I remember a white whale and the name Ahab, both decontextualized. It was at around 9:30pm on a Wednesday when I sat down at my desk, curled up in a blanket, and read Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. A chapter in, I set aside my physical book and turned to a free version of the text … Read more
Grendel’s Den, a Harvard Square staple, has a history all its own. Opened in 1971, the restaurant chugged along faithfully at first, under the careful watch of Herbert and Sue Kuezler. Eventually, they got tired of one particularly burdensome Massachusetts state law: under I.XX.138.16c, the Holy Cross Armenian Catholic Church, their next-door neighbor, had veto power over … Read more
This October, Malala Yousafzai won the Nobel Peace Prize. She shared the award with Indian activist Kailash Satyarthi. At 17, Malala is the youngest ever Nobel laureate. Despite surviving an attack on her life and her ongoing activism, there are still those who question Malala’s merits. So what is the controversy? What do Harvard students think of … Read more
No one denies that this country’s immigration system is badly, badly broken—a disturbing fact made even more pathetic by the fact that the nation prides itself on a culture of inclusion and a “melting pot” identity. Roughly 12 million undocumented workers live in the shadows, working, paying taxes, and raising children (who often are American citizens) while … Read more
President Obama’s executive action on immigration reform has sparked both gratitude and outrage across the country. To supporters, his address is viewed as the partial fulfillment of a long overdue campaign promise. To protesters, it only adds to the list of executive actions that seem to overstep his presidential powers. Regardless of ideological views, Obama’s executive … Read more
Even before President Obama announced his executive action overhauling the nation’s immigration system, the all-too-predictable Republican backlash was already in high gear. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tx.) accused Obama of using “the tactics of a monarch,” soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) compared acting on immigration reform to “waving a red flag in front of … Read more
While President Obama’s latest maneuver is sure to draw much more rhetoric and possibly some action from angered House and Senate Republicans, the true issue at hand is being completely avoided. Our perception of immigrants is fundamentally flawed and not ni line with the tradition of American democracy. President Obama’s executive action will grant legal standing to … Read more
On November 2, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its most ominous climate report yet, warning of irreversible climate change effects and the reality of the worsening environmental situation. Yet to many the report erred on the side of conservatism, and now that the U.S. midterm elections have ushered many politicians who … Read more
Coakley’s Neighborhood Activities Chair defeat was the largest of her career; she earned just 44% of the vote. This Tuesday, despite spending millions of dollars campaigning, Martha Coakley lost in another close election in Medford, Massachusetts. After all of the ballots were collected in an old baseball hat, the Medford Neighborhood Activities Council announced the … Read more
Dear Students of the IOP, Let’s talk. There’s a conversation I’ve been waiting for. When Jenny Choi penned “Dear IOP,” I admit, I secretly thought, yes–maybe we’ll finally have that conversation. Two weeks later, dismayed, I write this piece. You see, it seems to me that in these past few days we at the IOP … Read more