It’s October, which means your average Harvard students is watching the baseball playoffs or cramming for four midterms–unless you’re a sophomore, in which case you’re probably freaking out about having to declare your concentration by mid-November (or even sooner for some programs).

To help you avoid picking the wrong one, Flyby compiled a cheat sheet detailing some possible areas of study.', [])

Sign No. 58 that the government is a mess: The Harvard Library has felt the need to make a guide to doing research during the shutdown.

This Thursday, we learned that the Cabot Science Library and the Science Center Atrium is set to undergo “renovations designed to foster technologically driven teaching and learning” sometime in the vaguely near future. This will be nothing short of a badly-needed facelift for a study space best characterized as Lamont’s ugly stepsister. While the reimagined library will surely include all the expensive touch-screen novelties that “technologically driven teaching” can justify, here are a few of our suggestions for how Harvard could go even further to make the space a happy home for p-setting students.', [])

You walk into brain break and survey your options. If you’re faced with the choice between an apple and a brownie, chances are your instincts will guide you towards the brownie; try as we might, we just can’t stop reaching for fat and sugar.

Human evolutionary biology professor Daniel E. Lieberman \'86 is an expert on the evolutionary logic behind these patterns. In his newest book, "The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health and Disease," Lieberman tells us about the evolutionary causes and effects of “mismatch diseases,” which occur as a result of long-term changes in our environment but not our bodies.

We spoke with Lieberman about his book and what it might mean for college students in their day-to-day lives.', [])

You don’t think you can run a marathon? Then how about a half marathon? There is a saying that goes “If you can do the math, then you can run Boston's Half Marathon on Sunday.” It’s not a well known saying, I made it up. But here are a few steps you can take so that you can run the race, even if you haven’t done any training whatsoever.", [])

Yesterday, The Atlantic published an article asking what the draw was for students taking Ethical Reasoning 18: "Classical Chinese Ethical and Political Theory." Here are some things they didn’t think of:

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With the turning of the seasons and the upcoming three-day weekend, now is a better time than ever to get off campus and enjoy a break from studying for those midterms. Here are some suggestions for how to make the most of your long weekend.

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To quote the wise poet Jay-Z, "Somewhere in America, Miley Cyrus is still twerking." To be even more specific, somewhere in Harvard, Miley Cyrus is not only twerking but is also taking over any and all aspects of college life. Current "Disney-stars-gone-rogue" concentrators have been grappling with properly classifying and labeling this recent cultural trend and have attempted to chronicle its existence with titles like "The Miley Plague," "The Cyrus Infection," "The Apocalypse," and "The Life and Death of Hannah Montana." But haters cannot deny that from the incessant appearance of "We Can\'t Stop" on seemingly every final club\'s playlist (we all see your ploy to get girls to twerk) to Miley references in, dare we say, the classroom itself, we at Harvard really just can\'t stop.', [])

Nothing. You stare through the tiny window at your empty mailbox with a twinge of bitterness and wistfully glance over at all the other packages in the mailroom. It’s week seven, and you still haven’t received the treasured care package. Your roommate is inundated weekly with his favorite candy bars and cereal, while you get by on the packages of ramen you bought from CVS and the hope that one day you can earn your parents' affections. Things must change. Here are some tactics to get your much-needed mid-semester care package and prove to everyone that maybe your parents do actually care about you.

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Midterms are upon us, and for every 15-page research paper on the history of Western Civilization, ridiculously difficult math hourly, and tongue-twisting Spanish speaking test, what better way to not study than to watch some brain stimulating, titillating television shows! The next time you find yourself in a strategically isolated cubicle at Lamont, whip out those headphones and check out these 10 funky, funny, and fresh shows. Trust us, this’ll be more entertaining than Facebook.

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The College’s top administrator treated undergraduates to another adorably quirky email on Monday, this time updating us on the campus beekeeping scene, the fall foliage, and his latest reading pursuits.', [])

Believe me, I am grateful that no one has defecated on Harvard laundry, but I’ve suddenly realized that I have no laundry to be soiled because it turns out Harvard students do not know how to properly use laundry machines at all.

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Tuesday night, I stumbled upon a goldmine of procrastination when I discovered that Miley Cyrus’ new album "Bangerz" was streaming free on iTunes Radio. However, as some of you may actually need to focus on your Gov 20 reading, it’s understandable that you may not want to devote an hour of your time to Miley’s chef d’oeuvre. Luckily for you, I’ve compiled a cheat sheet of Miley’s most thought-provoking lyrics along with what paltry analysis a non-English major can provide.', [])

With punch season now in full swing, it’s time to present the results of Flyby’s first-ever Final Club Survey. The online survey was emailed out last month to 4,838 sophomores, juniors, and seniors, and was partially or fully completed 1,927 times (though it should be noted that individuals could have taken the survey more than once). In the final installment of a six-part series on the survey results, we take a look at whether respondents believe final clubs should exist at all.

What role do Harvard’s final clubs play on campus? Do they represent the worst in a culture of elitism or are they perfectly legitimate institutions whose social events and spaces are a positive presence on campus? Clearly, campus opinion is divided on these questions. But how does that divide actually break down?

