THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873 | VOLUME CXLV, NO. 43 | CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS | TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2018
The Harvard Crimson The University has done the bare minimum in response to the Dominguez allegations. EDITORIAL PAGE 6
College Tuition and Costs Rise
Harvard softball exploded for 14 runs and an 11-run victory over Cornell. SPORTS PAGE 8
Harvard College Total Cost of Enrollment 70000
$67,580 $65,609
65000
$63,025
CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
The cost of attendance for Harvard College will be $67,580 for the 20182019 academic year, an increase of about 3 percent—or $1,971—from the previous year, Harvard announced Monday morning. Next year’s cost of attendance includes $46,340 for tuition, which also marks a 3 percent increase over the 2017-2018 fee. The more than $20,000 in other charges covers fees, room, and board. The Harvard Corporation, the University’s highest governing body, sets tuition charges each year. The average cost of attendance— that is, tuition, fees, room, and board— for an undergraduate at an American four-year private university was $44,820 for the 2017-2018 school year, according to the College Board. The College Board also reported that the in-state cost of attendance at a fouryear public university was $18,390. Last year, the cost of enrollment at
Amount (dollars)
$60,650
By DELANO R. FRANKLIN and SAMUEL W. ZWICKEL
60000
By SHERA S. AVI-YONAH and MOLLY C. MCCAFFERTY
$58,607
CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
David M. Rubenstein, a member of the Harvard Corporation, discussed his non-linear path to private equity, outlined his philanthropic vision, and ruminated on past failures at a Harvard Business School event Monday. The Corporation is the University’s highest governing body; Rubenstein, the newest member of the 13-person board, was appointed to the body in 2017. The 68-year-old co-founder of Carlyle Group—a D.C. based private equity group—is worth more than $2.6 billion and is known for his philanthropy. He also advises multiple prominent nonprofit and educational institutions, including chairing the board of trustees of the Kennedy Center and the
A host of campus and local labor unions released a statement Monday morning in support of the graduate student unionization effort, urging eligible graduate and undergraduate students to vote in favor of collective bargaining in the upcoming April 18 and 19 election. Signatories to the letter included Harvard’s four campus unions: the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers; the Harvard University Security, Parking, and Museum Guards Union; the 32BJ chapter of the Service Employees International Union; and UNITE HERE Local 26, which represents Harvard University Dining Services workers. The letter was also sponsored by two Boston-area labor groups which represent construction and trade workers working at Harvard, the Area Trades Council and the Building and Trades Council of the Metropolitan District. The upcoming April election follows a protracted legal battle before the National Labor Relations Board between the University and Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Automobile Workers over the results of the an earlier Nov. 2016 unionization election. At issue in that case was whether eligible voter lists provided by the University during the first election met the Board’s standards. After over a year of hearings and briefs before the regional and national NLRB, the Board ruled that the voter lists were inadequate, ordering a second election. University staff assistant Emily Hankle was one of the HUCTW representatives involved in writing the support statement. She said HUCTW has been meeting with HGSU-UAW organizers for “some time,” though the latter group “led the effort” on curating the letter. “We made a couple little tweaks here and there that put our voice on it as well. Then they passed it around to some of the other unions to make sure all the other unions were okay with it and came back to us and we said yes, we’d be happy to sign onto it,” Hankle said. The authors of the letter wrote that HGSU-UAW’s success would bolster the efforts of all campus unions to effectively bargain with the University. “We want to offer words of strong encouragement to students who support unions in general but are uncertain about working to build the HGSU-UAW union for themselves,” the letter reads. “Let’s be perfectly clear: the best way to support other unions and move working people forward is to create and strengthen your union.
SEE RUBENSTEIN PAGE 7
SEE ENDORSE PAGE 7
$56,407 $54,496
55000
$52,650 $50,724
50000 $48,868
45000 ‘09-’10
‘10-’11
‘11-’12
‘12-’13
‘13-’14
‘14-’15
‘15-’16
‘16-’17
‘17-’18
‘18-’19
Academic Year DIANA C. PEREZ—CRIMSON DESIGNER
SEE TUITION PAGE 7
Rubenstein Discusses Vision, Experience By CASSANDRA LUCA and WILLIAM L. WANG CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
David Rubenstein speaks during an interview at the Harvard Business School Monday evening . KAI R. MCNAMEE—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
Body Pulled from Charles Sunday
Athletes Form BGLTQ Group
By DELANO R. FRANKLIN
By PAULA M. BARBERI
CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
The body of a 27-year-old Cambridge man was pulled from the Charles River Saturday, and investigators do not consider his death suspicious, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. “Based on witness statements, video footage from nearby cameras, and additional evidence obtained by State Police detectives since Saturday morning, his death does not appear to be the result of foul play,” a spokesperson for District Attorney Daniel F. Conley wrote in an emailed statement. The Massachusetts State Police were not immediately available for comment.
T wo Harvard students have founded a support group for BGLTQ-identifying student-athletes—dubbed Queer Undergraduate Athletes That Do Sports, or QUADS—which held its first meeting in mid-February. Co-founders and teammates on the men’s varsity swim and dive team Schuyler M. Bailar ’19 and David J. Pfiefer ’18 say the group is the first of its kind on Harvard’s campus. Bailar and Pfiefer both identify as BGLTQ, and Bailar—the first openly transgender student-athlete to compete on an NCAA Division 1 men’s team—has earned national attention for his advocacy for BGLTQ students.
SEE DEATH PAGE 7 INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Harvard Today 2
Groups Endorse Union Effort
News 7
SEE QUADS PAGE 7
Editorial 6
Queer Undergraduate Athletes Do Sports is an undergraduate group formed in part by Schuyler Bailar ‘19. AMY Y. LI—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
Sports 8
TODAY’S FORECAST
PARTLY CLOUDY High: 46 Low: 33
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Suboptimal
HARVARD TODAY
TUESDAY | MARCH 27, 2018
FOR LUNCH
FOR DINNER
Jerk Chicken Fusilli Alfredo
Cod Provencal
Pepperoni Pizza
Tangerine Chicken
Green Garbanzo Falafel Sandwich
Red Beans & Cauliflower Curry over Basmati Rice
AROUND THE IVIES After 7-Year Suspension, McGraw Hall May Resume Renovation Cornell’s 146-year-old McGraw Hall may finally resume its renovation plan after years of delay, the Cornell Daily Sun reports. McGraw Hall’s renovation was postponed indefinitely after the University installed temporary struts after three ceilings collapsed in 2009. According to the Sun, the temporary bracings are still performing as expected, but the University is seeking a more permanent solution. Cornell officials said the University has not yet committed to a renovation project or fundraising plan, though they anticipate that the project will be costly.
Penn Class of 1968 Unsure Whether Trump Will Attend 50Year Reunion
GUND HALL Gund Hall, pictured on Monday, is the home of the Graduate School of Design, which will be welcoming Mark Lee as its new architecture chair in July. ZENNIE L. WEY—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
HAPPY TUESDAY, HARVARD! Spring has sprung but I’m still coldhearted. Explain? Obesity: It’s More Complex Than You Think (5:00 p.m.) Go to the Knafel Center at 10 Garden Street to listen to how obesity is a far more complex subject than it seems. Fatima Cody Stanford—an instructor
at Harvard Medical School—will be lecturing. Asia’s Growing Generation Gap: Causes and Consequences (4:15-6:15 p.m.) Meet at S020 CGIS South for the Harvard-Yenching Institute Annual Roundtable. This discussion will center around the growing generation gap in Asia.
How Mushrooms Changed the World (6:00 p.m.) Yes, of course they’re talking about the food. Head to the Geological Lecture Hall at 24 Oxford Street to listen to what has to be a fascinating discussion. Professor of Biology David Hibbett will be lecturing. Lorenzo F. Manuali CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
The Class of 1968’s organizing committee for this May’s 50th reunion extended an invitation to President Donald Trump, who is an alumnus of university, but has not received a response yet, according to the Daily Pennsylvanian. Many members of the Class of 1968 surveyed by the Pennsylvanian said they did not expect him to attend. Last year, the Class of 1967 called upon Penn to denounce Trump; thus far, no such plans have emerged for the Class of 1968, the Pennsylvanian reported.
