The Harvard Crimson - Volume CXLVI, No. 105

The Harvard Crimson THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873 | VOLUME CXLVI NO. 105 | CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2019

EDITORIAL PAGE 4

EDITORIAL PAGE 4

SPORTS PAGE 4

Harvard libraries must preserve tradition while modernizing.

Column: Writing in its many forms can serve as a call to action.

Ivy League football nears the end of non-conference play

Despite Low Returns, Bacow Backs HMC

Tourists gather outside of University Hall at the center of Harvard Yard Wednesday morning. University Hall houses several administrative offices, including those of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences of Harvard College. THOMAS MAISONNEUVE—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

By ALEXANDRA A. CHAIDEZ and AIDAN F. RYAN CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

­ollowing Harvard ManageF ment Company’s announcement that it returned 6.5 percent on its investments for fiscal year 2019, University President Lawrence S. Bacow said he continues to support HMC CEO N.P. “Narv” Narvekar and the

University’s five-year plan to restructure its endowment management.

Narvekar announced a fiveyear plan to improve the University’s declining endowment returns in January 2017 after he was hired to manage the $40 billion fund.

Specifically, Narvekar said he wanted to shift HMC’s strategy to have a more “generalist”

approach and require all members of the University’s investment arm to bear responsibility for Harvard’s entire portfolio.

Bacow said he is “confident” in Narvekar’s five-year plan and that the endowment cannot be judged by one year of a low rate of return.

“I think we’re on target for where we’re going to be, but we’ll see,” Bacow said.

Faculty Prison Divestment Council Releases Report Votes On Schedule

By ALEXANDRA A. CHAIDEZ and AIDAN F. RYAN CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

By MOLLY C. MCCAFFERTY CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

The Faculty Council voted to approve tweaks to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences course schedule — which underwent an overhaul last year — at its biweekly meeting Wednesday, according to council member Kirsten A. Weld.

The changes come as FAS concludes its one-year review of the new schedule, which debuted last fall. FAS Registrar Michael P. Burke presented the proposed changes — which Weld called “little, teeny-weeny, basically textual edits” — to the Council, FAS’s highest governing body.

“These were really very minor amendments that did not change the thrust of any of the already existing policies governing the new schedule,” Weld said.

The Faculty voted to amend its schedule in April 2017 in preparation for the opening of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences’s new Allston campus.

The schedule went into effect for the first time in August 2018.

Under the strictly regimented system, FAS standardized class start and end times; extended the standard course time from 60 to 75 minutes; and eliminated “Harvard Time,” a scheduling quirk that allowed students to arrive seven minutes late to every class.

Though the Allston campus is not slated to open until Fall 2020, the schedule changes were adopted earlier to allow for a two-year trial run of the system.

The new schedule staggers the two campuses’ standard

SEE COUNCIL PAGE 5 INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Harvard Today 2

The Harvard Prison Divestment Campaign released a report Wednesday that estimated the University has at least $3 million invested in companies tied to the prison industry and urged administrators to divest all their endowment holdings from prison-related companies.

In their report, the campaign — launched in 2017 to call for the dismantling of the United States prison system — also called on the University to disclose to Harvard affiliates all

“Ask me two to three years from now,” he added.

The 6.5 percent return is the lowest return rate in two years, as 2017 saw an 8.1 percent return and 2018 yielded a 10.1 percent return.

Harvard has lagged behind other Ivy League institutions in recent years and fell this past fiscal year behind both Brown and Dartmouth — who posted

12.4 percent and 7.5 percent returns, respectively — but posted a higher return than the five other Ivy League universities.

Bacow said the University needs to be patient with Narvekar’s plan and said there are “technical reasons” why changes shouldn’t be made too quickly.

“There are commitments that were made forward, which can’t be rolled back, and it takes a while to not only exit from certain investments, but also to move resources into another area,” Bacow said. “You don’t want to try and time the market.”

Bacow also said the University is still waiting to hear back from United States Treasury Department with final rules for filing a new excise tax on its investment returns.

The tax — passed by Congress in December 2017 — will levy an excise tax on universities with at least 500 tuition-paying students and total assets of at least $500,000 per student.

“We’ve weighed in and expressed a point of view on their proposed regulations,” Bacow said. “But until we have the final regulations, it’s hard to say precisely how it will affect different parts of the University and in different ways.”

Harvard jointly submitted a formal opposition to the tax with more than 30 other colleges and universities to the Treasury Department more than two weeks ago.

SEE ENDOWMENT PAGE 3

SEE PAGE 3

endowment holdings in companies connected to the prison industry.

“We have more questions than answers about the 96% of the endowment invested in private holdings; these asset classes are relatively unregulated (compared to public assets) and frustratingly obscure,” the report reads.

HPDC listed certain companies they claim Harvard has invested in that could presumably impact incarcerated individuals. The list includes private prison operators, like CoreCivic

SEE REPORT PAGE 5

Northwestern professor Joel Mokyr visited Harvard to speak about the Industrial Revolution QUINN G. PERINI—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Remark Upsets Band Event

By SHERA S. AVI-YONAH and DELANO R. FRANKLIN CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

More than 70 members of the Harvard Band walked out of a banquet celebrating the group’s centennial Saturday after an alumnus joked about the group’s decision to implement a sexual harassment policy.

