The Harvard Independent
Encyclopedia
The Harvard Independent is a weekly newspaper produced by undergraduate students at Harvard University
. It is one of many hard-news media outlets on the Harvard undergraduate campus.
. The Crimson at the time reflected the left-wing turn of student organizations throughout the nation in the 1960s, and the founders of the Independent felt politically alienated from Crimson editors.
As the decades passed, the weekly newspaper, released every Thursday and distributed both on the Internet and to Harvard College
student dormitories, the format morphed to that of an alternative weekly
rather than a standard newspaper, with illustrated covers and four main sections: News, Sports, Arts, and the Forum (Op-Ed) section. In addition, the Independent also has several themed issues each year, including the annual The Game issue for the Harvard-Yale game, the literary issue, and the sex issue, featuring a Harvard-wide anonymous survey on sexual practices and opinions.
The Independent no longer has any political affiliation.
In 2006, the Independent was the first to report that Harvard student Kaavya Viswanathan
's highly-publicized debut young adult novel How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life contained "imagery, sentence structure, and paragraph organization" which was "strikingly similar" to material in Tanuja Desai Hidier's 2002 novel Born Confused
. Portions of Viswanathan's novel had previously been alleged to have been plagiarized
from several other sources.
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. It is one of many hard-news media outlets on the Harvard undergraduate campus.
Origin and history
The Independent was founded in 1969 by students and alumni who felt the campus needed an alternative to The Harvard CrimsonThe Harvard Crimson
The Harvard Crimson, the daily student newspaper of Harvard University, was founded in 1873. It is the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and is run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates...
. The Crimson at the time reflected the left-wing turn of student organizations throughout the nation in the 1960s, and the founders of the Independent felt politically alienated from Crimson editors.
As the decades passed, the weekly newspaper, released every Thursday and distributed both on the Internet and to Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
student dormitories, the format morphed to that of an alternative weekly
Alternative weekly
An alternative newspaper is a type of newspaper, that eschews comprehensive coverage of general news in favor of stylized reporting, opinionated reviews and columns, investigations into edgy topics and magazine-style feature stories highlighting local people and culture. Their news coverage is more...
rather than a standard newspaper, with illustrated covers and four main sections: News, Sports, Arts, and the Forum (Op-Ed) section. In addition, the Independent also has several themed issues each year, including the annual The Game issue for the Harvard-Yale game, the literary issue, and the sex issue, featuring a Harvard-wide anonymous survey on sexual practices and opinions.
The Independent no longer has any political affiliation.
In 2006, the Independent was the first to report that Harvard student Kaavya Viswanathan
Kaavya Viswanathan
How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life is a young adult novel by Kaavya Viswanathan, an Indian-American woman who wrote it just after she graduated from high school. Its 2006 debut was highly publicized, but the book was withdrawn after allegations that portions had been plagiarized...
's highly-publicized debut young adult novel How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life contained "imagery, sentence structure, and paragraph organization" which was "strikingly similar" to material in Tanuja Desai Hidier's 2002 novel Born Confused
Born Confused
Born Confused is a 2002 young-adult novel by Tanuja Desai Hidier about an Indian-American girl growing up in New Jersey. First published in the United Kingdom on October 1, 2002, it was later released in the United States on July 1, 2003...
. Portions of Viswanathan's novel had previously been alleged to have been plagiarized
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is defined in dictionaries as the "wrongful appropriation," "close imitation," or "purloining and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions," and the representation of them as one's own original work, but the notion remains problematic with nebulous...
from several other sources.
Notable alumni
- Political blogger Matthew Yglesias
- Wall Street Journal correspondent Peter Lattman
- StaplesStaples-Places:*Staples, Minnesota, United States*Staples, Texas, United States*Staples Center, an arena in Los Angeles, California*Staples High School, a high school in Connecticut*Staples , a train station in Staples, Minnesota served by Amtrak...
founder, Thomas G. StembergThomas G. StembergThomas G. Stemberg is an entrepreneur, venture capitalist and executive, most notable for founding office supply retail chain Staples Inc. with Leo Kahn.... - Current New York Times Executive Editor, Jill AbramsonJill AbramsonJill Ellen Abramson is the executive editor of The New York Times. Assuming the position in September 2011, she became the first woman in this role in the paper's 160-year history.-Early life and education:...