Columbia Students Organize NYC March for Our Lives Columbia Law School student Alex Clavering became one of the leading organizers for New York City’s iteration of the worldwide March for Our Lives this past weekend, the Columbia Daily Spectator reported. Clavering, along with a few other Columbia Law School students, first started a Facebook event in response to calls for gun control activism from student survivors of the deadly Parkland, Fla. school shooting in February.
IN THE REAL WORLD West Expels Russians President Trump and scores of other allies expelled many Russians from their countries after the poisoning of a spy in the U.K. by the Russian government. Stocks Surge...Again The Dow Jones Industrial Average has its best day in weeks recently, as it and the rest of the market surged due to easing concerns about trade. 2020 Census to Add Question About Citizenship Status The Commerce Department reported that the 2020 Census would have an added question concerning citizenship status. Opponents worry this will discourage immigrants from responding to the census and thus skew the results.
LUKE MARTINEZ WAITING AT THE DOT Luke Martinez ‘19 dons chains and a blazer as they perform at Battle for Yardfest last week. JUSTIN F. GONZALEZ—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
The Harvard Crimson
QUOTE OF THE DAY
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873 Derek G. Xiao, President Hannah Natanson, Managing Editor Nathan Y. Lee, Business Manager Copyright 2018, 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.
“Maybe I’ll do Chemistry now, like, who knows.” Nishita Sinha ’21
CORRECTIONS The March 26 article “Saudi Prince Visits Campus” incorrectly indicated that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman requested to meet with Harvard faculty and administrators. In fact, he only requested to visit Harvard. The March 26 article “SEAS Energy Facility Steelwork Completed” incorrectly indicated that the architectural firm that designed the district energy facility is Behnisch Architekten. In fact, Leers Weinzapfel Associated Architects designed the facility.
STAFF FOR THIS ISSUE News Editor Joshua J. Florence ‘19 Night Editor Phelan Yu ‘19 Story Editors Graham W. Bishai ’19 Joshua J. Florence ’19 Claire E. Parker ’19 Alison W. Steinbach ’19 Brian P. Yu ’19
Assistant Night Editors Sports Editor Simone C. Chu ’21 Joseph W. Minatel ’21 Luke W. Xu ’20 Design Editors Diana C. Perez ‘19 Editorial Editor Elijah T. Ezeji-Okoye ’20 Photo Editor Caleb D. Schwartz ’20
THE HARVARD CRIMSON | MARCH 27, 2018 | PAGE 3
ARTS EVERYTHING YOU WOULD WANT IN A SHOW
GRAPHIC BY EMILY H. HO
THUDLASH:
R NG / CRIMSON DESIGNE
the week in arts
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TUESDAY
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wednesday
YOU ARE (NOT REALLY) HERE: THE ART OF MAPPING FICTION AND FILM Artist and illustrator Andrew DeGraff lectures on whether it’s possible to objectively map subjective stories. He discusses how the intersection of art and cartography reveals details about both the storyteller and the story being told. Houghton Library. 5:30 p.m. Free.
PRODUCTIVE DISORDER: MUSIC, FILM, AND ART IN POSTWAR GERMANY This lecture explores the production of visual art in postwar Germany, a wasteland of destruction and scarcity. In the art of this era, innovation and experimentation converge with the Nazi suspicion of anything innovative and experimental. Harvard Art Museums. 6:00 p.m. Free.
RAJ KARAN S. GAMBHIR CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
29 On March 24, a crowd of students, alumni, and Harvard Affiliates congregated in the Lowell Lecture Hall to view the Harvard Undergraduate Drummers’ spring show THUDlash. Leading up to the show, the hall filled with smiling faces, some old, and some young. Zev J. Nicolai-Scanio ’22, who will be a freshman at Harvard this fall, came to support his friend Sam Markowitz ’21. “I feel like music is definitely going to be part of my Harvard experience once I get here,” Nicolai-Scanio said. “I went to the fall THUD concert and absolutely loved it. It was a great mixture of the things I enjoy about music. The sense of camaraderie, the lightheartedness, but yet the professionalism.” Suddenly, the lights dimmed, the banter softened, and the audience erupted in applause as directors Adam B. Wrobel ’19 and Dody T. Eid ’20 ran onto the stage. Wrobel laid only one ground rule for the crowd: “If you see something you like, yell.” And with that, Eid and Wrobel introduced the show’s opener, the Harvard Beatboxing Society. The three-man troupe performed a trap rendition of “Elmo’s World,” among other hits. Once the HBS took a bow, THUDlash commenced. Like previous THUD shows, THUDlash’s plot was quirky and reference-heavy. The show followed the cast of THUD as they attempted to learn the perfect percussion piece from the Percussion Wizard. Along the way, they face hardships like going to the Quad, losing their percussion buckets, and passing out from consuming the Wizard’s “magic pills” bought from the Market in the Square. But
the THUD team overcame these challenges, and with the help of the tough but loving Percussion Wizard a la J.K. Simmons in “Whiplash,” the team was able to play the “Perfect Piece.” Through the course of the show, THUD accomplished feats like playing percussion with Solo cups on two stacked tables, keeping up a complex drum beat on buckets while the buckets are kicked around to other drummers, and playing the drums on buckets placed on elevated legs. Saim Raza ’19 thought the show was incredibly multifaceted. “It had everything from dance to singing to—obviously—percussion. It was one of the best performances of any artistic show I’ve seen on campus. It had everything you would want in a show,” Raza said. The show ended with a tribute to the group’s outgoing seniors. Nathan W. Siegelaub ’18, Cole R. Durbin ’18, Daphne C. Thompson ’18, former Crimson associate managing editor, and Aisha I. Suara ’18 were honored with roses, warm embraces, and enthusiastic applause from the audience. For Suara, Saturday’s performance was a bittersweet moment. “Honestly I’m really sad it’s over,” Suara said. “THUD has been a great part of my experience. It’s been a great two years. I love everything about THUD, the people, the experience. It’s really just a great time. I think this was our best show.” Staff writer Raj Karan S. Gambhir can be reached at raj. gambhir@thecrimson.com.
Thursday
OUT OF ORBIT The Harvard Ballet Company and the Pops Orchestra join forces for this multimedia exploration of outer space. This collaboration features some of the school’s most talented dancers and musicians playing iconic intergalactic tunes. Loeb Drama Center Mainstage. 8:00 p.m. $8 with HUID.
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friday
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saturday
LADY LEE & THE NEW AWAKENING BAND Hailing from the Caribbean, Lady Lee & the New Awakening band bring roots, dancehall, and One-Drop reggae to OBERON. Their variety of songs—from relaxing love ballads to thumping club tunes—spread world awareness through their lyrics. OBERON. 8:00 p.m. $15-25.
ART IN THE AGE OF THE INTERNET: 1989 TO TODAY ICA’s experts give an interactive tour of their new exhibition, which explores how the internet has radically changed art. This exhibition shows that the internet has not just affected how art is made, but also how it’s distributed and recieved. The Institute of Contemporary Art. 2:30 p.m. Free with museum admission.
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sunday
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monday
SHERA AVI-YONAH / CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
THE YEOMAN OF THE GUARD The Harvard-Radcliffe Gilbert and Sullivan Players’ Spring 2018 production is part romance, part comedy, part drama. “The Yeoman of the Guard” tells the story of Phoebe Meryll, who tries to save her lover who has just been sentenced to death. Agassiz Theater. 2:00 p.m. $15.
WIDE ANGLE: THE NORTON LECTURES ON CINEMA | WIM WENDERS This year’s Norton Lectures focus on film, and feature three professors instead of one. This lecture comes from Wim Wenders, a major figure in New German Cinema. Sanders Theatre. 2:00 p.m. Free.