At the banquet, former band member Richard “Rich” D. Horn ’72 began his speech with a joke about the group’s decision to implement the policy, which undergraduates distributed to alumni ahead of the reunion. As Horn continued to speak, roughly 75 attendees left the room, according to an emailed statement by the band’s senior staff. Many of those who walked out did not return for the remainder of the event. Horn wrote in an email that he regrets that others interpreted his remarks as a criticism of the policy, which provides band members with a formal disclosure system to report incidences of sexual misconduct, according to a copy of the policy obtained by The Crimson.

“I sympathize with the frustration of decades of Band women in dealing with sexism both in the Band and elsewhere. I strongly support the Band’s sexual harassment policy and did not mean to imply otherwise,” he wrote. “I deeply regret any implication to the contrary. This is an issue on which emotions understandably and rightly run high, and I ought to have known better. Hopefully, I will do better in any future occasion.”

A separate speaker had also joked about the sexual harassment policy before Horn, according to the band’s staff. That speaker later apologized for his remarks, the band wrote in its statement. After some attendees left the room, Harvard Band Foundation president Camaron “Cammie” S. O’Connor Wynn ’94 made an impromptu speech apologizing for the disruption, according to the band. O’Connor Wynn wrote in an email that band leadership, including both undergraduates and alumni, sought to address concerns about Horn’s comments both during and after the banquet. ­

SEE BAND PAGE 3

Bank of England Gov. Talks at JFK Jr. Forum

By FIONA K. BRENNAN and BRAMMY RAJAKUMAR CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Bank of England Governor Mark J. Carney ‘88 discussed the different ways in which international cooperation can solve global issues at an IOP talk Wednesday evening.

Carney is currently traveling around North America for high-level official meetings with the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund. He will vacate his position at the Bank of England in January 2020, according to Carney. As part of the annual Albert H. Gordon Lecture series — which focuses on international finance — the event addressed multilateral responses to potential international crises like climate change and financial recessions. Reflecting on his experiences with global economics, Carney spoke in his lecture about the importance of multilateralism — which Carney used to mean international cooperation — as an “out­

Professor Larry Summers introduces Bank of England Governor Mike Carney at the IOP on Wednesday evening.

The two professionals discussed The New International Economic Order. QUINN G. PERINI—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

News 3

Editorial 4

Sports 6

TODAY’S FORECAST

RAINY High: 56 Low: 47

comes-based” tool that “tackles specific problems.”

“It has flexible geometry, so it’s different stakeholders for different problems, and it is inclusive,” Carney said.

Former University President Lawrence H. Summers — who was Carney’s economics professor when Carney was an undergraduate at Harvard — moderated the event. Throughout the talk, Carney said he is optimistic about the future of international cooperation, but also acknowledged that current multilateral reforms need to be improved.

“I’m trying to be glass halffull about multilateralism,” Carney said. “But it’s not the comprehensive multilateralism that reigned up until the great financial crisis.” Connor P. Chung ’23, who attended the talk, asked Carney about his stance on the controversy surrounding Harvard investments in the fossil fuel industry.

In response, Carney said that

SEE BANK PAGE 5

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THE HARVARD CRIMSON |

OCTOBER 17, 2019

PAGE 2

HARVARD TODAY

For Lunch Pepperoni Pizza Spicy Chicken Stir-Fry Apricot Chutney Grilled Cheese

For Dinner Chipotle Chicken Mussels in White Wine Harvard Sitan Stew

TODAY’S EVENTS 2018 Midterm Elections: What’s on the Horizon Harvard Kennedy School, 4:30 - 5:45 p.m.

What’s on the horizon on with the midterms? What a question. Head to Littauer 166 for Resident Fellow Joe Heck’s study group to chat about this with people who probably have more knowledge on the subject than you do!

D.E. Shaw Research Tech Talk Central Square Theater, 6-7:30 p.m.

On the other side of the academic spectrum, if you’re interested in STEM, head to Pierce Hall 209 to hear from D.E. Shaw. This research lab is currently focusing on molecular biology from a scientific and pharmaceutical perspective, and at their tech talk you can learn more about what it might be like to work for their team of chemists, biologists, mathematicians, computer scientists, and beyond.

OUTSpoken Barker Center, 7-8:30 p.m.

In honor of National Coming Out Day, the BGLTQ office, Speak out Loud, and Contact are presenting an evening of poetry, spoken word, music, readings, and other performances by members of Harvard’s BGLTQ+ community.

IN THE REAL WORLD Family Found in Dutch Farmhouse after Nine Years of Waiting for ‘Doomsday’

Six siblings, age 18-25, were discovered in a secluded farmhouse in the Netherlands after the escape of the oldest brother. He reported that he wanted to end the way they were living, and has brought the situation to the attention of the police. The family has been confined to the farmhouse for the past nine years, but further details are being investigated.

Major Partners Abandon Facebook’s New Currency

Goalkeeper Kat Hess ‘20 leaps into the air to save a goal for Women’s Soccer. The team is currently undefeated in the Ivy League. QUINN G. PERINI—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

DAILY BRIEFING Following Harvard Management Company’s announcement that is returned 6.5 percent on its investments for fiscal year 2019, University President Lawrence S. Bacow said he continues to support HMC CEO N.P. “Narv” Narvekar and the University’s five-year-plan to restructure its endowment management. Narvekar announced a five-year plan to improve the University’s declining endowment returns in January 2017 after he was hired to manage the $40 billion fund. In other news, more than 70 members of the Harvard Band walked out of a banquet celebrating the group’s centennial Saturday after an alumnus joked about the group’s decision to implement a sexual harassment policy.

