School's Out

04.26.12 vol. xliii, no. 47

2 [email protected] 04.26.12 • The Harvard Independent

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Picks of the Week

FORUM 3 4 NEWS 5 SPECIAL 6-7

ARTS 8 9 10 SPORTS 11

Here’s your number one Pick of the Week: Survive reading period and enjoy summer! The Indy can’t believe it either – the year is almost over. We’ve had a great year here at the Indy. From feminists to fondling, Gaga to Glee, we’ve covered what’s important to us as Harvard students, artists, politicos, and global citizens. Here’s to hoping you have great luck during this final push. You’ve got this! We are so close to that most treasured time: summertime. From China, the Mediterranean, to the local diner, there’s no doubt we’ll all do something amazing and/or relaxing in these next few months. No matter the location, no matter the time commitment, this is your summer. Make of it what you will. Have fun, and as Drew Faust declared to the class of 2014 at their convocation, “Take risks.” Good luck, fellow students, and happy studying!

Stride Against Stigma Walk-a-thon When: Saturday, April 28 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.Where: Nickerson Field, Boston UniversityWhat: Stride Against Stigma is the first-annual fundraising walk sponsored by Families for Depression Awareness, a national nonprofit organization that helps families and organizations provide education, outreach, and training to support families dealing with depression. The walk, particularly aimed at depression in colleges, is meant to raise awareness of depressive disorders and build a community dedicated to erasing the stigma around depression. For more information or to register for the event, visit www.strideagainststigma.org.

HairWhen: Thursday 7:30, Friday 7:30, Saturday 2:30 and 7:30, and Sunday 2:30 and 7:30Where: Loeb Experimental TheaterWhat: The first rock musical, Hair, redefined what a musical was while defining a generation. Right from the hippies, to the weed, to the “free love,” Hair embodies everything that the sixties and the long sixties was all about. While the Vietnam War forms the backdrop of this revolutionary play, the music too is extremely catchy and is perhaps an even bigger reason to catch this play. The ensemble cast and the live band, in conjunction with the innovative sets, make this play worth a watch. Most of the shows are sold out, but get on the waitlist now if you want to catch this gloriously uplifting production.

TesTing Our PaTienceLife science

red, BLack, and BLue

a cOnversaTiOn wiTh kevin Jennings

sLOw MOvesan eLeganT exTravaganza"reaLiTy" Tv

i'M crew

Staff WritersClare Duncan '14 Travis Hallett '14 Yuqi Hou '15

Cindy Hsu '14 Mohammed Hussain '15 Yuying Luo '12 Zena Mengesha '14 Marina Molarsky-Beck '15 Riva Riley '12

Sarah Rosenthal '15 Kalyn Saulsberry '14 Marc Shi '14 Weike Wang '11 Faith Zhang '11

Graphics, Photography, and Design Staff Maria Barragan-Santana '14

Travis Hallett '14Nina Kosaric '14

News and Forum EditorAssociate News Editor

Arts EditorAssociate Arts Editor

Sports EditorDesign Editor

Columnists

Christine Wolfe '14 Carlos Schmidt '15Sayantan Deb '14 Curtis Lahaie '15Michael Altman '14Angela Song '14Will Simmons '14Sanyee Yuan '12Celia Zhang '13

Co-President Co-President

Editor-in-Chief Production Manager

Gary Gerbrandt '14Whitney Lee '14Meghan Brooks '14 Miranda Shugars '14

[email protected] 3The Harvard Independent • 04.26.12

indyForum

Point/Counterpoint

Are evening exAms A good ideA?By CHRISTINE WOLFEYou'll live.Noooooooooooooooooooooooo.

By MEGHAN BROOKS

The “AdministrAtion”, led by the Dean of Undergraduate Education, Dr. Jay M.

Harris, has put forth the proposal to shorten our final exam period by two days, compressing what is usually eight days of morning and afternoon exam slots into six days of morning, afternoon, and evening exam slots. The idea is to add two days of class to the calendar each semester, allowing professors more time to cover course material. The idea, to put it kindly, is stupid.

Before delving into the myriad reasons as to why subtracting two days from finals period is not just decidedly stupid but also likely evil, I would like to point out that the logic behind this proposal is fundamentally flawed. Whoever came up with this clearly believes one of two things:

That a two-day period of time has a set value for students (where value is defined as the usefulness of the period of time to its user) no matter when it occurs, or…

That a two-day period of time’s value varies under different circumstances, but that class time is more valuable to students than study time.

Wrong. These are both wrong. First of all, if the administration were to give those two days of finals period over to class time, because of Harvard’s Monday/Wednesday/Friday or Tuesday/Thursday class scheduling, the typical professor would only be granted one extra lecture.

“Oh, but imagine the immense potential for intellectual discovery that one lecture can hold!”, some ancient professor of Abstraction says.

Do you know what I can do in two days of studying, Mr. Professor? I can memorize your entire class. Top to bottom. Inside and out. After two days of quality study

time I have internalized and processed more information about abstractive, arcane, and obtuse theory than I

did the entire semester. In those two days, I learned! And now, I am going to pass your final exam. Do you know what I did in your single, last lecture? I doodled.

If I sound upset, I am. I have the utmost respect for (the majority of) the professors here. I go to all my lectures. I like learning. I’m here for an education and I like class. However, like every Harvard student I’ve encountered, I also like to do my best in my classes, and Harvard’s admittedly long reading and finals periods are crucial to my academic success.

More importantly, in its proposal, the Committee on Undergraduate Education seems to have forgotten that for students, finals period is not just days on a calendar. It is rather unrelenting and lived physical, mental, and emotional exertion. I’m not only upset, I’m a little scared. With three papers and three exams last finals period, by the end I was physically sick from stress, exhausted, and involuntarily five pounds lighter. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough breathing room in finals period as it is. With compression, with the possibility that a student could have exams at 2:00 p.m., 7:00 p.m., and then at 9:00 a.m. the next day, there would be no air.

Perhaps calling the proposal “evil” is a bit hyperbolic. If it passes , however , i t would demonstrate that the College does not appreciate the value of measured studying, is not listening to its students, and has an alarming disregard for their wellbeing at the most demanding point of the semester. In all honesty, if the Committee really needs those two extra days, they can take them out of J-term. I’ll still complain, but at least then my complaints won’t be valid. Meghan Brooks ’14 (meghanbrooks@college) is a night owl, but if an evening exam means a shorter finals period she’ll have none of it.

