The Harvard Crimson THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873
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VOLUME CXLIX, NO. 43
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CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
| WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31, 2022
EDITORIAL PAGE 4
SPORTS PAGE 6
NEWS PAGE 3
Where is the urgency on sexual harassment?
Nick Abruzzese is set to make his NHL debut with the Toronto Maple Leafs
Professor Eddie S. Glaude Jr. spoke about racism at an IOP forum
HUA Opponents Retract Call to Boycott Vote Covid-19 Paid Leave to Expire By J. SELLERS HILL CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
With the future of Harvard’s Undergraduate Council on the line, some opponents of a controversial referendum question that will determine the body’s fate made a high-stakes gamble: they told their supporters not to vote. It may have just backfired. Voting is set to close at noon on Thursday for a referendum asking students whether to replace the UC with a new student government. Seeking to suppress voter turnout below the required 40 percent threshold, opponents of the new student government initially encouraged students to boycott the referendum. But with less than 24 hours left to vote, some have now reversed course. UC President Michael Y. Cheng ’22 ran on a pledge to “abolish” and restructure the body he now leads. Earlier this month, Cheng unveiled a draft for a new student government called the “Harvard Undergraduate Association,” which is now on the ballot in the schoolwide referendum.
Under the current UC constitution, a referendum requires two-fifths of students turn out to vote — with two-thirds voting in favor — to be binding. The rule is the product of a controversial constitutional amendment passed just days after Cheng was elected that upped the required number of “yes” votes from a simple majority to two-thirds and added a minimum turnout threshold. Following the passage of the amendment, Cheng deemed the proposal an effort to “undermine the election results,” calling the new standard “an impossible threshold.” Before voting on Cheng’s signature campaign promise went live on Monday, an anonymous Instagram account, @harvardknowyourvote, began calling on students to boycott the referendum to prevent it from reaching the necessary two-fifths turnout threshold. In a since-deleted post, the account argued that boycotting would be more effective than voting “No.” “Voting ‘No’ on the HUA referendum could help it pass,” it
SEE UC PAGE 3
By CARA J. CHANG and SOPHIA C. SCOTT CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
flict and the other much more diplomatic. “One is, do you have unmanaged strategic competition? That is no rules of the road, no guardrails, no nothing,” Rudd said. “Just fasten your seat belt — if there is one — and hope that the bus doesn’t careen off the side of the cliff.” “Or can the two governments, and their senior representatives between them, agree on de minima rules of the road?” he asked. “Basic guardrails which reduce — not eliminate — the prospects of crisis escalation, conflict, and war for the decade ahead.” Rudd advocated for letting the world choose among the competing ideologies of China and the U.S. “In the court of global pub-
T wo weeks after Harvard lifted indoor mask mandates, the University is set to end its Coronavirus Workplace Policies, which will eliminate emergency paid sick leave benefits and partial compensation for some employees who were involuntarily idled by the pandemic. On Friday, the University will reinstate the 5-12 day yearly limit for time-off to care for ill dependents, immediate family, or household members who must isolate or quarantine due to Covid-19 exposure. All directly hired and contracted workers at Harvard involuntarily idled by the pandemic will also no longer receive up to 70 percent of their pay and benefits. From March 2020 until Janary 2021, Harvard provided full compensation for all employees before modifying its emergency excused absence pay policy, reducing pay for involuntarily idled direct hires to 70 percent and ending pay and benefits for idled contract employees. Most graduate schools individually moved to extend the 70 percent pay policy to idled contract employees. The Coronavirus Workplace Policies also included four new or expanded paid leave benefits. The first allowed workers to accumulate negative sick leave balances — employees could use up to 14 days of paid sick leave not yet earned. The second and third benefits set to expire centered around dependent care: Harvard broadened the reasons employees could use paid time off beyond caring for dependents who are quarantined, isolated, or sick. The University also introduced up to 10 days of paid time off for workers to take care of dependents “whose schooling or care arrangements have
SEE IOP PAGE 5
SEE COVID PAGE 5
Voting concludes at noon on Thursday in a referendum in which Harvard undergraduates will vote on questions about a new student government and the University’s Covid-19 policies. AIYANA G. WHITE—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
Former Aussie PM Speaks at IOP By MILES J. HERSZENHORN CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin M. Rudd discussed the possibility of military conflict between the United States and China with ex-Harvard Kennedy School Dean Graham T. Allison Jr. ’62 at a JFK Jr. Forum event Wednesday evening. Rudd served two stints as prime minister of Australia, leading the country from 2007 to 2010 and then again in 2013 for less than three months. He has studied U.S.-China relations as a senior fellow at HKS since 2014. Rudd launched the forum with an explanation of his new book, “The Avoidable War,” in which he argues U.S.-China competition will result in two potential outcomes — one involving potential military con-
