The Dartmouth 4/18/17 by The Dartmouth Newspaper

VOL. CLXXIV NO.62

TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 2017

HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Joshua Monette ’19 remembered for passion for culture and language

MOSTLY SUNNY HIGH 57 LOW 34

By SONIA QIN

The Dartmouth Staff

COURTESY OF RACHEL VENSKE

Joshua Monette ’19 planned to pursue a degree in linguistics.

OPINION

HUEBNER: IN DEFENSE OF KINDNESS PAGE 4

FILM REVIEW: ‘GIFTED’ PAGE 7

ARTIST-INRESIDENCE: SUSAN WALP PAGE 8

READ US ON

DARTBEAT WHAT YOU SHOULD HAVE GIVEN UP FOR LENT DISGRACEFUL: SECRETS FOLLOW US ON

was swept oﬀ the rocks by a wave near the Hole in the Wall cove in Cape Flattery, close to his home in Neah Bay, Washington. Searches for him were suspended on April 4. He was 19. Monette was a member of the Native Americans at Dartmouth student organization and planned to pursue a degree in linguistics. SEE MONETTE PAGE 3

Student Assembly election sees write-in campaigns

By DEBORA HYEMIN HAN The Dartmouth Staff

ARTS

While many students come to Dartmouth without a clear vision for their future, Joshua Monette ’19 knew he wanted to revive the Makah language and preserve the culture of his Native American tribe. After the Makah Tribe lost its last ﬁrst-language speaker in the early 2000s, Monette began to study linguistics

in high school, which he continued at Dartmouth, his mother Rebekah Monette said. “He was very gifted in math and sciences,” she said. “I tried to let him know it would be okay to change majors — most students do in those early years, and his response to me was, ‘If not me, then who?’” On April 2, Monette was reported missing after he

The current of gender disparity in government, which has long been experienced nationally and locally, is being felt on Dartmouth’s campus as springtime elections opened yesterday. In spite of the growing awareness of this imbalance as well as concerted efforts to create equal opportunities for student leadership on campus, the candidate pool remains markedly male. There is

one woman candidate for each of the two sections of Student Assembly — president and vice president and house senate — and one woman running for the Committee on Standards and Organizational Adjudication Committee. This is the third year in a row in which there are no female candidates for SA president, either on the ballot or as a write-in. Elections planning and advisory committee chair Derek Whang ’17 said whether the gender disparity

in student leadership overall is “the rule or the exception” is yet to be seen, given the recent implementation of the house senate. He added that this year’s candidate pool was also exceptionally large in comparison to previous years. According to current SA vice president Sally Portman ’17, the house senate was first implemented in fall 2016 in an effort to integrate the housing system into student leadership, as well as to move away from what current SA president

Producer Daryl Roth receives alumnae award By REBECCA FLOWERS The Dartmouth Staff

Daryl Roth, a Broadway producer who has won ten Tony Awards and produced seven Pulitzer Prize winning plays, is the recipient of this year’s award from the Dartmouth Centennial Circle of Alumnae. The Centennial Circle is a donor recognition society under the Dartmouth College Fund, which was founded in 1914. According to executive director of the Dartmouth College Fund Sylvia Racca,

Nick Harrington ’17 called a “fundamentally flawed model for student government” in a post on the SA website last summer. In the same post, Harrington wrote that, in the past, the SA president and vice president had no obligation to form an inclusive and accountable assembly and instead had the license to appoint personnel at their discretion, which resulted in an organization that did not have “real SEE SA PAGE 5

EYE ON THE BALL

the fund was started by a group of alumni who donated funds to rebuild Dartmouth Hall, which burnt down in 1904. In 2014, on the 100th anniversary of DCF, the fund’s committee chair Catherine Briggs ’88, co-founded the Centennial Circle, with the aim of including female alumni in the ﬁnancial support of Dartmouth students. The original goal was to reach 100 female alumni as members of the circle, with each donating $100,000 toward ﬁnancial aid ISHAAN JAJODIA/THE DARTMOUTH

SEE ROTH PAGE 2

The softball team swept its four games against Brown University.

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

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DAILY DEBRIEFING Last Friday, first-term Republican New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu met his 100th day in office with the hard realities of governing, according to the Associated Press. When he first took office, he hoped to address many issues including the opioid crisis, voting laws and the state’s mental health system. Some of Sununu’s initiatives, such as increasing funding to combat the opioid problem and changing election laws regarding day-of registration, are finding success in Congress. However, Republicans denied him a victory on a right-to-work bill and funding for full-day kindergarten. Legislature also passed a concealed-carry bill that he supported. Sununu’s promise to expand renewable energy and lower energy costs remains unaddressed. He appointed Frank Edelblut to lead the education department to the delight of school choice advocates. However, the decision infuriated teachers who saw Edelblut as having no experience in public education. Legislature decriminalizing marijuana possession may not be far away for New Hampshire, according to the Associated Press. A bill to enact the policy is currently being challenged in the state Senate where lawmakers and police chiefs are working to diminish its power. However, lawmakers, police and advocates agree that ultimately a bill concerning some form of decriminalization will reach Republican Gov. Chris Sununu. Recently elected, Sununu is breaking with previous Democratic governor, New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan, by supporting marijuana decriminalization. The action comes at a time when all other New England states have decriminalized the substance and Massachusetts and Maine are working toward full legalization. In March, the bill passed in the House on a vote of 318 to 36. The bill, as it is, makes marijuana possession of one ounce or less a violation, instead of a criminal penalty, for those over 21. The police would not be able to arrest anyone for possession and a first offense would result in a fine of $100. Three weeks ago, the Lebanon police force started wearing body cameras, becoming the newest town police force in the Upper Valley to invest in the technology, according to the Valley News. Hanover, Newport and Cornish police hope to start using body cameras later this year. While activists critical of the police encourage the use of body cameras for transparency and accountability reasons, neither the Vermont State Police nor the New Hampshire State Police have indicated plans to use them. Hanover police chief Charlie Dennis said that while he supports body cameras as a tool, he still has questions on public disclosure and privacy concerns over the footage. Other police chiefs in the area shared similar sentiments. Other towns that already use body cameras include Enfield, Hartford and Haverhill. -COMPILED BY AMANDA ZHOU