ExAms Are A nightmAre. They are always going to be a nightmare. No

matter if I take an exam at 9:00 a.m., at 2:00 p.m., or at six or seven o’clock in the evening, I am not going to enjoy the process. Well, there is some inexplicable pleasure in vomiting the facts I’ve crammed into my brain onto a fresh piece of paper with a nicely sharpened Ticonderoga No. 2 pencil (though no one uses those anymore, which is why there is so much suffering in the world). The real pain of exams, however, is that too often I can’t vomit up those facts no matter how far I stick my fingers down my throat. I sit in my seat chewing on my nails and crying while my TF tries to shut me up — oh, PS1, how you spurned my advances! The exam was gruesome, and it would have been so had I taken it in the morning, the afternoon, or the evening.

Sure, it is unreasonably awful to consider an increased probability of taking two exams in one day, especially if one of those exams will interfere with dinner, but here’s the thing: exams are only one part of our education. I would be more surprised if anyone came to Harvard to take tests. The drive behind this proposal is to give more time at the end of the semester for our classes to conclude (and to give us even more assignments!). Is class not why we, as little freshman, set our virgin feet on the Yard? Did we not come here to pursue the depths of the ancient cauldrons of knowledge? With those extra two days of class, we shall extract the secrets of life from our Culture and Belief class, discover our innermost thoughts in Neurobiology, and get to the bottom of other people’s Ec10 sneezing habits on I Saw You Harvard.

When our professors are rushed, we miss the valuable information that we took the class to learn in the first place. Our assignments are packed in

together so as to get through as much material as possible, which makes it harder on us during the time of the year when we would actually be out doing fun things, like watching people play with their dogs in the courtyard. Exams are really a trivial part of our larger academic education, and as a painful part of our education I say we get them over with as quickly as possible, and spend more of our time considering all of the deeper questions and issues in class that cannot be addressed in exams.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, consider those poor students who, upon exiting their last lecture, may never encounter their professor paramour or TF crush again. It is difficult for students to be so viciously torn from their secret love just as they has summoned the courage to go to office hours. At the end of the semester, that window of forbidden romance is gone. Academics don’t have lives. You are not going to see them walking along the River just long enough to have a brief conversation about past participles, Heidegger, or molecular bonding. Two more days can make the difference. Editor’s Note: The Independent does not support intense love for potentially married adults who influence your grades, nor do they have any experience with the intense suffering of unrequited adoration.

E v e n i n g e x a m s ? G e t over them. Don’t lose that academic wanderlust that lies deep within you; revive that passionate scholar of yore and ring the bells of knowledge. After all, what true scholar would disapprove of nine hours of testing per day? Christine Wolfe ’14 (crwolfe@college) doesn’t want the Administration to listen to a word she’s saying. T h i s i s a h o r r i b l e i d e a . Please, please don’t do this.


Forum

PolymathFinding the harmony between science and the humanities.

By CHRISTINE WOLFE

Science, in the broAdest sense, is the study of natural phenomena. Science utilizes an empirical

mindset to delve into the fundamental concerns of time, space, life, and experience. And despite its definitional interest in both human and non-human existence, science has long been denigrated to a category of study beneath the humanities as limited in its scope and its passion. How could science ally with a humanistic interest in the world when it relies on mathematics, when it refuses subjectivity? What is the human experience if not entirely subjective – how could we discuss identity and the individual if it is the organism and not its soul that we analyze? What use is the physiology of a cell to the study of the ambiguities of the human condition? Science amasses generalizations. Science is heartless. It seeks to minimize the complexity of life into formulas and data entries.

Yet it is science that lights candles in the dark, that forms the green landscapes of spring, and that facilitates the connection of living beings. It is what allows us to perceive sentimentality, compose elaborate sentences, and understand the ludicrous conglomeration of letters on a page. We live in a world of phenomena, and every second we and everything surrounding us changes in a shifting of the smallest particles and the largest planets. For how can one truly comprehend the depths of beauty and of suffering without understanding their roots? How can the annual performance of the landscape, the passing of non-existent time, and the fleeting and momentous interactions of two people be understood subjectively? To look at phenomena through such a lens is not

to see them for what they are; when one’s gaze is colored, it is obscured from pure experience.

This is not to say that the humanities are flawed — of course it is through the artistic study of the nature of existence that we conjure the most powerful emotional responses and cope with the inexplicability of existence. Yet without objectivity and the analysis of repeated occurrences and physical entities, it becomes too easy to assign an emotional response to a phenomenon. Suddenly there are good and evil, right and wrong. What is right to one person will be wrong to another, and from this point dictatorial frameworks grow out of small-minded conceptions. Knowing the limits of subjectivity is not necessary to understanding the scientific mindset, but it is helpful to remind oneself the benefits of an empirical analysis of the interior and exterior worlds, no matter how difficult that objectivity is to achieve.

When living in a society forged on and bred to create a religious perspective, as all human societies do, it can be terrifying to consider the random nature of the universe. It is understandable that some simply do not comprehend how experiences as gripping as love or as hatred could arise from the interactions of chemicals within the human brain. It may seem impossible that matter we cannot imagine exploded to create the smallest and grandest parts of our universe. It feels safe to believe that things happen for a reason, and that we all have a purpose prescribed to us. It evades the dissonance felt when the human sense of responsibility and self-interest collide. It is difficult to exist — it is our greatest and only challenge.

Yet to consider that everything around us arises from the interworking of small particles coagulated in a space of coincidence and collaboration inspires a feel ing of genuine amazement. That all of the thoughts we have ever had and all of the art we have ever produced come from the molecules within our own bodies is a true appreciation of our capacity as human beings; from tiny particles arose bonds and complex structures, which built up systematically over time to produce the sand of Nantucket and the stone facades of the Himalayas. Some particular particles came together to produce cells, which through statistical interactions with the environment and other organisms evolved into algae, labradoodles, Mitt Romney, and Barack Obama. And here is one particularly admirable facet of (true) scientific study: it recognizes the unique and fascinating existence of particular phenomena without justifications or judgments. Yes, the human being is an incredible organism, but its dynamic functioning is no more fascinating or surprising than that of a bougainvillea or a flame. It is through science that humility and passion can be held simultaneously.

