Springing Ahead

THE STUDENT WEEKLY SINCE 196903.10.11

Inside: Women’s week, spring break, and men’s basketball.

WHAT: The Discovery EnsembleWHEN: Tuesday, 3/15/2011 at 12:00PM and Thursday, 03/17/2011 at 12:00 PMWHERE: Sanders TheatreDETAILS: The Discovery Ensemble is a chamber orches-tra that draws together forty of the finest performing musicians in Boston and is one of the pre-eminent cham-ber orchestras in the country. If you would like up to two free tickets, you can print out the voucher (ofa.fas.harvard.edu/ofa/pdf/de_free_student_ticket_voucher.pdf) and bring it to the Harvard Box office with your valid student ID. For more information about Discovery Ensemble go to www.discoveryensemble.com.

WHAT: Ladysmith Black Mambazo WHEN: Sunday, 03/20/2011 at 7:00PMWHERE: Sanders TheatreDETAILS: Ladysmith Black Mambazo is a renowned South African a cappella singing group that began in the early 1960s. A perennial favorite, the group is touring to promote their new recording, Songs from a Zulu Farm. Ticket prices range from $28-$40 at the Harvard Box Office. Don't miss out on what promises to be an inspir-ing evening performance!

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ARTS8910

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03.10.11 vol. xlii, no. 18

2 [email protected] 03.10.11 • The Harvard Independent

The Indy is going some place warmer.

Cover photograph bySUSan ZHUCover art by MIRanda SHUgaRS

Staff WritersMichael altman '14 Peter Bacon ‘11 arthur Bratolozzi ‘12

Colleen Berryessa ‘11 arhana Chattopadhyay ‘11Sayantan deb ‘14 Levi dudte '11 gary gerbrandt ‘14 Cindy Hsu '14 Sam Jack ‘11 Marion Liu ‘11 Hao Meng ‘11 alfredo Montelongo ‘11

nick nehamas ‘11 Steven Rizoli ‘11 Brad Rose '14 Kalyn Saulsberry '14 Marc Shi ‘14 Jim Shirey ‘11 angela Song '14

diana Suen ‘11 alex Thompson ‘11 Christine Wolfe ‘14 Sanyee Yuan ‘12 Faith Zhang ‘11 Susan Zhu ‘11

graphics, Photography, and design Staff Maria Barragan-Santana '14 Chaima Bouhlel ‘11

Patricia Florescu ‘11 Eva Liou ‘11 Lidiya Petrova ‘11 Schuyler Polk ‘14

www.harvardindependent.com

news and Forum Editorarts Editor

Sports Editordesign Editor

Columnists

Meghan Brooks ‘14 Zena Mengesha ‘14Brett giblin ‘11 alexandria Rhodes ‘14Sam Barr ‘11, Luis Martinez ‘12

Point/CounterPoint: Brain Break

Girl talk

a Plea for Pluralism

riP-off?HousinG Goes Hollywood

fate or floP?fanCy feet

art in tHe aGe of evita

swoosH!

as Harvard College's weekly undergraduate newsmagazine, the Harvard Indepen-dent provides in-depth, critical coverage of issues and events of interest to the Harvard College community. The Independent has no political affiliation, instead offering diverse commentary on news, arts, sports, and student life.

For publication information and general inquiries, contact President Weike Wang ([email protected]). Letters to the Editor and comments regarding the content of the publication should be addressed to Editor-in-Chief Yuying Luo ([email protected]).

Yearly mail subscriptions are available for $30, and semester-long subscriptions are available for $15. To purchase a subscription, email [email protected].

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Copyright © 2010 by The Harvard Independent. all rights reserved.

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Weike Wang ‘11Whitney Lee ‘14Yuying Luo ‘12amanda Hernandez ‘14Miranda Shugars ‘14 Riva Riley ‘12Eric Wei ‘14

Picks of the WeekBy InDy STaFF

[email protected] 3The Harvard Independent • 03.10.11

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Point/Counterpoint

This spring break, many of our fellow classmates will be headed to traditional spring

break destinations like Florida or Mexico, but an increasing number will be taking advantage of this week to finally catch up on all the schoolwork that has been building up over the term. Although I applaud these students for their productivity, I encourage them to take a break as well, whether that break is taking at least a few days off or simply trying something new, like volunteering in Cambridge or elsewhere.

Every year, the Phillips Brooks House Association plans around ten Alternative Spring Break (ASB) trips. Marketed as a chance for “community service, cultural exchange, and fun,” ASB trips challenge groups of highly motivated students to work closely with each other and the communities they are in, asking them to help out by renovating churches, community centers, and playgrounds, for example. Along the way, participants learn about the social justice issues that pervade the population they are working with through first-hand experiences. Past trips have included going to New Orleans to help staff mobile clinics, to Alabama to work with community schools, to Texas to rebuild a church that was destroyed by the KKK, and to New York to serve meals to AIDS patients. Habitat for Humanity is another campus organization that will be headed to different parts of the country. Volunteers almost always describe the experience as rewarding because at the end of it all they see the tangible difference they have made in another community, and because strong friendships often emerge from the experiences group

members shared. If you’re stuck in Cambridge

this spring break, there are also organizations that you can volunteer with if you are on campus. These organizations need more volunteers than ever during spring break since their usual corps of helpers may not be on campus. The Harvard Square Homeless Shelter (the only student-run homeless shelter in the nation) is but one example of such an organization that must keep its doors open even when most of the student body is absent.