SOCIAL EFFECTS ON CAMPUS

Crimson articles from years past have painted final clubs as bastions of privilege that are irrevelant to the rest of the Harvard social scene. But our survey suggests that while female clubs are not perceived to have a significant impact on today’s campus social scene, male clubs are perceived to have an impact—for better or for worse.

When asked to evaluate the social effects of Harvard’s five female final clubs on campus, a plurality of respondents—46 percent—characterized these effects as neutral. Respondents who said the female clubs had social effects either way were evenly split, with 27 percent saying female final clubs have positive or very positive social effects, and 27 percent saying the female clubs’ social impact is negative or very negative.

Overall, respondents were more critical of the social effects of male clubs on campus. A majority of respondents—54 percent—said they believe the male clubs have negative or very negative social effects on campus. Twenty-five percent characterized the social impact of male clubs as positive or very positive, and just 21 percent of respondents said they believe the male clubs have a neutral social impact on campus.

Women were more likely than men to criticize male final clubs, with 57 percent of female respondents characterizing the social effects of male final clubs as negative or very negative, compared to just 49 percent of male respondents.

Respondents’ perceptions of the social effects of clubs varied with the frequency with which they reported going to male final club parties. Seventy-six percent of respondents who said they never attend male final club parties characterized the social impact of the male clubs as negative or very negative, compared to just 18 percent of respondents who said they go to male final club parties more than once a week.

UNIVERSITY RECOGNITION

Although a majority of respondents said they believe male clubs have negative or very negative social effects on campus, a majority—54 percent—agreed that the University should not recognize the clubs in accordance with its policy of not recognizing student organizations that discriminate based on gender. Thirty-two percent of respondents said they disagree with the University’s stance, while 15 percent were undecided.

TO ABOLISH OR NOT TO ABOLISH?

Should the 222-year-old tradition of final clubs at Harvard continue? A majority—58 percent—said they believe male clubs should be kept running. Twenty-two percent said they believe male clubs should be abolished, and 20 percent were undecided.

Respondents also generally advocated keeping female final clubs running. Fifty-nine percent of the 1,460 respondents saying that female clubs should not be abolished, with 19 percent saying they should be shut down and 22 percent undecided.

Respondents who identified as homosexual or bisexual were more likely to be in favor of abolishing both male and female clubs. Women were more likely than men to be undecided about whether the male and female clubs should be abolished. A greater percentage of men than women said clubs should be abolished, and a greater percentage of men than women also said the clubs should not be abolished.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, respondents who spent more time partying at male final clubs were more likely to oppose abolishing male final clubs, while students who said they never party at final clubs were more likely than self-identified final club partygoers to be in favor of abolishing the male clubs.

TAKEAWAYS

The results of our survey show that while respondents largely think that male final clubs are a negative presence on Harvard’s campus and do not believe the University should recognize male and female clubs as official student organizations, they stop short at calling for the clubs’ abolition.

It’s true that I neglected to clean Mr. Snuggles’ fish tank for 14 months, but now that we’re separated, I really miss him.

My life changed on December 16, 2011. I received Mr. Snuggles, my first pet, a cuddly, warm beta fish. My secret Santa gave me Snuggles and he was immediately welcomed into my family. Never having had a pet before (besides the occasional pet caterpillar or monarch butterfly), everyone was very eager to give this beta the red carpet treatment. Snuggles received seven Christmas presents in total from my parents, my sister, and my friend Lauren. I hung a small stocking for him, and Santa filled it with a Buddha tank toy.

Over time, however, I will admit that the quality of my care decreased. First, the tank light burned out and I never changed it, leaving my precious pet in the dark. Then, I left Snuggles alone for three and a half weeks, without food or a pet sitter. Oh, and I didn’t change the water or clean the fish tank for 14 months.

Somehow, Snuggles survived.

While my poor care would suggest that I am not very concerned with Snuggles’ well-being, absence truly makes the heart grow fonder and I genuinely miss the company of my small purple fish at college. For pet owners, leaving behind beloved animals is difficult. A friend of mine can only finish homework with the help of her dog. For every problem she completes, for every paragraph she writes, her parents send her a video of her poodle. While I’m not sure that the promise of a video of Snuggles would help me do my work (since the tank was so dirty I never really actually saw Snuggles much anyways), I miss his presence very much. I can’t wait to reunite when I’m home over Thanksgiving and, for Snuggles’ sake, I hope my sister is cleaning the tank.

For those of you missing your pets at home, Flyby has a few suggestions for how to cope with the separation.', [])

UPDATED: October 6, 2013, at 12:53 a.m.

With punch season now in full swing, it’s time to present the results of Flyby’s first-ever Final Club Survey. The online survey was emailed out last month to 4,838 sophomores, juniors, and seniors, and was partially or fully completed 1,927 times (though it should be noted that individuals could have taken the survey more than once). In the fifth installment of a six-part series on the survey results, we take a look at perceptions related to the social scene at Harvard’s final clubs. ', [])