In a series of reviews, members of The Crimson\'s summer staff are making a case for the best froyo in the Square. We\'ve already reviewed\xa0Pinkberry and Ben and Jerry\'s. Now up: Yogurtland.

Two of my esteemed colleagues have now offered their not-so-esteemed opinions on the best frozen yogurt in Harvard Square. Both have tried to portray their froyo of choice in a patriotic light, but when it comes to American values, no frozen yogurt vendor can claim to top the heartland that is Yogurtland.

Here in America, we believe in freedom. While other lesser froyo joints restrict their patrons to just a handful of flavor options, the new Yogurtland location on JFK Street offers 16 delicious varieties of froyo at any given time—meaning customers have the freedom to choose from among 65,535 distinct combinations. Want to just do plain tart by itself tonight? Great. How about mixing tiramisu with taro? No problem. What about all 16 flavors at once? Well, this is America, and no one\'s stopping you.

Now you might say, “I\'d feel terrible ordering 16 flavors and making the staff get all of them for me one by one.” Fear not, courteous reader: Yogurtland offers self-service, which means that you have full control over your frozen treat. The amount of yogurt, the proportions of the flavors, the selection of toppings, the amount of each of the toppings, the direction your froyo swirls, even the color of your spoon: It\'s all up to you. At the end of the day, you can proudly dig your spoon into the froyo and declare, "I built this."

On top of all this goodness, Yogurtland operates under a fair, forthright, truly American business model. Yogurtland is affordable, charging a mere $0.45 per ounce of sugary deliciousness. With price measured strictly by weight, there are no fees for extra flavors or additional toppings.

Wait—do you hear that? That\'s the phone’s ringing, and America\'s on the line. She’s telling you to take control of your life, to be a little adventurous. She’s telling you to recall the words of the great patriot Francis Scott Key and to embrace the land of the free and the home of the brave. She\'s telling you to go to the place where it feels like the Fourth of July every day of the whole damn year. She\'s telling you to pick Yogurtland.

In a series of reviews, members of The Crimson\'s summer staff are making a case for the best froyo in the Square. We reviewed Pinkberry yesterday. Now up: Ben and Jerry\'s.

The American patriot Patrick Henry once said, “Give me Ben and Jerry\'s, or give me death.” Or at least he probably would have, had he ever been given the opportunity to taste the frozen deliciousness that Ben and Jerry’s has to offer.

While another Crimson editor may make borderline blasphemous claims about the patriotism of another frozen yogurt vendor, it is undoubtedly true that Ben and Jerry’s is the most American creamery in Harvard Square. It was begun by two true visionaries (Ben and Jerry, in case it wasn\'t clear) right here in New England, just like the revolution that led to the creation of this great country.

But Ben and Jerry\'s—conveniently located in the The Garage, mere steps outside the Yard, and a very short walk from most of the Houses—is so much more than a shining beacon of liberty and independence. It is a one-of-a-kind institution that has successfully mastered the fine and precise art of ice cream making—and more recently, of frozen yogurt making.

A relatively recent addition to the Ben and Jerry’s menu is four flavors of Greek frozen yogurt, all of which are more delicious than any other froyo you can buy in the Square. I personally recommend the store’s raspberry fudge chunk flavor, a thick, creamy, and slow-melting concoction that perfectly mixes the tangy, fruity flavor of raspberries with the rich, sweet flavor of chocolate.

But how can a vendor that sells only Greek frozen yogurt truly be American, you ask? To which I say: we are a nation of immigrants and their descendents, a melting pot that places diversity among its most cherished values.

Another thing we value in this great nation is opportunity. Not in the mood for frozen yogurt, you say? What makes Ben and Jerry\'s the great American institution we know it to be is the vast number of choices it offers its patrons. Try one of the store’s 25 ice cream flavors and 3 non-fat sorbets, each with a quirky name and many with the chunks of this or swirls of that by which Ben and Jerry’s has earned its deserved reputation. Are you someone who believes that eating ice cream with a spoon is an activity that requires too much time and effort? Never fear: Ben and Jerry’s offers blended shakes as well, for your convenience.

At first glance, Ben and Jerry’s menu items might seem a bit pricy. However, like a true American business, the fair quantity and incredible quality of its offerings ensure that you will definitely get the bang for your buck.

Another famous American, Stephen Colbert (who has a Ben and Jerry’s flavor named after him), once facetiously asked that we not think about the truth with our heads, but rather feel it with our hearts. I implore you to go one step further and taste the truth with your taste buds.

Before I went to college, my mother took me shopping. She bought me extra-long sheets, shower flip-flops, a bathroom caddy, the usual. What my mother did not try to buy for me: a “sugar baby.”

