The Dartmouth 2/6/18

VOL. CLXXIV NO.175

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2018

HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE

College receives 22,005 total applications

PARTLY CLOUDY HIGH 32 LOW 10

By GABRIEL ONATE The Dartmouth

LAUREN KIM/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

ARTS

ALUMNI Q&A WITH STEFAN LANFER ’97 PAGE 8

FILM REVIEW: ‘ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD’ PAGE 7

OPINION

PETRONI: SUPPORT FOR THE TRIPS DIRECTORATE PAGE 4

CAREY AND HORIUCHI: DEBATING WITHOUT DEPRECATING PAGE 4

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Last week, the College reported a total of 22,005 applications for the Class of 2022, marking a 9.8 percent increase in applications compared to last year. Applications for the Class of 2021 totaled 20,034.

Co-founder of college admissions consulting firm Top Tier Admissions Mimi Doe said she had several theories that could explain the increase in applicants. Working with students around the world, she noticed that Dartmouth was ramping up its efforts to recruit more first-generation,

The College’s application pool for the Class of 2022 is 9.8 percent larger than last year’s pool.

SEE APPLICATIONS PAGE 2

Chamber of Commerce appoints board members

By ALICE ZHANG The Dartmouth

The Hanover Area Chamber of Commerce announced three new members to its Board of Directors for 2018. The new members are Richard Lemay, vice president and branch manager of Mascoma Savings Bank; Michael Scheller, business team leader for mechanized plasma systems at Hypertherm, a local plasma, laser and water jet manufacturer; and Jennifer Poljacik,

chief executive officer of the River Valley Club, a local fitness center.

Scheller said he recently moved from Chicago to the Upper Valley.

He said he was interested in the joining the Chamber of Commerce both for the community service aspect and to get to know the area’s businesses better. Scheller hopes he will be able to “start setting up some roots in the area,” he said.

More specifically, he said he hopes to “help promote the businesses and energize some of the events that

have happened in the past.”

Scheller learned about the position when a former board member and coworker at Hyperther m was preparing to leave the Upper Valley and asked if he was interested in the position. From there, he received an interview and has since attended his first board meeting.

“It’s all very new and exciting ... everyone on the Board’s super fun and exciting,” he said.

The Hanover Area Chamber of Commerce aims to improve

Q&A with postdoctoral fellow Suzanne Lye

By JENNIE RHODES The Dartmouth

Postdoctoral fellow Suzanne Lye specializes in classical literature and mythology. However, her journey to becoming a classics professor was a “long, winding road,” according to Lye. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in organic chemistry from Harvard University, Lye pursued web design. During her honeymoon in Greece several years ago, as she was walking through the

the economic well-being of the area, according to its website. To do so, members work with the government in the Upper Valley to address local issues and interact with businesses in Hanover, Lyme and Norwich to promote sustainability and recognition, wrote executive director of the Hanover Area Chamber of Commerce Tracy Hutchins in an email statement.

Currently, the chamber is involved SEE COMMERCE PAGE 3

FLY EAGLES FLY

Akrotiri archaeological site, Lye had an epiphany — studying Greek and Roman classics was her calling. She then obtained a graduate degree in classics from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2016. Afterward, Lye came to Dartmouth for her postdoctoral fellowship, which is currently in its second and final year. Lye is currently teaching Classical Studies 10.07, also cross-listed as Religion 19.24, “Ancient Magic and Religion.”

TIFFANY ZHAI/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

SEE LYE PAGE 5

Students gathered in One Wheelock to watch the Super Bowl last night.

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

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DAily debriefing The Philadelphia Eagles beat the New England Patriots 41-33 during Super Bowl LII this past Sunday, marking the Eagles’ first Super Bowl win in team history. The Eagles entered halftime leading 22-12, with Eagles quarterback Nick Foles catching a one-yard pass for a touchdown in a trick play at the bottom of the second quarter. While the Patriots were briefly able to pull ahead by a single point in the fourth quarter, the Eagles were able to score two more touchdowns to secure victory. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady threw a record-breaking 505 yards, while Foles, who was named the game’s Most Valuable Player, threw 373 yards. Brady also broke records for most Super Bowl games, most career passes, most career completions, most career passing yards and most touchdown passes, while the two teams set new records for total combined yards and combined passing yards, among other metrics, in a single game.

