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09.29.11 vol. xlii, no. 27 The Indy is logging in.

Cover Design by

MIRANDA SHUGARS and SAYANTAN DEB

FORUM Like?

3 The Ides of September 4 Gary 5 Just Desserts 6 ARTS Night at the Museum 7 Art with a Message 8 So You Think You Can 9 Bhangra Tune In 10 Hakuna Matata 10 SPORTS Saturday Night Lights 11 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 Weike Wang (independent1969@gmail.com). Letters to the Editor and comments regarding the content of the publication should be addressed to Editor-in-Chief Yuying Luo (independent1969@gmail.com).

Yearly mail subscriptions are available for $30, and semester-long subscriptions are available for $15. To purchase a subscription, email subscriptions@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 © 2010 by The Harvard Independent. All rights reserved.

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President Vice President Editor-in-Chief Business Manager Production Manager Executive Editor Associate Business Manager News and Forum Editor Arts Editor Sports Editor Design Editor Columnists

Weike Wang ‘11 Whitney Lee ‘14 Yuying Luo ‘12 Amanda Hernandez ‘14 Miranda Shugars ‘14 Riva Riley ‘12 Eric Wei ‘14 Meghan Brooks ‘14 Zena Mengesha ‘14 Brett Giblin ‘11 Alexandria Rhodes ‘14 Luis Martinez ‘12

Staff Writers Michael Altman '14 Arthur Bartolozzi ‘12 Sayantan Deb ‘14 Gary Gerbrandt ‘14 Cindy Hsu '14 Brad Rose '14 Kalyn Saulsberry '14 Marc Shi ‘14 Angela Song '14 Christine Wolfe ‘14 Sanyee Yuan ‘12 Graphics, Photography, and Design Staff Maria Barragan-Santana '14 Schuyler Polk ‘14

Picks of the Week The Art of Photographing Tress When: Wed 10/5, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM Where: Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University What: Trees, because of branching breadth and trunk height, can be challenging subjects to photograph. In this class, Erik Gehring will provide tips, tricks, and photographic theory in order to create unique and dramatic images of trees. (3 sessions: Sat. Oct 1, 9 a.m.-noon & Wed Oct 12, 19, 6:30-8:30 p.m.)

A Conversation with Actor Laura Linney When: Thu 10/6, 3:00 PM Where: New College Theatre - Studio What: Critically acclaimed for her award-winning roles on television, stage and film, actor Laura Linney will discuss her career and creative process during a conversation/Q&A. Admission free; seating is first-come, first-served, subject to venue capacity.

Discovery Ensemble Concert When: Sun 10/2, 3:00 PM Where: Sanders Theatre What: Discovery Ensemble is a chamber orchestra that draws together forty of the finest performing musicians in Boston.

Due to the generosity of an anonymous donor, Discovery Ensemble is able to offer up to 500 Free tickets to university students with valid ID. 09.29.11 • The Harvard Independent

indy

Forum

Point/Counterpoint Facebook Faceoff

Time for Change

T

By WEIKE WANG

I have a facebook member since 2006.

When I click on the year 2006, it gives me a full-page summary of my facebook activity during that year, complete with photos, status updates, wall posts, and events. Did I really look that ghastly back then?

Facebook changes formats as often as a snake sheds skin. In 2006, I had a white page with a picture and five friends. Now I have social statistics and “top fans”, friendship pages and a newsfeed that thinks it is CNN. The change is always jarring, but eventually, the detractors who angst all over their walls simmer down and Facebook carries on.

Facebook knows we won’t mutiny because deactivating Facebook is like being that kid at recess who reads dictionaries instead of playing dodge ball. Facebook is what is. Marketed as the new face of social networking, Facebook needs to stay fresh and relevant. And to do so, Facebook needs to keep changing.

Timeline is Facebook’s most radical profile makeover yet. The idea behind it is to combine the individual and the network, or synergy — a word companies liken to world peace. I like timeline: it is a visual scrapbook that is free and hard to lose.

Timeline has a global map that lets you locate your photos and posts. Timeline is the filing cabinet to my wall: it lets you keep track of the when and imeline says been

The Harvard Independent • 09.29.11

where instead of just the who. True, the new profile looks cluttered, but it is the personalized scrapbook clutter, the clutter that makes you feel at home.

Under Timeline, each profile will look different because we live different lives. Moreover, Timeline gives me back a wall that has suffered five years of abuse. Instead of clicking ‘older posts’ repeatedly and repeatedly, I go straight to the year, the month, the d a y. T h e c o u n t e r p o i n t would argue that this type of chronicling is an invasion of privacy, an overshare. But Timeline offers the same privacy controls as previous profile formats did — you can choose what events timeline shows. You can even delete the event of your birth if you so wish it.