Mark Zuckerberg’s master plan to take over the world may be coming up against some resistance: Multiple high profile supporters have dropped out of Facebook’s proposed bit-coin like currency system “Libra.” Partners like PayPal Holdings Inc., Mastercard Inc., and Visa Inc. have dropped in response to increasing pressure by regulators and lawmakers.

Americans Urged to Get Flu Shots This Flu Season

Doctors warn that this year the flu strain is coming early and hitting hard. A bad season in Australia usually precedes one in the U.S., and there have already been several flu-related deaths in California, so all signs point to a rough season.

AROUND THE IVIES COLUMBIA The Native American Council at Columbia University has called on the administration to recognize Indigineous People’s Day as a university holiday. According to the Columbia Daily Spectator, the group organized a gathering Monday to encourage students to support its efforts.

Though Colubmia does not currently recognize Indigenous People’s Day or what is traditionally named Columbus Day, the NAC has drafted a proposal to the University to officially designate the former a school-wide holiday. Columbia’s Student Affairs Committee and its Office of Multicultural Affairs have partnered with the NAC in this undertaking.

CORNELL

Wizarding Weekend — set to take place in Ithaca Oct. 26 and 27 – will offer some new activities this year, according to The Cornell Daily Sun. The annual magic festival was founded in 2015 by two high school students who were inspired by the Harry Potter series, and although Warner Brothers has prohibited the event coordinators from explicitly invoking the franchise name, the event has continued to celebrate the fantastical.

This coming year, visitors are encouraged to arrive in costume.

DARTMOUTH

The Dartmouth reported that fall foliage has attracted many “leaf-peeping” tourists to Hanover this season. Foliage season in New Hampshire apparently hits its peak in mid-October, and accordingly the area around Dartmouth College has seen an increase of visitors from out-ofstate to witness the leaves changing color. The annual influx of tourists reportedly presents an opportunity for local businesses. According to the Dartmouth, peak foliage has also inspired student groups at Dartmouth to undertake outdoor activities like hiking.

THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873

The Harvard Crimson Kristine E. Guillaume President Angela N. Fu Managing Editor Charlie B. Zhu Business Manager

STAFF FOR THIS ISSUE

Associate Managing Editor Jamie D. Halper ’20

Arts Chairs Kaylee S. Kim ’20 Caroline A. Tsai ’20

Design Chairs Elena M. Ramos ’20 Akhil S. Waghmare ’20

Associate Business Manager Amy E. Zhou ’20

FM Chairs Norah M. Murphy ’20 Abigail L. Simon ’20

Multimedia Chairs Kathryn S. Kuhar ’20 Kai R. McNamee ’21

Editorial Chairs Jessenia N. Class ’20 Robert Miranda ’20

Blog Chairs Lorenzo F. Manuali ’21 Trula J. Rael ’21

Technology Chairs Nenya A. Edjah ’20 Theodore T. Liu ’20

Sports Chairs Joseph W. Minatel ’21 Henry Zhu ’20

Copyright 2019, 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.

Night Editor Eliya O. Smith ’20

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Assistant Night Editors Alexandra A. Chaidez ’21 Isabel L. Isselbacher ’22

Photo Editor Jonathan G. Yuan ’22 Quinn G. Perini ’22

Story Editors Caroline S. Engelmayer ’20 Angela N. Fu ’20 Jamie D. Halper ’20 Sonia Kim ’20

Editorial Editor Elijah T. Ezeji-Okoye ’20 Sports Editor Joseph W. Minatel ’21

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.

PAGE 3

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | OCTOBER 17, 2019

Historian Debates Revolution

By CHARLES XU CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Economic historian Joel Mokyr argued that the expertise of British craftsmen fueled that country’s rise to dominance during the Industrial Revolution in a lecture sponsored by the Economics Department Wednesday.

Mokyr, a professor at Northwestern University, attributed Britain’s sudden economic growth to its superior “artisanal elite” — a group of engineers and mechanics whose technical skills gave Britain a competitive advantage over the rest of Europe.

“Britain taught Europe, and Europe taught the world, how the miracles of technological progress, free enterprise, and efficient management can break the shackles of poverty

and want,” he said.

Mokyr’s talk — called “The Holy Land of Industrialism: Rethinking the Industrial Revolution” — challenged widely accepted views about the time period.

Many historians attribute British dominance in the Industrial Revolution to the country’s scientists, who they argue looked for labor-saving, coal-burning technologies.

Mokyr, by contrast, argued that the driving force behind British growth was the workers who implemented those innovations.

He contended that British artisans outstripped their peers on the continent because of the British apprenticeship system.

Whereas European craftsmen handed down “codified knowledge” mostly from instructional manuals, the Brit-

ish system passed on “tacit knowledge” from observation, imitation, and in-person teaching.

Mokyr argued that even European contemporaries echoed this idea.

He cited as an example British engineer John Farey, who, according to Mokyr, argued that the British did not produce better inventions than other countries but had more effective ways of implementing existing technology.

He said that British advantage launched the nation toward economic fertility because, in addition to the ideas of inventors, countries needed the “mechanical expertise” of “tweakers and implementers” to put new technology into practice.

Audience members said they appreciated Mokyr’s new take

on the material.

Mike Andrews, Mokyr’s former graduate student and a postdoctoral fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research, said he found Mokyr’s talk engaging.

“Anytime you hear Joel talk, there’s just an avalanche of anecdotes that is just fascinating to hear,” he said.