This Sunday, only 103.4 million viewers tuned in for Super Bowl LII, the lowest number since Super Bowl XLIII in 2009. This number included online viewers tuning in via Internet livestreams as well as traditional cable viewers. The number of viewers was higher than Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005, the last time the Eagles and the Patriots played against one another. The highest number of views for a Super Bowl is 114.4 million, from Super Bowl XLIX in 2015, when the Patriots beat the Seattle Seahawks 28-24.

Chrystler’s Super Bowl LII commercial for its Dodge Ram line of trucks sparked controversy across a variety of media sources. The commercial, which paired excerpts extolling the value of service from a speech by Martin Luther King Jr. with images of people helping one another, received criticism on social media for seeming to cheapen King’s message in order to sell trucks. A video by Nathan Robinson, editor-in-chief of the left-wing magazine Current Affairs, redubbing the commercial with excerpts from the same speech condemning commercialism drew hundreds of thousands of views online.

-COMPILED BY ZACHARY BENJAMIN

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2018

Applications increase by 9.8 percent the College worked to increase Dartmouth’s publicity, especially low-income students, especially promoting its focus on undergraduate through pipeline organizations like teaching and research opportunities QuestBridge, she said. Doe added available for students that may not that an “overwhelming recognition” necessarily be available at other of the higher chances of getting universities. accepted by applying early decision In an email statement, Coffin may have also influenced students wrote that the new communications to apply to the College in greater plan “involves framing the College’s numbers. story around excellence in teaching/ “The new normal is, ‘I’m applying access to faculty and highlighting to college. I need to be ready by the opportunities afforded by our November 1st,’” Doe said, explaining location.” why many colleges like Dartmouth Like Doe, Taylor said that are now filling up the College is also about half of their “I anticipate increasing outreach incoming classes to more students of with early decision a single-digit “low socioeconomic applicants. backgrounds,” acceptance rate Doe said which leads to more the increase in overall.” applications. applications would Doe added that make the College -MIMI DOE, COthe College would “more competitive” most likely avoid and added that FOUNDER OF TOP a housing crisis s h e p r e d i c t s TIER ADMISSIONS by reducing the Dartmouth’s number of students admission rate will accepted through decrease. regular decision, “I anticipate a single-digit since nearly half the class has acceptance rate overall,” she said. been filled through early decision Last year’s acceptance rate was already. This, she said, would also 10.4 percent. make admissions to the College Bev Taylor, founder and chief more competitive and reduce the executive officer of college admissions overall admission rate. consulting firm Ivy Coach, said this Marco Vargas, a prospective year’s numbers represent the biggest student from South Los Angeles, spike in total applications received California who applied via the since 2015. She said she noticed regular decision process, said it that more international students are was “honestly scary” but that he applying to college with Dartmouth felt fortunate because he had help in mind. applying from College Match, a “It seems to me that the trend at program designed to help firstDartmouth under [vice provost for generation, low-income students enrollment and dean of admissions get into top-tier colleges. and financial aid] Lee Coffin is more Vargas said he had help early decision and regular decision preparing for his interview, which applications, lower admission rates helped him feel ready for it the day and a higher overall enrollment,” it arrived. He added that he had fun Taylor said. talking to a College alumnus, who She added that Coffin had made him feel welcome and spoke attributed these facts to the College’s with him for about an hour. new communications plan, publicly “ We e n d e d u p h av i n g a announced on Jan. 21, in which conversation about his experiences, FROM APPLICATIONS PAGE 1

and I asked him a ton of questions about [the College],” he said.

“I was particularly interested in transparency.”

Ali Saffiedine, a prospective student from Henderson, Nevada who also applied regular decision, said the overall process for him was understandable and easy but still left him trying to figure out how to revise his essays because his school did not offer college advising. He said things turned out fine nonetheless and that he was happy with his interview because he was able to ask his interviewer all his questions about the College.

Both Saffiedine and Vargas said they enjoyed the “Why Dartmouth?” prompt on the College’s admission application.