What makes us cringe about Timeline is not the application itself, but the sudden fear that our lives are disappearing into it. Because Timeline has only two real points, birth and death, we see Facebook measuring out our lives in wall posts. The counterpoint would say, we are more than that! We are people, not profiles! But that’s the catch: Timeline in the end is just a tool, a toy really. It’s a fun way to create a visual narrative but it not meant to outline our life’s purpose or bottle life itself.

Weike Wang ’11 (wangwe@post. harvard.edu) wonders if Facebook will fill in her death and complete her Timeline if she’s not around to do it.

Insincerity Has a New Name

T

By MEGHAN BROOKS

icky about the word “networking”, not in its sound, as is the case with disturbingly onomatopoeic words like “phlegm” or “muck:, but in its very meaning.

“Networking” is essentially active disingenuousness, and networking events — horrid fluorescentlighted affairs comprised almost entirely of too-toothy smiles and firm handshakes — are little more than socially sanctioned excuses for the chronically self-possessed to preen and exchange business cards while the chronically anxious clutch Styrofoam cups and wish they were somewhere else. “Networking” is, in simpler terms, tacky.

When a human being, businesses-minded human beings included, chooses to become acquainted with another human being, s/he can approach the other in one of two distinct ways. She can either decide to get to know the other person as a person and interest herself in the other’s interests and personality or she can ask herself, “How can I best use this person for my own gain?” and proceed from there.

Ostensibly, non-narcissists go into conversations with the former intention in mind. However, the mentality of networking is the latter, which inevitably produces insincere, superficial relationships with the very people networkers so desperately try to forge productive relationships with.

There is no denying that n e t w o r k i n g , o r r a t h e r, t h e desired outcome of networking, is essential to successful and dynamic businesses and businesspeople. Making contacts with other people in the same or a related field is how hiring happens, how partnerships are established between companies, and how new and exciting ideas circulate amongst peers. However, although the establishment of business contacts is the goal of networking, the mentality of its conscious practitioners is often counter-productive.

Students who, through various here is something

well-meaning workshops affiliated with the Office of Career Services or various pre-professional student groups, have been trained in the “art” of networking have come to view cocktail parties or other such events as opportunities to win as many business cards as possible. The method they have been trained in is simple: a brief introduction, a compliment couched in self-promotion, and then, before the card collection and promise to set a lunch date, the casual but shrewd assessment of exactly how useful each person will be to the other. It is this emphasis on breadth of network, on collecting as many contacts as possible, rather than on depth of relationships, that makes “networking’ counter-productive and even mildly distasteful. Good business relationships are built not only on mutual convenience, but also on the willingness of each party to help the other, and that willingness is based on trust. Trust comes from series of actual conversations borne out of genuine interest and engagement, and current networking culture prevents that from happening.

What, then, is the alternative to conventional networking, especially for young Harvard graduates trying to create careers out of little more than an undergraduate degree and an internship or two? The key seems to be as simple as abandoning the conventional networking m e n t a l i t y. N o o n e n e e d s a workshop to learn how to talk to people honestly. We’re people: forming relationships is what we do, and if “networkers” could start treating their peers more like people and less like business opportunities, they might find that those relationships they do form are ultimately more useful than stacks of trophy business cards.

Meghan Brooks ’14 (meghanbrooks@ college), likes Holden Caulfield, dislikes phonies.

independent1969@gmail.com

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Electoral Apathy: UC

Autobiography of a lackadaisical voter.

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By DREW ELZINGA e r e i s w h a t t h e av e r a g e

freshman probably experienced last Thursday morning: the bells of Memorial Church, ringing consistently as they do between 8:30 and 8:45 each morning, wake you from a somewhat peaceful slumber; you glance at the mess on your bedroom floor, trying to pick out the numbers on your math pset that you were supposed to have finished last night.

As you head to breakfast, you notice your entryway board, usually empty, plastered with colorful posters. Each one is a different color and size, but they all have the same message: VOTE (insert name) FOR (insert name of house) UNDERGRADUATE COUNCIL IF ELECTED, I PROMISE TO (insert ridiculous ideas) I’D LOVE TO REPRESENT YOU! Looking across the entryway board,

you see variations on the main theme.

Some posters have pictures that make you laugh, others have cleverly written slogans with puns on the last names of the candidates, and you try not to grin as you read the nerdy jokes that seem to be a common theme.

