VOL. CLXXIV NO.160
SNOW HIGH 29 LOW 15
TUESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2018
HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE
Science Olympiad partners Co-op donates with College for first time nationwide high
of $110,000
By ABBY MIHALY
The Dartmouth Staff
ARTS
FILM REVIEW: ‘BRIGHT’ PAGE 7
BOOK REVIEW: ‘NEVER CAUGHT’ PAGE 8
OPINION
MALBREAUX: CHAPPELLE’S AGE SHOWS PAGE 4
ZEHNER: MEALTIME MUSINGS PAGE 4
GOLDSTEIN: SQUARE ONE FOR STEVE PAGE 6
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TWITTER @thedartmouth COPYRIGHT © 2018 THE DARTMOUTH, INC.
COURTESY OF SCHOOL OF GRADUATE AND ADVANCED STUDIES
High school participants of the New England Science Olympiad pose with their trophy.
By BERIT SVENSON The Dartmouth
This past December, the School of Graduate a n d A d va n c e d S t u d i e s and Lebanon High School hosted an inaugural Science O l y m p i a d i nv i t a t i o n a l tournament at the College. Middle and high schools from the northern New England area sent 20 teams
to compete on Dec. 16 in the academic competition in which students participated in various challenges related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields. “ [ We w e r e ] h o p i n g to expand our capacity by c o l l a b o r a t i n g w i t h Dartmouth so that we could make the opportunity [to compete in the northern
New England Science Olympiad] available to more teams,” Lebanon High School science teacher and tournament director John Tietjen said. “It also helped lay the groundwork for an annually recurring tournament to be held with a g reater infrastructure of support from a greater SEE OLYMPIAD PAGE 3
TheHanoverCooperative Community Fund is the first of 45 similar Co-op funds in the nation to donate more than $100,000 to local charities. Members of the Co-op were surprised and humbled by the milestone, reached in late December 2017. “All of a sudden one day we looked up and said, ‘Oh! We’ve given away $100,000!’” Hanover Co-op director of public relations Allan Reetz said. By the end of 2017, the fund had donated $110,000 to nonprofits in the Upper Valley, since its first donation in 2005. T h e Tw i n P i n e s Cooperative Foundation, which offers grants to cooperatives, collaborated with the Hanover Coop in 2000 to start the fund when each provided $5,000 of initial donations.
Fundraising events — such as annual golf tournaments — and product sales add anywhere between $20,000 to $30,000 each year to the fund. The fund, managed by Twin Pines, has $442,233 invested in cooperative projects. In addition, the Coop donates earned interest — around 3 percent — to local organizations. The fund is expected to donate $14,000 to charities in 2018. A review committee, consisting of eight board and staff members, decides how to allocate the funds in accordance with the Co-op’s four charitable giving goals: food access, community development, cooperative business education and sustainable and environmental issues. This year, there were 15 applications for funding and the Co-op was able SEE CO-OP PAGE 2
Q&A with computer science professor Prasad Jayanti By CHARLES CHEN The Dartmouth
Computer science professor Prasad Jayanti began his career studying mechanical engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras. While pursuing his master’s degree in the same field at the University of Delaware, Jayanti discovered a different calling: computer science, with an emphasis in concurrent algorithms. For over two decades, he has worked at the College, teaching nine different undergraduate
courses. Currently Jayanti is teaching Computer Science 1, “Introduction to Programming and Computing.” What first got you interested in studying computer science? PJ: I came to the U.S. to do a master’s degree in mechanical engineering and during that time, I happened to take a class in computer science, an architecture class actually, which I found SEE Q&A PAGE 5
COURTESY OF PRASAD JAYANTI
Computer science professor Prasad Jayanti studies concurrent algorithms.
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
PAGE 2
DAily debriefing Vermont’s State Senate has approved a bill that would allow for recreational marijuana usage, the Valley News reported. Under its terms, adults over the age of 21 will be allowed to possess up to an ounce of marijuana and either two mature or four immature cannabis plants per dwelling unit. It does not include systems for taxing or regulating marijuana sales or production. The bill, which the State House approved about two weeks ago, will now move to the desk of Republican Gov. Phil Scott, who has expressed that he will sign it. If it passes, Vermont will become the first state in the country to legalize marijuana via its legislature rather than by a referendum vote. The decision comes as New Hampshire considers a similar bill to legalize marijuana, and as United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions has announced that he will roll back former President Barack Obama-era guidelines limiting prosecutions for selling marijuana in states that have legalized the drug. The Associated Press reported that the New Hampshire legislature is not considering changing its sexual harassment policies or reporting procedures, even as the majority of state legislatures in the country are considering strengthening their policies. This decision comes in light of a wave of accusations against public figures, particularly in entertainment, media and politics, of sexual assault, harassment and misconduct. Republican Gov. Chris Sununu’s office released a statement saying that the legislature’s current policies, which were enacted in 2008 and last revised in 2016, are comprehensive, adding that they should still be reviewed regularly. The State Senate currently requires its members to attend training sessions for sexual harassment every two years when a new legislative session begins, while the House does not require training sessions for its members. Michael Lauzon, a Lebanon resident, pleaded not guilty last Thursday to sexually assaulting two children, the Valley News reported. Lauzon, who was arrested last Wednesday and arraigned in Grafton Superior Court, is being held on a $10,000 cash bail on seven felony charges — three of aggravated felonious sexual assault, three of felonious sexual conduct and one of criminal restraint. According to a police affidavit, Lauzon denied assaulting the two children when interviewed by the police. Lebanon Police Chief Richard Mello has stated that there is currently no evidence that Lauzon has assaulted anyone else.
