Sloppy Thinking—A Call for Truthful Discourse

As a philosophy concentrator, I have come to learn that philosophical discourse is characterized by clarity, precision and the search for truth. Many who are not interested in philosophy may find it quite pedantic to adopt such substantial focus on clarity and precision. After all, most people get the point anyway, right? It may be … Read more

10 Things You Need to Know About Politics at Harvard

Alright, prefrosh. You’ve picked up Dispatch, and in doing so have given away the fact that you’re politically inclined. At this point, it’s over. Upperclassmen from the Institute of Politics, the Harvard Political Review, the Dems, the Reps, the Independents and the issue campaigns, are all going to mob you to offer advice. Just smile, … Read more

A Valid Concern

The idea that a single individual has access to a set of nuclear codes that could effectively end life as we know it is something that would keep me up at night. It would keep me up at night, if I did not have incredible trust in the individual possessing these codes. Much ado has … Read more

Harvard: Liberals in Name Only

There are two universal truths everybody knows (or thinks they know) about Harvard. The first is that people who go here are “wicked smaht,” while the second, albeit not by much, is that people who go here are wicked liberal. Even individuals who know nothing about the Ivy League, New England, or college in general … Read more

Can Harvard Build a Library of the Future?

There’s been much said about the restructuring of the Harvard University Library system recently. Most campus debate and media coverage has focused on the administration’s plans to reduce the size of the library workforce. Of course, the university has a responsibility to reach a sustainable solution with its workers. However, we should not let these … Read more

Does Race Matter?

The now infamous case of Trayvon Martin’s shooting in Florida has raised profound questions about race in America. The account of a young and ambitious black teenager who went to the store to buy candy and ended up dead at the hands of a neighborhood watchman strikes a sensitive nerve in a country with a … Read more

The Fall of a Technocrat

Harrisburg is broke. Decades of mismanagement have caused economic malaise and spiraling debt in Pennsylvania’s capital. And two weeks ago, David Unkovic, the man who was appointed to fix all of it, resigned in a rage. He is now nowhere to be found. Unkovic hoped to unite the city behind a plan of debt reduction … Read more

Kissinger Divided

Few speakers at Harvard have won a Nobel Peace Prize. Even fewer have been accused of being a war criminal. Henry Kissinger can claim both. The National Security Adviser and later Secretary of State in the Nixon and Ford presidencies, Kissinger is nonetheless one of Harvard’s most notable alums. His contentious legacy continued to haunt … Read more

Who Was The Fifth Republican Candidate?

With Rick Santorum out of the picture and the general election between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama all but sealed, now is a good time to reflect back on the Republican primary, one which truly revealed the complex relationships that can exist between campaigns. The momentum of a strong victory in one state propelled a … Read more

The End of Cryptanalysis?

Juncture is a joint project between the HPR and the Harvard College Tech Review dedicated to the highest quality writing at the intersection of government and technology. —————————————————————————— Cryptography once helped the United States win World War II and the Cold War, but today it could be preventing us from accessing important troves of data like Osama … Read more