But you don’t vote. Not yet, at least.

The next day, you have a reunion lunch with your FOP group (you just can’t see FOP friends enough), and one girl asks you all to vote for her for the UC. Of course, you agree to do so. You might ask her why she is running, or what changes she wants to make to the school, but in the end, you are probably just going to vote for her because it’s her. She’s your friend, and you want to help her out.

All across campus, people were “helping out” last week. Don’t get me wrong — we are not in high school anymore, and getting elected to the UC is more than a popularity contest.

There are people that read the flyers on

their entryway board, and most of us listened when potential UC candidates knocked on our doors and hand out flyers. In the end, however, most of us (myself included) probably voted for our friends.

I am not trying to diminish the role of the UC. I think they do a great job, and I appreciate their services (DAPA grants, taxi sharing, etc.) for the student community. Luckily, we are not in high school, and the UC is actually able to change how things work around here. As someone who had little interest in campaigning for UC positions himself, I am glad there was such an impressive group of candidates who want to help out. I only wish the election process was not so subjective.

I am not sure if there is any way to help this. In a place where the individual members of the UC are invisible to the student body on a day-

to-day basis, in what capacity other than friendship can we judge them?

Sure we could look at their ideas, but will those ideas ever take form? Or, more importantly, how much will those ideas affect our lives?

Now, no one should feel bad about voting for his or her friends. It is part of the system. That being said, it could not have hurt to learn something about what each candidate was trying to do. So, next year, when someone knocks on your door with a flyer, talk to him or her for a minute. And hey, if you are really torn, just follow the example of the one hundred and fiftytwo candidates (including two winning ones!) who managed to get written in this semester. A vote for yourself never hurts.

Drew Elzinga ’15 (jelzinga@college), a freshman in Pennypacker, is mildly disillusioned.

Photo by Maria Barragan

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09.29.11 • The Harvard Independent

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I

Music in the Air

t’s difficult to not be creeped out

initially by the recent Facebook redesign. While Timeline is not immediately horrifying—provided you don’t fill in all of the surgeries you’ve had in your life, as you now can—the little feed that dutifully informs you of everything your friends are doing is bizarre.

I really feel sorry for my friends, actually. Most of my free time is spent on or around Facebook. My roommate’s boyfriend decided to “hide” me because I literally took over his News Feed.

[Editor’s Note: We did too, Gary.] I am a self-described social media acolyte, and everyone can tell, judging by my constant stream of updates.

Yet, somehow, I love the new little feed. Whenever a friend of mine opens up Spotify and listens to Britney Spears or Beck or Beyoncé, I know. I can like people’s musical tastes. They can like mine. More importantly, the

indy

How Spotify, Pandora, and Facebook are changing the way we listen.

By GARY GERBRANDT

mysterious walls around music have come down in the few weeks that Facebook has included your listening habits.

Before, music was hugely personal.

While some build their identity around music, seeking out other fans of specific artists and bonding, or distinguishing themselves with their erudite tastes in the latest indie, many simply plug in their headphones and occasionally peruse their favorite genres and the Top 40.

Now, though, music is democratic.

With the advent and wide adoption of services like Pandora, which personalizes and builds radio stations based on musical preferences, discovering new, great music became easier. Pandora’s recent HTML5 redesign has vastly improved the service, and it continues to be a great place for listening and learning.

Spotify is a new entrant to the

American online music scene. While it has been huge in Europe for the past few years after launching first in Sweden, the complicated licensing rules (and, partly, Apple’s iTunes juggernaut) stifled its launch until the summer. It is, however, revolutionary, giving users the power to chose exactly what they want to listen to, and then listen to it.

The new layer of Facebook integration has vastly improved the spread of good music. Now, you know what your friends are listening to and you can appreciate their tastes while they admire yours. Facebook and Spotify together make for a great new way to experience music, and to do so for free while still guaranteeing artists’ compensation.

Owning music still has its virtues: no ads to listen to, good organizational systems, and the benefits of older age

and tradition. iTunes does a good job of storing one’s musical collection.

Today, though, the way of the world is free music; why pay for what you can enjoy for free? Spotify and Pandora are the end of piracy and bad recordingindustry policies, so why should you throw 99¢ at the problem if you don’t need to?

From now on, I’m sticking with these two great free music resources.

When I play “Hey Ya” six times in a row and then listen to a Red Hot Chili Peppers album, people are going to know about it. I will blow up their newsfeeds whether they like it or not. When I need to listen to a great collection of grunge, I’ll open up Pandora. I don’t need my own music anymore, and that feels fantastic.