- COMPILED BY ZACHARY BENJAMIN
CORRECTIONS We welcome corrections. If you believe there is a factual error in a story, please email editor@thedartmouth.com.
Correction Appended (Jan. 13, 2017): An earlier version of the Jan. 12 article “Study measures arsenic contamination in wells” misstated the group that found the elevated likelihood of high levels of arsenic in wells. New Hampshire state officials determined the rate based on estimates from the U.S. Geological Survey.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2018
Co-op fund contributes national high of $110,000 to local nonprofits
“We are inherently connected with School, a public high school in the greater community,” Reetz said. Lebanon with a mission focus on to provide at least partial funding “We have 24,000 members [who] live experiential learning. for seven of them, according to ... [and] work around here, and they Ledyard Charter School serves as former director care about the an “alternative public high school” of the Hanover region. for about 40 members of surrounding “We are inherently Consumer I n towns, who “for whatever reason, C o o p e r a t i v e connected wtih the a d d i t i o n t o have not thrived in their local high S o c i e t y a n d greater community. We d i r e c t i n g schools,” according to Rhim, who current Co-op the Co-op’s serves as the chair of the Ledyard board member have 24,000 members interest in local Charter School. H a r r i s o n [who] live... [and] work organizations, Similar to many schools and Drinkwater. the Twin Pines organizations in the area, the school around here, and they Cooperative Cooperative struggles to find enough funding. It s o c i e t i e s , care about the region.” Fo u n d a t i o n receives about $6,200 per student otherwise also reinvests from the state of New Hampshire, known as co-ops, in l o c a l which is around $4,000 short of are owned by -ALLAN REETZ, HANOVER c o o p e r a t i ve the price of the $10,000 cost of their members. CO-OP DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC f u n d s. T h e supporting a student at the high T h o u g h organization school, Rhim said. The school RELATIONS there are no is the largest applied for Pennies for Change dividend shares, i nve s t o r i n funding and received over $7,000. members share the N e w Rhim added that the school is in any end-ofH a m p s h i r e considering applying for more Co-op year surpluses. C o m m u n i t y funds in the future. There are seven Loan Fund, “We know that [these types of cooperative which helps programs aid in] building community principles mobile-home and improving lives, and that that global park residents just makes the whole community cooperative buy the land stronger,” Reetz said. “So why not societies follow, beneath their do it?” focusing on homes. The Hanover Co-op also helps concer n for Buying other cooperatives, extending the the community, the land on communal focus beyond the Upper Reetz said. which they live Valley. When the Littleton Food Co President of is the best way op in Littleton, New Hampshire was the Twin Pines for residents to having managerial trouble prior to Cooperative Foundation David ensure the “financial control” that opening, the Hanover Co-op fronted Thompson explained that the comes with property ownership, its advertising budget and sent staff Hanover Co-op’s Community Fund Reetz said. members to help manage the budget, allow community members to feel The Co-op also donates to local shelve items and recommend the best connected to the community and to communities equipment model, the Co-op. t h r o u g h Reetz said. “If you get the “The Hanover members give their Pe n n i e s f o r While this kind money to the fund, we then reinvest Change. Co- Hanover Co-op to of help may not be that fund in New Hampshire, in op cashiers ask do something in the profitable for the the New Hampshire Community store patrons Co-op, Reetz said Loan Fund [for example], and whether they United States, lots of it is what it means somebody living in a [mobile-home] would like to other co-ops then pay to be a cooperative. park borrows money, and that round up their “This isn’t typical money comes from Hanover Co-op sales total, and attention.” business,” he said. members,” Thompson said. in doing so, “This is what The programs act as a circle of donate their -ALLAN REETZ, HANOVER cooperatives are collaborative commerce, building off change to a supposed to do.” of one