Editors' Letter

After far-ranging discussions that occupied the better part of several weeks, The Comment staff decided a single theme might straitjacket us this year. We did agree that we wanted to explore topics we thought deserved more attention than they typically receive, such as the secret world of human egg donation, the psychology of Wikipedia, the underbelly of a South American game show. We were also a group not content to take things at face value. Instead we wanted to dig deep, to immerse ourselves in our topics—physically and personally. And we wanted to explore the light side of things as well as the dark.

As a result of these varied goals, the 2009 Comment is outside the box—and not just in a Mohawk-wearing, radical-protesters-chained-to-bank-doors sense (although both of those are in here too). It’s an issue that may surprise you, may irritate you, may confound you or confirm your own views. We sought, too, to challenge ourselves. Opera singer Danielle Jacoby brings us a feature on a group of classical-music outsiders, “A Joyful Noise,” and Aviv Rubinstien, front man for the Boston punk band Pray for Polanski, offers “Nine Days in August,” a memoir from the band’s first North American tour. Then the two team up for “Trading Places,” in which she hits his punk scene while he tries on her opera clique for size.

On an equally personal level, Eric Hal Schwartz takes readers on a tour of Comic-Con, the world’s largest comic-book convention, in “Four-Color Family.” Scheherazade Quiroga Iasiello’s essay “Watching Television Pays Off!” gives a first-hand account of a first-rate game show (according to the producers) in Venezuela. And Brittany Lyte in “Tripped Up” chronicles her experience with a rare medical condition that resulted in major surgery last fall along with a protracted recovery.

Several of our pieces involve broader explorations of the human psyche. Eric Hal Schwartz offers a look at some pioneering sleep research in “Snores and the Self.” Evan Dec, having spent some sleepless nights of his own cruising Wikipedia, writes about his discoveries in “Whither Wiki.” We counter Wiki with Wicca as Oriana Syed tracks followers of the pagan faith in “Coming Out of the Broom Closet” to better understand what they believe.

And with a group this eclectic, where would we be without a piece about quasi-militant protesters posing as bank reps? Travis Andersen obliges in “Rising Up.” In “Flipping the Switch,” JM Oles tackles the story of people who choose to live “off the grid,” except these hermits have electricity. (Find out how.) Katie Koch gives us “The Price of Eggs,” a journey into the little-regulated world of human egg donation. And Jane K. Fox’s photo essay “A Walk in Wonderland” explores the potential consequences of a vote to close dog-racing tracks throughout Massachusetts.

After our faculty advisor read this year’s offerings, she noted that it was a mix “you won’t find anyplace else.” We hope you agree. We hope too that you like our new look. It took a lot of work (and a fair amount of negotiation), but we think it reflects the tone and style of this year’s content.

Happy reading.

Travis Andersen
Aviv Rubinstien
Student Editors

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