27 March 2018 | VOL CXLv, ISSUE vIII Arts Chairs Mila Gauvin II ’19 Grace Z. Li ’19
EDITOR Associates Kaylee S. Kim ’20 Caroline A. Tsai ’20 Aline G. Damas ’20 Noah F. Houghton ’20 Edward M. Litwin ’19 Petra Laura Oreskovic ’20 Ethan B. Reichsman ’19 Yael M. Saiger ’19
Caroline E. Tew ’20 Jonathan P. Trang ’19 Lucy Wang ’20
Executive Designer Hanna Kim ‘21
Design Associates Mireya C. Arango ‘20 Emily H. Hong ‘21 Jessica N. Morandi ‘21
Executive PhotographerS Kathryn S. Kuhar ‘20 Zennie L. Wey ’20
ARTS
THE HARVARD CRIMSON | MARCH 27, 2018 | PAGE 4
film
‘Isle of Dogs’ Fully Deserving of Puppy Snaps COURTESY OF FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES
CLAIRE N. PARK CONTRIBUTING WRITER Once upon a time, free dogs roamed Japan before “a procession of dog-hating thugs” of the Kobayashi Dynasty begot modern-day powerless house pets. In Wes Anderson’s new film, “Isle of Dogs,” Mayor Kobayashi (Kunichi Nomura), a villain sprung from the pages of a comic book, embraces the demagoguery that is his namesake with an extermination program that involves wasabi-poison and robo-dogs. With a star-studded cast voicing the band of rag-tag abandoned dogs around which the plot circles, Anderson imagines their epic with a gravity and generosity of spirit that all canines deserve. He bestows them with fine, scruffy fur and glassy eyes that bulge with a characteristically canine, reliably heartrending sincerity, and enlivens them through stop-motion animation. In the fictional Megasaki, Kobayashi banishes all dogs to the nearby Trash Island. His ward and distant nephew, twelve-year-old Atari (Koyu Rankin), flies to Trash Island in search of his best friend and guard dog, Spots. What ensues is no gallivanting adventure, but a crusade against impending genocide. While Anderson indulges many touching expositions of canine character, he deals too summarily with Kobayashi’s sudden character reversal, which conveniently catalyzes a flurry of heroic displays for the story’s tidy resolution. Despite the film’s redemptive magical marvels, Anderson falters in a minor oversight: By portraying Mayor Kobayashi as so unambiguously diabolical, his character reversal, precipitated in a single pivotal moment, becomes a bewildering plot device. The parchment on which the tale blossoms crackles with plenty of charming, on-the-nose jokes. Mayor Kobayashi sports a huge, florid tattoo of a cat on his back. Despite speaking in Japanese with-
out English subtitles, Atari’s fearless and adamant kindness toward his canine allies translates easily into emotional maturity and silent strength, and he later delivers an affective haiku with a hilariously bewildering final line: “Whatever happened / To man’s best friend / Falling spring blossom.” One dog balks at his derelict Trash Island environs and declares, “I’m depressing.” Canine thoughts betray a treasure trove of literal jokes and misinterpretations and pointedly humanlike assumptions of self-importance. Chief (Bryan Cranston), the only stray of the central pack, is bitterly cagey, but only from lack of affection. When Atari prods Chief to fetch, Chief qualifies his submission: “I’m doing it because I feel sorry for you.” Chief wistfully tells Nutmeg (Scarlett Johansson), an elfin show-dog with perfectly fluffy caramel fur, “You belong somewhere. You have papers.” Oracle (Tilda Swinton), a gossipy pug, watches TV and interprets the news for others, hence her prescient “visions.” The devious machinations of humankind seem even more dastardly from the canine perspective, but even the dogs are thwarted by prejudice. The indoor dogs cow at rumors of savage dogs that roam the island, unhinged and cannibalistic. They later encounter this menagerie of earnest, scar-speckled, neon-colored outcasts, and Anderson’s tenderness and diligent attunement to the true innocence of canine nature manifests especially in how the maimed dogs express their trauma through spontaneous tears. In Anderson’s world, unadulterated youthful passion allied with the unshakable loyalty of dogs trump hatred in an obvious but nonetheless powerful allegorical clash of good and bad. Chief and his canine cohorts are exemplary democratic citizens, staging group-
votes on all decisions they make, and their goofy but enterprising camaraderie shames the hordes of Kobayashi proponents who are blinded by group-think. Kobayashi’s commandeering of the media and stentorian declarations seem like rhetorical strategies borrowed from a modern, orange demagogue. But in making Kobayashi a muted incarnation of nefarious monomaniacs of a distant but sordid past, and not one who acts out of any suggested insecurity or personal trauma but out of inherent, vicious prejudice, Kobayashi unquestionably invites vitriol. Anderson limns Kobayashi in rigid, two-dimensional strokes. In the interest of keeping spoilers to a minimum—and to curtail self-indulgent quibbling about an otherwise magical feat of a film—someone so unilaterally evil wouldn’t believably be so receptive to Atari’s emotional appeals. Aesthetically, the film is a wondrous fantasia of art. A narrator (Courtney Vance) recounts the epic in stages as furious drumming by sumo wrestlers provide dramatic transitions, and the film announces itself through intertitles and side commentary (read captions quickly to catch them all) that intimate Anderson’s ecstatically playful visual style and daffy humor. It’s a film about the theatrics of translation: “All barks have been rendered into English.” Sprawling, gloriously illustrated tableaus of Japanese landscapes recall woodblock prints and switch out of scenes like theatrical murals. Anderson’s shifts between from 2D silhouettes that resemble shadow-puppets to startlingly material 3D figurines add a frenetic and dramatic flair to the epic. Despite a forgivably practical plot gimmick, this is a tale that all creatures will want to tell (dogs were cordially invited to some screenings), in whatever language they see fit.
campus
Alvin Ailey Celebrates 60 Anniversary with Faith and Vigor th
ELI ZUZOVSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER For one moment on Mar. 22, the Boch Center Wang Theatre in Boston resembled a church onSunday morning. The audience members stood on their feet, exuberantly chanting the religious refrain “Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham” and dancing from side to side. On stage, members of the critically acclaimed Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater company finished their final dance and waved goodbye with a smile. The New York based company, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this month, arrived in Boston for five performances from Mar. 22 to 25. With four pieces from different time periods, the show provided living proof of the long journey that the company—and the country—has traveled in the past six decades. In 1968, the company was just small group of seven Black dancers, led by Ailey; today it is is one of the world’s most preeminent and celebrated modern dance ensembles, often referred to as America’s “Cultural Ambassador to the World.” The performance on Thursday started with “Members Don’t Get Weary,” a recent piece from 2017, choreographed by Jamar Roberts, a veteran dancer with the company. When the lights came on, the mellow sound of a saxophone filled the theater. The dancers, wearing wide straw hats, repeatedly reached their hands towards an unseen horizon. Defined by the choreographer as “a response to the current social landscape in America,” the piece shifted swiftly from moments of profound pain to moments of powerful solidarity. Its soundtrack, composed by the American saxophonist John Coltrane, infused the movement with rhythm and life. The next piece was “The Golden Section,” which was choreographed by Tony award winner Twyla Tharp and premiered in 1983. The Ailey company first performed it in 2006. Set to a new wave rock score by David Byrne and featuring dancers wearing all gold, it provided the perfect 80s experience, an interesting contrast to the first piece. It was a memorable performance full of joy and buoyancy, composed as an 18 minute long
sequence of upbeat leaps, swirls, and turns. Following an intermission, the highlight of the performance began: “In/Side,” a heartbreaking male solo performed by Samuel Lee Roberts and choreographed by the company’s artistic director, Robert Battle. It was one man’s journey through the labyrinth in the depths of his troubled soul, set to the moving sound of Nina Simone’s version of the Oscar-nominated song “Wild is the Wind.” Over the course of only eight minutes, Lee Roberts explored with his body a spectrum of emotions: He jumped, span, ran away, hid, rose, and fell; he was tormented and elevated, rejected and accepted. The evening culminated with “Revelations,” choreographed by the company’s founder, Ailey. Widely regarded as Ailey’s all-time masterpiece, “Revelations” has become a cultural phenomenon. Even though it was originally created during the civil rights movement, the piece hasn’t lost its relevance; it is not less poignant in 2018 than it was in its premiere in 1960. It celebrates the richness and the beauty of Black heritage, which has been so often underestimated. Ailey himself described Black art as “sometimes sorrowful, sometimes jubilant, but always hopeful.” In their meticulous, inspiring ensemble work, the dancers created a dazzling vision of faith and optimism. At 36 minutes, “Revelations” encompassed a variety of colors and atmospheres. The soundtrack mostly consisted of religious refrains, but included a wide gamut of rhythms and voices, from the angelic “Fix Me, Jesus” to the pounding “Wade in the Water.” Over the constantly shifting movement and sounds hovered one uniting spirit—that of Ailey, who worked diligently to democratize modern dance and make it more accessible to underprivileged communities. “Dance is for everybody,” he said famously. “I believe that it came from the people and that it should always be delivered back to the people.”
