VOL. CLXXIV NO.57
TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2017
HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE
Living Learning Communities see high interest
RAIN HIGH 78 LOW 52
By PAULOMI RAO
The Dartmouth Staff
TIFFANY ZHAI /THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
In addition to the new residential housing systems, Living Learning Communities comprise roughly 10 percent of on-campus housing for undergraduate students at the College.
Despite the recent introduction of house communities at the College, Living Learning Communities, another residential housing option for undergraduates, saw approximately the same number of applications this year as in previous years, according to Katharina Daub, associate director of residential education for Living Learning Programs and academic initiatives. For the 2017-2018 school year, the Office of Residential Life received 400 applications for 300 beds, but Daub is SEE LLC PAGE 5
OPINION
SANDLUND: CANDID OBSCURA PAGE 4
ARTS
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: DANCER AMY LIANG ’17 PAGE 8
KILLEN: ‘GIRLS’ IS NOT A COMFORT SHOW
Media fellows launch projects By ANTHONY ROBLES The Dartmouth Staff
This past winter, the College initiated a media fellows program designed to facilitate classroom projects that will allow fellows to develop media integral to the course and serve as technical advisors.
The program’s first fellow, Jessica Fedin ’17, worked with the Latin I course taught by classics postdoctoral fellow Suzanne Lye last winter. This term, three other students — Peter Eggert ’17, Ava Giglio ’19 and Veronica Williamson ’17 — are serving as media fellows for Japanese 10, SEE MEDIA PAGE 3
College sells farm to be added to Appalachian Trail By DEBORA HYEMIN HAN The Dartmouth Staff
On March 22, Dartmouth and The Trust for Public Land, in collaboration with the town of Hanover and Hanover Conservancy, completed a $1.84 million transaction to sell the College’s Hudson Farm property to the TPL. The TPL, which is a nonprofit
organization, then transferred the property to the National Park Service to add it to the Appalachian Trail, which spans from Maine to Georgia. The 175-acre property, located in Etna, was added to Dartmouth’s endowment in 1963 as an outdoor and recreational asset, according to Ellen Arnold , director of real estate and associate
general counsel for campus services. According to Hanover town manager Julia Griffin, the town had long been interested in conserving the Hudson Farm property. The farm is part of a recreation and wildlife corridor called “green pearls” that begins SEE TRAIL PAGE 2
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Professor Robert Caldwell receives Simons fellowship By JOYCE LEE
The Dartmouth Staff
Physics and astronomy professor Robert Caldwell was one of 13 American theoretical physicists who was awarded a Simons Foundation fellowship in theoretical physics this year. The fellowship is designed to support sabbatical work for research in mathematics and physical sciences.
HEATING UP IN THE CIRCLE
Caldwell is the first theoretical physicist from Dartmouth ever to receive the fellowship. Physics and astronomy professor Marcelo Gleiser said that Simons Foundation fellowships are difficult to earn and that it is very significant that one of Dartmouth’s faculty members is a recipient. SEE SIMONS PAGE 5
ISHAAN AJODIA/THE DARTMOUTH
The College’s softball team won four straight games this past weekend.
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
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TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2017
Dartmouth sells land for Appalachian Trail for $1.84 million strategy that would conserve the property and provide Dartmouth a at the Lebanon town line, wraps fair market value for the property. around downtown Hanover and Once the TPL understood that the connects to the Connecticut River. College was a willing seller, it entered She said town members regularly into negotiations with the College’s expressed concerns regarding the NPS office. The organization also future of the property, given its reached out to NPS to confirm that popular trails and its view of Mount it would be interested in owning Ascutney. the property and adding it to the This continued interest in the AT. property led to the beginning After initiating negotiations of communications regarding during the first year, the TPL conservation of the land began went through a two-and-a-halfbetween Griffin and the College year process to service money in 2012. Griffin reached out f o r t h e a c q u i s i t i o n , w h i c h to the Hanover Conservancy, a ultimately came from the Land nonprofit that had assisted the town and Water Conservation Fund, with previous a Cong ressional conservation act that redirects p r o j e c t s , f o r “Without someone a small percentage advice on how pushing for the of offshore oil and to go about gas revenue to a p r o t e c t i n g Congressional fund for federal t h e p ro p e r t y. appropriations, and state land A c c o r d i n g without someone acquisition and land to executive protection. LWCF d i r e c t o r o f helping with funds are mostly t h e H a n ov e r the real estate d i re c t e d t ow a rd Conservancy protecting parks Adair Mulligan due diligence, and recreation the organization without somebody resources. Hor n referred Griffin helping with said that much of to the TPL the process of this and ultimately the community sale was building began working relationships, this political support with TPL senior to obtain this project manager kind of a project feder a l funding. J.T. Horn, who probably wouldn’t In collaboration has had extensive with the Hanover have a chance.” experience with Conservancy and AT projects in the town, the TPL the past. The -J.T. HORN, SENIOR led the effort to gain TPL facilitates the support of the c o n s e r v a t i o n PROJECT MANAGER New Hampshire acquisitions with FOR THE TRUST FOR Congressional a stated mission delegation for PUBLIC LAND of maintaining the conservation land for people, project. wo rk i n g w i t h “ Wi t h o u t real estate s o m e o n e problem solving, p u s h i n g fo r t h e fundraising and Congressional acting as an appropriations, intermediary without someone between a private helping with the land owner and real estate due a public agency, diligence, without Horn said. somebody helping According to Horn, the price for with the community relationships, the Hudson Farm was more than the this kind of a project probably town could afford on its own. The wouldn’t have a chance,” Horn TPL helped construct an acquisition said. FROM TRAIL PAGE 1
CORRECTIONS We welcome corrections. If you believe there is a factual error in a story, please email editor@thedartmouth.com.
