Flyby Culture
Ted Cruz's Ultra-Exclusive HLS Study Group
As any seasoned Law School student knows, the key to surviving the Socratic method and the mountains of reading assigned weekly is a study group in which you can bounce ideas off of some of your peers who were also brilliant enough to get into Harvard Law. But when Senator Ted Cruz—a 1995 Harvard Law School graduate and Republican from Texas—was a student at HLS, his own study groups had an admissions standard almost as inflated as his own ego. According to one of his colleagues, the now-infamous senator refused to study with any student who did not attend college at Harvard, Princeton, or Yale. "He said he didn't want anybody from 'minor Ivies' like Penn or Brown," Damon Watson, one of Cruz's roommates at the time, recently told GQ.
Student Cooks Up HUDS-Inspired Poetry
Looking to take a break from procrastinating on your p-set? Look no further than "HUDS Haiku," a Tumblr page created by an anonymous member of the Class of 2014. Since its debut last spring, the page has received over 1,000 views and is beginning to pick up even more steam around campus this semester.
A Playlist for Success
Now that shopping week is over and the semester is in full swing, bloodshot eyes, large mugs of coffee, and crowds at Lamont in the wee hours of the morning are an everyday occurrence. We've comprised a list of the songs that will get you out of bed in the morning, to your 9 a.m. section, and through a long problem set.
Flyby's Guide to Your iPhone's New Look
Apple has released its new mobile operating system, iOS 7, and with a quick glance you can tell that it changes your iPhone quite a bit. But so that you don’t have to spend your own time looking through the changes, Flyby put together a guide to the ins and outs of your iPhone’s new look.
South Korean Man Poses as HMS Grad to Woo Fiancée and Take Her Money
Harvard students are notoriously wary of "dropping the H-bomb" in everyday life, and our collegiate version of noblesse oblige—the old “I go to school in Cambridge”—has become proverbial. But, at least in some countries, fans of the the Crimson seem to have fewer qualms about name dropping—especially if they’ve never set foot at Harvard.
Twerking? Not So Fast, Harvard.
As Harvard students, we like to stay pretty informed. Crisis in Syria? We got it. New iPhone 5C release? We got it. Cheating scandal? We got that too. Twerking? Well, we don't really got that. While most of the world critiqued Miley Cyrus' twerking at the 2013 VMAs, Harvard students are still concentrating on the basics. To the disappointment of many, the Class of 2017 was not asked in the freshman survey how they would rate their twerking abilities—however, it is clear from a scientific study of a night out in Cambridge that all Harvard students could use a quick tutorial.
Boy Bands We Never Want to Hear Again
When it was announced that Justin Timberlake was to receive the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, rumors swirled that an 'N SYNC reunion was imminent. And it was with great excitement and anticipation that viewers watched Timberlake go back to his roots, even if it only lasted for a couple of minutes. 'N SYNC's reunion came in the wake of those of fellow fellow boy bands like the Backstreet Boys—who will play Boston on Saturday at MIXFest—and New Kids on the Block. But would all '90s boy bands be welcomed back with open arms by the public? Here are some that should remain in obscurity for the sake of music:
Second Place? Really?
For the first time in popular memory, Harvard University has fallen to Number Two on the U.S. News & World Report's annual list of the nation's top colleges. Sadly, this year Harvard was unable to earn its traditional perfect score of 100, dropping instead to a lowly 99, while the Princeton Tigers edged out the competition and received a perfect score.
'Disgusting Things' and Disappearing Squirrels at Yale, Free Condoms at Penn
The quick and dirty about what's been going on around the Ancient Eight. With class back up and running in the Ivy League, there's plenty of news—and plenty of gossip. In fact, Yale administrators themselves may be feeding the gossip with their vague references to apparently unsavory events. According to the Yale Daily News's Cross Campus Blog, a recent email from Saybrook College's Master to residents of the College referenced "weird, creepy and (frankly) disgusting things" that had been happening in the laundry room of late. While he didn't specify just what these disgusting things were, he wrote, "I can't imagine why someone would do those things, but it has got to stop." Yalies, you disgust us.
Greenblatt and Vendler Weigh In: What if We Abolished English Tomorrow?
Attention sophomores thinking about concentrating in English: Stop reading op-eds. This summer, it seems like English—not to mention most disciplines in the humanities—have been denigrated and abused by columnists, cash-strapped universities, and graphs everywhere. Despite the fervor over this certain oncoming apocalypse, level heads still exist: In a recent piece for The New Yorker, Adam Gopnik points out that "If we abolished English majors tomorrow, Stephen Greenblatt and Stanley Fish and Helen Vendler would not suddenly be freed to use their smarts to start making quantum proton-nuclear reactor cargo transporters, or whatever; they would all migrate someplace where they could still talk Shakespeare and Proust and the rest." But where would that place be? Flyby decided to find out.
Boston Calling 101
Fed up of shopping classes and starting to plan which artists you want to see at Boston Calling this weekend? Flyby can help! If you can’t tell your Flosstradamus from your Deer Tick and you want to study up, here’s Flyby’s very own Boston Calling 101, a quick intro course to some of the upcoming weekend’s acts' most popular songs—because nobody wants to be that person yelling the wrong words super loud from the front row.
How We Can Avoid the Next Gov 1310
Forget an honor code—we’ve found the solution to Harvard’s alleged cheating problem.
Forbes Mysteriously Ranks Harvard’s Fiscal Health 5th Best in Nation
Apparently having the largest endowment in higher education isn’t good enough to be named the most fiscally healthy college in the country by the always-reliable Forbes magazine.
Hooking Up at Penn, Shutting Down Cornell Frats, and Losing a Python at Dartmouth
The quick and dirty about what's been going on around the Ancient Eight.
Sparring with Colbert
EdX President and MIT professor Anant Agarwal appears on the Colbert Report Wednesday night.
EdX President Explains to Colbert That edX Is Different from the University of Phoenix
EdX President Anant Agarwal is used to hearing criticism of his rapidly expanding online learning venture from concerned professors. But on Wednesday night, he faced humorous resistance from a new, unexpected, critic: Stephen Colbert.
Harvard Mom Seeks Sugar Baby To Have Sex with Her Son
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. ;)”
National Humanities Medal Winner Has ‘Great Fun’ at White House
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.
Flicks To See After Finals
Whether you're looking to relive the days of Prohibition or want to jet off on the USS Enterprise, summer movie season is here to satisfy your cinematic needs.