For many students, spring break also provides the chance to put the finishing touches on their thesis projects, study for the MCATs/LSATs/GREs, work on homework and papers that might be due right after spring break, and prepare for the end of the semester. A chance to catch your breath at Harvard is rare, and in the long run, if you use your time productively, you might have less stress in your life once you return to campus. Of course, because spring break is meant to be a break, no one should dedicate the week we have off school just to schoolwork. Planning ahead will definitely still give you ample time to have fun on your own terms, volunteer with a worthwhile organization, spend time with family or friends, and get all of your work done. As always, balance is important, but over spring break, the balance should tip in the favor of relaxation.

Yuying Luo ’12 (yluo@fas) will be taking advantage of the opportunity to catch up on sleep and volunteer this spring break.

Springing AheadBy YUYING LUO

Instead of studying, I am writing this article. I really should be studying. I should, furthermore,

have done more than one of the assigned readings for my classes this week. I also should have made a study guide for my unholy Housing Day midterm a week ago — the study guide I now know is never getting made. Somehow, though, I am okay with that. I also should be repaying my sleep debt, gorging myself on vitamins, shaving, and doing laundry. Oh, and I should really start packing for my flight on Friday.

Tomorrow, I have class from 10 until 1, a meeting at 2, an online midterm at 3, a group presentation work session at 4:30, a cooking class at 6:30 and another meeting at 8. At 10, I will call my parents. In that time, I somehow have to put together my entire presentation and several other small assignments due this week. Oh, and study. I have to do that, too. And all those other things I listed, of course. Those too. (Eep.)

Why, you might be wondering, am I relating such a minutely detailed schedule to nobody in particular? That’s a great question. Honestly, I’m so sleep-deprived lately that I probably couldn’t give you a coherent and attentive response in person. Thanks to the magic of the printed word, though, I can make some more sense. My esteemed colleague to the left is arguing that spring break should be fun, relaxing, and rejuvenating, if a little productive. She suggests that the week should give students the opportunity to recover from harried weeks of

midterms and papers, and should rest everyone’s minds before the ever-challenging crunch time begins.

That sounds like a great idea. However, this is Harvard, and while we might be characterized as living in an ivory tower, we’re not living in a utopia. It is simple pragmatism to declare that spring break must be productive. There are too many things which go unfinished here — everything from sleeping and eating to the nightmarish midterm — and we are forced to take our free time to fend off immediate personal crises caused by not brushing our teeth, say, or forgetting how to breathe.

Being productive when we don’t need to be, and procrastinating when we can’t afford to is a way of life for the million Lamonsters and I’ve-locked-myself-in-my-room-don’t-bother-me types among us. Because next week is one fifty-second of the year when we don’t have to be productive then, we should therefore jump on the opportunity to trick ourselves into getting work done. Catch up on readings! Reach inbox zero! Start thinking about that paper topic! Email your TFs and continue inane section conversations digitally! Write articles for small weekly student publications!

Spring break doesn’t have to be all work though, because, hey, sleeping is pretty productive, too, if you ask me.

Gary Gerbrandt ’14 (garygerbrandt@college) belongs to the “All work and no play makes Jack a smart boy” school of thought.

By GARY GERBRANDT

Fun is for Failures

Spring Break:Fun and Games?

[email protected] 5The Harvard Independent • 03.10.114 [email protected] 03.10.11 • The Harvard Independent

indyForum Forum

Women’s Week at Harvard started Monday the 7th, but don’t be fooled. The fact that

this week has been deemed as such does not mean, as one of my male friends suggested, that men “get the other 51.” Women’s Week is simply female-friendly, packed with events in nearly every discipline and social arena celebrating the empowerment of women. But let’s face it: these seminars and get-togethers are necessary because, in certain ways, men do possess the rest of

the year. I know that some will protest to that fact — a student will flip through the Spring Break issue of the Indy, see the title of this article, and roll his eyes, thinking, “There goes another one out on a feminist rant, putting down everything men have ever done.” For some reason, our well-reasoned arguments are cast down as little girls’ tantrums. This ludicrous stereotype has discredited the women’s rights movement for years. Why else would women still not be held to the same standard as men in a time in which many of the most influential figures in politics, science, and education (go President Faust!) are women? Feminists are openly ridiculed

as man-hating extremists who whine about minute details and never bother to shave. This mockery is lethal to the progress of the societies we have worked so tirelessly to construct.