Gary Gerbrandt ’14 (garygerbrandt@college) is a pirate no more.

By Meghan Brooks and Angela Song

The Harvard Independent • 09.29.11

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Food for Thought: Sweet Tooth Edition

Toscanini’s and Kickass Cupcakes.

By CELIA ZHANG

Toscanini’s

A

t first glance, it seemed

like a scam. After carefully scrutinizing the site, however, I realized it was not: a 100% off coupon for Toscanini’s ice cream on Scoutmob that was valid for 5 days. I couldn’t believe my luck.

Toscanini’s is known as the best ice cream in the world, according to the New York Times. And when the New York Times makes a claim, it is usually a legitimate one. Even on other lists of best ice cream in the world, Toscanini’s has always been a contender. I thus knew that I would be biting into something legendary.

Walking with a friend to Central Square (we figured the 20 minute walk was enough to justify the calories), we waited in a long line before being served. Reading on Yelp that Toscanini’s is known for its Belgian chocolate ice cream, I ordered that, while my friend went with the mango sorbet. I also sampled the worldfamous burnt caramel flavor, but found the taste overpoweringly sweet and decided against it.

The ice cream was smooth and rich.

It is frozen to a temperature a bit lower than traditional ice-cream shops,

resulting in a perfect creaminess.

Plus, the ice cream is made on site, which adds to its freshness. As far as my huge scoop of Belgian ice cream went, it was literally blobs of grounded chocolate frozen inside the cream.

After half a cup, I could take no more of a richness that had gone too far.

The mango sorbet, while it tasted like mango, seemed to be cream-based instead of water-based, and was again too heavy. When I want something rich, I will order ice cream; when I want something lighter, I order sorbet.

There is a line between the two and for me, Toscanini’s crossed that line.

The next day, using a friend’s coupon, I went back for another scoop as an early morning treat after a run.

Even though the initial experience was not the best, I found myself craving that rich, fresh, cream immensely later on in the night. That was when I knew the power of Toscanini’s had taken over my soul — I guess all good things take time. This time, I went with the hazelnut, another flavor the salesperson recommended, and I was in food heaven. Slightly melted ice cream, just dripping down the cup, my tongue raced to lick it before it made a mess. Nutty and of perfect consistency,

the ice cream brought me back to childhood, as I felt my mouth become enveloped in the art of delectable desserts.

Kickass Cupcakes

It seems that food trucks followed me from New York to Boston. Living in New York over the summer, I was shocked at the multitude of food trucks around the city. Back on Harvard’s campus, there has been a recent spring of food trucks across campus: Lefty’s Silver Cart, the Dining Car, and Kickass Cupcakes. They provide an alternative for busy students who want a meal on the go but are tired of dining hall food or food from the Greenhouse Café, or for those students who simply want a little treat to break up a long day. Deciding to reward myself after my five hour, very productive lock-up in the Dunster House library, I decided to indulge in a $3 Kickass Cupcake.

Going exotic, I decided on the Lotus Blossom, a vanilla cupcake with a sakesoaked pear center, lychee icing, and a fresh lime zest garnish.

When I was in fourth grade, I did a skit on self-control. When it comes to food, however, I have none, and probably never will. Telling myself to

only eat a few bites, enough to write about the experience, I ate the entire thing. Why? Because the cake, fully loaded with stable and solid saturated fat molecules, simply melts in your mouth. Rich, buttery, and sugary (perhaps a bit too sugary), I was in short-term dessert heaven. But a few bites later, I found the cake too rich and overpowering. It was like being tackled full force, instead of the more subtle and delicate taste you get with really good dessert.

Another thing that stood out to me was the distinct Asian combination of flavor. Taking small bites of the icing, I could discern that the lychee flavor easily, though slightly overpowered by the sugar. The sake was caramelized onto the pear, and the pear was still slightly crunchy, so I knew the cupcake was fresh.

My parting thought? Kickass Cupcakes are worth the calories every once in a while, though overindulgence runs the risk of re-creating this terrible headache I currently have from sugar overload alone.

Celia Zhang ’13 (celiazhang@college.harvard. edu) isn’t afraid to indulge when it’s worth it.

Photos by Celia Zhang

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09.29.11 • The Harvard Independent

Art I on the Town

College night at the Museum of Fine Arts.

that I did not experience College Night at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston at its peak time. The event took place in the evening from 7:00 to 11:00, but my friends and I departed Harvard belatedly and were distracted by our conversation and missed the self-explanatory stop labeled “MFA” on the green line. We were forced to ride the T to the end of the line and back again and by the time we arrived, we saw small crowds of college students with glowing necklaces trooping out the front doors. The complimentary Chipotle burritos were long gone.