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

TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 2017

Daryl Roth recognized by alumni FROM ROTH PAGE 1

primarily for female students in both the undergraduate and graduate schools at the College. To date, 152 women have joined the circle, with alumni ranging from ’76s to ’04s and including prominent individuals such as Shonda Rhimes ’91. From April 20 to 21, the group will hold the Third Annual Centennial Circle Forum, the latest iteration of the main fundraising event for the circle. In 2015, the forum was centered around experiential learning, and the award was given to Leymah Gbowee, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for her work as an activist leading the women’s peace movement in Liberia and whose son attends Dartmouth. Gbowee was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters and also gave the 2016 commencement speech. According to Racca, 2016 was the 25th anniversary of the Women in Science Project, so the 2016 forum was centered around women in STEM. The winner was Heidi Williams ’03, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This year, the Centennial Circle decided to center around a woman in theater, although they originally considered focusing on a woman involved in politics, Racca said. “Actually, we were going to do politics, but then we decided there was too much politics in the world today, so we focused on the arts,” she said. Once they decided the theme for the forum, the group consulted with faculty, volunteers and other members of the circle to identify an award recipient. The circle then presented suggestions to College President Phil Hanlon and provost Carolyn Dever, who made the final decision for the Centennial Circle Award recipient, Racca said. Roth is connected to Dartmouth

through her husband, Steven Roth “I optioned [the film], and then ’62 Th’63, and her daughter, Amanda I invited the creative team to come Roth Salzhauer ’93. The Roths were together, and then we really did birth the principal donors to the Roth Center that from the beginning, which is very for Jewish Life. Roth said she has had a satisfying,” she said. passion for theater since her childhood Roth said two other projects that in New Jersey, when her parents would stand out for her in her career are “The often take her and her sister to Broadway Normal Heart,” for which she won the shows in New York City. 2011 Tony Award, and “Wit,” a Pulitzer “I just grew up Prize-winning loving musicals “I just grew up play. Along with mostly, and then “Kinky Boots,” her as I got older, I was loving musicals current Broadway introduced to plays, mostly, and then productions include and it just became a “Indecent,” which as I got older, I was passion of mine,” was written by introduced to plays, playwright Paula she said. S h e l a t e r and it just became a Vogel, whose work attended Syracuse Roth had previously U n i v e r s i t y , passion of mine.” produced. originally as an “ I f e l t t h a t art history major, [“Indecent”] -DARYL ROTH, but she ultimately reflected so much of transferred to PRODUCER what is important to and graduated me,” Roth said. “It’s from New York a tribute to theater University. She and the passion became a producer people have for the in her forties after arts.” many years of Theater professor wanting to pursue it. Carol Dunne, who will be speaking “[I] thought I would be someone at the forum, said she admires Roth who could add something to the for many of her productions. One of theatrical landscape in the plays that I her favorites is “The Flick” by Annie would relate to,” Roth said. Baker, which she described as “a three Roth said when choosing plays to hour play directed with unbelievable produce, she tends to be interested in attention to reality, so much so that those with strong female characters and there are several minute pauses in it.” plays that deal with gender issues and Dunne said Roth displayed courage family dynamics. as a producer. “They’re often risky and challenging “There is an incredible breadth to subjects,” she explained. her choice of projects that exemplifies Roth has produced over 100 a belief in the art of theater in wildly productions, both on and off Broadway. different format,” Dunne said. “She’s One of the projects she said she is most not afraid of work that is not strictly for proud of is “Kinky Boots,” a project she a mass audience, but she’s interested initiated after watching the British film in works that helps change the way by the same name. people see the world.” Dunne said she will be attending the forum to speak about the newly established “E-term,” in which Dartmouth theater students are trained under the Northern Stage Company, a theater in White River Junction. Roth is an inspiration for students participating in the “E-term,” she said. “We’re moving our students towards a career that hopefully someday has an impact like Roth’s career,” Dunne said. Initially, Roth said she was hesitant to accept the Centennial Circle Award because she is not a Dartmouth alum, but she was encouraged to do so by her daughter, a member of the Centennial Circle. Roth’s award will be a copper bowl representing the bonfire run at Homecoming. Diana Taylor ’77, who is presenting the award to Roth at the forum, said the Centennial Circle is about fostering the next generation of women. To that end, Roth said she advises Dartmouth undergraduates and young people in general to “find what you love and COURTESY OF DARYL ROTH work hard at it, and make it your life.”

Daryl Roth has produced over 100 productions, both on and off Broadway.

