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People do not take medical leaves because “Harvard’s environment is too much to bear.” Saying this implies that those who do so are “less than,” that they do not measure up to the majority of students who complete Harvard in four years’ timeHarvard’s men’s basketball ascendancy, from 66 straight years without NCAA appearances to a ranked, national competitor and producer of NBA talent, is proof of athletics’ potential on an unlikely campus.The potential for online education remains relatively unexplored, so platforms like edX require, at minimum, an incubator period in which to expand, change, make progress, and make mistakes that eventually lead to advancement and refinement.However, in my four years at Harvard, I have considered other understandings of Harvard Time, beyond the being-seven-minutes-late-to-everything variety.You’re part of Generation I. You’re wired—that is, wireless—you post, text, IM, you have the world at your touchscreen, you experience it in gigabytes and nanoseconds.I congratulate you today on receiving one of the most hard-earned and prestigious degrees in our American higher education system.But I’m equally sure that the live, in-person, learning process isn’t going away. It will simply co-evolve with other means of communication, just as cities are also co-evolving with the internet.It is 2038. The Harvard College Class of 2013 is about to reconvene for its 25th alumni reunion. What will its members find?Strike a balance between work and play, career and family, doing good and doing well. That balance should include looking forward both to Monday and Friday.You may think your relationship with Harvard is over now but, really, it’s just beginning – and not only because the Alumni Association can always find you.The issue, and the point of this Open Letter to the Kennedy School faculty, is that adherence to the standards of the graduate school’s official Handbook needs to be enforced more rigorously in the approval of dissertations.The Harvard experience might be more sheltered, in its own way here in Cambridge, than living in the heart of a big city or going to work everyday. But maybe one of the strengths of such a mega-bubble as Harvard’s is to reveal itself more obviously to those encased within it.Reshaping the way that Harvard students talk (or rather, do not talk) about mental health is a task that is too often overlooked. Admitting that one is not fine and is struggling goes against everything that has been engrained in the Harvard student.That was the whole point of coming to Harvard: to meet all these interesting great talented people who were going to do great things. But when these Great Things go from theory to practice, it hits you in the vitals.Statistical thinking helps one’s success in life and career by quantifying uncertainty using probability.Times have changed. Our government hasn’t. New Republicans believe we can fix that and, in so doing, make America young again.Why are college students so wary of serious relationships, and so critical of those who date seriously?I do hope that during their time here Harvard students will have caught a glimpse of the road that we should be following.Though we are very familiar with the early stages of excitement to be at Harvard and recognition of stiffness of “competition,” we can sometimes remain stagnant, or move on without processing and growing from the lessons we are lucky to learn, ahead of the real-world schedule.Americans of all generations have a compact with each other, a uniquely American compact, renewed and reaffirmed since the founding of our country: Each generation leaves a better nation for the one to follow.The diploma I will receive today, however wonderful it may be, is in no way indicative of what I have accomplished in my four years here, of my victories in the war against my own biology.Let’s take our memories, but let’s take more than that. Let’s take our friends. Let’s take our skills.The issue of student debt is important and affecting our entire nation, and it is important for everyone to work together for a solution.Last week’s tragedy is the latest example of a disturbing trend in which the private sector, and indeed private citizens, are left responsible for shoring up homes, schools, and businesses in the areas of the country hardest hit by natural disasters.Harvard serves as a vital conduit between research funding—public or private—and the solutions to make our world better.Harvard’s failings have been embarrassingly public this year, so public that our successes have not received the attention they deserve.We are pleased to see that Hammonds is vacating her position, and we hope that this move will aid the Harvard community in beginning the process of reestablishing trust among students, faculty, and administrators.We welcome President Obama’s announcement that the operations of the CIA’s morally hazardous drone program will be transferred to the Pentagon and that there will be tougher standards for when drone strikes can be authorized, with targeted killings being scaled back.With so many people struggling to find jobs at all, a shortage of workers available to fill positions that pay very well is a big deal. Simply increasing the number of computer science majors could actually go a long way toward solving current economic problems. Further, an increase in computer science education can help the U.S. protect its international standing.If Prohibition and The Wire taught us anything, it’s that the substance-dependent will go underground for a fix. But don’t expect a showdown between a modern Al Capone and Eliot Ness. The NYC regulation, which a judge ruled was “fraught with arbitrary and capricious consequences,” would have exempted supermarkets and convenience stores. Ironically, that means the 7-Eleven Big Gulp in Sarah Palin’s defiant hand at CPAC would have been kosher. In other words, the proposed Cambridge ban would only ...Yet, while the debate raged on, there was one group that actually made a statement. Not by talk or media campaigns, but by the simple act of saying: “I want no part in this.” I am talking, of course, about the Eagle Scouts who returned their medals to the BSA, renouncing their claim to the title, in light of the organization’s prohibition against gay members.Even when women deserve respect, subtle issues of perception—even in the absence of outright discrimination—mean that they are less likely to get it.What distinguishes Yesh Atid from previous secular parties, however—including the one Lapid’s father headed up—is that it is unafraid to speak in the language of Jewish tradition and refuses to concede Judaism as the demesne of Haredim.Our commitment to