ARTS
THE HARVARD CRIMSON | MARCH 27, 2018 | PAGE 5
books
Page to Screen: A Wrinkle in Time GRAPHIC BY JESSICA N. MORANDI / CRIMSON DESIGNER
LIANA CHOW CONTRIBUTING WRITER
COURTESY OF DISNEY
Madeleine L’Engle’s novel “A Wrinkle in Time” can feel like a constellation of concepts too abstract to be understood. Written during the tense U.S.-Soviet space race, the novel whisks away its characters into the cosmos, and its slim binding opens up to a fifth dimension, three sages who were once literal stars, and a crawling mass of evil itself. L’Engle anchors such immense imaginings in earthly detail. The novel’s self-mocking humor and the specific struggles of its characters temper the unimaginable with the tangible. Ava DuVernay’s 2018 sparkly film adaptation tips the story further toward the realm of the grandiose, sometimes at the cost of the personal narratives that originally kept it grounded. The year before the novel’s publication in 1962, a Soviet, followed by an American, had become the first human in space. NASA was just four years old. Neil Armstrong would not set foot on the moon until seven years later. While literature has imagined space travel since the second century, 1962 was a particularly exciting time to write about entering space. L’Engle’s imagination filled the gaps in scientific knowledge with concepts as large as the fifth dimension (which allows characters to wrinkle space and time) and love. In retrospect, the space scene of both the book and the film, in which a girl’s love for her brother defeats Evil itself on a faraway planet, seems to fight the tensions of nuclear warfare and the space race. L’Engle imagines a space journey that threatens to end in the world’s devastation but instead ends in peace. Whether or not L’Engle intended to comment on destructive political tensions, her novel promotes communication and understanding between dissimilar people. On a terrestrial scale, protagonist Meg Murry (Storm Reid) and her little brother Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe) are ostracized at school, leading to Meg’s increasingly aggressive behavior. The dystopian planet called
Camazotz to which everyone moves amplifies L’Engle’s critique of exclusionary thinking, as does the brainwashing of Charles Wallace. In the novel, he responds to his sister’s recitation of the Declaration of Independence by saying, “That’s exactly what we have on Camazotz. Complete equality. Everybody exactly alike.” Meg retorts, “Like and equal are not the same thing at all!” The characters’ strengths, the story reveals, lie in their abilities to relate to people who are not like them. DuVernay’s film debuted during another escalation of nuclear tensions and another resurgence of nationalism. However, in the film, the critique of exclusionary thinking is overshadowed by a plea for self-acceptance, which was secondary in the novel. The film skips the diversity-promoting scene with the Declaration of Independence, for example, and foregrounds confidence using saccharine lines like “You just have to find the right frequency and have faith in who you are.” The banal sentiment is rehashed by the soundtrack’s whiny pop anthems. In a similar spirit, the film sanitizes the story of Meg’s friend Calvin’s (Levi Miller) emotionally estranged, physically abusive family, but adds the same aforementioned self-acceptance backstory for Meg’s schoolyard bully (Rowan Blanchard): She takes her insecurity about her weight out on Meg. This is not to say the theme of embracing multiplicity over uniformity is missing from the film. The casting of a multiracial Murry family, which was white in the book, aligns with the book’s encouragement of diversity. In fact, the casting of a black Meg can be seen as a update on L’Engle’s original decision to make her protagonist a girl, which was unusual in science fiction and possibly a reason why reason at least 26 publishers rejected her. The placement of people in unusual roles was at the heart of the book’s conception. Still, a certain eccentricity is lost from page to screen. The
contrast is most apparent in the portrayals of Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon), Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling), and Mrs. Which (Oprah Winfrey), the stars-turned-almost-women who guide the children through their space journey to save their scientist father. Mrs. Which has a golden moment of humor in the novel when she begins to materialize on Earth but proclaims, “I ddo nott thinkk I willl matterrialize commpletely. I ffindd itt verry ttirinngg.” Not only does Winfrey as Mrs. Which materialize in the film, but she arrives magnified to a giant’s size, cut and pasted into the sky like an unwieldy photoshop project. Another delightful image lost in translation onto the screen is Mrs. Whatsit, engulfed in an outfit of scarves, falling over in the Murrys’ kitchen and leaking rain water out of her boots. While the film has spectacular technology at its fingertips, the book ultimately manages to capture the most stunning visuals. As if the celebrity presences of Winfrey, Witherspoon, and Kaling are not conspicuous enough, they wear jeweled eyebrows and gowns that could be their next Met Gala outfits. The film’s reluctance to show the Mrs. as anything less than breathtaking weakens the book’s earnest respect for oddball characters. The film generally avoids the grotesque images that help make the book compelling. Everyone and everything is impossibly pretty. And yet, despite the attempts at visual splendor, the onscreen renderings are somehow less stunning than L’Engle’s descriptions The story, already cosmic in nature, did not need the film’s attempts to add resplendency. Still, the film would have benefitted from taking itself a little less seriously. An openness to more of the book’s awkwardness, humor, and pain would have helped to remind viewers why, for 56 years, readers have accompanied L’Engle’s misfit characters on their mind-boggling journey through space and time.
music
‘?’ Does Little to Redeem XXXTentacion KAYLEE S. KIM CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
XXXTentacion is undoubtedly talented. Born Jahseh Onfroy, he emerged from the SoundCloud rap scene and released his first EP at the age of 16, followed a year later by his first album, “17.” And perhaps because of his unconventional start, he has been more willing to deviate from norms of rap and hip-hop, which has consistently landed him on Billboard’s top hits. The now 20-year-old rapper is also one of the most controversial artists of his time, and for good reason. He has a history of violence against women that includes physical abuse of his then-pregnant ex girlfriend, allegations of torture, kidnapping, and sexual assault, and has been in and out of jail since 2016. Yet his short but extremely successful career has remained largely unaffected by his behavior: He wrote his newly released second album “?” on house arrest while awaiting trial for 15 felony charges, including aggravated battery of a pregnant woman, domestic battery by strangulation, false imprisonment, and witness-tampering. So how does “?” reconcile any of this? It doesn’t. Set alone, “?” seems like a look at the inner workings of a troubled young rapper, an experimental blend of acoustic sound with modern trap. In his opening track, “Introduction (instructions),” X doesn’t rap or sing, but speaks without background noise: “This album is far different, far more versatile, far more uplifting than the last. It’s something you can find comfort in, it’s very comforting, but discomforting at the same time. So, with this project, again, you’re entering my mind, feeling my insanity, feeling my genius, my energy. Enjoy.” But, contextualized, the album paints over the inexcusable attitudes that have consistently manifested in his actions. His behavior should taint how we listen to his music—how else are we to respond? Yes, artists who violate the law are by no means a novel concept, but “?” is so imbued with
aggression and sexual overtones that separating the artist from the person is impossible. “Floor 555” is the most explicitly belligerent in tone. Over a rumbling beat, X yells repeatedly, “Fuckboy, don’t test, boy, don’t test / Boy, don’t test, boy, don’t test,” an angrier rendition of his 2016 song “Don’t Test Me.” “schizophrenia” is similar with its bursts of screaming and menacing drums as he screeches, “Don’t give up, don’t give up.” There does seem to be a hint of pained remorse in “PAIN = BESTFRIEND” when he sings, “Lost in regret, I / Feel so deeply, I can’t seem to find the means of ground,” but his outlet for regret is still vocally strained screaming, which closes out the last 40 seconds of the 100-second song, leaving no room to explore the nuances of his anguish. This aggression also transfers to his views on sex, as “SMASH!” is exactly what it implies. The seemingly tender tracks of his album, “the remedy for a broken heart (why am I so in love),” “SAD!” and “NUMB,” are superficially so, with lofty lyrics that rely on repetitive lines and filler tunes. Along with completely random tracks like “I don’t even speak spanish lol” and “Hope” (which begins with a shout out to the Parkland shooting), they muddle X’s hasty attempts to address his behavior and make his aggression seem even more startling in comparison. X’s failure to adequately articulate the inner workings of his “mind, insanity, genius, and energy” makes for not only a chaotic album but a problematic one. “?” is as disjointed as it is superficial, and other than abrasive screaming, its short 18 tracks have few unifying threads. It’s still his most emotional work to date, but his attempt to wear his heart on his sleeve fails because that sleeve hides an abusive hand, one that has also been blindly given a mic. Staff writer Kaylee S. Kim can be reached at kaylee. kim@thecrimson.com.