Vargas said the prompt allowed him to express his passions and see how they would be best served on campus.

“The way it was phrased allowed me to just think critically about what I really would gain from Dartmouth,” he said.

Saffiedine added that the 100word limit made it “challenging” and forced him to get to the point.

“I didn’t feel like I had to fluff it up,” he said. “I just literally had to be like, ‘I want to go to Dartmouth for X, Y, Z.’” Despite this, Saffiedine said that as a first-generation student without advisers, navigating through the essays and applications was tricky because he did not have all the information he needed on time.

“I do feel like my school is rooting for me and I have the support of my family,” he added. “It was just a question of logistically, what I could do or accomplish given the resources I had.”

Early decision admits totaled 565 students for the Class of 2022, from a record-high pool of 2,270 students who applied through the early decision process. Regular decision applicants must wait until March 28 before hearing back from the College.

Chamber board adds new members FROM COMMERCE PAGE 1

CORRECTIONS We welcome corrections. If you believe there is a factual error in a story, please email editor@thedartmouth.com.

Correction appended (Feb. 5, 2018): The original version of the Jan. 2 article “Domino’s Pizza plans location in Hanover” incorrectly stated Keith Bell’s last name. The article has been updated to correct this error.

in coordinating and operating the Hanover Farmer’s Market, advocating for legislation to help local business owners and educating businesses owners on marketing, human resources and business operations. The chamber also promotes tourism and writes press releases to help local businesses, Hutchins wrote.

Hutchins wrote in her email that current members of the Chamber of Commerce approve incoming board members. She

added that the board aims to constantly introduce new people to the chamber. Thus, members are each allowed a three-year term and a two-term limit. In their first year, Lemay, Poljacik and Scheller will be expected to “serve as the governance of the organization” by managing the budget, making sure that the various tasks undertaken are responsibly done and advocating for the Chamber of Commerce, Hutchins said in an interview.

M i ch a e l C y r, d i re c t o r o f marketing at the Skinny Pancake

in Hanover, expressed his gratitude to the Chamber of Commerce for welcoming the Skinny Pancake to the area when it opened in the spring of 2016. Skinny Pancake has participated in Hanover Restaurant Week, an event organized by the Chamber of Commerce, for the past two years, he said.

“They’ve been really good advocates on our behalf ... it’s been a positive relationship,” he said.

Lemay was not available for comment by press time. Poljacik did not respond to requests for comment.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2018

Suzanne Lye discusses religion course on magic

state religion, civil religion, the general polis religion or general religion with As a postdoctoral fellow, what everybody else, while also seeing a magical practitioner. In the modern is your role on campus?

SL: It is a mixed role, mainly research day, you would see a Western positions. I teach one of my own doctor, but you might also see an classes each year. Last year, I taught Eastern doctor, getting acupuncture or a massage.

Latin I, and that That does not was really fun. It “My research contradict that is a course I have focuses on the you also got a taught a lot even prescription from though I am mostly underworld and your Wester n a Hellenist, which ancient literature, doctor. Basically, means I mostly study both religion and Greek literature. mostly Greek magic are ways As a classicist, you literature. There humans to study everything are a lot of magical for solve problems and usually end up in their lives teaching in an area elements and a lot and to explain that is not specifically of rituals that are or control the your area. This year unexplainable.

I am teaching a new associated with the The ancient course in the Classics underworld.”

Greeks and department.

Ro m a n s s a w that different H o w d i d yo u situations call for decide to teach different actions a class on magic using a scale of what we, in modern and religion?

SL: Well, it relates to my research. My day, may call religion or magic or research focuses on the underworld superstition. and ancient literature, mostly Greek literature. There are a lot of magical Do you have any advice for elements and a lot of rituals that are students interested in pursuing associated with the underworld. I’m or majoring in the classics? thinking that my next project, after my SL: I have general advice for students underworld project, will be something pursuing any major. What you do in on magic. I thought I would bring that college is not what you’ll do for the rest of your life. You have to take a to Dartmouth. multi-prong approach where you do How did you become interested the things you are passionate about and take the classes that you are really in the underworld?