Late as we were, we decided to head straight to the new contemporary wing (a gift to the museum from the Linde family) which none of us had seen before. The wing is impressive, but I have to say that the mood in the gallery is catered towards those who enjoy casual browsing rather than in-depth study. I often found myself moving along absently without really studying any of the work.

clock struck 11:00 and the lights were turned back on abruptly. The lights revealed sweaty, smiling teens and twenty-somethings who were gently ushered out the door in a huge herd.

With that, the night was over.

We got back on the T amidst the crowds going back to their respective Boston-area schools, satisfied that we had seen what we went to see — we had investigated what it means when a museum is “throwing a party just for you!” It is an experience I would like to repeat next year. Next time though, I will go when the spectacle is in full swing, and maybe even talk to a few more of the college kids who were there. It was a social and cultural experience, and taking advantage of a night that specifically caters to our demographic is never a bad thing.

Zena Mengesha ’14 (mengesha@ college.harvard.edu) recommends watching the T stops closely if you go to college night hungry next year.

Photos by Zena Mengesha/INDEPEN-

BY ZENA MENGESHA

The interesting part of the night however, was the manner in which college students interpreted what it meant to have a night dedicated to them at a great cultural institution.

True to its billing by the MFA as “the place to see and be seen,” people grouped around the gallery chatting and checking out each other’s wardrobe choices, sometimes meeting new people, but mostly sticking with their friends. It was a kind of preview of a world yet to come, a world that harbors the hallowed halls of high culture, the chapels of our day.

This is not to say that there was a lack of the type of vibe that we young people enjoy. After leaving the contemporary wing, we discovered more of that informal vibe. The huge courtyard space, usually silent and imposing, was dark and packed with bodies. Music blasted by DJ LeahV provided the motivation for people to dance along, and it was obvious everyone having a great time. I flashed back to high school when the

have to start out by confessing

The Harvard Independent • 09.29.11

independent1969@gmail.com

7

Art and Activism

By MARINA MOLARSKY-BECK

Jeff Sheng’s photography debuts at the Carpenter Center.

A

man crouches on a pristine

carpet in a dark military jumpsuit, arms raised and fingers coiled to support an imaginary rifle. The man’s face is entirely hidden behind one outstretched arm. Our only clues to this man’s identity are his uniform — emblazoned with the United States flag — and blue garrison cap. The picture caption reads “Anthony, Pensacola, Florida, 2010,” but that is neither the man’s true name nor his actual location. When Jeff Sheng ’02 shot this photograph, it was absolutely essential that this soldier’s identity remain concealed.

Sheng photographed “Anthony” for his photo series, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which documented BGLTQ members of the armed forces who, until last week’s official repeal of DADT, were forced to keep their sexual orientations secret.

In his artist talk at the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts last Thursday, Sheng spoke on the intersection between activism and art in his work. His photographs are, without a doubt, politically charged.

The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” series first exploded into the public eye after President Obama’s 2010 State of the Union Address, in which Obama announced his move to repeal DADT. Suddenly, high-powered media outlets like The New York Times and ABC World News were running Sheng’s photographs. Many of these images were subsequently republished again and again until they became symbols of the everyday personal tragedy of DADT.

Sheng’s photographs are as much works of art as they are political statements. While he was an undergraduate at Harvard College, Sheng was a VES concentrator. Even then, his work dealt with issues of gay identity — his “Thesis Album” was comprised of a series of intimate snapshots of his then-boyfriend. Since then, he has gone on to earn his M.F.A. in Studio Art from the University of California, Irvine.

Artistry is clearly deeply important to Sheng. Each of his photographs is meticulously lighted and composed.

The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” images are rendered in harsh, dramatic light and dark hues with a subdued color palette. A sorrowful energy permeates these photographs, as befits their grim subject matter. Prior to beginning his “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” project, Sheng devoted several years to photographing “out” athletes on collegiate and high school sports teams. The portraits in that series, entitled “Fearless,” are lush and vividly colored.

However, once Sheng began working on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” his work grew bleaker. Sheng started posing his figures in more expressive ways. He shot these photographs many in what he called “spaces of confinement” such as motel rooms and narrow hallways. Many of the service members Sheng photographed have their heads buried in their hands. One holds a grenade aloft. A female soldier jumps on a bed with her head cropped out of the top of the image, suggesting a hanging corpse. All, of course, have

their faces hidden.