For David Autor, an economics professor at MIT, the highlight of the talk was Mokyr’s willingness to challenge accepted arguments about the Industrial Revolution.

“Like many things in this area, we can’t really have certainty about them,” he said.

“We can’t go back and do a randomized trial to evaluate them.

So it’s always a matter of weighing hypotheses and contributing a hypothesis that is fresh and has new implications.”

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ENDOWMENT FROM PAGE 1

Bacow Supports HMC Leadership “We remain opposed to this damaging and unprecedented tax that will not only reduce resources available to colleges and universities to promote excellence in teaching and to sustain innovative research, but also to increase access for low and moderate-income families through financial aid,” the letter read.

Harvard has the largest endowment of its kind in the world, valued at $40.9 billion.

The fund supports many of

the University’s operating costs.

Roughly one-third of Harvard’s operating budget comes from the endowment each year.

In recent years, the University’s endowment has come under increased scrutiny as student activists have targeted investments like those tied to the fossil fuel industry, private prison companies, and Puerto Rican debt. alexandra.chaidez@thecrimson.com aidan.ryan@thecrimson.com

BAND FROM PAGE 1

Band Students Walk Out of Event “Attempts at humor by two brief (not primary) alumni speakers at our 100th reunion banquet touched on the Band’s sexual misconduct policy as a policy — in the sense of the necessity of censoring one’s own speech to fit with the new policy,” O’Connor Wynn wrote.

The Band’s senior staff wrote in an emailed statement that the sexual harassment policy previously caused controversy in the band’s alumni Facebook group when some alumni questioned the need for such a policy. The staff wrote that some alumni had written in the chat that the policy was “in contrast to the spirit of the band that they had known in their time.”

Band manager Lucaian AlTariq ’20 sent the emailed statement to The Crimson.

Drill master Reese Garcia ’21, student conductor Marcos B. Cecchini ’21, drum major and Crimson multimedia editor Mariah E. D. Dimalaluan ’20, social chair Selket R. Jewett ’21, reunion manager Jessica D. Bishai ’20, and assistant reunion manager Jessica A. Boutchie ’21 also signed the statement. “[M]uch has changed even within the past decade,” they wrote. “The jokes that were made may express discomfort in confronting this change; older alumni may have been sur-

prised to see just how much the structure and nature of the Band have changed over time.”

“Both their discomfort and the reactions of the undergrads exemplify how deeply all generations of bandies care for this organization, despite its changes,” they added. The banquet was part of the band’s threeday celebration commemorating its hundredth anniversary.

Several hundred alumni gathered on campus for the weekend’s events which, in addition to the banquet, included a performance during Saturday’s football game against Cornell.

Both O’Connor Wynn and the band senior staff wrote that, other than the walkout, the weekend was a positive experience for both alumni and undergraduates. Following the incident, many alumni have affirmed their support for the sexual harassment policy, according to O’Connor Wynn.

“Out of this tension has arisen a desire for more unity and assistance and a willingness to reexamine how the alumni Band should react as traditions change. We have confidence in the strength of our Band family bonds and look forward to continuing to learn and grow together,” she wrote. shera.avi-yonah@thecrimson.com delano.franklin@thecrimson.com

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | OCTOBER 17, 2019

PAGE 4

EDITORIAL STAFF EDITORIAL

COLUMN

Changing Libraries — But Not Too Much

Writing as Activism

T

he advent of the digital age has transformed our relationships with our common spaces, and the way those common spaces are constructed. One of the spaces most ubiquitous in the life of a college student — the campus library — is hardly immune from this trend. But the merits of updating libraries for the 21st century are questionable, and many consider such adjustments unnecessary, citing survey data that indicates students simply want a place to work quietly, access books, and print assignments.

The future of Harvard libraries must strike a balance between preserving its historic character and functions and the modernization that has been the hallmark of recent years. In 2017, Cabot Library was renovated with a more modern design and amenities. Just last fall the Smith Campus Center opened, offering plenty of new study spaces in a radically different style from the traditional library setting. And the University is showing no sign of slowing down — Houghton Library is currently undergoing renovations intended to increase accessibility.

We appreciate the Harvard Library system, and the many functions it serves at the University and in the wider academic world, first and foremost providing access to centuries of accumulated knowledge. That said, we understand that libraries may feel the need to implement technological updates in order to

appeal to students. While doing so is an important part of ensuring libraries stay relevant, we hope the Harvard Library stays true to its original character.

To be certain, we believe providing free technological resources and makerspaces to students, as well as designing libraries for collaborative use, can be incredibly enriching to the Harvard experience. However, students should still learn how to search the archives and navigate Harvard libraries’ resources for research purposes.

The Harvard Library is something we should all feel like we have ownership of, as a system and collection of documents that reflects the world around us.

While some courses and concentrations already teach this skill, we believe that all students should have this knowledge. The Harvard Library ought to consider teaching students to use it more effectively, in part by extensively partnering with certain classes, beyond the basic lesson in using HOLLIS that College students receive as they complete their expository writing requirement. The Harvard Library is something we should all feel like we have ownership of, as a system and collection of documents that re-

flects the world around us.

Students may not be entirely aware of the role they can play in pursuit of that goal. Ensuring that Harvard Library’s extensive archives are as inclusive and representative as possible of diverse sources of knowledge and history is the work of the collective student body.

Students can call for the library to add to its collection or expand its offerings and yield results, and the library system ought to encourage students to take such an active role. We appreciate the availability of librarians in this and all processes, and we hope that students take more advantage of their presence and willingness to engage.

