The Harvard Crimson THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873
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VOLUME CXLIX, NO. 12 |
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2022
EDITORIAL PAGE 8
SPORTS PAGE 10
ARTS PAGE 3
Cambridge policing alternatives remind us to work toward justice
Men’s basketball rides dominant defense to victory over Brown, 65-50
‘The Bluest Eye’ review: Toni Morrison would be proud
Legislation Targets Legacy Admissions By RAHEM D. HAMID and NIA L. ORAKWUE CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
United States Senator Jeffrey A. Merkley (D-Ore.) and U.S. Representative Jamaal A. Bowman (D-N.Y.) introduced legislation last week that would ban consideration of legacy status in higher education admissions. Many universities currently offer advantages in the admissions process to children of alumni. A document filed in 2018 as part of a lawsuit against Harvard’s admissions process noted that the school accepted more than 33 percent of legacy applicants between 2013 and 2018, prompting renewed calls for transparency in the preference afforded to legacy. Harvard spokesperson Rachael Dane wrote in an email that legacy is “one factor among many in our admissions process.” But lawmakers and experts are split on the potential impact of eliminating legacy admissions. “Selecting applicants to universities based off of family names, connections, or the size of their bank accounts creates an unlevel playing field for students without those built-in advantages, especially impacting minority and first-generation students,” Merkley wrote in an emailed statement.
A bill was introduced in Congress last week which aims to effectively end preference in legacy admissions at colleges. CAMILLE G. CALDERA —CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
The bill, named the Fair College Admissions for Students Act, aims to counteract advantages held by legacy applicants and ensure equal access to higher education, he wrote. But Sally Rubenstone, a former senior adviser for online forum College Confidential, wrote in an email that legacy status is instead most harmful for applicants who are “white or Asian and middle-class with college-educated parents who attended other colleges.” “Underrepresented minority and first-gen students already receive special consideration in the admission process,” she wrote. Kevin D. Brown, a law professor at Indiana University Bloomington, said the bill, if passed, might reduce donations from families of prospective students, endangering the finances of universities that rely on alumni contributions. “They are able to raise money from donors, in part because the donors anticipate a benefit for their children in the admissions process,” Brown said. “And of course, it would raise questions about very longstanding practices of generational students attending the same universities.” Edward J. Blum — the president of Students for Fair
SEE LEGACY PAGE 7
O’Dair HGSU Elects New Leadership, Sets Goals Talks Spring Planning By CLAIRE YUAN and SOPHIA C. SCOTT CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
By AUDREY M. APOLLON and CHRISTINE MUI CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
Reflecting on the first two weeks of the semester, Dean of Students Katherine G. O’Dair lauded students in a Monday interview for their adherence to Covid-19 policies since returning to campus amid a nationwide surge in Omicron cases. Following two weeks of heightened Covid-19 precautions, Harvard relaxed its health policies, fully reopening House dining halls and lowering the weekly testing cadence for students on Friday. O’Dair said that she is “extremely pleased” with how students have observed safety policies since moving in this term. “I think our return to campus went as smooth as it could have gone,” she said. “That is so much to the credit of students.” “My hope — perhaps all of our hopes, including students — is that with continued vigilance, we can make further adjustments,” O’Dair added. In an effort to reduce indoor gathering sizes, the College closed dining hall seating at the start of the semester and switched to strictly takeout options. Though the College opened select dining spaces on campus to accommodate students unable to return to their rooms between classes, some students who live in Quad Houses reported challenges finding places to eat. Associate Dean of Students Lauren E. Brandt ’01 said it is her “strong hopes” Harvard will not have to resort to grab-and-go dining again but did not rule out the possibility if cases spike. “We know there were challenges. That’s one of the reasons why we did set up those alternate locations,” Brandt said. “If we ever had to do it again, I imagine we would do something very similar.”
SEE O’DAIR PAGE 9 INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Arts 3
Harvard’s graduate student union elected a new executive board last week, replacing a leadership team that guided the group through two contentious years of contract negotiations. Koby D. Ljunggren, a biophysics Ph.D. student, was elected as the third president of the Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Automobile Workers last Tuesday. The new leaders said they hope to focus on long-term structural goals after the union agreed to its first contract with the University last November. Ljunggren, who ran uncontested, will serve a three-year term. “What you’re going to see a lot in this next year is us coming together and trying to find rank-and-file ways and solutions to push for a lot of these
SEE TRANSITION PAGE 9
Koby D. Ljunggren, pictured here at a previous HGSU-UAW rally, was elected the new president of the union. COURTESY OF KOBY D. LJUNGGREN
Students Found Fashion Magazine By MONIQUE I. VOBECKY and ELLA L. JONES CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
A group of undergraduates founded a fashion magazine called the Lavender Room last semester to showcase the work of people from underrepresented backgrounds. The publication seeks to celebrate fashion photography and artwork created by students of diverse backgrounds. Mataya Philbrick ’24, co-president of the Lavender Room, said she and her co-founders formed the group at the beginning of the fall semester. Philbrick emphasized that the publication seeks to engage a broad range of identities and audiences. “The Lavender Room is a magazine publication that aims to promote and share the ideas of people of color,” Philbrick
News 7
Editorial 8
By MILES J. HERSZENHORN CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
The Harvard Kennedy School’s Class of 2022 is set to graduate in May, but some students don’t want to leave — at least not yet. Members of the two-year degree programs at HKS said the virtual 2020-2021 school year and this year’s reduced in-person programming left them with an inadequate HKS experience. Since October, more than 160 members of the Class of 2022 have signed a petition for an additional “flex” semester. HKS offered the Class of 2021 a flex semester option, which allowed graduated students to return to the Kennedy School for classes last fall and spend additional time with their classmates. Current students, who also spent time at HKS learning remotely, are calling for the school to extend a similar option this year. “We spent a full year — and more than that really — in online learning, which made it a lot harder for us to build social connections, build connections with our professors and other faculty and staff here at the Kennedy School, attend events, and just really get the most out of our education,” said Peter T. Skopec, a second-year Master of Public Policy student. During negotiations with student representatives that took place last fall, the Kennedy School administration rejected the request for a flex semester. “We will not be offering members of the Class of 2022 a Flex Semester opportunity,” HKS Dean Douglas W. Elmendorf wrote in an email sent to student government leaders in December. But Harvard’s decision to go remote during the January term amid the Omicron surge led to an increase in student support for a flex semester, according to Arielle R. Exner, executive vice-president of the HKS student government. Exner pointed out the Class of 2022 has now spent even more time online than the Class of 2021, which was offered the flex semester. Despite growing student support for the option, Exner
SEE FLEX PAGE 7
SEE PAGE 10
said. “Not only people of color, but a broader and more diverse image of different bodies, shapes, sizes, gender identities, and gender expressions.” Nur Kader ’24, co-president of the magazine, said the organization’s goals extend beyond simply publishing a magazine. “Our hope with the idea of all these events is that the Lavender Room room isn’t just a print magazine, but that we also have space to do events and all these other things,” Kader said. “It’s more of a space where people can gather to discuss fashion.” Philbrick said that the organization aims to create a physical space and medium on campus where marginalized communities can feel safe to explore their creativity. “We want to make sure that all those people have a really
SEE LAVENDER PAGE 9
Sports 10
Students Call for Flex Term
Harvard played Boston University Monday night at the Beanpot, a yearly hockey tournament that takes place in Boston’s TD Garden. JULIAN J. GIORDANO —CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
TODAY’S FORECAST
RAINY High: 43 Low: 23
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THE HARVARD CRIMSON |
FEBRUARY 8, 2022
PAGE 2
HARVARD TODAY
For Lunch Chicken a la Plancha Pork Fajita Sandwich Seitan Tinga
For Dinner Chicken Tikka Masala Salmon with Green Curry Alu Chole
TODAY’S EVENTS Careers in Humanitarianism Webinar Virtual, 11 a.m.
IN THE REAL WORLD
Join this webinar to hear from the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative about what it’s like to start a career doing humanitarian work.
White-Tailed Deer Could Contribute to Spread of Covid-19
After analyzing deer tissue collected in December 2020, scientists found that more than 60 percent of the samples were infected with Covid-19. Especially as the continental United States is home to around 30 million white-tailed deer and it is difficult to identify infected deer, infections in deer could generate new mutations and variants of the virus.
HRV: WiCS Understanding and Managing Credit Virtual, 4:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m. Scared of how much you spend in college? Want to make sure you’re still on track to building good credit? Want free food? In this workshop, not only will you learn how to have good credit, but if you’re one of the first five people to register and attend, you’ll also get a free $25 Grubhub gift card. The Psychochronology of Everyday Life: Time in Graphic Memo Virtual, 6 p.m. Tune in to hear the creator of this famous Bechdel test, cartoonist Alison Bechdel, talk about how her graphic memoirs engage with the concept of time.
Some States Announce Mask Mandate Lifts
Alternating periods of freezing rain and snow made for a slippery day around campus Monday JULIAN J. GIORDANO—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
AROUND THE IVIES YALE: Salovey unveils committee to assess Yale’s gift policy —THE YALE DAILY NEWS COLUMBIA: University Commencement to be held in-person for the first time in
three years —THE COLUMBIA SPECTATOR
BROWN: University professor begins as chair of World Meteorological Organization’s Research Board —THE BROWN DAILY HERALD PENN: Penn Student Government seeks to work with incoming University President, expand club resources —THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN
Some states announced Monday that they will lift specific mask mandates in the coming weeks. Connecticut will lift its mask mandate in schools by the end of February, while Delaware and Oregon will relax their mandates by the end of March. California’s universal mask mandate will end next week.
