It’s A Big, Big World
I firmly believe that knowing a city requires exploring it by foot. Fortunately for me, one of my class’ first activities in Buenos Aires, Argentina was a downtown walking tour. This tour completely altered my first impression of a city with a European look and feel, which was formed by a bus ride. Walking on sidewalks and approaching buildings and graffiti up close uncovered a characteristic that was truer of the city: one of political charge and change.
Happy Feet
There is one piece of attire that is so indispensable to our lives that we felt it was necessary to dedicate an entire week’s column to it: our shoes. Certainly, we aren’t encouraging everyone to buy the 400 pairs of shoes that would rival Carrie Bradshaw’s collection. However, after extensive investigation (meaning delirious hours spent in all sorts of shoe stores), we are sure that shoes contribute the most to style, posture, and unique self expression.
A Good Move
Looking for a mate? Want to construct a mating net? Larry Christiansen can teach you how. No, he is not an online relationship expert, but rather a chess grandmaster and three-time national champion. In honor of CPW, the MIT chess club hosted Larry last Friday to lecture, regale and battle a field of prefrosh and undergrads in the game of chess.
Brouhaha Rhythm
Forget all that nonsense about the Ringling Bros. — Campus Preview Weekend is officially the ‘Greatest Show on Earth,’ and I mean that in a very good way. I walked out of the Infinite Corridor (which I overheard referred to as “the Really Long Corridor”) onto Massachusetts Avenue Thursday afternoon and received something of a shock — MIT campus central looking like the college brochures I received in the mail oh so long ago. The benches in front of the Student Center were filled in spite of the singular aroma of fresh mulch, and Kresge Oval was alive with flying Frisbees. It’s virtually never like this during the semester — the people frolicking about couldn’t all be admitted pre-freshmen. What is it about CPW that gets us out of our rooms and into the sunlight?
WMBR Top Ten Albums of 1990*
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Brouhaha Rhythm
It’s hard having a significant other at a distant school. Maybe not as hard as, say, upgrading your computer to dual-boot BSD, but challenging all the same. Being an ickle freshman with no independent cash flow and a consistent homework load sort of precludes the possibility of regular travel for the time being, and our vacations don’t seem to line up properly, rather like Red Leader’s proton torpedoes. (Case in point: her spring break was three weeks before ours. Curse you, Massachusetts weather that’s only hovering above freezing, even after the vernal equinox!) I continue to be thankful that MIT is so well and fully wired that staying in contact in the electronic age is especially simple here. After all, that’s what the Internet is for, right? Sending enough Facebook music dedications to fill dozens of mix tapes? I’ve actually been several blocks up Mass. Ave. and wondered where the nearest Athena station was, but that’s for another article to address. My comedy well is only so deep, and I need to keep a good tab on what few funny subjects I can manage to conjure.
It’s a Big, Big World
After I arrived in the United States from studying abroad in Argentina, India, and China last semester, one frequent question I received was, “What was your most memorable experience?” Many amazing events occurred — I rode an elephant bareback in Indian, bicycled to Beijing’s Olympic construction, visited a soccer stadium in Buenos Aires, and experienced locals’ hospitality in every city. However, one particular event stood out above all.
Dressing Your Body Figuring Out Fashion
Some of you have asked how come after following our column and using our hints, you haven’t come out of the deal looking any better. We were originally quite perplexed by this dilemma, but we finally realized the problem in our work so far: none of it really matters if you aren’t finding clothes that fit your body. We all have flaws and areas that we are self conscious about. Stylish clothes that accentuate those parts and make you feel uncomfortable will be no improvement on your current wardrobe. To figure out how to dress different body types, we took to the mall with a diverse crew to find some remedies …
Ask A TA Holds Recitation
Hi kids. I see that you have questions about today’s <i>The Tech</i>, but I’ve prepared answers for your questions about March 21’s <i>The Tech</i>, so let’s go over that instead.
Through My Eyes
Women, how many cows are you worth? Men, how many cows would you be willing to pay as a dowry for your wife? Two? Three? How about forty? How many of your wife’s extended family members would you be willing to support? My last day in Kenya, I was invited to have tea with the directors, chairmen, and head staff of the Association for the Physically Disabled of Kenya (APDK). They invited me to hear about my accomplishments during the week, what I hoped to do with the information and media I had obtained, a reflection of my visit, and my personal future plans. The issue of gender arose as we spoke about my desire to become a surgeon. Surprisingly, the differences in the role of women in East Africa versus in the United States turned out to be mainly based around the concept of dowries.
Brouhaha Rhythm
I’m going to miss spring break. I realize that’s true for all but the most masochistic among us, but after such a long and lustrous on-campus vacation, telling myself to return to the academic schedule is like asking Robinson Crusoe to vacation in the Bahamas. He’ll do it, but don’t expect him to leap for joy at the opportunity. Especially not after he’s had a week to get used to sitting at home eating processed snack foods and leftover pizza in front of a perpetual YouTube header.
Couture 101 Figuring Out Fashion
When most people think of fashion, they don’t picture this column or the average trip to the mall. Instead, they think of the glamorous world of couture, replete with catwalks and coat hanger-thin models, wearing outrageously impractical creations and strutting among crowds of high-brow socialites. Though this world exists, it has not been the focus of this column, as it is a world none of us will likely ever inhabit. What goes on there, however, does have a direct impact on the clothes we wear. So we decided to take a peek into that world to see why people care at all about designers, fashion shows, and the trends they bring.