The world is changing, and the way we access media and information continues to evolve. Harvard Library has certainly changed in some regards to accommodate this evolution, but it has not yet and never should abdicate its goal of providing the University and the world as a whole with the knowledge we need to understand our past and move towards a better future.

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

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Economics Is Not A Science

By DODY T. EID

W

hat is economics? To experts like Harvard Economics professor Raj Chetty ’00, economics is a science: Economists form hypotheses, gather data to test those hypotheses, and draw conclusions. If economics is a science, though, why do economists disagree?

According to Chetty, disagreement in the field can be traced to methodological shortcomings. The lack of lab-like settings to run randomized controlled trials forces economists to resort to quasi-experimental methods and econometric wizardry. Though this imperfect form of experimentation causes disagreement, as the field progresses, methodologies will improve and data will become more readily available. Given time, Chetty argues, the field of economics will be as scientific as medicine.

This conception of economics is steadily gaining momentum at Harvard.

Chetty teaches a course titled “Economics 50: Using Big Data to solve Economic and Social Problems,” which prides itself on introducing Harvard undergraduates to the world of economic research. For example, with the help of Harvard Economics professor Nathaniel Hendren and University of California, Berkeley Economics professors Emmanuel Saez and Patrick Kline, Chetty analyzed U.S. Census Bureau data to illustrate the causal effect of neighborhoods on upward mobility. Their policy recommendations include making investments in low-opportunity areas and helping families move to other locations. With the proper econometric training, students will be able to replicate their findings and perhaps craft policy proposals on their own.

While advances in data analysis have given researchers, students, and policymakers great insight into the surrounding world, Chetty and other econometric magicians are trying to turn economics into something it cannot and should not be. The direct step from statistical

research to policy making dangerously masks the normative realities of crafting legislation.

The methodology of medicine is roughly as follows: Utilizing randomized control trials, researchers find treatments to cure the ailments of a population. Chetty likens the economist to a type of doctor. The ailments are of a different nature (unemployment, poverty, inequality, etc.), and so are the treatments (taxes, regulation, the lack thereof, etc.), but according to him, the paradigm is fundamentally the same.

Economics and medicine, however, are very different. One defining characteristic of policy making is its medium: the state. Passing legislation necessitates reflection on normative positions regarding the function of government.

Some examples of such considerations include: What is the proper role of government? What defines a government that acts justly? Should morality be the impetus for policy creation? Who should the government prioritize if a policy has winners and losers?

Take the debate surrounding unemployment insurance. A simple policy question would be: Should the government grant a 10-week extension in unemployment benefits to those out of work?

According to Chetty, consensus has been reached:“[S]tudies have uniformly found that a 10-week extension in unemployment benefits raises the average amount of time people spend out of work by at most one week. This simple, unassailable finding implies that policy makers can extend unemployment benefits to provide assistance to those out of work without substantially increasing unemployment rates.”

The certainty is extraordinary. Let us assume, as he does, that this finding is incontrovertible (which is a generous assumption, given that there is at least one study concluding otherwise). Does it immediately follow that 10-week extension policies are desirable, given such remarkable evidence? No, it does not, and for good reason.

This policy, like all government policy, has winners and losers. The winners seem obvious — those who receive the unemployment extension. The losers are less obvious, but it would be a mistake to assume they don’t exist.

One potential ramification of the policy is an increase in government spending and subsequent increase in the national debt, which could lead to disastrous long-term consequences for the entire population. Policymakers need to ask themselves if the debt accumulation is worth it or not. The question, like all of welfare economics is centered on interpersonal utility comparison: To what extent should we sacrifice overall welfare in the future for the welfare of the disadvantaged today? Another area of concern is justice. Is it just to redistribute money from those who have jobs to those who do not? Again, this question gets at interpersonal utility comparison, as well as a whole host of other normative judgements.

Positive certainties do not lead to policy certainties. As elementary as normative economics seem, economists today tend to shy away from such philosophical discussions. Moral claims and debates about justice are often vague and subjective, and “big data” offers little help. The experts of the field, however, should not so readily abandon normative considerations, at least if they wish to continue making direct or indirect policy recommendations.

On the contrary, policymakers need to be honest about which value sets they take on and why they choose to take them.

This isn’t to say econometrics should be abandoned. Positive and normative deliberation working in tandem is essential to good economics.

Incorporating both into policy discussions will lead not only to better policies, but also to a more genuine public discourse.

—Dody T. Eid ’20 is an Economics concentrator in Leverett House.

Jessenia N. Class and Robert Miranda OPINING FROM THE CHAIR When we think of activism, writing — perhaps a blog post or a tweet — is not the first thing that comes to mind. Activism seems to invoke something more bodily: picketing, marching, signs thrust in the air for hours, yelling into a bullhorn until your voice is hoarse, your point hopefully communicated.

A collection of words strung together on a page doesn’t carry quite the same tune as a protest chant.

Yet there is something to be said about the momentum of the written word. It can be a powerful thing in the activist’s toolbox for promoting a limitless set of causes, even if the tools of writing itself are quite different from what one might expect to see at a rally: a couple of keystrokes, backspacing, or a play with a punctuation mark or two.

But not always appreciated is the ability to have a universal audience at one’s fingertips, to have the ability to share one’s voice precisely and thoughtfully, or advocate for a particular reform. This is powerful.

The implications of thinking about writing in this way are enormous.

Yes, writing can delight, it can instruct, it can entertain, it can reveal — and often do all of those at the same time. But it can also call to action.

