Photos from Harvard’s first-ever Fashion Week.

Credit: Heidi Lim & Shunella Lumas.

Valentine’s Day. Single’s Awareness Day, if you will. For many of the singles ladies (and men) out there, the big, red holiday can seem like nothing more than an excuse to wallow self pity. But what is Valentine’s Day, really? It’s made of roses and chocolates. It’s a fancy outfit and a romantic dinner. It’s red and pink and sparkly. It’s the ultimate day of love, right?

I am not in love. I do not have a date this Valentine’s Day. I am spending the fourteenth of February in the manner that I would spend any other day. I am single, but I am not bitter. I may not be in love, but I have love. I believe that love can be found outside of exclusive relationships. It may sound trite or cliché to say that I love my friends, but there are a very few people who I value above all others. It’s not a romantic love; it’s a comfortable love. It’s supportive and reassuring. I’m confident that this love is not something that I’ve come up with to appease my single mind; I believe in it.

I know that this love is out there because I’ve received it. True story: when I overtaxed myself past the point exhaustion, a few people told me in honest and serious tones that I needed to slow down. When I became so overwhelmed that my muscles seized up on themselves and I couldn’t sleep without the help of MotrinPM, those same people stayed awake with me, although they really just wanted to go to bed. When the tears just came and I cried without reason, those people sat next to me and talked to me. They put down their school books, showed up a few minutes late to their meetings, and forewent Friday night parties in order to sit with me. Putting one’s personal agenda on hold in order to help another is love. It was friendship when people told me “it’s okay.” It was more than that when the select few gave me a conversation, gave me a hand, and gave me help.

Love is more than knowing a person; it comes when you understand a person, not because he or she predictable in nature, but because you truly comprehend his or her inner workings. Love happens when you can finish not only the other person’s sentences, but their thoughts. When two people can have a conversation without words – a conversation of glances and gestures – they have love. It’s a mutual understanding that goes beyond knowing each other’s favorite authors and subjects. When you understand how someone else forms opinions, processes information, and reaches conclusions, you have reached love. When you understand how another person acts when he or she is alone, without the influences of other people, you have reached love. So perhaps love is a certain level of understanding. It’s comfort and contentment. It’s the ability to see to a person’s core, beyond the exterior that he or she shows the rest of the world. But most importantly, it’s mutual. I do not believe in unrequited love; what most people would label as such, I would refer to as a sort of infatuation. If love is a type of understanding, then it must also be a connection. It is felt by both parties; they are joined to one another by a single thread of consciousness that is so strong, neither person feels as if they are working in the relationship. Love is effortless. You don’t realize when you attain it; it just happens. It’s quite rare, but it’s out there.

I might not have a date for this Valentine’s Day, but I have love. I have attained the lofty goal of “love” with only a few people, and I am perfectly content because I know that in this mutual exchange, they love me too. I will spend the “holiday” with the people that I love, and that’s more than good enough for me.

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Rock on.

The Yard’s tent city has become the subject of such hot debate over the last few weeks, but for all the wrong reasons.  I’ve heard a lot of students complain about the “inconvenience” of having to show their IDs to get into the Yard, or of having to choose an open gate because their regular route of travel has been cut off. It seems that students have pushed more of their energies into finding alternate walking routes through the Yard than into thinking about why Occupy Harvard has been constructed in the first place.

Every day in class, we as students are encouraged to ask questions, challenge conventions, and think of ways in which we can change our world. This is exactly what Occupy Harvard has aimed to do; yet, it has been received by the Harvard community in an embarrassing and rather sad manner. The Occupy movement is worldwide and has opened countless opportunities for debates, panels, speakers, and education. This is a prime opportunity to discuss the situation at hand, no matter which side of the issues you’re on.

Instead, the student body has polarized between two extremes, to the point where it seems like if you’re not with Occupy Harvard, you’re expected to hate it. I’m not shocked that this movement has made its way to Harvard, but I’m pretty surprised by how it’s been dealt with by the administration.