At Wednesday’s IOP Forum, Kevin Rudd, the 26th Prime Minister of Australia, discussed the future of the U.S.-China relationship. MILES J. HERSZENHORN — CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Colombian Student Group Reconvenes By ELLA L. JONES and MONIQUE I. VOBECKY CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
Harvard’s Colombian Student Association gathered to share in traditional food and good company last week for the first time since the club’s reestablishment. Harvard’s Colombian Student Association co-presidents Manuel A. “Manny” Yepes ’24 and Anthony Morales ’24 were motivated to revive the organization in response to a lack of Colombian student engagement on campus in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. “When we asked around, we couldn’t really find any information on it,” Yepes, a Crimson Editorial editor, said. “So we reached out to Tomás [Guerrero-Jaramillo], who was a previous president, and he basically told us why it kind of fell apart and gave us all the resources we needed to bring it back up again,” Yepes said. With the group’s revival on campus this semester, previous board members like Manuela Arroyave Monsalve ’22 watched Harvard College’s next genera
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Harvard Today 2
tion of Colombian students take the reins. “It felt a little bit like passing the baton,” Arroyave Monsalve said. “We played a role in kind of guiding them towards reestablishing,” Arroyave Monsalve added. Other Colombian Student Association members echoed the sentiments of Yepes and Morales. Elisa M. Gonzalez ’23 said she wanted to connect with other Colombian students at the College. “As someone who is Colombian, I obviously wanted to get to know other Colombians on campus,” Gonzalez said. Arroyave Monsalve said she did not have the opportunity to engage with other Colombians in high school and hoped Harvard would be different. “It’s something that I didn’t get to have in high school — there weren’t any other Colombians in my high school — so that was something that I definitely wanted to have here,” she said.
SEE COLOMBIAN PAGE 3
News 3
Editorial 4
Stephen Ball Named New HLS Dean of Students By ANNE M. BRANDES CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
Harvard Law School tapped Stephen L. Ball, a senior vice president at Wells Fargo, as its new dean of students last month. Ball is the first Black male to hold the title at Harvard Ball, who also served as an adjunct professor at Pace University and a contributing writer for Black Enterprise Magazine, is responsible for promoting the well-being of the nearly 2,000 students attending HLS. He took office March 7 and oversees student support and programming, preparation for the Bar application process, and major campus events such as orientation and commencement. He succeeds former Dean of Students Marcia L. Sells, who stepped down from the post in February 2021. Ball said his mother, who worked as a legal secretary, inspired him to enter the law profession. He credits his mother with helping him learn how to write and communicate well. “I think a lot of times when you’re growing up, people cite an argumentative streak as indicative of future strengths and abilities in terms of becoming an attorney,” Ball said. “I re
Sports 6
member her citing that a little bit early on, especially in my adolescent years. So she kind of planted the seed.” After graduating from Harvard Law School in 2010, Ball worked across the private sector. During his time at Wells Fargo, he developed a cross-enterprise, integrated strategy to support historically Black colleges and universities and Hispanic-serving institutions, which he said prepared him for his new role at HLS. “This notion of empathetic leadership, and being able to disagree respectfully without personalizing things — all those things, to me, model leadership,” Ball said. “The HBCUs do a great job of building that within their students.” Ball said the Law School can look to the resources HBCUs provide their students and incorporate similar strategies on HLS’ campus. “We don’t have any firm plans around this yet, but I know that HBCUs, for example, many of them offer a campus closet to their students to use for interviewing for jobs,” Ball said. “Maybe there are elements of that approach that so many of the HBCUs have and have done
TODAY’S FORECAST
SEE HLS PAGE 5
Harvard Law School welcomes Stephen L. Ball as its new Dean of Students. COURTESTY OF ERIN PATRICE O’BRIEN
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MARCH 31, 2022
PAGE 2
HARVARD TODAY
For Lunch Chili Hot Dog Red Spiced Chicken Falafel Sandwich
For Dinner Pork Roulade Roasted Chicken Sweet Potato and Chick Peas
TODAY’S EVENTS How to Read an Academic Article in Fifteen Minutes Virtual, 11a.m.-11:30 p.m.
IN THE REAL WORLD
This workshop is aimed to equip you with strategies that will help you efficiently and effectively read academic articles along with tips on how to take notes on them. You will also get the chance to practice your newly learned skills so if you would like, bring an article you would like to read over to the meeting! Moving Past the Binary: The Importance of Transgender and Nonbinary Inclusion in Gender Equity Research Virtual, 12 p.m.-1:00 p.m. The Women and Public Policy Program will be hosting this panel to discuss how researchers, practitioners, and community organizations on how they can work to include all marginalized genders in conversations about working towards gender equity. Harvard Jazz Master in Conversation with Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Yosvany Terry Leverett House Library Theater, 4 p.m.-5:30 p.m.
Russia Downplays Peace Talks While Increasing Attacks on Eastern Ukraine
Despite their pledge to limit attacks in Eastern Ukraine, Russian forces hit targets around Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, on Wednesday while downplaying progress in peace talks between the two sides.