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 2017

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Family and friends remember Joshua Monette ’19 FROM MONETTE PAGE 1

Justeen Komok ’19, who is also from Washington, first met Monette at the airport before First-Year Trips because they were on the same section. They began a romantic relationship during freshman preorientation and remained together for almost the entirety of their freshman year. Komok said that because he was so far away from home, Monette tried to bring his culture and traditions to campus through different projects, including crafting tiny sealskin moccasins for his newborn nephew and drums for his little sisters. In the jewelry studio, he made a toggle for a harpoon. “He actually produced from start to finish his own toggles, and he was so proud of it, and he was giving them to his family members to be actually used out on the water at home,” Komok said. In addition, Monette had his father ship him sealskin so that he could sew his own moccasins, Komok said. She added that Monette worked with another student who knew how to sew canvas, and together they tried to determine the best way to sew together the sealskin. Eleni Mora ’18, Monette’s First-Year Trip leader for Hiking 3, said she was inspired by Monette’s personal engagement with the practices of his culture. “His heritage meant a lot, but it wasn’t enough just to know about it,” Mora said. “He had to also live, breathe and practice it.” Michelle Wang ’19, one of Monette’s trippees, said that Monette was very supportive during their trip. Due to an injured ankle, Wang would frequently fall behind the other members of her trip, but Monette would draw back and entertain her with stories about him and his hometown to keep her company. Wang said she was inspired by Monette’s goal to revitalize the Makah language. “He already knew what he wanted to do in life, and that’s something that’s always really inspired me,” Wang said. “He just talked about how he was here at college so he could better himself, better his community and better humanity as a whole because his language is dying out.” At one point during their trip, Monette spent two hours describing to everyone how to skin and parse a seal and explaining what each part can be used for, Wang said. “He would tell us stories of his seal hunting on the coast, and when we talked about what mattered to us and what we wanted to do in the

future, none of us really had much of a plan, except Josh,” Mora said. “He had a real plan for what he wanted to do.” Monette’s aunt Rachel Venske said that Monette would often go on hunting expeditions with her son, his cousin Abraham, who was close in age to Monette. “He’s been on different hunting adventures, seafood-gathering adventures, with his different cousins, with his friends, with his mom,” Venske said. Monette also had a curious mind and a thirst for knowledge, Rebekah Monette said. “He had a mind that was constantly in motion, and he was always thinking about something, contemplating something, from the time that he was very, very young,” she said. Monette was initially interested in pursuing degrees in biology and law but refocused his energies on reviving the Makah language when he learned about how the language “holds so much of [his people’s] view of the world through the Makah lens,” Rebekah Monette said. She explained that Monette’s interest in the language came from language classes and from her own work at the Makah Cultural and Research Center in Neah Bay. While attending Dartmouth, Monette was very focused on linguistics, even though it was not his strongest subject, she said. Monette’s close childhood friend Hannah Welzbacker said that the Makah community in Neah Bay is hoping someone else can step up and continue the work that Monette started. She added that many Makah Tribe elders were impressed that “this young person had so much of a passion for where he came from.” Ve n s k e e ch o e d a s i m i l a r sentiment. “Family was everything for [Monette],” Venske said. She added that their family often has big gatherings — this past Thanksgiving she hosted 93 guests at her home. “At these gatherings, we have people here from infancy to my dad[’s age], and [Monette] could sit in any age group and enjoy conversations and people enjoyed conversations with him,” Venske said. “You see him talking with the younger ones, you see him chumming around with the kids his age, and he can be respectfully sitting with his grandfather and anyone older.” His mother said that Monette was very enthusiastic about adopting his two younger sisters. “He opened his arms and his heart to these two little girls, and he spent a good amount of time teaching them as well,” she said.

“The Makah language that’s in my house really comes from him, so he’d come home and he’d teach the little girls the songs, the language, about hunting and different foods.” She added that Monette also looked up to his older brother, Eli Monette, and had been looking forward to being an uncle to his 7-month old nephew as he got older. Monette also spent a lot of time with his grandfather, learning and “investing in that knowledge base from the older times,” Rebekah Monette said. In addition to his passion for language revitalization, Monette was very athletic and started playing football at a young age, in addition to playing baseball and running, Rebekah Monette said. She added that he loved to “dive into the dirt and get muddy.” She said that though her son was not very big in size, he accumulated 174 football tackles in his senior year of high school. Monette was a member of the Neah Bay High School Red Devils, a three-time state championship team. Venske added that Monette had a “beautiful, awesome, powerful singing voice.” In 2016, the Neah Bay High School basketball and football teams won the State Championships and were invited to the state capital. Monette performed at the event in March 2017 as the lead singer in the Appreciation Song in front of Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and his staff. When he was around 15 years old, Monette began singing for the culture program at the annual summertime Makah Days, a fair commemorating the Makah Tribe, his mother said. “He was doing such a good job that the older men basically handed him the reins for that age group and allowed him to be the lead singer,” she said. “It was really significant and really opened the door for other young people to come in and start participating in that, in the way that he did.” Monette also had a deep love of nature, according to Mora. “He was very much someone who appreciated nature — he would notice a beautiful weather day, and he would enjoy that,” Mora said. “If there was a tree that was in bloom, he would notice that. He was very observant of his surroundings.” According to Mora, Wang and Welzbacker, Monette was a kind and caring individual. Welzbacker first met Monette when she was around 9 years old. They were both participating in the All-American Soap Box Derby and were competing against each other, she said.

COURTESY OF HANNAH WELZBACKER

Joshua Monette ’19, pictured with his childhood friend Hannah Welzbacker, had a deep love and appreciation for Makah culture and planned on pursuing a linguistics major at the College so he could revive the Makah language.