Supreme Court Allows Alabama to Reinstate Electoral Map
On Monday, the Supreme Court sided with Alabama, allowing it to temporarily reinstate its electoral map, which opponents say discriminates against Black voters. Following the state’s appeal of a lower court’s ruling, the case will proceed to the Supreme Court during its next term.
COVID UPDATES LAST 7 DAYS CURRENTLY
CAMPUS
63
In Isolation
192 0.56% Total New Cases
Positivity Rate
LAST 7 DAYS
CAMBRIDGE
365 3.2% 75%
Total New Cases
Positivity Rate
Fully Vaccinated
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY Crimson Hockey Team Rips Northeastern, 8-3
Harvard’s hockey team handles Northeastern in opening game of the Beanpot and advances to play Boston University in the finals. Harvard squashed BU’s comeback hopes in the third period following late-game penalties from the Huskies. February 8, 1972
Kirkland Senior Wins Scriptwriting Contest
The three-act play “Glad Eden” by John A. Rowell ‘51 was named the best of 12 scripts sent to the joint HarvardRadcliffe Playwrights Group contest. The group of judges included Chairman William Van Lennep, the curator of the Harvard Theatre Collection. February 8, 1951
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873
The Harvard Crimson Raquel Coronell Uribe ’22-’23 Associate Managing Editors President Kelsey J. Griffin ’23 Taylor C. Peterman ’23-’24 Jasper G. Goodman ’23 Managing Editor Associate Business Managers Amy X. Zhou ’23 Taia M.Y. Cheng ’23-’24 Business Manager Isabelle L. Guillaume ’24
STAFF FOR THIS ISSUE Arts Chairs Sofia Andrade ’23-’24 Jaden S. Thompson ’23
Design Chairs Yuen Ting Chow ’23 Madison A. Shirazi ’23-’24
Magazine Chairs Maliya V. Ellis ’23-’24 Sophia S. Liang ’23
Multimedia Chairs Aiyana G. White ’23 Pei Chao Zhuo ’23
Blog Chairs Ellen S. Deng ’23-’24 Janani Sekar ’23-’24
Technology Chairs Ziyong Cui ’24 Justin Y. Ye ’24
Editorial Chairs Guillermo S. Hava ’23-24 Orlee G.S. Marini-Rapoport ’23-24 Sports Chairs Alexandra N. Wilson ’23-’24 Griffin H. Wong ’24
Copyright 2022, The Harvard Crimson (USPS 236-560). No articles, editorials, cartoons or any part thereof appearing in The Crimson may be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the President. The Associated Press holds the right to reprint any materials published in The Crimson. The Crimson is a non-profit, independent corporation, founded in 1873 and incorporated in 1967. Second-class postage paid in Boston, Massachusetts. Published Monday through Friday except holidays and during vacations, three times weekly during reading and exam periods by The Harvard Crimson Inc., 14 Plympton St., Cambridge, Mass. 02138 Weather icons made by Freepik, Yannick, Situ Herrera, OCHA, SimpleIcon, Catalin Fertu from flaticon.com is licensed by CC BY 3.0.
Night Editor Simon J. Levien ’23-’24 Assistant Night Editors Jeremiah C. Curran ’25 Felicia He ’24 Story Editors Jasper G. Goodman ’23 Kelsey J. Griffin ’23 Alex M. Koller ’22-’23 Taylor C. Peterman ’23-’24
Design Editors Camille G. Caldera ’22 Toby R. Ma ’24 Photo Editor Cory K. Gorczycki ’24 Editorial Editor Aurash Z. Vatan ’23 Sports Editor Zing Gee ’23
CORRECTIONS The Harvard Crimson is committed to accuracy in its reporting. Factual errors are corrected promptly on this page. Readers with information about errors are asked to e-mail the managing editor at managingeditor@thecrimson.com.
THE HARVARD CRIMSON |
FEBRUARY 8, 2022
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ARTS 3
THEATER
When actors take the stage, audiences are immediately engrossed in stunning, pain-filled performances that would do the late Toni Morrison proud.
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‘LAUREL HELL’ REVIEW: MITSKI RETURNS IN FULL BLOOM
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WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?: WORDLE
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‘TOXIC POSITIVITY’ REVIEW: A NEGATIVE EXPERIENCE
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“‘OZARK” SEASON FOUR, PART ONE REVIEW: A GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING
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‘MOONFALL’ REVIEW: ROLAND EMMERICH’S LATEST DISASTER FILM SHOULD HAVE BEEN A SATIRE
MUSIC
CULTURE
BOOKS
Mitski’s creative fire, still an unstoppable force after her twoyear break from performing, clears out a space to soothe the pain that such drastic change can bring.
The internet has no lack of time-consuming fads and intriguing crazes, many of which come and go, but how long will this latest one, Wordle, last?
Despite a valiant effort by Goodman, her book’s tendency to sensationalize, lack of organization, and weak narrative arc result in an unremarkable and often unsatisfying read.
Minor shortcomings aside, this first slate of episodes in Season Four are an extremely promising start to Ozark’s final season.
TV
FILM
6
THEATER
‘THE BLUEST EYE’ REVIEW: TONI MORRISON WOULD BE PROUD
The moon falling out of orbit and threatening to destroy planet earth isn’t the biggest disaster in Roland Emmerich’s latest release “Moonfall.”
HASTY PUDDING HONORS JASON BATEMAN AS MAN OF THE YEAR
CAMPUS
Last Thursday night, the Hasty Pudding honored Emmy Award-winning actor, director, and producer Jason Bateman as the 2022 Man of the Year before previewing their new production “Ship Happens,” which premieres in full this month.
‘The Bluest Eye’ Review: Toni Morrison Would Be Proud NINA M. FOSTER STAFF WRITER The voices of iconic Black artists like Beyoncé, Jill Scott, and Janelle Monáe reverberating through the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts make it clear that “The Bluest Eye” will be no ordinary theatrical experience.Being able to produce a faithful stage adaptation of Toni Morrison’s debut novel feels monumental in its significance — and yet, the production feels incredibly intimate. Seats are arranged in a circle around the small stage, inspired by the storytelling circles of Black rituals. The design of the stage mimics a cross-section of a tree trunk, reinforcing the deep roots of storytelling circles and evoking the image of a family tree, which is fitting for a play that explores household dynamics. But the tree is grey and cracked through the center, suggesting from the start that something is wrong. When actors take the stage, audiences are immediately pulled in by stunning, pain-filled performances that would do the late Toni Morrison proud. The cast of eight accomplishes the unimaginable by taking on multiple roles in Morrison’s complex world, seamlessly transitioning from one to the next. But two cast members stand out with their breathtaking performances: McKenzie Frye as Mrs. Breedlove and Brian D. Coats as Soaphead Church. Haunted and left hopeless by her inability to fit racialized beauty standards, Mrs. Breedlove is one of the most complicated characters in Morrison’s tale. Frye wholeheartedly commits to her character, masterfully conveying Mrs. Breedlove’s deep anguish and frustration. When recounting the racism she faced giving birth to her daughter Pecola (Hadar Busia-Singleton), her voice crescendos into a moan that reverberates around the walls of the theater. When she sings, her voice pierces the hearts of all who listen. Frye acts with great attention to physical detail: she limps slightly as she walks, on account of Mrs. Breedlove’s lame foot. Every move in the fight with her husband Cholly (Greg Alverez Reid) is calculated and beautifully choreographed. Brian D. Coats steps into the role of the peculiar “Reader, Advisor, Interpreter of Dreams” Soaphead Church with the same ease. In his most striking scene, Church writes a letter to God, claiming his superiority after leading Pecola to believe that her eyes had turned blue. He begins seated, speaking in a calm, polite tone, but his performance intensifies until he is on his feet, howling about performing a miracle that God could not. Coats embraces this eccentricity and madness, aided by a costume that exquisitely mirrors his character’s personality. Underneath a dirty and worn overcoat is a button down shirt and tweed waistcoat, contrasting the intellectual interior with an unkempt exterior. Between Coats’ faithful performance and the efforts of a talented costume department, it’s as though Church walked right off the page and onto the Calderwood Pavilion stage. Playwright Lydia R. Diamond adapted Morrison’s novel with her newborn son in mind, which becomes increasingly apparent whenever Claudia (Brittany-Laurelle), Frieda (Alexandria King), and Pecola take the stage. While reading the novel, comedy tends to slide under the radar, overshadowed by the more serious subjects of the narrative. On stage, however, these lighter, impeccably timed moments
are given a chance to shine. Whether through sisterly banter or a sassy “Oh no she didn’t” directed toward the audience, the heavy atmosphere of the theater is frequently lightened by laughter. Among many other things, the show is an ode to childhood, rooted in love and innocence. Still, the most compelling scenes of the play are the darkest. At the beginning of the show, it is revealed that Pecola will be sexually assaulted by her father, will get pregnant, and eventually lose the child. The play builds up to this horrific moment of assault, which is disturbingly visceral in the novel. Awoye Timpo’s production handles the pivotal scene with sensibility and taste. What could have been physically explicit is instead a narration of the events by Cholly with subtle physical reactions from Pecola — the two never actually touch. It may seem counterintuitive to soften the events of this scene, which provides all-important resolution to the anticipation that accumulates over the course of the play. But it is a calculated and intelligent decision. “The Bluest Eye” is often misinterpreted as a story about the consequences of sexual assault and grief. While the events of Pecola’s life are undeniably devastating, the real tragedy lies in her quest for blue eyes — remains a priority amidst all of her trauma. Diamond and Timpo are wise to slightly de-emphasize the explicit moments, shifting focus to the young girl’s persistent feelings of inadequacy in a world that rejects her beauty. The impact of the performance is further elevated by its lighting and sound design. When Pecola voices the Dick and Jane narrative, which depicts a happy white family in an ideal home, everything goes black except for lights that pulsate underneath the stage and illuminate the tree’s cracks. A highpitched ringing fills the air, and all other characters freeze in their tracks. These scenes skillfully diversify the play’s structure, bringing an abrupt end to dynamic moments with eerie stillness. A similarly innovative technique is used at the end of the play to illustrate Pecola’s descent into madness. She experiences auditory hallucinations, speaking to a version of herself that does not exist. The imaginary voice, echoey and ominous, projects from different speakers around the theater, giving audiences insight into the process of her crumbling sanity. It comes as no surprise that audience demand for “The Bluest Eye” resulted in two date extensions — the show is now running until Mar. 26. Diamond’s adaptation masterfully guides the story from page to stage and, coupled with Timpo’s brilliant direction, yields a show that is enthralling and unforgettable. Staff writer Nina M. Foster can be reached at nina. foster@thecrimson.com.
