Harvard Today: April 30, 2014

By Caroline T. Zhang

Happy Wednesday, and happy last day of classes! In the sea of papers, projects, and finals, don’t forget that you’re almost done! It’s officially the start of reading period, and you know what that means—a lot of promising goals that you’ll set for yourself (and maybe or maybe not achieve)!

Dream: You’ll exercise every day during reading period because you have 24 hours a day to do whatever you want.
Reality: Getting out of bed and changing into normal clothing becomes your daily exercise. Walking to your d-hall instead of eating junk food in your room is a proud accomplishment.

Dream: You’ll divide up your studying and paper-writing so you don’t get stressed about deadlines.
Reality: You make up a schedule of work to do for reading period and magically find it in the trash by the end of day one. You end up pulling an all-nighter in Lamont the day before your papers and finals because that’s what Lamont is made for, right?

Dream: You’ll venture out to Boston with friends and be cultured while visiting museums and eating at nice restaurants!
Reality: You get lazy and decide it’s more effective to invest the $2.00 on the T into your room’s alcohol fund. Being cultured is fun, but so is being tipsy and taking drunk selfies, no?

By Matt O. Ricotta

 IN THE ATMOSPHERE
So today will be a high of 45 degrees, and it’ll be rainy all day. The only reason as to why we’re even putting up with this nonsense is because the weekend is supposed to be sunny and hot, surprise surprise!

IN THE D-HALLS
Lunch:
Popcorn Chicken
Korean Style Grilled Tofu with Sesame Glaze (does anyone else miss Korean Night in the d-halls?)
Spicy Potato Pierogies

Dinner:
Memphis Style Roasted Chicken
Tomato Beef Macaroni
Portobello Lentil Pattie with Tomato Basil Salsa

ON ARTS
1) Motion Pictures: “GIFs seem to have become a ubiquitous presence on the internet—the driving force for hugely popular websites, and a bone of contention for pronunciation-snobs the world over. But amid a superfluity of cats and reality show soundbites, there exist thoughtful, intricately executed GIFs that suggest the form is much more worthy of the label “art” than the casual visitor to BuzzFeed might think.”

IN THE NEWS
2) First Cohort of Architecture Concentrators Prepares to Graduate: “As the first cohort of students pursuing the architecture studies track in the History of Art and Architecture concentration prepare to graduate this spring, many students in the newly created track praised its flexibility and integration with the Graduate School of Design.”

3) Civil Rights Office Opens Investigation of College’s Handling of Sexual Assault Cases: “The Office for Civil Rights has opened an investigation into the College’s handling of sexual assault cases, roughly a month after at least one member of the student activist campaign Our Harvard Can Do Better filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education alleging that the College’s policies violate Title IX.”

4) Getting Better: “Students who take time off for mental health concerns face challenges throughout the healing process at home.”

5) On the Streets, the Square’s Homeless Tell Their Stories: "Justin Newton sits on a plastic crate next to a crosswalk on Massachusetts Ave., holding a sign that says, 'Pregnant with Elvis Presley’s Alien Love-Child. Please Help.'"

EVENTS
The Asian American community at Harvard is holding Reflections 2014 from 7 to 9 p.m. tonight at the SOCH! Join in on this annual catered dinner, as they honor graduating seniors who have made a positive impacts on the Asian American community here. Tickets are $10 at the Harvard Box Office.

The UC is holding an open mic night called Harvard, I Screwed Up, where students, faculty members, and spoken word poets speak out about their failures, successes, and rejections at Harvard tonight from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Cabot Cafe. Special guest includes Dean Rakesh Khurana and there’s even free sushi and mochi!

The Harvard Japan Society is having a Sushi Study Break tonight from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. in the Adams Upper Common Room. Get there early before they run out because who doesn’t like free sushi?

There’s an Immigration Reform Panel tonight at 7 p.m. in Tsai Auditorium at CGIS. Five experts on the Immigration Reform Movement will speak about the methods employed by their field to advocate for immigration reform and share their perspectives on the future of the movement.

PHOTO OF THE DAY
Jade Hosie stops on Mass. Ave. while on her way to CASPAR in Central Square to take a shower. Hosie, a Buffalo native, has lived on the streets of Harvard Square for over 10 months and finds herself depressed by what she has seen. To find more about the issue of homelessness in Harvard Square, you can read the latest in a Crimson series on the topic. You can also contact the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter if you would like to find out more about volunteering.