Correction Appended (April 10, 2017): The original version of the article “Troy Crema ’17 signs amateur tryout contract” referred to the ECHL as the East Coast Hockey League, when the organization now only goes by just ECHL. The article has been updated to reflect this change.
Mulligan added that President In addition to finding funding Donald Trump is considering a for the acquisition costs of the budget cut of land itself, the a b o u t $ 1 2 0 “The College was a TPL paid for million for the the transaction very, very patient LWCF, which costs of the e s s e n t i a l l y landowner. To work process, which m a d e t h e on a land acquisition i n c l u d e d acquisition paying for p o s s i b l e , for five years is very the appraiser, and that it is unusual, and the surveyor and imperative parking lot use. College was very for people It also worked to r e a c h generous to stick with extensively with out to their the process for as long the town and congressional t h e H a n ove r as they did.” delegations. Conservancy Griffin to create an noted that endowment for -J.T. HORN, SENIOR the College t h e p ro p e r t y “ g r a c i o u s l y PROJECT MANAGER FOR that would be a g r e e d ” THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC used to maintain to accept the land once it t h e p r i c e LAND was acquired. determined The Hanover by appraisers Conservancy hired by NPS, which was lower contributed a significant amount than the original asking price. of financial support to the
endowment and worked with the family of local environmentalist Audrey McCullom, who agreed to redirect individual gifts sent to them in her honor to the Hudson Farm. According to Mulligan, the U.S. Forest Service in the White Mountain area will be overseeing the property, but locally, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy will be keeping an eye on the management. Horn said that the entire community will benefit from the property remaining an open space and being available for hiking and wildlife habitats. Griffin, Horn and Mulligan said that the Hudson Farm acquisition would not have been possible without the College’s willingness to hold the property off the market. “The College was a very, very patient landowner,” Horn said. “To work on a land acquisition for five years is very unusual, and the College was very generous to stick with the process for as long as they did.”
AN ARTIST’S TOUCH
MORGAN MOINIAN/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF
A student spends her afternoon sketching in the Black Family Visual Arts Center drawing studio.
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2017
Media fellows partner with professors FROM MEDIA PAGE 1
“Introduction to Japanese Culture.” Media coordinator Colleen Goodhue said the program is still in its inaugural stages and will become more defined as time goes on. “It’s a brand-new program so it’s still being defined by what opportunities are presenting themselves,” Goodhue said. “They are students who are trained in pedagogy and group dynamics and possess creative and technical skills.” Media fellows will serve as creative and technical guides to allow faculty members to focus primarily on the projects themselves rather than the technical aspects in the classroom, Goodhue said. The media fellows program is another addition to the evergrowing Dartmouth Learning Fellows program, which is divided into three categories: course-based learning fellows, social impact fellows and the media fellows. Instructional designer and L e a r n i n g Fe l l o w s p r o g r a m manager Kes Schroer said that learning fellows dedicate time and resources to help professors teach more effectively. “ We h ave a l o t o f g re at professors, but because of different constraints — either their room or the number of students in
their classroom — they can’t always bring those ideas to life, and the learning fellows help the faculty translate their vision to the classroom,” Schroer said. Course-based learning fellows were first pilot-tested in summer 2015 and became a full-fledged program in August 2016. Students involved in the program are usually paired with a faculty member to support a class. The program is supported by the Gateway Initiative, an effort to redesign high-enrollment colleges, and the Experiential Learning Initiative, which coordinates resources to expand experiential lear ning Schroer said. Meanwhile, the social impact fellows, who also began working this past winter term, collaborate with the Dartmouth Center for Service and are paired with multiple faculty members to help facilitate community outreach. In Latin I, Fedin assisted the students in taping student presentations and creating a podcast for their final project. Lye said the podcast consisted of eight episodes and Fedin helped coordinate with Dartmouth Radio Network to set up recording times. She subsequently guided the students through scriptwriting,
rehearsing and the final recording session, before helping with editing. When Lye first started the course, she had not yet decided what the final project would be, she said. Since Fedin had experience with radio and writing scripts for auditory entertainment, Lye said she agreed to assign creating a podcast as the final project. The media fellows for Japanese 10 this term will help students create a digital story representing their thoughts on Japanese culture before they took the course, during the course and what they think their perspectives on Japanese culture will be in the future, Goodhue said. To become a media fellow, students must apply, then be interviewed by Goodhue. Goodhue said she was looking for students with a certain level of technical skill, as well as those with an interest in teaching. As for the future of the program, Schroer said she believes that the program will benefit students and professors alike. “I think that we’re going to see our faculty take a few more risks with their teaching, of finding new ways to integrate what they’re teaching with their students’ ability to storytell their own learning,” Schroer said.
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THE DARTMOUTH OPINION
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TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2017
STAFF COLUMNIST ANNIKA PARK ’18
CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST WILLIAM SANDLUND ’18
Vox Clamantis
Candid Obscura
A case for not being afraid to say it the way it is.
