2008 FUP Reading Packet!!

IT'S FINALLY HERE. The one, the only 2008 fup reading packet. (don't cry just yet...)

yes, fuppies, this baby is your first glimpse into a community of thinkers, volunteers, activists, and just really cool people (the fup community of COURSE). read it, cherish it, sleep with it under your pillow. do what you will, but be sure to bring a printed copy with you august 31st (or email us to let us know you'll need one if you can't print it out).

here's the table of contents, in case you just couldn't wait until you clicked on the link:

• There is No Hierarchy of Oppression by Audre Lorde. P.1
• Next Door But Across an Ocean by Robert Coles. How does Harvard look from the perspective of neighboring communities? P. 2
• Harvard Homeboy by Ruben Navarette, Jr. Describes one Mexican American student’s struggle to find his identity at Harvard. P. 5
• Poverty Facts and Stats by Anup Shaw. Globalissues.org’s compilation of statistics from 2004. P. 9
• So is My Life by Pablo Neruda. This Chilean author and activist was one of the 20th century’s greatest poets. We like. P. 10
• No Connections from The Night is Dark and I Am Far from Home by Jonathan Kozol. Explores the process by which human connections are made and weakened. P. 11
• Adios, Escuela by David S. Bernstein. Examines how national and local standardized testing requirements are disproportionately affecting the drop-out rates of black and Hispanic high school students in Massachusetts. P. 17
• “Francisco’s Money Speech” by Ayn Rand. An excerpt from the highly popular (1000-page!) novel, which offers a critical exploration of the meaning and the value of money. P. 21
• A View from the Charles by Brent Whelan. An alum and Allston resident considers the implications of Harvard’s upcoming expansion into Allston. P. 22
• To Hell with Good Intentions by Ivan Illich. This speech confronts the pride and complacency of volunteers in areas that are not their own. P. 23
• If Men Could Menstruate by Gloria Steinem. Hm, how would the world change? p. 27
• New Technologies of Race by Evelyn M. Hammonds. The intersection of science, genetics, and social constructions of race, personified in Time magazine’s 1993 cybergenic covergirl. P. 28
• Liberals Speak of Generosity; Conservatives Actually Have it by George Will. Do leftists, Democrats, and atheists have a monopoly (irony noted) on “social justice”? A case for compassionate conservatism. p.35
• White Privilege and Male Privilege by Peggy McIntosh. This women’s studies and anti-racist educator questions race from the perspective of what it means to be “white,” as well as the advantages bestowed upon whites and males alike. P. 37
• Daily Effects of Class Privilege by the Piedmont Peace Project. How many of these are taken for granted? P. 45
• Behind the Counter from Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. A critical look at McJobs. P. 46
• The Third Gender Poem by Kit Yan. Sometimes gender isn’t as simple as a man or a woman... p. 50
• Why We are Hunger Striking by the Harvard Stand for Security Campaign. Read for yourself how and why these 11 students decided not to eat for days in protest of unfair wage contracts for campus officers. P. 51
• Learning about Globalization by Watching a Soccer Game. Think sports aren’t political? Think again. P. 53
• The Singer Solution to World Poverty by Peter Singer. The [in]famous Princeton philosopher hits close to home by explaining what our consumer dollars could do if spent differently.
• Buying into the Green Movement by George Will. American consumerism is counteracting environmental protection, some argue; others think it’s precisely the mass consumers that must be convinced to “go green.”
• Breaking the Silence by Ryan Petersen. One Harvard ‘08er speaks out about his freshman year and mental health at Harvard in general. Is the university prepared to respond to students’ need for support?
• College Faces Mental Health Crisis (Stats) by Katherine Kaplan. The Crimson polled 361 undergrads in Dec. 2003 about their perceived level of depression that year. We put together the snazzy graph.
• A Right to Food? By Frances Moore Lappe. Sure to shed a whole new light on your next trip to the grocery store.
• The Billion Dollar CEO. The average American CEO’s pay is how many times that of a minimum wage worker?