I t c a n n o t b e d e n i e d t h a t the motivation for pursuing this perspective on science regards partially the political and social attacks on scientific study. So many people, especially youths, are turned away from science because it challenges us emotionally and intellectually. Yet so much good could be done for the world if people were more familiar with the propensity for science to revel in the exquisite, astounding experience of the universe. There would be no excuse to categorize a phenomenon until it was adequately

tested. It seems that there would be more acceptance in the world if more people were exposed to science, as it challenges us to accept change and new modes of thinking as the only way to progress. There would be no unquestioning acceptance of things as they are, and one could imagine the cultivation of a greater appreciation of our surroundings, our relationships, and our very lives.

It is certainly true that there are scientists who are blinded to the beauty of the world they study, but this narrow-mindedness is not limited to science. It is our responsibility as scientists to engage ourselves and others in innovative thinking, to apply the patterns of life to understand both old and new problems. These practices are applicable to any problem, be it mechanical, environmental, biological, or social. It is frustrating and disappointing that an excitement and engagement in scientific rigor is discouraged in many our schools, as evolution is arguably one of the best examples of understanding the very core of organic existence. No more helpful are the negative criticisms of scientists and their work from the humanities. It is only through collaboration with each other and a recognition of the interplay of our disciplines that we can hope to affect change and understand the nature of the universe in which we live. What other purpose could we have?

Christine Wolfe ’14 (crwolfe@college) is proud to be a biological organism, and is even prouder to understand herself as one.


indyNews

What awaits America in the 2012 election?

By GARY GERBRANDT

Repopulating Washington

It seems as though the quadrennial event that all Americans eagerly await has already been decided—

at least within the liberal Harvard bubble. President Obama seems to be on the right track to earn a second term in office! Surely, someone as influential and awesome as Elizabeth Warren will take back Joe Kennedy’s Senate seat! We generally expect electoral victories along those ideological lines throughout the rest of the nation!

Of course, Harvard is disconnected from the rest of the country, the state, and even the Census Metropolitan Area. Nothing is set in stone with six months to go before Election Day. Yet the problem is deeper than that. The

Harvard community’s comfortable conceptions of the outside often go unquestioned, particularly when students here are emotionally invested in something as personal as the political.

In the next few months, many war-themed clichés will be uttered. The campaigns will escalate. The battle lines will be drawn. The race for President may be somewhat in line with Harvard’s general expectations, but the rest of the electoral landscape remains ambiguous. Once the victors emerge, America is likely to see itself saddled with the same set of politicians and dominant ideologies as was found following the 2010 election.

The current climate necessitates an analysis of the presidential election in particular. The American public seems to have welcomed Mitt Romney as the presumptive Republican nominee, albeit with lukewarm arms. He’s a real Al Gore, only he went to BYU, not Harvard, and he has slightly better hair. President Obama, who continues to outperform Romney in the polls, has recently improved his image, becoming visibly more determined to stick to his principles, and continues to hold high personal popularity amongst American voters. Nevertheless, the President’s enemies are strong-willed and guarantee a rocky road for the Obama campaign over the summer.

Despite conservative criticisms to the contrary, many of President Obama’s policies have had a positive impact on the economy, and his current popularity no doubt stems from the boost in employment numbers and the revival of key industries, such as the automotive sector. While Romney is not a particularly appealing candidate for the GOP base — a bit too conservative for moderates, far too moderate for conservatives — he does have a strong message on the economy. If something were to go wrong over the summer, which is always a real possibility (say, if the European economic crisis were to spin out of control, or if unemployment numbers were to creep back up), Obama’s base of support could be on its last legs, and Romney could be elected out of a desire for economic change.

The electoral landscape on the levels below Obam/ney is far more uncertain. The House of Representatives shifted dramatically to the right in the last election, and this will be the first time the newly elected Congresspeople will face a test at the hands of their voters. With that test in mind, much of the change (or lack thereof) in the House this November will be tied to the energy around whoever is elected president. If Obama fairs well, Democrats riding his coattails could threaten the many Tea Party-affiliated freshmen and

potentially even swing the House back to Democratic control. However, even if Obama does well, the Citizens United decision, which promotes increased corporate spending in political campaigns and related media, could likely counteract Obama’s popularity in favor of conservative candidates.

A similar story can be told about the chances in the Senate this fall. While Senators from both parties are retiring, and their seats are up for competition in numerous states, it looks like the Democrats’ tenuous majority is in danger of falling apart. Far fewer Democratic candidates are performing strongly than would be needed to replicate the makeup of the current Senate. This class of Senators was last elected in 2006, when the Democrats were performing much better nationally. Not even Obama’s victory would be likely to sustain this Senate makeup in light Citizens United.

Republicans, despite the distraction around Mitt Romney at the top of the ticket, stand to perform extremely well this November. It is very possible that President Obama could be re-elected with both houses of Congress controlled by the Republicans, which would likely mean much of the same partisanship which plagues the District of Columbia would continue. This far out, any analysis is built on uncertainty and contingency, but November’s results will most likely boil down to the state of America’s economy. Nevertheless, Obama seems to be on the right track.

This summer, stay informed. Watch the news, or, better yet, read the news. Get involved in local political campaigns that have meaning for you. Knock on doors. Spread a message. Get out there and get involved in the political system, and maybe you can help to remake it in the image of whatever you feel is best for America.

Gary Gerbrandt ’14 (garygerbrandt@college) wrote down “political analyst” for his high school yearbook’s Future Career section.

Photo courtesy of Miranda Shugars


SpecialKevin Jennings graduated magna cum laude in history

from Harvard University in 1985. Since that time, he has made such an incredible impact that his classmates elected him the Chief Marshal of the 2010 Harvard Commencement, an honor given to a member of the class who has contributed positively to the world since graduation. He was the first member of his family to graduate college.

After serving as a high school history teacher, Mr. Jennings went on to found the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), a volunteer-based organization that has had an incredible impact on young people across the country by working to make schools safe and welcoming for LGBTQ youth. Under Jennings’ leadership, the advocacy work of GLSEN helped bring anti-LGBTQ discrimination to an end for millions of students. Additionally, while serving as the Assistant Deputy Secretary of Education, Mr. Jennings led the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools; in that time,

he spearheaded the Obama Administration’s anti-bullying initiative.