Will Smith May Face a Sanctions From the Academy After Oscars Incident
XU—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
After slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars and refusing to leave the event, Will Smith is now facing disciplinary action from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Academy’s Board announced that it would decide what actions to take against the actor, including possibilities of suspension or expulsion, during its next meeting on April 18
AROUND THE IVIES
The Biden Administration is Planning to End Pandemic Border Restrictions in May
A cloudy sky overlooks Winthrop House near the Charles River Wednesday afternoon. MEIMEI
YALE: Number of Students Reporting Disabilities Doubles, Yet Likely Remains Underestimate —THE YALE DAILY NEWS
COLUMBIA: After Columbia’s Dropped Mask Mandate, Some Classes Choose to Keep Masks On —THE COLUMBIA SPECTATOR
Under pressure from some Democrats, the Biden Administration is working towards ending Trump-era restrictions on the U.S.-Mexico Border that limit Mexican migrants from entering the U.S.
CORNELL: Student Workers Call for Higher Wages at Student-Organized Town Hall —THE CORNELL DAILY SUN DARTMOUTH: DOC Organizes First Spring Trip Since Pandemic —THE DARTMOUTH
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Join a live conversation about jazz music with Gonzalo Rubalcaba, the 2022 Harvard Jazz Master in Residence and Yosvany Terry, the Harvard Jazz Band Director.
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ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY Harvard Senior Helps FBI Locate Suspects in Michigan Kidnapping Case
While Dunster House resident Loh-Sze Y. Leung was on an evangelical mission during spring break, she met a man and two girls at the beach, only to later learn that the man was a suspect in a kidnapping case. When she recognized him on TV, she immediately notified the police, which led to the kidnapper’s arrest. March 31, 1997
Harvard Students Gather for Anti-War Protest in Boston Common
Dozens of Harvard students gathered in Boston Common to protest the Iraq War. Many were encouraged to attend following a successful walk-out on the first day of the war. March 31, 2003
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873
The Harvard Crimson Raquel Coronell Uribe ’22-’23 Associate Managing Editors Kelsey J. Griffin ’23 President Taylor C. Peterman ’23-’24 Jasper G. Goodman ’23 Associate Business Managers Managing Editor Taia M.Y. Cheng ’23-’24 Isabelle L. Guillaume ’24 Amy X. Zhou ’23 Business Manager Editorial Chairs Guillermo S. Hava ’23-24 Orlee G.S. Marini-Rapoport ’23-24
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Glaude Speaks on Race at the IOP By KATE DELVAL GONZALEZ and CALEB H. PAINTER CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Princeton University professor Eddie S. Glaude Jr. discussed the dynamics of race and racism in the United States during a virtual event hosted jointly by the Institute of Politics and the Ash Center’s Institutional Antiracism and Accountability Project on Wednesday. The forum, titled “Reckoning with the Soul of a Nation,” was moderated by journalist Amber Payne, the co-editor in chief of the Emancipator, a racial equity project produced by Boston University and the Boston Globe. Glaude called on President Joe Biden to do more to address racism and racial inequality in the United States. He said he met with Biden at the beginning of his term and told
him he had the opportunity to “be a transformative president with regards to race.” Glaude said the Biden administration has failed to push legislation seeking to address racial equity through Congress. He discussed several pieces of legislation that have stalled, including the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, the Build Back Better Act, and the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. “I’m not so sure what the administration’s agenda is with regard to these matters,” he said. During an interview prior to the event, Glaude said policymakers must take deliberate steps to address systemic racial inequality. “We have to admit that racial inequality isn’t just an accident, that it is the result of deliberate policy on the part of the United States,” he said. “We’re going to
have to be just as deliberate in our efforts to dismantle it as we were in our efforts to create it.” Glaude called on young people to reject the “framework of scarcity” and “the idea that there’s only so much pie to go around” when pushing for policy solutions to inequality. “Part, I think, of the way in which we reach young people has everything to do with policy,” he said. Payne encouraged attendees to pursue activism. “I hope that for those in the audience and those listening, you find your way in — you find your activism,” she said. “I think it’s just taking that personal look at what you can do.” At the start of the forum, Glaude spoke about the history of systemic racial injustice in the United States, including in the country’s founding.
“There’s this idea of America as the shining city on the hill, as this example of democracy achieved,” he said. “And that particular ideological imagining runs up against our practice.” “If we’re going to grow up as a nation, we have to confront that fantasy — we have to confront that lie,” he said, referencing writer and activist James Baldwin’s observations of racial inequality in his essay, “The White Problem.” Glaude said backlash to racial justice efforts, including restrictive voting laws that have been passed around the country, has been a form of “betrayal.” “The republic stands on the brink, once again,” he said in an interview. “We need to be diligent if we’re going to survive this current storm.”