“His mom told him to blow me a kiss to distract me, and little 10year old Josh did and I ended up losing the race,” Welzbacker said. Monette and Welzbacker both attended Klahowya Secondary School for two years in Silverdale, Washington, before Monette moved to Neah Bay. However, they continued to stay in touch and became best friends. Welzbacker said that in the past year and a half, her high school lost two students, and Monette came to both memorials. According to her, for one of the memorials, Monette paid for his flight from Dartmouth out of his own pocket “because he felt like he needed to be there,” even though he had not attended the school since eighth grade. According to his mother, Dartmouth was not initially on Monette’s list of potential schools. However, after he visited the campus several times, he was attracted by the Native American community at Dartmouth, she said. “If he was going to have to be away for school, I think he wanted to remain in a place that would still allow him to maintain his identity,” she said. She explained that Monette saw Dartmouth as a gateway for future career opportunities. “He saw it as a wonderful place for opportunity and he really, really

enjoyed the world view that he could obtain there with all the different people from the different places,” she said. “He liked engaging in conversation with people from different places.” Monette touched many lives on Dartmouth’s campus, and even if it was a short conversation, he was very memorable, Komok said. Rebekah Monette said that when she encouraged Monette to take some easier classes at Dartmouth, he replied, “Why would I do that? Why would I do something that I’m already good at? I’m here to learn.” Welzbacker said that Monette intended to return to Neah Bay after graduation and become a linguistics teacher. On April 9, more than 800 people attended Monette’s celebration of life in his hometown of Neah Bay, Venske said, adding that from a young age, Monette blessed the people around him with many memories. Rebekah Monette said that during Monette’s celebration of life, she saw many sincere friendships her son was able to forge. Monette is survived by his mother, father, stepfather, older brother, two younger sisters, nephew and a large extended family. A celebration of Monette’s life will be held on campus at a future date.

TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 2017

THE DARTMOUTH OPINION

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STAFF COLUMNIST IOANA SOLOMON ’19

CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST JULIA HUEBNER ’20

Appreciating Easter

In Defense of Kindness

Easter is more than just shopping sprees and candy binges. Americans spend an average of around $17 billion on Easter every year. With the copious amounts of food, clothing and gifts purchased for the occasion, the holiday provides retailers across the country with a vigorous revenue boost. Originally a religious and cultural tradition centered on modesty, humility and hope, this holiday is almost nationally celebrated and universally capitalized. Whereas only slightly more than half of Americans claim to go to church on Easter, 87 percent of parents claim to have Easter baskets for their children. Chocolate sales have increased by 24 percent from 2009 to 2014, with about a third of Americans purchasing it during the holidays. Similar trends can be seen in pretty much every other industry with a stake in holiday shopping. Like Christmas and Thanksgiving, Easter seems to have lost much of its spiritual value and become a secular and superficial platform Americans use to justify materialism. Granted, relaxing the connotations of holidays like Easter gives more non-religious Americans an opportunity to take vacations or spend quality time with family. I doubt that most of us would invest the time and resources necessary to plan a big family dinner or event if we did not have a good pretense for it. Perhaps days like Easter, as superficial as they have become, give us an excuse to spend more time with those we love, to be kinder to one another and to take much-needed breaks. Yet the actual significance of the holiday has become irrelevant as its secular — and many times materialistic — aspects are increasingly emphasized. Most things we now consider traditions, such as the food we eat, the costumes we wear and the gifts we offer, are artificial symbols devoid of spiritual meaning for most. While there is a personal benefit from the increasingly more universal nature of holidays like Easter, the social and cultural shifts to which we attribute that change have created some adverse ripple effects. By redefining holidays such as Easter as celebratory events in which everyone can participate, we have given free rein to their commercialization. Such commercialization is evident in the American public school system’s prioritization of Christian holidays. Certainly, some important Muslim or Jewish days of observance are listed

as no-class days or optional class days on school calendars, but during these less universally celebrated holidays, teachers generally expect students to keep up with their peers’ workload. On the other hand, the breaks around Christmas and Easter tend to be longer and more widely accepted. Christian holidays carry larger weight in part because of American demographics, with Christians making up roughly 70 percent of the country during 2014, combined with a sense of nationalism — as much as we claim to be a secular democracy, Christian religious symbols are undeniably entrenched in national politics. Yet it would be naïve to believe that business interests don’t play a part as well — the commercialization of these holidays means that American businesses have much to gain and therefore have a strong incentive to want these days to stay disproportionally recognized. As young adults, students play a significant role in this commercialization. Millennials spend more money on Easter than any other age group does, so our candy splurges and shopping hauls have a disproportionately large impact on the commercialization of holidays. By looking for any excuse to justify our excessive spending, we have allowed this superficiality to undermine our appreciation of various holidays. On and off campus, we should stay aware of this superficiality and gain something a little more substantial from holidays like Easter. Egg hunts, free candy and festivities are all good fun, and I am in no way arguing against them. That being said, we should also try to provide an open platform for students who want to engage in the spiritual aspects of these holidays. The gap between those of us who celebrate artificially and a smaller minority who celebrate religiously may seem wide. However, I believe that there is a substantial group of us who fall somewhere in the middle, who do not consistently go to church but who also wish to celebrate the spiritual aspect of religious holidays. Organizing more open forums for discussion or events centered on appreciating one another or just performing simple acts of kindness is a way to use holidays to better ourselves without limiting ourselves to materialistic enjoyments. If we are going to keep embracing the universal nature of holidays, we should strive to preserve some of these holidays’ meaningful aspects.

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ISSUE

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SUBMISSIONS: We welcome letters and guest columns. All submissions must include the author’s name and affiliation with Dartmouth College, and should not exceed 250 words for letters or 700 words for columns. The Dartmouth reserves the right to edit all material before publication. All material submitted becomes property of The Dartmouth. Please email submissions to editor@thedartmouth.com.

