VOL. CLXXIV NO.172
RAIN
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2018
HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE
Application pool for Class of 2022 totals 22,005
CAUTION, WET PAINT
HIGH 38 LOW 17
By THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF 20,504 and 20,675 applicants,
MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF
The stairs in Baker-Berry Library have been cordoned off as the paint is retouched.
ARTS
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: CONNOR LEHAN ’18 PAGE 8
OPINION
BARTLETT: LEARNING THE ART OF THE DEAL PAGE 7
SHAH: SKINS ON SKINS PAGE 7
CHENG: UNDERUTILIZED TALENT PAGE 6
CHUN: WE DO NOT GO TO COLLEGE PAGE 6
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Fraternities extend 16 bids for winter recruitment
By LILY JOHNSON The Dartmouth
With the conclusion o f w i n t e r f r at e r n i t y recruitment last week, t h e f r at e r n i t i e s t h at participated in this rush have begun to integrate
their new members and settle back into regular activities with completed new member classes. Interfraternity Council recruitment chair Robert Stackhouse ’18 wrote in an email statement that four houses held winter rush
and a total of 16 bids were extended. This past fall, 341 bids were extended and last winter rush after Beta Alpha Omega fraternity’s suspension was lifted, 49 bids were given out. SEE FRATERNITIES PAGE 3
The College received a total of 22,005 applications for the Class of 2022, the highest number in the past five years and the fourth-highest in the College’s history. The pool, which includes both early decision and regular decision applicants, represents a 9.8 percent increase over last year’s pool of 20,034. Both the early and regular decision pools saw increases, from 1,999 to 2,270 — 13.5 percent — for early-decision and from 18,022 to 19,735 — 9.5 percent — for regular decision. This year’s early-decision pool was also the largest in the College’s history, and the first such pool with over 2,000 applicants. The Classes of 2019 and 2020 received
respectively. In the College’s press release, vice provost for enrollment and dean of admissions and financial aid Lee Coffin attributed the increase in applicants to expanded recruitment efforts and the College’s new communications plan, which emphasizes the College’s commitment to teaching. The College publicly announced the plan on its website on Jan. 21. Coffin also noted that the applicant pool has increased qualitatively as well as quantitatively, though the press release did not provide statistics on applicants’ GPAs or standardized test scores. D e c i s i o n s fo r re g u l a r decision applicants will be released on March 28.
Three alumni Game designer Mary Flanagan named on Forbes speaks at economic forum 30 Under 30 list By LEX KANG
The Dartmouth Staff
By ALEX RIVLIN The Dartmouth
Three Dartmouth alumni have been included in the 2018 edition of the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, which profiled 30 successful figures under 30 years of age across 20 different fields. Charlie Friedland ’10 works as an investing partner at Geodesic Capital, a venture capital firm that invests in U.S. technology companies and helps them expand to Asian markets. Molly Grear ’11 Th’12 , a Ph.D. candidate at the
University of Washington set to graduate this summer, is studying the environmental impacts of renewable energy sources in the ocean, specifically, underwater turbines. Sourav Sinha ’12 is the chief executive officer and co-founder of Oncolinx, which develops antibody-drug conjugates to mitigate many side effects of chemotherapy. Each alumni attributed some of their success to taking a variety of classes while at Dartmouth and SEE FORBES PAGE 2
From Jan. 23 to Jan. 26, world leaders traveled to Davos, Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum. At the forum, Dartmouth film and media studies professor Mary Flanagan gave a presentation titled “Game Changers: Playing Games for Good.” Flanagan also sat on three different panels about design, the future of the work force in relation to artificial intelligence and experiential education. Flanagan said her talk was largely based on her
research on games being used not only as a source of entertainment, but also as a medium to create s o c i a l a n d b e h av i o r a l c h a n g e. A c c o r d i n g t o F lanagan, games are a reliable platfor m for social intervention because of the comfortable and approachable atmosphere games can create, allowing the intervention to feel natural rather than forced or intrusive. “Games are really good at approaching difficult topics because people are open when they play a game — people are free,” Flanagan said. “That’s a key
factor in addressing difficult challenges. How can you go in a difficult subject area and not feel talked down to, or told what to think?” The power of games a s m e d i u m s fo r s o c i a l intervention is the main s u b j e c t o f F l a n a g a n’s research with her colleagues and team of student re s e a rch e r s at h e r l a b Tiltfactor, which she founded in 2003. Though Flanagan founded Tiltfactor prior to coming to Dartmouth, the lab is now located in the Digital Humanities Suite of the Black Family Visual Arts Center. SEE FLANAGAN PAGE 5
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2018
Q&A with religion professor and Forbes 30 Under 30 Buddhism scholar Reiko Ohnuma recognizes three alumni By RUBEN GALLARDO The Dartmouth
