which left her completely deaf. The show itself is done half in Spoken English and half in American Sign Language. There are also issues of income disparity, criminal activity and romantic rivalry between the two families, as well as some ethnic complications with one family being a blend of Mexican and Puerto Rican.

This show is great for anyone who enjoys family-friendly dramas or has an appreciation for ASL or deaf culture.

SCANDAL 9/27 » One of ABC’s newest hits is a drama that follows the story of Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington), a crisis management consultant on retainer by some of the most prominent public figures in America.

Along with her small staff, made up of individuals with dubious or seedy backgrounds, she works to manage the fallout from PR crises and prevent scandal. At the same time, she grapples with her past and the problems stemming from her The Harvard Independent • 09.20.12

affair with President of the United States. At the end of last season, we learned that the president did not have a sexual relationship with Amanda Tanner, the former White House staffer (now deceased) and that it was, in fact, his opponent’s chief of staff who fathered Amanda’s baby and orchestrated the rouse. In addition to this, it was revealed that Olivia’s newest employee, Quinn Perkins, isn’t who she appears to be. With so much going on, it is no wonder that Scandal is one of this season’s most highly anticipated shows.

DEXTER 9/30 » Available only to those with access to HBO or other premium channels, Dexter is the tale of a vigilante crime-fighter, whose perverse sense of justice manifests itself in the form of ritualistic killings, adhering to a code created

by Dexter’s father. Now entering its seventh season, Captain LaGuerta (Lauren Vélez) is promoted to Captain after blackmailing her superior, whose name appeared on a prostitute’s ledger. Vince Masuka hires an intern who steals evidence from the precinct and tries to sell it online. LaGuerta and Angel Batista (David Zayas) have divorced, but try to remain friends; this is further complicated by Matthews’s decision to promote Debra Morgan (Jennifer Carpenter) to LaGuerta’s vacant lieutenant position instead of Batista, who thinks this is a result of the feud between Matthews and LaGuerta. In retaliation, LaGuerta continuously thwarts Debra’s attempts to make a good first impression as the new lieutenant by giving her the wrong advice. Dexter and Debra visit a Catholic preschool in hopes of signing Harrison up. Quinn (Desmond Harrington) proposes to Debra, but she refuses and they break up. This season also features two main antagonists who become known as the Doomsday Killers (or DDK), Professor James Gellar (Edward James Olmos) and his student Travis Marshall (Colin Hanks), who seek to bring about the

end of the world through killings based on the Book of Revelation.

They leave signs of the Apocalypse including the Alpha and Omega or the Four Horsemen as a cryptic tableau at crime scenes. Despite all of this activity, the most important development of Dexter, Season 6 was that Deb, Dexter’s sister, finally got to see the real Dexter, Dexter the serial killer. On this development, executive producer Scott Buck said, “We always imagined that Deb finding out would be part of the end game, so we always sort of delayed it. When we came in this year, David Nevins [said], ‘Let’s shake things up.

We don’t have to play it safe. We can think a little bit differently this year.’

We decided it was finally time to deal with this head-on. There’s still plenty of drama to come after this, but we know we have two seasons left to do and there’s more than enough for us to deal with in the next two years just dealing with this one particular issue.”

COVERT AFFAIRS 10/16 » Unlike most of the other shows with fall premieres, Covert Affairs has not been on full production-hiatus, airing new episodes from its third season over the summer, up until a few weeks ago. The show, airing on USA, follows the life of a young CIA operative named Annie Walker (Piper Perabo) and her best friend, fellow CIA operative August “Auggie” Anderson (Christopher Gorham), a former Army Special Forces Officer who was blinded in Iraq. The first part of season three held a lot of dramatic surprises in their lives. Annie is getting deeper involved with Simon, a former mark, and international super-spy, suspected of killing over thirty people and Auggie was just dumped by his fiancee, the somewhat flighty Peace Corps Officer, Parker Rowland (Devin Kelley). With a cast of compelling characters and episodes with exciting (though fanciful) plotlines, the second half of season three is bound to be very exciting.