COLOMBIAN FROM PAGE 1
COLSA Reestablished at College The group can feel like a home on campus for Colombian students, Gonzalez said. “Whether it be speaking in Spanish, getting to try some foods that feel like home, it’s always just kind of great to have something that’s very comforting to your soul and your spirit,” Gonzalez said. Morales said last week’s inaugural meeting reenergized
members about the group’s future.. “We had around 10 to 15 people there, and just seeing that many Colombians in one spot was very nice,” Morales said. Gonzalez and Morales said they look forward to holding more programming at the College and beyond. “In Cali, there’s usually a big salsa festival, so obviously,
we’re not going to fly to Cali to go to that, but recreate a smaller version with food and drinks and kind of the same celebratory nature,” Gonzalez said. “We want to become very much involved in the Colombian community here at Harvard, but also in the greater Boston area,” Morales said. “We also want to maintain ties with our homeland, and just preserve
that tradition.” Looking to the future, the group hopes to expand its membership. “We just want members who are devoted and dedicated to give Harvard a little taste of what Colombia is like,” Morales said. ella.jones@thecrimson.com monique.vobecky@thecrimson.com
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MARCH 31, 2022
UC FROM PAGE 1
HUA Opponents End Calls to Boycott Vote read. “Don’t let it.” From the start, the audacious move came with a high risk: If proponents of the new constitution turn out enough students to succeed the threshold, the votes could be concentrated in favor of the HUA, with wouldbe “No” voters abstaining.According to an email to the student body from the UC’s election commission on Wednesday morning, the referendum was 770 votes shy of reaching the 2,766-voter threshold. On Wednesday afternoon, Cheng claimed in an email to the student body the referendum was just 368 votes shy of meeting the threshold. But according to UC Elections Chair Camryn D. Jones ’22, Cheng does not have access to voter turnout information, nor does any other UC member. Cheng declined to elaborate on the source of his tally. “I’m happy to talk about it after voting closes,” he wrote in a text message Wednesday night Regardless, Cheng’s data appeared to spook his opponents, who were backpedaling by early Thursday morning.
In an Instagram post just after 1 a.m. on Thursday, the anonymous anti-HUA account called on students to vote “no,” writing that it was the “best option.” Separately, on Wednesday evening, one of the HUA’s highest-profile opponents, former UC President Noah A. Harris ’22, called for students to vote “no” on the question — not skip the vote. “If you planned on boycotting the vote, I urge you to instead vote ‘No,’” he wrote in an email to undergraduates just after 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The shrinking margin had Crimson Yard Representative Ethan C. Kelly ’25, an advocate of the “boycott” tactic, rethinking his approach. “I’m honestly not sure about standing by the position. That’s something that I have been pondering tonight,” Kelly said around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. The results of the referendum, also including a question about Harvard’s Covid-19 policies, are expected to be released Thursday evening. sellers.hill@thecrimson.com
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MARCH 31, 2022
PAGE 4
EDITORIAL THE CRIMSON EDITORIAL BOARD
OP-ED
Where’s the Urgency on Harassment? We all need to feel an urgency adequate to the problem at hand.
Y
ear after year, we ask Harvard to do more to combat the issue of sexual misconduct that pervades this institution and its culture. Year after year, another professor’s misconduct comes to light. We’ve written about this in 2011, eight times in 2018, five times in 2019, three times in 2020, three times in 2021, and three times in 2022, only three months into the year. We’ve written so much on this topic that it is difficult to find a new angle to address. The overwhelming, despairing feeling is that it just shouldn’t be this complicated. Thirty-nine years after the first formal complaint against former Government professor Jorge I. Domínguez, Harvard released a report detailing the circumstances that had enabled Domínguez’s actions. This report outlined 10 recommendations to improve the University’s sexual harassment protocols. More than a year later, Harvard has failed to fulfill three of them. The most urgent obstacle to progress, then, seems not to be the complexity of the problem or the impenetrability of potential solutions. Instead, it’s a lack of urgency. What we have repeatedly asked of Harvard, and what we now ask again, is to institute the concrete policy changes that are needed to prevent sexual assault. When the University fails to do this, we are left with mistrust in a system that should be designed to keep us safe. The policy recommendations are there; Harvard needs to find the urgency required to move faster. In addition to policy change, it is im-
portant to remember that an anti-harassment culture is our ultimate goal. Policies may help prevent incidents and offer help to victims, but we need to focus on the root of the issue as well: How can Harvard prevent a culture that has spawned so many harassment incidents in the first place? The University, to its credit, recognized the role of an anti-harassment culture in its recommendations, and we hope it takes that commitment seriously.