In his talk, Sheng acknowledged that as his work changed, so did he.

Sheng became, in his own words, “a darker person.” He explained that the project forced him to confront the realities of war in a uniquely personal way. For his next project, Sheng plans to examine the phenomenon of BGLTQ teen suicides. Sheng said he thinks this project will be “dark and uplifting… space and place and death all rolled into one.” Certainly this next body of work promises to be far cry from the scenes of a tanned, muscular blond bathing in azure waters and lounging in the sun that comprised Sheng’s “Thesis Album” in 2002. Sheng noted that working on the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” project helped prepare him psychologically to tackle a more harrowing topic like teen suicide — although he said it is “totally possible” that he will wind up abandoning the project once it is begun.

Today, Sheng seems on the precipice of great success as an artist. His work has received wonderful exposure over the past year, and his projects are only growing more powerful. Yet Sheng explained that it has taken him many years to get to this point.

At first, Sheng said, exhibiting his work in galleries and museums was his only goal. “That’s all I saw in the art world,” Sheng explained. “A lot of times the art world presents just one path.” Yet Sheng’s work was not immediately palatable to these traditional artistic venues.

When he was working on his photo

project “Fearless,” Sheng realized that “activism is a dirty word in the art world.” Many mainstream galleries saw Sheng’s work as overly political and sociological in subject matter and somehow not nobly detached from reality enough to be displayed as art.

It did not take long though for Sheng to carve his own path. In 2006, the University of Florida asked Sheng to do an exhibition of around 20 of his “Fearless” photographs to coincidence with the university’s queer pride celebration. Due to a scheduling mishap, Sheng’s work wound up displayed not in the campus’s Reitz Union Gallery, as had originally been planned, but in a hallway outside the art gallery.

This change of exhibition space turned out to be a happy accident.

Sheng found that his work reached a much broader audience when it was displayed in a public setting not exclusively dedicated to art. After the University of Florida show, Sheng did many similar exhibitions at other universities, using the walls of their student gymnasiums, social spaces, and BGLTQ centers as display spaces.

He seemed fascinated and excited by the ways in which changes in context affected his work. “I don’t know who’s going to see the photographs,” Sheng said with a smile. “But,” he added, “I would still like to be in a museum someday.”

Marina Molarsky-Beck ’15 (molarskybeck@ college.harvard.edu) hopes you join her in actively appreciating art.

Images courtesy Jeff Sheng and Kaycee Olsen Gallery

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09.29.11 • The Harvard Independent

Culture Without Borders

By CURTIS LAHAIE

A review of the festivities at Hungama.

I

P eoria , Arizona — a suburb of Phoenix — for keeping me in the dark to the customs, ceremonies, and richness of any culture other than my own.

With a population roughly divided as 85% White and 15% Hispanic (I could count on my hands the number of African-Americans that were in my high-school class, and I would need to add only my feet to count the number of Asians), my hometown is severely lacking in terms of cultural diversity.

Though I do admit that my hometown’s Hispanic population represents a sizeable minority, the mere presence of an additional group of people is not what I call “diverse.” And although Arizonans argued that the heated debate over immigration somehow is representative of “diversity,” (since it is, I guess, an “open cultural discussion”) as a new freshman at Harvard, I can say with certainty that my hometown is the farthest thing from “diverse.” It was not until September 24, and the arrival of Hungama, the annual Indian dance celebration, that I came to realize what diversity truly is: not merely the presence of different cultures, but also the sharing of cultural experiences without borders From 9:00-1:00 on Saturday night, a sharing of culture certainly took place foremost in the form of dance. Across the black-and-white checkerboard floor of the Lowell Dining Hall, illuminated only by the strands of lights that covered the walls, hundreds of students danced throughout the night, filling the room until it was completely crowded. Vivaciously dancing to traditional music of their first country, many members of Dharma, Harvard’s thank my hometown of

The Harvard Independent • 09.29.11

Hindu Student Association that hosted the celebration, donned traditional Indian apparel, but students wearing everyday attire also enjoyed the dances of the night.

The event attracted not only Harvard students, but also students from other Boston-area schools. Students with a variety of backgrounds, races, and religions (not everyone, including yours truly, was Indian or followers of Hinduism) came together to enjoy three traditional Indian dances.