COURTESY OF XXXTENTATICON / BAD VIBES FOREVER
ARTS
THE HARVARD CRIMSON | MARCH 27, 2018 | PAGE 6
books
‘Love, Simon’ Forgets It’s a Coming Out Story in its Transition from Book to Film MASON SANDS CONTRIBUTING WRITER
With its indie pop soundtrack, sassy drama teachers, zany principals, and archetypal main-character-crawls-outof-window-onto-balcony-to-ref lecton-the-world scenes, “Love, Simon” screams Young Adult just like the book it is based on, “Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda” by Becky Albertalli. Both the book and the film follow the life of Simon (Nick Robinson), your average high school student, as he navigates coming out as gay and falling in love with his mysterious email pen-pal, Blue. Then, the two versions diverge. Whereas, in “Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda,” Simon learns to accept himself with his newly realized sexuality, in “Love, Simon,” Simon learns to accept himself despite his sexuality. This key difference in message makes the movie, eagerly anticipated by audiences as an authentic coming out story, deemphasize the personal selfacceptance that is necessary for a story of this kind. In the movie, Simon has reactions ranging from discomfort to outright homophobia and transphobia. During a Halloween party, Simon ridicules the “Freudian Slip” costume of his friend, Martin (Logan Miller), saying he looks like “a drag queen rolled around in magnet poetry.” Simon can’t even handle dancing in color-block outfits to Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” because, as he says, he’s “maybe not that gay.” Simon’s aversion to flamboyance is a reflection of a greater internal desire to embrace his all-hoodie wardrobe and be more straight-acting, and this desire never changes nor is it openly addressed. When Simon’s friend, Leah (Katherine Langford), tells him that she’s “killing off hetero Simon in her mind,” he immediately objects. Ever after coming out, Simon is still afraid that people’s opinions about him will
change. He becomes obsessed with acting straight and rejects homophobic stereotypes. However, the lengths Simon goes to in order to define himself by what he is not (“I’m gay, but I’m not…”) suggests that being gay is an imposed identity rather than something that has always been a part of him. Thus, Simon’s efforts to appeal to the idea of “normality” in society make the source material’s original message obsolete. In “Love, Simon,” acceptance of Simon’s homosexuality comes from external factors, rather than from Simon himself. In some scenes, this allyship and support is perfectly balanced. Simon’s mother (Jennifer Garner) gives a tear-jerking speech about Simon finally having the chance to fully breathe and affirms that Simon is still Simon, just as he has always been. The purity of Garner’s performance in her role and great script in this scene make the speech stand out as something deep, personal, and authentic. The film veers from the personal journey that is so central to Simon’s story in the book. There are times in the movie when allyship is overbearing and takes the spotlight away from the main character in a self-congratulatory manner. The contrasting ways the film and movie respectively depict the ferris wheel scene exemplify this difference. In the book, the ferris wheel is the site for Simon and Blue’s private rendezvous. Here, they are able to meet for the first time in private, without social pressures. In the movie, this privacy evaporates. After publicly calling on Blue to meet and reveal himself on the ferris wheel, Simon rides the wheel around and around while the entire student body watches him in anticipation for Blue’s reveal and burst into applause when he and Simon meet and kiss. While a great display of
COURTESY OF BRANTLEY GUTIERREZ
allyship, it distracts from the character development of Blue and Simon, reducing their coming out to a self-congratulatory publicity statement about the openness of the community rather than an emotional climax of Simon and Blue’s coming out and self-acceptance. Excitement for “Love, Simon” was high in the BGLTQ community. Riding high on the success of more diverse films, “Love, Simon” marketed itself as part of this movement. Its distinct feel-good, Young Adult feel differs sharply from the disproportionate number of movies that focus on struggle, pain, loss, and death in the BGLTQ cannon. Its general
romantic comedy-esque lightheartedness is perhaps symbolic of the changing times in many parts of the world where being BGLTQ has perhaps become somewhat easier than in the past because of a more tolerant society. There is a new generation who believes, as Simon in the movie says, “everyone deserves a good love story.” But while the movie points out the need, it does not act as a remedy. Unlike “Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda,” which is an authentic tale of a young boy’s personal transformation in coming out as a gay man, “Love, Simon” focuses too much on being accepted by society rather than on self-acceptance.
columns
3am cinema club: Chapter 4
GRAPHIC BY MIREYA C. ARANGO / CRIMSON DESIGNER
TIANXING V. LAN STAFFF WRITER The grill reflected the twinkling bonfire. Sizzling sounds emerged from the salmon steak and chicken fillet, unfit for my vegetarian stomach. A few people had started dancing, beers in hand, their figures standing out against the dark, velvety sea. The fluorescent lights of the harbor illuminated lonely gantry cranes in the distance. I suddenly felt like I was one of them. “So, who are you?” The woman at the grill asked, with the professional smile of a hotel receptionist. Who am I? “I mean, what do you do? What’s your thing?” She asked the customary follow-up question. She had just finished telling me about her position as a teaching assistant for modern Hebrew. I thought her name was Alex, short for Alexandra and that she was from New York—either the city or the state. “Well I don’t think my thing defines who I am.” I wanted to avoid talking about film. “Like, people always talk about their jobs and hobbies when they meet, because it’s the easiest thing to talk about. But it’s not necessarily the essence of their identity. You know what I mean?” “That’s an interesting answer.” She looked surprised. At that moment, Kwan Yin wandered over. “How’s everything going down here?” She, too, had a beer in her hand. She turned to the woman beside me. “Jan is wondering if you could add some chicken tenders to the grill. Also I see you’ve met my new friend?” “Yeah, I was just asking what he does.” Alex said. “Oh, he’s a filmmaker!” Kwan Yin said, sounding proud. “You should tell Alex about your script! It’s in-
teresting.” “Ah! What is it about?” Alex asked. “Well, it’s about a girl who wakes up and realizes the door of her room has disappeared, so she just stays there for a very long time.” I felt self-conscious about how uninteresting the idea sounded. “The thing is that it’s going to be one person and one room for the entire film. Once the door is gone, she realizes she never had any real urge to leave the room in the first place.” “I see. So is it kind of a commentary on our modern world? Like with the Internet and smartphones and everything. We’re living in such a secluded world. And now there’s VR.” That was not what the film was really about, but I wasn’t sure what it was about either. “And how did you get into film?” Alex asked. I didn’t want to talk about film anymore. I had come to Hong Kong to rethink my relationship with film, but I hadn’t achieved anything significant in the past week, and now I just wanted to spend my last four days listening to the seawaves. “I’m from a small city in west China and my family is working class, so when I was a teenager I thought there was nothing interesting to do,” I said. “Then I discovered film, and I felt like I could connect with the people and places in film more than I could with people and places in my real life. I guess that was my first experience with film. It’s probably all escapism.” I suddenly noticed the full moon and the ocean twinkling along with the bonfire. “Actually, my parents
didn’t let me watch too many movies because it distracted me from my studies. So I would take my little MP4 player to bed with me, wait until my parents were sleeping, and then watch movies under the blanket. I used to imagine that all the young people around the world who watched films under blankets would start a film club together. We would call it 3AM Cinema Club.” Alex listened attentively. I thought what I had just said was inappropriately sentimental for someone I’d just met, so I appreciated her patience. She was a nice person, but I didn’t know what else to talk to her about. Kwan Yin seemed to notice what was on my mind and started a new topic. Soon she and Alex got into a heated discussion about recent podcasts. I allowed myself to zone out and wondered what my girl-in-the-room would be doing about now. A close-up of a burning cigarette pointing upwards. The tip turns red, then dims down. A puff of smoke crosses the frame. Another red tip and puff. Then another. Cut to a close-up of the girl’s face in profile. She tries to blow a smoke ring. When she finally succeeds, she bursts into bliss. Staff writer Tianxing V. Lan’s column, “3AM Cinema Club,” is a serialized work of fiction set in Hong Kong which follows the protagonist as he works to write a screenplay.