Courtesy of the Huntington Theater
WA
08 February 2022 | Vol CXLIX, ISSUE 12 Arts Chairs Sofia Andrade ’23-’24 Jaden S. Thompson ’23
Editors-at-Large Clara V. Nguyen ’23-’24 Sara Komatsu ’23 Chibuike K. Uwakwe ’23
Editor Associates Hannah T. Chew ’23 Isabella B. Cho ’24 Daniel S. de Castro ’24 Nina M. Foster ’23 Anya L. Henry ’24 Ryan S. Kim ’23
Zachary J. Lech ’24 Charles W. McCormick ’24 Jamila R. O’Hara ’23 Harper R. Oreck ’23 Alisa S. Regassa ’24
Executive Designer Nayeli Cardozo ’25
Design Associates Ashley E. Bryant ’23
THE HARVARD CRIMSON |
FEBRUARY 8, 2022
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PAGE 4
MUSIC ‘Laurel Hell’ Review: Mitski Returns in Full Bloom CLARA V. NGUYEN CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
M
Courtesy of David Lee, Wikimedia Commons
itski’s sixth studio album “Laurel Hell,” which premiered on Feb. 4, spares the indie rock star no time to rest on her much-deserved laurels. Instead, she sets them ablaze and smears the ashes
into song. A press release from label Dead Oceans describes the record as a “soundtrack for transformation.” Mitski’s creative fire, still an unstoppable force after her two-year break from performing, indeed clears out a space to soothe the pain that such drastic change can bring. The first line of album opener “Valentine, Texas” serves as both invitation and warning: “Let’s step carefully into the dark.” The melody’s slow movement in narrow intervals mirrors Mitski’s tentative descent into a once-familiar place. “Once we’re in I’ll remember my way around,” she assures
us — and surely enough, she regains her footing as the music strengthens. But not even Mitski’s soaring soprano can shake off the weight of each step, so she resorts to hoping that the “mountains” pulling her down will “float off of me.” In an interview with Rolling Stone, Mitski explained the paradoxical necessity of suppressing the very emotions that fuel her sound in order “to survive in the music industry as it exists.” Lead single “Working for the Knife” cuts right to the heart of her artistic frustration: “I cry at the start of every movie / I guess ’cause I wish I was making things too.” When the bright piano motif that emerges from this chilling admission later returns, its hopeful resolution falters under densely packed synths and guitars that forge ahead in steady rhythm. “I always knew the world moves on,” Mitski admits. The track moves on at the same unforgiving pace, even as “dying for the
knife” replaces “working for the knife” in the last verse. At a tempo fit for a lullaby, “Heat Lightning” burns with the creeping dread of a sleepless night. After the first chorus, where Mitski admits “there’s nothing I can do, not much I can change” about the feelings keeping her awake, a delicate keyboard passage floats above the low rumble of the bass. The imagery that follows is just as exquisite, almost distracting from the storms brewing on the horizon and in Mitski’s mind: As the “sleeping eyelid of the sky flutters in a dream,” she watches the trees “swaying in the wind like sea anemones.” Co-written by Mitski and prolific hitmaker Dan Wilson, “The Only Heartbreaker” borrows from ‘80s dance-pop to give the repentant perspective of the “bad guy in the play,” as Mitski calls herself in relation to an unnervingly faultless significant other. “If you could just make one mistake / What a relief that would be,” the song begins. At one point, a pounding heart briefly assumes the role of percussion before giving out to a snappy backbeat. Its disappearance raises a bleak possibility: Mitski may be the “only heartbreaker,” but what if her heart is the only one breaking? Her partner, who stays “by the window, only watching,” doesn’t seem to care. “I wanted to capture a deeper, sadder feeling, where you kind of realize, ‘Oh, maybe I’m the only one making mistakes because I’m the one always trying,’” Mitski told Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1. The pre-pandemic conception of “Love Me More,” whose first line is “If I keep myself at home,” adds prescience, on top of accuracy, to Mitski’s restless portrayal of loneliness. As she sings, “I need you to love me more / Love me more, love me more,” twice on the same notes in each chorus, the threefold repetition of the lyrics, melody, and accompanying synth ostinato conveys the recurring temptation to view someone else’s affection as an escape from oneself. “That’s Our Lamp” concludes the album with a flash of disco. After a fight with someone who doesn’t like her like they “used to,” Mitski looks up at their shared apartment, where the titular lamp “shines like a big moon” through the dark. “That’s where you loved me,” she remembers. As the thought echoes in the last chorus and outro, “loved” starts to sound more like “left” — to me, at least. But is there really that much of a difference when both are in past tense? Mitski named “Laurel Hell” after the thickets of mountain laurel that grow in the southern Appalachians, whose beautiful flowers disguise dense branches that, according to legend, have lured countless passersby to their deaths. Not despite but in light of the darkness at its roots, her latest music shines in full bloom. Staff writer Clara V. Nguyen can be reached at clara.nguyen@ thecrimson.com.
CULTURE
T What the Hell Happened: Wordle ASHLEY Y. LEE CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
he Internet has no lack of time-consuming fads and intriguing crazes, many of which come and go, but how long will this latest one, Wordle, last? The online game, which is simple in concept but slightly more challenging in practice, has captured the attention of approximately two million users a week. If you’ve been hearing questions along the lines of “Have you done the Wordle yet?” or statements like, “I have a green and a yellow” or exclamations such as “I got it in 2 tries!” and you’re lost: Just hop onto Wordle and see for yourself how you fare. The internet’s latest and greatest pop culture obsession was actually a quarantine conception by Josh Wardle and, as documented by The New York Times, is the product of a love story. Wardle created the game as something his partner would enjoy and decided to share that simplicity and fun after seeing that game’s popularity among his family members. He said to The New York Times, “I think people kind of appreciate that there’s this thing online that’s just fun.” It seems that the public is attracted to the game — as any Twitter feed will tell you — but why? How did this minigame capture the attention and focus of so many? Perhaps it’s to do with the site itself, that the straightforward website layout, lack of ads, and barebones objective make this a good little brain break. Or perhaps it’s that it provides a worthy challenge for eager minds. We like to prove competence in what we think we’d easily know, and when that doesn’t work out so well, the game provides users with just enough frustration to keep them coming for more and continuing to play the game. The limiting factor of one game a day is also a competitive component: People want to keep those winning streaks up. They say “That imitation is the most sincere form of flattery,” and this rings true for Wordle. Since Wordle’s major spike in popularity and user traffic, various spin-offs have been created by enthusiastic Wordle fans. This writer has entertained the Taylor Swift version (Taylordle), the “lewd” varieties (Lewdle and Sweardle) and the “absurdly” hard version (Absurdle). And there is even a numerical Wordle (Primel and Nerdle) for those who are more quantitatively inclined, or
maybe just guessing letters if you’re feeling that type of way (Letterle). But the original also has an exciting future on the horizon. In recent news, The New York Times has added Wordle to its word game arsenal, paying somewhere above $1 million for the platform. Current players are concerned about what this means for the game. Will there be a paywall to overcome in the future? Will the original be lost to the average user forever in its original form? Only time will tell what The New York Times will do with Wordle. But for now, we know that the grey, yellow, and green tiles will continue to occupy screens once a day for many. Staff writer Ashley Y. Lee can be reached at ashley.lee@thecrimson.com
Courtesy of Wongbener2 via Wikimedia Commons
THE HARVARD CRIMSON |
FEBRUARY 8, 2022
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BOOKS
I
n her new self-help book “Toxic Positivity,” Whitney Goodman attempts to straddle the divide between popular psychology and science. Unfortunately, her delicate balancing act does not always succeed. Goodman is a popular psychotherapist who rose to fame on her Instagram account @sitwithwhit. She utilizes her platform to share mental health and wellness tips and to draw attention to problematic social media content. “Toxic Positivity” combines her posted observations and her many years of experience as a therapist to investigate the role of positivity in gaslighting and emotional inhibition. She also offers advice for expressing and managing negative emotions. Goodman argues that society is stuck in a cycle of “toxic positivity”: Emotional distress is dismissed by a knee-jerk response of positivity that shames and silences negativity. Anyone who experiences this emotional invalidation is more likely to respond to others’ distress in the same way, perpetuating the cycle. Goodman declares that this cycle and its detrimental consequences are everywhere, ingrained within every member of this frustratingly optimistic society. Her argument sounds compelling, but the way she presents her evidence is unconvincing and disorganized. The book is glutted with case studies, all of which aim to support Goodman’s thesis. These studies can be illuminating, but Goodman has a tendency to jump from one to the next in rapid succession, causing the reader to fall into a new character’s story without time to process the psychological implications of the previous story. She provides a short synthesis of each character’s experience, but it’s not enough to fully connect their story to the toxic trend. Devoting time to fewer, more detailed examples might have better served Goodman’s reasoning and prevented the reader from getting lost.
