Announcing The Crimson Editorial Board’s Spring 2023 Columnists

ON OUR COLUMNISTS: The Editorial Board is pleased to announce its columnists for the upcoming fall semester. Columnists will publish on a bi-weekly basis, each focusing on a theme of their choice. We are also proud to continue our reported columns initiative, piloted in 2020, which incorporates both journalistic research and interviews, as well as editorial commentary.

Adam V. Aleksic is a senior in Kirkland House studying Government and Linguistics. His column will explore hidden spaces underneath campus, urging us to stop and consider the unseen.

ALEXANDER JUNXIANG CHEN ARTIFACTUAL

Alexander Junxiang Chen is a junior in Quincy House pursuing a concentration in Neuroscience and Chemistry. Originally from the outskirts of the Silicon Valley, Alexander’s intellectual interests have long been a synthesis of the technical and creative. His column will examine Harvard’s unparalleled cultural heritage collections and the insights they can reveal about both the historic past and the world in which we live today.

Charlotte A. Nickerson is a junior in Dudley House studying History. From hamburgers at Keflavik Airport to groovy serif fonts advertising yogurt, Charlotte’s column will break down designs and take a deep dive into the origins, abstractions, and powers of aesthetic homogeneity — and how it might just be destroying human health and sanity.

Ellie H. Ashby is a junior in Adams House studying Social Studies. Her reported column will explore religious discourse at Harvard — how it is shaped, the questions it poses, and how we interact with it. It is an investigation into faith and religion and how beliefs influence opinions and actions.

Guillermo S. Hava is a Spanish junior in Winthrop House pursuing a joint concentration in Government and Philosophy, as well as a former Editorial Chair. His reported column will explore Harvard stories that fell “between the cracks” — articles that should’ve been written, but for some reason or another, never were. He will show that we can never invest enough in journalism, and certainly not at a uniquely powerful, influential university like ours.

JULIEN BERMAN TOWARD A HIGHER HIGHER EDUCATION

Julien Berman is a freshman from Washington, D.C., likely studying Economics. His column will analyze key challenges facing higher education in the United States, expose potential flaws in the education model, and provide suggestions for improvement. In his free time, Julien loves to play the violin and write fiction.

MANUEL A. YEPES THE POSTGRADUATE WAY OF LIFE MIREYA SÁNCHEZ-MAES RHYME AND REASON

Manuel A. Yepes is a Crimson Editorial editor who grew up in Atlanta, Ga., now lives in Cabot House, and studies Social Studies. His column aims to reveal the cultures and ways of life of the students at Harvard’s various postgraduate schools.

Mireya Sánchez-Maes is a junior in Currier House. Born and raised in Las Cruces, N.M., Mireya is pursuing a joint concentration in English and Theater, Dance, and Media. Her column will explore the satirical nuances of navigating Harvard as a low-income Latina and will be written entirely using longform rhyme.

From Austin, Texas, Roman C. Ugarte is a junior in Eliot House studying Applied Math in Economics. Originally from Germany, K. Oskar Schulz is on leave and currently building a technology startup in New York City. Their column will reveal under-appreciated yet powerful insights in decision-making, geopolitics, technology, and economics that will shape the world and our individual futures in the coming decades.

Sandhya Kumar is a freshman in Greenough Hall interested in studying Molecular and Cellular Biology. Originally from Tallahassee, Fla., she is intrigued by the ways science impacts daily life and decision-making. Her column will explore the science behind Harvard culture and traditions, and make suggestions for student actions.

Suhaas M. Bhat is a junior from Marshfield, Wis., concentrating in Physics and Social Studies. His column will explore psychotherapy: how it works, how we as a culture (mis)understand it, and how we can use it to make Harvard a healthier place.

Vanessa B. Hu is a junior in Currier House, studying Computer Science. Her column hopes to illuminate what’s under the pretty and progressive veneers of modern-day existence, from pop culture trends to student lives — teasing out the hopes and hypocrisies both in our bids for social wokeness.

The

Below Our Feet

Inside Weeks Bridge

A DEEPER LOOK. Weeks Bridge exists as a reminder to take a deeper look at what we’ve written off as commonplace or mundane.

BY ADAM V. ALEKSIC

Asepia ectoplasm of leaf imprints is caked onto the concrete blocks of a bridge dedicated to a dead man. As students, we interact with the John Weeks Bridge regularly, but we never stop to consider the history the structure holds. Scuff marks hint at footsteps that once thundered there, as ephemeral as the leaves that once lay on the drying cement. Scattered stories are the only scraps of vestigial proof we have to document the thousands of people who walked across, ritually jumped off, and fell in love on this bridge.