GOSSIP GIRL 10/8 » The CW’s Gossip Girl is returning for a shortened sixth and final season, much to the disappointment of die-hard fans.

Gossip Girl is the story of a few very wealthy (and now intermingled) families living on the Upper East Side of Manhattan — the Van der Woodsens, the Waldorfs, the Archibalds and the Basses. It also follows the integrated story of the Humphreys, a family of struggling/ up-and-coming artists from Brooklyn who share a complicated romantic history with the Van der Woodsens.

Very little has been revealed about the upcoming season other than the fact that Serena (newly-married Blake Lively) has a new enemy, in the form of model-turned-actress, Natasha, the sister of Serena’s new love interest Steven Spence. Even if you have never seen Gossip Girl, it is definitely worth a watch. It is captivating and addicting in an unexpected way – it will be a true loss to television when Gossip Girl goes off the air in December.

TOUCH 10/26 » This is the one show that I actually have not watched yet.

Touch is about a man named Martin Bohm, who is a widower and single father. He is haunted by an inability to connect to his emotionally challenged and presumably Autistic 11-year-old son Jake. His life goes on like this for a while until Martin discovers that Jake can predict events before they happen and everything changes. This show was well-received by critics and so hopefully it will live up to its promise in the coming season.

MAD MEN [NOTHING BUT A RUMOR] » Now entering its sixth season, Mad Men is the fall premiere that is the most cloaked in mystery. Though rumored to be premiering soon, Mad Men has not yet announced when it will return and once again captivate us with the story of Don Draper and his new firm Sterling, Cooper, Draper, Price (formerly Sterling Cooper).

Whitney Lee ‘14 (whitneylee@college) is beyond excited to catch up on some primetime drama. independent1969@gmail.com

9

the new

NORMAL How portrayal of homosexuality has changed on TV and why it still doesn’t work.

By SAYANTAN DEB

I

n the last two or three years, token gay

characters have become ubiquitous on TV. From CBS’s 90210 to HBO’s Girls, almost every show has one gay character as an excuse for diversity. However, very few shows actually explore gay relationships or give them equal screen time and emotional depth as their heterosexual counterparts.

It seemed as if this problem would be resolved when NBC announced The New Normal, a show about a gay couple and the problems they face on their road to parenthood. Naturally, being the perennial optimist, I loved the show. I loved that the homosexual couple wasn’t portrayed any differently from a heterosexual couple on TV. But a week of pondering later, I realize that “normalization” of homosexuality admits that there exists a “normal” and that there is a socially accepted paradigm of what relationships should be. This leads me to question how far the portrayal of homosexuality has changed on silver screen and if this “new normal” is indeed just a rehashing of social dicta.

On September 21, 1998, Will and Grace premiered on NBC and changed how America looks at homosexuality. Eric McCormack played Will, a gay lawyer who is filled with self-doubt, and Sean Hayes portrayed the flamboyant Jack. Both characters together portrayed the spectrum of homosexual expression. Will was more reserved, not necessarily flaunting his sexuality, while Jack was a man who never apologized for who he was. It wasn’t until four years later that the audience found out that Jack was not out to his mother.

Jack, in a moment of desperation, yells, “Sometimes, you want to say it, but you just can’t.” This moment’s simplicity, as well as its brutal honestly, portrayed the very real truth about coming out. It is not an easy process, and sometimes, even the most “out” individual cannot say those words to the ones closest to them. The show also portrayed the trials and tribulations that gay men face when negotiating through life — it isn’t all sunny on the other side of 10

independent1969@gmail.com

the closet. Comedy is perhaps the best way to raise awareness, and Will and Grace did just that. It brought homosexuality to everyone’s living room, did not apologize for it, and was able to show that not all gay men are alike. The criticism that Will and Grace often faced was that it de-sexualized “gay.” In fact, there was little said about the characters’ sex lives, beyond the occasional boyfriend. However, at the time, Will and Grace was a groundbreaking show.