Faced with a tent city and a sterling reputation to uphold, Harvard locked down the Yard and then sent out an email to all students describing why it all simply had to be that way. In a place where we should be encouraged to challenge and question what’s put in front of us, I think it’s pretty embarrassing that the administration would rather put a lid on the whole issue. I won’t pretend to have all of the answers to the current Occupy Harvard situation, but here’s my short list of what I think the movement could and should have led to:

• Discussion between administrators and protesters about the issues at hand.
• Invitations to outspoken economists, politicians, Occupy leaders etc. to visit campus and lecture on their views.
• Panels of prominent speakers on BOTH sides of the issues to engage students in debate about what has become a global movement.
• Collaboration between undergraduate departments (perhaps Economics and Government?) to encourage student-run debates.

Some of these things are starting to happen. Tomorrow (12/7), Science Center D will host the Occupy Harvard Teach-In, a series of 30-minute lectures from 3:30-7:30 p.m. on all things Occupy. Other small (and rather poorly publicized) Occupy events have also taken place within the last few weeks. This is a great place to start, and I think we can do even more. As students, we should be asking questions of what we see in the Yard, rather than blindly writing it off because it has caused a minor inconvenience. As a community of curious and intellectual individuals, it’s our responsibility to step it up and challenge, question, discuss, and really think about what we’re seeing in the Yard right now.

Against an unfurnished and undecorated concrete floor and ceiling, the store’s sheer volume of books is simply impressive. They are crammed into every nook and cranny, from the ceiling to the ground, stacked horizontally and vertically; the cash register is completely hidden from view by a tall stack of novels. Volumes of literature and philosophy dominate the shelves; each of these subjects occupies an entire wall of the small store. In fact, employee Jonas Shmidt calls the philosophy volumes the “foundation” of the little shop. Rich as the shop is in Oxford Classics however, it also offers books dealing with more eclectic subjects such as Anarchism, Marxism and other social criticisms. Raven also boasts well stocked sections of volumes that critique poetry, art, and photography. Religions of the world are represented as well as stories both from and about foreign countries and distant lands. No inch of space is wasted in the shop; shelves beneath the check-out counter hold rows of foreign language references including French and other romance language translation dictionaries as well as a guide to Sanskrit Grammar. A step into Raven opens one’s eyes to strange, interesting, and often overlooked subjects.

Raven Used Books should be an oft frequented bookstore for any Harvard student or interested reader in general. Loving both literature and a good deal, I just had to purchase a copy of Jane Austin’s Sense and Sensibility – the price tag read six dollars. Delighted by my new purchase, I wondered if Raven is popular within the Harvard community or if I had stumbled upon a little-known treasure. Employee Jonas Schmidt says that although Raven has been housed in Harvard Square for nearly five years now, the majority of its clientele is not made up of Harvard students, but of professors and Cambridge residents. In fact, Raven’s clientele base has a “surprising lack of Harvard undergraduates,” who apparently visit it as a last resort when the COOP has run out of stock. From the perspective of another cash strapped college student, shouldn’t we visit places like Raven first for our required texts? When looking to buy, the difference between new and used is quality of condition. When we think of used books, we see cracked spines, annotated margins, and dog-eared pages. However, these blemishes and imperfections are absent from Raven’s books. The small shop purchases its merchandise from professors and graduate students, local residents, and sometimes even straight from the publishing companies, themselves. Therefore, the shop selects only books that are in good condition to buy and resell to its customers; my new copy of Sense and Sensibility has not a crack in its spine. Raven Used Books seems to be a haven for books that were once purchased, but never read.

The ever-wise Jerry Seinfeld once said that “a bookstore is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking.” As college students, we are a society of curious intellectuals, always searching for new ideas, thoughts, and words. A visit to Raven Used Books might start as a mission to find a particular book, but it will certainly turn into an exploration of the small, one-room store, because it is so rich with interesting, eclectic, and intriguing works. A single glance at the shelves is bound pique a newcomer’s interest and ensure a second visit.