It’s also incredibly difficult to sympathize with those featured in the case studies. Goodman states at the beginning of her book that she withholds certain information about her clients in an effort to protect their anonymity; however, the details become too sparse, leaving her stories without depth and emotional charge. Goodman expects us to remember a wide cast of characters — Michael, Pedro, Tory, Alissa, Alex, Liz, and Annie, to name a few — but it’s far too easy to forget who’s who. How can readers care about the psychological journeys of these characters when they can’t even remember their names? The self-help portion of Goodman’s book is split into sections that describe different toxic traits, provide responses to certain situations, and ask questions to promote self reflection, often in the form of an itemized list. Although these lists are a valuable way of checking in with the reader, the overuse of bullet points creates a more unpolished product. The short sentences that compose each list read like unfinished thoughts — if they were instead converted into paragraphs with greater attention to detail, the book would more efficiently convey its point. The bulleted lists also do very little to assist the narrative arc of Goodman’s book and often unnecessarily repeat advice across chapters. “Toxic Positivity” tries to address the superficial and harmful façade of positivity in popular culture and the media. Despite a valiant effort by Goodman, her book’s tendency to sensationalize, lack of organization, and weak narrative arc result in an unremarkable and often unsatisfying read.
‘Toxic Positivity’ Review: A Negative Experience BEATRICE YOUD CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
Staff writer Beatrice Youd can be reached at beatrice.youd@ thecrimson.com.
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Courtesy of Michael Morro via Wikimedia Commons
TV ‘Ozark’ Season Four, Part One Review: A Gift That Keeps On Giving *Spoilers for Ozark Seasons 1-3*
T
he Byrdes are back and better than ever. Following an almost two year long hiatus, everyone’s favorite money-laundering family has returned for Part One of “Ozark” season four, which came to Netflix on Jan. 21. Luckily for fans, these new episodes maintain the show’s tradition of delivering complex character studies, riveting dialogue, unpredictable plot twists, and excellent cinematography. The result is a show that is impossible not to binge. Season four picks up right where the previous season left off, with Marty and Wendy Byrde (Jason Bateman and Laura Linney) cleaning up the blood and guts of Helen, the cartel lawyer who was shockingly murdered in the season three finale. This gory scene serves as the perfect introduction to the new season, foreshadowing the unprecedented high levels of violence that characterize these episodes. However, “Ozark” is careful never to slip into the realm of a cheesy Michael Bay action film, with even the most dramatic moments of destruction justifiably advancing the plot. Having been tasked with obtaining immunity for their ruthless drug cartel boss Omar Navarro, the Byrdes turn to FBI Agent Maya Miller (Jessica Frances Dukes). While she had a smaller recurring role in season three, Dukes is dominant in season four, brilliantly portraying her character’s struggle to maintain her safety and morality as she becomes further enmeshed in the Byrdes’ treacherous world. Her chemistry
BRADY M. CONNOLLY CRIMSON STAFF WRITER with Marty, a man whom she both deeply respects and greatly fears, sets the foundation for one of the show’s most interesting relationships. Bateman, the freshly minted Hasty Pudding Man of the Year, delivers yet another great performance as the show’s logical, unflappable anchor. In fact, Marty’s cool, problem-solving attitude has become such a character trademark that some of season four’s best moments come when this stoic facade is compromised by the irrational behavior of cartel personnel. Considering Bateman’s past comedic roles, especially his iconic turn as Michael Bluth in “Arrested Development,” certainly makes this dramatic performance all the more impressive and enticing. However, as with every season of “Ozark,” Bateman cannot help but be bested by Laura Linney, whose performance as Wendy Byrde is easily one of the strongest on television today. Since season one, viewers have watched Wendy gradually transform from collateral damage of Marty’s questionable life choices into a far greater agent of calculated chaos. This metamorphosis reaches its climax in season four, as Wendy takes the Byrde family future into her own hands with bone-chilling ferocity. One particular scene with Darlene Snell at the end of episode five will leave viewers with no doubt about the death of Wendy’s morality. If one is to buy into the comparisons between “Ozark” and
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Courtesy of Netflix
“Breaking Bad,” Wendy Byrde is undoubtedly this show’s Walter White. Anything short of an Emmy win would be criminal. This season’s few weaknesses lie primarily in unconvincing performances from the Byrde children and the rather confusing logistics of episode seven. After three seasons of being firmly positioned in the realm of supporting actors, Jonah and Charlotte Byrde have more outsized roles in season four. Unfortunately, the delivery of their respective lines often feels forced and unexpressive, a rare miss for the show. As for the end of episode seven, Omar Navarro’s situation and the future of the show seems difficult to decipher, a situation which will hopefully be remedied in Part Two of season four. Minor shortcomings aside, this first slate of episodes in season four are an extremely promising start to the final season of “Ozark.” Few shows on television now (and possibly ever) have managed to improve exponentially over time, offering viewers consistently shocking and truly thrilling entertainment — “Ozark” is one such show. And if that isn’t convincing enough, tune in to see Julia Garner’s masterful performance as Ruth Langmore crescendo to an emotional explosion at the end of the final episode which is truly unlike anything viewers have seen before. Staff writer Brady M. Connolly can be reached at brady.connolly@thecrimson.com
THE HARVARD CRIMSON |
FEBRUARY 8, 2022
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FILM ‘Moonfall’ Review: Roland Emmerich’s Latest Disaster Film Should Have Been a Satire Dir. Roland Emmerich DEBBY DAS CONTRIBUTING WRITER
T
he moon falling out of orbit and threatening to destroy planet earth isn’t the biggest disaster in Roland Emmerich’s latest release “Moonfall.” Anyone familiar with Emmerich’s work, which spans end-of-the-world blockbusters like “Independence Day” (1996), “The Day After Tomorrow” (2004), and “2012” (2009), knows that Emmerich has a history of delivering awe-inspiring visual effects alongside characters that just manage to tug at the heart-strings — even if his scripts often fail to match the grandeur of his movies’ colossal scale. But in “Moonfall,” Emmerich abandons the signature blend of graphics and sympathetic characters that makes his earlier movies so effective. Instead, he smothers a promising premise with cheap comedy and cardboard characters in a tale so unbelievable it borders on satire. Disgraced former astronaut Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson), acting NASA director Jocinda Fowler (Halle Berry), and nutty pseudo-scientist KC Houseman (John Bradley) try their best to convince the audience to root for them as they attempt to save the world from an alien inhabiting the moon and inducing its collision with the earth. But with a script so thoroughly lacking in character formation and development, even big names like Wilson and Berry fail to sustain any engagement with their “Moonfall” counterparts’ plight. Most of the cast suffers from stilted performances, and whatever personal complexities are laid down at the beginning of the movie — the lingering resentment Harper harbors for NASA after his public dismissal, for instance, or Fowler’s nanny Michelle’s (Kelly Yu) status as a foreign exchange student complicating her entrance into national safety camps — are seemingly forgotten for obligatory action sequences like a high-speed car chase in the Rocky Mountains. Emmerich’s reputation for producing stunning visual effects that, if nothing else, make his imagined disasters terrifying to behold, also falls short in “Moonfall.” The use of CGI is obvious in the aforementioned car chase, where everyone’s Hondas stay miraculously shiny and brand-new-looking as they plow through layers of snow and moon debris. The Rocky
CAMPUS Hasty Pudding Honors Jason Bateman as Man of the Year
Mountain backdrop that serves as the setting for most of the latter half of the movie is as believable as Houseman’s theory that the moon is an artificial construct formed by aliens. Still, it’s clear where most of the film’s $140 million budget went. The strange, tessellating shape of the alien is appropriately mystifying and scary, and the visual effects depicting the moon’s surface in crisp detail is nothing short of astonishing. These few moments of visual reprieve can’t make up for the fact that the movie’s whiplash pacing renders its storyline ridiculous and downright unbelievable. Houseman’s doomsday theory about the moon takes a millisecond to blow up on social media; the next night, civilization crumbles as people riot in the streets. NASA reacts to the impending disaster in the blink of an eye by launching an investigative vessel manned by a full crew, as if the agency had always had a plan for the end of the world on the back burner. The army rolls out an old space shuttle from a museum and prepares it for launch in the time it takes Fowler to convince Harper to pilot the thing — in other words, the few seconds Houseman needs to whisper in Harper’s ear, “Say yes.” “Moonfall”’s breakneck speed is as laughable as it is implausible — one almost can’t believe the movie was allowed to run like this without Emmerich and the writers wanting to satirize the disaster genre or jabbing some kind of joke at the audience. Unfortunately, it’s clear that “Moonfall” speeds through its plot not to provide any kind of light-hearted genre-criticism, but only to arrive at the much-belated point where hapless Brian Harper can save the day. For ticket-buyers who simply want a sequence of cheesy, mindless action sequences with no claim to plausibility, “Moonfall” might prove satisfactory. Anyone hoping for a hint of intellectual or emotional stimulation should look elsewhere. If “Moonfall” would just stick with the satirical bent it occasionally and perhaps accidentally infuses into the script, it might actually be a semi-enjoyable film. There are some genuinely funny scenes in the movie: When Harper somehow manages to launch a rocket into the sky despite its being doused by a Noah’s ark-level tidal wave, you can’t help but
O
n the night of Feb. 3, the Hasty Pudding honored Emmy Award-winning actor, director, and producer Jason Bateman as the 2022 Man of the Year before previewing their new production “Ship Happens,” which premieres in full this month. Every year, an actor and actress who have made “lasting and impressive contributions to the world of entertainment” receive the Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ Man and Woman of the Year awards. Hasty Pudding Theatricals — one of the oldest theater groups in the world that is run entirely by Harvard students — held individual ceremonies for their honorees, where they bestowed the Pudding Pot as a trophy. Jennifer Garner received the 2022 Woman of the Year award, who notably co-starred alongside Bateman in the 2007 film “Juno.” The 2022 ceremony marks the first Man of the Year celebration in two years, as the event was cancelled in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic — the only time in the organization’s over 50 year history when the Pudding Pot was not awarded. The evening began with a roast of Bateman, in which the cast of the Pudding made jokes at the expense of his early childhood acting career. Later jokes targeted his broad oeuvre as an adult, including a rendition of “Eternal Flame” by the Bangles, which Bateman famously sang in the 2002 film “The Sweetest Thing.” “Oh boy, that was big for me because I don’t even sing in the shower,” Bateman later said about the impromptu karaoke. “Singing that song in ‘The Sweetest Thing’ was probably the
JULIA R. KENNISH CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
J. Sellers Hill—Crimson Photographer
laugh incredulously. In the satirical version of “Moonfall,” these accidentally funny scenes become intentional, and even the hollowness of its characters reads as designed. In the real “Moonfall,” comedic quips like Houseman’s “I love Elon” may elicit a chuckle, if only they weren’t totally discordant with the gravitas that Emmerich wants the audience to treat the rest of his film with. But it will take more than clever one-liners and the moon falling for audiences to take “Moonfall” seriously.