transparency, fairness, sustainability, and human dignity should not end at Harvard’s gates. Harvard must be a responsible owner of all its investments, particularly of the companies in which it owns a controlling stakeHowever, this time what really struck me about her questions was the never asked, but very much underlying question, “What is Harvard?".Given the poor economics of the bill, I can only hope that Senator Warren’s real intention is to garner publicity and popularity rather than actually implementing her policies.The recent adoption of new examination policies comes as welcome news in the midst of this academic year’s own finals period.China has the ability to offer its own citizens and the rest of the world much more than material progress.Reflecting on my time here, there is nothing I would rather do than thank Harvard for all that it has done.Instead, seeing the writing on the wall, the administration may begin to wonder what could have been done differently: a less controversial, better-argued healthcare bill, avoiding the detrimental austerity of the debt ceiling, sidestepping the self-harm of sequestration. Arriving at the recognition of his own irrelevance, as the media whips itself into 2016 frenzy and Congress stonewalls, President Obama should ponder the mistakes of his term and consider what could have been done differently.Instead, seeing the writing on the wall, the administration may begin to wonder what could have been done differently: a less controversial, better-argued healthcare bill, avoiding the detrimental austerity of the debt ceiling, sidestepping the self-harm of sequestration. Arriving at the recognition of his own irrelevance, as the media whips itself into 2016 frenzy and Congress stonewalls, President Obama should ponder the mistakes of his term and consider what could have been done differently.As strange as it seems, differences are what bring students together. And it can be only through embracing and learning from those differences, rather than comparing them, that students will remain together. I’ve tried both ways, and trust me—it doesn’t even compare.As Harvard determines the priorities for the campaign, administrators should give students and faculty a stake in the planning, prioritizing, and fundraising.While those inside the White House wants to deify Obama as its “North Star,” the potentiality of corruption in his administration must not be overlooked. President Obama must proceed carefully if he doesn’t want to end up with an eerily Nixonian legacy of disgrace.We are all here because we worked hard, but something sinister lurks underneath every long night I spend in Lamont. I am faced with cold reality—that luck is what carried me here, and there are thousands of others with potential, smarts, and drive who did not receive the same opportunity. I’m not talking about those unlucky individuals who were forced to go to sub-par schools like Yale. I’m talking about those who may not have had time for homework because they had to hold down a job and take care of ...And as irresponsible as it would be for me to dismiss questions about social security’s long-term solvency and the appropriate federal response to gun violence, I cannot sit by as members of the political class laugh away issues of sustainability, psychedelic research, intellectual property, human enhancement, and geoengineering as matters of the apolitical long-term.Ferguson has since apologized for his statements, calling them “stupid and tactless,” an apt summary of his thoughtless and hurtful remarks. Not only was suggesting that Keynes’ promotion of counter-cyclical spending is tantamount to a lack of empathy for future generations an extreme simplification of Keynes’ philosophy, but it is obvious that sexual orientation or childlessness is not indicative of one’s investment in the future.As far as I was concerned, the freshman world was dog-eat-dog, tribute-spear-tribute. With every day came a new rush toward the Cornucopia to gather items perceived as essential to survival. Some were harder to acquire than others. Everyone could lay their hands on everyday necessities like those in Katniss’s backpack: an umbrella, a Snuggie, Advil, Adderall, condoms.Harvard’s ability to participate in a number of scientific endeavors will be crippled by the closure of the NEPRC: An example of this is the federal BRAIN Initiative.All one has to do is look like someone who might commit a crime in the eyes of an officer, and one can be legally stopped and frisked under the current status quo.While being surrounded by so many passionate and over-qualified individuals is humbling and inspiring, it can also perpetuate serious feelings of inadequacy.Not for one moment did I mean to suggest that Keynesian economics as a body of thought was simply a function of Keynes’ sexuality. But nor can it be true—as some of my critics apparently believe—that his sexuality is totally irrelevant to our historical understanding of the man.And last week, when Jason Collins came out as the first openly gay player in the NBA, professional sports have once again shown the potential to have a positive impact on American cultural values.Often, a writer will reach a grammatical road-block when…the writer…reaches a point in a sentence in which…the writer… has to use a pronoun to identify an individual whose gender is not specified.While we cut everything else, let’s cut the contradiction. Before we can understand the brain, our government must use it.What does a discipline so used to being excluded from spaces of power—in fact, a discipline built up on critique of the institutions of power—do when it is offered a seat at the table?If the United States wants to see more amicable relations with the South American side, the government in Washington is going to have to put forth all the effort.We must not be afraid to defend her, especially if people insist on criticizing her pantsuits or her makeup. If we are ready for Hillary, then we must be ready to fight against the misogynistic blather that so disfigured the mainstream media last time.Dartmouth’s faculty, staff, and students need to be able to go about their daily lives and be accepting at the same time.Obama needs to assess the situation and put forth the best nominees he can come up with. And he has to do it with some celerity, at least nodding at the fable that these appointments have real, meaningful work to do.Obama needs to assess the situation and put forth the best nominees he can come up with. And he has to do it with some celerity, at least nodding at the fable that these appointments have real, meaningful work to do.Viral content is an endless list of funny gifs and cat videos, strange images and witty lists, but sometimes it can be much more