Currently, Mr. Jennings is the CEO of Be the Change, a national nonprofit that administers ServiceNation and OpportunityNation, initiatives that seek to expand community service and address socioeconomic mobility.

Mr. Jennings is also the author of six books, including Mama’s Boy, Preacher’s Son: A Memoir of Growing Up, Coming Out, and Changing America’s Schools. He and his partner, Jeff Davis, live with their dogs, Ben, Amber, and Jackson.

For more information on Mr. Jennings and Be the Change, please see http://www.bethechangeinc.org and http://www.kevinjennings.com.

(Source: http://www.kevinjennings.com)

Interview By WILLIAM SIMMONS and CHRISTINE WOLFECommentary By WILLIAM SIMMONS

Biography

So my first question is about your most recent position at Be The Change. The mission of Be The Change states that progress is possible even where strong societal divides rift two groups. How does Be The Change seek to overcome the challenges that these divides cause?

KJ: Well, I think what you need to do first of all is meet people where they are. What I mean by that is start with the point of agreement rather than the point of disagreement. I think that’s really critical. It’s the opportunities you get sometimes; there will be things you can get everybody to agree upon like “everybody deserves the opportunity to succeed”. So, if you can start with something everyone agrees on and then work from there, we can all at this point agree on how we might activate that concept and we’ll get a lot further. I think that people often, instead of thinking and feeling the middle ground, they kind of stake out their position and then you get boxed into that, so I think that whatever thing you can start with where people already have a point of agreement, you’ll make progress.

Yes, that’s fantastic. When we were reading about some

of the past issues, and, just in light of the current political climate, how have you navigated the sometimes tense, divisive polit ical atmosphere in pursuit of these reforms? I know a lot of people are actually united, so how do you communicate to those people as well as the people who are serving partisan interests?

KJ: Well, it’s tough, I’m not going to lie. It’s a very polarized area — I’m going to be forty-nine next week and I’ve never entered into something this polarized in my life. But I think it’s absolutely critical that you look at these people and realize you’re not going to agree with them on everything. I think what you have to decide sometimes is: we’re going to work together in places where we agree and we’re going to let it go in places where we disagree. I think that’s a much more useful approach. If you’re expecting everybody to agree completely with everything you stand for you’re going to find it very hard to be in Congress. Whereas if you can agree that there are certain points in which we have a point of agreement and I’m going to stick with those and not get too fixated on the areas where we disagree, that gives

you more of a fighting chance. Sure, that’s great. So my

next question is about your work with the Gay Straight Alliances. My parents are gay actually, so I’m pretty interested in the position that allies play both for younger students, either middle school or high school students, and older adults or college students. How do you think that allies can best serve the interests and needs of LGBTQ youth?

KJ: …From the very beginning, obviously, with the concept of the Gay Straight Alliance, I’ve believed strongly that allies have a unique role to play and I continue to believe that. I think that there’s a certain credibility that an ally brings to the table that somebody from the target group does not have, first of all. When an ally speaks up for LGBTQ rights, no one says, oh, they’re trying to recruit, they’re perverting their gender or whatever, just like if I speak up on sexism nobody calls me a bitch. You know? People call me a bitch on occasion but not when I speak about sexism (laughter)…So there’s something very unique in the role of the ally — you’ll sometimes be heard by people who can’t otherwise hear you, if that makes any sense. The other thing I would say

is that it’s wonderful when someone from outside your group affirms you. Very few people from targeted groups have that experience on any kind of regular basis. So there’s something particularly important when an ally chooses to do that because it’s really felt in a different way. I don’t know how to put it any other way — it simply has an affirmative quality that’s incredibly important and uniquely powerful. I think that someone from your own group affirming is incredibly important and we need that as well, but there’s something unique about having an ally that affirms you.

Wonderful, wonderful. My questions revolve around youth in public schools specifically. I’m wondering, what can Harvard students and graduates do to create social change, especially with respect to LGBTQ youth?

KJ: That’s a great, great question. Well, first of all, you have the power of the Harvard brand behind you. That’s a very useful tool. I think remembering where you came from is really important to reach back to communities, as the place you’re going to be impacts the community you came from. And if people in that community see someone

Indy (CW):

Indy(WS):

Indy (CW):

Indy (CW):

Photo courtesy of www.kevinjennings.com


Special

21st century America is undoubtedly a difficult political terrain to traverse at times, especially with respect to the contentious issue of sexuality. Opposing camps have staked out their respective territories, completely unwilling to engage in productive dialog. It is clear, then, that Mr. Jennings’ approach to these issues is a novel one; his willingness to search for unity rather than divisiveness is worthy of emulation. At the core of these debates is the fact that the lives of young people are at jeopardy, and Mr. Jennings sets partisanship aside in order to advocate for the needs of America’s queer youth. Furthermore, the education of our young people is a shared responsibility that relies upon the support of allies. The anti-LGBTQ climate in American public schools is more than a problem for the queer community; it points to a larger lack of inclusivity, knowledge, and compassion that affects all marginalized groups in specific ways. It is essential to address this problem, not only for LGBTQ youth, but also for the safety and efficacy of our schools generally. Harassment is an issue that must concern all of us, for we all share a commitment to the education and wellbeing of youth of all walks of life.

Moreover, each of us has a part to play in engendering a spirit of community, and our status as Harvard students gives us a unique opportunity to use the resources available to us to advance youth development. At the same time, we must be cognizant of our roots and mobilize the Harvard experience to enable us to empower the communities that are so integral to our identities. It is in the combination of love for our roots and the implementation of skills learned at Harvard that one finds the key to meaningful social reform. Mr. Jennings’ call to action was especially meaningful to me as a gay man from a rural community. We each have our own stories of how we arrived at this school, and we must never forget that as we pursue the goals that we hold dear.

coming back and saying —particularly an LGBT person — “I’m from here; I had these struggles, I’d like to know how you’re making it better for people today,” I think that’s very, very powerful. We did a campaign about 15 years ago when I was at GLSEN and we observed how rare it was that high school principals knew any of their LGBT students. We certainly have people write their favorite teacher or write their principal of their high school and saying ‘Hey, I am LGBT and this is what it was like for me,’ and that kind of really… I can’t tell you, how many principals and teachers contacted counselors…for information and said “Wow, I’ve really never thought about this issue before but having my former student reach out to me really impacted me.” I think every student at Harvard has the power to do that.