Courtesy of Reiner Bajo:Lionsgate
last time I did sing.” For a portion of the roast, one student impersonated director Ron Howard, who voices the narrator in one of Bateman’s most famous shows “Arrested Development.” One of his costars from the show, Will Arnett, was also in attendance. Bateman and Arnett, along with comedian Sean Hayes, host the “SmartLess” podcast together, which won the iHeartRadio award for best comedy podcast that very evening. Bateman’s other roles, including his voicing of Nick Wilde in the 2016 Disney film “Zootopia” as well as his most recent work as Martin Byrde in Netflix’s “Ozark,” were all available for ridicule. One of the roasters performed an impression of the “Zootopia” character Judy Hopps, while another impersonated Walter White from the television show “Breaking Bad” to challenge Bateman to a money laundering competition in reference to his role in “Ozark.” Bateman ended the roast in a spangled bra — as Man of the Year recipients often do — stating that he felt “flattered, and grateful, and mortified, and oddly comfortable.” Following the roast, Bateman and the Hasty Pudding held a press conference to discuss his projects and his experience as a Pudding Pot recipient. “It will be above the Emmy,” he responded when asked where the award will be displayed. Bateman added that he’ll “build a little stand for it.” Shortly after the press conference, Bateman and the audience were treated to a 20-minute preview of the Hasty Pudding’s 2022 production “Ship Happens,” written by Maureen Clare ’24 and former Crimson Arts Chair Kalos K. Chu ’22-’23. The show takes place in the 1980s and follows four eccentric characters invited aboard a cruise ship vacation by a mystery host. “My manager Aleen Keshishian is a Harvard grad and she had been telling me for years about the Hasty Pudding,” Bateman said at the press conference when recalling how he found out he was receiving the Man of the Year award. He continued, “I didn’t think it was serious because truly, how does Harvard give an award to anyone who doesn’t have a high school diploma? So I thought it was a joke.” “But I am really flattered to have been chosen and I am still trying to figure out why and how this happened,” Bateman added. Gesturing to the Pudding Pot, he stated, “This right here fills my soul.” Staff Writer Julia Kennish can be reached at julia.kennish@ thecrimson.com
PAGE 7
THE HARVARD CRIMSON |
LEGACY FROM PAGE 1
FLEX FROM PAGE 1
Bill Targets Legacy Status dmissions, an anti-affirmative A action group currently suing Harvard for its race-conscious admissions practices — disagreed. He wrote in an emailed statement that some universities that eliminated the consideration of legacy status in their admissions have been able to maintain and even increase donor gifts.
Up through the 1960s, they were almost exclusively white institutions. Kevin D. White Law professor at Indiana University Bloomington
Viet A. Nguyen — a Harvard Kennedy School student who co-founded a campaign to stop universities from giving preference to legacy applicants — called the idea that ending legacy admissions will hurt donor gifts “a myth.” “This has been sort of a boogeyman argument that people have used to keep legacy preferences when there’s no actual data proving that this supports that conclusion,” Nguyen said. Nguyen called legacy admissions “one of the many” systemic issues in college admissions. “This is the first step of many for us to undo some of these systemic inequities in the admissions process,” Nguyen said. Experts also clashed on how diversity among alumni might play into the bill’s impact. Brown predicted the bill will disproportionately disadvantage white, upper class applicants due to the historical lack of student diversity in higher education. “Up through the 1960s, they were almost exclusively white
FEBRUARY 8, 2022
institutions,” Brown said. “This is a field that will definitely impact the admissions of white students, and particularly white, upper class students more so than anyone else.” Rubenstone, who served as a student representative at the Amherst College admissions office in 1972, pointed to efforts in recent decades to diversify college demographics through initiatives such as affirmative action. “I find it ironic that now, today, when the students who benefited from these revised admission practices have finally reached the age when their own children—or grandchildren— are applying to college, their status as ‘legacies’ is evaporating,” Rubenstone wrote.
This has been sort of a boogeyman argument that people have used to keep legacy preferences when there’s no actual data proving that this supports that conclusion.
HKS Students Seek ‘Flex’ Campus Term ffered a gloomy assessment of o the state of talks between students and HKS administrators since the December exchange. “Currently, the negotiations are pretty much nonexistent,” she said in an interview Monday. Kennedy School spokesperson James F. Smith wrote in a statement that the Kennedy School granted a flex semester to the Class of 2021 “as a one-time accommodation because they confronted a sudden and unexpected shift to virtual learning when the pandemic hit.” He cited “the broadest range of student needs” as a reason to return to “normal academic scheduling.” The high number of HKS students during the fall semester was challenging for some
faculty members, according to HKS professor Kathryn A. Sikkink. “For some of us, it was difficult to deliver the high quality of teaching that we expect here at the Harvard Kennedy School with an unexpectedly large group of students,” Sikkink said. In the Dec. 6 email, Elmendorf said “the negative impact of granting this option, on the Kennedy School and on future students” was the reason for denying students a flex semester. “It’s sad to think that our presence on campus for another semester is seen as the burden,” Skopec said. Nadezda “Nadya” Yusyuz, a second-year Master in Public Administration student, said she was “very frustrated” Dean
Elmendorf used the presence of the Class of 2021 on campus during the fall as a reason to deny her class a flex semester.
It’s sad to think that our presence on campus for another semester is seen as the burden. Peter T. Skopec Second-Year HKS Student
“It means that our experience was even worse — even in the view of the dean,” she said. Exner conceded it was unlikely a flex semester would be granted this late into the spring, explaining it would pose chal-
Harvard, 24/7.
Viet A. Nguyen Harvard Kennedy School Student
“There is nonetheless a critical mass of non-white legacy applicants—especially to the most selective schools—whose parents or grandparents once broke barriers at elite colleges but now won’t receive the special favor that had been granted to some of their white classmates decades ago,” Rubenstone also wrote in her email. rahem.hamid@thecrimson.com nia.orakwe@thecrimson.com
The Crimson thecrimson.com
lenges for students and the school. Exner said she is now focused on negotiating with the administration about “alternatives” that would benefit students, such as extending HKS resources to students after their graduation, increasing social gatherings, or providing financial assistance. “It shouldn’t always be on student government and other students to bring solutions to problems,” Exner said. “And that consistently has been the case.” “I would really love to see the administration come to us with some options and some solutions to discuss and consider,” she added. miles.herszenhorn@thecrimson.com
THE HARVARD CRIMSON |
FEBRUARY 7, 2022
PAGE 8
EDITORIAL THE CRIMSON EDITORIAL BOARD
OP-ED
A Less Policed Cambridge
Liberal Arts Need Double Concentrations
We must redouble our efforts toward justice in our own backyard.