The little secrets ensconced on the Weeks footbridge belie a greater one: why it’s there. Rather than being built as a quaint pedestrian thoroughfare, it was constructed in 1926 for the far more utilitarian purpose of funneling steam over to the Business School. An ever-expanding Harvard needed a new method to bring heat from what is now the Blackstone plant on the Cambridge side to their facilities on the Allston side. The bridge was ultimately built as a way to extend their sprawling network of steam tunnels.

This means that the landmark’s hollow brick facade conceals a secret passageway. A damp, dimly lit wooden walkway rises and falls with the three swooping arches and compresses into a crawl space at each of their apices. Staircases and sets of steel doors sandwich either end, leading into other recesses of the tunnel system. Scalding hot pipes snake along the sides, carrying vapors that typically exceed 400 degrees Fahrenheit. The space simultaneously seems sweltering from the steam and cold from the grimy liquid on the ground. Graffiti immortalizing past generations adorns the sticky walls, and the stuffy smell of stale air permanently lingers throughout the cramped corridor.

The names and illustrations scribbled on the sides of the tunnel reside as relics of an era when this forgotten world was far more accessible. Intrepid undergrads could venture down through trapdoors on the abutments and into the passageway. Homeless Cantabrigians would often go down there to find a warm, quiet shelter from the rough New England weather. What is a mere memory to us today was once an open secret around campus. The Weeks tunnel began to be forgotten 60 years ago when security was tightened across the steam tunnels following a series of breakins. The College started to see the space as a liability and security risk, and wanted to keep out both nosy students and the unhoused. Any information about the tunnels was carefully withheld from the public, and knowledge of it became diluted with every cohort of graduates.

Today, the only indications that the bridge might be more than a pretty structure are the heavy, internally padlocked metal panels interspersed at periodic intervals along its surface. We don’t question their purpose any more than we take time to marvel at the haunting, faded oak leaf impressions nearby.

Although this particular portal to the past has passed into obscurity, the John Weeks Bridge continues to be a conduit for our collective memories. As an important social hub on campus, it constantly serves as a catalyst for the creation of new stories, stories that will one day also be forgotten. Inherently a point of transition, the bridge stands as a testament of the transience and impermanence of the college experience.

Nevertheless, it is important to appreciate the remnants of history that we can salvage. Weeks Bridge also exists as a reminder to take a deeper look at what we’ve written off as commonplace or mundane. Every building, street, and landmark on campus holds a secret, and it’s up to us to uncover them. In doing this, we stop taking things for granted and learn to better value what we have before our transient college experience too comes to an end.

COLUMN

Rhyme And Reason

Have Some Fun, Hon

GUILTY FUN. So what’s this first piece all about? What’s column number one? People at this school, it seems, Feel guilty having fun.

BY MIREYA SÁNCHEZ-MAES

Welcome one, and welcome all

It’s great to have you here.

This will be my column

For the next, like, half a year.

“What’s with all the rhymes?” you ask

“You sound like you are three.”

First of all, rude.

And second, wait and see.

I’ve noticed something worrisome

It’s really quite mysterious that many Harvard undergrads

Are simply far too serious!

They only read the classics.

And work themselves to death

They hope for Goldman Sachs and Bain

With tense and baited breath.

The Ivies are notorious For hyper-toxic vibes

They’re so hard to get into

Some rich folks resort to bribes!

But all that competition means

That students can feel trapped

Like if they don’t speak Shakespeare

Then they’ll never quite adapt!

This column is an argument

Against all that BS

Rhyming is a weapon

I will use to self-express!

I hope that people read this

And realize it’s okay

To take themselves less seriously

And add fun to their day.

I have a great semester planned!

From final clubs to school, We’ll touch on all things Harvard.

And if you’re like, “That’s not cool.”

Just know that rhymes are learning tools. They worked when you were two.

And though you have regressed since then, They just might work anew.

So what’s this first piece all about?

What’s column number one?

People at this school, it seems, Feel guilty having fun.

They start their econ homework, Then pause to watch a show.

But after that they’ll curse their Lazy asses. “No, Chad, No!

You fool! You numb nut!

You’ve wasted so much time!

Goldman Sachs will hate you

If you watch more Shonda Rhimes!”

Then they drink a Red Bull

And as penance, they stay up Till 5:30 in the morning.

Is this unproductive? Yup!

As students we are busy, And rarely have the time

To do things just for fun

Like watch a show or write a rhyme! (wink)

Harvard’s reputation Of academic clout

Enforces this reality

By filling us with doubt:

“Should I start my essay?