Tinder and Bumble and Hinge, Oh My! Dating apps, in and out of quarantine By JEN EASON My first conversation on Tinder, I learned how to say “fuckbuddy” in Spanish. Well, Argentinian. I was in Buenos Aires this past summer and had downloaded the app thinking I could use it to meet people. But my […]
The Three-and-a-Half-Year Walk The Independent’s former Editor-in-Chief reflects upon his time at the paper By TUSHAR DWIVEDI The walk from Adams House, the home in which I spent three years, to our Independent meetings each week, where I spent three and a half, would often be moments of clarity with ample time to reflect. Although […]
Two Hundred Computer Scientists and One Rat In the week before move-out, courses take different stances on social distancing By MICHAEL KIELSTRA and JULIO V. PARDO On Monday, March 9, the day before students were told that they would be moving out early, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were already recommending that people […]
What’s In Your GroupMe? The Independent explores the abyssal depths of everybody’s least favorite app By MICHAEL KIELSTRA, JEN EASON, and MARISSA GARCIA Upon arriving on campus for your first semester, you’ll quickly learn that GroupMe is as required as the meal-plan. You may have toyed around with toggling off notifications, but let’s be real—as […]
When Disparity Becomes Deadly Is COVID-19 only a biological threat, or also a distraction from the social inequalities in the US today? By MIMI TARRANT From the earliest stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, alarming figures have emerged on the relative prevalence of cases and deaths among males and females within communities. Initial analysis suggests […]
Mission Visitas-ible The pre-frosh we met at Visitas By MICHAEL KIELSTRA, JEN EASON, and MARISSA GARCIA Ryan Nguyen would like to be a human rights lawyer, but you wouldn’t immediately know it. He doesn’t talk about capital-I Injustices or concrete plans for getting to law school. Rather, when I ask him why he applied to […]
Virtual Housing Day BY ANNIE COLLOREDO-MANSFELD Of the many events that have been canceled by the outbreak of COVID-19, Housing Day was one of the more depressing cancellations, especially for first-years. Many students hear of the exciting, much anticipated day before they even arrive on campus. Based on what I heard from […]
Endowed with Hope The UC’s finances have a chance for a new direction after the crisis BY JEN EASON By the night of March 10, Eviction Tuesday, most academic activity had been cast aside for more important things like packing or getting drunk with no more than 99 of your closest friends. Figuring out […]
The New Universal Grading Policy: Harvard’s Necessary Shift of Focus An opinion on the new grading policy implemented at Harvard College BY ARSH DHILLON I have become a huge proponent of a universally-mandated, Emergency Satisfactory/Emergency Unsatisfactory (SEM/UEM) grading policy. When I initially arrived home, however, I was not. Like many students, I worried […]
Counterpoint to “The New Universal Grading Policy” BY MICHAEL KIELSTRA From Caesar’s wife to the Virgin Mary, history is full of things which must, for one reason or another, remain above reproach. I would add Harvard’s grades to this category. The American education system gives students and educators an incredible amount of freedom, […]