Parsing through a junior existence with greater understanding.
“Hey, how are you?” “I’m good!” “How “Annika, good to see you!” “Hey! Oh my was your off term?” “It was really nice. It feels god, I missed you so much!” “How was your good to be back though.” “That’s good. Grab off term?” “It was nice to be home, but it got a meal?” “Yes! What’s your class schedule?” really stressful after a while. Spending every “I have a 10, an 11 and a 3B.” “How about moment after work with my parents was a lunch after 11s next Wednesday?” “Sure!” little tough. Work was fun; I learned a lot and We never grabbed that meal. Social got to work on a couple of my weaknesses, like interactions are my favorite part of the day, attention to detail, but I’m not sure if I’d ever but I spent my first week back at Dartmouth want to work a nine-to-five job again. We’ll after my off term in a full daze, overcome with see about that.” “Yeah, I totally feel that. My homesickness and anxiety about running into job was so stressful, but it was definitely nice to familiar faces. be home.” “By the way, you look good. Like, After a couple of awkward “hellos” and really, really good.” (Here, there’s usually an halfhearted hugs, I realized that I was wasting awkward laughter when the person is taken my time. I had missed Dartmouth during my aback by what I just said.) “Thanks. You do time away; I missed my friends so much that too.” I was counting down the days until I’d be It’s astonishing how much sadness pervades back. This surprised me, given that I had left a college as idyllic as Dartmouth. In an activity school for the winter both my sorority ran during emotionally drained and “I cannot blame my sophomore summer, each mentally unwhole. sister received a jar of friends, my sorority At Dartmouth, compliments that other surrounded by people who or my school for not sisters in the house filled are much smarter, much being there for me for them. Most of mine more successful, much were about the big smile I more beautiful and much when I did not make greet everyone with, how more privileged than I am, the effort to let them fun I am at parties, how I my sense of inadequacy to go on runs every know that I was tired, manage was eating me alive. There day and how put together I were other concerns that hurt and sick.” look on a daily basis. This stood in the way of my was during a time when I happiness at Dartmouth barely made it to class, ate as well, such as family problems that had less than one meal a day and lay strung out on gotten exponentially worse from freshman my couch every night, half asleep, half awake, year onward. I always thought of myself as a pushed to my breaking point. strong person, but at times I felt anything but. I can’t say that I am better, but I can attest Yet some of my lowest points at Dartmouth with confidence that I have more moments taught me that weakness is not the absence when I feel better than I did before. This came of strength — it’s your body’s way of telling from one realization: I cannot blame my friends, you that your mind is stretched to the extent my sorority or my school for not being there of snapping. for me when I did not make the effort to let And so, a few days into this term, I made an them know that I was tired, hurt and sick. executive decision. I was going to tell people Don’t be afraid. Spit it out. Don’t hold it in. how I felt; I was going to tell people how happy Go for the hug. Are you angry? Are you tired? I was to see them. I was not going to be afraid Are you sick? We’re here for you. I’m here for of how I would be presenting myself to them you – but we can only be here for you if you when they saw me. The term immediately got let us know. So Dartmouth – tell us how you better; I realized it was because I no longer feel. feared showing too much and making a fool “How was your day?” “Really terrible.” of myself. “Same. Come here, let me give you a hug.”
The experience of returning to Dartmouth My travel time to Dartmouth is around 12 as a junior is somewhat jarring. Most ’18s have hours, and during the journey I subconsciously realized, hopefully, that we will be leaving soon, start rearranging my psyche in an attempt and many will have gotten a taste of what will to ready myself for a momentous circadian come next — probably through an internship rhythmic shift. I get excited to see friends who where they brushed up against the previously will revel with me in irresponsibility. Learning in inviolable Adult World. Part of what makes this an academic setting again is also a comforting experience more poignant than past work is the thought. So I wait, and I travel, listening to all understanding that college will end soon. the music I meant to discover weeks ago. If I We now better understand what awaits us see some familiar Dartmouth shirt or face, I get on the other end of a commencement speech a slight thrill, which is odd because in a day’s and an embossed piece of paper. In many ways, time I really won’t care. we know what to expect from the rest of school. Once we arrive in Boston or New York, the Our social universe is mostly mapped, along with shade of green that tints our reality grows deeper: our classes. But amidst all this certainty, there is an unnameable feeling, especially pronounced Huddles of us form in that first week back. Even as we fall into old In grim waiting rooms — routines and friendships, there is the sense that These green puddles tired, forlorn. something has changed. Perhaps it is simply the tenuous creep of maturity, but I think that You make small talk with someone you sort oversimplifies the feeling. I believe we possess a of know for longer than you expected, and growing understanding of they’re actually really nice! how we compartmentalize “What makes traveling Or you find your best friend our college existence. and sit with the unforced After being away for so so evocative and what cool of companionship. long, I am more aware that lends airports around Sometimes you meet I am a different person at someone completely new the world a singular school. There are subtle and hit it off, knowing you shifts to my psyche when feeling is anonymity.” will not talk like this again I arrive on campus. once you are fully “There.” We all undergo mental Because at this moment, in metamorphoses to adapt to a given environment spite of the mental shift your mind is making, and returning to Dartmouth is no different. Dartmouth is still There. The “T” gets slowly The “Dartmouth Shift,” as I’m going to erased on the drive north. christen it, starts on the journey to school. You wait along with the rest of the herd, An ongoing area of interest in academia is sharing a quiet anxiety about getting a decent ideology, which entails the analysis of how seat. When the coach comes, everyone starts to external structures like culture and society shape jostle, and the modicum of relaxation becomes individuals’ perception of reality, including how one of unspoken frenzy. And then the bus is we perceive ourselves. The Dartmouth Shift is here. a case study in how environments seep into our By the time you arrive in Hanover, you feel souls like water in soil. The result? A change so different than when you started the journey. minuscule and varied across individuals it is easy There may be excitement, anti-climax, to