We can fear false shows of kindness, or we can say, “bring it on.” I never imagined that I’d write a column in defense of kindness, especially in defense of appreciating small acts of kindness within the hyper-competitive, résumé-driven rat race of college admissions. I was dismayed after reading the April 12 piece by my colleague, Dorothy Qu ’19, that criticizes the New York Times op-ed “Check This Box if You’re a Good Person,” written by former Dartmouth admissions director Rebecca Sabky. In her article, Sabky argues that kindness is a differentiating factor in college admissions. The admission process, as all Dartmouth students know, is a hoopjumping competition notorious for its numbers-driven nature and sometimes brainless — if not dishonest — résumé fluffing. Sabky pinpointed a student’s visible kindness when she read one of his letters of recommendation written by a custodian at his high school. I would like to respectfully disagree with Qu’s interpretation of Sabky’s argument. At best, Qu’s article misses the penumbra of Sabky’s piece; at worst, Qu’s willingness to pad Sabky’s facts with speculation is simply unprofessional. Before I delve into the nuances of Qu’s argument, I think it’s important to highlight our points of agreement. I wholeheartedly agree with Qu’s assertion that “being a good person should be considered as important as, if not more important than, academic and extracurricular prowess, hard work and talent.” I’m happy to see that we rank our values, at least in this instance, in the same order. I was surprised, then, to read Qu’s thesis and supporting arguments which seem to conflict with our shared value judgment. I’d like to consider a few of them here. First, Qu reasons that “the kindest people are the least likely to ask someone for a recommendation letter commending their kind acts,” implying that the mystery student’s kindness is somehow tarnished by perceived self-importance. I’d like to note that nowhere in Sabky’s article does she comment whose idea was it to have the student’s custodian write the 12th grader’s letter of recommendation. Although Qu assumes that the “confident” boy suggested it, his parents, an attentive counselor or the custodian himself could have presented the idea. Furthermore, although Qu was right to delineate kindness from decency, she neglected to separate kindness from meekness. If someone considers herself kind, I don’t see why she would not be able to speak or write about that character trait. Assuming that the kind are also humble and therefore would downplay their character — especially in a process that requires enough introspection to write candidly about oneself — is a case of false equivalency. Second, Qu criticizes the apparent shallowness of Sabky’s definition of kindness. I think we all can agree with Qu when she writes that, “There is much more to goodness than just cleaning up after your classmates or thanking the people who do so.” Sabky

understands that noticing blips of kindness is far from a perfect system to detect an upstanding high schooler: hence her cheeky title. Sabky admits that kindness is “hard to pinpoint on applications even if colleges asked the right questions.” Qu is correct in observing that other kind students who didn’t write so bluntly about their kindness can fall through the cracks — and that’s a shame. Sabky agrees: without a method to “effectively recognize the genuine but intangible personal qualities of applicants,” admissions officers must work within the existing system and notice hints of character. Nevertheless, learning the names of all custodians in a “large public school in New England” and interacting with them is, in my opinion, a prime example of one’s kindness and thoughtfulness. I freely admit that, while I was friendly with a few staff members, I didn’t know the names of all custodians at my small public school in Chicago. Third, Qu hypothesizes that it was the student’s originality — not his kindness — that attracted the watchful eye of admissions officers. I’d actually like to congratulate the 12th grader for both his kindness and originality: his out-of-the-box thinking is a mark that he’d thrive intellectually at Dartmouth. I hope that, someday, writing about simple acts of kindness won’t merit the badge of innovation. Fourth, Qu argues that “Sabky’s low bar for kindness” somehow “reward[s] … affluence” “by giving admissions a more agreeable reason to admit privileged students.” I am truly baffled by the line of Qu’s reasoning. Is she correlating small acts of kindness with being a rich kid? Or, conversely, implying that poor students don’t have the resources to either be kind to or receive recommendation letters from their custodians? And where’s the evidence in Sabky’s article to even suggest that the mystery 12th grader was wealthy? Qu and I are in agreement that the New York Times’ study about disproportionate wealth at Dartmouth is troubling, but I do not follow her specious logic that equates, or even correlates, wealth with small acts of kindness. Finally, Qu laments that students could simply begin to pack their college essays with “soon-to-be clichés about appreciating their custodial staff.” Sabky also recognizes that high school juniors will follow the kind student’s trend, recognizing that, “Next year there might be a flood of custodian recommendations thanks to this essay.” I can’t wait. Maybe high schoolers will realize that the true “golden ticket” of character that accents intellectualism will help them get into college and guide them to be better individuals. Three-hundred and fifty days ago, I chose Dartmouth over peer institutions because I was impressed by the kindness of current students when I visited campus. When academic achievement is held constant — as it must be at this caliber of an institution — I want to live and learn with the kid who is nice to a high school janitor.