T
he City of Cambridge has some bold new ideas on how to police. Spurred on (but not too fast) by the racial turmoil of summer 2020, the city government is now considering two proposals on non-police approaches to public safety. Their goal? To divert some of the responsibilities traditionally assigned to police departments, particularly when it comes to responding to emergency calls. That Cambridge, after dragging its feet through the bureaucratic process, is seriously considering either proposal is itself deeply encouraging, a sign of how far our city has come since the days when “increased transparency” was deemed equivalent to meaningful reform (it’s not). Both proposals strike at the fundamental need to shrink the sphere of police responsibility and develop alternative approaches to elements of public safety. For that alone, both initiatives are deeply commendable. We have repeatedly pointed to the flaws of existing policing systems. Improper uses of excessive force fall disproportionately on Black Americans, even after controlling for a host of confounding variables. We need not condemn the more than 1,000 police killings of unarmed people from 2013 to 2019 as unjustified to recognize that they constitute an urgent moral problem, not least because the systems for regulating police misconduct are broken. In short: Policing is broken, and we can’t trust it to fix itself. In this context, solutions that cut down the number of civilian-officer interactions become very attractive. The city council has given us two. The Cambridge Department of Community Safety proposed by the city, would send trained civilians to respond to some emergency calls, focusing particularly on non-crim-
inal issues. The Holistic Emergency Alternative Response Team developed by a local police abolition activist group, has outlined similar responsibilities but pledged not to cooperate with CPD under any circumstances. We particularly welcome the shared emphasis on civilian community members, over uniformed and armed police officers, taking on a significant role in day-to-day practices. A natural concern with any policing alternative is that it will regress, in time, to a conventional police force with a different uniform. Both CDCS and HEART seem to actively guard against this. We hope to see the rapid implementation and eventual success of either or both of these programs. Choosing neither is simply not an option. But when it comes to selecting one approach over the other, there’s a shortage of the finegrained operational detail that any informed citizen — or, for that matter, editorial board — would need to give an emphatic endorsement. HEART, for example, has stated that it will not interact with CPD at all; while we applaud their optimism, we are concerned that this will prove unrealistic, at least in the first stages of its implementation. It’s not hard to imagine situations where both or neither groups show up to a call, or where a HEART responder needs to call CPD — but can’t — out of fear for their personal safety or that of a third party. Along the same lines, HEART, by virtue of its non-governmental character, isn’t bound by the same laws that regulate transparency in government organizations. We hope that any potential funding allocation to the program will be contingent on an ongoing guarantee of public transparency in their operations. So, to those behind these exciting ini-
tiatives: Get specific on the details. Let us know exactly what either of these programs would mean for the community so that the public can make an informed decision based on their respective merit. CDCS and HEART should offer more precise and better-publicized information on the specifics of their potential implementation, including how responders will be trained, who they will be accountable to, and how the groups will interact with existing emergency services. If ideological boldness has made these policies a possibility, their implementation details will determine their success. Meanwhile, the City Council’s initiative reminds us to redouble our efforts toward justice in our own backyard. We still firmly believe that Harvard’s police department should be abolished. Harvard’s administration should, moreover, look to CDCS and HEART for inspiration in finding alternative public safety mechanisms that minimize police intervention. On the more preemptive side of things, academic work by Harvard experts that aims to understand and tackle the economic and social roots of crime should be praised and spotlit, offered the space and resources it needs to succeed. Each effort, each new daring policy proposal, brings us a little closer to a future where crime is far less frequent, and our response far more humane. A kinder, less policed reality for the city of Cambridge and beyond. This staff editorial solely represents the majority view of The Crimson Editorial Board. It is the product of discussions at regular Editorial Board meetings. In order to ensure the impartiality of our journalism, Crimson editors who choose to opine and vote at these meetings are not involved in the reporting of articles on similar topics.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
To the Editor: In Support of Basic Rights By INGRID T. MONSON and KAY K. SHELEMAY
W
e are concerned that our letter published in The Crimson on February 4th has been read as an attempt to discourage students from filing Title IX complaints. That has never been our intention. We want to make clear that we are in full support of students coming forward. We have always
supported this basic right. Dean Gay’s letter makes it clear that there is an “asymmetry of information” in the comprehensive understanding and dissemination of the facts of this particular case that makes it difficult for faculty to assess “the proportionality of the response.” We are, of course, in no position to pass judgment on the sanctions without having access to the appropriate facts. And that has not been our purpose.
The goal of our letter was to advocate for the improvement of processes guaranteeing the integrity and fairness of Title IX investigations for students and faculty, whether they be accusers or accused. — Ingrid T. Monson is a professor of Music and African and African American Studies. Kay K. Shelemay is a professor of Music and African and African American Studies.
COLUMN
What Are Our Lives Worth? Ben T. Elwy LIVING A DISABLED LIFE
Y
ears ago, I was leaving a hospital when a stranger handed me his Christian prayer book and zoomed away like he was going for the “Mario Kart” world record. The incident was so sudden and bizarre that I laughed. I remember my mother, herself a devout Christian, looking upset. I didn’t care why, though. My primary concern was carrot cake from the hospital café. I realized years later that the stranger gave me the prayer book because I was disabled, because he thought I should be praying for salvation from the curse he perceived my life to be. That 10-second episode was my first memory of ableism — arguably one of the last forms of discrimination that society deems acceptable, even while disabled people represent the world’s largest minority group. Implicit sexuality bias has dropped 64 percent over 14 years; in that time, explicit disability bias has dropped 37 percent, but implicit disability bias only 3 percent. Ableism takes countless forms depending on one’s disability and intersectional identities, and it’ll be a recurring topic throughout this column. A deep-rooted assumption underlying explicit and implicit ableism, as that prayer book taught me, is that disabled people’s lives aren’t worth living — that they’re better off dead, that they’re worthless. Many culturally-prominent literary works from around the world display this association between disability and futility. From Tiny Tim to Pollyanna to the god Hephaestus, disabled figures often face a predictable fate: to “become normal” and magically lose their disability, or else to die, physically or metaphorically; to lead an artificially triumphant existence, or a tragic one. If you’re disabled, the natural course is to give up, disappear, and stop suffering. I’ve endured that message for as long as I can remember. But people used to at least keep it subtle, before the pandemic. A week ago, everyone in Quincy received an email from a fellow student
advocating for Harvard to end all Covid restrictions and immediately return to normal. This email was eloquently written, and it also contained among the most explicit ableism I’ve ever experienced. “We must ask ourselves what are we going to give up in exchange for what,” the email’s argument read. (I’m omitting the more disturbing parts.) Citing data that Omicron is mild and raising mental health concerns — extremely critical, but a false binary with Covid safety — it asserted that we can’t afford to continue avoiding infection.
I like myself as I am, more or less, so I don’t want your misdirected prayer book. I want your action towards changing the culture around us, for everyone’s sake. That may mostly work, if you’re abled. But what if you’re disabled or immunocompromised? A simple cold once hospitalized me. Assuming I survive Covid, a threat beyond anything I’ve experienced before (and being high-risk doesn’t mean I worry about dying whenever I get sick), long Covid could give me another disability. “Giving something up” sounds reasonable — until you realize you’re talking about people’s lives like a disposable resource and making implicit judgments about worth, handing out metaphorical prayer books. I’m not here to discuss what the best Covid policies are. That’s outside my scope. People can, and should, debate that; I want Harvard’s policies changed too. My issue lies with a return to pre-pandemic normalcy, because our safety and inclusion on campus cannot be a debate. Unfortunately, ableist attitudes towards the pandemic aren’t limited to that email and the thread it spawned. The Harvard administration, expecting everyone to get infected, has given up on Covid, ending isolation housing and contact tracing. The anonymous Crimson
OpenGov app shows the student body leaning towards drastically reducing restrictions. The message, now shouted aloud, is that disabled people don’t matter, that we’re expected either to fatalistically await infection or to disappear, hiding ourselves away on our own campus for abled people’s convenience; no in-between. We’re broken already, the subconscious rationalization goes. If I’m broken, it’s because systemic prejudice has broken me. “You are not entitled to our deaths,” Mia Mingus writes. Mingus is a disability advocate who received the Robert Coles “Call of Service” Award at the PBHA last fall, though it seems we’ve already forgotten her. “You are not entitled to the deaths of our loved ones in the name of capital, privilege, and ‘normal.’ You are not entitled to our silence,” she continues. Rendering the ableism long buried deep in society painfully explicit, the pandemic is only the next event in a world history that has told disabled people they don’t belong. Now, whenever I meet new classmates, I have to wonder how, beneath their smiles, they view my presence in this community; to question whether I truly exist here. Living a disabled life means living a life others consider not worth living, worth valuing. But I like myself as I am, more or less, so I don’t want your misdirected prayer book. I want your action towards changing the culture around us, for everyone’s sake. Don’t forget the older faculty, the staff with young children, the healthy students who’ll develop long Covid and become disabled; all the people you’ll never meet but whose lives you may irreversibly affect. “We are bound together, by virtue of existing on this planet,” Mingus emphasizes. Our lives are worth living, deserve life. Every single one matters. Remember. —First M. Last ’20, a Crimson Editorial editor, is a concentrator in House. Her column appears on alternate Wednesdays.