Unlike my mother, a Philadelphia-area mom (or at least someone claiming to be one) posted on Craigslist on Tuesday, looking for a “cute young girl” to deflower her Harvard-bound son. In exchange, she will “make your financial issues disappear. ;)”

But, ladies of Philadelphia, not all of you are eligible. She’s looking for someone 19 or younger “as 20+ would probably freak him out. lol.” Her son is 18, “very handsome and extremely fit,” and a runner.

She also doesn’t want her son to know, so she’s crafted an elaborate plan for the sugar baby to pick up her son at a concert, “seduce him and take his virginity,” and then “keep dating him (and showing him different sex positions)” until he ships off to Cambridge.

Before the posting was flagged for removal, I responded trying to get an interview with the mother, but haven’t heard back. Maybe I would have had better luck if I hadn’t identified myself as a Crimson reporter. ;) lol

As Cambridge weathers another heat wave, the question on everyone's minds is this: where in Harvard Square can I find cool, delicious relief? Look no further than the Square's increasingly crowded frozen yogurt landscape. Over the next few days, members of The Crimson's summer staff will make a case for the best froyo in the Square. First up: Pinkberry.

It's been two weeks since the Fourth of July. The grills have cooled, the pitchers have been emptied, and the Pops' last note has long since died away.

But our freedom is still very much alive. And it spans far longer than a single day, even one brimming with such revelry and merriment. I'm here to remind us of that freedom, and of a liberty that all Americans should be proud to pursue:

I'm here to talk to you about Pinkberry.

Let’s first dissect the name: Pink-berry. The colors of this great nation are red, white, and blue—it is no coincidence, I assure you, that red and white combine to give pink, and that blue is the name of a prominent berry. Moreover, data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations tells us that the U.S. has far surpassed all other listed nations in blueberry, strawberry, and cranberry production in recent years, and we're consistently in the world's top four producers of raspberries. Pinkberry shouts American dominance to the world with every bite.

Its name, however, is only the start. You're here to hear how it tastes, after all. In short, Pinkberry tastes like freedom, too. While Yogurtland froyo often melts before it even hits your cup, Pinkberry’s consistency stands resolute in the face of fork or spoon. And while judging from its frozen yogurt offerings CVS might as well stand for Concrete Vulgar Solids, Pinkberry never fails to melt in the mouth. Moreover, although J.P. Licks and Lizzy's make froyo in addition to ice cream, their negligible fresh fruit toppings (J.P. Licks uses frozen fruit and Lizzy's only serves fresh strawberries) can rightly be deemed traitorous. Pinkberry, in contrast, provides the perfect blend of choice and practicality, with a wide variety of combinations to satisfy even the most crotchety consumer—but not wide enough, as with Yogurtland, to overwhelm. Spanning the perfect balance of taste, texture, and elegance, Pinkberry takes its place with America on the global (froyo) stage.

The real argument here, however—the reason you’re currently clinging to your seats—is the age-old battle between Berryline and Pinkberry. And, like the Revolutionary War, it has an obvious conclusion. Berryline is the Britain of yogurts: though attempting to be quaint and wholesome, it merits our pity rather than our affection. Berryline’s tasteless décor falls flat in the face of Pinkberry’s colorful modernism. And Berryline’s tasteless toppings don't fare much better, as Pinkberry continues to innovate and surprise each day (try its pomegranate juice and popping boba together for a real treat!). The deciding victory, though, lies in the easy method with which Pinkberry allows its customers to get more Pinkberry: a plastic rewards card that can also be loaded on a mobile app. My sincerest apologies to those who have lost their stone-age paper stamp cards from Berryline.

My country, 'tis of thee. Sweet land of Pinkberry. Of thee, I sing.

A month after opening its doors, Yogurtland, the newest entrant into Harvard Square’s crowded frozen yogurt landscape, is hoping that its self-service model will lure in customers looking for relief from the blazing summer heat.

So far, employees say, the strategy is working. The new business is "doing very well—every day, better and better," said Peter Vamvakas, operations manager for the franchise’s Boston-area market.

The new store, located at 57 JFK St. and facing Winthrop Square, held its grand opening on June 27 after serving its first customers on June 17. The shop is now swirling 16 unique flavors and serving dozens of available toppings from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until midnight on Friday and Saturday.

Vamvakas said he believes the company’s self-service model, which allows customers to serve themselves their yogurt from machines, is "one of the big differences" between Yogurtland and its competitors in the Square.