brush aside, but one that is no less fantastical apprehension. But all of these are contained because it is small and unacknowledged. in a slightly faster heartbeat: the feeling you get There is something undeniably satisfying — positive or negative — as you look around at about the journey to Dartmouth. Strangely snow-bound buildings and realize that, on some enough, the purest embodiment of my misplaced profound physical level, “nothing has changed romanticism about the rural idyll of our college Here.” When you step off the coach, Dartmouth is the Dartmouth Coach, which functions as is instantly in you once more. our relatively drab Hogwarts Express. The Moving through college, I find the expression, experience of traveling on the coach is important “the people make the place,” has taken on because it acts as a netherworld for Dartmouth. new meanings. Each person contains the place All the ingredients are there, but we must hurtle they inhabit, in slight variations of a shared through space for a couple hours to realize the environment and culture. Some sliver of our subtle yet profound shift that occurs in our physical surroundings dissolves into us. We each mindsets once we arrive on campus. contain Dartmouth, as strange as that sounds. What makes traveling so evocative and what And as containers we inevitably have limits on lends airports around the world a singular feeling what we may experience of others, of the place, is anonymity. These spaces represent a strange of ourselves. We are delineated by our senses compromise between our nomadic past and and limited by the social norms and personal settled present. They are fixed locations robbed inhibitions that replace other inhibitions and of any meaning by virtue of the fact that no norms, ones we internalized from a different one lives there. This is what makes it easy to time and place. enter that travel reverie, a state where you can It’s not that we don’t have control over how simply listen to music or not quite fall asleep for we feel. On some level, we do. What’s strange hours that pass by formless, unshaped by any is being confronted with the knowledge that the association. In an environment so completely way we control how we feel is fundamentally anonymous, we start to reorient our brains for shaped by where we are and who we are there a new way of living, one we already know but with. If this muddled realization is growing up, that is nonetheless different. then it is harder to accept than I thought.
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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.
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2017
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LLC interest consistent with last year Professor receives fellowship for research FROM LLC PAGE 1
still hopeful that most applicants will get their first choice LLC, given students can list up to three preferences. STEM Collective, a new LLC that focuses on approaching STEM initiatives from a humanities background, will be added as a part of the “Design Your Own LLC” program. The Thought Project LLC and the Asian and Asian American LLC have become established LLCs after originating as “Design Your Own LLC” programs, Daub said. A total of 24 different LLCs will be available in the upcoming year, accounting for roughly 10 percent of the total dormitory options on campus. In addition, 11 of the 24 LLCs will be available to incoming first-year students, with three of the 11 being first-year only. Julia Granito ’18, a current resident of the Sustainable Living Center, has been living there since the fall of her junior year after a friend suggested it would be a good community outside of the new residential house system. Since she moved in, Granito said she has become more involved with sustainability initiatives on campus and has enjoyed the communal aspect of the house. The SLC has 20 single dorm rooms, and residents gather every Sunday for dinner. Each week, one student goes grocery shopping and cooks dinner, encouraging many students to opt for the off-campus meal plan. Granito noted that non-residents are also welcome at these dinners, which fosters a sense of outreach and unity. “One of my favorite aspects is how you can invite others who don’t live there,” Granito said. “Sometimes it’s a nice chance to
get everyone together, see people and introduce them to others.” In addition, Granito said that because the SLC is in an actual house and not just a floor of a dorm building, it allows for more genuine interactions and friendships. “It feels more homey than a dorm,” she said. “The people choose to live there because their friends are living there … that makes it a pretty special community.” Other LLCs located in the McLaughlin cluster provide similar opportunities for students interested in learning outside of the classroom. Tony DiPadova ’19, a resident of the Italian Language Program located within the Global Village LLC, decided to live there after returning to Dartmouth from his Italian LSA+ in Rome last winter. He hopes that by living on the Italian language floor, he will have the opportunity to continue practicing his language skills. In addition, DiPadova said he enjoyed that the LLC allows him to live with people from different class years and majors, facilitating relationships with people across campus he might not have met otherwise. A few times each term, the Italian floor meets for coffee with the program advisor to help build community. According to Karina Korsh ’19, who lives in the Thought Project LLC, the LLC has allowed the student-run program to gain visibility among campus, foster relationships with professors and be fully funded. The Thought Project seeks to bring together a diverse group to explore different cultures and ideas. “It’s great to live on a floor
where people all choose to be together instead of just a random housing system,” Korsh said. “Everyone is there for reason, and it definitely cultivates a sense of community.” Another LLC, the Dartmouth Entre preneurial Network in Residence program has grown in popularity over the last few years because of successful outreach to incoming students. Sam Barrett ’20 said that one of the reasons he chose to come to Dartmouth was because of the DEN in Residence LLC. Each year, the LLC accepts 27 students from all four class years. This year, the application process was particularly competitive due to the growing popularity, Barrett said. With the introduction of the new housing system, DEN in Residence was relocated to McLaughlin from its previous location in the New Hampshire dorm. He noted that although there is a growing number of entrepreneurial programs at peer institutions, Dartmouth’s is unique for its focus on first-year students in particular. Barrett noted that even though DEN in Residence share a common interest in entrepreneurship it does not necessarily mean its members are homogenous. In fact, Barrett said he particularly likes how the diversity among his floormates has helped facilitate a supportive community. “We all have entrepreneurial interests, but that’s just one common thread that links a very diverse group of people,” Barrett said. “With diverse backgrounds, interests influence the ventures [students] are in within business and entrepreneurship.”