…Going off of that, what progress do you see has been made for LGBTQ youth and what still needs to be accomplished?

KJ: Well, I really think one of the things we have to face is that the experience of LGBT youth is not uniform. It is dictated often by geography, by gender, by class, and by race, and therefore it’s very hard to say this is what we need to do for LGBT youth. I think if you’re going to an affluent suburban public school in greater Boston, that’s very different than going to a private Christian academy in Mississippi, so I don’t want to make generalizations. I

think in way too many places they’re still struggling with basic safety. The rates of harassment for LGBT youth remain very high, so basic safety is still a concern. After all, in 38 states you can still bully and harass people based on their sexual orientation or their gender identity, and you have no legal protection against that. So in 38 states we still haven’t put in place

basic legal rights, and in other places we’ve got in place basic legal rights but we probably haven’t done as much as we should to make sure the curriculum is inclusive. So I really think it depends on where you are and who you are. I think the range of concerns ranges from making schools safe to making them affirming. I think you’re probably at different spots along that spectrum.

To return to that curriculum aspect, what steps are still necessary for the queer experience, if one can say there is a unified queer experience, to be adequately integrated into public school curricula?

KJ: Well frankly schools haven’t done anything at the start. The reality is most schools have not integrated LGBT issues in any concrete or significant way into their curriculum, so, I think that it’s not a question of what more schools could do, it’s just that schools need to get off their butts and do something. The average LGBT student or average straight student

graduating believes the gay movement began when Ellen came out, so there are few threads we can go on. We could go on number one — to make sure that LGBT content, where appropriate, is added to the curriculum. Secondly, we could recognize that the LGBT content is already in our curriculum, when we teach people like Walt Whitman or Tennessee Williams or Langston Hughes and realize how their sexual orientation or gender identity shaped their experiences and their perceptions. So I think it’s both to integrate material that’s not in the curriculum and to recognize material that’s in the curriculum as

LGBT material. Very interesting. Do you have

time for one last question? KJ: Yes. Alright. This is a personal

one for me, because I’m very involved in youth development and I’m also an Art History major. I’m wondering how you feel the arts can be mobilized in the pursuit of positive social change for LGBT youth?

KJ: I served as the board chair of the Tectonic Theater Project, which created a piece of theater called The Laramie Project. It has had a tremendous impact on schools that have done it. I think that the arts often provide a really important mode of expression for students who are maybe being denied a voice, and therefore to participate in the arts give students a voice who might not otherwise have one. And secondly, the impact of arts on people is very different; to hear people and to experience a film or a piece of dramatic literature staged can put a human face on it for you. So I think that the arts do have a unique role to play as both as something for people to actually do to express themselves and also for the people in the audience who can maybe connect on a human level that they would not have been able to connect on with drier material.

That’s wonderful. Well, we’ll let you go, because we know you’ve got a million things to do, but thank you so much.

KJ: Thank you so much.

I think what you have to decide sometimes is: "we’re going to work together in places where we agree, and we’re going to let it go in places where we disagree".

- Kevin Jennings

William Simmons ’14 ([email protected]) and Christine Wolfe ’14 ([email protected]) are very grateful to Kevin Jennings and Tim Pappalardo for their time, patience, and kindness. There is a wealth of information at Harvard for queer students and allies alike, such as the Queer Resource Center in Thayer basement. The Office of Student Life also maintains a listing of resources on their website for LGBTQ students and their allies. You can also get involved with the Harvard chapter of Students for Education Reform; more information is available online at http://www.studentsforedreform.org/. Equality is within our reach; let us end our year together with this promising fact fueling our journey.

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Eleganza 2012Walking up to the crowd of

people in front of Widener at 9pm on Friday, April 20,

preparing for my job as site monitor, I encountered utter silence and a group captivated by the movement on the screens before them. They were watching David Michalek’s video installation Slow Dancing, a piece created in 2007 in which 52 dancers were individually recorded at 1000 frames per second. The piece itself, besides setting its “Boston” premiere on our campus, is interwoven with Harvard’s community in that Jill Johnson, Director of Dance and Senior Lecturer for the Music Department at Harvard, is one of the featured dancers in the piece. Each dancer, a master in his or her style, choreographed a five second piece that, in this high-speed format, stretches into an approximately ten minute long

performance, manipulating time with an ethereal result.

The slowness of the motion and absence of accompanying music create such an ambiance of serenity and contemplation that its audience seems embarrassed to move or make any sounds themselves, even without any signs or officials requesting silence. As I handed out programs to audience members, mostly members of the Cambridge community, one man came up to me, saying how surprised he was by a group of people behind him talking. “Why not just stay home?” he asked. I didn’t point out that the Yard is, in fact, home to some of us, but I did find it interesting how effective audience members found the art when given the opportunity to absorb it completely undistracted.

At the end of my shift, I sat with the very small crowd that was left, tuning out all of the noises in the Yard and visual information other than the videos, I could see why the silence was so affecting. By tuning out sound, the viewer could define a new space of impossible time. When my attention was engrossed in the anticipation of movements, the piece becomes an actual experience rather than an interesting, but not necessarily emotional, juxtaposition of the fast and slow. The bodies on the screens, moving with the most exaggerated grace, became completely isolated figures, especially if they jumped and become suspended, nearly motionless, against their black backgrounds.

The installation of Slow Dancing over the steps of Widener marks what I hope will be a new time of Harvard’s

embracing of public art and moments of slowness. In the middle of my scrambling to finish papers and catch up on work, I relish the opportunity to pause and view a work of art that gives so much value to the wealth of action that can take place within a split second of time. Were Harvard to add more opportunities for personal reflection through art, perhaps we students could better clear our minds and savor the quick seconds that make up our college experiences. In fact, if the college offered more public art installations, whether professional or made by students, art itself could have more of a role in those seconds, enriching our lives in an entirely new way.

Sarah Rosenthal ’15 (srosenthal@college) is hungry for more public art.