Though plain tart remains the crowd favorite, Yogurtland\'s machines offer rich flavors like dutch chocolate and New York cheesecake—Vamvakas\'s favorites—as well as lighter options like guava grapefruit sorbet. Customers can also expect promotional events throughout the year, such as free offerings on National Frozen Yogurt Day, according to Larry Sidoti, vice president of development at Yogurtland.

Sidoti said bringing a Yogurtland to Harvard Square "was an easy decision for us." Vamvakas agrees, calling the Square an "excellent location" for the business. The new yogurt shop is part of a larger effort by the company to open about 20 storefronts in the greater Boston area.

Here at Flyby, we love our frozen yogurt. With the addition of Yogurtland to the mix, our summer staff will review the Square’s froyo options, pitting them against each other in sugary combat. Check back tomorrow for our first installment of the Froyo Throwdown series.

Harvard Kennedy School professor Robert D. Putnam, the author of Bowling Alone, a social science book on the deterioration of American community, on Wednesday received a prestigious award and met a really awful bowler.

Barack Obama, a graduate of Harvard Law School who once bowled a 37, honored Putnam at the White House for his work in "deepening our understanding of community in America," according to a statement released by the White House Office of the Press Secretary.

Putnam was recognized as one of 12 recipients of the National Humanities Medal for 2012. The award, which was presented to the recipients personally by the president, honors individuals or groups who have made significant contributions to the expansion and preservation of humanistic studies.

"Examining how patterns of engagement divide and unite, Dr. Putnam’s writing and research inspire us to improve institutions that make society worth living in, and his insights challenge us to be better citizens," the White House statement read.

Putnam has penned more than a dozen books, including the best-selling "Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community." At Harvard, Putnam teaches public policy courses to undergraduates and graduate students, and his research deals extensively with the decline of American community since the 1960s, particularly in terms of social capital. He also holds an appointment in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Putnam said in a phone interview Friday that he was "a little surprised" to receive an award typically given to humanists, but said his work with community falls in line with some "basic themes of the humanities."

Putnam added that his White House experience was "great fun," and that he was delighted to receive the award.

"I’m honored to be in such distinguished company, especially as a social scientist," he said.

Last year, Harvard affiliates received three of the nine National Humanities Medals awarded for 2011.

Treasury secretary... Harvard President... Federal Reserve chair? Speculation that the resume of University professor Lawrence H. Summers might lengthen even further swirled this week after the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that he was interested in heading the central bank. According to the Journal, some of Summers’s current and former colleagues described Summers as ambivalent about the job, while others characterized him as "hellbent" on it.

Summers, who was Harvard president from 2001 to 2006, is no stranger to the Obama administration. He was director of the National Economic Council from 2009 to 2010, a term that, according to the Journal’s anonymous source, ended with a private conversation with President Obama about Summers becoming Fed chief.

Current Fed chairman Ben S. Bernanke will finish his second four-year term on Jan. 31, and many believe that he is unlikely to seek another, which will open the door for a replacement. Late last month, several outlets reported that the White House has a shortlist of candidates for the job, but their sources did not offer names. But Summers, Fed vice chair Janet L. Yellen, former Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, and President and CEO of retirement services organization TIAA-CREF Roger W. Ferguson, Jr. are widely considered to be potential picks.

Summers’s spokesperson Kelly Friendly told Flyby on Thursday that Summers would not comment on his interest in the job or any conversations he may have had about it with Obama. And Politico reported Wednesday that Summers’s acquaintances said that he has settled into his professorship in Cambridge and has no particular desire to return to the capital.

Still, with observers in the media sharing countless opinions about whether Summers is—or should be—a frontrunner for the job, it seems unlikely that the speculation will end anytime soon.

Harvard bros should hang their heads in shame. According to Yelp, frequenters of Harvard Square are less likely to use the term "frat" in their reviews than patrons downtown and around the Boston University campus.

The site has pooled its vast collection of more than 39 million local reviews of restaurants, shops, and other businesses to create Wordmaps—heat maps which demonstrate the prevalence of certain keywords in reviews of establishments around major cities worldwide. Instances of a given word are shaded in red on a Google map. The more fiery the color, the more frequently that keyword appears in reviews. On each map Yelp has helpfully provided a pre-set list of keywords for each city. For Boston, they include some of our favorite (and least favorite) terms, ranging from "chowder" and "cocktails" to "pbr" and "hangover."

Accordingly, the "frat" Wordmap of Boston produces a pathetic hint of red around the Square that literally pales in comparison to the bright bursts of red in Boston’s apparently more fratty enclaves. Our advice for Harvard bros: Get thyselves to a gym and tone up those biceps so that perhaps someday, that faint red will burn bright crimson.