THE HARVARD CRIMSON | MARCH 27, 2018 | PAGE 7
Advising Fortnight Kicks Off Monday By KATELYN X. LI and HEIDE L. ROGERS CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Freshmen students flooded Annenberg Hall Monday night to talk to advisers from all 49 concentrations and 9 unaffiliated secondary fields at the Advising Fortnight kickoff dinner on Monday evening. The annual concentration fair is the opening event for Advising Fortnight, a two-week series of events aimed at helping first-year students start thinking about their concentration choice. According to Assistant Director of Advising Programs Brooks B. Lambert-Sluder ’05, the kickoff event allows freshmen to sample different interests and get a sense of how they want to start exploring their future concentration—both over the next two weeks, and over the next several months before their decision. Undergraduates have until November of their sophomore year to choose a concentration. Catherine R. Shapiro, resident dean of freshmen for Crimson Yard, said the Advising Fortnight kickoff dinner can be an important time for first-years to begin considering what courses they might select in the upcoming semester. Many students might only begin taking introductory courses for their concentration in the fall of sophomore year. “You need time to think about what you’ve heard and how that fits into your experience, so that when you go into sophomore year, you’re making good decisions,” Shapiro said. While Monday’s concentration fair might have given students a first glimpse at prospective concentrations, Patrick D. Ulrich, associate director of undergraduate studies in Environmental Science and Engineering, said the kickoff dinner is only meant to be an introduction.
Rubenstein Talks Philanthropy RUBENSTEIN FROM PAGE A1 Brookings Institution. The Business School event was co-hosted by the Venture Capital and Private Equity Club, an HBS student group, and by the Conversations at Harvard series, which celebrated its 15th anniversary Monday. More than 100 people attended the informal town hall-style conversation. Rubenstein began his remarks by asking the audience if they were surprised when they were accepted to Harvard. Rubenstein then said that he—unlike the audience, comprising mostly Business School students—would likely never receive a Harvard degree. “I’m probably the only person here who will not get a Harvard degree,” he said. “I do enjoy what Harvard represents, which is the epitome of what the human brain can achieve when you have great scholars and great students coming together.” Peter V. Emerson, the founder of Conversations at Harvard, explained he started the series—a program that invites prominent figures in various fields to Harvard’s campus—to encourage conversations in lieu of prepared speeches. Before Rubenstein spoke to the audience, co-president of the Venture Capital and Private Equity club Jessie Cai explained the significance of the billionaire’s work across the past few decades. “His efforts are wide-ranging, extending from arts, culture, health care, education. He’s even pioneered a new
“It’s hard to talk in depth here, so the hope is to come up, meet us, and then let’s talk one-on-one when you’re actually really interested in what we’re offering,” Ulrich said. In the following two weeks, students will have the chance to follow up on their concentration interests in a variety of events hosted specifically by faculty representatives from different departments. Dean of Freshmen Thomas A. Dingman ’67 said he would urge students to look at several options. “I’d encourage them to go to a handful that seem close to their current interests and collect some information,” he said. Ross Simmons ’21, who said he had no clear idea about his concentration choice, visited a plethora of tables. “I talked to Earth and Planetary Sciences and Math and Physics and Classics and Government and Social Studies, and I made a sweep,” Simmons said. Some student said that conversations with faculty members present at the event convinced them to consider a field that had not previously been on their minds. “I had an interesting conversation with Andrew Berry because of this event, and I’m really glad, and now I’m actually maybe considering Integrative Biology,” Joyce Tian ’21 said. Tian added that though the crowded event was “preposterously chaotic”, she was glad that “they’ve actually coalesced every single concentration and every single director of these concentrations specifically for us to talk to.” Nishita Sinha ’21 like many of her peers, said she is still far from a final decision on her concentration. “I talked to Gregory Tucci, which was really cool,” Sinha said. “He’s in Chemistry and I really wasn’t Chemistry, but he’s such a cool professor, and maybe I’ll do Chemistry now, like, who knows.”
the College rose by 4.1 percent—marking the largest percent increase since the 2008 economic downturn. The rise in the College’s “sticker price” follows a long-term trend of annual increases in the cost of a Harvard education. The inflation-adjusted price rose 31 percent between 1998 and 2015, according to a 2015 Chronicle of Higher Education report. Harvard’s total cost of attendance first rose above $40,000 in 2005, above $50,000 in 2010, and above $60,000 in 2015. The cost of attendance has increased at a faster rate than inflation;
growth in consumer prices has hovered around 2 percent for the past year. The median family income in the United States rose by 3.2 percent to reach $59,039 in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Many College students, however, pay significantly less than the sticker price to attend Harvard. The majority of undergraduates receive some form of financial aid, and 20 percent of students—those coming from families earning less than $65,000 per year— pay nothing. With the exception of Columbia, Harvard is the last university of the Ivy League to announce its tuition charges for next year. Of these universities,
ENDORSE FROM PAGE A1 When one union wins, all unions win.” The letter also states that the experience of other labor groups can “serve as a guide” for potential efforts by graduate students to negotiate for wages and benefits. Graduate student and HGSU-UAW organizer Christine Mitchell wrote in an email that she is excited about the support from other labor groups.
Harvard’s cost of tuition for the 20182019 year is the lowest. The Harvard Gazette announced the University expects to spend more than $195 million on financial aid next year. Since the 2005 launch of the Harvard Financial Aid Initiative, the College has distributed more than $1.8 billion in grants to students with financial need. The College will release regular decision admission results for the Class of 2022 on March 28. Staff writer Samuel W. Zwickel can be reached at samuel.zwickel@thecrimson.com. Staff writer Delano R. Franklin can be reached at delano.franklin@thecrimson.com.
Mark Lee Named Architecture Chair By CAROLINE S. ENGELMAYER CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
Architect Mark Lee will serve as chair of the Graduate School of Design’s Architecture Department starting in July, the GSD announced earlier this week. Lee holds a master’s degree from the GSD, where he has taught since 2013, and is a founder and leader of the architectural firm Johnston Marklee. He said in an interview Monday that he is “thrilled” to have been chosen as department chair. “This is really an honorable position,” he said. “There have been many great chairs that have led the department. I’m excited to build on the achievements of my predecessors and take this department to the next level.” Lee will take over as department chair from current interim Department Chair K. Michael Hays. In an interview, Hays said he is “excited” about Lee’s appointment because Lee has excelled as both a leader of an architectural firm and an academic. “For GSD, which claims to be the
best, the most globally important design school, to have those two dimensions— professional and academic—that’s the most GSD could hope for,” he said. GSD Dean Mohsen Mostafavi congratulated Lee in a statement earlier this week in which he called Lee’s firm “one of the most talented practices currently
I’m excited to build on the achievements of my predecessors. Mark Lee
Incoming GSD Architecture Chair working in the United States and beyond.” “Mark deeply understands the contemporary world of architecture,” he said. “His vision and leadership will
Rubenstein described how he almost lost a scholarship offer at the University of Chicago Law School because he did not send in a $50 fee on time. “I failed at many things and the failure has made me feel I should give back for the good luck,” said Rubenstein, who donated $10 million to the University of Chicago Law School in 2010. Rubenstein noted that, even though members of the audience might boast one or more Harvard degrees, every single attendee will likely have to face failure. In addition to accepting failure, Rubenstein advised students to prioritize their interests over what they believe might stand out on a resume. “I would find one cause with which you can engage, and find one thing you’re passionate about,” he said. “If you can’t find it now, you’ll find it eventually. I think the mistake that I made is that I wasn’t as focused on the things that I’m focused on now, and I’m rushing to give back to society.” Rubenstein recently served on Harvard’s presidential search committee, which comprised 12 members of the Corporation and three members from the Board of Overseers. The committee began searching for the successor to University President Drew G. Faust in summer 2017. On Feb. 11, the group announced it had selected Lawrence S. Bacow—who also served on the committee before stepping down midway through the search—to serve as Harvard’s 29th president.