significant.Viral content is an endless list of funny gifs and cat videos, strange images and witty lists, but sometimes it can be much more significant.We see Clinton’s move to Twitter as a step toward bringing down walls between ordinary people and decision-makers.The perilous state of the justice system threatens not only the unalienable rights of American citizens, but also the entire way in which we uphold the law in the United States.Miles away from home and Harvard in an unfamiliar city last summer, I was paralyzed and terrified when a stranger forced himself on meIn the Hmong language, there is no medical word or phrase that means “mental illness.” Indeed, there is a general dearth of medical terminology.For a show filled with fire-breathing dragons and Machiavellian politics, Game of Thrones is surprisingly rich with economic metaphors that resemble the world we live in.Maduro's assertion that he'll use a hard hand against “intolerance” is ironic beyond words and speaks volumes about his ability to reason through the hard decisions he'll have to make as president.Earlier this month, President Drew G. Faust announced that the University would enlist Boston lawyer Michael B. Keating to prepare an independent, external review of the administration’s conduct throughout the Gov 1310 cheating scandal. Following several months of embarrassing blunders on the part of various administrators, this was a welcome development.But, praise be, at least I don’t have to Snapchat. Just because that picture is going to be deleted in 10 seconds doesn’t mean that I don’t see you making that face in section.Doing so will not only force the nation to become accountable for sustaining its own people, but it will also be a definitive gesture displaying the fortitude of the United States and its steadfast refusal to condone the DPRK’s bargaining ploys.That pathogen endures. Its initial reservoir of infection, the Soviet Union, was long ago eradicated, yet its means of transmission, the victimhood complex, remains intact. One need only think of “Israeli apartheid” and “pink-washing.” Or look at the folkies. A decade ago, Ronnie Gilbert joined Women In Black, an organization aiding Palestinian anti-occupation activism. Seeger recently endorsed Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israel movement.Unmanned aerial vehicles have the potential, in the long run, to save American and foreign lives. But a belief in the importance or inexorability of drone warfare should not stop us from asking how we ought to conduct it.The combination of being bombarded with false information along with our generation’s dependence on social media for information made it particularly difficult for Harvard students to discern false news from the truth, especially given the situation’s emotional intensity. To further complicate matters, the Harvard administration failed to provide reliable, official information throughout the week to the detriment of our confused, scared student body.Congressman Markey’s progressive credentials run deep. He supports common sense gun safety reforms such as closing the gun show loophole, universal background checks of gun purchasers, and restricting the sale of high-capacity ammunition clips. He is a proponent of a balanced and responsible approach to foreign policy, one that doesn’t needlessly put the lives of American servicemen at risk. Decades ago, he became one of the first prominent supporters of marriage equality and has not wavered in his ...Harvard’s aggressive approaches to timber and agribusiness in Latin America are unique among universities. A recent report identified only one university endowment with direct holdings in forestry and agriculture investments in Latin America: Harvard.Kirkland is on Dunster Street, while Kirkland Street and Quincy Street intersect behind Annenberg, which is nowhere near Quincy or Kirkland (or Dunster for that matter). Harvard Street merges into Mass Ave before it gets to Harvard. On that note, Yenching Auditorium isn’t in the Harvard-Yenching Institute, and Mather Hall is not in Mather House, but is actually in Old Quincy. It’s no wonder that Harvard operates on Harvard time, because clearly seven minutes (or more) is used to figure out the lay of ...When I first learned that the suspects of the Boston Marathon bombings were young, white men, I was secretly happy. With images of bearded, dark-skinned Arab men often associated with terrorism, the captured paler faces were a breath of fresh air amid a very tense week.I frankly don’t have the energy or desire to try to draw conclusions from last week’s events in Boston.But the situation is Syria is dire, and there is no sign that the danger posed to civilians will ameliorate in the near future.Of course Mayor Gloomberg is trying to repair his image after the local courts struck down his beloved ban on large soda.This kind of lackadaisical response time poses an unacceptable security threat on an urban college campus, especially in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings earlier in the week.Owning a shotgun for home defense makes sense. Requiring a semi-automatic assault rifle with a 50-round magazine for hunting game does not.If the U.S. has the opportunity to try terrorists in its own courts with successful results and without jeopardizing the safety of its citizens, it ought to. Making that choice would demonstrate our government’s faith in the efficacy and integrity of its judiciary.We believe that the response of Harvard and the Boston community to the bombing and resulting manhunt demonstrate qualities of both the school and wider area that ought to make coming to Cambridge even more attractive than before.Balance means not only taking time for oneself but also taking time to be human. We really can derive so much strength from each other, and it is a shame not to tap into the power source that sincere communication and time spent with others can provide.In the wake of terrorizing shootings and nightmarish bombings, Boston summoned heroism. In the wake of Newtown and avalanches of gun violence, Washington mustered histrionics.When my back was injured because when I was pregnant, my managers continued to assign me the same workload. I was nine months pregnant and still doing difficult heavy labor. This injured my spine, and I still have back pain two years later. When it came time for me to go on my maternity leave, my supervisors pushed me to keep working. I worked until three days before my daughter, Arianna, was born.We were supposed to be perfectly safe, we suburbanites, protected by airport screeners and those wars abroad and successive presidents who put safety above all.The nation is home to 11 million undocumented immigrants, a disagreeable situation