SL: Who isn’t interested in the interested in. Through that, you underworld? I also like to travel a develop real skills. The way I teach my classes is, I work lot. Usually when you on specific skills. I talk to people about tell [my students], their lives, you can “Basically, both “I’m going to find out a lot about religion and help you develop different cultures by magic are ways skills you can use their death rituals. One throughout the of the ways I like to for humans to rest of your life.” learn about the ancient solve problems You can develop world is by thinking your skills even about where people in their lives while pursuing thought they would go and to explain what you are or what would happen really interested when they died. Often or control the in. In my class, we that leads them to unexplainable.” do group projects, decide what life means presentations and to them. For me, it was to find out about a culture and learn written assignments. I’m very explicit how they treat the dead, the sick and as to why I’m doing these things. For those in different levels of society. example, I have my class divided The underworld scenes are really into sections and every section has just ghost stories. Who doesn’t love a to produce an executive memo describing what happened in their good ghost story? hour-long meetings. It is a great skill Going back to your class on to have to be able to sit in an hourmagic and religion, what is the long meeting and come away with difference between the two in the five most important things from the meeting. the ancient world?

SL: What is really interesting is that they operated symbiotically in the This interview has been edited and ancient world. You could practice condensed for clarity and length.

FROM LYE PAGE 1

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

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THE DARTMOUTH OPINION

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GUEST COLUMNIST SARAH PETRONI ’18

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2018

GUEST COLUMNISTS JOHN CAREY & YUSAKU HORIUCHI

Support for the Trips Directorate Debating Without Deprecating ‘You’re Not Tripping’ presents a flawed argument.

I doubt that there is any Dartmouth student who has not yet read the Feb. 2 guest column titled “You’re Not Tripping.” Myriad conversations on campus have picked apart the author’s various claims to the extent that I question my ability to add anything novel to the dialogue. However, as a woman who doubted her leadership abilities for a long time and found her moxie through positions within First-Year Trips, I feel compelled to respond to Ryan Spector ’19’s claim that the Trips directors have prioritized “identity” to the detriment of the program.

Let’s start with common ground: The author correctly points out that male trippees will seek out mentors with whom they identify. I believe that the elimination of male volunteers would do those trippees a disservice, and I am sure the author would agree. However, a majority-female directorate does not constitute the erasure of male identity from Trips. A directorate that is 80 percent female is not the same as a 400-person Trips volunteer corps that is 80 percent female. As a former H-Croo captain, I can tell you that much of directorate members’ time is spent planning logistics, planning programming and equipping Croolings to accomplish the myriad day-to-day tasks that make Trips run. Twenty-one directorate members cannot possibly interact meaningfully with every trippee — Croolings and trip leaders are therefore encouraged to take the lead in forming relationships with trippees, while directorate members do the planning that makes these relationships possible.

A majority-female Trips directorate is not evidence of the systematic devaluing of any identity, as the author’s convoluted logic goes. Rather, it is an acknowledgement of a nuanced point that escapes the author: that individuals cannot be separated into a set of identities and a set of credentials. “Identity” and “merit” are not separable categories as the author claims. Women and people of color, among others, experience varying degrees of unwelcoming behavior on this campus. It is commendable that at least 15 talented women, many of them women of color, applied to unpaid positions within a program that is meant to begin addressing these realities with incoming students. Historically marginalized voices have unique insight into how to create the meaningful, inclusive programming that didn’t exist for them. They can use their personal experiences to the benefit of a broader spectrum of students without alienating the white male students with whom the author concerns himself.

I cannot personally speak for this year’s directorate, but I have faith that its members will make every effort to ensure that as many trippees as possible see aspects of their identities reflected in the volunteer corps. This includes encouraging caring, capable men to apply for trip leader and Crooling positions. But perhaps those who will most conscientiously bring the goal of representation to fruition are those who know firsthand what it feels like to enter a Dartmouth club, classroom or Greek house and not see their identities reflected. In short, “You’re Not Tripping” conflates a majorityfemale Trips directorate with the “erasure” of male presence on Trips, a premature claim given that the vast majority of the volunteer corps has not yet been chosen. Moreover, in presenting a false dichotomy between “identity” and “reason” as the motivating factors for choosing a candidate, the author seems ignorant of the fact that identity and experience are inextricably intertwined within individuals.