another, Reetz added. local charity. CO-OP DIRECTOR OF Thompson Chris Rhim, an Upper Valley The program PUBLIC RELATIONS said he thinks the community member, said that the raises about Hanover Co-op is Co-op is a “vital economic engine $20,000 per one of the best and that brings together producers and month. Three most prominent cocustomers for locally produced local food access ops in the country. goods.” organizations “If you get the The Co-op connects community — W i l l i n g Hanover Co-op to members with locally grown food H a n d s , t h e do something in and other products and helps keep Upper Valley the United States, these local farms afloat, also acting H a v e n a n d lots of other co-ops as an integral part of the community L I S T E N then pay attention,” beyond its role as a grocery store, — receive a he said. “It’s got according to Rhim. majority of the to be a dream job Thompson added that food co-ops funds, leaving when the people have a special role in community about a third for that you’re working outreach because of the in-person a different local organization each with are raising another $25 to 30,000 contact people have with grocery month, according to Drinkwater. a year and want to do good in their stores and the frequency with which One recipient of the Pennies for communities. For me, Hanover is an they visit them. Change fund was Ledyard Charter immaculately conceived co-op.” FROM CO-OP PAGE 1
TUESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2018
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
School of Graduate and Advanced Studies hosts first Science Olympiad Plattsburgh, New York, and the second- and third-place finishes number of people.” went to two teams from Bedford Students participated in 23 High School. events related to various STEM “I was really excited to see fields, including life science, earth all the enthusiasm for science and space science, physical science, demonstrated by these young engineering scholars from and inquiry schools all around and the nature “It’s very much like a the Northeast,” o f s c i e n c e. track meet.” dean of graduate Tietjen said and advanced that the events studies F. Jon Kull consisted of -JOHN TIETJEN, LEBANON ’88 wrote in an hands-on email statement. HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE engineering Kull, who projects that TEACHER AND SCIENCE p r e s i d e d ov e r s t u d e n t s OLYMPIAD DIRECTOR the tournament’s completed in closing awards advance of the ceremony, wrote tour nament, that he hoped lab activities this would be the and written beginning of a assessments on particular subject “long tradition of Dartmouth areas. Each team consisted of hosting [the Science Olympiad].” 15 students with individuals Dartmouth undergraduate and competing in about three events graduate students volunteered each to earn points for their to help organize and run the collective team score. tournament, most of which took “It’s very much like a track place at the Life Sciences Center, meet,” Tietjen said. according to Tietjen. The winning team was from “We really couldn’t have done Plattsburgh High School in it without all of the dedication of FROM OLYMPIAD PAGE 1
the [volunteers] who wrote tests and dedicated not only an entire day of their time but also time leading up to the event to write tests, go over answer keys, make sure that those tests are aligned with the event descriptions,” he said. Chris Kartsonis ’21, who wrote one of the written tests on remote sensing, competed in the Science Olympiad as a high school student and said it allowed him to explore his interests in a collaborative team environment. Coaches and students who attended the event responded with overwhelmingly positive comments about the tournament, according to tour nament director and assistant director of outreach and communications at the School of Graduate and Advanced Studies Amanda Skinner. She added that the campus’s accessibility, the smooth operation of the event and the participants’ “palpable” excitement contributed to a positive atmosphere. “We’re really excited about this taking shape,” Skinner said. “Our aim is to really remove as many barriers to participation as possible for any teams in the 2018 tournament.”
COLLIS COLLABORATION
NAOMI LAM/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF
Students plan programming for V-February, the College’s yearly campaign to end gender-based violence and promote gender equity.