Religion professor Reiko Ohnuma’s scholarship explores themes in narrative literature of South Asian Buddhism such as stories, legends and myths. She first became interested in Southeast Asian studies as an undergraduate student at the University of California, Berkeley. Her academic interests in the culture of the region led her to Varanasi, India, on a post-graduate fellowship, where she decided to pursue a doctorate degree in South Asian studies. Last June, she published her third book, “Unfortunate Destiny: Animals in the Indian Buddhist Imagination,” which adds to her repertoire of publications focusing on Buddhist traditions in Southeast Asia. At the College, Ohnuma is teaching Religion 9, “Hinduism” and Religion 42, “Goddesses of India.” What led you to pursue a career as a scholar specializing in the Buddhist traditions of Southeast Asia? RO: I was an undergraduate student at the University of California, Berkeley and I was a psychology major. I was unhappy with that major, so at the beginning of my junior year, when I was shopping for classes, a friend of mine told me a crazy story about India. He had visited the country, hiked into the jungle and the next morning he woke up to a monkey handing him a mango. Although now I think that they story was absolutely not true, at the time I thought it was an amazing story and decided to learn more about India through the classes offered at Berkeley. I enrolled in a course called “Introduction to Indian Civilization” and absolutely loved it. I started taking nothing but classes about India that I even extended my time as an undergraduate at Berkeley for another year to complete the major in Southeast Asian studies. After graduating, I went to India for a year on a post-graduate fellowship to study the Hindi language. While studying in India, I decided to pursue a graduate degree in South Asian studies upon my return to the states. Why did you choose to study Buddhism in India rather than other cultural aspects of the region? RO: After living in the holy city of Varanasi through a fellowship program offered by the American Institute of Indian Studies, I decided to go to
graduate school in general South Asian studies because I wasn’t sure in what I was interested in studying. I went to the University of Chicago for the first year of graduate school and I was miserable. The University of Chicago is a very particular place where most students know their academic interests, but I barely knew what I was doing. At one point, a professor pulled me aside and suggested that I pursue my graduate studies in Buddhism at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. I was really clueless, but he was a great professor because he saw what I was interested in and a future for me in that field.
How did you come to teach at the College? RO: Prior to coming to Dartmouth in 1999, I had two non-tenured track positions. My very first job academic job was at the University of Texas at Austin, which was great, but it was not a tenured track position. My second job was a tenured track position at the University of Alabama, which I did not enjoy because it was really hard to be Asian there. When I got the job at Dartmouth, I was also really attracted to teaching high-caliber students. Which one of your classes do you enjoy teaching the most? RO: I really enjoy the “Goddesses of India” class because rather than covering a broad subject matter the course narrows its focus on the goddess tradition in the Hindu religion. We get to analyze in-depth interesting ideas relating to the topic such as the relation between the male and female. Currently, 17 students are enrolled in the class and the format of the course is a mixture of lecture and discussion. I also really enjoy teaching first-year writing seminars, since they allow for a context that zeros in on a specific topic. I’ve taught three different seminars in the past. For example, I taught a seminar called “Sudden versus Gradual Enlightenment in India, Tibet and China,” which was focused on the question of whether you attain enlightenment suddenly and all at once or gradually. This kind of topic perfectly fits the format of a writing seminar course. Tell me more about your most recent publication, “Unfortunate Destiny: Animals in the Indian Buddhist Imagination.” RO: My pattern in my scholarship has always been that after publishing a major project, I have to rest because I’m not a person that is brining with ideas,
CORRECTIONS We welcome corrections. If you believe there is a factual error in a story, please email editor@thedartmouth.com.
ready to move onto the next project. This book is about animal imagery in Buddhist literature, and it explores how animals are used to comment on what it means to be human. On the one hand, Buddhists in India felt a kinship with animals because both humans and animals are suffering beings in the realm of rebirth. On the other hand, Buddhism is a very human-centered tradition that believes only human beings have the ability to make spiritual progress to attain an ultimate goal. So, this creates a distancing from the animals that keeps humans separate from them. In sum, the book explores animal imagery, discourse and focuses on the use of animals in Buddhist traditions. Since the publication of this book, I have spoken at conferences on animal studies, which is a burgeoning interdisciplinary field that involves history, literature, religion and philosophy.