KATE HERRINGTON/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Though house communities were introduced in fall 2016, interest in Living Learning Communities remains similar to last year.
to “the Big Bang.” His theory deals with the idea of cosmic acceleration Caldwell had already planned and whether the universe will be for a two-term sabbatical leave, but torn apart if it continues. Along with the fellowship will his research allow him to add “People often capabilities, an additional term Caldwell’s students to his sabbatical, have this picture speak highly of him which will now last that the Big Bang a professor. from fall of 2017 to is something that as Jack Neustadt spring of 2018, he happened in the ’17 , a student said. in Cald well’s As a theoretical past and that it’s class Physics p h y s i c i s t , 66, “Relativistic Caldwell focuses slowing down, Electrodynamics,” o n c o s m o l o g y. like there was an said that Caldwell He is particularly explosion, and explains concepts interested in well and is helpful questions about it’s running out as a professor. t h e l a rg e s c a l e of energy, but “Just because structure, history you’re a good and evolution of the expansion researcher doesn’t the universe. He is is speeding up. m e a n yo u ’r e a also interested in Something is good teacher dark energy and its o r p r o f e s s o r, ” influences on the going on — it is a Neustadt said. “And expansion of the mystery.” I feel like so far, I’ve universe. learned a lot.” “People often E c h o i n g have this picture N e u s t a d t ’s that the Big Bang -ROBERT CALDWELL, comment, Hang is something that Qi ’19 said happened in the PHYSICS AND that Caldwell past and that it’s ASTRONOMY introduces the slowing down, history of concepts like there was an PROFESSOR as well as concepts explosion, and themselves, making it’s running out of energy, but the expansion it easier for her to understand. She is speeding up,” Caldwell said. said that Caldwell has an expansive “Something is going on — it is a range of knowledge about physics and that he often helps students in mystery.” Gleiser said that Caldwell areas of physics that are different from what the class has been a pioneer itself explores. in trying to “One of the The sabbatical understand what will allow Caldwell kind of physical wonderful things to investigate mechanisms could about [Caldwell] his interests in be pushing the is that he’s more depth, he universe apart in said. Caldwell such a dramatic unafraid to put will be going to way. Gleiser added out new ideas — that Caldwell is we can be skittish t h e U n i v e r s i t y of California, innovating ways to Berkeley and the collect dark energy about proposing a n d s u g g e s t i n g far-fetched ideas, U n i v e r s i t y o f Califor nia, San possible models but he does it, D i e g o t o wo rk that could describe and it catches on with cosmolog y it. g roups that are “One of the like fire.” studying variations wonderful things on Albert Einstein’s about [Caldwell] theory of general is that he’s unafraid -MARCELO GLEISER, relativity. to put out new PHYSICS AND As a theorist, ideas — we can Caldwell said be skittish about ASTRONOMY that his time in p r o p o s i n g f a r - PROFESSOR Califor nia will fetched ideas, but not be spent he does it, and working on new it catches on like equipment. Instead, he will focus fire,” Gleiser said. Gleiser said that Caldwell has on collaborating with his colleagues proposed a widely-cited theory on how to measure and test theories called “the Big Rip,” as opposed about the early universe. FROM SIMONS PAGE 1
THE DARTMOUTH EVENTS
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TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2017
DARTMOUTHEVENTS TODAY
9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
Seminar: “Microbiology and Immunology,” with University of British Columbia professor James Kronstad, Dana Biomedical Library 106
11:45 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Lecture: “Rightlessness” with University of Illinois, UrbanaChampaign professor A. Naomi Paik, Haldeman 125 (Stauss Conference Room)
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Third Annual Luso-Hispanic Film Festival, Loew Auditorium, Black Family Visual Arts Center
TOMORROW
12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Lecture: “Resettlement and Preserving Culture under Heritage Language Programs,” with Resettlement Coordinator Noel Mukiza, Haldeman 246
5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Lecture: “Is America Great Again Yet?” with writer and columnist Megan McArdle, Rockefeller Center 003
8:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Staged reading of “Third Night,” a play by Elise Wien ’17, Bentley Theater, Hopkins Center for the Arts RELEASE DATE– Tuesday, April 11, 2017
