Thinking About "Thinking About Thinking"

It seemed like a religious pilgrimage: a group of strangers, whose pasts were unknown and futures uncertain, gathered silently, in one's and two's. Families, friends and blockmates. Everyone knew why everyone else was there: The Event.

It probably could be considered a religious sort of worship, now that Thomas Professor of Divinity Harvey G. Cox has joined the team of Frankfurter Professor of Law Alan M. Dershowitz and Agassiz Professor of Zoology Stephen J. Gould in a weekly, sit-back-in-your-chair-and-let-the-self-importance-hang-out affair which they know we call "Egos." Essentially, it's a matter of sharing a beer with the best, in their mind. To our surprise, after two hours, we were rather convinced. Gould, Dershowitz and Cox present something novel and exciting in the humdrum lives of us undergraduates: professors interested in examining issues anew--learning and thinking with a class--and not just repeating the same dry lectures they have to dust off each year and show up to give (e.g. Baker Professor of Economics Martin S. Feldstein '61).

Instead, The Threesome emphasized the interdisciplinary, exploratory nature of the course to a hodgepodge of 400-some undergraduates, FAS grad students, divinity students and fellows, all vying to join the law students already pre-registered in the class. On blank index cards, the don't-trust-the-computer-system lottery went forth: as you read this, students are pressing their face against Science Center glass to see if they are among the Chosen Ones.

However you feel about the lovefest nature of the class, we at Dartboard feel the enormous turnout, mentioned repeatedly by the professors, is a testament to the dire need for such innovative academic opportunities at the University. These professors are willing to take risks not only with the content of what they are teaching but also with an interactive class format (that distinctly reminds us of what Harvard's brochures made us think education here would be).

A note to other Harvard professors: You don't need to inflate your ego, join other Big Names and give your course a Hollywood title to make us rave about you. Just give us what these three are advertising: a class that will allow us to think, for credit.

--Adam I. Arenson, Lauren E. Baer & Alixandra E. Smith

Where Have All the Frogs Gone?

I used to wake up on Sunday morning to ESPN's pre-game football show. When this ended, I would turn to Fox's pre-game and then enjoy the day's double-header. This used to be a Sunday ritual. Since my arrival at Harvard, I have not managed to fit in one game in its entirety into my schedule.

Over intersession, I reveled in the opportunity to watch the biggest game of the year without anything else to divert my attention. And when I turned on the pre-game on Jan. 31, I started to learn about the St. Louis Rams and the Tennessee Titans. After years of following football I watched the sport in complete ignorance. I had no idea who many of the players were and many of the people I recognized, I remembered in different uniforms. The Green Bay Packers and Denver Broncos were nowhere to be found. The consequence of rules intended to reward teams for poor records with early draft picks and easy schedules had resulted in a new crop of elite teams.

I tuned into the unfamiliar game and not even the commercials, one thing that I thought would have been constant over the year had changed. McDonald's and Coca-Cola, companies once considered dependable for creative advertisements, were replaced by no-name dot.com companies. And the dot.coms took expensive advertising time, put on cheap ads and got everyone's attention. The profusion left them all muddled together--I remember cowboys herding cats and a monkey dancing, but I cannot remember any of the names of the companies or what the advertisements hoped to promote.

Bud Bowl had long ago ended, but now neither Michael Jordan nor Nike decided to make an appearance. The Budweiser frogs had nothing to say. When the third quarter rolled around, I was already asleep on the couch. I awoke from my slumber to catch the fourth quarter heroics, but it just wasn't the same. Harvard's schedule might not allow me to return to my old ritual on Sunday. But next year, since I can no longer count on the advertisements to capture my attention during the Super Bowl, I will make time to stay up to date with the changing league.

--Benjamin M. Grossman

Speeding Back From Yale

Last Tuesday was but one thing for the average Harvard student: hectic. We were a sad, torn student body. We yearned to savor our final hours of academic freedom until the very end of our intersession break. But the sub-zero temperatures and brutal wind chill factors kept us from enjoying what could have been a delightful New England February day. And how could we really enjoy the last day of our vacation when it meant the inevitable trek back to campus?

This journey back to Harvard Square, of course, was slightly complicated by this week's weather conditions. It didn't matter where we we had traveled to--be it New Hampshire or New Zealand--to forget our final exams and term papers of yester-semester, getting back to the Square was nothing but a supreme hassle. Cars and buses skidded on the slick roads. Panes circled airport terminals. But for some lucky travelers, the House has slipped up and the cards were on their side.

Amtrack was clearly looking out for the late-January travelers with their release of the newer, sleeker and faster Acela train. Apparently it should have taken more than three hours to travel from New Haven, the location of that inferior bulldog-crazed psuedo-university, to Boston's South Station train station. But the ride was barely longer than two hours! The other Harvard students (who had also been sucked into that embarrassment of a college and pathetic excuse of a "town") on the Acela train rejoiced at the speed with which they were whisked away to less hostile territory.

The speedier train between Harvard and Yale might, in fact, accomplish a lot more than decrease travel time; it might stir up our school spirit as well. With faster getaway rates and quicker escapes, the Acela train might just introduce a new era of competition and rivalry between the two schools. Forget channeling our energy into just the Harvard-Yale football game, we'll be out there for the fencing rounds, crew races, ballroom dancing competitions and squash matches as well.

The Acela? It stands for Accelerated Cantab-Eli Locomotion Adversary.

--Jordana R. Lewis

Logging the Grade

Getting in touch with nature seemed to be a common theme of many students' intersessions, whether they were carving up fresh powder or soaking up the rays. The laptops and cell phones were forgotten, at least for a few short days. Upon our return, students sighed with pleasure as they reconnected to the Internet and read the dozens of e-mails that filled our inboxes during our breaks.

So when shopping period began we happily filed into Core classes, the stress of finals buried away in that part of ourselves reserved for invasive medical procedures. Now after two days of being accosted by online booksellers offering lower prices than the Coop and what college students need most--food (and free food at that)--the reality of a new semester has set in.

But with that realization came the need to section once again for our new classes and check the registrar's website for our fall semester grades. Amazingly, Harvard seemed to not expect this huge increase in Internet traffic volume on the section and registrar sites. Both sites have been nearly impossible to use. They tantalized students with the login screen but displayed strange error messages, making students wonder for the 47th time whether they typed their ID number correctly. These sites were set up to make everybody's life easier, but have become another frustration amongst the many others during shopping period.

If Harvard can plan its exam schedule ten years in advance and has the logistical prowess to coordinate times and places for hundreds of classes, it seems obvious that they would increase server capacity on these two key sites during peak periods like the post-intersession/shopping period rush. Instead, they have caused thousands of students to bang their heads against their computer screens. Hopefully next semester the University will iron out this glitch and make this stressful time a little bit easier for everybody.

--Lorrayne S. Ward