It’s no surprise that the new movie The Social Network has taken Harvard’s campus by storm. Across the internet and newspapers, its reviews and ratings are through the roof; perhaps there’s an award or two in its future? The quick wit and dry humor of Jesse Eisenberg (playing Mark Zuckerberg) keep viewers in fits of laughter while the reality of Zuckerberg’s numerous court litigations remind us that success comes with a cost. Eisenberg plays the socially awkward genius/angsty teen character to a T. He’s an eloquent smartass with a sharp tongue and no regard for authority. But despite his hard outer core, he’s still a victim of trying legal proceedings (all of the codes were his own, after all!). As he builds the site how can we not encourage its success? Let’s be real; where would we be without it? Anticipation rises and seat edges are clutched as the network expands to other schools, then to the west coast. Through the film, Eisenberg’s character transitions seamlessly from a bitter, freshly dumped nerd, to a wishful programmer, to a successful tycoon, all the while still as reticent as he was when he started the venture. Meanwhile, this transition is punctuated by Administrative Board appearances and legal testimonies, reminding viewers that it’s tough being on the top. By the end of the film, I was torn between loving Zuckerberg for changing the world at such a young age and hating him for essentially kicking his best friend to the curb. Facebook is cool. Backstabbing is not.

But like any Hollywood creation, The Social Network is just that, a creation. Movies are made to sell tickets and in today’s society, the more drama the better. As Harvard students, we are particularly sensitive to the *ahem* inaccuracies of the film. Due to Harvard’s ban against filming on campus, Eisenberg runs through Harvard Square…straight onto the campus of Johns Hopkins University. We scoffed and laughed as the camera panned upward to show a sign reading “Kirkland House” on a building that was definitely not on Harvard’s campus. We scratched our heads during the final club party scenes which were rife with scantily clad females, males sporting ties and suit jackets, and gratuitous amounts of illicit drugs. The acid tablets and lines of cocaine were balanced out very nicely by half naked gals dancing on tables. Classy image, although I’ve never seen a Harvard party play out quite like that before. What’s more, it seems to be well known around campus by now that Zuckerberg wasn’t even particularly interested in joining a final club; he was perfectly content with his status as a brother in Alpha Epsilon Pi, Harvard’s Jewish fraternity. But The Social Network is Hollywood’s creation, and a well adjusted Mark Zuckerberg simply won’t sell as many tickets as an angsty, status-hungry one will. According to an article written in Slate Magazine by Zuckerberg’s former freshman dorm-mate Nathan Heller, Zuckerberg wasn’t even the moody introvert that the film depicted him to be. In his article “You can’t Handle the Veritas: What Aaron Sorkin and David Fincher get wrong about Harvard—and Facebook,” Heller writes that during his days at Harvard, Zuckerberg was “outwardly friendly, often smiling, confident, inclined, if anything, to talk at outdoor volume.” But again, let’s be real. Happy, well-adjusted nerds who invent globe-altering technologies just aren’t box office gold.

So what’s the verdict on The Social Network? If you’re looking for a factual documentary on Facebook’s creation, keep moving. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a movie that’s worth a ten dollar ticket and a six dollar bag of popcorn, this is it. Entertainment wise, this movie is fantastic; you’ll both love and hate Eisenberg’s character, all the while praising the real Mark Zuckerberg for creating the ultimate social networking site from a college dorm room. Okay, so it’s not the most accurate film ever—but who goes to the movies to learn, anyway? Facebook’s all about the drama.

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Delicious food and beverages aside, Café Pamplona is a hotspot for a host of other reasons, the most important being that it’s a café of all seasons. Most cafés and coffee shops provide two or three tables for outdoor sipping and dining, but if it is a nice day, chances are slim of catching a table unattended. Pamplona, however, provides ample outdoor seating so that more than just a few of their patrons can enjoy the weather along with their cold soda or other iced beverage. When pleasant breezes turn into gales and the mild temperatures take a turn for the frigid, head inside and sit at a table while sipping a hot chocolate or a latte.

What makes Pamplona really special is that it’s underground. That’s right, it’s located in the basement of 12 Bow Street, and for someone like myself who loves nothing more than feeling cozy, this is the perfect hidey hole. Low ceilings, yellow walls, and a black and white checked floor make Pamplona seem like a comfy cave; add the whirring of an espresso maker and the scent of grinding coffee beans and you’ll crave the feeling of a warm ceramic mug in your hands.