that tears apart families and leaves many businesses in the lurch. The time for the United States to adopt sensible immigration policy is now.We believe that it’s time to take back Take Back the Night, that we’ve been quiet for too long, that rape culture should—and does—make us angry, and frustrated, and that this is the perfect opportunity to let that anger out.We do not understand how they could look into the faces of gun violence victims and their family members and vote the way they did. They will have to answer for their actions. We await the day with dread.There simply wasn’t enough discussion about poverty or our overcrowded prisons in the last election cycle. Solving both problems begins with putting these issues at the forefront of our political discourse.I would like to appeal to my professors, peers, and anyone else who mentors women: Please don’t tell us to speak differently. If you truly respect us, let us speak as we like, and just pay attention to the words we say.Living among the liberals, I can begin by dispelling one particularly stubborn conservative myth: that liberals hate capitalism, the American way of life, and—most incongruously—freedom of choice.Several states in particular stand out as blatant examples of the extent to which redistricting has been abused.The unity with which our communities confronted this week’s happenings deserves credit and praise. Police officers, emergency personnel, and the people of Boston have demonstrated incredible resilience and strength—a true cause for celebrationBecause if the discussion of academics continues glossing over the diverse goals and ideals of the student body in one bitter, nostalgic glance, that piece of paper will never have a chance at influencing what students choose to write on theirs.Congratulations, prospective Harvard Class of 2017. That word, “congratulations,” has probably been directed at you a lot lately, by parents, peers, and your Harvard acceptance letter; still, it is fully in order.While the University upholds admirable standards for its on-campus employees, it does not demand that those employed by its off-campus holdings be offered the same level of protection.The president was rightly praised for his call for resilience—few have any doubt Boston can and will “run again.”Surveillance, after all, is the drone’s biggest asset. Drones can continuously monitor an area for nearly two consecutive days. Unlike soldiers, they do not get distracted and they do not get bored.Instead of asking doctors to bravely accept their fates and patients to blindly forgive a physician who makes a fatal error, a more likely and perhaps equally effective solution would be to reduce the stigma of medical errors and realize that they are, unfortunately, an inherent part of the medical practice.However, banning these videos has the potential to cover up cases of unethical treatment of animals, and let the problem go unnoticed.Just as some women feel strong and confident showing a little skin, veiled Muslim women feel strong and confident covering their skin—and there is nothing wrong with either.While we applaud the leaders and members of the campaign for engaging students, faculty, and administrators on the crucial issue of climate change, we still, as we have in the past, oppose the campaign’s call for divestment from the fossil fuel industryIt’s easy for bombings in remote parts of the world to become mere statistics, but the Boston tragedy is a visual reminder of the experiences of those whose daily lives are full of terror.Rather than serving as a means of commemoration and celebration, photography has become a mundane means of communication.When tragedy strikes, we almost lose ourselves in horror and grief. Our faith in the world suffers a near-shattering blow. But when tragedy strikes, we also strike back.Perhaps tomorrow or in a few days we will see the face or faces of those behind these attacks. They will flood our minds with hate and disgust. But let us not forget that it was also a day of triumph.Deficit hawks, bolstered by self-interested billionaires like Pete Peterson, campaign for severe entitlement reforms, including raising the age at which seniors receive Social Security benefits. The fiscally austere mistake the deficit as a result of runaway government spending instead of weak demand caused by the recession, where deficits actually improve overall demand.At Harvard specifically, while I believe that most men truly believe in equal treatment for all, this belief often does not translate into action. Male students are much more hesitant to voice their support for feminist issues than women.Nonetheless, North Korea has been a focal point in East Asian geopolitical drama for the last few decades, and the rest of the world has previously navigated through political complications to provide humanitarian aid to North Korean civilians. It is imperative that we overcome current complications to continue to do so.Our grades and our GPAs do not define who we are. They are constructs; they categorize you based on someone else’s parochial understanding of excellence.Our words and actions have permanence in that they are the building blocks of Harvard history for the generations to come. For this reason, the truth in our actions and in our words holds much more importance than it might otherwise.The debate over abortion issues has always been conducted through the legal system, yet with the recent trend to legally impede its practice, women’s rights and judicial supremacy hang in the balance.In order to decide how best to restructure our spaces, we must first restructure how we think about inclusivity on campus.Sexual assault plagues the nation, and it plagues Harvard as well.As such, Pope Francis, like all 265 of the popes who preceded him, will not teach anything contrary to the Church’s beliefs on matters of faith and morals. This continuity should itself be a source of great joy to Catholics, for these teachings are beautiful and even liberating. What he can do, and what we pray that he will do, is inspire the whole world, by his words, leadership, and example, to embrace the truths of the Gospel and the person of Jesus Christ. Thus far the Holy Father has certainly ...Affirmative action, however, is one of society’s least effective and most costly equalizers. We should instead pursue aggressive social initiatives, like education reform, increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit, and improving job training. Every poor American, regardless of skin color, deserves a fairer chance at life.For a few years now, George Orwell’s novels have been available on e-readers. But the next time you pick up a tablet, “1984” might not just be on the screen—it might be coming through