• Stop Trying to “Save” Africa by Uzodinma Iweala. A former Harvard undergrad questions Africa-targeted college activists.
• Big Paycheck or Service? Students are Put to the Test by Sara Rimer. A summer 2008 New York Times article that asks graduating Harvard seniors about the road they have decided to travel.
• What Happened to Changing the World? By Bill McKibben. McKibben entered his freshman year at Harvard thinking it was a hotbed of political activism. Read how he reformulated his own goals in life when he found out it wasn’t.
• LGBT Youth: An Epidemic of Homelessness by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Selected facts.
• Meet the World by Icaro Doria. Brazillian artist Icaro Doria, 26, applied data from Amesty International and the UNO to give new meaning to world flags.
• Housing Issues in Boston by Tim Siebler. Background information on the housing inequalities that prompted the Symphony of a City project in 2001.
• The Ethnic Game by Nicole Kuwahara, Lee Ling, and Jonathan Reed. A poem from Forever Foreigners or Honorary White? The Asian Ethnic Experience. Where are you from??
• Asians Suffer Under Model Minority Myth by Matt Grace. A closer look at the idea and its origins.
• I want a 24-Hour Truce During Which there is No Rape by Andrea Dworkin. An Anti-rape activist demands that men end rape now.
• Understanding Gender Terminology. Useful definitions.
• Trannys Talk Back. An excerpt from a Harvard student explaining how to be a better friend to the trans/genderqueer community.
• Masked Racism: Reflections on the Prison-Industrial Complex by Angela Davis. A famous prison abolitionist exposes the realities of the US prison epidemic.
• Complex Facts by Patrisia Macias Rojas. An accompaniment to the original Davis article that appeared in print in Colorlines.
• Gendered Assaults: The Attack on Immigrant Women by Syd Lindsley. Considers how ‘pro-environment’ arguments have fronted for anti-immigrant sentiment.
• On the Streets by Crystal Evans. A homeless youth writes about surviving the streets as a young person.
• Soup Kitchen Volunteers Hate College-Application-Padding Brat from The Onion. A satirical look at the world of volunteerism from a humor newspaper.
• The Limits of Charity by David Hilfiker. When do our acts of service hurt more than they help? How do we advocate for structural change in society?
• Heterosexual Questionnaire. How often do these questions come up in conversation?
• Your Revolution by Sarah Jones. An artist-activist shows her convinction to social change through a song that satirizes the misogyny of mainstream hip-hop.
• Stop Saying this is a Nation of Immigrants! By Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz. Is the “melting pot” idea harmful?
• Deadly Silence on the Middle Easy by James Zogby. With so much time, effort, money, and human resources being spent in the Middle East, why hasn’t there been serious public debate about our foreign policy endeavors there?
• Toxic Soup Redux: Why Environmental Racism and Environmental Justice Matter after Katrina by Julie Sze. How has Katrina’s impact on low income communities of color been compounded by hazardous environmental conditions that existed long before the storm?
• The “Boston and Beyond” section of The Unofficial Guide to Life at Harvard. This is not included in the packet, but it should be sent to you by the University along with the rest of your orientation materials. It will give you background information on the greater Boston community in which you’ll be living for the next four years.

The Viewing Packet (because non-print should count, too!)
• First Writing Since by Suheir Hammad. A powerful spoken word performance from the premier episode of HBO’s “Russel Simmons Presents Def Poetry.” Suheir Hammad is a Palestinian-American writer and activist, whose poetry has been featured nation-wide. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fhWX2F6G7Y
• Implicit Awareness Tests by ProjectImplicit. What if you really think is not what you think you think? Try a test or two for yourself. Surprised? http://implicit.harard.edu.
• Scorecard. Search your zip code or search by a particular environmental burden or the demographic it most affects (FYI—Harvard’s zip code is 02138). http://www.scorecard.org/community/ej-index.tcl.