The overwhelming, despairing feeling is that it just should not have to be this complicated. One crucial step in doing so is to find a way to convince students that the University feels deep and genuine regret for its failure to institute adequate preventative policies and for allowing a culture of apathy to fester for so long. Apologies can only meet that standard if they are paired with a greater urgency toward making concrete changes than the University has so far displayed. As students, we, too, have a role to play in resisting apathy. When we see headline after headline surfacing new misconduct, it can be tempting to become acculturated. When we only think about sexual misconduct in its aftermath, it is tempting to focus on reactive policy changes rather than proactive
steps to dismantle our toxic culture. We all need to actively play a role in changing our harmful culture of indifference toward sexual harassment. To the student and faculty leaders of departments, houses, and student organizations, we ask that you think carefully and articulate explicitly the standards, expectations, and cultural norms that you want to govern your organization on issues of sexual assault and harassment. Having this conversation openly can help kick-start a new culture of change, one with an urgency commensurate to the immediacy and tragic stakes of the problem at hand. Time and time again, we have written about this topic. It seems simple. Don’t sexually assault or harass students. Don’t sexually assault or harass peers. Don’t sexually assault or harass co-workers. Don’t sexually assault or harass people. But to solve a problem of this magnitude, whatever its complexity, we have to care. Students, faculty, organizations, administrators: We all need to feel an urgency adequate to the problem at hand. to. 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.
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COLUMN
Servers of Colonialism in ‘Cyberchase’ NOSTALGIA: WHAT’S IT HIDING
H
ACKER ALERT. HACKER ALERT. What would you do if faced with this warning? Call random American pre-teens to save the day? In every episode of “Cyberchase” on PBS Kids, The Hacker will attempt to gain power in some way, accompanied by his cyborg henchmen Buzz and Delete. It will be up to Digit, a cyberbird, and Matt, Jackie, and Inez, three nine to 11-year-old “Earthlings” from “the real world” to save the day. They adventure in Cyberspace, the universe of the show that seems to be an amusing representation of the burgeoning internet when the show premiered in 2002. Woven throughout the show are clever references and wordplay, such as The Hacker’s ship the Grim Wreaker. They jump instantly from site to site using portals, with each site having a different culture, population, and even fundamental rules of physics. The different rules that govern each site imbue the show with an opportunity to teach children concepts such as fractions and Venn diagrams through the Earthlings’ adventures; and also captivate them through the fantastic world-building. Why, then, do the show’s creators include sites that are more human-centric than the rest, using entire cultures as themes? Some details are small, such as a woman on The Hacker’s side working for “Henchmen-R-Us” having a broadly Eastern European accent compared to the main characters’ American accents, and a mischievous genie coming out of an unassuming bottle in a closet sporting a turban and pointed shoes. These details stick out compared to the heavy New York accents shown off by Digit, Buzz, and Delete, and the Southern accents found in minor characters on the Earthlings’ side. They suggest a stereotype of the evil foreigner compared to the American main characters.
Most of all, the episodes centered on culturally-themed islands demonstrate an idea of the “other” with absolutely no nuance. When the Earthlings journey to Shangri-La to outwit The Hacker, our first glimpse of the setting is a group of warriors in uniforms clearly coded as Chinese stereotypes. They move silently, bearing flags, and to make their identity absolutely clear, a stereotypically Chinese theme plays upon their appearance, with what sounds like a dizi, or Chinese flute. The warriors’ faces are also reduced only to eyes and Fu Manchu mustaches, which is a departure from the level of detail that goes into the other characters. The warriors then bow to their leader, Master Pi, which the Earthlings imitate, but crudely. Master Pi himself speaks with an accent and in maxims, sports a robe, and seems to know all, in an example of the “Magical Asian trope” found in works that stereotype East Asia. The usual playful details of other cybersites like geometrically-shaped characters are absent, with attention instead diverted to capturing a Chinese setting through overused stereotypes. The Western media conception of China as a mystical and warrior-filled place is only reinforced through this children’s cartoon. What brings our protagonists to this land, anyway? The locals are portrayed as helpless and unable to stand up to The Hacker’s plots in almost every episode, sometimes even calling on the American Earthlings for help directly. The Earthlings swoop in via their portals and save the day without fail, and the locals shower them with praise. A colonialist theme congratulating America runs through these episodes. The cultures local to each cybersite are not simply stereotyped in exposition; they also fail to save themselves from The Hacker and require the help of American children. On Pyramida, the Earthlings encounter an evil mummy in a pyramid, and Digit rides in on a camel wearing a Fez. The Hacker appears in Indiana
By JOSHUA OCHIENG
“I
see you have adjusted well and picked up their language.” I let out a slight chuckle, struggling to find words to fill the awkward silence that engulfed the Zoom call. I had not realized that I was overemphasizing my r’s and my medial t’s to sound like d’s, but her comments reeled me back in. My aunt is happy to talk to me, but she is not pleased by the American accent I am picking up. I promised her, and myself, that I would not adopt an American accent. However, here I was on this call, pitching my voice higher, tilting my a’s and t’s, and quickly gliding over my vowels. If I did not have to, I wouldn’t change my accent. It is a habit I have picked up to be able to make conversation — few people can understand what I say and even fewer have the courage to ask me to repeat what I have said. Not many people have the bandwidth for the discomfort that comes with asking me to say something again, so they find it easier to go with neutral conversation fillers. Just to hurry things up and end the conversation.