From 9:00-10:00 PM, Garba was the dance of choice. Originating in the Gujart region of India, Garba involves circular and spiral motions, and it emphasizes a great deal of group participation. Often performed around a lamp or statues, Garba comes from the Sanskrit words that mean “womb” and “a small earthenware

lamp.” Next, everyone danced the Raas until 11:30. This folk dance, also known as Dandiya Raas, originated in Vrindavan, India, emphasizes dancing in a group. This dance, nicknamed “The Sword Dance,” is based on the fight between the Goddess and Mahishasur, the mighty demonking, and involves energetic whirling motions and footwork. Finally, until 1:00 in the morning, students danced the Bhangra, the lively folk dance of the northern Indian state of Punjab.

In the eleventh century, farmers danced to celebrate the beginning of the harvest seasons, and this dance mimics the moves that farmers used to farm their land.

The sharing of culture was not only embodied in dance, but also in food.

Filling the tables were a large variety of chutneys, thick sauces of Indian

origin. Everyone in attendance also enjoyed samosas, triangular pastries with savory fillings. These foods added a tasty aspect to the sharing of the Indian culture at Hungama.

For me, the combination of the dances — Garba, Raas, and Bhangra — and food — chutneys and samosas — made Hungama culturally insightful.

Coming from a place like Arizona, I thoroughly enjoyed the cultural celebration that Harvard had to offer. I look forward to similar events that will continue to show me real diversity, events that will destroy the boundaries that I am far too used to.

Curtis Lahaie ’15 (clahaie@college. harvard.edu) has experienced the best of culture shock.

Photo by Curtis Lahaie/INDEPENDENT

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Fall Premieres

The 3G’s Revisited.

S

o last year at this time,

I set some expectation for the three shows that are always on my radar — Grey’s Anatomy, Gossip Girl and Glee. Well, it is time to revisit them and find out how they fared, and where they will be ahead this year.

The Color Grey Last year, I wanted to see relationships develop, especially Bailey’s. I am happy to say that Shonda Rhimes delivered. I loved seeing Bailey all lovey-dovey with her new man, and I love that he has both the tenderness to woo Bailey and the strength to keep the relationship

By SAYANTAN DEB

going. This year, the chief has trusted Bailey with his clinical trial and we know she will deliver. What I want to know is if she will be successful in this relationship. Meanwhile, for the first time in a long time (read ever) after the season premiere, Meredith does not come off as a whining baby, but with her new baby, she finally seems to have grown up. By the same token, Derek needs to get over his “Meredith screwed over my trial” fit. Also, last season left me wondering if Cristina will ever grow up, and finally accept that she is a married woman now, but the premiere has made me realize her motivations. I am looking forward

to see how Hunt’s and Christina’s relationship will develop further.

I basically want to see the Grey’s characters happy — for a couple of weeks at least.

The Age of Gossip Our favorite New Yorkers are back…in LA! Last year, we saw Serena, Blair, Chuck, Nate, and Dan grow up beautifully from high school brats to responsible adults. After the season premiere, this lot promises to grow up to be even more. While I am not crazy about Blair getting married, it might be interesting to see how she deals with the pregnancy and the mother-in-law. I also appreciate that Serena is finally taking responsibility for her actions and that Nate has finally developed from a blabbering bobble-head. So just bring on the gossip, and please, please, more Elizabeth Hurley!

Sue vs. Will Sue is glitter-bombed — need I say more? Will and Emma are finally together, and thank god for that because frankly, I was getting a little tired of the whole will-they- won’tthey routine? I had also complained last year that Glee was wasting its talented cast, but I think throughout last year, and in its season premiere, it has shown us that Glee definitely has an excellent ensemble. I also love Quinn’s change of character (bring on the b**ch). Can we also talk about how amazing Blaine’s number was? I never get tired of him, but I do hope his storyline is developed more this season. Overall, Glee is back with a vengeance.

Sayantan Deb ’14 (sayantandeb@ college) needs to tone down on the TV.

The Sphere of Life?

A review of The Lion King in 3D.

BY CHRISTINE WOLFE

F

rom the day we arrive on this

planet and step into the sun, there’s more to see than can ever be seen, more to do than can ever be done. But if there were only one thing we could do, we creatures of Earth must stop the circle of life for one momentous vision: The Lion King in 3D. We have finally found our place on the unwinding path.

Since my youth, I have wondered at the exquisite glory of this feline operetta, a dark and unflinching view into the musical side of the Savannah. Betrayal, loss, love, and flatulence — it is a true drama. Two brothers, one the proud king, the other the caustic outcast, keep close watch on the young prince, Simba, the heir to Pride Rock. The sardonic Scar, never to lay claim to the throne, plots with the bloodthirsty, 10

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delightfully sassy hyenas to kill the only two who stand in his way.