By MICHAEL Y. CHENG and EMMETT E. DE KANTER
A
ll Harvard students signed up for a liberal arts education when we decided to attend the College. But what exactly does this mode of scholarship entail? A liberal arts education is about developing a self — about figuring out who you want to become by immersing yourself in timeless texts, having conversations that open your eyes to previously-unconsidered perspectives or those you outright disagree with, and living in a campus community defined by common values. A liberal arts education involves admitting on a day-to-day basis that you came to college to grow, not to declare that you already know all the answers. We attend Harvard because we are all on a journey to discover who we want to become and how our passions and inclinations harmonize with the broader world. This journey involves academic exploration — hence, the General Education program, a uniquely f lexible course registration system, and perhaps the most crucial academic element of all: the process of choosing our field of study. After three semesters of pure exploration, we declare a concentration, a roadmap which serves to orient us for the rest of our Harvard years. Most students are satisfied by pursuing a single field of study: They explore all the options, and decide that focusing on one field is their best academic path. But some students discover passions in two fields. They might be fascinated by Latin American politics and astrophysics, or ancient folklore and computer science. Unfortunately, the current joint concentration system often fails to encourage students to pursue their authentic interests. The joint thesis requirement, under which students must write a thesis that integrates the methods of two fields, is a significant burden that discourages many students from pursuing their preferred course of study. Students who do pursue joint concentrations are often caught between multiple advisors with different priorities for their joint theses, or find that they have to constrain their true interests to fit the requirement that the thesis combines both fields. To solve these issues, Harvard should introduce double concentrations and allow students who fulfill the course requirements for two fields to concentrate in both. Peer schools like the University of Chicago — a top-notch research university widely praised for its commitment to the liberal arts — have allowed students to double major for decades, providing a model for what this could look like at Harvard. It might appear that allowing students to concentrate in more than one field would incentivize students to pursue endless academic credentials. Any time the ceiling for possible achievement seems heightened, pressure increases for students to do and accomplish more in turn. However, better that some students take more classes and feel free to explore their interests than be railroaded into a single field that they feel obligated to engage with for its professional value. More and more students are coming to Harvard with expectations to pursue a course of study that leads directly to a lucrative job. These trends do not seem likely to reverse soon. Student interests are shifting rapidly; the number of Statistics, Computer Science, and Applied Math concentrators increased over fourfold from 2008 to 2019. In contrast, the number of sophomores declaring an arts and humanities concentration decreased from 263 for the Class of 2013 to 115 for the Class of 2023. As student interests change, the best way to preserve the liberal arts is not to suggest that it does not matter at all what field you study, but rather to encourage students to make authentic choices in the face of outside pressures. If a student feels pressured to pursue a STEM concentration but discovers a love for philosophy in their first year, they ought to be able to pursue both fields, not give up their newfound interest altogether. Although students can always take courses outside their concentration, in practice, students will feel more connected to a field of study when it is formally part of their degree program. It might be a f law of human nature that we want to be publicly rewarded and recognized for our efforts; nevertheless, we have to design systems that recognize the realities of our humanity. Instead of forcing students to twist their interests to fit the joint thesis requirement, or pushing students to give up and just pursue one field that seems more remunerative or prestigious, Harvard should give students the option of a double concentration — which will strengthen, not cheapen, the liberal arts. The Faculty Council should immediately approve a double concentrations proposal. It is not the case that having more choices is always better; sometimes it feels like we have so many choices that we don’t know who we are. But to preserve the possibilities of a liberal arts education in the face of rapidly changing interests and technological developments, allowing double concentrations is common sense. Michael Y. Cheng ’22, a History and Mathematics concentrator in Quincy House, is president of the Undergraduate Council. Emmett E. de Kanter ’24, an Integrative Biology concentrator in Winthrop House, is the vice president of the Undergraduate Council.
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THE HARVARD CRIMSON |
TRANSITION FROM PAGE 1
FEBRUARY 8, 2022
O’DAIR FROM PAGE 1
HGSU Elects O’Dair Discusses Spring Planning New Leadership changes at the extra-contractual level,” Ljunggren said. The Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Automobile Workers is led by a president and vice president, who are overseen by a group of three trustees who are also elected by general membership. Two trustees from last year will stay on. Ljunggren said the new leadership will prioritize internal reforms and membership expansion. “There’s a lot of energy around reforming our union towards more democratic principles,” they said. “There’s a lot of energy around doing a lot more direct action on the ground and really empowering rank-andfile folks.” Amulya Mandava, the new vice president, said the board hopes to institute a “membership growth plan.” “It’s important to know we mean more than just having more people sign union cards,” she said. “It also means having those people who are card-holders — who are members — be more actively engaged in the organizing efforts of the union.” The Harvard Graduate Stu
dents Union-United Automobile Workers went on strike in 2019 after negotiations for its first contract with Harvard stalled. The union went on strike for three days this March before securing its first-ever contract. “It’s still kind of tumultuous and I think we’re still trying to hopefully one day build trust with the University,” Ljunggren said. “I just don’t think we’re quite there yet.” Ash E. Tomaszewski, a second-year at Harvard Law School who previously served on the union’s bargaining committee, wrote in an emailed statement they are “extremely excited for our next e-board and to see what they do.” “I’ve worked with many of the new e-board members in the past and have the utmost confidence in their abilities and devotion to our union, to improving working conditions for student workers, and to ensuring we stay dedicated to fighting for protections from sexual harassment and discrimination,” Tomaszewski wrote. claire.yuan@thecrimson.com sophia.scott@thecrimson.com
“This just isn’t about the students and their experience, but it is also about the staff who work in these spaces on a daily basis,” she added. DSO administrators said students can expect the return of some residential traditions in the near future. As Housing Day nears, freshmen are preparing to choose classmates with whom they wish to live in their upperclassmen dorms — a process called blocking. The FirstYear Experience Office intro-
duced more programming to educate students about blocking based on guidance from the Committee on Student Life’s ongoing review of the process, according to Brandt. “There was also a panel that was hosted with House administrators, our housing office staff, and first-year proctors to give students an opportunity to ask questions,” Brandt said. “They’re really trying to give students a sense of how to navigate what can be a somewhat
complex process.” In November, the DSO discussed about plans this spring to reopen House grilles — student-run eateries that offer latenight food. Brandt said now that dining halls are operating at normal capacity, she expects students to be “hearing about grilles opening up very soon.” For the first time since the pandemic started, the College Events Board plans to hold an in-person Yardfest, an annual concert for undergraduates.
“We are back up and running with events and activities that do follow [Environmental Health and Safety] guidelines, and Yardfest is one of those,” said Jason Meier, associate dean for student engagement. “We are very much hoping current trends with Covid numbers will continue, and we have full faith that our students will continue to abide by those.” audrey.apollon@thecrimson.com christine.mui@thecrimson.com
LAVENDER FROM PAGE 1
Students Found Fashion Magazine g reat place on this campus to be able to share all of those ideas and all of that love and expression that comes from fashion,” she said. Philbrick added that the group also hopes to raise awareness about the marginalization of women of color in the fashion industry. “Our secondary goal is to educate on how women of color, especially in fashion, have been ignored and denied entrance for such a long time,” she said.
In order to create an inclusive space, the organization plans to hold a completion comp and provide technical training to new members rather than expect expertise, Philbrick said. “We’ve been working in conjunction with the learning labs to provide training to all new members for cameras and photography, as well as posing and composition,” Philbrick said. “We have another event coming up in partnership with [Harvard African Students Associ-
ation] on the 18th where we’re going to be talking about the allBlack folk cover and how representation and fashion stems from that conversation.” Kader said though the publication will center around Harvard, they hope to engage the greater Boston area. “Our magazine would focus on Harvard, but we’re also thinking about the community that we’re in as a whole,” Kader said. “We would also love to do stuff in Cambridge or Boston, so
not just Harvard specifically.” Philbrick said that while the publication has faced challenges in becoming an official club on campus and navigating logistics, she has found the experience fulfilling. “It hasn’t been easy,” Philbrick said. “But, I have to say, in every single step of the process, it’s been really heartwarming seeing us all come together.” monique.vobecky@thecrimson.com ella.jones@thecrimson.com
From Weeks to Weld.
The Crimson thecrimson.com
SPORTS
WEEKLY RECAP
SCORES
WOMEN’S WATER POLO VS. LA SALLE W, 15-5 ___________________________________________________________ MEN’S TENNIS VS. MICHIGAN W, 4-3 ___________________________________________________________ MEN’S BASKETBALL VS. YALE L, 58-55 ___________________________________________________________ WOMEN’S BASKETBALL VS. YALE W, 65-59 ___________________________________________________________
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL VS. PURDUE FORT WAYNE L, 1-3 ___________________________________________________________ WOMEN’S SQUASH VS. STANFORD W, 6-1 ___________________________________________________________ WOMEN’S HOCKEY VS. CORNELL W, 6-3 ___________________________________________________________
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Harvard Notches Road Victory Over Brown, 65-50 By MAHTAB SHIHAB CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
The last time the Crimson walked into Pizzitola Sports Center in Providence, R.I., they experienced heartbreak at the hands of the Bears – losing on an and-one buzzer beater. Nearly a month ago, Harvard lost its first conference game of the season to this same team. The Crimson needed a different outcome on Friday if it wanted to keep their hopes of making the Ivy League Tournament alive. Coming into this game, both Harvard (11-7, 3-3 Ivy) and Brown (10-13, 2-6 Ivy) were out of the playoff picture and a loss would tank their chances of securing a spot in the postseason. The Crimson played with a sense of desperation and matched the intensity of their Ancient Eight rival, coming away with a 65-50 victory. “I thought we had a sense of urgency, combined with a sense of calm, which I thought was great,” head coach Tommy Amaker said. “I was really pleased with how we approached [the game] and how we were relaxed yet had the sense of urgency to come out and play really well early.” Harvard’s victory was spurred by a dominant defensive performance in the first half. The Bears only scored eight points and shot 12 percent from the field in the period. It was Brown’s worst scoring half
of the season, as the Crimson raced out to a 29-8 lead at the end of the period. “I thought our defense in the first 20 minutes was outstanding,” Amaker said. “And you know that it really was tough on them because they missed a lot of shots that I think normally they would make, but holding them to eight points in the first half was remarkable.” The Bears attempted to come back in the second half, with a much stronger offensive performance in which they scored 42 points on 55 percent shooting. Nonetheless, the Crimson were able to quell Brown’s momentum thanks to an efficient scoring output from junior guard Luka Sakota. The Etobicoke, Ont., native matched his career high with 18 points, including four triples. “I thought Luka was tremendous for 40 minutes,” Amaker said. “He did a tremendous job and really put on a great effort.” Alongside Sakota, Harvard received valuable contributions from senior forward Mason Forbes, who has provided a much-needed inside scoring presence for a Crimson team that has been without most of its big men this season. Forbes scored 11 points on 67 percent shooting, igniting Harvard during crucial stretches of the game where the Bears were trying to go on a run. “He had an instant impact being able to just finish around
the rim to give us a couple of key dunks,” senior captain Kale Catchings said. “I don’t think we realize we missed him as much as we did and it’s nice to have him back out there.” The offensive efforts of Sakota and Forbes were emblematic of a well-balanced scoring attack from the Crimson. The team-oriented effort allowed Harvard to win despite Brown slowing down senior forward Noah Kirkwood, the team’s leading scorer, who is averaging nearly 18 points on 49 percent shooting this season. Although Kirkwood only scored 11 points this game, Harvard’s best player was still an integral part of the team’s offense. “They loaded up against [Noah] and tried to make it hard for him,” Amaker said. “You know, as we keep going forward, it’s no question that he’s going to have to find his teammates and trust them. He did exactly that and it was outstanding to see. I thought he played a tremendous game by not forcing shots and not hunting his own offense.” Kirkwood and the rest of the Crimson will have to keep up their efficient offense if they want to continue their rise through the conference standings. Harvard will face Yale on Saturday in its first back-toback set of road games this season. “We have a lot of new guys who haven’t experienced {backto-backs],” Catchings said.