Stretching Seconds with Stretching Bodies

A look at Slow Dancing.By SARAH ROSENTHAL

Nicolas sparks… oh, nicholas Sparks. He is perhaps one of the most puzzling contemporary

American writers. His writing is trite, with one dimensional characters and contrived plotlines. He is, in essence, the poor man’s James Patterson, with each of his novels and the film adaptations of those novels failing to reach the level of emotional clarity found in James Patterson’s Sam’s Letters to Jennifer. However, despite all of this, his novels and their on-screen adaptations never fail to please the masses, usually earning Rotten Tomatoes scores in the mid seventies and eighties.

This is what I like to refer to as The Sparks Swindle, the inexplicable quality of his writing that compels one to relinquish hours of ones life to watching and/or reading his work. I myself have fallen victim to it, curled in a ball crying while watching A Walk to Remember (2002), later wondering how I’d managed to consume 1 pint of ice cream during the film. The Sparks Swindle is powerful – it’s a force that deserves respect. It is what drew me to the Harvard Square Theater, in the middle of the day, to see The Lucky One (2012).

The Lucky One is a film adaptation of a Nicholas Spark’s novel of the same name, about a marine, Sgt. Logan Thibault (Zac Efron), who attributes his survival in Iraq to a chance discovery of a woman’s photograph, misplaced by another Marine and found amongst some rubble. After a slew of near-death experiences and inexplicable escapes, Logan becomes obsessed with this good luck charm.

When he returns from his third tour of duty in Iraq, he is fixated on the photograph (and the woman in it) that he credits with keeping him alive. Driven by this obsession, he walks to Louisiana from Colorado (Yes, walks. Cue the eye rolling) to find the woman in the picture. He is able to locate her in a small, seemingly backwater town, learns her name – Beth (Taylor Schilling) – and where she lives. He shows up at her door and ends up taking a job at her family-run local dog kennel. Despite her initial mistrust and the complications in her life, a romance develops between them, giving Logan hope that Beth could be much more than his good luck charm. The Lucky One follows the usual Nicholas Sparks pattern, to be outlined shortly, and as usual, deals in improbabilities.

[Warning, spoilers ahead]Logan manages to find Beth despite

the numerous obstacles working against him. One example of this is that the photo was found with no name or location and he managed to locate the town using a lighthouse in the background as a marker… and then walk there. The Nicholas Sparks formula is this: Boy develops crush on girl. Girl resists boy. Drama ensues. Finally, girl reciprocates feelings. Someone dies. The end. This plays out in The Lucky One, as Logan likes Beth; Beth ignores Logan. Beth has a heated custody battle with her ex. She finally reciprocates Logan’s feelings. Beth’s ex dies. The end.

This is the Sparks formula. Let me give you another example: A Walk to Remember (2002). If you haven’t seen A Walk to Remember, ignore this section. Landon likes Jamie. Jamie hates Landon. She reveals she has cancer. Their romance finally blossoms. She dies. The end.

Yet another example: The Notebook (2004). Noah likes Allie. Allie resists Noah. They try to get together but are prevented by Allie’s parents and a combination of him going to war, her going to college, and her getting engaged. Eventually they marry. She

gets Alzheimer’s. They both die. The end.

The Last Song (2010) is another example of the Sparks formula in practice (with the extra bonus of Miley Cyrus), but do I really need to explain further? As a seasoned Nicholas Sparks reader (and viewer), I knew what to expect going into The Lucky One. I received only two tiny pleasures from this film; the first was seeing the lovely and talented Blythe Danner once again on-screen. The second was checking the film’s rating online at Rotten Tomatoes to find that the folks over there have finally wised up to The Sparks Swindle. I was utterly titillated to read the critical consensus stating, “While it provides the requisite amount of escapist melodrama, The Lucky One ultimately relies on too many schmaltzy clichés to appeal to anyone not already familiar with the Nicholas Sparks formula”. Unless you are looking for a stale, formulaic film, don’t waste your money on The Lucky One.

Whitney Lee ’14 (whitneylee@college) hopes to never see another Nicholas Sparks’ film.

The Lucky One The Sparks Swindle and The Sparks Formula.

By WHITNEY LEE


A hallmark of prefrosh weekend, Eleganza was once again responsible for a packed

and pounding Lavietes Pavilion last Saturday, April 21. Difficult to describe and seemingly impossible to find elsewhere, Harvard’s “premiere fashion event” blends style, dance, and music with a hot and heavy helping of sex appeal. While a critic in attendance l o o k i n g f o r p e r f e c t i o n in just one of E l e g a n z a ’ s m a n y h a t s wou ld l eave l e s s t h a n thrilled, after many months o f p lanning , organization, and practice, E l e g a n z a u n d e n i a b l y e n d o w s u s with something much greater than the sum of its parts.

First, the good: Eleganza is primarily a charity event, benefitting this year, as always, the local organization Teen Empowerment. As a gracefully maturing tradition conceived eighteen years ago under BlackC.A.S.T. (Black Community and Student Theatre), the show attempts to maintain its roots as an advocate for cultural diversity.

Upon entering the Pavilion, an unsuspecting attendee might not know what he or she is in for. The young and well-dressed are not in short supply, nor is the loud and trendy music. But once the lights dim and the show begins, the atmosphere becomes clear. Instead of stark

and stoic fashion editors lining the runway, there are masses of rowdy friends of the models and finals club members jumping, yelling, and pounding the stage. If such a thought is unappealing, don’t worry: there are always many other eager, though

perhaps less energetic student donors who join their thrilled brethren within until the crowd swells to a generous two thousand.

Overall, the music, dancing, and fashion in harmony always ensure that something worth watching is

going on. The quality of the three-act show at any one moment, though, is highly dependent on the models. The perfect Eleganza model is attractive and can dance and stomp down the runway like the world is watching. The show does not disappoint in this

regard, but with

dozens of models, it is clear who stands out and why. But it is not for

lack of effort; save a brief unexpected pause to quell rowdiness at the request of the Harvard University Police Department, Eleganza ran like clockwork, significantly aided by months of preparation.

At the end of the evening, though, the astute dancer or model in attendance would be unimpressed. Eleganza does not showcase the best fashion, as evidenced by Abercrombie & Fitch as a major sponsor, dancing, or choreography. But it does not claim to. The models, directors, producers,

and organizers are our peers — all insanely gifted, but at the same time appropriately apportioning their energy. Eleganza is a spectacle in itself, i m m e n s e l y enjoyed year after year with a positive

reputation that carries it far. As a charity event, it is impressive. As a feat in organizat ion and rehearsal, it deserves respect. And as a fun way to spend part of a balmy S a t u r d a y night, it is worth seeing. Just don’t expect it to be something it isn’t. So,

Miranda Priestly, Nina Sayers, and Twyla Tharp, instead of buying a ticket, mail your donations instead.