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS 1 Prefix with deed, feed and read 4 Fave texting buds 8 One looking for something 14 Gorilla, for one 15 To whom Rick said, “We’ll always have Paris” 16 Mode of dress 17 *Pay for your online purchases, say 19 Admirers, as a group 20 Actress O’Donnell 21 Caspian, e.g. 23 Nick and Nora’s dog 24 Ancients, for instance? 27 Big Band __ 29 White wine apéritif 30 Kitten cries 31 *Skip work because of illness 34 Double curve 35 One to say “G’day” to 36 Grandmas 37 *Cause a ruckus 40 Once more 43 Deal with it 44 “How cute!” cries 47 *Go out of business 50 Coin named for a continent 51 ER staffers 52 Frying __ 53 Movie double 55 Sport shirt brand 57 Male cat 59 Santa __ racetrack 60 Tenor Enrico 62 “Care to wager?” ... and a question answered, one way or the other, by the first words of the answers to starred clues 65 Tennis great Andre 66 Gung-ho 67 __ Fáil: Irish coronation stone 68 Port on the Loire 69 Dickens’ Uriah 70 Junior nav. officer
DOWN 1 Knot-tying art 2 Siri speaks on them 3 Up-and-down playground boards 4 Hog rider 5 Perky spokeswoman in Progressive ads 6 Seminoles’ sch. 7 Pre-coll. exams 8 Jungle adventure 9 Approx. touchdown hour 10 Italian volcano 11 Glove leather 12 Racy literature 13 Comments 18 Smokes, briefly 22 Slippery as an __ 25 Berry rich in antioxidants 26 Wrestling surfaces 28 Broadway orphan 32 Parasite 33 __ Andreas Fault 35 “Don’t be a wimp!” 37 Unburdened (of) 38 Lovey-dovey exchange
39 Date bk. entry 40 Like some violets 41 Spokane school with a strong basketball program 42 Beaten candidate 44 Loud enough to hear 45 Unlisted vote-getter 46 Piano works 48 Regional dialect
49 __-Caps: candy 50 Sicilian resort city 54 Food retailer named for two oceans 56 Clean with Pledge 58 [Air kiss] 61 Opposite of NNW 63 Prop. often named for a state in Monopoly 64 Nietzsche’s “never”
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04/11/17
THE DARTMOUTH ARTS
TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2017
PAGE 7
Honest, unlikeable, addictive: ‘Girls’ is not a comfort show By MADELINE KILLEN
The Dartmouth Senior Staff
I used to think of myself as a person who likes large quantities of good books, small quantities of good movies and miniscule quantities of very, very bad television. While I never missed an episode of “The Bachelor,” that one episode would fill my brain-melting quota for the week — that is, until a spring break wisdom-teeth removal gave me a week in bed on Percocet, and an unsuspecting Tinder match gave me his HBO GO password. It was this perfect storm of binge-watching conditions that led me into the prickly grasp of Lena Dunham’s critically-acclaimed and generally-loathed “Girls,” a show that makes me hate myself as much as “The Bachelor” does. Admittedly, it also sends me searching The New Yorker’s archives for Emily Nussbaum’s opinions on each episode I watch. I’m obviously late to the “Girls” game — the show premiered in 2012 — but I have the unique advantage of having seen every episode of the show ever released during the past two weeks. When the show ends on April 16, it’ll have been only three weeks after I saw the premiere. You know how it feels to come back from an off term, and it seems like everyone’s hair has gotten longer in
fast forward since you weren’t there to see the gradual progress? Without the five-year gap, that’s been my “Girls” experience; the characters’ entropy from likable, if flawed, to purely detestable has occurred at whiplash-inducing hyper speed. I doubt I would’ve made it this far into the show had I started watching five years ago. But as things are, I’m continuing with “Girls” until the bitter end, which feels a little like eating most of a cookie, deciding it’s not a really great cookie and sadly finishing it out of obligation. Dunham’s semi-autobiographical protagonist, Hannah Horvath, is loathsome. Dunham herself might be, too, although I’m largely basing that assumption off of her close friendship with Taylor Swift, aka Known Loathsome Human. Yet, here I am, hanging on even through the most loathsome move this show has made: Horvath’s final-season pregnancy. I find this pregnancy loathsome not because Horvath is as unfit a future single mother as ever there was one, but because it is really driving home a point that I’d rather “Girls” not make so fervently. Dunham’s decision to knock up her television alter ego is likely one of the show’s most self-aware plot devices to date. While we’re all used to sitcoms deteriorating into implausible by
the end of their lives, “Girls” is nothing if not calculated. Horvath’s pregnancy very clearly harkens back to the show’s female-centric television predecessors — Miranda Hobbes’ (Cynthia Nixon) surprise season four pregnancy in “Sex and the City” immediately comes to mind, as well as the abrupt ending of “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life” that shocked fans last year. With the pregnancy connection in place, it’s easy to spot more parallels between “Girls” and shows like “Sex and the City” and “Gilmore Girls.” We have the witty repartee, the female writer protagonists, the total disregard for cast diversity and the incessant tone-deaf focus on upper-middle class problems. However, “Gilmore Girls” and “Sex and the City” offer us a gleaming portrait of what our lives could’ve looked like had we been born prettier, richer and sassier. “Girls,” in contrast, almost plays out like a horror story of self-indulgent privilege. When Marnie (Allison Williams) begs off comforting her boyfriend Ray (Alex Karpovsky) after the death of his best friend in order to attend some ridiculously-named Soul Cycle parody, our stomachs turn with disgust, but no part of us is shocked — “Girls” is a show about selfish people being terrible, and we knew that going in.