PAGE 3
TUESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2018
THE DARTMOUTH OPINION
PAGE 4
CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST CALLUM ZEHNER ’21
STAFF COLUMNIST TYLER MALBREAUX ’20
Mealtime Musings
Chappelle’s Age Shows
For the house communities to work, we must change the way we eat. Questions about the effectiveness of the new house communities tend to elicit responses of hearty ambivalence. Students refer to the communities’ irrelevance, their failings and their lack of utility. It seems glaringly apparent that the houses have little to no bearing on students’ lives, that they already exist outside of the zeitgeist. In fact, it often seems that their only relevance is found in the brightly-colored shields emblazoned on merchandise and hung from the ceiling of Foco. While it is no doubt extraordinarily hard to manufacture a communal identity and sense of belonging in two years, Dartmouth’s house system lacks a critical ingredient: cohesion. The most effective way to provide that cohesion and to unite a disparate group of students into an indivisible house is through food. Forcing students to eat in distinct house dining halls will form the sense of community that has thus far been lacking. The problem with our current house communities is that there is no platform on which they can take prominence, no way for them to be ensconced in student life. Anything house-related is, by definition, optional. There is a constant stream of house events, but their voluntary nature ensures that a vast swath of the houses’ populations don’t attend. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that the houses are peripheral to the Dartmouth experience. After all, if the majority of students do not attend house events, then these students cannot be aware of their fellow housemates and no collective identity can exist. To create such an identity, students need a reason to interact with their house communities, and this can only be achieved through mandatory activities. There needs to be some arm-pulling to initiate change and form bonds. Food is an easy choice. It is true that some people may be dissatisfied at their inability to eat with their nonhousemate friends. But as far as restrictions on liberties go, eating in the same dining hall as one’s house is a relatively small sacrifice to make. Three small portions of the day would be dedicated to interacting with your fellow housemates, while leaving all other time open to socializing with the rest of campus. Personal house dining halls would also enable students living outside of their house communities
to feel a sense of physical connection with their houses. Left to their own devices, there is little reason for South House students living in the Lodge, say, to collectively associate with the South House students in a Living Learning Community in McLaughlin. A house dining hall would provide that connection and prevent students from drifting apart from their housemates. Each house is supposed to be a microcosm, a bite-sized piece of Dartmouth that provides another channel through which students can construct tight-knit groups. For those daunted by the sheer scale of Dartmouth’s student body, one’s house should be a group of people to know incredibly well and be comfortable with. Just as a sports team or a dance team brings students together, a house has the ability to connect people from different backgrounds, creating a sense of solidarity that comes with being stuck in the same situation, of being “in the same boat.” But in order to do so, its members must have a medium through which to meet and talk and joke. Mealtimes, with their inherently communal aspect, can be the kickboard necessary to establish a camaraderie. The house system, as it stands, is half-baked. It operates in an uncomfortable middle ground where students are forced to live with people they aren’t forced to know. If we look at similar systems at Cambridge University, Harvard University, Oxford University or Yale University, we see that all have separate dining facilities fully integrated into each house. No one disputes the validity of those house systems, and as we have begun on their path, it would be sensible for us to adopt their tried-and-true structures to advance our progress. Currently, our house communities are communities only in name. Few students feel any real affinity toward their house, primarily because few students actually know the people in their house. The house system exists as an overarching entity, a mythological beast we are instructed to have a connection to. But the house communities have the potential to become so much more. So, let us get to know our housemates. Let us feel drawn to our house because we are drawn to its people, not because we are assigned to it. Let us eat together, so the house communities will truly become communities.
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Why comedians must abandon outdated humor.
If Richard Pryor was the godfather of comedy and Bernie Mac its uncle, then Dave Chappelle is comedy’s first cousin. He was cool when audiences first saw him back in the 1990s, as a 20-something cracking jokes on “Def Comedy Jam.” And as we got older, Chappelle got better. Slapstick humor meshed with racial and social commentary, setting the foundation for the highly successful but short-lived “Chappelle’s Show.” And we liked him. America’s older first cousin matured. Now in his 30s, he taught us more grown-up lessons in his sketches about George W. Bush-era geopolitics with “Black Bush,” and the nuances of America’s racial imaginary in “When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong.” Yet he retained the familiarity that made us love him in the first place, with some sketches whose chief aim was goofiness, like “A Moment in the Life of Lil Jon” and various sketches that followed the misadventures of crackhead Tyrone Biggums. No matter how funny or famous they may be, comics must remember the cardinal theorem of comedy: Not everything is funny to everyone. All of the greats, including Chappelle, learned this first hand. Even after almost 30 years of show business, Chappelle is occasionally heckled. As he recounted in his first slate of Netflix specials, he has had banana peels thrown at him by someone who accused him of being racist. But even though he can’t make everyone laugh all the time, Chappelle was damn good at making most people laugh most of the time. While it may seem spontaneous, the most memorable sketches on “Chappelle’s Show’ followed a fairly simple formulation. In his ostensibly definitive (but ironically boring) essay “A Theory of Humor,” linguist Thomas Veatch suggests humor is the existence of “a certain psychological state which tends to produce laughter.” A good comic creates scenarios that, according to Veatch, has three main components: normality, weirdness and simultaneity. Take the “Chappelle’s Show” skit “Clayton Bigsby,” for instance, based on an episode of the PBS news series “Frontline.” Chappelle’s version of “Frontline” followed the story of an anonymous Ku Klux Klan leader who authored several books, cementing himself as the foremost leader of contemporary white supremacy. This was the normality aspect required of Veatch’s theory, insofar as it appears like any other episode of “Frontline.” Only a few minutes into the skit, the weirdness component is revealed. The mysterious Klan leader and bigoted racist, is, in fact, an African-American man. The simultaneous existence of both the normal and weird makes this sketch meet Veatch’s conditions. And because we’re in on the joke, we can’t help but laugh. And Chappelle continued to make us laugh. But then, in 2005, our older comic cousin left Comedy Central, escaping the pressures and creative differences of Hollywood for a therapeutic retreat to South Africa. Jump ahead to Christmas Eve 2017. Chappelle now has four Netflix specials and a purportedly $80 million check in his bank account. Our older cousin was back, richer and better looking than ever. Today, we feel that connection we formed with him back in the early 2000s. Chappelle still has “it.” The racial commentary is sharp, witty