Do you see a surge in the number of people currently practicing Buddhism in the United States? RO: Buddhism is said to be the fastest growing religion in the United States, but it is still a tiny proportion of the U.S. population. The practice is facing issues that stem from the tension between white convert Buddhist and AsianAmerican Buddhists. The discussion centers around the tendency of white converts to dismiss Asian-American forms of Buddhism because they see these practices as cultural baggage that obscure the heart of the tradition. I do think that Buddhism is fetishized and appropriated by Americans. I think that white convert Buddhists have genuine respect for the tradition, but there needs to be more sensitivity around the Asian roots of the religion and respect toward Asian-American Buddhists who practice legitimate Buddhist traditions. How would you describe your experience as a professor at Dartmouth? RO: Dartmouth does a great job at giving faculty the resources that we need to succeed and pursue meaningful research. The quarter system works great for faculty because it means that we have more flexibility in dividing our time between teaching and pursuing research. For example, Dartmouth is great at providing funds for faculty to travel to conferences and promote research. Although the quarter system makes teaching a hectic task because the term moves very fast, when you are not teaching you can spend a significant amount of time immersing yourself in a project. From my perspective, unless I was someone who really wanted to have my own graduate students, there is no other place that I would rather work at. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
similar opportunities while at Dartmouth, each alumnus took a the ability to take classes across very different path towards their departments. Despite having different respective professions. According to majors, Friedland and Grear both Sinha, he had always been interested found themselves taking classes at in biomedical research. He began his the Thayer School of Engineering professional journey immediately after graduation, when he earned his during their time at the College. “Overall, being able to take classes master’s degree in biomedical science. across sectors and departments, it However, while he initially planned really just teaches you overall how to to pursue a Ph.D., Sinha instead think and problem solve,” Friedland founded Oncolinx, which he began said. “That overall baseline education full-time after finishing his master’s that you get at Dartmouth has been program. After living on both coasts unbelievably beneficial to my career.” and training at NASA, he set up his Grear also praised Dartmouth’s labs and research for Oncolinx in liberal arts approach to engineering, Buffalo, New York. which allowed her to take many He said he takes pleasure in the “high risk, high biology classes work despite being “That overall baseline impact” that he does and an engineering hopes to make major. She stated education that you get that her diverse at Dartmouth has been “progress in a field that has no class range prepared her unbelievably beneficial traction.” “ W e to work as an to my career.” really want environmental to make a big e n g i n e e r by impact for cancer g i v i n g h e r -CHARLIE FRIEDLAND ’10 p at i e n t s a n d practical their families,” context for her he said. work, whereas Grear a curriculum said she knew featuring only immediately engineering knew what she classes might not wanted to do have prepared after graduating. her as well. “When Sinha, a I came out of molecular biochemistry major, recalls taking Dartmouth, I really wanted to classes, such as ones in the sociology engineer [turbines],” she said. “I department, that forced him to adapt wanted to design the blades and make to new ways of thinking. He added the systems.” that he appreciated being exposed to However, she said she quickly realized that she might need to many academic fields. In addition to taking diverse course change her focus slightly, to build loads, the alumni also capitalized on more environmentally friendly Dartmouth’s many undergraduate systems. opportunities. Already experienced in “As I started working in this scientific research before Dartmouth, industry, I sort of found out that Sinha worked at the Dartmouth- some of the societal or environmental Hitchcock Medical Center during his concerns can often be the things that time at the College, which granted are causing the industry to slow down him more exposure to the medical more than the engineering concerns,” she said. field. Fr i e d l a n d c o n d u c t e d a n Now, she designs underwater independent study with the turbines that do not harm sea life environmental studies department, such as porpoises, seals and whales. which he said taught him to develop After college, Friedland worked his own independent ideas and for Morgan Stanley for two years as follow his own path. He said he an investment banking analyst. From believes these studies are important there, he worked as an associate at for teaching students how to think Summit Partners, a private equity independently, so that they know their investment firm. After a year working own value when they begin working as a strategist for ipsy, he began working at Geodesic. professionally on teams. Similarly, Grear went on the Friedland emphasized that biology foreign study program, students should enjoy their time on which went to Costa Rica and Little campus and make the most of their Cayman, where students studied Dartmouth experiences. marine biology and tropical ecology “Dartmouth has so much to offer and you want to take advantage of while learning to scuba dive. Despite taking advantage of all of it,” he said. FROM FORBES PAGE 1
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2018
Four fraternities offer winter recruitment FROM FRATERNITIES PAGE 1
Two men were offered bids at Alpha Chi Alpha fraternity, four at Sigma Phi Epsilon, one at Sigma Nu fraternity and nine at Zeta Psi fraternity, according to Stackhouse. Brian Joyce, director of the Office of Greek Life, confirmed these numbers. Last winter, Alpha Chi extended three bids, Beta extended 33, Kappa Kappa Kappa fraternity extended six, Sig Nu extended three and Zete extended four. Fewer men partake in winter rush than fall rush, and not all fraternities participate in the winter recruitment process. This year’s winter rush process operated similarly to that of years past and those in the fall. The procedures are comprised of two nights of open events in the fraternities and ends with a “shakeout,” where potential members can express their interest in a particular fraternity. Alpha Chi rush chair Nico Turk ’19 said that this year’s recruitment used the same process as in the fall and did not change much from previous years. “We saw similar numbers as before and extended bids to a couple of individuals who were off in the fall,” Turk said. “We’re very happy with the new members and proud to offer winter rush as an opportunity for those who were off campus in the fall or perhaps unsure about the decision.”
Jamir Pleitez ’19, Sig Ep’s rush chair, said that the only difference in their rush process from this fall was that Sig Ep did not hold any big rush events because fewer men participate. Pleitez added that this year’s winter rush class deviated from last year’s, when they did not extend bids to any new members. Speaking to the common belief that winter rush can be more competitive than fall rush, Pleitez said, “In a way it is because there are certain rush events in the fall and there’s not that much in the winter, and the new member class has already gotten close. I don’t know if it’s harder, but it definitely feels different [than fall rush].” Pleitez, like Turk, agreed that winter rush presents an opportunity to join Greek life for students who were off campus in the fall and offers a second chance for people whose fall rush did not go the way they wanted. Eric Zhang ’20, who rushed Zete this winter, said “[the Greek system] is a great way to meet people that you wouldn’t normally meet otherwise.” After going through the rush process, Zhang is glad he joined the Greek system as he believes it connects him with even more people on the Dartmouth campus, even those in other Greek houses. “I feel Dartmouth is very special because we have a very open Greek system, so even though you decide to rush one place over the other, you can still have friends in the other houses,” Zhang said.