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THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

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Students organize write-in campaigns for Student Assembly candidates. Balick said she believes one reason SA lacks diversity is representation” of the student because potential candidates for body. future leadership come from the “[This kind of government] same social circles as members of breeds nepotism, patronage and the current leadership. She also prevents a diversity of ideas from said that the process of running in ever entering the discussion,” and of itself is intimidating, and Harrington said in the online letter. that when women or minorities see However, Lara Balick ’19 a lack of representation in these believes that while the intent positions, they are discouraged behind the f r o m r u n n i n g. change was to She also spoke diversify student “When you look at a b o u t w o m e n’s representation this list of people tendencies to in SA, it has “sell themselves not yielded a who are running, short,” considering m o re d i ve r s e it’s so obvious to me t h e m s e l v e s l e s s candidate pool and able to that it’s all the same qualified this year. She take on leadership referred to this kind of people.” positions than men. year’s pool with Carolyn Zhou a majority of ’19, a write-in male candidates, -LARA BALICK ’19, candidate for house many of whom WRITE-IN CANDIDATE senate, echoed this are of the same opinion, saying that race. the high number of “When you men running for look at this list positions confirms of people who a “pattern of are running, it’s confidence” that so obvious to me men often have and that it’s all the women sometimes same kind of lack. people,” she said. Sydney Walter ’18, a candidate The gender disparity prompted for vice president, said she saw a Balick to organize a write-in consistent lack of women running c a m p a i g n w i t h fo u r f e m a l e for leadership positions. When she FROM SA PAGE 1

found that there were no women on the ballot again this year, she knew she needed to run. She said that regardless of the outcome, she will bring a different perspective to the debate. “Even if I don’t win … at least I’ll be sitting at the debate talking about things that maybe other people on that panel of potential leaders might not be thinking about,” Walter said. Nicole Beckman ’20, the only woman running for a position on the separate election of Committee on Standards and Organizational Adjudication Committee, said that she sees this gender disparity in federal and state governments as well, and that it is “interesting and discouraging to see the dropoff as age increases.” In terms of Dartmouth’s Student Assembly, she said that it is important to be cognizant of the implications of a majority male leadership. Walter said that while similar kinds of people running for a position does not necessarily mean that their thoughts and opinions will be the same, she does believe it is important to bring in people that have different life experiences and are from different parts of campus. She said that she and her running mate Garrison Roe ’18 are running with the understanding that student leadership “seems

off limits to people [who] are methods, he said he believes that marginalized at Dartmouth,” it should be the organic interest and that they want to create in the organization that spurs access to student government and people to run. He said that SA has administrative decisions for these room to improve its visibility and people. activity on campus to generate this Balick said she believes more excitement, which he believes will could be done to diversify the elicit a diverse group of candidates. candidate “The p o o l , “The two best ways two best ways especially to exercise to exercise your right by targeting your right as wo m e n a n d as a student and a student and p e o p l e o f citizen of Dartmouth citizen of color and Dartmouth is r e a c h i n g is to vote and, if you t o vo t e a n d , out to them feel strongly about if you feel specifically to strongly about something, to run.” run. something, to “I think a run,” he said. broad blitz to -DEREK WHANG ’17, Voting all of campus will occur from is not enough, ELECTIONS PLANNING AND April 17 at because that’s ADVISORY COMMITTEE 8:00 p.m. to what’s got us April 18 at 8:00 CHAIR to where we p.m. through are now,” she OrgSync, as said. well as through Whang, physical voting h o w e v e r, booths in Collis said that he Center and the believes it Class of 1953 i s E PA C ’ s Commons, responsibility to maintain the same which will be open today from level of advertising to everyone, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. given the organization’s stated mission of “free and fair elections.” Carolyn Zhou ’19 is a staff member Rather than changing the outreach of The Dartmouth.

GIVE A ROUSE

HOLLYE SWINEHART/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

The baseball team won three of its four games against Brown University this past weekend.

THE DARTMOUTH EVENTS

PAGE 6

DARTMOUTHEVENTS

EASTER EGGS

TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 2017

Rachel Lincoln ’20

TODAY

8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.

Breakfast with the Arts with architect Tim Olson, Nearburg Gallery & Arts Forum, Black Family Visual Arts Center

4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Lecture: “Lying in the Gallery” with Stanford University professor Pamela Lee, Carpenter Hall 13

4:45 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Lecture: “Grammatical Diversity in American English” with Yale University professor Raffaella Zanuttini, Haldeman 41 (Kreindler Conference Hall)

TOMORROW

6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Lecture: “Navigating Difference” with professor Eman Morsi, House Center B

6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Lecture: “Why Do Bosses Say Emotional Intelligence is More Important than GPA in Hiring?” with professor Janine Scheiner, Brace Commons

7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Lecture: “What Are We Doing Here, Anyways: Your Education in the Age of Trump” with professor Timothy Rosenkoetter, House Center B RELEASE DATE– Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

ACROSS 1 Valuable stone 4 Hamilton and Burr, notably 8 Find incredibly funny 14 Word for a Latin lover 15 Cookbook author Rombauer 16 Not certain 17 Mom-and-pop stores 20 Vietnam’s capital 21 Part of MST: Abbr. 22 FDR’s successor 23 Serpent’s tooth 26 Irreverence 29 Alfalfa, Darla and friends, with “the” 33 Biblical verb ending 34 Quick hellos 35 Curbs, with “in” 38 Blackjack half 39 “God bless us, every one!” Dickens character 42 Wedding notice word 43 What hares and mares do 45 Long, long time 46 La Brea __ Pits 47 Game with windmills, ramps and such 52 Coiffures 54 Move, in real estate lingo 55 Part of MST 56 Tango maneuver 58 Higher than 62 Waterspout climber of song 67 California’s San __: Hearst Castle locale 68 Filming locales 69 401(k) kin 70 Six times cinq 71 VCR insert 72 Gov. Cuomo’s domain DOWN 1 Deep cut 2 2016 Best Actress Stone of “La La Land” 3 Pained sound