The stereotypes that surround feminism have provoked Harvard and many other schools to participate in National Feminist Coming Out Day (held this year on March 8th) in order to raise awareness of the multitudes of people who believe in equal rights for half of the world’s

population. Students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to upload pictures of themselves to feministcomingoutday.com/tagged/harvard as part of the “This is What a Feminist Looks Like” campaign. Women and men are encouraged to wear pins and t-shirts boasting the phrase to exhibit the wide range of people who believe in gender equality. Harvard’s celebration of Feminist Coming Out Day culminated in a coffeehouse reception in Ticknor Lounge on Tuesday night, which consisted primarily of spoken word with short speeches from members of the Harvard community. While I would have preferred to hear more

from politically or socially active feminists and their stance on progress in the women’s rights movement, I appreciated the sense of solidarity that I found within the room. The portraits posted around Ticknor Lounge were an encouraging sign of support for gender equality, showcasing men and women from all of Harvard and the reasons why they supported feminism. It was a relief to see how many people found gender equality issues to be important and saw through the fallacies that

divide women from men. I hope that next year, Feminist Coming Out Day will attract a greater number of students so we can initiate productive conversation about gender equality.

The other activities filling this week’s roster include “Standing in Your Own Way? Getting What You Want Personally and Professionally,” “The Economics of Birth Control,” “From Palin to Pelosi: A Discussion on Women in Politics,” and the “Spark Award Banquet for an Outstanding Woman in Science.” Running the gamut from sience to sociology to poetry, Harvard’s schedule for this week seeks to encompass all women in an effort to

deny our seeming invisibility in society. The diversity of campus groups that sponsored events was impressive as well: The Association of Black Women at Harvard, Latinas Unidas, and Styleta hosted a discussion on the ways in which the media represents cultural standards of beauty; the Radcliffe Union of Students, Queer Students and Allies, and the Athena Program hosted the two Feminist activism programs; and Women in Science at Harvard-Radcliffe sponsored the

Spark Award Banquet. The wide range of programs this week is as much to educate as it is to prove women’s representation in every field. If you missed any events this week, there are many opportunities throughout the year to participate in seminars and conferences that focus on women’s issues as well, such as the Women in Science and Engineering Mentor program.

I encourage all members of the Harvard Community to participate in Women’s Week this year. I think that a great detriment to any equal rights movement is the isolation of the activist group. The women’s rights movement at Harvard seems to have a tendency to support feminist artistry that, while inspiring, is only a part of what the Harvard community needs to do to support equality for women. Every person needs to contemplate what gender equality means to them — whether a woman or a friend of a woman, every student, staff, and faculty member at this university must strive to comprehend the power,

intelligence, and passion of female Harvardians. Take this opportunity to tell your friends that you are a feminist, and know that there is not just one kind of activist in any movement. However, the one thing activists have in common is that they take the initiative to institute what is right. So be a feminist, and let this week inspire you to work to institute gender equality in the other 51 weeks of the year as well.

Christine Wolfe ’14 (cwolfe@college) is a proud feminist. Are you?

This is What a Feminist Sounds LikeHarvard College celebrates Women’s Week 2011.

By CHRISTINE WOLFE

When I walked into Science Center’s lecture hall C for the Veritas Forum last

Friday evening at about three minutes before eight o’clock, I was shocked to see it overflowing with people. Undergrads, graduate students, and, as I later learned, people unaffiliated with Harvard had filled every seat and were crowding into the aisles and straining over the heads of others as they searched for a standing-only spot with a good view.

As I sat in my seat and looked around at an auditorium fuller than even my very large Nutrition and Global Health Gen Ed class, I was honestly a bit bewildered by the event’s popularity. Even though I knew that religion is a popular topic of discourse in classes and among students at the College, I hadn’t thought that the “Why Tolerance Is Not Enough: Myths About Pluralism” forum would draw such a crowd. Speakers Diana Eck and Vinoth R a m a c h a n d r a , while well known and respected in their fields, are not world famous, and even I, a potential C o m p a r a t i v e Study of Religion concentrator, was only attending because I am in Diana Eck’s Religious Pluralism class and was hoping she would summarize her thoughts on the topic succinctly so that I wouldn’t have to read her book (just kidding, I read the book anyway, Professor — scout’s honor).

In any case, the mystery of the event’s popularity was solved the instant I looked at the program. What I hadn’t realized about the Veritas Forum is that it was sponsored by the various Christian fellowship groups on campus, and the majority of people in the audience were looking to gain a uniquely Christian insight into the faith-based issues that crop up in the context of religious pluralism in the

United States. When I first realized that the

forum was not going to be strictly academic and that instead, Doctors Eck and Ramachandra were going to discuss religious pluralism from their own perspectives as Christians, my first instinct was to leave. Although the theology, practice, and interaction of religions are what take up a good deal of my brain space, I am not affiliated with any religion in particular, and, after giving the matter much thought, have decided I would like to keep it that way. Then, however, realizing I wouldn’t be much of a scholar of religion to leave such a discussion before it even began, I buckled down, squared myself, and decided to listen.