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PULL UP A CHAIR
TIFFANY ZHAI/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Students in Engineering Sciences 2, “Integrated Design,” build chairs out of cardboard.
PAGE 4
DARTMOUTHEVENTS
THE DARTMOUTH EVENTS
RECOLLECTIONS: A DARTMOUTH EXPERIENCE
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2018
NEELUFAR RAJA ’21
TODAY
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
5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Presentation: “The Place that is Ours; Maps of Palestine-Israel,” by Palestinian-Iraqi artist and activist Zena Agha, Haldeman 041
7:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Film: “P.S. Jerusalem,” directed by Danae Elon, Loew Auditorium, Black Family Visual Arts Center
TOMORROW
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Presentation: “Population Health Approach in a resource constrained setting,” with Lawrence General Hospital Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs and Population Health Pracha Eamranond, Auditorium F, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Women’s Ice Hockey: Dartmouth College versus Colgate University, Thompson Arena
7:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Film: “Roman J. Israel, Esq,” starring Denzel Washington, directed by Dan Gilroy ’81, Loew Auditorium, Visual Arts Center
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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2018
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
PAGE 5
Media studies professor Mary Flanagan travels to Davos FROM FLANAGAN PAGE 1
“Dartmouth’s goal is ultimately to have students go out in the world and change it for the better,” Flanagan said. “So I think it’s the perfect place to work on this kind of project.” Tiltfactor researchers have been dedicating their time and effort to a variety of social intervention projects and research. Tiltfactor postdoctoral researcher Gili Freedman said that she wanted to focus her social psychology knowledge somewhere she could actually make positive changes, and Tiltfactor was the perfect place for her. “A lot of my work before I came here was on the basic social processes, particularly social rejection,” Freedman said. “After quite a few years of that you start to actually want to change things, not just document how bad they are. Tiltfactor and Professor Flanagan are doing really cool work on reducing interpersonal biases and reducing prejudice against women in STEM.” Tiltfactor research assistant Khevna Joshi ’21 added that the Tiltfactor game “Awkward Moment” was particularly useful for reducing biases.
“You pick up a card and it “As people are playing, they’re talks about an awkward moment actually transcribing books from that you might have at work or in the Biodiversity Heritage Library, your [home],” Joshi said. “It puts so they’re taking words that yo u i n re a l machines have life situations a hard time a n d p r e p s “Dartmouth’s goal reading and you with how is ultimately to have turning it into y o u w o u l d students go out in the a s e a rch a bl e respond … text,” Seidman I n s t e a d o f world and change it for s a i d . “ We r e s p o n d i n g the better.” have software n e g a t i v e l y, that does this, it has you but these are respond more -MARY FLANAGAN, FILM historical positively.” records that AND MEDIA STUDIES H o w e v e r, often have T i l t f a c t o r ’s PROFESSOR water damage, games cover a or bizarre much broader typography, or spectrum are scanned beyond biass t r a n g e l y, s o fighting i t ’s h a rd fo r g a m e s . machines to do T i l t f a c t o r ’s it.” senior game After designer Max producing Seidman the game, ’12 said that Tiltfactor often h i s f avo r i t e uses its games to Tiltfactor conduct studies game, the to measure typing game “Smorball,” created their efficacy in social intervention. a tangible, positive contribution According to Tiltfactor research to society rather than subtle assistant Lindsay Kusnarowis interpersonal changes. ’20, the process of producing
a Tiltfactor game is extensive. The process starts from setting an objective, then brainstorming, and proceeds to multiple rounds of prototyping and play-testing before the game is used to conduct studies. “I’ve learned about all of the nuts and bolts about the design and creation of g ames and how to create them for specific demographics or just to make sure that they are balanced and fun,” Kusnarowis said. “I like the middle [of the game development process] … [when] I’m really working full steam ahead with a concrete direction and game design plan.” After the hard work has been put into game development and experimentation, Kusnarowis said she can feel the effectiveness of the game on herself as well. “As a woman in science, I’ve had to deal with some sort of internalized thoughts towards women in STEM,” Kusnarowis said. “I did a study with [Tiltfactor] for this video game [about] attitudes [toward] women in STEM and how you think about yourself as a woman in STEM, and I think that’s helped me work through my feelings about it.” Tiltfactor games’ potential to create positive change has
been recognized by others and is slowly spreading their influence. Kusnarowis said Tiltfactor’s final products are available for retail on Barnes and Noble or Amazon, with digital games on the iOS App Store. Seidman added that they are often marketed at game fairs as well. Tiltfactor administrator Danielle Taylor added that Tiltfactor games are sometimes showcased to educators too — the game “Pox,” made to increase positive sentiment toward vaccination, is one example. “There’s a faculty [member] at the local elementary school that has incorporated ‘Pox’ into her curriculum,” Taylor said. “Every grade, every year that she has them, does a small unit on vaccination, herd immunity and what those systems are like, and their primary activity during that is to play ‘Pox.’” Flanagan added that Tiltfactor games have been played during First-Year Trips and have been mentioned on NPR. The staff at Tiltfactor are looking forward to their next game release in a month, a board game called “Visitor of Lackwood Grove,” and hope to encourage many more Dartmouth students to participate in their studies for game development in the future.