it as well.I don’t ask that Tyga’s freedom of expression be curtailed. I may disapprove of what he has to say, but I will defend to the death his right to rap it to the tune of a forgotten one-hit-wonder.In her old age, Lady Thatcher lost her life’s two greatest loves: her husband, Dennis, of 52 years, and her indefatigable capacity for reason. Then, on the morning of April 8, 2013, the world lost one of the greatest champions of freedom. And we are the worse off without her. However, the Iron Lady never belonged to us. She belongs now to the pages of history.We want to share our culture with you! Please visit us at our annual powwow this spring for traditional dancing, food, crafting, and an all-around good time. Stop by the Radcliffe Admissions Quad on April 27. We’ll be there all day and we would love for the Harvard community to come celebrate with us!As an academic community, Harvard should not be in the business of banishing that which some of the people in its community find offensive, which is largely a matter of perceptions, feelings, and visceral reactions. That which is socially corrupting, degrading to our humanity, and detrimental to our community, is a very different matter. Tyga’s music fits this description in its lyrics and themes, and it is for this reason that the College Events Board should never have invited him in the first place.It is particularly heartening that Islamic Awareness Month is happening in the context of a broader interfaith discussion, which has been occurring on campus through such events as the Atheist Coming Out Week that took place in February. We welcome Islamic Awareness Month as a contribution to an open and tolerant campus discourse about religion and spirituality.The Founding Fathers wrote privacy into the Constitution for a reason. The United States was formed as a haven for individual liberty in response to an oppressive foreign regime, and the Fourth Amendment safeguards that freedom.“Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.”To get the most out of their players, especially at high levels of play, all coaches must walk a thin line between being tough and being abusive. But it is important for coaches to consider the reason they are cracking down on their players.No one questions HEI’s right to own and operate hotels and resorts. Yet to prevent workers from using their only leverage point—their numbers—to improve their negotiating position strikes against basic notions of fairness.It’s not that I have some superstitious mistrust of aerial weapons—only mistrust for an opaque military program, governed by either nonexistent or secret law, that trusts anonymous, high-level bureaucrats with the power to kill American citizens without a trial.It’s not that I have some superstitious mistrust of aerial weapons—only mistrust for an opaque military program, governed by either nonexistent or secret law, that trusts anonymous, high-level bureaucrats with the power to kill American citizens without a trial.But what does it mean that Harvard has sponsored an education platform to disseminate professors’ lectures across the world? Perhaps we should consider the philosophical foundations that have motivated President Faust and other university leaders to spread Harvard scholarship across the globe.My mom is a tired hooker.Of course, Harvard’s data is not necessarily representative of college students in general, but the same could probably be said of Freitas’ data. Her op-ed cites quite a bit of anecdotal evidence—individual students discussing their sex lives with her—and her unrepresentative sample (1,230 students, 45 percent of whom attend Catholic colleges) constitutes only a miniscule percentage of the 12.6 million college students in the United States.Spoiler: It is not likely that this year’s figures will be much different, nor will our gut reactions. What can be different, I hope, is that we are more prudent this time before we call for compensation reductions. Regardless of the situation’s equity, there is a basic truth existing in the world that Harvard cannot ignore—the market for highly qualified investment professionals is a competitive one.Many people are wondering, why now? I think a better question is, why not now? And still better, if not now, then when? Sentiments toward Tyga are not occurring in a vacuum; consequences of rape culture and misogyny are evident not only in the presence of sexual assault on campus and the various initiatives aimed at addressing it, but also in the nation with the high-profile Steubenville and Torrington rape cases. The specter of Tyga’s visit has provided a timely and relevant way to contribute to ongoing ...The committee’s proposal comes as a much-needed administrative response to the debate on academic culture.Far from considering themselves Bostonians, most Harvard students do not give much thought to the city.We affirm our confidence in the leadership and the integrity of Dean Hammonds.Marriage is a religious institution, and a governmental institution, but first and foremost is a social institution whereby we recognize loved ones as family.I come to J Street not out of Jewish weakness, but rather out of studied political realism and contact with the human side of Palestinian statelessnessIs it constructive to fight this at the expense of dismantling the whole of Yardfest? It is a matter of those who think fighting Tyga is worth the time versus those who simply “want to have a good time.”As such, freedom fighters and gay rights advocates alike should address the real issue—the government needs to stop meddling in the contractual institution of marriage.North Korea may be a relic of 20th-century totalitarianism, but it is a relic that has learned to manipulate 21st-century technologies.The focus of government should be to shape society and institutions that do not perpetuate poverty and injustice but rather create opportunities for people to realize their full potential.Menino’s departure marks the end of an era in Boston politics. During his tenure, Boston has changed dramatically, and we hope the next mayor will bring an innovative perspective to face the novel challenges and needs of Boston in a new age.Since Hammonds provided misinformation regarding the highly sensitive issue of email searches, and since she violated clear policy regarding those searches, her presence at the helm of the College stands as a roadblock to rebuilding trust between students, faculty, and the administration. For the good of the University, Hammonds must resign.I can buy and smoke cigarettes that could turn my lungs black, shriveled, and cancer-ridden. But I cannot enjoy a glass of wine with dinner or sip a beer as I watch the Superbowl.I can buy and smoke cigarettes that could turn my