Unions Endorse HGSU-UAW
Cost of College Attendance Rises TUITION FROM PAGE A1
form of giving, called patriotic philanthropy, which is defined as giving back to our nation,” Cai said. Rubenstein has practiced this form of philanthropy since at least 2007, when he purchased a copy of the Magna Carta and donated it to the National Archives. In Dec. 2011, Rubenstein donated $4.5 million to the National Zoo to support a giant panda reproduction program. In 2012, Rubenstein donated $7.5 million towards repairing the Washington Monument after an earthquake damaged the obelisk. Most recently, in February, Rubenstein bought a rare copy of the Declaration of Independence—one of 51 known editions—for a price that numbered in “seven figures,” as he told the Washington Post. “My theory is that if we learn more about our country’s history, or whatever country you are from, you’re more likely to be a more informed citizenry and a more informed citizenry will produce a better government,” he said at the event Monday. Building on this theme, Rubenstein highlighted the role reading plays in creating citizens who actively participate in society. “Thirty percent of all people who graduate from college never read another book in their entire life,” he said. “I am very worried about people not being able to read, because if you can’t read then you can’t be that effective.” Rubenstein also discussed many of his personal failures. In one anecdote,
enormously benefit our students and our School in the years to come.” Lee’s appointment as department chair comes soon after GSD’s January announcement that Lee would serve as a professor of the practice of architecture. That appointment will also take effect in July. While Lee said he is still “getting acclimated” to his new role as department chair, he said he plans to focus on efforts to narrow the gap between high-quality buildings and their less remarkable surroundings. “There are great concert halls, great museums, great buildings in the public and private spaces being erected,” he said. “The gap between the exceptional buildings and the everyday buildings that make up our urban environment is getting wider. This general quality of the built environment needs to get much higher,” he said. Past GSD architecture department chairs have included Walter Gropius, who founded the Bauhaus architectural school, and Rafael Moneo, who won the prestigious Pritzker Prize for architecture in 1996.
“As a student who has worked closely with the other unions on campus, I have seen the efficacy and power of our solidarity in campaigns like the HUDS strike,” Mitchell wrote. In an emailed statement in response to the letter, Faculty of Arts and Sciences spokesperson Anna G. Cowenhoven re-affirmed the University’s position on encouraging stu-
Students Form Group for BGLTQ Athletes QUADS FROM PAGE A1 Bailar and Pfiefer founded the group in February; the co-founders said the group has already earned official recognition from Harvard, meaning it has the right to reserve and use College spaces, among other privileges. Bailar and Pfiefer said they worked with Sheehan D. Scarborough ’07, the director of the BGLTQ Office of Student Life, to form QUADS. Bailar said both he and Pfiefer come from a “place of advocacy” that inspired them to create a space for BGLTQ-identifying athletes at Harvard. “There’s a lot of groups for queer people, but a lot of them, I think, focus on queer student life,” Bailar said. “Being an athlete is a totally different space, especially for queer people, because there’s a lot more of gender performed through sport that can be violated to some degree.” Pfiefer said the idea for the group came to him after he noticed he wasn’t the only openly BGLTQ individual on his team. “I was thinking to myself that it doesn’t seem right that there are people who are alone on their sports teams, or people who possibly are LGBTQ but don’t feel comfortable because there’s nobody else,” Pfiefer said. “So I kind of felt the necessity to form a group out of that, out of, you know, me feeling lucky to have LGBTQ teammates.” Pfiefer and Bailar initially publicized the group by inviting friends to join.
Eventually, though, Pfiefer reached out to the captains of every one of Harvard’s 42 varsity athletic teams. Pfiefer said 10 people attended the organization’s first meeting last month, but added that at least 24 students have so far expressed interest in joining QUADS. Before officially becoming a member of QUADS, students must sign a confidentiality agreement, according to Bailar. He said the agreement helps ensure students feel comfortable and the identities of closeted athletes remain private. “The membership won’t be publicized unless you explicitly say so,” Pfiefer said. “So we’re trying to kind of really foster that and drive that point home that, you know, it’s a place where you can be yourself.” QUADS will serve as a place to allow athlete-focused discussions about being BGLTQ as well as athlete-focused support for BGLTQ-identifying student athletes, Pfiefer said. Bailar encouraged allies to come to QUADS meetings, too. Bailar said the founding of QUADS holds personal meaning for him. “I think sports are a huge part of health and happiness for a lot of people,” he said. “If kids can’t do the sport that they love or feel that they have to suffer or hide themselves because of their sport, or vice versa—can’t be yourself because of your sport or can’t do your sport because of yourself—that’s a huge part of life there that doesn’t exist there and a part of happiness that you don’t get.”
Body Pulled from Charles DEATH FROM PAGE A1 The man was pulled from the water near the Harvard Bridge, which crosses the Charles near MIT, according to the Boston Globe. Officials are with-
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dents to participate in the upcoming election. “The University continues to encourage all eligible students to consider what unionization means for them academically, financially, and personally, and above all, to ensure that their voices are heard by going to the polls and voting on April 18 and 19,” Cowenhoven wrote.
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holding the man’s name because they do not suspect foul play. In past years, authorities have pulled bodies from the Charles River several times a year, including two bodies found in spring 2016.
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THE HARVARD CRIMSON | MARCH 27, 2018 | PAGE 10
Harvard Mercies Cornell In Its Lone Victory of Series Red’s center fielder. The three-base hit was Rich’s second of this game—she now leads the Ivy League with three triples. The Crimson somehow had an even more momentous inning in its previous trip to the plate. The visitors pummeled Cornell’s pitching staff to the tune of six runs on four hits. Half of the innings’ runs came in to score when sophomore catcher Lindey Kneib smacked a home run to left-center. The round-tripper was Kneib’s second on the season, matching the totals of Lockhart and sophomore Olivia Giaquinto. Harvard is second in the Ivy League with 11 home runs, and its pitching staff has allowed the fewest with five. Due to the eight-run rule, the game came to a close after the bottom of the fifth, as Duncan struck out Big Red second baseman Sarah Murray for the final out. Duncan evened up her record to 7-7 on the weekend, and the junior now has a 2.86 ERA in 16 appearances on the season.
STAND AND DELIVER Sophomore pitcher Olivia Giaquinto, who took the mound for the final game of the Cornell road series, delivers a pitch.