and more timely than ever. But as Chappelle grew, we grew up also. Our grown-up selves are disappointed to find that some of his views, specifically on sexual harassment and transgender issues, are stuck in the early 2000s where he left us. We’re at the point where our older cousin is not untouchably funny anymore. It’s fair to say that comedians occupy a sort of bully pulpit, where jokes are no-holds-barred and any offense taken is ignored. So I won’t hold Chappelle, or any comedian, to a standard of nicety. However, it is fair to critique him as a comedian, first and foremost, which means calling him out when his jokes simply fall flat. That is the case for his last Netflix special, “The Bird Revelation,” a slow-paced race to punchlines that occasionally elicits a muffled chuckle. Take, for instance, his joke about one of the latest Harvey Weinstein-era stars to lose his career over sexual harassment allegations, Louis C.K. Chappelle starts by quoting one of the alleged victims. “One lady said, ‘Louis C.K. masturbated in front of me, ruined my comedy dreams.’ Word? Well, then I dare say madam, you may have never had a dream,” Chappelle said. And then, lukewarm turns to cold. “You think if Louis C.K. jerked off in front of Dr. [Martin Luther King, Jr.,] he’d be like ‘I can’t continue this movement. I’m sorry, but the freedom of black people must be stopped,’” he continued. Typical of both “The Bird Revelation” and his third special, “Equanimity,” Chappelle turns from attempted joke into a cool-voiced polemic on how black comedians are held to a higher standard of accountability than their peers — seeming to ignore that women in Hollywood are presented with a similar, albeit different, issue. Even though he says he understands women’s claims of unfairness in show business, Chappelle remains decidedly two-faced, sidestepping any meaningful discussion and instead turning to his signature racial commentary. He gives us lessons on Emmett Till’s tragic death, racial profiling and how Comedy Central swindled him out of a show. In doing so, Chappelle creates a version of oppression Olympics that he presents as harmless truth-telling. And while it may be truth, it’s irresponsible of him to dismiss other oppressed voices in that manner. If Chappelle is our older first cousin, then he is increasingly becoming that one family member at reunions we can’t decide how to awkwardly avoid. Whenever we talk to him, he is helpless in avoiding discussion about his “Paul Revere” moment, or his claim to fame, that goes something like: “Remember when I did that thing (warning the colonists about the British and ‘Chappelle’s Show’) those years ago that everyone liked me for? Yeah, those were good times.” Cool, but those times are over. The age has come where comics will have to adapt to the amorphous, post-Weinstein and post-Caitlyn Jenner moment — not necessarily by scrubbing jokes clean, but through jokes that, at their heart, show sympathy and solidarity with women and transgender people. And, crucially, the jokes must still be funny. It’s a hard feat to pull off, and I doubt if Chappelle has any interest in trying. Luckily, however, the comedic family is always adopting.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2018
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
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Computer science professor Prasad Jayanti discusses teaching more that I wanted a job that was a combination of research and fascinating. It was so fascinating teaching. I applied to a couple of that I thought I should learn more places, and Dartmouth is one of computer science. Curiously, when these rare places where research I applied, they wanted me to do a and teaching both are truly valued. Ph.D. program instead, but I was It was a very attractive place for me not committed to come, and enough t o “Firstly, the picture I I continue to computer science believe this is want to dispel about to agree to doing the right place a Ph.D. program computer science for me. and insisted on a is that it leads to a master’s degree Could you — they ultimately job where you are tell me a agreed. I found holed up in some bit about the journey very area of windowless basement your interesting and expertise in continued with somewhere and just in concurrent that. front of a computer all algorithms? PJ: An How did you day pulling your hair algorithm come to teach writing hairy code.” is a recipe, at Dartmouth? a p ro g r a m , PJ: When I was a series of finishing up my -PRASAD JAYANTI, instructions Ph.D. at Cornell COMPUTER SCIENCE that will University, it was need to be very clear to me PROFESSOR performed that I wanted to to solve the be in a university p ro bl e m as a professor. of interest In addition to e f f i c i e n t l y. research, which is fascinating, I What a concurrent program is, have always been interested in [is] that you have a problem and teaching, even as a high school not one, but several processors student. Even at Cornell as a — several computers — are Ph.D. student, I taught a full coordinating with each other to course, which confirmed once help solve the problem. Obviously, FROM Q&A PAGE 1
when there is a team and not an individual working on a problem, more problems arise because coordination is not always easy to achieve. It is exactly so in the context of computers as well, because these computers can all proceed at different speeds and some of them can fail, yet the task must still be successfully and efficiently completed. How you overcome those challenges is the concern of the field of distributed computing. Can you tell me about the current research you are pursuing? PJ: Suppose many processors are working on a problem and along the way, some of the processors crash. When a processor crashes, it loses all its memory and it even loses a sense of where it was in the program. All that is preserved is whatever you have taken care to maintain in nonvolatile memory, but anything you had in your volatile memory, even the sense of where you are in your program, all that is lost when a crash happens. Subsequently, when a computer recovers and restarts, it restarts all right but it restarts without a sense of where it crashed. But you still would like to solve the ultimate problem of interest correctly and efficiently despite the crash and restart. How do you make that
happen?