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For the second year in a row, Kelsey A. Beck ’14 is taking the stage to compete for the title of Miss Massachusetts.\xa0Last year’s Miss Boston, Beck will compete starting Friday night in hopes of representing the Commonwealth at the Miss America pageant in September.

Beck, a rising Kirkland House senior from Florida who entered her first pageant last year, won the Miss Lakeville competition on March 10, landing her a spot in the Miss Massachusetts pageant. Beck says she could not compete for the title of Miss Boston a second time because she won the competition last year.

If crowned Miss Massachusetts on Saturday, Beck will earn scholarship money and a chance to compete for the title of Miss America.

"It\'s just been a whirlwind, and I\'m just so blessed [with] the opportunity to possibly represent the state of Massachusetts this upcoming weekend,” Beck says.

In order to win the Miss Massachusetts title, Beck will have to answer an on-stage question and\xa0walk in swimsuit and evening gown portions of the event. In addition, for the talent portion, Beck says that she plans to\xa0play a selection on the piano—“Toccata,” a composition\xa0that her mother played while competing in the Miss America Pageant after winning the title of “Miss Florida 1971.”

Since she was crowned Miss Lakeville, Beck has engaged in various kinds of service work, including volunteering at nursing homes. Her platform in the competition, which outlines a charitable cause she will advocate for as a pageant winner, focuses on advocacy for the elderly and inspiring youth.

Reflecting on her experience with pageantry thus far, Beck says she is grateful for the support of the community at Harvard.

What’s she excited for? “Everything,” Beck says.

"We actually run out to…\'Run the World (Girls),\'” Beck says. “I\'m just excited to get up there, and have fun, and smile."

With the renovation of Old Quincy reaching its final weeks, construction on Leverett’s McKinlock Hall is heating up.

According to Faculty of Arts and Sciences spokesperson Colin Manning, Old Quincy is scheduled to be completed before undergraduates return to campus in August. McKinlock construction, slated to be completed prior to the 2014-2015 school year, began immediately after Commencement and is now “progressing.”

We didn’t get anything more specific than that from Harvard, so we went to scope out the scene ourselves. Check out Flyby’s photos of the two construction sites to see what the buildings look like from the outside.

Construction on Old Quincy began last year as a “test project” for House renewal, the University’s $1 billion plan to eventually turn all 12 upperclassman Houses into temporary construction zones. Once the renovations are complete, both Old Quincy and Old Lev will feature the addition of horizontal hallways, cluster communities, and more common spaces—features that haven’t won over all Quincy residents.

They weren’t on campus to partake in the Great House War of 2012, but members of the Harvard Class of 2017 have already declared a war of their own with their prefrosh counterparts at MIT following an online prank.

A group of incoming freshmen drafted a declaration of war on a Google Doc in response to changes to their unofficial website that they suspect were made by their peers headed to the trade school down the river.', [])

We at Flyby appreciate a good ranking. There’s something incredibly satisfying about scrolling or clicking through bite-sized morsels of information to discover the best university in the world, the best residential House at Harvard, or the female celebrity who looks the most awesome with a beard.

The Boston Globe gets this. As part of its Dreamtown Finder series, which ranks the towns in the Commonwealth on various metrics, the Globe recently named Cambridge the most hipster of them all.

A red flag went up as soon as we saw the paradoxical combination of “hipster” and “top 10” in one heading. Rather than embracing such a ranking, hipsters would eschew it as part of the mainstream, anti-intellectual dribble they so try to avoid. And isn’t the point of being a hipster not to self-identify as one?', [])

EdX has hit the one-million students mark—meaning it’s one-thousandth of the way to its goal of educating one billion people.

The online learning venture, which was launched by Harvard and MIT in May 2012, announced the benchmark with a tweet Wednesday along with this photo of some of its staff beaming and celebrating at edX’s Cambridge office. The platform’s one millionth student joined on Tuesday, the tweet said.', [])

Debuting last Monday, Harvard\'s new IDs (bottom) feature a redesigned background, new fonts, and no printed expiration date. Can you say "student discounts for life"?

Thanks to some sleuthing by the staff of The Crimson, the preliminary 2013-2014 FAS Courses of Instruction catalog is available early.

Follow the link here. When prompted, use the username "catalog" and the password\xa0"GoCr1ms0nGo!" to access the catalog.

If you\'ve submitted your course evaluations for all of your classes, you can find any available grades online\xa0on the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Registrar\'s Office website.

Grades were available starting on Monday, and will be available to students who haven\'t completed course evaluations after the Q Guide closes on Sunday.