THE DARTMOUTH OPINION
PAGE 6
CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST CHRISTOPHER CHENG ’21
STAFF COLUMNIST STEVEN CHUN ’19
Underutilized Talent
We Do Not Go to College
Dartmouth students are untapped potential resources for the College. Though campus jobs often have salaries barely above minimum wage, Dartmouth students are all too willing to take them. The difficulty of these jobs ranges wildly. Many entail simple tasks, such as filming varsity team practices, entering data into spreadsheets and swiping IDs at Dartmouth Dining Services locations. Yet there are also more challenging jobs, such as research assistantships that require advanced skills like statistical analysis. This latter group of campus employment is extremely cost-effective for the College and could be further expanded. Opinion columnists, myself included, like to point out the College’s extensive array of problems. Many of these, such as sexual assault on campus, academic grade inflation and the controversies of DDS, are beyond the abilities of students to solve on their own. These hottopic issues, however, are not the only areas for improvement on campus. Take, for example, Dartmouth’s Task Force on Enrollment Expansion, which is currently drafting a report on how Dartmouth should expand enrollment. According to dean of the faculty Elizabeth Smith, one of the task force’s key objectives is to consider how the Dartmouth experience could be preserved if the student body were to be enlarged. However, the task force is only composed of faculty members, a trustee, Dean of the College Rebecca Biron and Smith. Dartmouth students should be involved but not just through surveys and testimonials. Indeed, they are likely the best evaluators of the current “Dartmouth experience.” Leveraging talent in design, writing and a host of other skills, students could help draft a report, assist in the plan’s design and package its contents for consumption by the wider Dartmouth community. Because any change would potentially impact them directly, current students have incentive to do the work well. Another area for improvement at the College is web design. Dartmouth’s student information system, known as “Banner Student,” has a web design that looks straight out of the ’90s. Though the information system itself is outsourced to Ellucian Company L.P. and its affiliates, Banner serves to remind us that not all manifestations of Dartmouth’s online presence look as nice as its
home page. Similarly, Dartmouth Sports’ website has room for improvement. Unlike Banner, this website’s development wasn’t outsourced, so the athletics department could easily sponsor a student competition for a better web design, making full use of our talented computer science majors and web designers. Indeed, the annual competition to design Winter Carnival posters shows that Dartmouth students are able and willing to design on behalf of the College. The winner could receive a prize, see the design adopted and add an accolade to his or her portfolio. A good example of this model comes from the Social Impact Practicums, which are courses that engage students in a real-world project as part of their learning experience. Similar coding-related projects in other areas of campus could even potentially be integrated into the computer science curriculum. They would be of minimal cost to the College, especially when compared to the cost of hiring professionals. Dartmouth can also put Language Study Abroad participants to work. The admissions office can improve its international outreach, especially to parents of potential students, by hiring student translators to produce admissions materials. These students could translate booklets, pamphlets and infographics that can be distributed so people overseas gain a greater understanding of Dartmouth’s liberal arts mission. While these student translators may not be as fluent in the languages than professionals are, Dartmouth could maintain quality by hiring “professional” translators to review translated admissions material. Campus employment at Dartmouth is a mutually beneficial relationship whereby the College has access to a pool of talented students while students can hone their skills through practice. Despite the relative prominence of paid research programs on campus such as the Women in Science Project, gainful and mutually useful employment should not be limited to science, technology, engineering or mathematics majors. Humanities and social sciences majors’ hardearned talents can also be used to contribute to practical projects on campus. So long as there’s a will to make use of Dartmouth students’ talents, there’s a way.