If I did not have to, I wouldn’t change my accent. It is a habit I have picked up to be able to make conversation — few people can understand what I say and even fewer have the courage to ask me to repeat what I have said. I get it. For most of my schoolmates, it is their first time interacting with someone from Kenya. I understand that it is difficult for most of them to make out what I am saying. I am aware that it is not their fault that they can’t easily comprehend what I say in my accent. If anything, had I not grown up consuming so much American media, I probably wouldn’t understand what Americans say, either. However, this does not stop me from feeling a little bit of resentment. Resentment because while I am putting in the effort to understand others, they do not seem to be putting in the effort to understand me. I feel resentful because my accent prevents me from fully participating in class, resentful that people fail to acknowledge my contributions during class discussions, not because my contributions are wrong, but because of my accent.
Submit an Op-Ed Today!
Nour L. Khachemoune
I Want an American Accent
Jones garb, complete with the musical theme from the movies, making the colonial, white savior connection all too real. In Tikiville, the episode opens with the blowing of a conch shell, and the locals sport Hawaiian print and speak with accents. Their leader proclaims that he will pass his crown to the winner of the “Kahuna Huna Race-A-Runa,” with the name of the race riffing on the Hawaiian word kahuna, meaning expert. The misappropriation of this term in popular culture is considered offensive. Each of these worlds being framed as a website creates the interesting world-hopping nature of the show, as if the characters can instantly load any site and experience the rules that apply there. The invented worlds of Radopolis, featuring skateboarders, Poddleville, featuring anthropomorphic shapes, and more are proof that the show’s creators can craft fascinating worlds for the Earthlings to explore. The Americans come and go from cultural island to cultural island, sometimes leaving a mess in their wake as they thwart The Hacker once more, and purportedly save the day for the locals. Although the Earthlings themselves are diverse, they are undoubtedly American and impose this upon other cultures. Colonialism extends to multiple cultures that the creators have chosen to profile as “others” for our entertainment. The show is so clever in the way it plays with words and fantastical settings, but real-life cultures are not settings that can be played with to further a narrative. The end of each episode features a non-animated segment called “Cyberchase For Real.” Perhaps the show’s creators should stick to depictions of cultures “for real,” and not promote cultural stereotypes in children’s media. —Nour L. Khachemoune ’22-’23 is a joint concentrator in Chemistry and Anthropology in Dunster House. Her column “Nostalgia: What’s it Hiding?” appears on alternate Thursdays.
I feel resentful because British and Australian accents do not seem to be a challenge for my peers, but my Kenyan accent — the one that goes through all the vowels, enunciating everything clearly — is difficult to decipher. I feel resentful because British and Australian accents do not seem to be a challenge for my peers, but my Kenyan accent — the one that goes through all the vowels, enunciating everything clearly — is difficult to decipher. I feel resentful because I know if people took the time to listen to me — if people were willing to listen to me — then my accent would not be such an issue. Although I struggle to sound American, I fear I will pick up an American accent at the expense of my Kenyan one. It often crosses my mind that perhaps at some point I will not be able to codeswitch; I will have a full-on American accent and there will be no traces of my Kenyan accent left. That there will be one less thing that helps me identify with my country, and that perhaps after a few years, I will go back to Kenya and be considered a foreigner in the place I call home. That my hard r’s and softened t’s will reek of Westernization.
Despite all this, I take delight in having an accent. It is an identity; that thousands of miles away from home fellow Kenyans can spot me on the T or even the subway in New York. Despite all this, I take delight in having an accent. It is an identity; that thousands of miles away from home fellow Kenyans can spot me on the T or even the subway in New York. The conversations with my Kenyan friends, our deepened vowels, stressed medial t’s, and soft r’s, are a piece of home that I have here with me. Most importantly, having an accent has made me a better listener. Having to put in extra effort to make my point has made it easier to put in the effort to understand others’ points. It has made me realize that I did not often listen actively to what others said. Now, I listen to understand, not merely to respond. I hope that I will learn the American accent. It will make flirting at parties much easier and will give me back my sense of humor. I also hope that I will not lose my Kenyan accent; that I will be able to revert back to it when I need it. I hope once I land at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, I will fit right back in; that the place I call home will not think of me as foreign. —Joshua Ochieng ’24, a Crimson Editorial Editor, is an Economics concentrator in Quincy House.
PAGE 5
THE HARVARD CRIMSON |
COVID FROM PAGE 1
MARCH 31, 2022
HLS DEAN FROM PAGE 1
Univ. Cuts Pay for Idled Workers HLS Names New Dean of Students
been disrupted.” The last benefit ending Friday comes from the Massachusetts Covid-19 Emergency Paid Sick Leave Law, which requires Harvard to provide up to one additional week of paid sick leave for Covid-19 related reasons until April 1. In the last week, University administrators have sent multiple emails reminding affiliates about the April 1 cutoff. On Tuesday, Tiffany C. Jadotte, associate dean for Human Resources at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, summarized the changes in an email to FAS affiliates, noting the policies were “temporarily put into place in response to the COVID-19 emergency.” In a follow-up email, FAS Dean Claudine Gay and Administration and Finance Dean Scott A. Jordan wrote that the return to normalcy will mark a transition back to pre-pandem
ic workplace protocols. “While it was no surprise that taking off the mask would be a relief, what has been most surprising is the sense of joy that has come from seeing each other’s faces in person again,” they wrote.