and more intelligent. When you write a program, the computer Do you have a n y a dvi c e must first transfer it into machine for students interested in language. How is translation from pursuing computer science? this to that done? How that is PJ: Firstly, the picture I want to happening is not boring work. It’s dispel about computer science is creative, mental, intelligent work. that it leads to a job where you Computer science is a science — are holed up in some windowless the science of problem-solving basement somewhere and just in — and that’s fascinating. front of a computer all day pulling Secondly, sometimes students your hair writing hairy code. worry that if perhaps if they That may be haven’t had enough one picture computer science in of a computer “Computer science high school, then they scientist, but is a science — the are at a disadvantage. the picture of There is none of that. a chef could science of problem Our own curriculum, be someone solving — and and in most other who bur ns and universities that’s fascinating.” places their hands as well, is designed all day — in such a way that t h a t ’ s n o t -PRASAD JAYANTI, anybody, whether or necessarily not they have had t h e w h o l e COMPUTER SCIENCE prior experience, can p i c t u r e . PROFESSOR enter the curriculum Computer a n d d o ex t re m e l y science is full well. So it’s a science, o f c r e a t i ve i t ’s i n t e l l e c t u a l l y ideas, and when you think of fascinating. It challenges your computer science, it’s really a mind; when you pass, it pays you science. All that’s in the computer well and takes care of you more is some silicon and iron, so how are than adequately and it’s open to they related to the computer? Why everyone. Anyone who loves a little is the computer behaving the way it logical thinking will love computer is? How have we successfully made science. it behave that way? Even once we have the machine, our programs This interview has been edited and are making that machine more condensed for clarity and length.
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DARTMOUTHEVENTS
THE DARTMOUTH EVENTS
SQUARE ONE FOR STEVE
TUESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2018
MATTHEW GOLDSTEIN ’18
TODAY
8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
Breakfast with the Arts, with photographer Eli Burakian and members of the studio art department, Nearburg Gallery, Black Family Visual Arts Center
8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Art Exhibit: “The Zen of Watercolor,” with art teachers Rosalie desGroseilliers and Patti Warren, 7 Lebanon Street, Suite 107
4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Lecture: “Secretory Autophagy is a Novel Defense Mechanism in the Intestine,” with University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center postdoctoral fellow Shai Bel, Chilcott Auditorium, Vail building
TOMORROW 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Dartmouth Town Hall, with executive vice president Rick Mills and Dartmouth-Hitchcock chief executive officer and president Joanne Conroy ’77, Spaulding Auditorium, Hopkins Center for the Arts
4:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Lecture: “Fire, Fury or Folly: How the Trump Administration is Handling Iran and North Korea,” with Harvard University Kennedy School of Government director Gary Samore, Haldeman 41 (Kreindler Conference Center)
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TUESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2018
THE DARTMOUTH ARTS
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Review: ‘Bright’ fails to deliver message about race relations Landis, with his myopic vision, thinks he has something relevant The Dartmouth Staff to say. But the execution of his This was not part of the plan. script ruins any good intentions, I h a d eve r y i n t ention of resulting in a film that postures watching “The Post” and writing as anti-racist while peddling my review over the long weekend. decidedly racist stereotypes. While For a variety of reasons, my plan did the dehumanizing portrayal of not pan out, so my best alternative people of color is depressingly became Netflix’s recent hit film, run of the mill, the depiction of “Bright.” Despite the dearth of the orcs is even more muddled. positive critical reactions, I was The setup seems clear enough, nonetheless intrigued. For one casting the orcs as the minority thing, the concept is appealing: group against whom the humans a gritty crime drama set in an have dee p-rooted prejudices alternative universe where humans that must be overcome. But, for coexist with fantasy creatures like whatever mind-boggling reason, orcs, elves, centaurs and fairies. Ayer and Landis spend the entire Although I loathed director David film demonizing every orc who Ayer’s most recent film, last year’s isn’t Jakoby, portraying them all as appropriately named “Suicide violent, unsympathetic