After a wonderful montage of song (due to the almighty Sir Elton John, Tim Rice, and Hans Zimmer), chaos, death, and disgrace befall poor Simba, and he must run away from his family and kingdom into the great unknown.

Near death, somewhere in the perilous jungle, he is saved by an eccentric, inter-species pair of pals, Timon and Pumba, with whom he dallies (with no worries) for many years. In Simba’s absence, his (lion) pride suffers greatly, starving beneath the tyrannical dictatorship of Scar and the ravenous hyenas.

After a romp in the grass with his childhood friend Nala and an outof-body experience brought on by a raving mad baboon, Simba realizes

that he cannot escape his destiny.

And it was all in 3D. The Lion King was my first 3D experience, and I greatly enjoyed it. The added dimension manifested itself in the depth of the film, making it seem as though the audience was part of the set. The movie was as good as it was the first six hundred and fifty-two times I saw it, though with some improvements and some nostalgic disappointments. It was amazing to see it as large as it was on a movie theater screen, but as I am no longer four years old, The Lion King did not retain that epic quality it once possessed. As a child, The Lion King seemed to last an entire day, if not a more significant span of my young life. As an adult, I felt it go by in an instant, as if the moment I had donned my plastic,

hipster 3D glasses, I was singing Elton John’s credit version of “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” with my friends and clasping their hands melodramatically.

This classic Disney film is only in theaters for the next week, so make sure to buy your tickets now as legions of steadfast fans flock to the Box Office like hornbills to the watering hole. If you miss The Lion King in theaters, however, it is scheduled to be released on DVD/ Blu-Ray on October 4th. Be prepared for the movie of the decade.

Christine Wolfe ’14 (crwolfe@college. harvard.edu) is eagerly awaiting the 4D edition scheduled for release in 2013.

09.29.11 • The Harvard Independent

indy

Sports

Harvard Remains Undefeated (at the Night Game) Harvard beats Brown 24-7.

By MICHAEL ALTMAN

A

Holy Cross in the season opener, it seemed as if Crimson football would lose its first night game on Friday night. But despite an opening loss and incredibly wet conditions, Harvard maintained its night game winning streak by beating Brown 247. This takes Harvard’s current record to 1-1 overall, 1-0 for the Ivy League this season, and 4-0 for night games all-time.

Friday ’s incessant rain failed to deter fans from attending as just over 17,000 made it to the first night game versus Brown.

Har vard took the lead with a touchdown in the first quarter. With a four th down at the Brown sixyard line, Har vard made the risky move of faking a field goal. But the risk proved worth the reward as it allowed Harvard to score on the next play. A solid pass from quarterback Co l to n C h a p p l e ’ 1 3 to t i g ht e n d Cameron Brate ’14 gave Har vard another touchdown early in the second quarter. Though Harvard had a solid 14-0 lead by half-time, fans who saw the Holy Cross game were likely wary of celebrating early.

What Brown lacked in offensive fter a disappointing loss to

The Harvard Independent • 09.29.11

Courtesy of gocrimson.com capabilities during the first half, they attempted to make up for during the halftime show. Halftime shows at college football games are standard and rarely warrant discussion. While most school bands line up in formation and play fight songs, members Brown’s band arranged themselves in the shape of male genitals pointing at the Harvard side of the stadium. Suffice to say, the Brown band needs to work on its formations and/or take an anatomy class. Sadly, this risqué attempt at humor was more entertaining than anything the Brown Bears did during

the actual game.

Brown managed to score a to u c h d ow n i n t h e t h i rd q u a r te r, showing they were undeterred by Har vard’s lead. At this point, the constant rain seemed to be taking its toll on both sides. Numerous balls were dropped and passes slipped out of receivers’ hands. Still, Brown continued to make strong plays and came close to tying the game early in the fourth quarter. Harvard managed to end Brown’s streak by forcing a fumble and recovering the ball.

Chapple threw another solid pass,

this time to Adam Chrissis ’12, to score a third touchdown in the fourth q u a r t e r. B e t w e e n t h e C r i m s o n’s strong 21-7 lead and increasingly wet conditions due to pouring rain, Brown was unable to catch up. Interceptions a n d t u r n ove r s s e ve re l y i m p a i re d Brown’s ability to score. A field goal by Harvard near the final three-minute m a r k wa s t h e f i n a l s co r i n g p l ay, sealing Harvard’s victory over Brown.

Michael Altman ’14 (maltman@college. harvard.edu) only hopes for drier weather next time around. independent1969@gmail.com

11

captured & shot

By MARIA BARRAGAN-SANTANA