Covid-19 rages on and Harvard eliminates pandemic sick leave and dependent care. Mo Torres Ph.D. Candidate
“As we shift to our regular processes, we have an opportunity to look at our work differently, to do things in a new and more intentional way,” Gay and Jordan added. Citing the rise of the new BA.2 subvariant of
Omicron, Gay and Jordan acknowledged “that we are not out of the woods yet” but affirmed that “we are no longer in emergency mode.” After reading Gay and Jordan’s email, some graduate students voiced concerns over the impending termination of the policies. “Remarkable stuff,” Mo Torres, a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology, wrote on Twitter. “Covid-19 rages on and Harvard eliminates pandemic sick leave and dependent care, announcing the news with the header ‘A Time for Connection and Community.’” Tessa Green, a Ph.D. candidate in Systems Biology, said she was concerned for the staff who were losing benefits, adding that the pandemic isn’t over. “What just bothers me about all of it is that they’re making these changes as if the pandemic is over,” Green said.
FORMER PM FROM PAGE 1
Former PM Talks U.S.-China Competition at IOP Forum public opinion, may the best system win,” he said. However, Rudd said the competition should be done peacefully. “If we’re going to compete on this question, let’s do it in a non-lethal way — or shall I say a not terminally-lethal way — without blowing each other’s brains out on the way through,” Rudd said. “I don’t think that’s good for business,” he added. In response to an audience question about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Rudd said he thinks China “will neither help nor hinder” the United States’ goal of ending the war in Ukraine because China’s relationship with Russia is “too great.” “It’s not just because Putin and Xi Jinping like drinking vodka together — I think,”
Rudd said. “It’s because [of ] a deep national interest calculus in China.” Allison said Xi Jinping believes China benefits from having the United States distracted by the war in Ukraine. “The more Ukraine and Russia can suck the oxygen out of the policy discussion in Washington, the less attention it has for China,” Allison said. “And Xi Jinping calls that victory,” he added. In an interview after the event, Rudd said China’s alignment with Russia, despite the war in Ukraine, is already impacting European Union-China relations ahead of the April 1 European Union-China summit. The European Union is expecting China to “use its leverage with Moscow” to help end the war, according to Rudd.
“If China declines from doing that, then you’re likely to see a lasting impairment of Brussels’ and, I think, Berlin’s view of Beijing,” Rudd said. At the forum, Rudd said the United States will continue to enjoy the support of its allies as long as it leads them in “a rational way forward.” Still, he warned that might change depending on who wins the 2024 United States presidential election. “If we have a return of Trump or a Trump-like figure running the United States, sending out all sorts of de facto isolationist messages to the alliance structures around the world, all bets are off,” Rudd said. “I think this is really up to you, Uncle Sam,” Rudd added. miles.herszenhorn@thecrimson.com
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Harvard spokesperson Jason A. Newton did not respond to a request for comment.
What just bothers me about all of it is that they’re making these changes as if the pandemic is over. Tessa Green Ph.D. Candidate
Though total case numbers at Harvard have remained fairly constant in the past three weeks, undergraduate cases have declined considerately after spring break. National covid-19 case counts have fallen significantly since their peak in mid-January. cara.chang@thecrimson.com sophia.scott@thecrimson.com
well. Maybe there are elements that we could replicate here on a smaller scale.” Reflecting on his hopes for his tenure, Ball said that he wants to enhance the “user experience” at Harvard Law School and increase the amount of support and number of events offered by the Dean of Students Office. He also said he is eager to start “rebranding the Dean of Students Office as more than a destination for disciplinary matters.” “When you also have personal challenges, and you need help — maybe you need to take a personal leave, maybe there are any number of other things — where you’re looking for guidance and support as a student, that’s when we show up,” he
said. For Ball, Harvard’s mission has always been intertwined with public service, which he considers his own long-time personal passion. On his admissions letter for law school, Ball received a personal note about his commitment to public service throughout his youth, which he wrote about in his application. “I really appreciated just the diversity of career paths that Harvard affords,” Ball said. “My career has meandered a bit, in a good way,” he said. “For the last, I would say, few legs of the journey I have had, they’ve been very much aligned with that public service ethic that I started with.” anne.brandes@thecrimson.com
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SPORTS WEEKEND EVENT
SCHEDULE
FRIDAY ______________________________________ SATURDAY ______________________________________ SUNDAY __________________________________________ Men’s Volleyball at St. Francis Brooklyn 7:00 p.m., Brooklyn, N.Y.
Women’s Water Polo vs. Michigan 9:00 a.m., Blodgett Pool
Women’s Heavyweight Rowing vs. Brown Cambridge, Mass.
Men’s Lacrosse vs. Colgate 1:00 p.m., Jordan Field
Softball at Columbia 12:30 p.m., New York, N.Y.