After the moderator, Rodney Peterson, Executive Director of the Boston Theological Institute, gave a

brief introduction for both Eck and Ramachandra, Professor Eck stepped up the podium and began to talk. The founder of Harvard’s Pluralism Project, Eck introduced herself as a “life-long Methodist” who had felt a divine calling to the study of South Asian religions — Hinduism, Jainism, Islam, and Sikhism — while abroad in India in the summer of 1965. Although she had devoted much of her life to these studies and has, in her own words, “probably prayed in more Hindu temples than any other living Methodist,” Eck does not see any contradictions between her work and her faith, and instead

maintains that encounters with other faiths have deepened her own.

Professor Eck indicated that although she does not see or affirm truth in all religions, she does hear “the echoes of God’s voice” in the voices of those of other faiths. On the other hand, Dr. Ramachandra, who became an evangelical Christian in his late teens after having grown up in a secular Sri Lankan family, maintained that Christians “must respect the otherness of the other” and disagreed with the idea that there is a common morality “refracted” in all faiths. Although Eck and Ramachandra disagreed ever so slightly in their personal interpretations of how Christians should engage in the context of global religious pluralism, what they unequivocally agreed on was a call for open dialogue between individuals, a

message that even I, a non-Christian, fully appreciated.

This call for open dialogue between people of different faiths or even no faith is something that both Eck and Ramachandra professed to be essential for religious pluralism. On the Pluralism Project’s website, Eck defines religious pluralism not as mere diversity but rather as the “energetic engagement with diversity,” as not mere tolerance but rather “the active seeking of understanding across lines of difference,” and as not relativism but rather “the encounter of commitments.” In order for religious pluralism to exist, she says, it must

be grounded in dialogue. Dialogue was a word Eck and

Ramachandra kept coming back to as they spoke and answered the audience’s questions. Eck spoke of a dialogue as “a language of hearing, of witnessing and hearing the other” earlier in her talk. Both Eck and Ramachandra reiterated that point when a freshman girl who described herself as only recently having become a Christian asked for advice on how to balance being respectful towards people of other faiths and bearing witness to Jesus Christ, something she views as essential to her faith. Ramachandra answered by explaining that a form of respect is engagement, while Eck argued that bearing witness to Christ should be a mutual witness — a witness to bear and a witness to hear others in turn.

Although both Eck and Ramachandra had responded to her question in Christian terms, I felt that their answers had bearing for the rest of us as well, and as I left the lecture hall and made my way back to my room, I realized something that seemed rather profound — when I made the decision to stay at the Veritas forum and listen, to hear what Christian speakers had to say about their faith as it intersected with others despite

my non-Christian philosophical commitments, I had engaged in an act of religious pluralism. By actively choosing to consider the viewpoints of the religious other, I had made a conscious effort to “seek understanding across lines of difference,” and I had emerged fully willing to engage in the sort of dialogue religious pluralism requires. The only question left, then, is if anyone else will be willing to listen.

Meghan Brooks ’14 (meghanbrooks@college) eagerly awaits future forums.

Religious PluralismHearing the religious other on campus.

By MEGHAN BROOKS

"By actively choosing to consider the viewpoints of the religious other, I had made a conscious effort to “seek understanding across lines of difference,” and I had emerged fully willing to engage in the sort of dialogue religious pluralism requires."

Maria Barragan-Sanatana / INDEPENDENT


indyForum Forum

Mania

As a member of the generation that has grown up with the Internet, it really comes as

no surprise that I support online file sharing (well, support might not exactly be the right word since I personally am on the fence about whether all-out file sharing should be legal). However, I do believe that file sharing isn’t as bad as it has been made out to be. Certainly it is a form of theft, especially when we consider the intellectual property rights that are violated in this sort of operation. What stops me from totally denouncing it as a crime of theft equal to, say, stealing a lollipop from a store, however, are: 1) the potentially infinite reproductive properties of file sharing and 2) the benefits received by the artists themselves.

Let us contemplate the situation where someone steals a lollipop from a store. The thief takes the lollipop at the expense of the store owner because now the owner has one less product and no money to compensate for that loss. With file sharing, the owner does not actually lose a tangible item because there is no “missing” file. This is why I find it difficult to compare file sharing with the theft of non-digital, tangible items. The owner still possesses the file, and still has the same “amount” of product, so to speak, to sell, which is why in my opinion, illegal file sharing is not comparable to stealing a lollipop from a store.