Travis Hallett ’14 (travishallett@college) tries to see the big picture.

Eleganza 2012While undeniably entertaining, the self-dubbed fashion show’s lack of focus may disappoint the difficult-to-please.By TRAVIS HALLETT

Photos courtesy of Travis Hallett


How procrastination led to discovering a surprisingly relevant TV show.

By SAYANTAN DEB

Finding Community

The onset of finals period, or even the idea that it is coming close, has almost always

coincided with my finding a new show to get hooked on. This seemingly self-destructive, masochistic stupidity (for lack of better words) led me in the past week to stumble upon Community.

I had never particularly been a fan of Joel McHale. He is quite obnoxious in The Soup, E!’s show reality show about making fun of reality shows. McHale’s “holier than thou” attitude in The Soup, quite frankly, was a huge turn-off. What’s more pathetic than the fame-whores we lovingly like to call the Kardashians, or Kate, or dance moms? McHale’s half-hour “comedy” show turns into a vehicle for displaying every conceivable collection of skinny ties known to mankind. Anyway, I digress.

The point is, even halfway through the pilot, I was hooked on Community. The basic premise was perhaps not the most novel. Since I Love Lucy, every idea that could have been explored in sitcoms has been pretty much already been done. So it wasn’t that I was expecting anything novel. What I did find, however, is the funniest ensemble cast since Friends — and yes, I am counting Glee, Modern Family, 30 Rock, and Parks and Recreation. And no, it’s not just a flavor of the season. Everyone from Dan Puddi, playing the pop-culture referencing genius Abed, to Chevy Chase, playing the racist, homophobic, and frankly, quite unlovable Pierce, everyone in this show is wonderful, and they also shared a palpable chemistry. The show was also surprisingly self-aware, fessing up to the notion that in the world of sitcoms, everything has already been tried and tested, fixed, and perfected.

The big question then becomes, why am I even writing about this

show, which is at best, the best comedy series on television you have never really cared to see (thus leading to its longer than usual mid-season hiatus)? Well, perhaps a short background of that led me to discover Community will help.

For the past month, I have been suffering from a severe case of nostalgia. Perhaps this nostalgia stems from the realization that I am already through with half of my tenure at Harvard, or perhaps from the MCAT books lying on my table that can only mean that things are about to get very, very, real. In either case, I wanted to go back to high school. I had enjoyed my four years there. In my class of thirty-four, I had thirty-four friends. In my ten or so teachers, I had a support system that extended the one I had at home. Coming from that background, I found Harvard to be quite a challenge. While the advising system was strong, and the resources plenty, I still missed the idea of the family that I had found in my high school.

While I was able to find friends in my entryway and through my extracurricular activities, I still missed the closeness and the intimacy that I had become so used to in high school. This feeing of loss turned into an unbearable nostalgia, and at this juncture I stumbled upon Community.

With every subsequent episode, I began to realize that, ultimately, I was looking for the wrong thing at Harvard. While a family was easy to build in high school, we had all become very different people at Harvard. We weren’t the naïve fourteen-year-olds who had walked into ninth grade. Unbeknownst to me, and perhaps my peers here as well, the four or five years since beginning high school had changed something in us that I can only liken to a sort of

corruption. Back in eleventh grade, when I read J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye for the first time, I felt that I could see where Holden Caulfield was coming from. At the same time, I felt confused as to why anyone would really want to hold on to his childhood — why not choose to grow up? Why was there such a protective urge to save innocence?

When I started watching Community, I found myself very much in a situation all too familiar to Holden. I felt that I had lost that feeling of intimacy, of friendship beyond the ones we define here in this school, or perhaps, more generally, at this juncture of our lives. I found myself craving and trying to hold on to a sort of innocence that I missed. I missed being unabashedly close to someone. I missed sharing my feelings openly, without fearing that these might have consequences.

In a weird way, that ragtag group of seeming weirdos in Community helped me see that I should not apologize for still being that naïve, still trying to find those friendships or interactions that hadn’t yet been corrupted just by the virtue of growing older. I choose to remain “stupid”, to believe that there is goodness around me that extends beyond formalities, that friendships just as strong can be made at this juncture of life.

When I graduated, in a somewhat idealistic speech, I wrote:

“Today, we are confident, sure of ourselves, secure in the belief that we will be fine. Today, we know that we are accountable to more than ourselves, our parents, our grades. Today we know that our parents are forever a part of us, we know that they are invaluable. Today, we know to emulate our teachers, inspire others to learn. Today we are all more aware of our community, our responsibility as global citizens. Today, we know

that our responsibility is to show up, excited, wide-eyed, willing to learn. Today, we want to stretch beyond what we thought we could do. Today, we shouldn’t be sad because we know that the bonds we have made are truly forever. Today, we know that friendships are based not on distance, but on memories, on everlasting bonds based on countless fragile moments. Today, the Academy isn’t just our school, or even our home. Today, the Academy, and all that it stands for is a part of our entity. And after today, I for one am proud to call us, Academy alumni, The Perfect ’10. “

Two years since, I find this a tad too “wide-eyed,” a tad too happy, a tad too inspirational. But the Holden Caulfield inside me wants to hold on to every single one of these words. Believe it or not, I think I might have been a little wiser than I am now, at least on paper anyway. I do want to try and embody each of those words that I had said when I bid farewell to high school. At the same time, Community has taught me that I can form a community of my own here as well. Rather than lamenting the end of an era, maybe I should define one in this phase of my life. As those MCAT books foreshadow, it’s not about to get any easier. So, although I am done with two years at Harvard, I hope that I can make the next two count. Screw sophomore slump, or a slump of any kind, really. I am going to make the most of my next two years, or at least find a “study group” that will help me make the years coming up, ones I will cherish much like I did high school. Who knows, they might turn out even better!

Sayantan Deb ’14 (sayantandeb@college) is hoping that he doesn’t turn out like Joel McHale…or Pierce, or Abed, or Annie, or Shirley, or Brita, or Troy, or Holden Caulfield.


indySportS

By MEGHAN BROOKS

StrokeRowing House crew at Harvard.