Writing, in its many forms — journalism, novels, reports, reviews, social media blurbs — is necessarily contingent on this strong belief in change.

And activism, a series of demonstrations of one’s desire for social reform, reflects this change. The act of writing, as author Margaret Atwood put it, imagines a future reader, thus imagining a future — one that could be influenced by said writing.

And as author Nadine Gordimer put it, writing is “one’s unique contribution to social change.” As a vessel for communicating one’s idea, it’s difficult to imagine a form of writing that doesn’t have roots in change.

That isn’t to say all forms of writing are equal.

It’s impossible to draw a strict comparison between the groundbreaking and immensely impactful works of writers like Toni Morrison or Joan Didion to yesterday’s Medium post, or the latest on Harvard Confessions. There are different spheres of writing that have different ends in themselves, and not all of them are intended to effect change. But what all writing does share is a transfer of knowledge at its core, regardless of audience or intent — laying ideas and words alongside each other, flat on a page or screen. The stories we tell, fictitious or true, can help us understand the ideas of others, and influence social behavior.

The implications of thinking about writing in this way are enormous. Yes, writing can delight, it can instruct, it can entertain, it can reveal — and often do all of those at the same time. But it can also call to action.

Writing diverges from protest in an important way; while it can be a call to action, it can only go so far. Simply writing about prison divestment, for example, will not immediately change the state of incarcerated people currently suffering in an egregious prison system. Neither will writing about racism, sexism, bigotry, or any of society’s sins suddenly promise a wave of change, cresting and crashing into a movement. Other forms of activism — policy making, demonstrating, sitins, strikes — are absolutely critical for reaching an ultimate goal of reform in their respective domains.

Not all writing is activism, just as not all activism is writing. But we do ourselves a disservice if we don’t consider the implications of the written word to effect just as much change — if not more — as a more sudden, physical activist movement.

But just as important as considering different forms of activism, or what to write about, is who to write for.

Writing does not always form the same immediate sensory jolt that viewing a protest or a demonstration can create.

But what writing lacks in this sense of immediacy, it makes up for in the universality of its audience. Undoubtedly, there’s an element of passion in both that captures its beholders; yet writing extends beyond a mere passerby.

Words have the ability to transcend environmental or situational restraints and grab hold of a reader’s intention, implore them to stay a while, and consider the thoughts held between their letters. In this, writing’s ability to inspire other actors holds the potential for other forms of activism to follow in its footsteps.

Not all writing is activism, just as not all activism is writing. But we do ourselves a disservice if we don’t consider the implications of the written word to effect just as much change — if not more — as a more sudden, physical activist movement.

Ideas of change are powerful. And the words and the stories we use to tell these ideas have the potential to spark great movements.

—Jessenia N. Class ’20, a Crimson Editorial Chair, is a Cognitive Neuroscience and Evolutionary Psychology concentrator in Quincy House. Robert Miranda ’20, a Crimson Editorial Chair, is an English concentrator in Pforzheimer House. Their column appears on alternate Thursdays.

PAGE 5

THE HARVARD CRIMSON | OCTOBER 17, 2019

COUNCIL FROM PAGE 1

REPORT FROM PAGE 1

Council Votes on HPDC Publishes Divestment Analysis FAS Schedule class times to provide enough time to travel across the Charles River between Cambridge and Allston.

For example, while the Cambridge-based class GENED1034: “Texts in Translation” runs from 3 to 4:15 p.m., the Allston-based GENED1058: “Tech Ethics: AI, Biotech, and the Future of Human Nature” is scheduled from 3:45 to 5 p.m.

The similar classes adhere to the standard begin-time of their respective location.

Some students criticized the new schedule shortly after it was implemented because of its incompatibility with lunch hours. The full Faculty voted to adjust the system in December 2018 to ensure students had

more time to eat lunch.

Weld said that rather than making new, substantive changes to how the schedule operates, Tuesday’s proposal merely updated existing legislation to reflect changes that came about during the rollout of the schedule, when administrators were “working out a couple of bugs.”

“Until something goes live, you can’t actually anticipate all of the potential issues that could come up,” she said.

The Council’s vote is purely advisory, and Wednesday’s proposed changes will not take effect unless they are voted on by the full Faculty later this semester. molly.mccafferty@thecrimson.com

BANK FROM PAGE 1

Bank of England Governor Speaks though divestment is certainly an option, he also believes there are other ways to create positive changes toward a more sustainable future.

“It can be better for the system to put capital into an energy company that is going from oil, coal-heavy, and moving towards a more renewable mix that they wouldn’t otherwise do if they didn’t get the capital and the value,” Carney said.

Marcy M. Murninghan, a strategy adviser for a maritime advising firm based in Boston and a self-proclaimed fan of Carney, said she enjoyed the talk, describing it as “a great overview of the emergence of a

a­ nd Geo Group, and other businesses that in some way service prisons, including Amazon, Bank of America, and Honeywell International Inc. University spokesperson Jason A. Newton wrote in an emailed statement that University President Lawrence S. Bacow has met with Harvard affiliates advocating for prison divestment and looks forward to meeting with them again in the future.

“President Bacow has met with advocates for prison divestment. He has also invited them to meet with members of the Corporation Committee on Shareholder Responsibility and looks forward to further discussion,” Newton wrote.

HPDC is scheduled to meet with Bacow and the Corporation’s Committee on Shareholder Responsibility on Oct. 28, according to HPDC member Paul T. Clarke. The CCSR helps to determine the University’s stance on matters related to social responsibility in its investment decisions.