Of course, this does not justify illegal downloads, as the artist is losing a potential buyer every time

someone downloads a song illegally. After all, why would people pay for something they could get for free? To answer this question, I would like to argue that as much as people like free stuff, people are still willing to pay for something they truly like, otherwise people would only download and listen to music they can get for free. The music industry would not be able to sell anything then because there are plenty of places to download free music legally. For example, Amazon offers free songs and even free albums. Yet, those songs are not bestsellers despite them being free. That just goes to show that people are not so stingy that they will only download free music. People get music they want to listen to even when they have to pay for it. This is why I believe that as much as some artists and record labels claim that file sharing is destroying their business, it really isn’t.

In fact, if file sharing is used the right way, it actually benefits the artist. But how, you ask, does giving their music away free of charge help the artists at all? It is a rather simple concept if you think of a free song as a sample. Generally, samples are

used to attract consumer interest, and in this sense, music samples work just like food samples. When I like a song I hear by an artist I have never heard of, my interest in that musician is piqued, and I want to find and listen to more of their work. I buy their music because I like their product and want them to continue their work. Anyone who really likes the music by a certain band would want to support them financially so that they make more music.

You see more and more artists today who realize the potential of free music as a tool to promote themselves and gain more fans, and thus, potential customers. I just downloaded three songs from British Sea Power and Lykke Li’s official band pages (and yes, it was all legal, thank you very much). If musicians are still worried about losing buyers by allowing downloads of their songs, they can always just allow people to stream their music. And if you’re a new band, file sharing definitely works in your favor. Just look at the band Arctic Monkeys, a band that achieved success through file sharing and free music. That is not to say that any band will reach stardom if

they give their music away for free because, as mentioned above, the quality of being free is not enough to attract fans and buyers. You still have to make something that people like.

Maybe it’s because I download music on the Internet myself that I’m comfortable with file sharing, but honestly it seems to me that it does more good than harm. There are obviously issues with copyright, but if the artists and record labels would recognize the benefits that accompany file sharing and capitalize on those benefits, they would be better off. Suing people for exorbitant amounts of money (and students at that) doesn’t do the music industry any favors because it usually results in a public-relations disaster that alienates the market consumers. Remember the illegal downloading lawsuit against 12-year-old Brianna LaHara? Instead of trying to stamp file sharing out, the industry should use it to further both their interests and the interests of their consumers.

Cindy Hsu ’14 (cindyhsu@college) thinks sharing is caring…and generating profit.

Everything is Better When It’s Free

Why file sharing b e n e f i t s t h e music industry.

By CINDY HSU

Housing videos have now become a t rad i t i on in anticipation for housing day,

providing an informal, humorous guide to community life in the twelve different houses. Enthusiastic residents trump the important distinctions between each of their houses such as distance (River vs. Quad), building beauty (Lowell vs. Mather), and ideal rooms (Cabot vs. Winthrop). This year, however, after all the hype surrounding the Housing videos, they simply failed to shine. The offerings ranged from spoofs of this year’s Oscar nominees to music videos to MTV parodies, although some Houses failed to promote their house spirit in these videos. Here are the best and the worst of the 2011 Housing Day videos:

Mather’s promotion of Jersey Shore led to some awkward footage as the camera followed one main Matherite running through his typical day. These exciting interactions included the better half of GTL as I observed bench-pressing

at its finest, an exciting tan atop the concrete monstrosity (as if I needed another reminder of what the building looks like), and a thrilling clip of a guy folding his laundry. Needless to say, about thirty seconds in, I was reminded why I cannot stand Snooki, The Situation, and the rest of the crew in Jersey. A parody is a parody — until it’s not. And in this case, instead of laughter, this video drew a whole lot of cringing.

“I Just Had Sex” is a wonderful, catchy tune with inspiring lyrics so it comes as no surprise that two houses attempted to ride its wave of popularity. However, Adams’ meek attempt lacked the stunning production and flair that Leverett showcased, especially in the wake of their other video, “Teach Me How to Bunny.” “I Just Got Lev” has a nicer ring to it by far than “I Live in Adams” — as well as better singers, dancers, and cameramen. The nice additions of monkeybread, bunnies, scenes from Stein Club, and a fabulous usage of autotune complemented the creative

lyrics. On the other hand, Adams’ rendition was a letdown. The hazy sound quality was difficult to listen to and almost obscured the subpar lyrics. The extra syllable in “Adams” made it difficult to squeeze all the words in occasionally, but I suppose they did their best with the limited rhyming words available.

Quincy House’s much-hyped “Quinception” lived up to its reputation and made excellent use of the movie’s soundtrack by tying it into its various scene changes. The production and video-editing was by far the best of all of the housing videos, especially the parody of the infamous mind-bending hallway fight scene in the original film. The vuvuzuelas and penguins added a wonderful Quincy-themed touch to the video and the numerous references to the film were placed strategically in reference to Housing Day. Although it was the best of a limited field of Housing Day video candidates, there were still several bits they could have done without. The introductory scene was

confusing and odd, and the minute-and-a-half long credits probably would have fit better as text on the side.