gangsters. Squad,” I actually enjoyed his 2012 Rather than demonstrate how buddy-cop drama “End of Watch,” baseless the prejudice against the which starred Jake Gyllenhaal orcs is, the film does its darnedest and Michael Peña. The potential to validate it. of that film combined with the This particular problem is potential of “Bright’s” premise exacerbated by the fact that made me wonder if the critical Jakoby, despite having the most consensus on Ayer’s newest outing compelling internal conflict of might be wrong. all the characters, isn’t even the If only. protagonist — Ward is. Of course, Los Angeles police officer Daryl this isn’t really abnormal. Films Ward (Will Smith) is paired with dealing with oppression often tend the nation’s first ever orcish police not to focus on the oppressed, and officer, Nick Jakoby (Joel Edgerton), instead cast a sympathetic member who has to cope with his human co- of the oppressive group as the main workers’ inevitable prejudice that character because filmmakers his species is criminal by nature. assume audiences will have an After more than easier time 30 minutes of “Films dealing with relating to him meandering or her. Not only setup, the plot oppression often is this paradigm f i n a l l y k i c k s tend not to focus d e e p l y into high gear problematic, on the opppressed, when the two but it is officers stumble and instead cast a made worse onto a crime sympathetic member in “Bright” scene and find because Ward a magic wand of the oppressive is not even that can only group as the main sympathetic. be touched He alternates character because by special b e t w e e n i n d i v i d u a l s filmmakers assume standing up known a s audiences will have an for Jakoby and “Brights.” being as cruel as T h e e n s u i n g easier time relating to his colleagues, d r a m a p l a y s him or her.” but none of it out predictably, really matters like a horrific because he combination of is miserable “True Detective” and “Dungeons company for a two-hour film. and Dragons” fanfiction. Smith is one of the most likeable Before we go any further, we actors working today, but he seems, need to address the elephant almost paradoxically, utterly in the room: The film is, at its incapable of infusing even a hint core, a thinly veiled allegory of decency into this character. for racism. More specifically, it The only good performance is trying to comment on racial comes from Edgerton, although tensions in America right now. The sadly the film too often makes screenplay explicitly references him the butt of a joke. Moreover, Black Lives Matter in a key line his entire character arc revolves of dialogue, implying that the film around his need to transform has something important to say from the film’s only moral and about the turbulent circumstances sensitive character into another of President Donald Trump’s jerk like Ward. This almost America. Indeed, I have no makes sense because the film doubt that screenwriter Max never frames Ward’s abusive,
By SEBASTIAN WURZRAINER
violent and aggressive behavior as a character flaw but rather as an indication that he is cool and worthy of our admiration. “Toxic masculinity” is too generous of a term to apply toward a film that manages to venerate this character while maintaining a completely straight face. The film’s proclivity for macho-nonsense does not just come through the characters but also in the excess of mindless action scenes. The middle of the film is plagued by shootout after shootout, each of which is awful in distinct ways. All of the tension is drained from the action more than once, just so the characters can spout witty but ineffective dialogue at each other. At other moments, the action is visual sludge as the editing completely loses track of where the characters are relative to each other and what exactly they
are all doing. in that story because the message I want to clarify that I take no is not confused or contradictory pleasure in but simple and the fact that consistent. None “Bright” is “‘Toxic masculinity’ of that can be said as genuinely is too generous of a for “Bright.” awful as it is. Ye t i t t u r n s term to apply toward Ag ain, the out that the film p r e m i s e i s a film that manages has experienced i n t e r e s t i n g to venerate [an something of a enough and reverse “The Last none of this aggressive] character Jedi;” critics hate is to say that while maintaining a it, but audiences one cannot love it. And that’s completely straight address great. I’m happy c o m p l e x face.” people had a social and good time while political watching it. I just issues in a could not. The story filled with fantasy elements. film pretends it has something deep The “Harry Potter” series generally to say and primes your brain for a does a pretty good job at addressing thoughtful experience, but it all too prejudice with its Mudblood- quickly devolves into a cacophony Pureblood dichotomy. It works of nonsense.
