Editor's Note

Dear Reader, Welcome to Issue IX, the last regular issue of our magazine this semester and the heftiest one to date! Without further ado, here’s the scrut you’ve been clamoring for all semester: Michael Cheng and the death of the Undergraduate Council. Like any good political drama, it features mic drops, mudslinging, meetings that could’ve been emails, and emails that shouldn’t have been at all. JSH and AHL rose to the challenge of turning a semester’s worth of petty and irritating events into a sharp, nuanced, thoroughly entertaining story. Now that the Council has been dissolved, we citizens are left to pick up the pieces — luckily, in her levity, LEH offered some suggestions for which assets to snatch. And if you join the fight to save Shopping Week, you’ll have the chance to check out GENED 42069: How to Get Lit, taught by Professor Swae Lee and TFed by SM. Meanwhile, SD and JL started their own political movement to #StopRemy, the orange ecological menace that’s invading Harvard Yard. But KLM presented a convincing case for some extra pest control — how else are we going to rid our campus of those vicious rats? SCS spent the past several weeks diving head-first into the controversy surrounding Israel Trek. RF and BBWF reported on the student activists calling for Harvard to reinstate its mask mandate, and JL and DRZ went to great lengths to find the seeds of truth in a probiotic company’s lofty claims. Continuing our favorite pastime of investigating Gothic phenomena in Adams House, KIB and CEG unraveled an ancient scroll hidden inside a Westmorly doorknob. And EDP and JKW headed over to cover ASS — the Adams Seance Society, that is. MMN also revisited the past, blending reporting, retrospection, and introspection into rich and complicated conversations with three Black alums from the Harvard Class of 1969. Our writers found community in some surprising places this week — HPD at his first Passover Seder, SEW at Tasty Basty and then outside of it, JKF amongst her much shorter but no less dedicated fellow scavengers on a hunt for mythical creatures at the Harvard Museum of Natural History. They found themselves in the community, too — KLS took us around town to Cambridge’s 14 community gardens and the people who work to nurture them. DRZ led us down Route 128, the freeway along which a new insurance company is attempting to make community-based healthcare more accessible. CEG and EAG report on a new guaranteed income program and the difference it’s making for low-income, single-caretaker families in Cambridge. HTL brought us all the way to Istanbul in a lovely reflection on her spring break travels. And the prolific CEG shared a courageous, touching endpaper that puts words to the pain that accompanies her stutter. In my last closeout of the semester, I’d like to extend some sappy thank yous to: SSI, who is generous and dedicated beyond belief (no CQ needed). KL and JFA, who really, rEALly covered our ASSes today — our adminning severe stress, that is. JH, SS, MH, and MHS, who make this mag look damn good. JGG, who’s the last to leave the building, the first to step up to bat, and, no matter the hour, unfailingly honest, selfless, and kind. And MVE, who pours so much freaking heart into this magazine every single day; who lends more talent and grace than any of us deserve; who’s never further than a panicked text, a late-night voice message, or the width of Grant St. away when I need it — endlessly grateful to have you as my co-chair and friend. And, of course, to all our writers, who fill our hearts right back up. With love, SSL & MVE