This is where “Girls” becomes so polarizing: its refusal to plunge into escapism is what makes it both so unwatchable and so brilliant. What sets the show apart is its honesty, and Hannah’s pregnancy acts as the hinge to connect “Girls” to its less honest television forerunners. “Girls” is a show about shows about girls, and Horvath’s ridiculous pregnancy isn’t any more ridiculous than the other TV pregnancies to which it seems to allude. Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel) is selfish, immature, unemployed, lazy and couch surfing when she drops the “Mom, I’m pregnant”-bomb at the end of the “Gilmore Girls” Netflix revival. She’s pregnant by a man who’s engaged to someone else; Hannah Horvath is pregnant by a surf instructor who has a long-term girlfriend. Miranda, while the most productive citizen of the “Sex and the City” gang, is essentially guilted into having her baby by its father, her bartender ex-boyfriend who eventually becomes her husband and moves her out to the suburbs, a modern-day “Taming of the Shrew.” Miranda’s baby is sold to us as a happy ending, and while Rory’s is a little more ambiguous, we know that she’ll eventually be fine due to her golden-girl status and grandparents’ money. Hannah Horvath should not
be fine by any stretch of the imagination. Her friends are flakes and/or snakes, her parents are dealing with their own marital issues and she is possibly the most selfish and immature character on television right now. Yet somehow, out of nowhere, Sunday night’s episode offered Hannah a safety net in the form of a lecturer position at a vague upstate university. It appears that the university reached out to her, an “internet writer,” to serve her an idyllic life on a silver platter in exchange for telling groups of firstyear students “about the internet.” She takes the job. Hannah’s move upstate rings hollow because “Girls” has never been a show with perfectly tied-up storylines, but it perfectly mirrors the happy endings of the shows it mimics. W h i l e I c r i n g e w at ch i n g Dunham’s show, I run back to “Sex and the City” or “Gilmore Girls” after a week of papers or a day of boy drama — they’re comfort shows, but “Girls” is a very uncomfortable show. With only one episode left of “Girls,” Dunham asks us point-blank if babies and ’burbs is what we’ve wanted all along from her assembly of female characters. Will that make us feel better? Will that make us finally like her? Are we happy now?
Sanders’ ‘Ghost in the Shell’ produces no ghost, empty shell
By SEBASTIAN WURZRAINER The Dartmouth Staff
Like the film I reviewed last week, “Ghost in the Shell” is a live-action remake of an animated classic. Though, unlike “Beauty and the Beast,” I’ve never seen the original “Ghost in the Shell.” However, a good film should be able to stand on its own without prior knowledge of its source material. Nonetheless, I acknowledge that any problems I have with this remake may be resolved or nonexistent in the original anime. Sometime in the unspecified future, the brain of a dying woman is transplanted into a robotic body with the intention of creating the ultimate weapon: an indestructible machine with the malleable mind of a human. The woman, referred to as the Major (Scarlett Johansson), has no memories and serves as an anti-terrorist operative in an organization called Section 9. As Section 9 begins to uncover a cyber-terrorist plot, Major begins to question both her identity and her reality. The first half of the film is constructed in such a way that I was convinced there would
be a “Matrix”-styled twist that would completely change my understanding of the story in a mind-blowing way. When the twist — in as much as one existed — was revealed, I realized how wrong I had been. During the first hour, I considered a half-dozen directions the film could take that would have been infinitely more interesting. Yet that isn’t, necessarily, a flaw with the film. Eventually I realized that it wasn’t trying to be a new-age “Matrix” but a contemplative piece of speculative science fiction. In fact, “Ghost in the Shell” is the most comparable to Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner” and Steven Spielberg’s “A.I. Artificial Intelligence.” “Ghost in the Shell” not only looks like the love child of those films’ respective worlds but also focuses on the existential dilemma of the main character as framed by a science fiction premise. This is why “Ghost in the Shell” falls flat for me: to care about these existential dilemmas, I need to care about the Major. Johansson’s casting as the Major generated significant whitewashing controversy, and for a setting that I can only presume
is futuristic Japan, I have to say that almost everyone looks awfully pasty. Director Rupert Sanders defended his decision, arguing that Johansson was the best actress of her generation. And perhaps if her performance had been truly astonishing, then the casting decision might have seemed marginally less foolish. After all, Johansson is a capable actress. Her performance in “Lost in Translation” is a testament to this. Still, I found her to be thoroughly unengaging in “Ghost in the Shell.” So far as I can tell, the Major still has a human brain, thus she should still act like a human. But Johansson plays her as stiff and robotic, both physically and emotionally. I waited through the entire movie for some explanation of this characterization, only for there to be none. I’m not sure if this was a choice made by Sanders or Johansson herself, but it results in a decidedly boring protagonist. In fact, I didn’t really care about any of the characters except Pilou Asbæk’s Batou, though I’m pretty sure he exists just so that Johansson can have someone to talk to. My other major issue with the film is the way it spells out
its themes. Again, like “Blade Runner” and “A.I.,” “Ghost in the Shell” is about the blurred lines between humans and robots, and pondering the role memory and identity play in distinguishing the two. Yet “A.I.” and “Blade Runner” are far more effective films because the two are so ambiguous. “Blade Runner,” for example, has barely any dialogue and instead poses its philosophical questions through the brilliant use of visual language. Moreover, the film never answers these questions, instead leaving the story open-ended. “Ghost in the Shell,” on the other hand, highlights its themes with flashing neon lights and giant arrows. The film even ends with a nifty narration that summarizes the central idea just in case you had to use the restroom during a crucial scene. Furthermore, I find this film’s themes fascinating when contrasted with those other two films but not in a good way. “Blade Runner” and “A.I.” neither condone nor condemn the technology that has allowed for the creation of the artificially intelligent robot characters. In fact, both dour films surprisingly hint at a sense of