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THE DARTMOUTH ARTS
TUESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2018
Book Review: ‘Never Caught’ grapples with freedom after slavery By JORDAN MCDONALD The Dartmouth Staff
In 2017, writer and historian Erica Armstrong Dunbar published the biography “Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless P u r s u i t O f T h e i r Ru n aw ay Slave, Ona Judge.” Attempting to accomplish an ambitious feat, Dunbar imagines the life of Judge, a young woman who was enslaved by America’s first family but managed to escape from bondage. The book reconstructs the course that Judge took on her journey to freedom from enslavement in 1796. By harnessing her skill for research, Dunbar reconstructs Judge’s world, telling a story that has never been explored in such detail or with such tact. Through this biography, Dunbar also honors the life and humanity of a woman who was denied niceties at birth. As a work of biographical nonfiction, “Never Caught” uses history to bind the holes and gaps in the story of Judge, who was one of the only enslaved people of Mount Vernon to escape and tell her story. The book approaches Judge’s life with both an understanding of her
circumstance and the limitations D u n b a r e l u c i d a t e s t h e of rendering an account of any emotional climate that informed enslaved person’s life. Dunbar the precarious lives of enslaved explains in the book, “For fugitives, people who fled by making it like [Judge], secrecy was a necessity. clear that “it was the threat of Enslaved men and women on the capture and re-enslavement that run often kept their pasts hidden, kept closed the mouths of those even from the who managed to people they beat the odds l o v e d t h e “The book and successfully m o s t : t h e i r approaches [Ona] e s c a p e . ” spouses and Through this c h i l d r e n . ” Judge’s life with both attention to W i t h t h i s an understanding the details in mind, of runaway of her circumstance the work of a c c o u n t s, c o n f i g u r i n g and the limitations of Dunbar conveys a n a r r a t i ve rendering an account Judge’s “shadowy o f Ju d g e ’ s life that was l i f e c o m e s of any enslaved isolated and w i t h m a n y person’s life.” clandestine,” difficulties tinged with the in accurately fear of discovery. recreating the The result is an lives of those who defied the unjust expertly crafted account that laws of slavery. Dunbar centers the “reveals the contradictions at the work with the knowledge of the heart of the American founding,” fragility of freedom that plagued according to historian Annette the lives of runaways, particularly Gordon Reed. those owned by families with A finalist for the National Book immense slave-catching resources, Award for Nonfiction, “Never including Judge’s owners, George Caught” is an immersive approach and Martha Washington. to historical reconstruction.
WINTER AFTERNOONS FROM THE OTHER SIDE
JOYCE LEE/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF
Students make their way across campus as temperatures drop after an unseasonably warm couple of days.
D u n b a r i n fo r m s h e r t e l l i n g black history is widely unknown, of Judge’s story with Judge’s “Never Caught” reveals a site for own words from interviews and further exploration into the history descriptions offered by those who of black life throughout New were intent on having her returned Hampshire and its neighboring as well as those who committed states. As one poignant example, themselves to keeping her safe. over two decades ago, activist In this way, it is a compelling Valerie Cunningham founded the meditation on the work that is Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail required in preserving freedom. in an effort to spread awareness Through detailed accounts of the of the history and contributions decades Judge lived as a fugitive of black people in Portsmouth. slave, the book reveals itself to A s B l a c k H i s t o r y M o n t h be deeply concerned with the approaches and many of us begin concept of justice and its need to reflect on the history of the for collaborative, ongoing support country, it is particularly pertinent and reinforcement. It is both a that we shed light on the histories historical account of a runaway’s that have fallen into obscurity over journey and a love letter to the idea the years. That includes stories like of freedom, an idea that compelled Judge’s that are unknown to the a young woman born into slavery majority of the American people. to leave the only life she had ever Stories of black women’s resistance known and launch herself into an to slavery are underappreciated unfamiliar world. and rarely discussed in mainstream Born into slavery in Virginia, reflection on African-American Judge comes of age in Pennsylvania history. “Never Caught” challenges and lives her life as a free this phenomenon by following woman between Greenland and in the footsteps of those who have Portsmouth, continued to New Hampshire. “As Black History usher new “Never Caught” stories into Month approaches captures the the nation’s landscape and and many of us canon that g e o g r a p hy o f begin to reflect reveal the the era as they diversity and pertain to Judge’s on the history of complexity r e l o c a t i o n the country, it is of the black throughout the in particularly pertinent experience East Coast. America from Forging a tiny that we shed light 1619 to the c o m m u n i t y on the histories present. among fellow To Judge, New A f r i c a n - that have fallen into Hampshire A m e r i c a n s o n obscurity over the represented a the seacoast of place where years.” New Hampshire, she was able to Judge built a life stop running and family of i n d e f i n i t e l y, her own after a location fit b e c o m i n g s o m e t h i n g o f a n for her to lay down roots after a attraction for local abolitionists nomadic period of escape. Her who wished to publish her story story calls us to reflect on the of escape. For almost 50 years, she realities of this area today, to ask managed to construct a new world ourselves whether the communities for herself despite the looming that populate this state are still threat of recapture. Her story is committed to preserving the one about the locality of freedom, freedom and humanity of others, a precarious thing that cannot be as was done for Judge. secured by geography alone. To D u n b a r, t h e wo rk o f Additionally, Judge’s story spreading Judge’s story is far from prompts those of us living in the over. On Jan. 23, Dunbar will Upper Valley to continue the speak at Saint Anselm College in work of uncovering the people Manchester for a lecture entitled on the margins of the narratives “Rethinking Resistance: Ona surrounding New Hampshire’s Judge, the Washingtons’ Runaway history. Set in a state whose Slave and the Meaning of Escape.”