I feel compelled to remind Spector that questioning the success of women and people of color is not new. Many of them already have a little voice in their heads that asks them whose spot they took, who took pity on them or what right they have to be where they are. Such questions do not constitute novel dialogue. Furthermore, the author recklessly makes serious accusations of discrimination and incompetence, founded on the offensive assumption that there is no conceivable way that 15 women were the best applicants for their positions. He seems to forget that no one is entitled to a position on Trips directorate.

To the author: I’m sorry that you didn’t get a position that you wanted. Frustration and even bitterness are natural reactions to rejection. But publicly questioning the choices of the directors and the qualifications of those selected can cause harm that is disproportionate to the rejection that you experienced. So, the next time your candidacy for a position is turned down, please don’t waste the time and energy of qualified women in positions of power by forcing them to yet again justify their successes to the community and to themselves.

They have more important things to do.

Petroni is a member of the Class of 2018.

The Dartmouth welcomes guest columns. We request that guest columns be the original work of the submitter.

Submissions may be sent to both opinion@thedartmouth. com and editor@thedartmouth.com. Submissions will receive a response within three business days.

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We can engage on contentious issues without condemning other opinions.

We have been following the controversy on the Campus Events listserv over the last few days regarding Ryan Spector ’19’s Feb. 2 guest column in The Dartmouth. To be clear, we support diversity and inclusivity. That said, we are troubled by the nature of the debate itself.

Spector was, as he acknowledged in his column, bitter about not being selected for the First-Year Trips directorate. He described the gender balance among those who were selected as “ludicrous” and the explanation he received for the decision as “an exercise in mental gymnastics” and “doublespeak.”

Those are strong terms, and Spector went on to make arguments, centered on how identity was considered in the selection process, that challenge values deeply held among many in the Dartmouth community.

Yet in their criticism of the column, and of The Dartmouth for publishing it, many (though not all) Dartmouth organizations escalated the rhetoric further, decrying Spector and his column as “hateful,” “toxic,” “vicious,” “privileged,” “ignorant,” “patriarchal,” “white supremacist,” “racist,” “misogynist,” “homophobic,” “oppressive” and “endangering lives.”

We would suggest that it is counterproductive to label one’s adversary in a debate with this kind of language. It will not change minds or win hearts. It will drive away anyone in the middle ground and further polarize opinion.

And the effect on open discussion of difficult ideas can only be chilling. Anyone who does not hew to established and codified positions will be afraid to express any opinion. Worse, it could encourage self-segregation, as students

STATE OF THE PAGE

will feel secure only among those whose views are known and shared.

Among these messages, there was an argument that we think warrants quotation at length: “The Dartmouth has suggested that those who disagree with the article write a response piece. However, a response would only validate the author and imply that his opinions are credible and worthy of debate.”

Dartmouth holds itself to be one of the premier institutions of higher education in the world. On this campus, we are obligated to engage with ideas, even those we find objectionable.

We hold as a core principle that confronting ideas that challenge us makes us better thinkers and better people. We encourage all parties to this debate to step back and consider how we can engage with each other as an intellectual community.

To repeat, we support efforts to increase diversity and inclusivity at Dartmouth. But we regard these as complex, and often contentious, issues and we encourage all members of the community to share their opinions with civility and mutual respect. We can criticize each other’s ideas vigorously. But we need to remember what principles we hold in common.

Let’s start with a willingness to listen without demonizing each other.

Carey and Horiuchi are professors of government at Dartmouth.

The Dartmouth welcomes guest columns. We request that guest columns be the original work of the submitter.

Submissions may be sent to both opinion@thedartmouth. com and editor@thedartmouth.com. Submissions will receive a response within three business days.

CAROLINE COOK ’21

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2018

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THE REAL WORLD?

SUNJU LEE ’18

TODAY

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2018

DARTMOUTHEVENTS

12:15 p.m. - 1:15 p.m.