Overall, there was no one video that shone above the rest. After seeing many examples of past House submissions, I was disappointed in the lack of creativity and humor in this year’s contenders. Other than a few chuckles induced by those “well, that was awkward” moments in several videos, there were few comedic moments in this year’s batch of videos. Quincy wins for best production and drama, but for something as lighthearted as promoting a House’s spirit in a fun Housing Day video, I hope each of the twelve houses will find their inner funnyman before the next Housing Day rolls around.

Angela Song ’14 (angelasong@college) performs a ritual dance to the Housing Gods with her block and linkmates every night.

Housing

A look at this year’s housing

videos.

By ANGELA SONG




indyArts Arts

There was one reason I wanted to go see The Adjustment Bureau, and

that reason was Matt Damon. Unfortunately, that was also the only saving grace in this otherwise lackluster movie.

Matt Damon plays a man who, it seems by some stroke of luck, rises to political prominence and only just misses the senate seat. On the night of his defeat, he also meets the woman of his dreams. Unfortunately, this woman keeps disappearing from his life and eventually when he finally has a chance to be with her, he realizes fate has something else planned. He now has to choose between the fame and power that fate has chosen for him and love, something his heart pines for.

On paper, the movie seems interesting. At least in bits and pieces, the thriller-type treatment of the story works. The last twenty or so minutes of the movie are especially heart pounding. But by that time, the audience is already tired of the slow pacing of the movie. Pacing is the Achilles heel of this movie. While the movie jumps years, it still seems slow. The glimpses of Damon’s rise to prominence that we do see are so stagnantly filmed, it seems as if nothing is happening. While it is important in a thriller to build up to the climax, the entire movie seems like build up. In fact, there is not even a rise of tension to keep the audience hooked.

Another major problem with the movie is the chemistry between Damon and Blunt. Individually they are powerhouse talents, but together, they fizzle unconvincingly. The one electric moment is their first encounter, which promises so much. However, the story doesn’t give enough scope for their love story to develop, at least not enough for Damon to fight fate. Their other encounters seem awkward, and (trust me it pains me to say this), Blunt seems ill

at ease throughout the movie. It doesn’t help that she has little to do other than hold Damon’s hand and run around New York.

The concept of the movie itself is difficult to execute convincingly. The whole “man upstairs” angle seems ludicrous, and the guys in pea coats and top hats don’t add anything to convince the viewer otherwise. Furthermore, the movie tries too hard. There is a constant effort to be like I n c e p t i o n o r other cerebral thrillers. At its heart, this movie is a romance with a little bit of fate thrown in. Except in the movie, fate is literally the adjustment bureau. Hard to buy? Absolutely! With this kind o f a concept , it would have been even more imperative for the director to make sure that every effort was taken to imbue s o m e s o r t o f believability to the characters. Instead, we get a h a l f - b a k e d love story, and a bunch of guys wearing hats, pretending to look stern. Except not really…

A r e t h e r e any redeeming qualities to this movie at all? Yes, just one — Matt Damon. He gets it right in every f r a m e . R i g h t from recounting h i s p a i n f u l past, to his rise t o fame , and eventually his struggle against

fate, Damon is wonderful in the role. He tries hard to make the audience feel sympathy for the character in this otherwise plastic film and his struggle, even in the ridiculous setting, seems real and worth rooting for. Although the audience is never sure why, they still cheer him on, and hope that he wins this fight with fate.

The same can be said about the movie. Although the odds

are stacked against Matt Damon in this movie — the story, the direction, the screenplay, and even the romance — one wishes, for the sake of Damon, and his effort to make this movie better, that The Adjustment Bureau fares well at the box office.

Sayantan Deb (sayantandeb@college) ’14 hopes Matt Damon finds better scripts.

Around Campus

Never heard of Bhangra? Didn’t grow up under the thumb of an “Indian Dad?”

To be honest, neither did I, but that didn’t stop me from relishing Ghungroo 2011, the South Asian Association’s 22nd annual cultural show, featuring dance, music and comedic skits from all over Southern Asia. With almost 300 people in the cast, this performance is one of the largest on campus and, interestingly enough, is one of only two shows permanently housed in Agassiz Theater.

I had signed up for Ghungroo earlier on in the year, but had to drop out because of time conflicts. Resigning myself to tapping my feet along with the music, I had no idea how jealous I would be of the performers by the end of the night. It was overwhelmingly obvious throughout the entire show how much fun the performers were having. The energy and enthusiasm only increased as the show progressed. The show was also well-crafted and well-planned, alternating between slower and faster pieces — between South Asian classical and contemporary pieces with a healthy dose of American hip-hop and pop — with entertaining skits interspersed

through it all. It is also notable that the Thursday performance lasted four hours. To the show’s credit though, I didn’t realize that fact until I stood up to leave and checked my phone. My theory is that the all the time spent crafting such an exquisite, if lengthy, show made the hours I spent in the theater fly by.