optimism, suggesting these robots are really just as human as us and deserve acceptance. Contrastingly, “Ghost in the Shell,” makes its stance painfully clear: technology is bad, and humans are good. For a premise with so much intrigue and potential, it’s a real shame that the film couldn’t have been less decisive and a little more opaque. Frankly, I suspect I’m thinking far more about the themes of this film than its creators did, because halfway through I realized their focus wasn’t on the ideas but on the visuals and action scenes. While the visuals may be derivative, they are, admittedly, stunning. Some of the action set pieces are enjoyable enough, but most feel recycled from other films. The worst element in my view was the ending, which devolved into a sequence that played like rejected outtakes from “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.” I’ll give “Ghost in the Shell” credit for this: it did make me want to see the original anime. Just perhaps not for the reason it should have. Rating: 3/10
THE DARTMOUTH ARTS
PAGE 8
TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2017
Student Spotlight: Amy Liang ’17, ballerina to belly dancer By HALEY GORDON
The Dartmouth Senior Staff
After spending four years packing schedules with advanced classes, extracurricular activities, volunteering and other applicationb o o s t i n g o b l i g a t i o n s, m o s t undergraduate students enter college and begin to specialize, dropping wide-ranging affairs in order to hone pet passions. While many still participate in nonacademic pursuits, the general trend is to pick a couple and stick to them for the duration of the collegiate career. During her four years on campus, Amy Liang ’17 has decidedly bucked that trend, participating in the Dartmouth Dance Ensemble and the Argentine Tango club, serving as president of the Dartmouth Asian Dance Troupe, teaching lessons in K-pop style dance and traditional dance and serving as the current president of Dartmouth’s Middle Eastern Dance Club. Liang began taking ballet classes when she was just 4 years old and continued into high school, advancing and taking technical classes. While her parents were both varsity volleyball athletes, Liang herself preferred dance and gymnastics. “Growing up, having only been
exposed to ballet, I’ve always wanted to try a lot of other dances,” Liang said. A biomedical engineering major, Liang sought a way to keep dance in her life at Dartmouth amidst her academic workload and took advantage of the sheer proximity to dance groups and classes available to students on campus. Her newest passion, belly dancing, is not as large a departure from ballet as one might think. Liang especially would like to combat the idea that belly dancing is inherently sexual and therefore has a negative connotation in the minds of many who have not actually attended a performance. In fact, Liang noted how “elegant” the form could be when performed by someone classically trained. Madelyne Mayer ’20, a dancer who joined the Middle Eastern Dance Club her freshman fall, also had ballet training before she joined. Mayer said that Liang’s existing skillset was a great asset to the small group, which now has a total of five members. “She’s particularly good at undulation,” Mayer said. “[Liang is] really strong, and she’s also flexible – perfect qualities to bring to belly dancing.” Liang was particularly attracted to the diversity of styles Geisel
COURTESY OF AMY LIANG
Amy Liang ’17, president of the Middle Eastern Dance Club, performs a belly dancing routine on stage.
School of Medicine student Mu A, an instructor and one of the founding members of the group, includes in the pieces. “It’s not just pure belly dancing,” Liang said. “We incorporate different elements of other dance styles. We
COURTESY OF AMY LIANG
The Dartmouth Middle Eastern Dance Club hosted a Middle Eastern Dance Showcase at the Bentley Theater.
did a piece that had elements of flamenco, which was really cool.” Liang’s open-minded approach differs from her more traditional ballet background. “I don’t think she’s limited to one style,” Jean Fang ’20, another member of the Middle Eastern Dance Club, said of Liang. “I think she’s a very good leader and has a lot of passion for dance.” Formed in the spring of 2016, the Middle Eastern Dance Club is a relatively new group to campus, so members have had to work very hard to promote the organization and its events, Liang said. Fang and Mayer said Liang has stepped up to shoulder the workload, drawing upon her past leadership experience. “She does most of the club work,” Fang said. “She’s a very talented dancer [and] very hardworking.” Already, Liang’s initiative and dedication are making an impact. Last weekend, the Middle Eastern Dance Club hosted its first performance event. Liang drafted and presented the group’s funding proposal to the Council on Student Organizations. Once the funding and the Bentley location were secured, Liang and the club invited professional groups to join the event. “It’s really nice to see how much
we’ve progressed,” Liang said. “Watching our first performance compared to our most recent one, it makes us really happy to see that we’ve come so far.” Outside of dance, Liang is currently working on developing her biomedical engineering honors thesis and works as the undergraduate advisor to the Sustainable Living Center. Liang also makes it a point to attend performances from a range of dance groups on campus in her free time. Liang has plans for the Middle Eastern Dance Club to perform more on campus and off. “We’re hoping to go to Cairo this summer to learn from the masters,” Liang said. “We’re trying to get COSO funding. Mu always says that you really have to learn from the masters to be a true belly dancer.” Liang also said the group would like to perform in Cairo and even compete. “There are so many things I like about performing,” Liang said. “I like being able to share this artistic expression with the audience. Every dance is a story, and it’s so fun to be able to share that with an audience. I like being a part of this group because it’s like you’re sharing something with a group, instead of like a monologue by yourself.”