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The college we experience and read about is completely divorced from reality. Dartmouth College, the rest of the Ivy Abbot adds, “Education means figuring out League, Stanford University, Williams how to arrange the finite things you can College — these are colleges only by know, their varying levels of abstraction and technicality. See, thinking about a general detail, their mix of skill and data, fact and category often means thinking about the theory, so as to maximize the potential array mean or median. When we think of the of meaning that you can experience in the American worker, our national consensus now.” Unfortunately, it is an argument that converges to about the right median. only works at the University of Chicago. He (while the U.S. is 50.8 percent To nearly all Americans, higher education female, women make up 47 percent of holds meaning only as a vehicle of economic the labor force) makes around $44,000 improvement. Yet instead of focusing on dollars, the mean salary of most police plummeting funding for state universities officers, construction foremen or high — the best guarantee of economic stability school teachers. The for millions of students most common job is “... the elite — the headlines are on a retail salesperson. trigger warnings and The average American institutions of higher student protests. has had some college education are not In this vein, the e d u c at i o n , bu t t h e elite institutions of higher those that boast the average American education are not those does not have a college lowest acceptance rate that boast the lowest degree. But what does but those that produce acceptance rate but those this college look like for that produce the most the average American? the most value for value for their students. There’s no sprawling their students.” The cornerstones of our green, probably not educational system are mu ch i v y. I t ’s n o t those colleges that accept residential, and it’s not filled with full- students whose background destines them time students. The application process for low-skill, low-pay work and graduate was not cutthroat, and admission didn’t them into the middle and upper-middle require months of expensive preparation classes. According to the Brookings for the ACT. So why does our image of Institute’s measure of value-added — the college feature standardized tests, high difference between observed graduate GPAs and competitive applications? Why earnings and predicted earnings — Virginia do we read The New York Times about Polytechnic Institute and State University “What Colleges Want in an Applicant produces just as much of a benefit for its (Everything)” — though to be fair, The students as Stanford does but does so for New York Times’ readership probably is nearly four times the students. not representative of the median American. This perspective is not just important for More importantly, why do we assign any policy and the rankings that are supposed weight to the experience of roughly 60,000 to tell students which colleges are best undergraduate students sprinkled around for their future. It seems ignorant at best the Northeast who all and snobby at worst happen to be in the “Regardless of where to consider our lives at same, somewhat weak, we have come from, Dartmouth average. It’s athletic conference? a small point in a fairly I t ’ s m y o p i c t o our presence here is omnipresent narrative of imagine our lives at a graduation into a elite students’ inability to Dartmouth as normal, recognize themselves as and it’s even worse to set of opportunities the closest thing America base policy around entirely divorced from has to an aristocracy. that idea. Here are the those available to the Elite universities are numbers according to one of the foremost FiveThirtyEight: Half average American.” gatekeepers of the of college students work upper class. Regardless while taking classes and of where we have come a third transfer. “In total, less than a third from, our presence here is a graduation into of U.S. undergraduates are ‘traditional’ a set of opportunities entirely divorced from students in the sense that they are full- those available to the average American. time, degree-seeking students at primarily I recently saw a video of a Dartmouth residential four-year colleges,” the website dorm room party where students danced reports. while a projector flashed between “f— the I am partial to sociologist Andrew neo-liberalists” and “f— the bourgeoisie.” I Abbott’s argument in his 2002 Aims of can only assume the revelers were practicing Education Address at the University of a form of intense irony. No matter what Chicago that, “The reason for getting an you were before Dartmouth, you’re the education here — or anywhere else — is that bourgeoisie now. Our experience of college it is better to be educated than not to be. It is doesn’t generalize well, and the Ivy League better in and of itself. Not because it gets you is not the engine of human capital for the something. Not because it is a means to some American economy — so let’s stop treating other end. It is better because it is better.” it as such.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2018
THE DARTMOUTH OPINION
PAGE 7
CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST NICHOLAS BARTLETT ’21
CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST RACHNA SHAH ’21
Learning the Art of the Deal
Skins on Skins
Democrats need to take President Donald Trump’s DACA proposal seriously.
Leather does not belong in the 21st century.
In the week following the end of the could ultimately provide a boon to the government shutdown, American politics Republican Party as much as — if not more have been riddled with speculation and so — to their Democrat contemporaries. conjecture regarding the future of the Not only would the construction of the Delayed Action for Childhood Arrivals border wall solidify the voter base which program. It seems that President Donald granted Republicans the congressional Trump — master of the art of the deal majority and presidency in the first place, — has finally responded by proposing his but the deal would simultaneously appeal own framework: DACA could survive and to the immigrant constituency as a result the children of undocumented immigrants of its protection of the Dreamers. The who were brought to the U.S. at a young latter is particularly problematic for the age could be given a special path to Democratic Party, as it has been the primary citizenship. However, the proposition beneficiary of the immigrant vote in recent comes with a caveat. A e l e c t i o n s, m e a n i n g DACA revival would that any shift in these “While accepting the only come to fruition if voter constituencies Congress (particularly the deal would require could lead to great Democratic aisle) agrees members of the party ramifications in the to fund the construction 2018 midterm elections of the wall along the to swallow their and beyond. U.S.-Mexico border. This pride to an extent, Balancing their deal is expensive; it is objectives and public their concession ostentatious; but most image has most likely importantly, it is worth would ultimately give been one of the taking. Democrats’ primary Dreamers — children I am not so foolish as impediments in the to believe that accepting affected by the proceedings thus far, these terms will be an easy DACA program — a but they need to be feat for congressional cautious about how path to permanent Democrats. After all, long they choose to ceding any ground to citizenship.” wait before making a one’s ideological opposite decision. As Trump is frequently seen as a sign administration’s “proof weakness. The usual DAC A” p e rc e p t i o n course of action is to stand up for one’s grows, it will only become more difficult beliefs no matter the cost — or the gain, to actively oppose a deal that advocates in this case. This mindset has only been one of their principal policies without exacerbated by the extremely polarizing inviting significant backlash. In this sense, nature of the Trump administration, the longer that Democrat lawmakers wait, birthing a rather simple dichotomy; one is the harder that it will be to say no and to either with Trump or against him. Yet despite appease their constituency. the prevalence of party politics in 2018, With this in mind, Democrats need to this is one instance where the Democrats take what Trump is giving them. He has should be content to align themselves proven to be a divisive leader in the past, with the “bad guy” to gain ground on and it is highly probable that, should they something for which they reject the current offer, have desperately fought he will never make throughout the past few “... this deal is a rare another one. Certainly, months. While accepting opportunity in the the wall itself will be the deal would require extremely costly, to the American political members of the party to tune of $25 billion. The swallow their pride to an landscape — one that notion of Trump as the extent, their concession would allow both sides “great compromiser” is would ultimately give one that could hurt the Dreamers — children to get exactly what Democratic narrative, affected by the DACA they want — and to but this deal is a rare program — a path to opportunity in the pass it up would be permanent citizenship. American political And this is what they foolish.” landscape — one that want, right? would allow both sides The answer to that to get exactly what they question is a nebulous one — backed want — and to pass it up would be foolish. by the paradoxical nature of policy Do not prioritize the party’s image and perception. Policy-wise, any formal over the future of 3.6 million Dreamers. implementation of DACA would be a huge Compromise. Give a little, and get a little. victory for Democratic (and liberal) values. Build the wall. To Trump, make good on the In that sense, advancing the legislation promise to implement DACA and provide would be a huge victory for the party’s the Dreamers with a path to citizenship. ideology and goals. Yet, this would come Actions speak louder than words, after at the cost of the party’s current political all. But first, show what you really are, image. This effort, spearheaded by Trump, Democrats: pro or anti DACA.