SOFTBALL By JACK STOCKLESS CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
Sandwiches are an American staple. From the classic hamburger to the Bobby Valentine wrap (to the hot dog?), a good sandwich can make for a great meal. However, the bread is crucial– without quality bread, a sandwich can quickly be ruined. Sandwiched between two rough losses, Harvard softball exploded for 14 runs and an 11-run victory over Cornell on Monday afternoon at Niemand-Robison Field in Ithaca, N.Y. Framed by a stand of coniferous trees emblematic of the winter paradise that is Ithaca, Niemand-Robison Field also played host to a pair of games in which the Big Red outscored the Crimson by a combined 13-4 margin: in other words, the bread. “With the win in game two...we strung a lot of hits together, producing runs each inning, we made the plays on defense that we needed to, and Katie Duncan threw a great game for us,” junior third baseman Erin Lockhart
said. “With the losses, the Cornell hitters had a good plan against our pitchers and were able to produce. We struggled a bit with their pitcher, and it gives us something to work on.” CORNELL 7, HARVARD 2 A superstitious person may claim that Harvard (10-11, 3-3 Ivy) used up all its runs in the first half of Monday’s action. Considering superstition or not, however, the final game of the series was eerily similar to Sunday’s opening matchup—the Crimson was limited to just two runs, and it would have been in contention for the whole game, save one explosive offensive inning for Cornell (7-9, 2-1). This time, the Big Red cobbled together its extended rally earlier on, in the bottom of the second. Five of the six runs Cornell scored in this frame came from doubles. Olivia Lam and Avery Voehl hit back-to-back two-baggers, and Madeline Avery followed up with a ground-rule double later on in the inning. All told, the Big Red sent 10 batters to the plate in the bottom of the second, with Tori Togashi making both the first and last outs of the inning.
“They had the momentum and were hitting the ball hard each at-bat, which made them tough to get out,” junior shortstop Rhianna Rich said. “We need to learn how we can contain an offense exploding so we can limit the big innings.” Rich had quite the day at the plate. After collecting three hits in Monday’s first game, two of which were triples, the shortstop went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles in this contest. She scored three runs and drove in five between these two games. Co-captain Maddy Kaplan extended her hitting streak to 12 games in this contest. The senior is ranked third in batting average, second in on-base percentage, and seventh in slugging percentage among qualifying Ancient Eight batters with a .457/.506/.600 slash line. HARVARD 14, CORNELL 3 (5 INNINGS) Harvard’s offense was clicking so well on Monday afternoon that even pitcher Katie Duncan, in her first collegiate at-bat in a three-year career, sent a pitch sailing over the fence in center
TIMOTHY R. O’MEARA—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
field. Duncan, one of seven Crimson to record a hit in the first game of the doubleheader, also notched a single in the top of the fourth and came around to score on a Rich triple. “I wasn’t really thinking about it as my first collegiate at-bat but instead as another opportunity to contribute my efforts to the team,” Duncan said. “The fact that the ball ended up going over the fence was an great result, but I was definitely more focused on the process.” Monday’s first game was in stark contrast with Harvard’s two losses to Cornell. The Crimson scored in each of the game’s first four innings, tacking on a combined 11 runs between the third and the fourth. The 14 runs scored marked a season-high for any Ivy League team in a conference game this season. In the top of the fourth, Harvard scored five runs on just two hits. The biggest play of the inning was Rich’s triple. With the bases loaded, the junior shortstop served a ball into the left-center gap, and Rich herself motored all the way around the bases, scoring on a throwing error by the Big
CORNELL 6, HARVARD 2 Cornell starting pitcher Lisa Nelson came out firing in the first game on Sunday, tossing seven frames of tworun ball and effectively silencing the Crimson’s bats in the Ithaca cold. The sophomore tallied eight strikeouts, and only one of the runs she conceded was earned. The eight punch outs were the most in any game for Harvard’s batters this season. Through four and a half innings, it was pitchers’ duel between Nelson and Duncan. Despite allowing seven hits and a walk through four innings pitched, Duncan managed to evade major danger and only allowed two runs. However, Duncan led off the bottom of the fifth by allowing a groundrule double to Cornell second baseman Rebecca Kubena. Coach Jenny Allard went to the bullpen, and the home half of the fifth subsequently became a huge rally inning for the Big Red. By the time the dust had settled, Cornell had broken the game wide open by tacking five runs onto the scoreboard. The top of the seventh started well for the Crimson, as senior Melissa Lacro rocketed a double up the middle and took third on a wild pitch. Alexa Altchek followed with a single down the third base line. After the Big Red recorded one out, Kaplan ripped a single down the line in right field to bring in Lacro. In its last chance at a comeback, Harvard had a rally going but was unable to prolong it. Just as soon as it had started, Cornell pulled the plug by spinning two up the middle on a grounder from junior third baseman Meagan Lantz. Staff writer Jack Stockless can be reached at jack.stockless@thecrimson.com
Crimson Claims Fifth Place in NCAA Championships FENCING By KIM ARANGO and JOSEPH W. MINATEL CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
This weekend, Harvard fencing sent fencers from both the men’s and women’s team to the NCAA Championships and walked away with an individual championship title in men’s sabre, an individual third place finish in women’s epee, as well as a fifth place overall team finish. At the championships, taken place at Penn State, the Crimson sent two fencers in the men’s sabre category, two in men’s foil, one in men’s epee, two in women’s sabre, one in women’s foil, and two in women’s epee. “Overall the team had a really strong showing in the tournament this year,” junior Gabrielle Tartakovsky. “We were only a couple bout wins behind Penn State.” Representing the Harvard women’s team were senior co-captain MacKenzie Lawrence in foil, junior Gabrielle Tartakovsky in sabre, sophomore Marta Lasota in sabre, and freshmen Saanchi Kukadia and Cindy Gao both in epee. The men’s fencing team was represented by junior co-captain Eli Dershwitz in sabre, sophomores George Haglund and Erwin Cai in foil and sabre respectively, and freshman Geoffrey Tourette and Charles Horowitz in foil and epee respectively. The Crimson came into the NCAA Championships on a high note, with both Kukadia on the women’s team and Tourette on men’s team sweeping their fields to earn a gold medal each in epee and foil respectively at the 2018 NCAA Regional Tournament two weeks earlier at Brandeis University. The Manhasset, NY native won the epee category after posting a 17-6 record with a plus-36 touch differential. The Cupertino, CA native claimed the foil category with a 20-3 record and plus-66 touch differential. “In general, the NCAA is a tournament requires a lot of psychological
ON THE FENCE Freshman fencer Charles Horowitz was the only men’s competitor in epee for the Crimson, finishing 13th in the competition. KATHRYN S. KUHAR—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
preparation,” Tartakovsky said. “You have a tournament with 24 of the top fencers in the country.” On top of the two gold medals, Dershwitz came into the Championships looking to claim the men’s sabre crown for the second year in a row, with his first last year being Harvard’s first men’s individual title since 2007. The junior co-captain came into the Championships with a 47-6 record as well as claiming an individual championship title in the sabre category at the Ivy League Championships earlier this season. The Sherborn, MA, native battled his way in a 15-9 victory against Andrew Mackewicz of Penn State before defeating Ziad Elsissy of Wayne State in a nail biting 15-14 win.
Cai competed in his men’s sabre event at the NCAA Championships as a freshman to secure a 8th place finish during the Championships with 14 victories. In men’s foil, Haglund finished in 16th place. Horowitz, as the only Crimson competitor in men’s epee, to earn a 13th place finish. On the women’s side of the events, Gao started off shaky, but was able to rebound. “In the first round of the five-touch bouts, I really was not fencing well,” Gao said. “Those low scoring bouts are very uncommon.” After making the semifinals, Gao ended up earning the top finish for Harvard with a third place finish in the epee category with 17 victories.
“I started loosening up and that helped me fence a lot better,” Gao said. “For the rest of the bouts I was beating people I had never beaten before. I was carrying that energy with me throughout the entire day.” Kukadia earned a 18th place finish in the epee category with 8 victories. Lasota, with 13 victories, and Tartakovsky, with 12 victories, finished 12th and 15th in the women’s sabre category respectively. Lawrence, the only Crimson competitor in the foil category, earned a 21st place finish in the event. At the end of the NCAA Championships, Harvard finished as a team in 5th place with a total of 129 points and 865 touches scored, and walked away with an individual championship title
thanks to Dershwitz as well as strong finishes on both the men’s and women’s teams. The NCAA Championships conclude the season for the Harvard team, but not everyone has completed fencing on the year. Tourette, Cai, and Gao will be heading to the World Championships in Italy next week. “NCCA is usually the end of the season for college fencers,” Gao said. “NCAA really prepared me for World this week.” Staff writer Kim Arango can be reached at kim. arango@thecrimson.com. Staff writer Joseph W. Minatel can be reached at joseph.minatel@thecrimson.com.