Café Pamplona is best experienced if you’re willing to spend a bit of time sitting, sipping and people watching. Known around town for its authenticity in a world of commercial chains, Pamplona is a favorite for all sorts of interesting people. Stay for more than a minute and you’ll be sure to hear more than one language spoken, see a few eclectic outfits, and remember that Harvard Square is home to some very cool people; Pamplona is intriguing, quirky, and fun. So for your next study break, don’t walk to your house’s dining hall. Explore the eccentricities of Cambridge without even leaving the Square.

Cultural groups at Harvard are often looked upon as breeding grounds for exclusivity, is if they encourage people to interact only with others of their own race. However, most students who are involved in extracurriculars at Harvard are part of more than just one club, group, or organization. Harvard students are driven, motivated, and involved people; most of us participated in many extracurriculars at our respective high schools. So why would we resign themselves to associating with only one group of people in college? I believe that the mission of Harvard’s cultural groups is not to alienate their members from the rest of the student body; it is to provide support for minorities on a student to student level within the larger Harvard community.

Cultural groups are hardly separate or disconnected entities. They regularly combine with other ethnic groups for mixers, parties, and discussions. Such groups are not looking to isolate themselves from one another, but to encourage conversation of race relations and what it means to be a minority in America, in college, and at Harvard in particular.

Ethnic groups also reach out to the Harvard community as a whole. In fact, The Chinese Students Association’s Utopia Yacht Party that took place on the Charles River last October was open to students of all races from not only Harvard, but MIT and Boston College as well. Similarly, the Taiwanese Cultural Society hosts NightMarket as a replica of a traditional Taiwanese event that is open to all Harvard Students. Coming up is Harvard’s annual powwow hosted by the Harvard University Native American Program, an event that is open to Harvard students, Native Americans from across the nation, and the general public. Whether or not students of other races choose to attend events such as these are their own decisions. When groups host such events, they publicize them to the entire school because they genuinely want students of all races to attend. The only people who make these events “culture-exclusive” and thus, awkward to attend, are those who decide that they must be.

I consider myself a minority at Harvard and I am active in my respective cultural group. We have community dinners once a week, a social every month, and mixers with other cultural groups. That said, I do not feel leashed to this group. I spend time with my blockmates, class friends, and people I have met through other groups and organizations. My ethnic group is like a little slice of home, but I have other friends too.

Overall, I think that cultural and ethnic groups are an important part of Harvard’s campus life. I have had nothing but positive experiences within my group and I still feel like a part of the larger Harvard community. We could not claim to be a diverse student body if minorities did not have opportunities to embrace and practice their heritage. The plethora of cultural groups makes the Harvard a truly extraordinary place; every student fits in somewhere on a smaller scale than within the general student body. Harvard is made up of an undeniably culturally diverse student body, so embrace this. It is what makes this university such a truly interesting place to be.

12:00pm – Anotha’ day anotha’ dolla’. Dorm Crew pride. This is the most intense of all jobs on campus; Crimson Callers are pansies. Room one for the day… and it belongs to a pack of females. Perfect.

12:05pm. Is this a dorm room or the dwelling of a hoarder? Seriously it looks like the backstage area of a Broadway show in here. Dear residents, based on my observations of your primping materials, I’ll bet you’re all single. The mermaid-teal eye shadow pallet appears to be a favorite. But I’m not here to judge. Girls keep it (fairly) classy, and I appreciate not having to deal with a post-rager disaster zone, so thanks for that. One suggestion though… bi-weekly removal of hair from the shower drain is not okay. Gross.

12:55pm – Time to bounce. With a friendly notice on the now impeccably streak-free mirror, my work here is done. I am the phantom of cleanliness. CUSTODIAL PRIDE.

1:05pm – Room two. Male. I definitely just interrupted some… “self-bonding” time. Well, this is sufficiently awkward.

1:10pm – What in creation am I mopping right now? This bathroom is a petri dish of weekend excitement. Why is the bathroom serving as the storehouse for a beer funnel?! Sanitation fail and definite party attendance deterrent.