In the 21st century, authenticity has Today, half of all leather is used for shoes, become a brand value. We seek products and 25 percent is used for clothing. People and personas that are real, whether it be in tend to think of leather alternatives as plastic global cuisine or live singing. Yet the search shoes that aren’t breathable. That’s not the for the real can blind us to the benefits of case anymore. When vegetable tanning was the synthetic. Making real leather harms in short supply during both World Wars, animals, leather-tannery workers and nearby synthetic leather was invented. It can be made communities, while synthetic leather has from cork oak trees, kelp and pineapple leaves no victims. While fur-free movements have when a coating is bonded to a fabric backing. made an impact over the past few decades, PVC and PU leather, two types of synthetic leather has often slipped under the radar. leather, are still environmentally damaging, However, leather production is equally but they are much less used today and there harmful to human health, animal rights and are many alternatives. For instance, Piñatex the environment. is leather produced from waste pineapple From the neolithic period to today, humans leaves, requiring no additional land or water have worn animals’ hides. Leather is in and avoiding the use of toxic chemicals that people’s cars, on their couches and on their animal leather production involves. Synthetic clothes. Leather isn’t a meat byproduct, but leather has greater UV resistance and lower just like fur, it is cruel to animals because it is prices. By 2025, the synthetic leather market the skins of cats, cows, deer, dogs, elephants, is expected to grow to $85 billion. Materials goats, kangaroos and sheep. To create leather, such as cork, recycled rubber, waxed cotton skins are also soaked in solutions of urine and and mushrooms are biodegradable. The animal brains in a tanning process that is chemicals utilized in tanneries cause the end extremely foul smelling. Studies have shown byproduct produced to be non-biodegradable. that all stages of leather processing negatively While synthetic leather is more humane, impact the environment. cheaper and more environmentally friendly Kanpur, India is a village that used to house than genuine leather, it is often considered almost 10,000 leather inconvenient. Leather tanneries. The industry is popular because it releases toxic chemicals “As we learn more is ingrained in cultural that have contaminated about the cruelties of norms and fashion trends. the Ganges River and As we learn more about the leather industry polluted the soil. It has the cruelties of the leather devastated crops and and the cruelty-free industry and the crueltyvegetables. This has led to alternatives that exist, free alternatives that exist, health hazards, including we can begin to make blue baby syndrome, we can begin to make more educated choices respiratory disease and more educated choices and decisions. If you renal failure. Cleaning up care about you wear, you and decisions.” its act, Kanpur closed 67 should care about how the of the highest-polluting garments you’re wearing tanneries. Still, the $77 were made. billion leather industry remains a human Animal byproducts allow for the meat rights issue. Its main consumers are first world industry to make economic returns and countries, and its main victims are developing compete with industries that sell vegetable nations, especially those in which workers are protein sources. Agribusiness spends millions employed in tanneries paying low wages. of dollars lobbying on bills that help their While U.S.-based tanneries like Hermann business. Animals don’t have a voice, Oak Leather may describe themselves but people can be their voice. Through as “sustainable” and “environmentally education and advocating for or spending responsible,” they still generate pollutants on ethical products, each individual can and waste. Polluted runoff is often consumed make a difference. Avoid leather, suede and by animals, such as chicken, which are then skins in favor of synthetic materials such as consumed by humans. In every 200 kilograms cork and microfibers when buying clothes of final leather product, 250 kilograms of or shoes. Top brands such as Beyond Skin, non-tanned solid waste, 200 kilograms of Free People, H&M and Stella McCartney sell tanned waste and 50,000 kilograms of waste vegan apparel as do online retailers such as water are generated. Eighty percent of the MooShoes and Vegan Chic. original raw material is wasted. Until the Leather is harmful — to animals, to the demand for cheap leather produced under environment, to humans. When wearing these conditions is reduced, the waste and clothes requires rubbing chili peppers in damage will continue. animals’ eyes, breaking tails and increasing Animals in the leather industry do not risks of cancer in animals and tannery have the same legal protection that other workers, such a custom is not natural. It is animals do. They can be routinely castrated, monstrous. It is critical for each person to de-horned and branded; injured animals consider what wearing leather actually means go unnoticed. When Nike used kangaroo — and consider the benefits of the synthetic leather in some of its shoes in 2014, it led to choice. a petition with over 300,000 signatures asking Nike to stop using kangaroo leather in favor Shah is the president of the Dartmouth Animal of synthetic materials such as Kanga-Lite. Rights Troupe.