4 Like a child’s love for a parent 5 Heavenly sphere 6 Grounded bird 7 Fresh talk 8 Pioneering hiphop trio from Queens 9 Single 10 Beast of burden 11 Does without much thought 12 “Give it __!” 13 Cantankerous 18 Barn storage space 19 “How sweet __!” 24 Classic grape soda 25 Smile that may be silly 27 Eggplant __: Italian entrée, briefly 28 L’eau land? 29 Shakespearean king with three daughters 30 Nagging desire 31 College freshman’s comment about why his parents call so often

32 Until now 36 Patricia of “Hud” 37 Medieval laborer 39 Take care of 40 Vacation option 41 Memo heading 44 Defunct Soviet space station 48 First-aid fluid 49 “__ happens ... ” 50 Pass, as time 51 Mongolian desert 52 Bank holdup

53 No longer sleeping 57 “Hey, get a load of this” 59 Chief Norse god 60 Quite 61 Significant periods 63 Kyoto cash 64 Droid 65 Positive vote 66 Gas additive brand

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

ADVERTISING

xwordeditor@aol.com

04/18/17

For advertising information, please call (603) 646-2600 or email info@thedartmouth. com. The advertising deadline is noon, two days before publication. We reserve the right to refuse any advertisement. Opinions expressed in advertisements do not necessarily reflect those of The Dartmouth, Inc. or its officers, employees and agents. The Dartmouth, Inc. is a nonprofit corporation chartered in the state of New Hampshire. USPS 148-540 ISSN 0199-9931

04/18/17

TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 2017

THE DARTMOUTH ARTS

PAGE 7

Good characters fail to revive recycled plot in ‘Gifted’

By SEBASTIAN WURZRAINER The Dartmouth Staff

“Gifted” will be the third consecutive film that I’ve given a negative rating. I want to make it absolutely clear that I don’t enjoy that fact in the slightest. Roger Ebert, the grandfather of film criticism and one of my key inspirations, wrote in his book, “Your Movie Sucks,” the following: “Some of these reviews were written in joyous zeal. Others with glee. Some in sorrow, some in anger and a precious few with venom, of which I have a closely guarded supply.” I think this statement could apply to any reasonable film critic. Subpar films are subpar for a variety of reasons. Thus, they should and must be addressed in different ways. Oddly, I find the films that frustrate me the most are not those which I write about with venom, but instead those I write about in sorrow. Because usually those are the films that have the potential to be great but squander it in some way, shape or form. “Gifted” is one of those. Mary (Mckenna Grace) is a 7-year-old with genius-level intellect and the daughter of a woman who was also a genius yet sadly committed suicide due to

pressures to live up to expectations. an innate ability to facilitate onFrank (Chris Evans), Mary’s uncle, screen chemistry. It is no surprise now acts as her guardian and that “Gifted” soars when the actors wants to send her to a normal take center stage. public school in the hopes that I don’t think Evans could play she will socialize and avoid the “unlikeable” to save his life, but for same fate as her mother. When this film that’s for the better. He’s Frank’s mother, Evelyn (Lindsay understated and totally believable Duncan), learns of this, she ignites as a decent man haunted by a custody battle for Mary with the sadness. I’m also convinced that intention of grooming her so that Octavia Spencer can do no wrong she can realize her full intellectual — she, too, is excellent as Frank and potential. Mary’s best friend, Roberta. That Marc Webb, the director, is being said, the real scene stealer is perhaps best known at this point Grace as the titular “gifted” girl. for helming the 2012 reboot “The Child actors and Hollywood Amazing Spider-Man” and its films have a long history of not sequel, both of which have been being good — or healthy — for much maligned by fans of the each other. Thankfully, Grace is webslinger. an exception. I happen to “[Marc] Webb isn’t, She elevates like those films I don’t think, cut out the film with more than a performance most, but even for directing action set that is both I acknowledge pieces for blockbusters charismatic and that they are deeply moving. r i d d l e d w i t h — his talents clearly Sadly, these flaws. characters all life in intimate Webb isn’t, I deserve a much drama and character don’t think, cut better story. It’s out for directing interactions.” not that we’ve action set pieces been here and for blockbusters done this a — his talents clearly lie in intimate couple times, it’s that we’ve been drama and character interactions. here and done this a couple dozen His films always work best when times. actors are just talking to each Within the first few minutes, other because he seems to have you could chart a road map of all

the story beats you suspect the film — but I can at least appreciate will hit before it ends. Trust me, it the basis for Evelyn’s perspective, will hit all of them. and I wish the screenplay could as The problem with this derivative well. quality is twofold. First, it results These storytelling issues are in a film that feels like it has been only amplified by the problematic filtered through an alternate reality. ending. It is a massive contrivance Characters rarely act naturally that leads to a totally unearned because their happily ever after, a c t i o n s a r e “... because it falls c o m p a r a bl e t o in service of deus-ex-machina back so readily r e c yc l e d p l o t resolutions. points instead on clichés, the Certainly, I was of the other way film strips itself of invested enough around. in the characters S e c o n d , any real thematic that I wanted to because it falls complexity.” see them happy, back so readily but that happiness on clichés, the feels cheapened film strips itself of any real when it’s the result of an elevenththematic complexity. hour salvation. It wants to ask a genuinely Perhaps I shouldn’t be so hard fascinating question: is it better on “Gifted.” All things considered, for a child with genius intellect to it’s harmless at best and mildly fully develop her abilities at the frustrating at worst. cost of her own well-being, or is But parents have a tendency it better for her to live a normal to say to their children, “I’m not life and thus deprive the world of angry, I’m just disappointed.” all the amazing things she could Truly terrible films make me angry, have done? but mediocre films with potential, Unfortunately, the screenplay like “Gifted,” are even worse is so simplistic that it invariably because they’re disappointing. validates Frank’s point of view There is a wonderful film trying that Mary should live as a normal to escape the constraints of this child, while painting Evelyn in a one. It’s just a shame that it never negative light. quite succeeds. I’m not saying that Frank isn’t right — because he probably is Rating: 5/10