Lecture: “Snow Dragons & Science Diplomacy: China in the Arctic,” with Fulbright Visiting Research Scholar and Ocean University of China professor Kai Sun, Haldeman Center 031

2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Lecture: “The Mysterious Dimmings of the Young Stars PDS 110 and V1334 Tau,” with Harvard University professor Joseph Rodriguez, Wilder 102

7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Folk singer José González with special guest Bedouine, Spaulding Auditorium, Hopkins Center for the Arts

TOMORROW

4:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Lecture: “The Ultimate Deal or the End of the Line? Trump and the Search for Middle East Peace,” with Princeton University Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs professor Daniel Kurtzer, Haldeman Center 041

6:00 p.m. - 7:15 p.m.

Panel: “Is the Welfare State Good or Bad for Freedom?” with columnist and George Mason University senior research fellow Veronique de Rugy and Niskanen Center vice president Will Wilkinson, moderated by government professor Jason Sorens, Moore B03

7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Lecture: “Quantum Theory versus Common Sense,” with University of Warsaw professor Andrej Dragan, Wilder 104

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THE DARTMOUTH ARTS

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Review: Ridley Scott is back with ‘All the Money in the World’ needed a break from Scott’s work to remind myself that the man The Dartmouth Staff who directed the film was indeed Last year, Ridley Scott’s “Alien: the same man who had directed Covenant” premiered, but does some of my favorite films of all anyone even remember the film? time. So, given that Scott seems Neither do I, which is kind to play Russian Roulette with his of astonishing given its recent screenplays, did we get lucky this release date. I mention this, not time? For the most part, I think because this is a review of “Alien: so. Screenwriter David Scarpa Covenant,” has, at the very but because least, done a “At this point in his the release of competent job b o t h “A l i e n : career, no one would of retelling Covenant” and deny that [Ridley the infamous “All the Money kidnapping of in the World” Scott] is a master John Paul Getty i n t h e s a m e of his craft; each of III and his year illustrates g randfather’s his films is, without the most subsequent fascinating and fail, gorgeous and refusal to pay contradictory technically impeccable a cent of the qualities ransom despite associated with ... The problem is that being the richest S c o t t ’s s k i l l s Scott seems utterly man in the and limitations In fact, incapable of discerning world. as a filmmaker.

I encourage “ A l i e n : between a great script anyone who Covenant” was and a terrible script.” sees the film aw f u l , e a s i l y to research one of the worst the realfilms in recent life incident memory. In fact, it was so dreadful afterward. Scarpa’s adaptation that I kyboshed my plans to review of the 1995 book “Painfully the film and instead implored my Rich: The Outrageous Fortune editors to let me do a retrospective and Misfortunes of the Heirs of on the revival of my favorite TV J. Paul Getty” is precisely that — series, “Twin Peaks.” This was an adaptation. It condenses and made all the worse because Scott exaggerates certain plot points, but had recently launched a successful for the most part, it is surprisingly career comeback with 2015’s faithful — it turns out that many crowd-pleasing “The Martian.” insane details of the true story This all speaks to a long-standing didn’t even make it into the final truism about Scott — he is only film. as good as the script he’s working That said, neither Scott’s storied from. At this point in his career, career nor the scintillating premise no one would have been the deny that he real draw for “We don’t know is a master of most people his craft; each how [Kevin] Spacey who have gone of his films is, would have played to see the film. without fail, In the midst of gorgeous and the part [of J. Paul t h e # M e To o t e c h n i c a l l y Getty], but it frankly movement, impeccable.

Kevin Spacey’s doesn’t matter — Indeed, when r i g h t f u l h e h a s a [Christopher] Plummer expulsion from g r e a t s c r i p t , is commanding Hollywood led like “Blade the makers of R u n n e r , ” and captivating, “All the Money h e d o e s a dominating the film in the World” wonderful excise him with a steely gaze and to job at visually from the final h i g h l i g h t i n g a vicious smile.” product a mere a n d month before complementing its release. In the complex themes and ideas that his place, Christopher Plummer are often interwoven so beautifully was brought in for nine days of into the story. The problem is that reshoots as the industrialist J. Paul Scott seems utterly incapable of Getty, resulting in one of the most discerning between a great script fascinating production stories in and a terrible script. No director recent memory. should be able to list “Thelma & As undoubtedly tough as it Louise” and “Exodus: Gods and must have been to pull off those Kings” on the same résumé. reshoots, there’s also no denying My point is that after watching that they proved to be a huge “Alien: Covenant,” I desperately promotional boost for the film. It’s