THE DARTMOUTH ARTS
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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2018
Student Spotlight: Casual Thursday president Connor Lehan ’18 By ELIZABETH GARRISON The Dartmouth
For a leader, it can often be difficult to strike a balance between pushing group members toward growth and making everyone feel motivated and supported. Connor Lehan ’18 has managed to do both as the president of Casual Thursday. An economics major and computer science minor, Lehan has been a member of the student improv group Casual Thursday since his freshman fall, when he fell in love with improv as an outlet for channeling the wacky side of personality. “Everyone needs an outlet,” Lehan said. “Normally, I’m kind of a lowenergy person, but then there’s this part of me that needs to come out and be crazy and wacky and wild.” Lehan said that in middle school, he was “the goofball” and “the class clown” but became more reserved in high school out of a desire to “keep that wackiness in check.” “So, I think I found a balance here where I use improv as an outlet for that wackiness,” Lehan said. Not only has improv provided Lehan with a sense of balance, it has also helped him to overcome the self-
consciousness that originally caused him to hide his outgoing side. “I think that improv usually attracts the kind of people who don’t care what other people think, but over time, as they keep doing it, that becomes even more so,” he said. Lehan recalled fears he had over giving a bad performance or realizing a joke may have fallen flat. “I think to just get your ego back up a little bit you’re going to have to convince yourself that you don’t care that [people] didn’t laugh, and it sounds really sad, but if you do that enough it eventually becomes true,” Lehan said. “Now, I’ve gotten to this point where I’m not really performing for the audience, I’m just up there to have fun.” Outside of Casual Thursday, Lehan enjoys writing comedy sketches and skiing. In addition, he hikes with the Dartmouth Outing Club and served as a First-Year Trip leader for Hiking 3 and Hiking 4. However, Casual Thursday has always been his top priority. Kendall Ernst ’18, who joined Casual Thursday the same year as Lehan and now serves as the group’s business manager, said that she especially admires his dedication.
“I think he’s missed maybe like one or two practices the entire time he’s been in the group since freshmen year,” Ernst said. “I remember last term [Lehan] hiked the Fifty, which is crazy and so incredible, and then he came to practice having zero sleep and his whole body hurt. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone that dead, and he still got up on stage. No one else would show up in that situation.” When no one else wanted to take on the responsibility and time commitment of the president role in the spring of his sophomore year, Lehan stepped up. Although Lehan joked that he was in charge by default, his best friend and fellow Casual Thursday member Zachary Schnell ’18 said that Lehan was the obvious choice for president. “In improv, we just naturally all found ourselves following his lead even before he was president,” Schnell said. “The force through which he moved the group was so incidental in such an amazing way. It wasn’t something he needed a title to do, people just naturally turned to him, and to me, that is the epitome of what a good leader is.” Schnell met Lehan in the fall of their freshman year, and they
COURTESY OF CONNOR LEHAN
Connor Lehan ’18 (center) became president of the student improv group Casual Thursday his sophomore spring.
bonded right away over their shared “wacky” sense of humor. Lehan introduced Schnell to everyone in Casual Thursday and encouraged him to audition the next year. Schnell noted that one of the things that makes Lehan such an effective leader is that when he provides constructive feedback to members of the group, he recognizes how vulnerable it feels to put yourself out there in improv. This quality became especially evident when the group went on tour and saw the dynamic of other groups. While Lehan encouraged everyone to take turns leading the warmup and picking the set for the show each night, other leaders simply told their group what to do without asking for any input. “[Lehan] is effective in a way that has far less to do with control and far more to do with trust, and that made this year’s tour absolutely phenomenal,” Schnell said. “Of course, we had some shows that bombed and shows that were fantastic,
but at the end of the day, we tried so much stuff and grew so much because of the way [Lehan] led the group.” Natalie Dameron ’21 joined Casual Thursday this fall and described herself as Lehan’s “number one fan.” She said that going on tour with the group over winter break was one of the best experiences she’s had so far during her time at Dartmouth. “He is just the nicest person you’ll ever meet, and he is such a strong leader in a way that is not about him,” Dameron said. “He just wants everyone to feel so included and supported, and I think that is so important especially for improv because you have to feel like you can be wacky and silly with all these people ... He definitely cultivates an atmosphere where everyone can be the craziest version of themselves and still feel supported.” Dameron is a member of The Dartmouth Staff.
COURTESY OF CONNOR LEHAN
Connor Lehan ’18 is an economics major and computer science minor.