Ghungroo was visually stunning. The set, designed by Vicky Ge ’12 and Candice Smith ’11, was based on the aesthetics of South Asian architecture and was reminiscent of a palace skyline, beautifully lit with pink and orange hues. Costumes ranged from traditional to non-traditional dress and came in more colors than a pack of crayons. Women wore beautiful jewelry and the men donned impressive headdresses and other adornment. Most impressive, however, was the huge Sun/Moon painted on the stage floor of the Agassiz. During blackouts between acts, the sun would be blotted out and a beautiful glow-in-the-dark moon could be seen from the stage.

All of the dance acts were wonderful, but I have to give mention to a few. “Cinderella: A Bharatanatyam Dance Drama” was the first act in the show and

was executed in such a way that I was entranced by the story I’ve known since I was four. The dancers were clearly experienced and each delicate twist of a wrist and placement of a foot seemed flawless. Their expressions conveyed the story perfectly and succinctly, and the entire piece was truly a triumph of choreography. “Bhangra,” a high-energy dance of jumps and twirls, was one of my favorites, and obviously one of the rambunctious crowd’s as well. The chants of “BHANGRA, BHANGRA, BHANGRA!” before the curtain opened were just a hint at the intense level of energy that the performers and the music had in store. And lastly, in terms of energy, nothing beat out the Senior Dance. Introduced as “what you’ve

all been waiting for,” this dance featured over 150 senior dancers and was truly spectacular. I cannot do it justice with a description, but the songs and different parts of the dance flowed seamlessly one into the next and it seemed as though the energy was on a never-ending spiral upwards.

Not all acts were equal — some dance pieces were more uncertain and some of the musical pieces were a l itt le too drawn-out. A few of the more classical songs were beautifully executed and extremely high quality while others — and especially some of the more contemporary

pieces — were slightly unbalanced. The main skit was a sight to

behold. The story of an Indian father who has trouble letting his little girl go off to college played off of stereotypes in a way that I found almost as hilarious as the Indian father sitting in front of me did. Everyone enjoyed the hilarity (and extreme discomfort) in watching this straight-laced dad enroll at Harvard to keep his daughter in line only to let it all go himself. Special mention goes to Shankar Ramaswamy ’11 for his portrayal of the father. His comedic timing and fake thick accent had the audience nearly crying with laughter by the time he was called in front of the Admissions Board.

Something made very obvious by the Director’s speech is what a close, welcoming communities both the SAA and Ghungroo are — it was clear that one does not have to be South Asian to participate in it either. Ghungroo strives to celebrate “the passion of Harvard students embracing a culture that may not necessarily be their own,” and this performance was certainly just that — a celebration.

As for me, I plan to make sure no conflicts keep me from performing in this show next year. I was sold on performing even before the Diya dancers came out to twirl their delicate lights. The only advice I can give to readers is to be in the audience next year and see this show for yourself: it is truly a one-of-a-kind cultural experience.

Zena Mengesha ’14 (mengesha@college) will be excited for more than just Spring Break this time next year.

BY SAYANTAN DEBA review of The Adjustment Bureau.Adjustments Needed

By ZENA MENGESHAA review of Ghungroo 2011.

So You Think You Can Dance

courtesy of wikicommons

coutesy of CATErINA YuAN

coutesy of CATErINA YuAN

10 [email protected] 03.10.11 • The Harvard Independent

Arts Around Campus

If one word can capture the artistic spirit of Argentina during the 1940s, that word

is invention. That is, at least, according to Mary Schneider Enriquez, Associate Curator for Modern and Contemporary Art for the Harvard Art Museums and expert in Latin American artwork. This past Saturday she gave an hour–long talk at the Harvard Sackler Museum exploring the development of a modernist artistic tradition in Argentina during the 1940s. The third and final in a series of lectures entitled “Modernism Comes to the Americas, 1940-1960” (the first two, held on January 29th and February 12th, discussed the significance of Life magazine and Jackson Pollock to the American modern art scene), the talk shed light on the bold and daring experimentation that marked Argentinean art of the period.

More famously known for the political turbulence of the Perón dictatorship, the 1940s also saw the introduction of the modernist art movement to Latin America, with artists like Joaquín Torres García bringing the styles they had

developed in Europe and the United States to their home countries. However, this was not simply a time of reproducing the works of foreign artists; rather, there was a clear sentiment of creating an independent and unique style, the idea that “South American art should no longer be the art of the colonies,” as Schneider Enriquez noted. She pointed to the bold images on the screen beside her which, while clearly reminiscent of the grid-like design of French Modernist artists, also drew on the forms and styles of traditional Latin American art.