It’s a typical early spring morning on the Charles. The air is cold and the sky is gray and unwelcoming,

and in the quiet brick Houses that line the River, thousands of Harvard College students sleep warm in their beds. In Weld Boathouse, however, things are a bit different. In a flurry of shivery early-morning adrenaline, multiple crews of eight rowers each stomp through the ground floor and onto the dock — 55-foot long shells hoisted over their shoulders — as around them dozens of others stretch, gather oars, and joke in small groups while waiting their turn to launch.

This sort of scene is not unusual in the hundreds of college boathouses that dot the rivers and lakes of the United States. However, what is unique about Weld Boathouse’s early-morning rowers is that in the spring, the majority of them are not varsity — far from it. Rather, they are the over 300 Harvard undergraduates who make up the House crew program, a popular intramural sport that, according to Dan Boyne, Director of Recreational Rowing and the program’s head, may be the only of its kind.

Since 1932, Harvard’s Houses have launched their boats into the murky waters of the Charles, pinning hopes on seasoned rowers and novices alike for an end-of-the-season win and a heightened chance at Straus Cup glory. This year, the thirty-three boats representing the thirteen Houses (Dudley included) will compete for the first time this morning, racing for a place in the finals. Over the next few days, each boat will race two or three times, depending on its success, and then, after two solid months of six, seven, and/or eight a.m. practices in weather conditions ranging from sixty and sunny to winter on the Volga, it will be over. To the uninitiated, the payoff doesn’t seem worth the effort. However, for those brave enough to pick up an oar in the first place, that final race is but a small part of IM crew’s appeal.

“Are intense, early-morning

practices necessary?”, Brianna Beswick ’13, Dunster House’s IM crew captain, repeated this Sunday evening in her dining hall. “I think they totally are.“ She said of her women’s A boat, “I’ve even had people ask me to schedule more practices

because (a) they think it’s fun and (b) they think we need more practice.”

This year, as in the immediate past, Dunster managed to recruit just enough people to launch two boats, an all-women’s A, and a men’s B, which is co-ed. Despite Director Dan Boyne’s discouragement of all-novice boats, the majority of the program’s rowers are beginners who, Beswick explains, need to spend exponentially more time practicing technique, balance, and teamwork than actually simulating race conditions.

Although powered by a determined enthusiasm, Dunster House crew, like most House crews in recent years, does lack experienced membership, which, Beswick concedes, makes its boats less competitive. In the early days of the program, when Harvard’s population was comprised of men reared in private schools where rowing was as much a part of the education as Latin, Houses used their own funds to launch boats whose quality rivaled that of our varsity teams now. Eliot, which retains its reputation as an IM crew powerhouse, even sent boats to race on the Thames until the mid-sixties. Today, however, House crew has been centralized under Harvard Athletics’ general IM program, and the composition of the boats has changed as well, along with the program’s mission.

Says Boyne of his hopes for amateur rowers, “I just want them to appreciate the sport and have a fun and safe experience.” Although he enjoys hearing from former rowers who maintain that taking up IM crew was their most rewarding experience at Harvard, he stresses that crew is a much

bigger responsibility than other IM programs, and that unlike sports such as ultimate Frisbee, its risks require significant preparation, training, and dedication.

While House crew captains like Beswick retain a great deal of responsibility over the training and upkeep of their crews, Boyne and his staff of four to five coaches keep a watchful eye over boats at a rate of about two coaches to every three shells. Before a crew is allowed to take its House’s boat onto the River (Houses must stagger practice times to allow each crew a chance to go out on the water), rowers must pass a swim test in the MAC and prove basic competency in the rowing tanks. For coxswains, especially novice coxswains, the process requires even more preparation. As coxswains steer the boat and direct the rowing, the safety of everyone aboard ultimately falls in their hands. There is a training video, on-water practice with coaches, and countless safety rules and racing regulations to memorize. Boyne admits, “there’s never enough time, but I’m impressed by how well most of them learn, and how quickly.” In 2005, safety concerns almost expelled B-level boats, which are very often helmed by novice coxswains, from the water. The ensuing uproar kept them afloat, but minor accidents — broken rudders, grounded boats — are still enough to keep certain observers nervous and varsity crews laughing.

Very early practices, intense workouts, small rosters, and possible drownings — these would all seem good reasons for the sensible Harvard student to avoid House crew. Yet for many its appeal is irresistible. The

general consensus is simply that the sport is fun: “Waking up to go row is something I look forward to. It’s something I can get excited about, whereas waking up to go to class…not so much,” Beswick said.

Cristina Alcorta ’12, an IM crew captain for Cabot, agreed: “We enjoy being out on the water. After all, we are Fish! Water is our thing.” While one might think that the residents of the land-locked Quad Houses might not be keen to migrate to the River on weekday mornings, Alcorta doesn’t mind the commute. “I always look forward to the jog back with teammates for breakfast after a good practice.” In her view, no one House has the advantage. Practice times and enthusiasm are equal, “Quad Houses just get to the starting point differently.”

Looking ahead to the races this morning, the excitement and confidence is palpable. While Johnny Bassett ’12 maintains that, to his knowledge, his Eliot boats have never had a long-rumored private coach, help from Eliot’s ex-rowers has proved invaluable this season and has left him hopeful for a Domus win. “People are getting really excited to drop the hammer on race day, and it looks like we’ll have a strong cheering section, too.” He continued, “This is what everybody likes the most about Eliot crew: it’s such a large part of house life, it really helps bring the community together.”

On this aspect of the House crew program Boyne agrees: “[Rowing] is really kind of a unique sport, and the archetypical team sport,” he said. “I’d like to think that people learn some great lessons from rowing. You’re out on the water. You’re enjoying the natural beauty of the Charles. It’s a unique party of the Harvard campus that a lot of people never experience.” He added, “It’s very associated with Harvard and the Ivies.”

The outcome of this weekend’s heats aside, it is clear that for those students who participate in House crew, the real prize will have been the opportunity to row alongside friends, joining the long, proud history of rowing the Charles.

Meghan Brooks ’14 (meghanbrooks@college) has placed her bets on Dudley House. Graduate students don’t mess, ya’ll.

Photo courtesy of Maria Barragan-Santana

captured & shotINDY ARCHIVES

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