Clarke said group members

multilateral architecture.”

“I came to this because I’m a longtime fan of Mark Carney, and I know what he’s been trying to do for a very long time,” she said.Though Murninghan said she agrees with many of Carney’s approaches to solving pressing issues around the world, she also emphasized more work needs to be done.

“Multilateralism is great, but it’s like landing in Normandy, I mean it’s just the first of what really are a whole bunch of things that need to happen,” Murninghan said. “So in the context of what he had to say, I thought it was great, but I think it was incomplete.”

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pushed to ensure that the meeting with high-level leaders allowed for enough of their members and administrators to attend.

He also noted the group will bring the details of their report to the meeting with Bacow and other members of the Corporation — the University’s highest governing body — to inform the conversation.

“Honestly, we’re going into this meeting as optimistic as we’ve ever been as a campaign,” Clarke said. “We have an expectation that they will actually start to begin the process of divestment.”

The report outlines its own plan for the University to divest from prison-related companies, writing that the University would first approach its fund managers in the Harvard Management Company and instruct them to locate “problematic” investments guided by a list provided by HPDC. Managers would then report to Harvard what those investments are, and then begin the process of divestment, reporting on their

progress annually.

“We show how Harvard can and must be the first university to divest fully from the prison-industrial complex,” the report reads.

The report does not provide much guidance for how to disentangle from mutual funds where they cannot dictate screening companies for ties to the prison industry, writing that the University should “make and report on best efforts to find alternative funds/vehicles.” They also propose Harvard should work with similar institutions who want to divest from companies tied to the prison industry.

“Harvard can help convene amarket for new pooled products that screen out companies profiting from the prison industrial complex,” the report reads. “This would be a gradual process, but considering Harvard’s position, it would not take very long to embark on the first steps.”

The group also wrote that they want Harvard to reinvest in companies, organizations,

or initiatives in Cambridge and Boston that are “directly impacted by the prison-industrial complex.”

“We demand that Harvard disclose and divest, but we also demand that it reinvest in the communities that have borne the burden and violence of incarceration, enslavement, policing and control since the founding of this school in 1636,” the report reads.

Clarke said at least a dozen people contributed an “incredible amount of time and labor” to writing and editing the report starting this past summer.

“We’ve done what Harvard should have done for itself a really long time ago, to really take an accounting of what these investments are,” Clarke said.

“It’s unfortunate that there isn’t a sense of responsibility within the administration to kind of do this work thoroughly.”

“It kind of falls on students to do that, to keep them accountable,” he added.

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SPORTS

WEEKEND

SCHEDULE

FRIDAY ______________________________________

SATURDAY ______________________________________

SUNDAY ______________________________________

Men’s Basketball Crimson Madness 7 p.m., at Lavietes Pavilion

Men’s and Women’s Crew Head of the Charles All day, Charles River

Men’s Water Polo vs. No. 15 Bucknell 11:45 p.m., at Blodgett Pool Men’s Water Polo vs. LaSalle 3 p.m., at Blodgett Pool

FOOTBALL

Around the Ivies: Out of Conference Out of Mind

By JOSEPH W. MINATEL CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

This year’s college athletics news cycle has been absolutely dominated by the recent slew of admissions scandals revolving around athlete recruiting. In case you have missed all of that, huge law enforcement stings have caught wealthy parents paying for their children to be recruited as athletes to universities of varying academic pedigrees in order to secure admissions.

These developments have launched the college admissions process into the national spotlight once again, with various news shows and cable channels focusing on the scandals. Many prestigious schools have felt the black mark of these scandals, having to deal with the mess that has been this process.

This Tuesday, Felicity Huffman started her prison sentence for her role in the college admissions scandal. Huffman is a famous award-winning actress best known for her role on “Desperate Housewives.” She paid to doctor her daughter’s standardized test scores and was subsequently caught and charged for this crime. The celebrity was sentenced to only 14 days in prison.

Why do I bring up the scandal and Huffman? I suppose I could use my perch as a journalist to comment on the small prices paid by the rich and famous for their transgressions.

I could elaborate on the unfairness of the college admissions process. I could even take a step back and take a look at how the process favors the wealthy and influential. If this is the first time you are reading my column, you might be expecting me to do just that. If it isn’t, then you know where I’m going.

Huffman will serve 14 days in federal prison. When she emerges from her brief stay behind bars, Ivy League football will be fully in conference play. This week is the final set of matchups between Ancient Eight squads and non-conference opponents. We are so excruciatingly close to the full swing of Ivy League play that Felicity Huffman will still be in prison when it starts, and her stay couldn’t be shorter. She should be glad that her name was mentioned in an Ivy League sports article and it has no relation whatsoever to the Yale women’s soccer team.

One more week with non-conference play. We’re almost there, but for now I still have six games to break down. ­

ONE SOT Sophomore punter Jon Sot booted three booming punts against Cornell, averaging 56.3 yards per punt. He likely will not be called upon excessively, as the Crimson offense is currently first in the Ivy League in points scored.. TIMOTHY R. O’MEARA—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

DARTMOUTH VS. MARIST

The Granite State is on the upand-up. Yes, you heard me correctly. There’s a buzz in New Hampshire that we usually don’t feel until after the Iowa Caucuses are completed and the small New England state suddenly becomes relatively relevant. For the first time since 1996, both Dartmouth and the University of New Hampshire football teams are ranked, with the Wildcats at number 22 and the Big Green ranked 21. I have a few recently graduated friends up there working for a certain former Vice President Democratic frontrunner candidate, and while they seem to be pretty focused on the recent debate, I can feel the excitement of New Hampshire football successes in their presence.