Queer as Folk premiered in the year 2000, and to this date it remains the most honest portrayal of homosexual relationships on screen. Brian, an ad executive at the prime of his career, is the biggest player in Pittsburg, and just when he thinks that he has seen (and done) everything, he runs into eighteen-year-old Justin, who falls head over heels for Brian. The show transcended the boundaries of this romantic relationship to tackle a number of big issues, including HIV, crystal meth, surrogacy, and bisexuality. Even more importantly, it never shied away from the stereotypes. In fact, QAF celebrated a lifestyle that a lot of people who identify as queer might look down upon. Monogamy and promiscuity existed in the show’s milieu as two different aspects of queer relationships. A night at the local club, Babylon, was just as much a fabric of the show’s portrayal of queer life as were the quiet nights sitting beside the fire with a loved one eating food out of a take-out box.

Will and Grace and Queer as Folk ended in 2006 and 2005 respectively, leaving a void on TV for gay relationships that were not tokenized. This space was filled by Modern Family and Glee in 2009. While Modern Family focused on a married gay couple dealing with recent parenthood, Glee focused on a bullied teenager at the cusp of coming out. Modern Family excelled in portraying gay parents, dismissing much of the stigma that has been attached to gay couples and adoption. However, as far as the romantic relationship was concerned, Modern Family did little to

go out of the box. Relying on the most rudimentary paradigm of a couple of the 20th century, that of the homemaker and the wage earner, Cameron and Mitchel’s relationship lacked emotional depth and often resorted to clichés. Glee, on the other hand, showed promise in the beginning, fleshing out very real characters in Kurt Hummel and his dad, Burt. Burt’s eventual acceptance of his son’s identity is one of the most touching father-son relationships on screen. Despite that honest portrayal of family life, Glee still faced problems accurately representing gay relationships. Kurt’s relationship with his high school boyfriend, Blaine, was grossly romanticized, and the love triangle with Sebastian was underwhelming at best.

The upcoming TV season showed promise, especially when NBC announced The New Normal, a TV show that treated the homosexual couple just like any other couple on TV. But why do gay couples have to be “just like any other couple”?

They don’t need to be “like” anything. Gay relationships are unique, because the people in those relationships have had unique life experiences. If heterosexual couples on screen can have defining characteristics, ones that set them apart from each other, why can’t gay couples work the same way?

Why should a gay relationship have the burden of fitting into some heterosexual mold? May be the network believes that fitting a gay relationship into this mold would make TV more palatable. However, as we have realized, the last ten years have changed little in terms of portrayal of gay relationships on screen. This fall, Partners, a show with the same creators as Will and Grace, will premiere on CBS. The show focuses on two relationships – one gay and one straight. This provides significant material for initiating a discussion about the similarities and differences between gay and straight relationships. We will have to wait and see whether this show actually delivers on that promise.

For now, one message is quite clear.

TV shows cannot continue this trend of “normalizing” gay. Gay relationships are different, and every gay relationship is unique. Grouping them all together or tokenizing them does little to improve awareness and acceptance of homosexuality on screen. As new shows dare to explore such relationships, they should keep in mind that grouping relationships based on sexual identity is regressive. The New Normal is a great show – it’s funny, lovable, and has a very talented cast.

That said, the approach to relationships is at best guided by cliché and at worst actively promoting “normalization.” While networks might believe that the audience isn’t ready for a realistic portrayal of a homosexual relationship, it’s time that they left decision up to the viewers.

Sayantan Deb ‘14 (sayantandeb@college) is waiting for the show that stops apologizing for their characters’ identities.

09.20.12 • The Harvard Independent

Sports

indy

Crimson Curtain Anchors Harvard

Harvard’s defense leads the team to a 28-13 victory over San Diego.