5:00am – Wake up. It’s Harvard day. My twelve year old will be here soon enough. Eyes on the prize.

8:30am – Arrival at campus after a long, long car ride. If little Suzie doesn’t stop tainting her brain with the frivolous pop music on her iPod, she’ll never get in. Unacceptable. Now, to find a parking space.

9:00am – This parking garage is going to cost a fortune by the end of the day, but no expense is too great in the face of Harvard. Speaking of which… it would be blasphemous to walk onto Harvard’s campus without being donned in crimson; plainclothes are so touristy. Must buy paraphernalia!

9:30am – Honestly, is there anything classier than sporting a Harvard sweatshirt to keep out the chill coupled with a Harvard baseball cap to keep the UV rays at bay? Didn’t think so. This is the look of success. It’s tour-time; Harvard Unofficial Tours… well, their shirts say Harvard on them. They must be legit.

9:50am – So.Much.History. This is nice, but how does my child get in? Can’t we take a peek in the admissions office? And why aren’t we visiting any dorm rooms? Or classrooms? Or libraries? Harvard is so secretive!

10:30am – Tour completed. We must return to the statue and the lucky foot of John Harvard. Touch touch touch. *Picture* Old building! *Picture*People studying on the lawn! *Picture*Massive library! *Picture* Student with a hamper… Harvard laundry! *Picture*

11:00am-5:00pm – This is it; the mothership. Annenberg Hall. Must enter. The door says no trespassing, but I’m sure it’s fine to go in just for one little peek. Woah. *Picture* This place is straight out of Harry Potter. *Picture* Why is that man pointing at us and yelling? *Picture* SCRAMBLE!

5:01pm – Exhaustion. But dammit, in six years, I will return as the parent of a 2016.

They’re here, they’re there, they’re everywhere.

The release of Part One is truly the beginning of the end of an era. Many of us dove into the series when the first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, (which incidentally, is titled Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, in England and in every other English-speaking nation) was published in 1997 and have followed the novels and movies right into the 21^st century. The Harry Potter series is an icon of the time and a true classic of the fiction genre. Once Part Two, or the final film, airs, the saga will, in a sense, come to a close. Personally, I am glad that book 7 has been split into two movies; I would like to postpone Harry’s end for as long as possible. But before declaring that it’s all over, I’ll ask why the final movie should bring an end to the phenomenon? Like with any classic work of fiction or film, the Harry Potter will be read and watched over and over, even after we have memorized lengthy passages and are able to recite entire scenes by heart. We may even read these stories to our children; it would be folly not to introduce them to the wizarding world. The films will retain as long as cinema exists; they are box office hits and instant classics. The era of creation is coming to an end, but Harry Potter will retain as a symbol of the times and popular culture. Rowling’s books can be found in the children’s section of book stores, but they are devoured by readers of all ages; many people who started the series as children are finishing it as adults. We will not watch the films with hopes of plot twists and scandals, for they are based directly on Rowling’s novels (any deviation from which elicits complaints and objections), but they are fantastic in their production and these final installments will be breathtaking and exhilarating due to the amount of passion and effort poured into each scene.

For now anyway, muggles are preparing for the release of Part One. House flags are being unfurled, robes shaken out, glasses re-taped, and Hogwarts apparel donned. The Harvard Horntails, our very own quidditch team, is planning a celebration for the big day. They’ll be advertising and recruiting for the team at the showing, while sporting their jerseys and official quidditch broomsticks. It’s well known that Harvard is basically a muggle-admitting prototype of Hogwarts; if you’re skeptical, just look around Annenberg Hall. Consequently, Harvard students should celebrate the coming of the new movie. Don your robe and embrace your love of the wizarding world while drinking a glass of pumpkin juice; break out the Harry Potter trivia game and show your roommates who the real expert is. Brush up on minor characters and magical jargon in order to make your Potter-based conversations even more impressive (or nerdy). The wizards are coming, the end is approaching, and the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One is your ticket and excuse to remind yourself and your friends why magic is so amazing.