lungs black, shriveled, and cancer-ridden. But I cannot enjoy a glass of wine with dinner or sip a beer as I watch the Superbowl.Granted, for many international students working in the United States after graduation might signify living in a society that affords significantly lower levels of corruption, higher standards of life, and even more social tolerance. (Think of same-sex unions, which are a distant dream in Italy as well as in many countries around the world.) But there must be rewards in going back as well, perhaps at the cost of greater challenges.We cannot rely solely on political pressure to weaken the industry and pass climate legislation.People rarely take a moment to catch their breath, so they never get a chance to even ask themselves if they should be this busy.The tolerance of diverse human desires in economic models naturally translates to tolerance of human desires in society.In drafting a bill for the consideration of the full Senate, Reid stripped out the assault weapons ban promoted by Obama, reasoning that it had no chance of passage thanks to the filibuster.Diplomatically, positive engagement with Venezuela would be a major step toward building American credibility in the world at large, especially in Latin America.The Jewish state is a flawed democracy, but certainly not an ethnic oligarchy.Today, gay couples are barred from pursuing happiness for no reason but bigotry. Tomorrow, we hope all citizens will be free to live, love, and marry as they choose.If left unaddressed, this epidemic of mistreatment and misdiagnosis will be as disastrous for our economy as for our children.This newly claimed assassination power is only the most recent (and most egregious) in a series of executive overreaches committed in the name of fighting terror.It is an absolute shame that College Events Board has chosen an artist whose songs feature little more than hate speech against women.Thirty-six percent of graduating seniors “sought help” for mental health. I wonder, though, how many were truly helped.When we increasingly become involved in classes, research, and internships, it becomes too easy to let our peers slip by us.Appreciate that we have one chance a year where deception is actually sanctioned. This is our moment to shine.I’ve been giving President Drew G. Faust the benefit of the doubt through the many Harvard scandals over the past year, but her handling of the Resident Dean email search debacle is where I draw the line.CNN’s coverage of the Steubenville trial stirred outrage last week, focusing as it did on the guilty verdict’s effects on the rapists.Spotting a gay conservative is like seeing a unicorn; you’re breathless as you scrounge in your bag for a camera to capture this majestic site. But before you know it, they’ve galloped away.The obvious explanation of victim-blaming and valuation of perpetrators over their victims does have some hold here, but a full understanding of the situation needs to be more nuanced.Now that the dust has settled, it is easy to draw a larger lesson from “In Sight, Out of Mind”: Social activism at Harvard is a tepid shell of what it used to be.So, where does that leave me? I wasn’t lying when I told my mother that I believe my female peers and I fear not success but rather falling short of it, and I also believe many of us enrolled at Harvard for exactly that reason.You see, we can eat right and exercise, but still, on some days, our pants are going to feel too tight. But what we must not forget is that we get to choose what we do with our tight pants.Of high-achieving high school seniors, only 34 percent of those in the bottom quartile of the income distribution applied to selective college and universities as compared to 78 percent of those in the top quartile. Within this talented pool, there are 15 high-income student applications for every low-income student application.The Republicans must focus on their product rather than its packaging. The current unofficial slogan, The All-New GOP (Now With 25 Percent Less Crazy), simply will not do.A ban on animal testing for cosmetics comports with a basic sense of dignity.Now, with the help of Harvard’s extensive resources, my unfaltering support system, and a House that will pforever be my home, I understand that I am a true Harvard student—all because I am different.All that Prof. Sandel asks of economists is to hearken to the voice of a discipline which dates back to the days of Socrates and which is home to some of the greatest minds in the Western tradition.Harvard rarely gets the chance to be the plucky underdog, but we certainly found ourselves in that role with our 14-seed team facing off against three-seed New Mexico.The idea that the Church does not do enough for the poor in Africa is dubious at best. The idea that she is complicit in the deaths of hundreds of thousands is absolutely outrageous.Marriage may be joining the list of criminal offences, a list that includes acts such as rape, manslaughter and infanticide.What made the cheating scandal a “scandal” instead of simply a routine university response to academic dishonesty?Their aim is to prepare their students to overcome societal disadvantage to reach and succeed in college. And it seems to be working: KIPP students consistently score better on standardized tests than students from surrounding schools, and over 80 percent of students who completed 8th grade at KIPP have later gone on to college.Yet it also reflects a failure to create community. Beyond Harvard-Yale—and excepting the recent historic men’s basketball run—Housing Day is one of only times this college, its social life diffuse as it is, comes together in a celebration of school spirit and tradition.To the students who simply don’t know what they want: Harvard has more resources available to helping you find what you love than potentially any other educational institution in the world. There are plenty of classes, student organizations, job opportunities, and Harvard-funded events that can help. There are alumni who have found success (and more importantly, happiness) in careers that may seem unconventional or strange to the current student or newly minted graduate. An open mind goes a long way in ...But the art of the true crime show is not made by verisimilitude alone. As for anything moving and yet tasteful, there exists a careful method to crafting just the right true crime segment, as defined chiefly by its images.While not yet forgotten entirely, the lessons of Iraq remain unheard.Senator Paul’s effort made an impact on the Republican Party and on the direction in which its political positions are heading.I Relay because I want more people to have that glimmer of hope, those little victories, and that silver lining from finishing