By SEBASTIAN WURZRAINER

all the more impressive given that only piece of really questionable Plummer blends so seamlessly into casting comes in the form of the film; his scenes are clearly not Charlie Plummer as J. Paul Getty green screen trickery and, in fact, III. True to reality, the character he manages to give one of his best is written as something of a laidback hippy, but performances. there’s a fine We don’t know l i n e b e t we e n h o w S p a c e y “The film vividly relaxed and w o u l d h a v e paints the almost un-invested — played the part, Oedipal dynamic in a line which but it frankly he frequently doesn’t matter the Getty family, but it crosses.

— Plummer is never really explores Likewise, commanding t h e r e ’ s and captivating, their damage all that something of d o m i n a t i n g deeply. It’s as if the a hole at the the film with a film is saying, ‘Look center of the steely gaze and film which may a vicious smile. at these crazy rich be attributable M i c h e l l e people! Look how to the reshoots.

Wi l l i a m s The film vividly i s s i m i l a r l y screwed up they are!’” paints the exceptional as almost Oedipal G a i l H a r r i s, dynamic in the J. Paul Getty III’s mother. It’s an emotionally Getty family, but it never really charged performance and she explores their damage all that fully commits. Mark Wahlberg is deeply. It’s as if the film is adequate as Fletcher Chase, the saying, “Look at these crazy assisting ex-CIA operative. But rich people! Look how screwed occasionally one is reminded that up they are!” In the back of my this is the same actor who said yes head, all I could think was, “So to M. Night Shyamalan’s “The what?” The film certainly doesn’t Happening” and two Michael glamorize the Getty family’s Bay “Transformers” films. The wealth but portrays its devastating

consequences. But one senses that there might be scenes missing around the periphery of the main story, scenes that could further illuminate how complicated the Getty family’s monstrousness is.

Perhaps those hypothetical scenes simply couldn’t be re-done for the reshoots; regardless, the film feels like it’s only tackling the surface of this family’s rot.

Nonetheless, as one would expect, the film is well-directed and certainly one of Scott’s more cogent and comprehensible efforts in recent years. For all of its imperfections, it is certainly riveting and sometimes painfully intense. Fans of Scott’s work might have flashbacks to the final 30 minutes of “Alien” during some of the more gut-wrenching scenes. While “All the Money in the World” won’t be ranked alongside “Blade Runner,” “Thelma & Louise” and “Gladiator” as one of Scott’s masterpieces, it’s a solid comeback after a stinker as potent as “Alien: Covenant.”

If nothing else, it manages to transcend the controversy and external drama surrounding its production. It stands entirely on its own as a well-made film, which is not small feat given the circumstances.

THE STILL LIFES OF PEARS, JARS AND CHEESE

TIFFANY ZHAI/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Student work displaying still lifes of pears, cheese and other items are featured at the Black Family Visual Art Center.

THE DARTMOUTH ARTS

PAGE 8

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2018

Alumni Q&A: Stefan Lanfer ’97 continues work in playwriting

By EMMA GUO

The Dartmouth Staff

Stefan Lanfer ’97 discovered his passion for playwriting after winning the Frost and Dodd Student Play Festival as a Dartmouth student and seeing his work performed onstage.

Though he went on to attend business school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and work in consulting and the nonprofit sector, he never stopped writing. This weekend, after five years of writing and perfecting his script, Lanfer’s play “An Education in Prudence” premieres at the Open Theatre Project in Boston. The play is based on one of the first desegregation battles in the United States regarding the education of African-American girls in Connecticut.

How did you get into playwriting, and when did you first realize it was something you could pursue outside of college?

SL: I started writing plays in college, but what really got me hooked on playwriting was a one-act play that I wrote in my Playwriting 2 class with [former theater professor] Peter Parnell ’74. It was one of the plays selected for the [Frost and Dodd Student Play Festival]. That was the first experience I had seeing my work fully realized onstage, and it was a fantastic experience.