By SEAN FRAZZETTE

H

ARVARD, RANKED 24TH in the country by the Football Championship Subdivision coaches, started the season off with a matchup that few saw as favorable for the Ivy League squad. The San Diego Toreros last played an Ivy League team in 2006, when they dismantled the league champion Yale, 43-17. Despite their underdog status coupled with criticism from the recent cheating scandal, Harvard (10) defeated San Diego (1-2) decisively, 28-13, at Harvard Stadium this past Saturday.

As predicted, San Diego started with little resistance, eventually kicking a field goal for the first score.

The Crimson failed to move the ball effectively on their first possession, as the game’s momentum favored the Toreros as expected.

All changed, however, in a single play by the Harvard defense. When an errant screen pass slipped through a San Diego back’s hands, defensive tackle Jack Dittmer lunged for the ball. Fueled by the interception, Harvard moved the ball down the field, before senior quarterback Colton Chapple hit wide open tight end Cameron Brate on a perfectly executed play action fake for the first touchdown of the game. For the rest of the second quarter, Harvard’s defense dominated, forcing San Diego to punt on all four possessions. The Crimson offense was quiet, however, and entered halftime with a 7-3 lead.

The beginning of the second half seemed to be a time for a momentum swing back to the San Diego squad.

After Harvard’s anemic first drive, crippled by two penalties and little ball movement, the Toreros gained possession and drove down the field for another field goal. On the visitor’s next possession, after driving into scoring range, Mills scrambled to his right, avoiding Harvard’s menacing defensive line, and lobbed the ball to the corner of the end zone, where Smith bobbled and then caught the pigskin while falling to the ground, much to the dismay of the Harvard fans.

The Harvard Independent • 09.20.12

With the home team down 13-7, and all momentum on the San Diego side, Harvard’s kick returner Setu Smith took matters into his own hands, returning the following kick off ninety-nine yards for a touchdown — only to have it called back by yet another penalty. The Crimson faithful had been lifted to their feet for the first time since the second quarter touchdown, only to be swept off of them by the yellow flag. The third quarter ended with a signifying sack of Chapple, as the Crimson entered the fourth looking tired and overwhelmed.

Within the first minute of the final quarter, however, Chapple tossed a precision pass to freshman tight end Kyle Juszczyk, who broke a tackle on his way to the end zone.

Regaining the lead and momentum, the Crimson defense looked dominant once again, sacking Mills and forcing a three and out. With the ball in his hands again, Chapple looked to

attack the defense through the air, striking Juszczyk once again, as the freshman broke three tackles for a twenty-six yard gain. The impressive offensive showing was soon squashed, though, as Chapple sailed a pass over all receiving heads, into the hands of San Diego’s Joey York. Harvard responded quickly to the mistake with a dominating defensive possession to regain the ball. A quick drive ended in an option pitch from Chapple to Scales as Harvard extended their lead to eight with under six minutes remaining.

For the remainder of the game, Harvard’s defense held San Diego in check, and with 1:23 left in the game, Scales capped the game with a sixty-six yard run for his second touchdown. While trotting into the end zone, Harvard fans, both young and old, erupted in joy. The Torero’s followers began to move towards the exits, headed presumably to Logan for their six hour flights back home.

Harvard’s defense was the story of the day, sacking Mills six times and holding the running game to a net gain of two yards. While penalties and inconsistencies will need to be fixed, Harvard’s defense looks ready to begin their conference schedule with Brown (1-0), which ran for an impressive 178 yards on a solid Holy Cross team this past week. Head Coach Tim Murphy wrote through an email, “It’s tough to measure how good a win San Diego was because it’s too early to tell much about either team.” While it’s probably for the best not to jump to conclusions or make assumptions this early on, the Harvard defense sure put in their case to bring the title of Ivy League Champions to Cambridge for the second straight year.

Sean Frazzette '16 (sfrazzette@college) is excited for the rest of the season.

Drawing by Anna Papp. independent1969@gmail.com

11

captured & shot TARIK MOON

Why do you need colors when the storm is going to wash everything out?

Inani Sea Beach, Cox's Bazaar, Bangladesh