treatment.We should ask ourselves why traditions of male ascendancy are still related to perceived prestige.Harvard is not the only place that needs to reconsider its efforts on how mental health is viewed; this is something that should be addressed at a national scale.The email searches raise issues far beyond questionable email search policies and failed communication. It cuts to the core of what trust and community means at HarvardForgive me, Cabot—it wasn’t you, it was me—but getting a House I desperately did not want turned out to be strangely liberatingThe new gay-friendly mosque creates a space for men and women to pray together as equals.The memories of Housing Day morning can only be contained in blasts of experience. You’ll wake to discordant chants around the John Harvard statue. You’ll watch triumphant Houses taking laps around the Yard.Before the divestment movement investigates costs and benefits in a rigorous way, it is no more than a feel-good campaign relying on popular sentiments.No matter where the next pope comes from, the Church will still be complicit in the death and mistreatment of hundreds of thousands of AIDS victims and homosexuals throughout Africa.We strongly encourage Harvard to adopt the preponderance of the evidence standard while revising its policies on sexual assault. Harvard simply owes its students better.The United States has been carrying out a program that devastates innocent lives and harms American interests without admitting to it, choosing instead to actively lie about it for some time.We commend the senator for raising the alarm on this important aspect of civil liberty, and we fault the administration for its intransigence in clarifying its own policies.he Islamic Republic claims it wants nuclear capacity for peaceful purposes. That’s a highly dubious proposition. But so is the notion that Iran would drop an atomic bomb on Tel Aviv.A new generation of Jews needs a new paradigm for supporting Israel: their advocacy is not only about defending Israel on campus, but also about challenging the status quo and working to make Israel a better, more perfect country.By continuing on this same trajectory, then, Pope Benedict XVI’s succession and the upcoming election offer little in terms of historical merit, especially considering the general tendency of modern-day Catholics to disregard papal doctrine.Yes, Harvard is missing banter. Yes, Harvard is missing a healthy emotional culture. But perhaps more so, Harvard is missing compassion and interest in other people.Her extraordinary story of determination in the face of adversity, her progress in advancing the status of women and members of ethnic minorities, and her role in abating prejudice against LGBTQ Americans all make her more than qualified to speak on life’s challenges, success, and living a meaningful life in front of Harvard’s graduating class.The PSC’s use of the word “apartheid” is ahistorical, polarizing, and preventative of informed, fact-based dialogue. The implication of the comparison to “apartheid” is that the Israelis are racist totalitarians ruling over blameless Palestinians, with no consideration for the nuances and details of the conflict.Reality check: It is impossible for anyone to dictate exactly how anyone else should spend his time.So liberals: Engage. Debate empirics. Explain assumptions you’ve never had to explain before, even if they seem obvious. They are not obvious to everyone.This article is meant to be a general tribute to Clarence Thomas, my favorite Supreme Court Justice.Israeli Apartheid Week in its current form prevents exactly this type of conversation. The campaign spreads its message through methods that are combative rather than constructive, alienating Zionist members of both the international community and the Harvard student body.The issue with these claims is that nothing is objectively funny; certain things can really only be funny to people who have certain kinds of privilege.FDA censorship may have made scientific or actuarial sense, but that erstwhile rationale gave way some time ago.This editorial is not an outlier, but only the most brazen recent example of the preference for mindless bullying over authentic discussion.We hope that the current campus energy around mental health can stimulate further discussion and improvements.The crusade for gay rights is another stage of our nation’s journey toward fair treatment under the law.Here and now at Harvard, we have the opportunity to engage with our friends in unstructured ways; yet this is usually the last thing we're thinking about.By the time U.S. troops withdraw from Afghanistan, children old enough to be in high school will have never known a day when their country was not at war.There is nobody at the C.I.A. who could tell you more personally about Kim Jong Un than Dennis Rodman, and that in itself is scary.All this senseless cutting, purportedly designed to reduce long-term deficits, takes no action to address the two principal strains on the future budget: entitlement spending and the tax code.Harvard is not used to settling for 75th percentile. For better or for worse, HUCTW showed a lot of respect for Harvard when it agreed that workers would take a lower wage increase during the recession to offset the hit Harvard took in the financial crisis. Harvard should show its workers the same respect—and stop arguing that the 75th percentile is acceptable for clerical workers.It is truly a shame that so many Harvard students are compelled to take their chances with the shoddy engineering of cheap buses rather than ride in the relative luxury afforded by the Amtrak line.So, between the inevitable backroom meetings and long nights of worry, just try to remember the appropriately paradoxical slogan “friends don’t let friends block together.” Whether you end up floating, blocking, dropping, or whatever else next semester, as long as you don’t make the process purely about friendship, you’ll always have a friend two, or more, only a few blocks away.Indeed, it only supports a wider truth I have come to know over the last few months: Electronic dance music is the new classical.Extracurricular life at Harvard is certainly rich, but also intense, time demanding, and not insulated from pre-professional pressures.Although nothing of a cheerleader for Obama administration foreign policy, I could not help but writhe with contempt over Beck’s newest outburst of on-air mania.Although nothing of a cheerleader for Obama administration foreign policy, I could not help but writhe with contempt over Beck’s newest outburst of on-air mania.Myanmar is heading for a definitive turn-aroundBy acknowledging the accomplishments of low-budget filmmakers, the Academy broadcasts the value of smaller productions in Hollywood.The mental health resources at HUHS are available to all students. All registered students are required to pay the Student Health Fee, which covers mental health and a wide range of other services at HUHS.As such, the papal statecraft of the upcoming weeks will not fall on the left-right spectrum familiar to modern American pundits. Rather, those with their eyes on the Catholic Church will witness an old-fashioned display of regional politics, with the majoritarian faction of the Italian old-guard pitted against the new world stewards of growing global Catholicism. If the cardinals are mindful of the issues guaranteed to plague the 286th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, they will select a papabile from ...Our initiative is open to every student—graduates and undergraduates alike. We all know someone who needs our support. The HSMHI seeks to initiate and develop innovative solutions for positive change and to create a network where we can rely on each other for fundamental support. Together, we can insist on a positive, supportive, community-based approach that brings together supportive networks and pro-social connectedness to our student body.Our culture has received a lot of needed attention recently, from inadequate mental health services to the inherent competition created by over 6,000 of the most ambitious and gifted students in the country. But the academic environment has failed to enter these discussions.Yet the president is not powerless. He has signaled a willingness to use executive orders to advance the environmentalist cause. Now, we have to make him do it.We at The Crimson urge anyone who plans on one day scoring political points by maligning Harvard to neither apply, enroll, nor graduate from this fine institution.It is impossible to know, of course, but I am not sure I would still be alive today if it hadn’t for the mental health treatment I received at Harvard.The focus on far-left issues has left me, and other mainstream Democrats, feeling disillusioned about the state of Democratic politics at Harvard.Harvard, not HUCTW, ought to be blamed for this impasse, for it has been unwilling to compromise on wages and healthcare.Why do we forget such a dangerously persistent killer? Or perhaps a better question would be, is our ignorance by choice?Besides their ages, Philip Roth and Pope Benedict XVI would appear to have little in common. The mischievous, secular, and oft-profane Jewish-American literary provocateur and the sophisticated theologian, the staunchly traditional Bishop of Rome, seem cut from entirely different cloth. But each of these men recently made rather surprising announcements that were remarkably similar: They were retiring, stepping down and away from occupations that have historically been considered lifetime positions.Intrinsically, humans are explorers. It is part of our nature to delve into the unknown, to search for answers and to reach for unseen heights. We should not forsake the future for the present.Before launching into that discussion, the accomplishment behind the $18,277 number deserves some plaudits. A genuine round of applause for a concerted effort by the College and alumni to make a Harvard education affordable and for a recent trend of decline in average net price—15.5 percent over 2007-2009. A round of applause for keeping student debt at a minimum, $88.61 per month versus other Ivy League figures all in the triple digits. And a round of applause for beating Yale.To start, the bill is plain good economics for the country. It is an indisputable fact that technology and human capital drive long-term economic growth. However, despite the United States’ dominance in high tech industries, the country’s education system falls behind other nations in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in STEM graduates.One could argue that the international BDS movement and its Harvard affiliate, the Palestine Solidarity Committee, are not closely associated. But that’s not true.In a show of support for substantive change, more than 150 students rallied in front of Massachusetts Hall on Friday, proclaiming that, “Harvard can do better.”The thing about instant replay, though, is that it is not inherently fair. The better team does not necessarily win every game, nor does the lesser team necessarily benefit from instant replayA central purpose of the original Olympics was to celebrate athleticism just for the sake of athleticism, and there is something downright pure about that.The University’s endowment exists to allocate funds towards programs—like the investment in EdX or campus renovations—that advance the priorities and educational mission of Harvard most effectively.A mutually supportive community, in which Harvard takes care of its staff and the staff takes care of Harvard, is critical.Styles might very well change over the years, but there exists an objective pale that we ought never to cross.Harvard is one of very few institutions that attempts to make a liberal arts engineering degree a viable option, but it hasn’t quite succeeded in doing so.The fewer policies that the Boy Scouts of America has regulating membership, the better the organization will fulfill its goal of spurring personal growth in teenage boys.It is my hope that those who toppled this bronze bust will come forward to amend this act and offer compensation to have the bust restored to its place.Oftentimes, though, no therapist or Tumblr or voice on a hotline (useful as they are) can substitute for another regular human being who’ll sit in front of someone they can sense isn’t quite right, look him or her in the eyes, ask what’s wrong, mean it, and listen. We all have a responsibility to be that person, and there’s no shortage of students here waiting for someone to reach out.We lament the delinquent behavior that laptops enable, and this situation must be remedied. However, an engaged classroom is not irreconcilable with computers and other electronics, which are valuable educational tools that enhance the educational experience of many students. We must not let this make Luddites of us all.Back when MIT’s political science department included sociology, one mathematician noticed this very same trend. So I’ll leave you with the lyrics of Thomas A. Lehrer, Harvard grad, part-time mathematician, part-time musician, and full-time genius:Scientists have not yet decoded the medical and psychiatric workings of schizophrenia, but there are a few obvious reforms Harvard could implement that would allow students like me to have the support and treatment we need to succeed and survive.Federalism is an essential part of the United States’ political tradition. But ensuring a vital democracy must trump states’ rights. |