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THE DARTMOUTH ARTS

TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 2017

Susan Walp returns to Dartmouth as artist-in-residence

autobiographical figural images that depicted scenes from everyday life. The Dartmouth Staff However, her style eventually began Peeking into the Jaffe-Friede to change. gallery in the Hopkins Center this “At a certain point, those month, one will glimpse at the still paintings just came to their natural lifes produced by Susan Walp, the conclusion,” Walp said. studio art department’s current artistUnsure of what to do next, Walp in-residence. Walp currently has began painting simple still lifes of work displayed singular apples. in the Hood She began to Museum as well “The purpose of appreciate the as the National bringing professional use of small A c a d e m y space and found artists to campus ... Museum in New the work to be York. Over her is to have them as a calming yet career she has model for students invigorating. received awards “ I i n c l u d i n g of what it is to be a had really lost a N a t i o n a l practicing artist in the touch with Endowment how exciting fo r th e A r ts world, as opposed to working from Fellowship, a an artist-teacher.” observation Gug geinheim could be because Fellowship and I had been a B o g l i a s c o -COLLEEN RANDALL, working on the F e l l o w s h i p . STUDIO ART PROFESSOR figure paintings A d d i t i o n a l l y, largely from my Walp has served imagination,” as a studio art guest lecturer at the Walp said. College. Walp said she originally thought Colleen Randall, a studio art that the still lifes would be a professor and member of the temporary thing in her art, yet she committee that selects the artists-in- never stopped. residence, said that the department “They were just immediately so is extremely pleased to have Walp engaging for me in a way that the here at Dartmouth as an example figure paintings no longer were,” for students but also as someone Walp said. with whom they can communicate. Walp enjoyed drawing as a child “The pur pose of bringing and was eventually signed up for art professional artists to campus and classes. She continued to study art having them work here for an through high school and considered entire term is to have them as a going to art school but ultimately model for students of what it is to decided to attend Mount Holyoke be a practicing artist in the world College for a liberal arts education. as opposed to an artist-teacher,” Halfway through her time at Randall said. college, Walp participated in a Previous artists-in-residence summer art program at Boston include mixed media artist Sonya University where she was taught Kelliher-Combs and conceptual by American painter Lennart artist Eric Van Hove. For students Anderson. without prior exposure to the This summer program, along with practical, post-graduate artistic the mentorship under Anderson, world, the department hopes that encouraged Walp to pursue art hosting artists-in-residence can be professionally. an invaluable resource. “It’s a hard thing to explain,” said “We want to show students how Walp about her decision. “I just knew this works,” Louise Hamlin, another that it was going to be the focus for studio art professor and committee the rest of my life.” member, said. “They can see that Walp said that her favorite part [artists] come to their studios and of painting still lifes is setting up the work every day just like other image which she will depict. She people.” begins with an original idea but is After her time at art school, also always willing to let go of that Walp began working, and her art first inspiration if she feels the image consisted largely of somewhat moving in a different direction. Walp

By ELISE HIGGINS

added that while she does aim to create a narrative when she arranges her still lifes, she also arranges the objects in a pleasing, interesting manner. For example, Walp said she enjoys painting pomelos, a type of fruit similar to a grapefruit, but chooses to cut them open to increase visual interest. Walp also added that she adds in certain harsher elements such as forks or knives if she feels the fruit makes her still life too “sweet.” Walp said that the interaction both with other artists as well as faculty and students is one of her favorite parts about being at Dartmouth. Hamlin said that she thought Walp would be a great fit for Dartmouth, both as a professor and as an artist-in-residence, because of the care she puts into her work as well as her gracious personality. Walp said that the balance between teaching and working on her own art was perfect for her because painting can be so time consuming. “I didn’t feel like I was temperamentally suited to be a

full time professor with all of the attendant, says that dozens of responsibilities that go along with people come in during each shift to look at Walp’s art. Ram said that,” Walp said. Now, as Walp retur ns to that some students come in, but the Dartmouth as an artist-in-residence, majority of visitors are faculty or she can spend all day working on her older community members. The gallery showcases Walp’s art. recent work “Already I’ve consisting of been spending “When I no longer feel w h a t Wa l p long days here,” calls semiWalp said. “I’m new possibilities in restrospective just really, really that work, I’m sure I’ll lifes. Despite enjoying it.” move on to something still Walp’s current Although preferences, she Wa l p i s n o t else.” said that she is currently not opposed to teaching, she experimenting is still eager to -SUSAN WALP, interact with with alternative ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE styles of art. students. Walp “When said that as the I no longer feel term continues, she assumes her communication new possibilities in that work, I’m with students will increase. Hamlin sure that I’ll move to something added that the amount of interaction else,” Walp said. “It’s not that I’m between the artist and the students committed without reservation to depends on both parties. In addition that.” Walp will continue to work on her to meeting with Walp, Hamlin also encourages students to visit the art at Dartmouth and her exhibition will be displayed in the Jaﬀe-Friede exhibit in person. Redal Ram ’17 , a gallery Gallery until April 30.

MONDAY BLUES BECOME MONDAY BREWS

TIFFANY ZHAI/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

A group of students participated in a Microbrew Monday event in One Wheelock last evening.