Dartmouth is definitely feeling the reverberations of suc-

cess following last week’s contest. The Big Green thoroughly demolished the Ivy League preseason favorite in a 42-10 drubbing of Yale. Last week, I hyped up this game as a huge early season matchup between Ancient Eight favorites that could affect the way the conference shakes out at the conclusion of the season. I even deemed it worthy of a 1:30 P.M. start time as opposed to the commonplace 1:00 P.M. This was not the case. My pick of Dartmouth by four points was not even close, and if I haven’t made it clear enough already, the Big Green Defensive MachineTM is for real. I’ve been hyping up Dartmouth a lot lately, so I’m sure that they won’t let me down this week. I feel like I’m not doing a good job of balancing my reverence for their football program with my relentless attacks on the little town of Ha-

nover.

Dartmouth by 28.

PRINCETON VS. BROWN

It would be unfair to describe this matchup as David versus Goliath. The hefty Goliath, the mightiest of warriors, had no chance to lose his battle with the feeble David. When Goliath fell to little David’s slingshot, the masses were shocked at the loss of the heavy favorite. Somehow, against all odds, the young shepherd defeated the giant.

Like I said, this is not the same situation. Brown beating Princeton would not be David defeating Goliath. This would be more comparable to one of David’s mindless sheep somehow dropping the giant.

Every week I participate in an FBS college football betting pool. Each week, we pick three underdogs to cover the spread

and hopefully earn us bonus points with an upset victory.

A few weeks ago, my friend included Harvard for my sake. He asked why I did not pick Brown to cover the 20.5 point spread against the Crimson. I commented to him that even our local high school we attended could cover three touchdowns on Brown. If I was even remotely correct, Princeton should be able to cover at least triple that.

Princeton by 63.

COLGATE VS. CORNELL

Now this is what I call a regional rivalry. The Upstate Upstarts.

The Battle of the Boondocks.

The Rural Rivalry. The Countryside Clash. The Farmland Fracas. I’ll stop these insults before I feel the wrath of my close friend and fellow Crimson staff writer Lucy Connor, a proud resident of the extremely, intensely, aggressively upstate New York hamlet of Cazenovia (population 12?).

Luckily for Colgate, the road trip will only be roughly an hour and 45 minutes, which is known in upstate New York as “right down the street.” Adding to the Raiders’ luck, Cornell has lost three straight games. This is about where Colgate’s luck stops. The Raiders are 0-7 on the season, and have lost nine straight going back to last year.

We can probably assume that it will be 10 in a row come Saturday.

Cornell by 14.

PENN VS. COLUMBIA

BRING IT IN Senior defensive lineman Brogan McPartland celebrates with arms extended following a sack of the Cornell quarterback in last weekend’s matchup. TIMOTHY R. O’MEARA—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

I find it pretty much irresistible to talk about the slightly better known football team located in the City of Brotherly Love when they do something that is totally and utterly a perfect fit for the Eagles. I found a perfect fit when the University of Pennsylvania Dean of Undergraduate Admissions proved he was a true Eagles fan with a very on brand Eagles tirade. This week, the Eagles showed that they were the Eagles when linebacker Zach Brown called out former teammate Kirk Cousins before the latter torched Philly for four touchdowns. To bring an Eagles story full circle, Brown was cut by the Eagles.

Columbia has scored the least amount of points in the Ivy League, and I bet they wish that they were playing the worst secondary located in the city of

Philadelphia. But the Eagles will be occupied in Dallas, so instead the Lions get Penn. Fortunately for Columbia, the defense has shown promise to make up for the offense. It held Princeton to 21 points, its lowest total offensive output since its 14 point performance last season against the Big Green Defensive MachineTM. Penn has allowed the most points in the Ancient Eight among actual competing defenses, with its 104 allowed points leading only Brown’s 150.

The matchup seems to favor Columbia.

Columbia by 3.

YALE VS. RICHMOND

As previously mentioned in my Dartmouth section, Yale football is not in its best place. The preseason Ivy League favorites were absolutely dismantled not only by the Big Green Defensive MachineTM, but also by Dartmouth’s offense. I have already talked badly enough about the Bulldogs’ performance, and even took a shot at Yale’s role in the college admissions scandal.

Only Brown has taken more of a beating from me in today’s article, and by the looks of its defense, they are more than used to taking beatings.

After some digging into Richmond’s student newspaper, I realized that I can relate to their student experience. A recently documented “Battle of the Tacos” reminds me of Harvard’s classic burrito debate between Jefe’s and Felipe’s. Maybe it’s the same, maybe one is way better, like Jefe’s is here.

In this game, I’m guessing Yale will be the Jefe’s and Richmond will be the Felipe’s.

Yale by 7.

HARVARD VS. HOLY CROSS

Harvard’s offense is absolutely rolling. The Crimson have scored an Ancient Eight-leading 162 points in its first four contests, averaging an absurd 40.5 points per game. This is a Holy Cross defense that allowed 31 points to Brown’s offense. Yes, I had to go after the low-hanging fruit once again. At this point, attacking the Bears isn’t even low-hanging fruit. It isn’t even on the ground. It’s basically a carrot.

Harvard by 14. joseph.minatel@thecrimson.com