Courtesy of the Washington City Paper's Sexist blog (yes, that's its name) comes this look back at life in Cambridge at the turn of last century. A New York Times article from July 1900 titled "The Cubans at Harvard" is not about the school's new smoking club, but a large group of Cuban girls spending the summer in Boston in order to learn English. And like most articles from the time, it's absolutely ridiculous.

Blog author Amanda Hess does a good job ripping the unnamed Industrialization-era Times writer so we won't run through the entire article. Here's our favorite part:

The traditional beauty of the Cuban women has not been exaggerated by travelers. In the party now in Cambridge are numerous types of pure beauty; indeed most of them are above the average in looks. Among them is at least one girl with red hair, although the prevailing complexion is brunette.

It's comforting to know that even back in 1900, the most important news on campus was, "Did you see the new hot chicks?" The article also stated that the showering of attention upon the young women was due in part to "their ignorance of our language". That's the same reason Valley Girls were so popular.

Sure this article is sexist and it's slightly embarrassing for Harvard. But is it any more sexist or embarrassing than Larry Summers? You need to put these things in perspective.

I guess we can close down our website, now, because #1 source of all things ridiculous in the Ivy League, that gloriously self-congratulatory glossy 02138, is folding! Mere months ago Manhattan Media acquired the Crimsonphilic alumni rag, heralding it as the foundation of their new "Ivy League Media" division. And now they're killing it. Daily Intel has Manhattan's fold-nouncement memo, which explains that, though everyone at 02138 was doing an A+ job,

...the current economic environment has made it too difficult to proceed at this time. While Manhattan Media, and its financial backer Isis Venture Partners, are committed to long-term growth capital, the funds needed to execute AMN's strategic vision would by necessity have grown significantly and beyond the company's risk/return profile.

The latest issue will lurk around 02138's website for a while, the ghost of Media Past. Happily (delusionally?) the website shows no signs of distress, with its usual assortment of Aaron Sorkin puff pieces floating around the homepage.

When my intrepid co-editor and I set out to cover the New Yorker Dance Party at the Hiro Ballroom, we weren't sure what to expect. Young literati getting drunk? Old literati getting drunk? Some dancing? As it turned out, it was all of these things. And by all of these things, I mean it was mostly professionals in their late 20s to early 30s talking and grinding. There was also a German and a few people from Utah. See if you can spot the German.

Read the rest of this entry »