Argentina served to be a hotbed of artistic invention — a place where, as Schneider Enriquez notes, “the sense of experimentation [was] palpable.” Focusing particularly on the collection of artists known as the Grupo Madí, Schneider Enriquez discussed the bold innovations taken by Argentinean artists of the time as they attempted to push the very boundaries of the art object. Eschewing the idea of frames, they worked to create art that invited involvement and interaction from the public, works that were made to

be touched and moved, not simply looked at from a distance. Such dramatic departures from the artistic tradition were, of course, not widely accepted at first. In addition, artists residing in Argentina faced the added threat of the intolerance of the Perón government, who worked to suppress such forms of artistic innovation. Today, that same innovation is marvelled at and admired, though it still creates its share of confusion, even among those most familiar with it; Schneider Enriquez related how, upon receiving a piece at the museum, she and her colleagues needed to take a moment to simply decide in which direction it was supposed to be hung. Moreover, as Schneider Enriquez describes, this was precisely the way the artists of Grupo Madí and the modernist movement in Argentina would have wanted it — this was a time when confusion, fluidity of meaning, questioning were the central tenets, a fascinating period of artistic development.

All the same, it is likely a period that very few individuals at Harvard, even those interested in the art history, have been given much

exposure to. Schneider Enriquez is well aware of that fact, and has spent much of her work here bolstering the study of Latin American art in the College. Serving as a member of the Advisory Committee for Harvard’s David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies since 1995, Schneider Enriquez helped implement more Latin American course content into the History and Art and Architecture Department, and in 2000-2001, co-curated the first Latin American art exhibition for Harvard Art Museums, entitled “Geometric Abstraction: Latin American Art from the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Collection.” The work of her and her colleagues has paid off in increasing the presence of contemporary Latin American art at Harvard. Her appointment as the Houghton Associate Curator for Modern and Contemporary Art in April 2010 can only indicate that the university is making a concerted effort to further explore and celebrate this period in art history.

Marc Shi ’14 (mshi14@college) is all for being innovative.

10 [email protected]

BY MArC SHI

A lecture on the art of Argentina in the 1940s.Embracing Innovación

03.10.11 • The Harvard Independent


[email protected] 11The Harvard Independent • 03.10.11

indySportS

The long wait is over. Sort of. After wandering in the desert for longer than Moses’

proverbial forty years, Harvard has finally claimed a share of its first Ivy League title. Although the program has been around for more than half of a century, throughout its history men’s basketball has been synonymous with futility. The last time that Harvard was involved in the NCAA T o u r n a m e n t w a s 1946. The setup of the tournament was markedly different, allowing Harvard to lose not just once, but twice – to Ohio State and New York University. Needless to say, the current incarnation of the team wants to improve that record. Although they captured the Ivy League title with a win over the University of Pennsylvania last Tuesday night, Princeton forced a tie at the top of the league standings, and a subsequent one-game playoff will take place this Saturday at Yale’s John J. Lee Amphitheater. As such, the Crimson have one final obstacle to climb before they can reach the promised land of March Madness as a representative of the Ancient Eight.

T h e p u s h m a d e b y Princeton, though admirable, may be thoroughly resented by any Harvardian with a sense of fairness. “Those tigers are greedy,” one might say. “You would think that twenty-six league titles and twenty-three tournament appearances are enough for them.”

As of late, the Tigers have faced their own drought, not appearing in the postseason

since 2004, the longest span in the program’s history. Both teams have something to prove: the Harvard squad feels the pressure to become the first of its kind to capture the Ivy title

A Hollow Title

By BRETT MICHAEL GIBLIN

As sweet as Ivy glory is, these teams want to put on their dance shoes.

and make the tournament; the Tigers feel the pressure of living up to historic expectations.

However sweet it is to capture the Ivy League title, the players from

each team would eagerly tell you that they would cash in their title for a postseason berth. In football, Ivy League schools are prohibited from playing in the postseason due to

the putative detrimental effects to the academic welfare of the student-athletes. As a result, the conference championship is the ultimate prize (other than the satisfaction of beating Yale each year). Other sports, including basketball, do not face similar restrictions, in an arrangement

that has always seemed curious to me. In one instance, it seems to deemphasize the time commitment needed to for a non-football athlete to devote to his or her team. On the flip side, the argument could be made that football players are less able than their fellow student-athletes to balance their academic schedules in light of a postseason. Regardless of the reasons, the opportunity for a national postseason trumps a conference championship.

That’s why the stakes will be so high, come Saturday. Being the first to win a share of the title after any number of years is only a secondary goal for both the Tigers and Crimson. For the rest of their respective seasons, the options each weekend will be to win or to go home. Which team will fold under pressure, and which will thrive? We will find out this weekend, but regardless of the outcome, for one squad, the shining pride that should come with being Ivy League Champions will dim with the disappointment of an opportunity missed.

Brett Michael Giblin ’11 (bmgiblin@fas) hopes to come back from spring break and find Harvard in the Big Dance.

"For the rest of their respective seasons, the options each weekend will be to win or to go home. Which team will fold under pressure, and which will thrive?"

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captured & shotBy MARIA BARRAGAN-SANTANA

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