SAKOTA STRIKES Junior guard Luka Sakota drives to the rim during a game against the University of Rhode Island on Dec. 1. ZADOC I. N. GEE—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
“Hopefully our senior and upperclassmen leadership will be able to lead us through this. We had 10 guys tonight so that was good and we’re gonna need everyone again tomorrow.” The game against the Bulldogs will be unconventional, as Payne Whitney Gymnasium
will have no fans. The Crimson appear to be up for the challenge and will do their best to defeat a team that has always given them a bit of trouble. “There’s definitely going to be a difference in the atmosphere,” Sakota said. “It’s harder to bring that energy but we
got to do it. You got to find energy within ourselves and I think we’re capable of doing it. It’s it could be a lot worse if it’s at home that we’re away, so you got to treat it as any other game. Yeah, I think we’ll be fine.” mahtab.shihab@thecrimson.com
MEN’S ICE HOCKEY
Crimson Falls to BU, 4-3, in Opening Round of Beanpot By BRIDGET M. SANDS AND AARON B. SHUCHMAN CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
With just over two minutes remaining in the first round of the 69th annual Beanpot Hockey Tournament and the goaltender pulled for the extra skater, the Harvard Men’s Ice Hockey team had their chances to tie the game and erase a 4-1 second period deficit. However, the Crimson were unable to complete the comeback, as Harvard (12-8-2) fell to the Boston University Terriers (15-10-3) by a score of 4-3 on the traditional first Monday night in February in Boston at TD Garden. “I thought they played an excellent game,” head coach Ted Donato said of the opposing Terriers. “Well coached, put us on our heels. Dug a hole too big to come out of. But a lot of that was due to us being a bit too passive…that has to do with BU’s speed and skill.” With Harvard entering the storied Boston College-BU-Northeastern-Harvard tournament on a fourgame winning streak and BU
entering having won eight of their past nine games, both teams rode momentum into the competition’s opening round, as the Terriers looked to advance to their record 55th Beanpot final appearance and the Crimson aimed to reach their 27th championship game. From the opening puck drop, the game was physical. Firstyear forward Alex Gaffney was violently upended in the neutral zone less than a minute into the game, while junior defenseman Henry Thrun threw his weight around with several punishing checks. Both teams traded low-percentage chances in the early going, with neither team able to generate any offense from in tight around the net, until BU captain Logan Cockerill found an extra gear and surged around first-year defenseman Jack Bar, driving from his forehand to his backhand and tucking the puck around junior goaltender Mitchell Gibson for the 1-0 lead. Despite conceding the early lead, senior forward and captain Casey Dornbach provided an immediate answer for Harvard
only 35 seconds later. Dornbach and first-year forward Matthew Coronato combined to keep the puck in the offensive zone and wrest control away from the Terriers, and Coronato’s slick pass from the top of the right circle found Dornbach, who roofed a wrist shot from just in front of the hash marks to tie the game at 1-1. The Crimson picked up some momentum from the tying goal, as the “Jersey Boys” line of Gaffney, junior forward John Farinacci, and sophomore forward Alex Laferriere continued to drive offense, as Farinacci’s pass from the goal line found Gaffney uncovered in front, but Gaffney’s stuff-in attempt was denied by BU goaltender Vinny Duplessis. Harvard was sent to the penalty kill only moments later, as sophomore defenseman John Fusco was called for holding after trying to prevent a Terriers breakaway. Despite facing a Harvard penalty kill that ranks 14th in the NCAA at 85.7%, BU was able to convert quickly on their man-advantage, as forward Jay O’Brien strode down the right wing and
CORONATO COUNTER Harvard forward Matthew Coronato skates by Boston University defenders in the opening roud of the Beanpot on Monday night at TD Garden. JULIAN J. GIORDANO—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
ripped a shot through a screen and past Gibson to give the Terriers a 2-1 lead. BU continued its strong play immediately after the second period puck drop. After withstanding a shot from junior forward Wyllum Deveaux that rang off the crossbar and into the stands, the Terriers headed to the power play after Laferriere committed a frustration-induced penalty when he hooked the BU forward who stole the puck from him moments prior. BU wasted no time capitalizing on the opportunity, as forward Matt Brown ripped a wrist shot from just inside the faceoff circle past Gibson only 10 seconds into the power play. “[We] could have put more pressure [on O’Brien]...we needed to apply more pressure [on Brown],” Ted Donato said regarding BU’s two power play goals. “Even at 5-on-5 we need to be more aggressive everywhere on the ice.” Less than two minutes later, the Crimson were given a power play of their own, as Thrun made a gorgeous outside-inside move to cut to the slot, drawing a tripping penalty on BU’s Luke Tuch in the process. However, despite rolling out a power play unit that leads the ECAC in conversion rate at 21.3%, Harvard was stymied by the Terriers’ penalty kill unit. The Crimson was unable to generate consistent stretches of offensive zone pressure during the man-advantage, and the defensemen had a difficult time corralling pucks sent back to the point, leading to several short stretches of puck possession. The poor power play trip was amplified just minutes later. Despite producing a two-onone odd man rush opportunity between Thrun and junior forward Austin Wong, Harvard was soon hemmed in by a persistent BU forecheck, as the Terriers’ first line took advantage of a mismatch against Harvard’s fourth line and kept the puck in the Crimson zone. Shortly after, BU forward Ethan Phillips was able to deflect a shot from the point by defenseman Case McCarthy past Gibson to give the Terriers a 4-1 lead. However, only minutes away from heading to the locker room
down by three, Harvard came to life in a hurry. After BU forward Dylan Peterson was sent off for roughing following a netfront scrum, during which senior defenseman Marshall Rifai pulled Peterson’s helmet off, the Crimson were given another chance to eat into the Terriers lead and redeem their earlier poor power play. Harvard’s power play would prove to be much improved the second time around. Halfway through the power play, Thrun’s one-time shot from the faceoff circle was stopped by Duplessis, but he left a lively rebound in the front of the net, and after Coronato’s stuff-in attempt was denied, first-year forward Zakary Karpa was able to force the puck past Duplessis to cut the deficit to 4-2. The Crimson’s momentum didn’t stop there. Just over 20 seconds after Karpa’s goal, Wong and senior forward Jack Donato entered the zone off the rush. Wong’s initial shot was blocked by the BU defenseman, but he was able to recollect the puck and fire a second shot on net. Duplessis made the save, but the rebound fell right to Jack Donato, who hammered it past the Terrier netminder to cut the deficit to 4-3. Jack Donato celebrated emphatically as he skated back to the bench, sending Harvard back to the locker room only trailing by one. “We never quit. We have faith in our team as well,” Jack Donato said. “In this tournament, all four teams are able to come back like that. We did it at Cornell, we did it at BC last week, we didn’t lose any confidence on the bench. Power play got us a big goal, got another one right before the end of the second. I thought we had momentum. Maybe [the end of the] period came at kind of a crappy time. I think our guys worked, and we never quit.” Despite the Crimson entering the third period riding a stretch of strong offense, the BU defense was able to lock down defensively for the majority of the third, smothering the Harvard offense and rebuffing scoring chances. The period once again began with a very physical tone, as both teams threw their weight
around in the corners, during intense puck battles, and in open ice. The Terriers had a chance on the power play eight minutes into the period to increase their lead when Rifai was whistled for high-sticking, but Gibson stood tall, denying an attempted deflection through his legs, and a BU forward missed a wide open net just after the power play expired. “We buckled down in the third period and for nothing to happen, that’s a good job on us. They didn’t really get all that much,” Cockerill said. Despite needing to generate offense in order to get back in the game, the Crimson was stymied until the very end of the game. The Farinacci-Gaffney-Laferriere line generated a few low-danger opportunities, but they were largely shut down all night. Ted Donato pulled Gibson for the extra attacker with just over two minutes remaining in the game, and Harvard was able to generate a few opportunities, including a netfront deflection by Coronato and a hard wrist shot from Thrun. However, the Crimson never truly threatened with the extra skater, and when Thrun’s shot ricocheted off Duplessis with 12 seconds left, it rolled all the way out of the zone, draining the rest of the clock and sending Harvard to a 4-3 loss. “This tournament is always an important springboard towards the end of the season, and for us as we come down the stretch in our league, in the Ivy League, in the ECAC, games like this are really important in the one-game elimination set which is what you see once you get to the end of the year,” Coach Donato remarked on the loss. “It’s a tough pill to swallow but I think this experience for a very inexperienced team could serve us well.” The Crimson are back in action this Friday, February 11, when they take on the Yale Bulldogs at Bright-Landry Hockey Center at 7 pm. They will play Boston College in the Beanpot Consolation game, Monday the 14 at 4:30 p.m. aaron.shuchman@thecrimson.com bridget.sands@thecrimson.com