How did you find time to balance your jobs in the business factor

andyourpassionforplaywriting?

SL: I get up around 5 a.m., and I work until my kids wake up. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but year after year it eventually adds up to something. I started my career thinking that I could make a career out of playwriting, and one of the first things I did out of college was work in professional theaters. The first time I applied to graduate school it was to do a Master of Fine Arts in playwriting, but at some point, I felt that there were other interests that I wanted to explore, and that’s when I began working for an education nonprofit in Boston. I went to business school in 2008 and have been working at the Barr Foundation since. I have been writing throughout, and when my kids were very young I took a small break from playwriting to blog about being a dad, but I wanted to get back into it.

I joined a playwriting group in Boston called the Playwrights’ Platform, which is a collection of area writers who get together a couple times a month with actors who do a cold reading of their works. I started with 10-minute plays, but five years ago I had a chance meeting that led me to this new project.

About your play, “An Education in Prudence,” what compelled you to take on this challenge of writing about one of the first desegregation battles in the United States?

SL: It’s a story that found me. I was at an event for work in 2013, and this stranger came to me and said that

COURTESY OF STEFAN LANFER

Stefan Lanfer ’97 won the Frost and Dodd Student Play festival while at Dartmouth.

COURTESY OF STEFAN LANFER

Stefan Lanfer ’97’s play “An Education in Prudence” deals with one of the first desegregation battles in the U.S.

she heard I was a playwright. She told me: “There’s this story that I’ve been haunted by ever since graduate school, and I’ve always imagined it as a play and I’d love to talk to you.”

I was looking for a project when this one arrived, so I decided to give this play a try. This was in 2013 — the first year of [former President Barack] Obama’s second term, the 50th anniversary of the “I Have a Dream” speech — the idea was bubbling up and people were talking about how we live in post-racial America and how wonderful that is.

What drew me into it initially was that the story at its core stands out as an unmasking of northern racism in the 1830s. I found that really interesting, having grown up in Connecticut with the view that we were the northerners on the right side of history.

Even more so is that our world has continued to change, and the play has changed in response to it.

The tagline of the play is “The past is not behind us,” and one of the key ideas that it tries to raise is the importance of looking into the cracks of history to get a sense of who the people who were not necessarily in the spotlight of recorded history.

The very first drafts of the play that I wrote were very much centered on these heroic white men — the famous abolitionists who got involved, as well

as this teacher, a white woman. In the sidelines of all these narratives are two dozen African American women who came at great personal risk into this hostile territory. In time, the play has found a way to be their story more than the others, putting them as the centerpiece. After the Presidential elections of 2016 and all that has happened since, this story is now also told from the perspective of today. The protagonist that we meet at the very beginning of the play is from an inner-city Hartford school.

We’re looking at these events through her eyes, through the lens of today, and trying to reach into this place to find reasons to be hopeful about the moment that we are in.

So the story is not necessarily about the oppression and victimization of these two dozen African American women, but also about their courageousness and heroism.

It’s very admirable, especially with regards to recent events.

SL: That’s it exactly. Here I am, this white guy writing this play. Every step of the way I have depended on the actors and directors to tell me where it was falling short. I’ve done my best to tell an authentic story about some of these characters who have been forgotten by history. They are some of

the most important voices, especially now, to get us to think about how we can truly understand the experiences of other people.

How do you think your experiences at Dartmouth have shaped your experiences outside of campus and the “Dartmouth bubble”?

SL: The biggest shaper of my experience beyond the “Dartmouth bubble” has been a girl I met from Atlanta, who is now my wife of almost 19 years. Specific to the playwriting process, being surrounded by friends and having the few lines that were in The Dartmouth that had kind words about a project fuel you up with what at times can seem like irrational beliefs. After about nine months into this project, I started sending it out to theaters and festivals all around the country and got one rejection after another. We’re pushing over 100 rejections by now, and two years ago at 80-something “no’s,” I was pretty sure the universe was telling me it was time to move on. It’s certainly not all attributable to Dartmouth, but it’s one of those places that encouraged me to take risks, try new things and find and explore what those passions may be.

This interview had been edited and condensed for clarity and length.