MEN’S ICE HOCKEY
Harvard’s Nick Abruzzese Signed by Maple Leafs By BRIDGET T. SANDS and AARON B. SHUCHMAN CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
Days after the Harvard men’s ice hockey team was eliminated from the NCAA tournament by Minnesota State, one of the team’s captains made the decision to forgo his senior season in Cambridge and turn professional. The Toronto Maple Leafs announced on Saturday that they signed junior forward and captain Nick Abruzzese to a twoyear, entry-level contract for the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons. The average annual value of the deal is $850,000, and Abruzzese has already joined the team with the expectation that he will make his NHL debut soon. “Nick’s getting a chance to utilize his talents and his hard work and dedication to live out his dream,” head coach Ted Donato ’91 observed. “It’s exciting for us as coaches, it’s exciting for his fellow teammates, and
we certainly are really wishing him the very best.” Abruzzese, a native of Slate Hill, N.Y., began his career in the North Jersey Avalanche youth program before joining the Chicago Steel of the United States Hockey League (USHL), the highest level of junior hockey in the U.S. With the Steel, he recorded 116 points (42 goals, 74 points) in 118 games over two seasons, eventually being named an alternate captain. Despite being two years older than the 2019 NHL draft class, Abruzzese was selected in the fourth round, 124th overall, by the Maple Leafs in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Abruzzese quickly rewarded the Maple Leafs’ selection with an outstanding first season at Harvard in 2019-2020, notching 44 points (14 goals, 30 assists) in 31 games. After the season, he was named the ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Year while earning spots on the AllECAC Hockey First Team and
the ECAC All-Rookie Team. Upon the Crimson’s return to play in 2021-2022, Abruzzese was named a team captain, and he continued his outstanding collegiate career with a strong junior season, tallying 33 points (9 goals, 24 assists) en route to being named Ivy League Player of the Year and earning another berth on the All-ECAC Hockey First Team. “At Harvard the captains are elected by their peers, the other players on the team. I think it speaks to how others on the team felt about Nick as a leader and his character,” Donato reflected. “We are very appreciative of the level of leadership and character that Nick brought every day into the program…having two classes of kids that haven’t played at the collegiate level. For us I thought, Nick, along with [co-captain senior forward] Casey Dornach did an incredible job, unifying the group and I thought Nick’s leadership was essential to the team’s success. Both on the ice and off the
ice and for that he deserves a lot of credit.” Midway through his junior season, Abruzzese, along with teammate Sean Farrell, was named to Team USA at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. The NHL refused to allow its players to play in the tournament, leaving USA Hockey to select a team primarily composed of collegiate players and professionals playing in overseas leagues. Abruzzese recorded a goal and three assists in four games as Team USA was knocked out by Slovakia in the elimination round. Abruzzese’s decision to play professionally results in forgoing his final season for the Crimson. “Nick and I and the other coaches we sat down,” Donato explained his involvement in the decision making process. “I think for me I just want to lend perspective… from my experience as a former NHL player, as a coach that’s had, maybe
17 guys now that have had the chance to play in the National Hockey League…and then also even as a parent now going through it with my son Ryan - so really just to lend perspective. Maybe to debunk things that maybe seem important, but aren’t as important or at least be able to clarify some things that are being sold or told to him, but Nick’s a really thoughtful young man. I think he was really excited about the opportunity to live out his dream to play in the National Hockey League.” In the NHL, Abruzzese is expected to fill a bottom-six role for the Maple Leafs, helping them add some offense to the bottom half of an otherwise loaded roster that features the league’s leading goal scorer in center Auston Matthews, elite wingers in Mitchell Marner and William Nylander, and former No. 1 overall pick and team captain John Tavares. The Leafs also feature two former Harvard hockey players, forwards Colin Blackwell
’16 and Alexander Kerfoot ’17. Matthew Knies, a teammate of Abruzzese from the Olympics who plays for the University of Minnesota, may also sign with the team after the conclusion of the Golden Gophers’ season. The Maple Leafs, members of the NHL’s Atlantic Division, are in a tight race for playoff positioning with the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Boston Bruins, and once the playoffs begin, the pressure is certain to rise. Toronto, one of the NHL’s “Original Six” franchises, has not won a Stanley Cup championship since 1967 (the longest drought in the NHL), and the team has not won a playoff series since 2004. There has been speculation coming out of the Toronto press that Abruzzese will make his debut for the Leafs this Saturday against the Philadelphia Flyers in Philadelphia at 7pm. bridget.sands@thecrimson.com aaron.shuchman@thecrimson.com
OH, CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN Harvard’s junior forward and captain Nick Abruzzese navigates the puck through Big Green defenders in a 9-3 win over Dartmouth in Hanover, N.H., on Oct. 29. OWEN A. BERGER—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
SKATING THROUGH THE SIX Abruzzese skates up the ice during a 9-3 victory against Dartmouth on Oct. 29. He will suit up for the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs for the rest of this season. OWEN A. BERGER—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER