The Harvard Crimson - Volume CXLV, No. 7

The University Daily, Est. 1873 | Volume CXLV No. 7 | Cambridge, Massachusetts | Friday, January 26, 2018

The Harvard Crimson Harvard students have a complicated relationship with privilege.

Men’s hockey awaits face-offs against Cornell, Colgate at home.

op-ED PAGE 8

sports PAGE 6

HPT Accepts Women Pudding To Allow Women, Ending 200-YearOld Tradition

By Aidan f. ryan Crimson Staff Writer

By LuCY Wang Crimson Staff Writer

The Hasty Pudding Theatricals group will allow women to join its cast after the next round of auditions in fall 2018, breaking with almost 200 years of precedent, the organization’s president announced Thursday.

Pudding President Amira T. Weeks ’18 debuted the group’s new policy during the annual Woman of the Year celebratory roast, this year honoring actress Mila Kunis. Weeks read aloud a letter from Andrew L. Farkas ’82, the former president of the Pudding, to a crowd assembled in Farkas Hall.

“With no further fanfare, the graduate board of the Hasty Pudding Institute has determined that, commencing with the 2019 Hasty Pudding Show, the Hasty Pudding welcomes women to audition and perform in the roles in the show, and be given equal opportunity to play those roles based on the quality of their individual talents,” Weeks read from the letter.

The room of roughly 200 people immediately erupted in cheers. Attendees gave Weeks a standing ovation.

The Pudding, founded in 1844, has had an all-male cast of performers since its inception, though women hold positions on the group’s business, tech, and design boards. The Pudding has allowed women to audition before—Harvard women have sought to join the cast three times over the past three years. Each time, though, female

See pudding Page 3

Hasty Pudding Theatricals President Amira T. Weeks ‘18 announces that the Pudding will allow women to audition from 2019.

TIMOTHY r. O’MEARA—Crimson photographer

After Policy Shift, Harvard Women Vow to Audition

By Caroline s. engelmayer and Michael e. xie Crimson Staff Writers

Liz P. Kantor ’18 was sitting at a lab bench working on her thesis when she got the text: The Hasty Pudding Theatricals group would allow women to join its historically all-male cast for the first time in almost 200 years.

Kantor—who auditioned for the ­

Pudding unsuccessfully for three years straight—said she broke down in tears at her desk.

“Obviously the first reaction to any of us was complete joy,” Kantor said.

“I’m especially grateful to all of the women who have fought with me for the last three years.”

Kantor is one of at least 17 Harvard women who tried and failed to join the Pudding’s cast over the past three

years. But no longer—Pudding President Amira T. Weeks ’18 announced at the group’s Woman of the Year festivities Thursday that the organization will allow women to join its 2019 cast.

As news of the Pudding’s decision spread on social media Thursday night, women across campus—especially those rejected at past auditions—

See auditions Page 3

Mila Kunis Accepts Woman of the Year from Hasty Pudding

By Elizabeth H. yang Crimson Staff Writer

Mila Kunis was honored as the Hasty Pudding Theatricals Woman of the Year with a parade and roast on Thursday afternoon

After an exuberant parade marked by a surprise announcement, actress Mila Kunis received the annual Woman of the Year Award from Hasty Pudding Theatricals on Thursday afternoon.

Kunis, known for her roles in “Black Swan,” “That ‘70s Show,” and “Family Guy,” rode down Massachusetts Ave. in a convertible surrounded by vibrantly costumed Pudding members who sang her name and planted kisses on her cheeks. Shortly after Kunis finished parading though the streets, Pudding president Amira T. Weeks ‘18 announced the organization will be casting women for the Pudding’s 171st production in 2019, breaking with almost 200 years of all-male precedent. timothy r.

See KUNIS Page 3

o’meara—Crimson photographer

City Delays Restriction on Square Business Size By henry w. burnes and franklin R. civantos Crimson Staff Writers

I­ n a meeting which ultimately ended without an official recommendation, Cambridge City officials and residents debated the merits of a petition aimed at restricting the size of commercial businesses in Harvard Square.

The Cambridge Ordinance Committee met this Wednesday to discuss the petition submitted by Cambridge resident Peter B. Kroon. The petition would add an additional criteria to reviewing applications for special permits and variances in the the Harvard Square Overlay district.

If approved, the petition would amend zoning regulations, requir-

Inside this issue

Harvard Today 2

Emeritus Law Prof.

Defends Trump

ing buildings of over 60 linear feet or more to devote half of their frontage to “small store space,” defined as spaces under 1,250 rentable feet. The petition also would restrict all floor area above a building height of 60 feet to residential space.

Under the petition, commercial storefronts like banks, trust companies, real estate agencies and other administrative offices would be allowed to occupy no more than 25 feet of business frontage in the Square.

The petitioners, led by Kroon, said they sought to protect small business in the Square, addressing an issue they feel current infrastructure doesn’t sufficiently address. “Our concern is the retail ecosystem,” Kroon said at

News 3

See zoning Page 5

Editorial 8

Sports 6

SEE PAGE 5

Honk if you honk

People gather Thursday on Cambridge Street in Allston to rally about transit issues. Caleb d. Schwartz—Crimson photographer

Today’s Forecast

sunnY High: 33 Low: 23

­ ublicly backing Republican politiP cians is not a common pastime for Harvard Law professors, many of whom are known for their liberal beliefs. But in recent months, professor of Law emeritus Alan M. Dershowitz has emerged as one of President Donald Trump’s most vocal intellectual defenders.

Though he is a lifelong Democrat, Dershowitz is famous for speaking out on controversial issues regardless of who he supports in the ballot box. In recent months, Dershowitz has taken to Fox News, CNN, and the pages of the Boston Globe and the Washington Examiner to defend Trump’s legal authority on certain actions as well as the state of his mental health.

“We are all entitled to our opinions regarding the president’s political and personal qualifications to serve. I voted for Hillary Clinton in the last election because I felt she was more qualified than Donald Trump to be president. That is my right as an American voter,” he wrote in the Examiner. “But psychiatrists and other mental health professionals have no more right to pathologize a president or a candidate because they disagree with his or her political views than do prosecutors or politicians have a right to criminalize political opponents.”

Writing in the Globe, Dershowitz challenged Senator Dianne Feinstein’s assertion that Trump’s firing of former FBI Director James B. Comey could amount to obstruction of justice. Pulling references from the Constitution and history, Dershowitz refuted the Democratic senator’s statements in a 831-word op-ed in December.

Topping Dershowitz’s advocacy, his latest book, “Trumped Up: How Criminalization of Political Differences

See Dershowitz Page 4

HKS Profs Respond to ‘Shithole’ Comments

By Alexandra A. chaidez Crimson Staff Writer

Several Kennedy School of Government professors and administrators said President Trump’s recent comments about “shithole” countries were not only disappointing but damaging for the future of institutions like the Kennedy School.

During a meeting with lawmakers earlier this month about a bipartisan immigration deal, Trump said “Why are we having all of these people from shithole countries come here?” in reference to El Salvador, Haiti, and African countries, according to The Washington Post.

He continued by saying the United States should accept more immigrants from places like Norway and Asian countries.

Kennedy School Dean Douglas W. Elmendorf responded to Trump’s comments in an email sent to Kennedy School affiliates a few days after the story about the controversial remarks broke.

“The term that was reportedly used by the president should not be used by any national leader to describe any other nation,” Elmendorf said in the email.

“We should all expect better from our public leaders, and I certainly expect better from the president of my country.”

The Kennedy School admits students from 104 different countries, according to Kennedy School spokesperson Doug Gavel. Forty-seven

See Professors Page 5

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Follow @TheCrimson on Twitter.

Trump pudding

HARVARD TODAY

Friday | January 26, 2018

FOR Lunch

FOR DINNER

Bulgur with Roasted Root Vegetables

Emerald Beef and Vegetable Stir-Fry

English Style Red’s Best

Fried Buttermilk Chicken

Penne Sausage Peppers and Onions

Kale with Carmelized Onions

around the ivies

bAUM ON TRUMP

Cornell Offers DACA Students Financial Support

Matthew Baum, the Marvin Kalb Professor of Global Communication at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, comments on recent remarks made by President Donald Trump.

Cornell University is offering a financial support program for students in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, the Cornell Daily Sun reported. The DACA Renewal Fee Emergency program will provide grants up to $495, the total cost of the application fee for DACA. The program was announced in a joint statement released by the senior vice provost and dean of the Graduate School Barbara Knuth, vice president for student and campus life Ryan Lombardi, and vice provost for international affairs Laura Spitz on Thursday, according to the Sun.

TIMOTHY R. O’MEARA — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Flooded Yale Dorm Nears Completion Morse College, a dorm flooded in January, will soon be finished with repairs, allowing the 77 relocated students to move back into their suites, the Yale Daily News reported. Two fair mains burst during the University’s winter break, flooding four floors in four entryways and affecting 40 rooms. According to an email from Morse Head of College Catherine Panter-Brick to the News, the repairs, which included laying out new drywall and repainting, were “fast and expensive.” This recent flood was the second time in recent years that Morse Hall flooded after a pipe burst in 2005.

SEE PAGE 5

Happy THURSday, harvard!

(a high of 34, don’t get too excited).

What more could we ask for from a January day in Cambridge?

Thank God it’s Friday, and the chaos of shopping week is finally coming to a close. Now comes the stress of actually needing to read for class...or pretending to, at least.

EVENTS

In the Atmosphere…

The sun will come out today! And temperatures will get above freezing

What We Can Learn From Iceland Head over to the JFK Forum at 4 p.m. to hear from the President of Iceland.

Disclaimer: This event was lotteried, but where there’s a will, there’s a way (read: go to the event early and there

will be extra tickets).

Julie Lythcott-Haims at Harvard Book Store Spend your Friday evening being ~literary~ at the Harvard Book Store from 7 to 8:15 p.m. Lythcott-Haims will be speaking on her new memoir.

Sophie G. Garrett Crimson Staff Writer

Brown University Implements Simplified Financial Aid Calculator Brown University launched a financial aid calculator which estimates cost of tuition for prospective students based on six financial questions on Jan. 17, according to the Brown Daily Herald. The Myintuition calculator was developed by Wellesley College professor Phillip Levine in partnership with Brown. MyIntuition has partnered with 31 schools since its creation in 2013 and takes less than three minutes to complete on average, the Herald reported. The University implemented the calculator to make financial information more accessible for middle and low income families, said Dean of Financial Aid Jim Tilton in an interview with the Herald.

in the real world Trump Wanted Mueller Fired in June In true breaking news fashion, Trump ordered Robert S. Mueller III, special counsel of the Russia investigations, fired last June. The request was stopped because the White House counsel threatened to resign when Trump made the directive. Trump cited Mueller’s “conflict of interests,” including Mueller’s previous membership at Trump National Golf Club.

Trump vs. Democrats on Immigration Post-shut down, it’s time to talk immigration policy, and Trump is coming in hot with his plans. He’s willing to give a path to citizenship for 1.8 million undocumented young people (read: DACA recipients) in exchange for the end of family-based “chain” migration. It’s up to the Democrats now to decide if this is actually a compromise.

160 Women Speak Out Against Nassar Check out the words of 160 women as they describe their experiences of sexual abuse under Larry Nasser. He used to be the most prestigious doctor for American gymnasts.

Now, he’ll be in jail for 40 to 175 years—talk about a life sentence.

Flu Season Woes We all got our flu shot (well, we should have) but the flu just doesn’t seem to be giving up: Is this a particularly bad flu virus? Or a particularly bad vaccine? Whatever the answer, there have been more deaths of children due to flu this year than in the past 13 years. Keep washing those hands, people.

The Harvard Crimson The University Daily, Est. 1873 Derek G. Xiao, President Hannah Natanson, Managing Editor Nathan Y. Lee, Business Manager Copyright 2018, The Harvard Crimson (USPS 236-560). No articles, editorials, cartoons or any part thereof appearing in The Crimson may be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the President. The Associated Press holds the right to reprint any materials published in The Crimson. The Crimson is a non-profit, independent corporation, founded in 1873 and incorporated in 1967. Second-class postage paid in Boston, Massachusetts. Published Monday through Friday except holidays and during vacations, three times weekly during reading and exam periods by The Harvard Crimson Inc., 14 Plympton St., Cambridge, Mass. 02138 Weather icons made by Freepik, Yannick, Situ Herrera, OCHA, SimpleIcon, Catalin Fertu from flaticon.com is licensed by CC BY 3.0.

Pepper the puppy WAIting at the dot Pepper the nine-week-old cockapoo puppy plays with Adams

House residents on Thursday afernoon. Pepper was adopted by tutors Sheila Gholkar and Vinayak Muralidhar and is available for scheduled “puppy office hours” for students to play with him.

MEGAN M. ROSS — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Staff for This Issue

“We’ve been advocating for this for a while... I think it’s about time.”

Night Editor Phelan Yu ’19

Alison W. Steinbach ’19

Story Editors Graham W. Bishai ‘19 Mia C. Karr ’19 Hannah Natanson ’19 Claire E. Parker ’19 Brian P. Yu ’19 Joshua J. Florence ’19

Editorial Editor Robert Miranda ’20

Madison Deming ‘18, on the Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ decision to allow women to audition.

CORRECTIONS The Harvard Crimson is committed to accuracy in its reporting. Factual errors are corrected promptly on this page.

Readers with information about errors are asked to e-mail the managing editor at managingeditor@thecrimson.com.

Design Editors Assistant Night Editors Diana C. Perez ’19 Elena M. Ramos ’20 William L. Wang ‘20 Alexandra A. Chaidez ’21 Katherine E. Wang ’20

Photo Editors Justin F. Gonzalez ‘21 Caleb D. Schwartz ’20

Sports Editor Jack R. Stockless ’19

The Harvard Crimson | january 26, 2018 | page 3

Hasty Pudding Will Women Look to Join Pudding Accept Women auditions From Page 1

vowed they would return to the stage to try out for the group.

“Whenever I tell people I go to Harvard and I’m interested in theater, they always mention the Hasty Pudding Theatricals and I always have to tell them they don’t accept women so unfortunately that’s not an option for me,” Chloe Saracco ’21 said. “But this changes the whole game.”

Saracco, who attempted to join the Pudding’s cast last semester, said she will “definitely” be auditioning in fall 2018.

Elle Shaheen ’21, who also auditioned unsuccessfully last fall, said she “certainly” plans to try out next year.

Both said they are thrilled at the prospect of joining the Pudding, the oldest collegiate theatrical group in the country.

“In the event that they really follow through and not only just audition women but choose to accept women into the group, I’m really excited to be able to take part in one of Harvard’s ­

pudding From Page 1 auditioners failed to earn a callback.

Kunis, speaking at a press conference after the roast, said her decision to attend the day’s celebrations was contingent on the Pudding’s choice to go co-ed.

“I’m here,” she said. “I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

Kunis said she knew before accepting the award that the Pudding planned to begin selecting women as cast members. She said this new coed policy is “something to me that was very important.”

Kunis added, though, that she did not “stimulate” the Pudding’s decision to go co-ed. She said members of the Pudding have been trying to make this change for a long time.

“This is something that this program has always wanted to do,” she

“It’s simply something that was going to happen inevitably.”

Mila Kunis

Pudding Woman of the Year said. “This has nothing to do with me or today, it’s simply something that was going to happen inevitably.”

“I don’t want that to be taken away from the students, the infrastructure— they’ve been fighting for this [and] they’re the reason this happened,” Kunis added.

Some members and alumni of the Pudding have led a charge for co-ed status in recent years. More than 86 individuals signed a Pudding alumni petition in Sept. 2016 calling on the organization to admit women.

Weeks said at the press conference following the roast that the Pudding’s decision to accept women will take the organization forward “as a leader in women’s rights and gender equality.”

“While we have great respect for the art form that has been presented by the

Pudding for over a hundred and seventy years, which art form dates back to the ancient Greek times, the world is in a very different place,” Weeks said, still reading from Farkas’s letter.

Op-eds in the Boston Globe and The Crimson previously called on Kunis to reject the Woman of the Year award given the Pudding’s policy of excluding women from its cast. At the press conference Thursday, Kunis criticized the suggestion that she turn down the honor.

She said not showing up would have been a “pretty weak stance” to take.

“The smarter thing would’ve been to ask of me would’ve been to take a stance,” Kunis said. “Backing down is not taking a stance.”

Though Thursday marked a moment of significant change for the Pudding, Weeks and Kunis still sought to celebrate the group’s history. Weeks noted that the Pudding—which houses a social club and a capella group as well as its theatrical troupe—was the first social institution at Harvard to go co-ed.

Harvard’s other historically single-gender social groups—particularly its all-male final clubs—have come under fire in the past two years as College and University administrators seek to push the clubs to adopt gender-neutral membership practices.

In May 2016, University President Drew G. Faust announced a social group policy penalizing members of single-gender social groups on Harvard’s campus.

Kunis emphasized that, though women have never served as Pudding cast members, they have been active in other aspects of the show.

“The one that thing that people didn’t realize was that there’s twelve performers on stage, but there’s forty eight other people, and they’re putting the whole show together,” Kunis said.

“And a lot of them are women. And so, this production has been forward thinking, for many years. For decades.”

Paul Rudd is set to accept the Pudding’s 2018 Man of the Year award with festivities on Feb. 2.

Staff writer Lucy Wang can be reached at Lucy.

Wang@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @ lucyyloo22

couldn’t do something because I was a woman,” she said. “Theater should be an all-inclusive activity.”

Deming, Lazar, Shaheen, and Saracco said they are pleased that months and months of advocacy finally paid off.

Lazar also thanked actress Mila Kunis—the 2018 Pudding Woman of the Year—for her support for the push to go co-ed.

At a press conference after Thursday’s Woman of the Year festivities, Kunis said she would not have attended the celebration had the Pudding not chosen to accept women as cast members.

Kunis also said she “knew that this was going to happen” before the club made the announcement Thursday.

Looking back on the last three years, Deming said she thinks the Pudding’s policy shift is long overdue.

“We’ve been advocating for this for a while,” Deming said. “The fact that the grad board has finally come around is great.”

“I think it’s about time,” she added.

Kunis Accepts Hasty Pudding Award kunis From Page 1 ­ unis said she would not have attendK ed Thursday’s celebration had the Pudding not announced its new gender-neutral policy.

But luckily for the crowds of people who thronged the sidewalks hoping to catch a glimpse of the actress, she did.

An elderly man professed his eternal love as Kunis glided past.

Several passersby, heading elsewhere, got caught up in the commotion.

“I was actually trying to go back to my dorm,” Aaron C. Viser ‘19 said. “I had no idea what it was, but then saw a bunch of football players—figured it was Mila Kunis.”

The Woman of the Year Award, the Pudding’s oldest accolade, was established in 1951 to honor performers who have made “lasting and impressive contributions to the world of entertainment,” according to the club’s website.

“It’s a quintessential Harvard event,” Audrey E. Pettner ‘21 said.

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greatest and most historical groups on campus,” Saracco said.

Senior women who auditioned for the Pudding in the past said Thursday’s news came as the culmination of years of effort.

The Pudding first considered accepting female performers when 17 women signed up to audition for the troupe’s annual spring production in Sept. 2015.

“The first time I auditioned I was a freshman,” said Madison Deming ’18, who numbered among the 17 original Pudding hopefuls. “It was really frightening because you’re going into a room not only as an actor performing in front of a professional team, but also knowing that you’re doing something that’s personally wasting their time because they’re not going to let women into their cast.”

Shaheen also remembered her Pudding audition as dispiriting. She said it was “startling” to hear she would not receive a callback because of her gender.

“It was the first time I had felt like I

Despite subzero temperatures, several parade goers said they enjoyed the fanfare. Zachary R. Fraley ‘21 described the parade as “a very jovial event.”

“I loved the band. The band was the best part,” Freddie S. Shanel ‘21 said.

Fraley agreed. “Red trombone guy, I’m gonna hire you for my wedding,” he added.

Kunis too, had her share of fun at the celebration.

Amidst the volley of jokes aimed at the her during the roast following the parade, Kunis inhaled helium, launched donuts at a Peter Griffin impersonator, and had a dance-off with someone clad in a “Black Swan”-inspired tutu.

But some on Thursday did more than watch the festivities.

Roughly a dozen students came to protest the event, criticizing the Hasty Pudding’s former policy of barring women actors from its cast.

In recent days, op-eds in several publications including the Boston Globe and The Crimson had called on Kunis to reject the Woman of the Year

award given the Pudding’s former policy of excluding women.

The controversy surrounding Thursday’s events comes amid a movement reverberating throughout Hollywood and the media industry that seeks to expose gender imbalances in the workplace.

At a press conference following the roast, Kunis said that, despite the controversy, she was eager to attend and glad she did.

“Backing down is not taking a stance,” she said. “If you look at a list of women that have been honored, it’s an incredible list to be a part of. I did sign the wall, and I signed next to Helen Mirren and I was like yeah! Fuck yeah!” Kunis said.

Kunis ended the press conference with some parting advice for undergraduate students.

“Never stop being creative. Never stop working hard. And always try to create something for someone else,” she said.

Staff writer Elizabeth H. Yang can be reached at elizabeth.yang@thecrimson.com.

Page 4 | January 26, 2018 | The Harvard Crimson

Law Prof. Advocates for Trump Dershowitz From Page 1 Endangers Democracy,” hit bookstores in August.

Trump, in turn, has seized on Dershowitz as his intellectual champion and as a source of legitimacy. Trump recently wrote on Twitter that Dershowitz is a “must watch.”

“Legal Scholar Alan Dershowitz was just on @foxandfriends talking of what is going on with respect to the greatest Witch Hunt in U.S. political history,” Trump wrote. “Enjoy!”

In a Dec. 2017 interview with the New York Times, Trump called Dershowitz “amazing” and said he has “seen him a number of times.”

Dershowitz’s Democratic track record seems to enthrall the President; in the December Times interview, Trump repeatedly referred to Dershowitz as “a liberal Democrat” before citing the professor’s media appearances to back up his claim that his campaign did not collude with the Russians.

“I watched Alan Dershowitz the other day, he said, No. 1, there is no collusion, No. 2, collusion is not a crime, but even if it was a crime, there was no collusion,” Trump told the Times.

“And he said that very strongly. He said there was no collusion. And he has studied this thing very closely.”

While Dershowitz has publicly defended the legal authority of Trump and some of his policies, he said he wants to make it clear that he is not a supporter of the president.

“I do not support Trump. I do not support his policies, I go out of my way to condemn his policies. I am not giving him legal advice, I am stating in public what the law is and what the law

should be,” Dershowitz said in an interview Thursday.

If Hillary Clinton had been elected president, Dershowitz said he would be making legal arguments similar to those he is making now, with one critical difference: he would have the backing of the Harvard Law School faculty.

“The difference is, I would be joined in those arguments by my colleagues at Harvard, on the left, who are now making the exact opposite arguments. The Republicans would be shouting ‘lock her up’ and trying to impeach her and I would be on the forefront of defending her,” Dershowitz said.

While Harvard Law School is now headed by a conservative dean, the school still falls on the left of the political spectrum.

During the Obama administration, at least six Law School professors departed the school to take jobs in the White House.

The Clinton campaign approached several Law professors about taking posts in Hillary Clinton’s administration ahead of the 2016 election.

When Trump won, surprising many at Harvard, prominent Law School affiliates were quick to denounce him: professor Lawrence H. Tribe sued Trump in January, and former Dean Martha L. Minow wrote an op-ed sharply rebuking him the following month.

And the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinic at the Law School has spent the past year defending the University and its affiliates against Trump’s immigration policies.

Dershowitz was quick to call out what he sees as hypocrisy among his

liberal-leaning colleagues.

“The difference between me and some of my colleagues is I put my views of the Constitution, my views of the rule of law before my partisanship and I make the same arguments, no matter who is the target, no matter who is the president,” he said.

Despite his repeated declarations that he does not agree with the President, Dershowitz’s newfound rapport with Trump has caused some rifts with people close to him, including friends and family.

In recent weeks, he and Tribe have sparred on Twitter, and Dershowitz told Politico his public statements on Trump have cost him dinner invites.

“Many of my friends understand what I’m doing. Some don’t out of ignorance, and some don’t out of malice.

There are some friends who clearly understand what I am doing but they pretend to misunderstand it,” Dershowitz said in the Thursday interview.

Even at the cost of personal relationships, Dershowitz said he stands by his statements on Trump and his willingness to make the case for controversial positions.

“I get criticism because of my defense of Israel. I get criticism because I’ve defended O.J. Simpson. I get criticism because I defend the free speech of racists and sexists,” he said. “My life is filled with being criticized for standing up for principle. I’m not going to compromise my principles and if anybody is a real friend, they are going to understand that.”

Staff writer Aidan F. Ryan can be reached at aidan.ryan@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @AidanRyanNH.

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The Harvard Crimson | January 26, 2018 | page 5

HUHS Sees Usual Flu Rates By ahab chopra and ashley m. cooper Crimson Staff Writers

While some doctors have professed alarm at a harsh strain of the influenza virus going around in this year’s flu season, which has so far caused at least 30 pediatric deaths across the country, Harvard University Health Services representatives say they have not seen an abnormally high rate of flu among Harvard students.

“Although HUHS has not received indications to-date that Harvard University has experienced an atypical number of flu cases this winter, the number of reported cases in Massachusetts and across the country have begun to increase, as is customary for this time of year,” HUHS spokesperson Michael Perry wrote in a written statement.

Still, Perry noted students should take measures to minimize their risk of contracting a virus. “We would like to remind students of simple, preventive measures that can help lower your risk of getting sick during flu season,” Perry wrote. “To ensure the health and safety of all, please practice good hand washing, avoid contact with those who are sick, and if you haven’t yet done so, get vaccinated.”

Anthony S. Fauci, director of the

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said this year’s most predominant influenza strain is H3N2, a strain notorious for aggressive symptoms.

“It was introduced in 1968 and over the years we’ve had H3N2 or an H1N1, so this isn’t brand new,” Fauci said. “When you think about the most aggressive and most difficult of the strains, historically H3N2 is generally a bad actor.”

Pritish K. Tosh, an infectious disease specialist at the Mayo Clinic, said that though other flu seasons featuring H3N2 have been equally infectious, “this one happens to be more severe.

The vaccine does not seem to be as effective.”

HUHS routinely encourages students and staff to get the annual flu shot. They provide the vaccine to Harvard students free of charge during the fall semester in House dining halls and other satellite clinics. But experts say this year’s vaccine may be less effective than vaccines of years past.

“The vaccine this year has not had great efficacy,” Tosh said. “The vaccine efficacy was close to 10 percent.”

Vanderbilt University Professor William Schaffner, who studies immunization policy and infectious diseases, said the vaccines effectiveness can be com-

Allstonians Protest West Station Delay

By TRuelian Lee and jACqUELINE p. pATEL Crimson Staff Writer

Standing by a congested intersection and braving the 21 degree weather, Allstonians held up colorful signs to protest anticipated traffic delays and transportation issues, due to construction delays on West Station.

The rally, hosted by People’s Pike, protested the delay of West Station to 2040. Attendees held up signs like “Delaying West Station is Honkers” and “Get West Station Back on Track” during rush-hour traffic at the River Street Bridge intersection. On the “Rally for Transit, Not Traffic” event page on Facebook, the group encouraged attendees to march to the campaign headquarters of Governor Charlie D. Baker ’79.

“Let him know that we need West Station NOW!” the Facebook event page said.

People’s Pike is a group of Bay Staters who find issues with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s plans to improve the Mass. Turnpike.

The protests come just one day after Harvard pledged, in a letter to MassDOT Secretary Stephanie Pollack, to increase funding for West Station. Initially, Harvard intended to cover a third of construction costs, but after Mass. politicians asked the University to fund “almost the entire cost” in a public letter, Harvard increased its pledge.

At a town meeting Monday, Allston residents also raised concerns about vehicle congestion in the decades between now and a completed West Station. Attendees of the rally shared sim-

ilar worries.

“I feel like the way that the project is currently set up, it is going to primarily benefit people living outside of our neighborhood while lowering the quality of life in the neighborhood,” Allston resident Tony Arias said.

Residents pointed out the negative consequences of the heavy congestion currently in Allston.

“There are people who don’t even feel like they can back up out of their driveway during rush hour, there are people who are afraid to bicycle on the streets of our neighborhood, there are people who have been killed on the streets of our neighborhood walking and biking,” Allston resident Harry E. Mattison said. “It’s just not okay.”

In response to Harvard’s increased commitment to fund West Station, resident Steve Kaiser said, “This changes the whole game. It basically says to the state and BU, ‘Hey, you guys get off the dime.’”

Other residents hoped the University and MassDOT would conduct a transit study to better address traffic congestion.Residents from surrounding towns also attended the rally in a show of solidarity.

“Traffic not only impacts this [Allston’s] side of the river, but our side of the river as well,” Cambridge resident Catherine Zusy said. “There’s congestion from this side of Memorial Drive between 3:00 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. every day. Down Western Avenue, you can barely move.”

On its website, the People’s Pike recommends residents submit letters encouraging MassDOT to invest in more transportation-related development

Proud to cover Harvard for 144 years and counting.

The Crimson thecrimson.com

promised because the virus can mutate.

“This is one of the major challenges in trying to prevent these influenza infections and is at the root of why the vaccine has to be reformulated essentially on an annual basis,” Schaffner said.

Schaffner warned that seemingly mild flu symptoms can quickly escalate.

“Influenza, it’s a serious respiratory infection that can take even a young healthy person and put them in the emergency department within 24 hours,” said Schaffner.

While doctors encourage patients to exercise caution, not all are surprised by the 30 pediatric deaths the flu has caused this season. Fauci added that college-aged students are not a high-risk population.

“The good news is that people within the age bracket of college students rarely have serious complications,” Fauci said. Still, Perry said getting the flu vaccine is a good idea. “Some experts suggest that those who receive the vaccine tend to have a milder illness even if they do get the flu,” he said.

In his email, Perry encouraged students to still receive the vaccine if they have not already. “Flu vaccines are still available, and students can make an appointment to receive one through the HUHS patient portal or by contacting HUHS,” Perry wrote.

School of Design to Debut Online Course Offering

By Nicholas W. Sundberg Crimson Staff Writer

A new online course from the Graduate School of Design will offer students from around the world the opportunity to study the fundamentals of architecture from Harvard professors for free.

The 10-week course, which launches Feb. 28, will explore a variety of topics spanning the history of influences of architecture. Design School professors Erika Naginski, Antoine Picon, and K. Michael Hays, alongside PhD student Lisa Haber-Thomson, produced the lessons.

According to a course summary posted online, the purpose of the initiative is to give students a greater understanding of the wider impacts of architecture, as well as the discipline’s influence on technology and history.

“In this course, you will learn how to ‘read’ architecture as a cultural expression as well as a technical achievement,” the summary reads.

The course is divided into three parts. The first phase introduces the idea of the “architectural imagination” as a medium to “share sensuous expe­

rience and conceptual understanding.”

Using methods like perspective drawing and architectural typology, students will learn about the historical impacts of architecture.

The second phase will analyze how technology impacts the creation of architecture as a component of its “realization and understanding.”

Lectures will cover topics like how the materials of construction often determine the architectural forms and viability of a structure, or how architecture and modern technology have changed the what can be built—and what counts as a building.

The final set of modules will analyze the complex relationship architecture has to its “social and historical contexts” and its “audiences, achievements and aspiration,” including its aesthetic power to negotiate social change to express society’s ideals. The course will not count for credit, but people who take the course can buy a certificate once they complete the class.

Staff writer Nicholas W. Sundberg can be reached at nicholas.sundberg@thecrimson. com.

Harvard Hires HKS Profs Princeton Professors React to

By Cecilia R. D’Arms Crimson Staff Writer

Princeton political science professors Christina Davis ‘93 and Kosuke Imai will join Harvard’s Government department next year as full professors.

Davis said she studies “international relations with a focus on international trade, East Asia, and how East Asia engages with trade,” while Imai, a Harvard Kennedy School graduate, “develops statistical and machine-learning techniques for analyzing data to answer questions in social sciences.”

Both professors already have Harvard affiliations, and Davis said her “Harvard loyalty” was one reason she decided to return.They also said Harvard’s larger size and wider resources were reasons to switch universities.

Imai said Harvard is “very attractive because it’s a much larger university, and it has professional schools.” He said these schools each have some faculty focused on statistics and machine learning.

“There’s a really big community who share interests with myself,” Imai said.

“Harvard will present new opportunities,” Davis said, “Harvard is a very large university and I look forward to reaching out beyond just political science. The Reischauer Institute will be a great resource for me, as well as the Law School.”

Government Department Chair Jennifer L. Hochschild said that Dean of Social Sciences Claudine Gay authorized one new hire for the department in any field. “[The search committee] started

with a list of 140 people who… for some reason or other were clearly prominent, and they worked their way down from 140 to Christina Davis. And we were really smitten with Kosuke Imai, as well.”

The two professors are married and made the decision to move together, choosing Harvard over offers from other universities, including Stanford and Columbia.Hochschild said that the Government department has shrunk in size recently, making the new hires critical.

“At our peak, now 10 years ago, we had 48 FTEs, full time equivalents… now we have 42,” she said. “We have several very prominent professors who have retired, Professor Bates, Putnam, Dominguez, Alt either all have recently retired or are in the process. And we have a few people who are mid-career who went to another university.”

Invigorated by their success with Davis and Imai, Hochschild said the Government department has offered two more positions to another couple who would join the department as junior faculty next year, but has not yet heard back.

Hochschild said the department is also currently running searches “for both senior and junior faculty,” although they don’t yet have authorization to hire next year.

Professors Davis and Imai said they are looking forward to working with students as well as faculty.

“My goal is to show students that the applications of statistics and machine learning to the social sciences can be as fascinating as developing those methods as a computer scientist or statistician,” Imai said.

City Debates Restricting Square Business Sizes zoning From Page 1 the meeting. “And use is something that the Historical Commission does not talk about and will not talk about.”

The Cambridge Historical Commission, which has been thrust into city-wide debates over the future of Harvard Square, has recently faced criticism from some residents for approving a pedestrian mall in the center of the Square in August. In the past few years, new landowners and increasing rents have pushed out many small businesses.

Kroon originally submitted his petition to the Cambridge City Clerk on Sept. 25, and the petition has been addressed by the City’s planning commission on multiple occasions. At the meeting, Denise A. Jillson, executive director of the Harvard Square Business Association, spoke in firm opposition to the petition.

“The type of stores, who owns them, how much frontage they have, what their merchandising policies are, and whether they are 1800 square feet or 1500 square feet is far less important than good quality and good value.”

Jillson argued that the petition would hurt business growth and success in the Square.

“Given that this petition does nothing to increase foot traffic and that it hinders sustainable leasing opportunities, diminishes flexibility, restricts growth, and hyperregulates marketing efforts, we strongly object to it,” Jillson said.

Though many members of the committee, including City Councillor Dennis J. Carlone, chair of the ordinance committee and Vice Mayor Jan De-

vereux, supported the intent of the petition, small debates about around specific points prevented the meeting from moving quickly. Following five hours of debate, Carlone motioned to “leave it in committee at this point and to pick it up another time.” Further complicating the proceedings, the petitioners modified the petition prior to the Planning Board’s Jan. 2 meeting,

“Our concern is the retail ecosystem, and use is something that the Historical Commission does not talk about and will not talk about.”

Peter B. Kroon Cambridge Resident

leading to concerns about whether or not the petition had gone through the proper legislative channels.

“There are a lot of great ideas and concepts here,” Carlone said. “I feel strongly about them and maybe the best thing to do is repackage them and do a little more research with property owners.”

Trump Comments Professors From Page 1

percent of students and approximately 23 percent of faculty come from outside the U.S. Professor Matthew A. Baum, who studies global communications, said the rhetoric coming from the White House is damaging to goals the government may want to achieve domestically and internationally.

“It’s very empowering to people that share his views to verbalize them more aggressively and loudly, which coarsens public discourse and reduces trust and raises misunderstanding, hostility—just basically the opposite of what you would want if the goal is to foster dialogue, communication, understanding, respect and those sorts of things” Baum said.

Dara Kay Cohen, an associate professor of public policy, conducted research for her first book in Sierra Leone and El Salvador.

She is currently working on research about public opinion, political violence, and gender in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Cohen said she observed the challenging lifestyles people faced in these countries, citing high infant mortality

We should all expect better from our public leaders, and I certainly expect better from the president of my country.

Douglas W. Elmendorf

Dean of the Kennedy School and outbreaks of disease.

“The people who I met, the sort of ordinary people who lived their lives in those countries, struck me as living their lives with immense amount of dignity and hope and resilience, given the incredible challenges they have faced in all three countries in recent decades,” Cohen said.

Baum said President Trump’s comments make it difficult for the Kennedy School to recruit students, especially those from abroad.

“It’s a really tough situation for institutions focused on building or attracting smart talented people to be public leaders because the role of a public leader is being challenged or undermined and it makes recruitment of the best and the brightest more difficult,” Baum said.

“The more people are cynical and distrusting and don’t think the government works or don’t think they can rely on the institutions of government, the less likely they are to want to make that their career.”

Elmendorf stressed “respect” as a core value of the Kennedy School and quality he believes leaders should have.

“As I have said on many occasions, a core value for public leaders should be respecting the worth of each person regardless of his or her national origin, race, or other demographic chracteristics,” Elmenedorf said.

Sports

The Harvard Crimson | january 26, 2018 | page 6

Harvard Eagerly Awaits Cornell, Colgate at Home MEN’S HOCKEY By spencer r. morris Crimson Staff Writer

I n recent years, the Harvard men’s hockey team has skated in some of the country’s most storied arenas, from Madison Square Garden to Mariucci to more local ice sheets like TD Garden and Conte Forum. The Crimson certainly loves playing at these historic venues, just as it enjoys staying home and hosting teams in Cambridge.

And yet, even with the appeal of hitting the road and the comfort of the Bright-Landry Hockey Center, the team would still rather play its upcoming tilts with No. 2/4 Cornell and Colgate in another place: the meat grinder.

“We play this game in practice called ‘the faceoff game,’” junior forward Ryan Donato explained. “We talk about how we got to play every shift like it’s the faceoff game, getting it down low and working them. Putting them in the blender is what we say, and kind of putting them in the meat grinder.”

Donato and his Harvard squad know what’s in store this weekend, as the Big Red (16-2-1, 10-1-1 ECAC) and the Raiders (10-10-4, 6-5-1) barrel into town bringing their grit and defensive intensity with them. Both visitors are looking to cap off sweeps in their regular season series with the Crimson (9-6-4, 8-3-3), after an early-season trip to Upstate New York proved unfruitful for this weekend’s hosts.

“We got the team together after that and said, ‘Hey, this is what we need to do. We can’t take any shifts off, we can’t take any games off,’” Donato said. “Having our upperclassmen step up and show the freshmen the ropes…every game matters, no matter if it’s the beginning of the year or mid-season.”

Not only did Harvard return to Cambridge on Nov. 12 with zero points, but the weekend also kicked off a slump that saw the Crimson lose four straight games for the first time in more than two seasons. The Monday following this losing streak, the Harvard icemen dropped out of the USCHO top-20 poll, where they have remained ever since.

Cornell and Colgate each contributed to the frustration of a Crimson team that was finally forced to confront the realities of losing such an esteemed senior class in 2017.

Harvard started the weekend in Hamilton, N.Y., where it ran into a hot Raiders goaltender in sophomore Colton Point. Despite throwing 31 shots at Point, the Crimson managed to break through just a single time.

The following night, Big Red junior Alec McCrea cashed in on a slew of Harvard penalties with just two seconds left, giving his team the win.

“We had kind of a heartbreaker at Cornell,” freshman forward Jack Badini said. “We thought we deserved better, and so we’ve been looking forward to this one.”

For these teams, a lot has changed since mid-November. A once-ranked Colgate team has lost seven of its last 10 contests, Cornell has ascended another 10 spots in the national poll to No. 2 in the country, and the Crimson have turned things around in 2018 despite a bit of a goaltender battle ­

WINNING STREAK Freshman forward Jack Badini is riding a four-game point streak (1–4—5) heading into the weekend. Additionally, the second-line center is averaging a point per game over his last seven contests. timothy r. o’meara—Crimson photographer

emerging.

Conversely, plenty has lingered since Harvard’s initial meeting with these two ECAC foes, such as the team’s focus on avenging the pointless weekend.

“Ever since then, we’ve had a bitter taste in our mouth,” Donato said.

“From that point on, we kind of hit a skid after that. It was really tough to get out of that groove of playing so well and not getting rewarded for playing to the best of [our] abilities.”

Both the Raiders and the Big Red have benefitted from stellar play between the pipes throughout the season. Point and Cornell freshman Matthew Galajda sit among the ECAC’s top three and the NCAA’s top six in save percentage (.940, .930) and goals against average (1.88, 1.66).

These numbers reflect the stinginess and grit played by both teams visiting this weekend. Harvard expects nothing less.

“Cornell has got a good goalie, and obviously he’s really hot right now,” said Donato, when asked about the opposition. “They’re big, they get the puck behind you, and they work you down low…. For Colgate, they have a hot goalie as well. He’s been really good this year. They’re a team that plays consistent and they’re very disciplined.”

While the defensive prowess of both squads is undeniable, success on the other side of the puck is what distinguishes the Crimson’s competition this weekend. Cornell boasts an offense nearly as potent as its lockdown defense, whereas Colgate struggles to pot the puck. The Big Red

scores the eighth most goals per game (3.42) in Division I. Coupled with Galajda’s solid play, this has earned Cornell an NCAA-best average goal margin of +1.89.

Meanwhile, Colgate’s offense—especially of late—has scarcely turned heads. Coming off a goalless homeand-home series with the Big Red last weekend, the Raiders have mustered an average of just two tallies per game over their last 10. This number is down a third of a goal since the November clash with Harvard.

Even back then, however, Colgate ranked bottom-10 in scoring, and this season-long struggle to find twine has resulted in a pedestrian –0.04 average goal differential, tied for 31st in the country.

“We know Cornell is going to be a battle,” Badini said. “We’re not expecting it to be a high-scoring game, so every little detail is important in that one. And then Colgate, same thing…. Two solid teams and we’re going to have to bring our A-game for sure.”

The low-scoring style of both foes this weekend will not deter Donato, Badini, and the rest of the Harvard forward corps. Scoring three goals a game in 2018, the group has ridden Donato’s stellar season to more quality chances and an uptick in complementary scoring.

Heading into the weekend, Donato leads the ECAC in goals (19), points (29), per-game averages for both (1.05 and 1.53, respectively), hat tricks (2), and shots on goal per game (5.47).

The Boston Bruins prospect has accomplished all this in just 19 games,

which is tied for the fewest among the top 33 point-scorers in the conference.

Because of his performance to this point, Donato currently sits second in the voting for the Hobey Baker Award, given annually to the top NCAA men’s hockey player.

Leading the offense for Cornell, senior and alternate captain Trevor Yates paces the Big Red in both goals (11) and points (17) and has proven his clutch factor multiple times this season, potting three game-winners.

Back in November, the Crimson held the Beaconsfield, Que., native scoreless and will attempt to do so again this weekend.

Cornell benefits from significant scoring depth, however, with forwards from all four classes accumulating double-digit points. So tempering the Big Red attack involves more than just shutting down Yates.

Among these double-digit scorers is sophomore Jeff Malott, who had a hand in every Big Red goal en route to a three-point night in the recent last-second thriller.

Six Raiders skaters have also eclipsed 10 points on the season, albeit in more games due to Colgate’s earlier start date than the Ivy League teams. Leading the charge up front is sophomore Bobby McMann, who has pocketed 10 goals and 10 assists through 24 contests.

To flip the script from November, keeping these teams’ offensive pieces in check is a must for Harvard.

“We learned that every team has an offense,” said Donato, when asked what his teammates took away from

the November tilts. “Sometimes we would get down when we were playing defense a lot, but at the end of the day we’re going to play a lot of good teams, and we’re going to have to get comfortable playing defense.”

That being said, if the Crimson wants to remain unbeaten since Dec. 1 (6-0-3) in ECAC play—not to mention end Cornell’s eight-game unbeaten stretch (7-0-1)—punching through two seemingly impenetrable net-minders will be of greater emphasis.

For Harvard, this weekend will mark the second straight Friday playing the No. 2 team in the country, after the Crimson skated to a back-andforth draw with Clarkson last week.

“It’s not a question of playing at that level, or if we had that talent,” Donato said. “It’s getting up and doing it every night and not taking nights off, or taking shifts off. We finally kind of learned how to get in that routine.”

As everyone in the program acknowledges, last time coach Donato’s squad clashed with these two Upstate New York rivals, it hit its rough patch of the season and is still paying for it in the standings. This time around, with conference standings starting to settle and the Beanpot fast approaching, Harvard cannot afford a relapse.

If all goes well, the two games will end up right where Ryan Donato and his teammates want them: in the meat grinder.

Staff writer Spencer R. Morris can be reached at spencer.morris@thecrimson.com.

Harvard Battles Cubs, Hornets Back-to-Back AROUND THE IVIES By troy boccelli and stephen j. gleason Crimson Staff Writers

This weekend marks the beginning of a six-week stretch of back-to-back conference basketball games—one of the Ivy League’s quirkiest sports traditions—for the Harvard men’s and women’s teams. Save for a few exceptions, over the next six weekends, each Ancient Eight team will play two games per weekend (one on Friday night and the other on Saturday) with both coming either at home or on the road.

If you haven’t been following Ivy League basketball up until this point, have no fear. We’ll give you all that you need to know about the conference’s eight teams, the five games today and tomorrow, and an outlook for the upcoming six weekends.

Last year’s conference marathon saw Princeton go a perfect 14-0 in league play—the conference’s first undefeated regular season since 20072008—en route to a championship in the inaugural Ivy League Tournament.

The Tigers fell to No. 5 seed Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. It was the second year in a row that the league produced a 12­

seed for the tournament, the highest seed an Ivy League team has received since Penn was an 11-seed in 2003.

Fast-forward nine months and the dominance of Princeton and the Ivy League’s reputation as a premier mid-major conference have been replaced by parity (through 10 conference games) and a belief that 2017-2018 is a “down year” for the conference.

While the conference is arguably as talented as ever from a talent point of view, only Penn and Brown (BROWN!) posted nonconference records above .500. In the latest edition of ESPN’s Bracketology, Joe Lunardi picks Penn as his Ivy League champion but slots the Quakers as a 15 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

If you love parity, boy, would you have enjoyed the last two-plus months of Ivy League basketball. The Ancient Eight has had its fair share of good (Cornell’s Matt Morgan and his 23.3 points per game, Penn’s quadruple-overtime win over Monmouth, Princeton’s victory at USC), bad (Cornell’s decision to play at UMass Lowell, Cornell’s subsequent 20-point loss to UMass Lowell, and Evan Boudreaux’s decision to transfer from Dartmouth), and ugly (a Harvard-Fordham game that produced 92 total points,

See ATI Page 7

TOWNSMAN Sophomore forward Seth Towns is shooting 42.3 percent from three-point range, the best mark on the team. Towns is also tied with sophomore teammate Justin Bassey for most rebounds per game at 5.3. lu shao—Crimson photographer

Sports

The Harvard Crimson | January 26, 2018 | page 7

Around the Ivies: Harvard Players Hit the Road ATI From Page 6 a decision to implement Flannel Night at a Dartmouth basketball game, and New Haven, Conn.).

Harvard, Princeton, and Yale—the top three teams in the conference last season and the projected top three in the preseason poll—have all faced their fair share of struggles to begin the season. Sophomore guard Bryce Aiken— the reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Year—has missed six games for a Harvard team that leads the conference in turnovers. Last season, the Crimson loved the three ball more than Winthrop loves testing its fire alarms but shot 28.2 percent from long range during nonconference play.

Princeton boasts the conference’s most talented and experienced backcourt, but its frontcourt lacks playmakers and struggles to rebound. Yale lost sophomore forward Jordan Bruner—one of the top rookies in the conference a year ago—for the season and senior point guard Makai Mason—a first team All-Ivy pick in 2015-2016—has yet to play in a game this season after suffering a stress fracture in his foot.

Each summer, Deadspin produces a series called “Why Your Team Sucks”, in which its writers pen articles finding flaws for all 32 NFL teams and their fanbases. Entering the season, it looked like the “Why Your Team Sucks” for the Brown men’s basketball team would be longer than the syllabus for Sociology 175 (15 pages, single-spaced), but Mike Martin and company have surprised some people.

Like Harvard’s, the Bears’ rotation is primarily composed of underclassmen. Sophomore Brandon Anderson and freshman Desmond Cambridge are both averaging over 15 points a game while shooting over 40 percent from the field.

It’s Brown, so a successful season means putting up 100 points on instate rival Johnson & Wales (check) and having Jordan Spieth in attendance at one of its home games (proba-

bly not happening this year), but sneaking into the conference tournament as the four-seed doesn’t seem out of the question for a team that currently holds both the Ivy League’s fifth-highest Pomeroy College Basketball Ranking and its fifth-highest acceptance rate. If this mediocrity is intentional, don’t be surprised to see Jeff Fisher replace Phil Estes as the school’s football coach in the near future.

That’s not to say that the rest of the conference is without its flaws. Columbia won just three games in nonconference play (including one against Sarah Lawrence College) and is 1-9 in road games. Cornell junior guard Matt Morgan is arguably the best offensive player in the Ivy League yet his team has managed to concede more than 80 points eight times this season (including 91 to a Princeton team that averages 71.4).

Dartmouth cannot score to save its life and saw its best player announce he was transferring the day before the Big Green’s first game of the season. That’s almost as little notice as the Saints’ Marcus Williams gave fellow defensive back Ken Crawley before taking out his legs.

Penn currently sits in first place in the Ivy League despite shooting a putrid 63.2 percent from the free throw line, good for 343rd out of 351 eligible NCAA teams. If there’s one thing to say about the Ancient Eight as its teams enter the meat of the conference schedule, it’s that this year it’s anyone’s league.

DARTMOUTH AT BROWN Don’t let matchup this distract you from the fact that Dartmouth played a month of basketball last season without winning a single game.

That’s right, between its first game on Nov. 11 and a Dec. 18 win against LIU-Brooklyn, the Big Green went 0-9 to start last season. We’re not an Ivy League records keeper, but by any standard that’s really bad. To add insult to injury, Dartmouth lost what

might have been its only good player— former Ivy League Rookie of the Year and two-time All-Ivy Second Team forward Evan Boudreaux decided to take his talents to Xavier.

I guess the grass is greener when not playing for the Big Green.

Let’s not forget Brown, though.

Much like Dartmouth, the Bears lost an equally talented big man with an equally strange looking jump shot— forward Steven Spieth, best known for being Jordan Spieth’s younger brother.

That’s not being mean, that’s actually the first thing that comes up when you Google him.

Nonetheless, Brown comes into the matchup as one of just three Ivy League teams with an overall winning record, which is unexpected to say the least.

What’s more surprising, though, is that last weekend Brown beat a Yale team that nearly beat out Harvard as the preseason favorite to win the conference.

Let’s go back two years.

It’s March of 2016. Yale goes to its first NCAA tournament in over 50 years. Somehow No. 12 Yale beats No. 5 Baylor for its first ever tournament win. It’s kind of a big deal.

What’s better though is Baylor senior Taurean Prince’s postgame interview.

Clearly stunned by the outcome a reported asks quite bluntly, “How does Yale out-rebound Baylor??”

Prince, clearly unimpressed, proceeded to give the definition of a rebound and says that Yale got more of those than the Bears did.

After last weekend though, we kind of understand the awe behind that question, albeit a little differently. I mean really, how does Brown beat Yale?

Either way, good for Brown. Also, Dartmouth comes in red hot with a five-game losing streak.

Pick: Brown HARVARD AT YALE

If we really wanted to, we could hype up this matchup. After all, the Crimson narrowly beat out the Bulldogs for the preseason favorite despite Yale earning two more first place votes than Harvard.

We could talk about how the Crimson lost to the Bulldogs in the inaugural Ivy League tournament after beating them twice in the regular season. We could talk about how Yale coach James Jones really, really doesn’t like Harvard. We could even talk about football—after losing at home to the Crimson last season, the Yale crowd erupted into chants of “Let’s play football.”

It was hilarious. We could dig even further, to 2015 when the two matched up in a winner-take-all playoff game and the Crimson came out on top to rob the Bulldogs of their first chance to dance in a long time.

The truth of the matter, though, is that both of these teams have been as lackluster and as injury-plagued as Derrick Rose.

Let me also just say that, as a Chicago native, that one really hurt to write.

Harvard enters as the Golden State Warriors of the matchup—only imagine the Warriors shooting 30 percent from three and Steph Curry is playing four minutes a game at the moment.

Yale is kind of like the Hornets— they were supposed to compete with anyone except then they lost to everyone and then they lost to Brown too.

Also imagine they’re all on crutches.

That’s the sad reality of this matchup. Harvard guard Bryce Aiken comes in recovering from a knee injury while Yale lost forward Jordan Bruner to a meniscus tear and Makai Mason has yet to make his return to the court.

Twenty years ago today, Bill Clinton (a 1973 graduate of Yale Law School) denied having had sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky on national television. What we can’t deny, though, is that one injured player is less than two.

Pick: Harvard

HARVARD AT BROWN According to the Brown Daily Herald, Brown’s growing Computer Science department is struggling to pay its teaching assistants—it’s not the only instance of struggle in Providence, though. While the Bears have a winning record, I’m not sure it counts if wins come against schools such as Division III Johnson & Wales. This might be closer than people think, but the Brown Bears remain cubs for the time being.

Pick: Harvard COLUMBIA AT CORNELL Ah, the Gentleman C’s.

We did a bit of research and realized the phrase does not actually refer to Cornell and Columbia—instead it was actually a phrase used to describe the grade given to the children of wealthy parents who would have otherwise had a failing grade. I guess the moniker is a bit accurate then—Columbia and Cornell definitely fit the bill of institutions buoyed by association.

Regardless, all the money in the world couldn’t buy Cornell a good roster.

Even though the Lions enter with just four wins and pulled a Dartmouth of their own—losing nine consecutively in the span of a month—we think a nearly 40-point loss against Princeton and a 26-point loss at Columbia says it all. On the bright side, it will be “Kids Day!” in Ithaca on Saturday.

Pour one out for the Big Red. Pick: Columbia DARTMOUTH AT YALE We might be beating a dead horse here, but Brown beating Yale was definitely out of touch with the order of the world.

If Dartmouth could do the same, then this might be the rapture.

Pick: Yale Staff writer Troy Boccelli can be reached at troy.boccelli@thecrimson.com.

Staff writer Stephen J. Gleason can be reached at stephen.gleason@thecrimson.com.

The T closes. We don’t.

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EDITORIAL

The Harvard Crimson | January 26, 2018 | page 8

Who’s Afraid of Privilege?

The Crimson Editorial board

Harvard’s Sackler Dilemma The University should carefully consider ethics when accepting major gifts

P

hotographer Nan Goldin, whose work is displayed in the Harvard Art Museums, has recently called upon the University to refuse donations from the Sackler family.

The Sackler name is associated with a pharmaceutical dynasty closely linked to Purdue Pharma, which developed and manufactured OxyContin, the opioid drug with which Goldin long struggled with addiction.

Goldin is certainly not alone in her struggle. Some consider OxyContin (in large part as a result of Purdue Pharma’s misleading marketing of the drug) to be a primary contributing factor to the opioid epidemic, which on average claims 115 lives daily and ravages the nation with crippling addiction. Now, after publicizing the hashtag #ShameOnSackler and organizing her advocacy group Prescription Advocacy Intervention Now, Goldin is urging institutions like Harvard to cut ties with the family.

Harvard, which has funding from the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, should carefully consider whether it should maintain its relationship with the foundation. The University must acknowledge the moral and financial quandaries that come with accepting money from a foundation accused of links to w OxyContin. Purdue Pharma, which manufactures Oxycontin and whose board features eight members of the Sackler family, has been sued time and time over for misleading the public, physicians, and regulators about the addictive effect of Oxy-

contin. The company and three past executives pleaded guilty to federal charges in 2007.

Given the complex relationship the foundation holds with Purdue Pharma, however, we believe historical clarity is necessary before coming to a firm decision about the foundation’s moral culpability and Harvard’s decision to accept its funds. Family politics, especially when it comes to industry giants, are complicated. The Sacklers are not a monolithic unit, and they are divided in their support of and degree of connection to Purdue Pharma. Elizabeth A. Sackler, who runs the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation that funds the Arthur M. Sackler Museum at Harvard, has condemned Purdue Pharma’s practices. She has further stated that her father, Arthur, and his descendants have not benefited financially from the sale of OxyContin.

She is correct that she and Arthur M. Sackler have not been direct financial beneficiaries from OxyContin. Arthur, Mortimer, and Raymond Sackler bought Purdue Pharma, then Purdue Frederick Pharma, in 1952.

While Mortimer and Raymond operated as joint CEOs, Arthur acted as a more passive board member. He died before the company released OxyContin, and his descendants sold their shares to the other two brothers.

But that does not necessarily absolve Arthur M. Sackler and his descendants of moral responsibility for the systems of power, information,

By Lauren D. spohn

L

ed—and instead was forced to labor for life-sustaining income from a very young age.

He suffered many heartbreaks and tragedies, including personal losses of loved ones, and spent a great deal of time acquainting himself with the hardships and travails of others. Scenes of the French countryside, of unrequited love, of regret, of the British legal system, of child labor, of courthouses and criminal justice, of factories and the plight of the working class—all these were things that Dickens himself was or became an expert in before penning.

Dickens’s works are at once thoughtful and thought-provoking; incisive and heartwarming; teaching and beseeching. They are a joint effort between author and reader, each an attempt not only to entertain but also to inform or inspire a kinder, softer, better world.

Flitting from embedded joke to embedded joke, theme to theme, subtle motif to shocking truth, Dickens’s writings are akin to a finely woven fabric: they are works of creativity, elegance, and beauty, but most of all they aim to be unified and useful.

ike Oedipus with Jocasta, or Donald Trump with the GOP, Harvard students have a complicated relationship with privilege.

We rail against privilege as a heinous byproduct of oppressive social structures, bemoan the social stratification it creates, argue (somewhat paradoxically) for its popularization as a universal right, and try to justify it through wise spending on artisan coffee. And of course, while making these perceptive observations, we’re all standing on—dare we say depending on—the pulpit of privilege that comes with a Harvard education.

Less often acknowledged, though, is the uncomfortable feeling that slides through every student’s gut when someone brings up the p-word. It’s some slimy sludge of resentment, disease, insecurity, and guilt—a potion straight from the steaming cauldron of undergraduate discourse.

This queasiness isn’t about the unequal distribution of wealth, the social power of WASPs and other modern deplorables, or even racism, sexism, cissexism, ableism, or any other “ism” coined thirty seconds ago that will send you running for Urban Dictionary. It’s more to do with Harvard students’ disposition toward our own opportunities. It’s about our attitude toward our aptitude (or lack thereof), as demonstrated by our enrollment in this university.

We don’t want to admit it, but we’re scared of privilege.

There are two main reasons why this is the case. First, college admissions are founded on the myth of meritocracy.

We like to believe that we’re the chosen 5.2% because we deserve to be here. Because we outmatched 94.8% of the 34,511 other applicants with our intelligence, leadership, diligence, well-roundedness, and A plus (or A minus) level of hard-earned accomplishment. The thought that all our Harvard-worthy merit boils down to circumstances out of our control—who our parents are, where we live, what color skin we have—throws that sense of worth out the window. If we got in simply because of our “privilege,” we don’t just feel cheated. We feel invalidated.

Second, once we start to question if we really are the reason for our success, we start to feel guilty about the opportunities we have. Why should we have been born in the socioeconomic stratum that gets us through JohnWe should see our ston Gate, and not in some shanty a vast opportunities as world away from a commission for vast M a s s a c hu s e t t s Avenue?

Why achievement—not should we have strictly for ourselves, fast-tracks to Wall Street, Washingbut for those around ton, or Silicon us—to reach beyond the Valley when our peers—no less tallimits we would have ented, but simply less fortufaced without those nate—struggle to opportunities. make ends meet?

If we’re really just thrown into the world, what claim do we have to anything?

Geworfenheit wrecks our sense of self-worth. So we cringe, guilt-ridden and insecure, at our poisonous privilege.

This attitude isn’t productive for anyone. No one rejected from Harvard feels consoled by our muddled remorse, and no one accepted to Harvard takes best advantage of her opportunities by second-guessing themselves at every step. But the way out isn’t simply telling ourselves that we’re the only reason we’re here. All of us, even the “self-made” individuals who have overcome the odds with extraordinary drive and resilience, are products of circumstances out of our control—the people we’ve met, the situations we’ve encountered, the talents, personalities, and dispositions we were born into. Instead, the solution is to take a different perspective on privilege.

The Parable of the Talents, one of Jesus’ most famous teachings in the Bible’s New Testament, offers some insight. According to the story, a man leaves for a long journey and entrusts his property to three servants: He gives ten talents—the equivalent of about 20 years of a day laborer’s wages—to the first servant, five talents to the second, and one talent to the third. The first and second servants invest the money to earn back twice what their master gave them; the third buries his talent in the ground for safekeeping. When the owner returns, he rewards the “good and faithful” servants who have made the most of their opportunities, and he punishes the third for his failure to do likewise.

The story offers two key insights into the Harvard student’s privileged quandary. First: instead of feeling inadequate or guilty about not completely earning all that we’ve achieved, we should embrace the idea that fundamentally, we’ve been given all that we have. Who, after all, can genuinely take full credit for their talents?

Second, we should think of privilege not as a one-off leg-up to kickstart a life of luxury, but as an opportunity—and one step further, as a responsibility. Like the servant with ten talents, we should view the incredible opportunities afforded by our education not as something to feel guilty about, but as something to combine with discipline, imagination, and perseverance to give back in proportion with what we’ve been given.

And since we didn’t earn any of these privileges by ourselves, don’t we have the duty to use them for something greater than ourselves? Seen in this light, talents and gifts are actually burdens—wonderful, but weighty. Privilege is power, and to borrow from Spiderman, “With great power comes great responsibility.”

We shouldn’t panic or groan under this burden, but neither should we take our privilege lightly. We should see our vast opportunities as a commission for vast achievement—not strictly for ourselves, but for those around us—to reach beyond the limits we would have faced without those opportunities. Privilege isn’t an invitation, but a responsibility to do so.

Akanksha Sah ‘21 is a Crimson editorial editor in Holworthy Hall.

Lauren D. Spohn ’20, a Crimson editorial editor, is an English concentrator in Currier House.

and norms that enabled OxyContin’s rise. Arthur M. Sackler revolutionized the way drugs are marketed, directing campaigns not only toward patients but towards doctors. His marketing of the tranquilizers Librium and Valium not only provided much of his wealth, but also set a standard for marketing campaigns that encouraged liberal prescribing practices with little regard to the addictive potential of drugs. He also co-founded the company I.M.S., which Purdue Pharma contracted to collect data on doctors’ prescribing practices. I.M.S. data not only allowed Purdue to track the effectiveness of their marketing but made them aware of the “pill mills” doctors were running out of their offices.

None of this information makes a clear cut case that Harvard should cut ties with the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation. Arguably, it does not even morally condemn Arthur Sackler. Rather, it signifies that Harvard’s relationship with this foundation requires further investigation. Above all, this conversation must be guided by a thorough investigation into the complex dynamics of the Sackler family—its finances, ethics, and societal influence.

This staff editorial solely represents the majority view of The Crimson Editorial Board. It is the product of discussions at regular Editorial Board meetings. In order to ensure the impartiality of our journalism, Crimson editors who choose to opine and vote at these meetings are not involved in the reporting of articles on similar topics.

BE A CRIMSON CARTOONIST Submit a sample cartoon or any questions to Associate Editorial Editor Wonik Son ‘19 (wonik.son@thecrimson.com).

Classic as the Dickens By akanksha sah

S

ome American high school English teachers today asperse the name of Charles Dickens, calling his works outdated and unrelatable.

We can see evidence of this disenchantment reflected in the new sets of curricula created and adopted by schools across the country.

Take Massachusetts, for instance.

According to the Pioneer Institute, Massachusetts had been the leader in reading scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress—“the nation’s report card”—since 2005. These high scores had long been attributed to the state’s remarkably strong focus on classic literature in schools; even so, when Massachusetts adopted new Common Core standards in 2012, they reduced the amount of classic literature—including the works of Dickens— by 60 percent.

Nearly every state has adopted similar Common Core standards, breaking with the tradition of instructors in the British Commonwealth who revere his novels as Classics with a capital ‘C’.

However, although appealing to tradition alone is to commit a logical fallacy, traditions are often worth giving spe-

­

Dickens’s works are at once thoughtful and thoughtprovoking; incisive and heartwarming; teaching and beseeching. cial consideration in evaluation. Sometimes, they’re traditions for a good reason.

Dickens, for instance, really does deserve his fame as a writer. Yes, he was a serial author, paid by the word as he released his works bit-by-bit, one month

at a time, and, yes, he relied upon the common people to circulate and read his works in order to remain profitable.

His works, as a result, are frequently attacked as being wordy and sensational, but this is a terribly arrogant and myopic view to espouse.

A careful and deliberate man by nature, Dickens was respected for paying attention to every word he wrote.

His winding style and enthusiasm for his work resulted in language that was, at times, florid and meandering, full of commas and adjectives, but it is all skillfully crafted and settles beautifully into a cohesive whole.

His diction is varied and versatile, adapting masterfully to the needs of dialogue and description, vulgarism and sophistication; the phrases he uses are injected with a charming local color, turning things like shops and streets into vivid and pointed descriptors. In fact, it was not unheard of for Dickens to write multiple alternative pieces, selecting only one for publication (as he did, at his publisher’s behest, for the denouement to “Great Expectations”).

Dickens, then, was popular because his works were moving and vibrant. It was not for sheer crass pleasure that crowds lined the piers of New York in 1841 as a trans-Atlantic liner arrived from England: the people, some sobbing, were shouting to hear news of Little Nell, a beloved character from “The Old Curiosity Shop,” who was revealed in previous installments of the novel to be on the verge of death.

And this isn’t surprising: Dickens’s works are infused with a breathtakingly vast and rich background, drawing deeply from his experiences, travels and readings. They are at once history and philosophy, fairytale and politics.

As a child, Dickens’s mother was severe by necessity, and his family, on account of his insolvent father, spent much time in debtors’ prisons. He could not pursue his education at leisure as he desired— something we today take for grant-

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