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There’s a lot of talk behind the “three things you must do before you graduate.” Admittedly, they’re all pretty worthwhile: who wouldn’t want to run around naked, at least once, while Japanese tourists snap photos? Who wouldn’t want to pee on the olde foot of our beloved founding benefactor? From what I’ve gathered, many Harvardians actually accomplish these two missions. But the jewel of the Big Three is sex in Widener. It’s the toughest task, the most glamorous, the most satisfying. Only the select few — the elite, as it were — get WidenerSex.
But for all of you ballers out there, I ask you this: why stop with Widener?
By Jake Segal in Forum

2. A Plea for Winter Break
Published Thursday, April 26, 2007

Harvard is a place of traditions, and that’s something that I love. I love doing the river run; I love the history behind the buildings; I even don’t not love primal scream. So you could say that I’m “for” most Harvard traditions.

But there’s something to be said for being flexible. Some things, after all, deserve to be changed. Admitting women to Harvard, for one, and then admitting them to Final Clubs. (Huh? Oh. My bad.) Changing from a free elective system to a core curriculum and then away from it again. Changing the dining hall from Barker to Annenberg. Moving from a racist, classist, pretentious school of rich kids to a diverse, elitist, vaguely pretentious school of economically diverse kids (peppered with extremely rich kids). These are all good changes.

So I give little credence to the “Harvard traditions” argument against calendar reform.
By Jake Segal in Forum

3. In Defense of Charlie's
Published Thursday, April 12, 2007

You know, you young people just don’t know what class is. No, Mr. Bio-Neuro-whatever, not class, like that thing you go to 21 hours a week. And not that “class of —” you’ll be graduating with, all you seniors. I mean class, that elegance of lifestyle that makes James Bond smooth and keeps Ricky Martin out of the nicer clubs.
By Jake Segal in Forum

4. Enough with the Food Metaphors
Published Thursday, March 15, 2007

It has recently reached my ears that there is a controversy over St. Patrick's Day. That certain people (coughSpencercough) don't approve of the U.S. co-opting other country's holidays. That they don't like fun. Or Guinness.
By Jake Segal in Forum

5. Reevaluating Summers and women in science two years later.
Published Thursday, March 01, 2007

I ’ve heard it said that you should never trust a man whose last name is a season. Now, I’m not going to weigh in here one way or another on Larry Summers’s personality. That's not exactly what this article is about; but now that some time has passed — just over two years — I think it is time that we took a look back at Women-InScience-Gate.
By Jake Segal in Forum

6. The Need for Spirit
Published Thursday, February 22, 2007

School spirit ain’t what it used to be. Not here, anyways. In fact, Harvard is notorious as a place where school spirit is permanently on the back burner. Now, I’m not saying that people don’t love this place, because I love it more than that YouTube video compiling different “Timmy!” scenes from South Park. Harvard is my home, and I know many others who feel the same way. But it’s rare to feel something like true school spirit here, that kind of “Hurrah! Go team!” and pom-pom-waving, high-leg-kicking, insane-oceans-of-fans-in-bleachers cheering that I see on TV or at every other college I visit.
By Jake Segal in Forum

7. Harry Potter and My Deathly Hollowness
Published Thursday, February 22, 2007

Finally. It’s not that we’ve been waiting that long, we Potter diehards. Two years isn’t that much to ask for seven hundred-plus pages of pure beauty; frankly, I find it surprising that J.K. Rowling hasn’t developed some kind of amphetamine habit by now. It’s not that we’re impatient; we’ve been waiting nine years for this final chapter. It’s not even that we sometimes get misty-eyed when people jokingly say “Quidditch” in place of “quit it.” (Everyone gets that sometimes, right?) It’s just…it’s just that it’s that good.
By Jake Segal in Arts

8. Ten Questions With Nate Dern
Published Thursday, February 15, 2007

I met Nate Dern my first week of school. Bearded, bespectacled, wearing plaid pants with orange flip flops, Nate was not exactly what I expected in a prefect, though I admit my imagination was influenced more than a little by Harry Potter. Yet it did not take long to learn what so many have discovered over the last three years: that Nate Dern is a force to be reckoned with. Friendly and always interesting, Nate is a presence on campus and, more importantly, he's an all-around a good guy.
By Jake Segal in Forum

9. In the Company of Men
Published Thursday, February 08, 2007

"Wait. So you’re telling me that none of the men in the movie have to give birth?” That was the simple and surprisingly difficult question posed by my girlfriend. I think I’m not giving away too much when I boldly state that — in a strong rebuttal of the precedent set by Junior — no guys get pregnant in Children of Men.
By Jake Segal in Arts