VOL. CLXXIV NO.125
MOSTLY SUNNY
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2017
HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE
Endowment grows by 14.6 percent for 2017
COLLEGE ON THE HILL
HIGH 75 LOW 50
By ALEX FREDMAN
The Dartmouth Staff
MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH
OPINION
ZEHNER: MY HEART’S DEVOTION PAGE 4
SHAH: HALFWAY DOWN THE STAIRS PAGE 4
ARTS
FILM REVIEW: ‘BLADE RUNNER 2049’ PAGE 8
‘A DOLL’S HOUSE’ PRODUCTION FEATURES BIG GREEN ALUMNI PAGE 8 READ US ON
DARTBEAT IF OTHER PLACES ON CAMPUS HAD INSIGNIA FOLLOW US ON
TWITTER @thedartmouth COPYRIGHT © 2017 THE DARTMOUTH, INC.
Propelled by a 14.6 percent growth in investment gains, Dartmouth’s endowment has increased to $4.96 billion — the highest it has ever been, the College announced last month. For the fiscal year ending June 30, the College earned a total of $630 million in investment gains, in addition to $77 million in gifts and other transfers. Chief financial officer Michael Wagner said that the positive endowment figures can be attributed to recent growth in global financial markets as well as strategies employed by the College’s investment office.
Following a parade, students ran around the bonfire for Homecoming on Friday evening.
SEE ENDOWMENT PAGE 3
College will appeal Working group will examine for practice facility sustainability of food systems By PETER CHARALAMBOUS The Dartmouth Staff
The College plans to appeal a Grafton Superior Court decision from Sept. 21, which denied the College’s initial appeal regarding a denial for a new indoor practice facility.
College spokesperson Diana Lawrence wrote in an email that the College is concerned about the Planning Board’s increased discretion in reviewing applications. “The potential impact of the decision extends well SEE APPEAL PAGE 2
By EILEEN BRADY The Dartmouth
A working group regarding the sustainability o f D a r t m o u t h ’s f o o d systems is being established in the coming weeks, a step which aligns with the goals established by College President Phil Hanlon in his
Phi Beta Kappa inducts 22 students in Class of 2018 By GABRIEL ONATE The Dartmouth
On Monday evening, 22 students from the Class of 2018 were inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, while nine students from the Class of 2019 were awarded the Phi Beta Kappa Sophomore Prize. Fall induction to Phi Beta Kappa is given to students who, after three years of matriculation,
April 2017 pledge to move Dartmouth toward a lowcarbon future. The working group will be comprised of students, faculty and staff, according to working group member and Dartmouth director of sustainability Rosalie Kerr ’97. Hanlon is expected to officially announce the group’s full
membership within the next month, Kerr said. “[Hanlon] has recently asked a group of people to serve on the food working group,” Kerr said, “Those invitations are out and almost everybody has responded. His office, I assume, will SEE FOOD PAGE 5
RISE UP
rank among the top 20 students in their class based on GPA. The sophomore award is given to the highest ranking students in the class after five terms of enrollment at Dartmouth. The senior inductees are Julie Becher ’18, Charlotte Blatt ’18, Dylan Cahill ’18, Katherine Clayton ’18, Lillian Eisner ’18, Caterina Florissi ’18, SEE INDUCTEES PAGE 2
SABA NEJAD/THE DARTMOUTH
No. 1 women’s rugby defeated No. 4 Harvard University on Saturday.
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2017
Q&A with professor Daniel Feiler College to appeal indoor practice facility decision about life outlook. We’re talking about accuracy of expectations. How The Dartmouth valuable do you think something is P r o f e s s o r o f b u s i n e s s going to be? How well do you think administration Daniel Feiler’s paper, a project is going to do? Those are “Good Choice, Bad Judgment: important judgments because it not How Choice Under Uncertainty only has emotional consequences like Generates Overoptimism,” will be disappointment, but it also affects published in Psychosocial Science downstream decisions. For example, later this fall. The paper, co-authored the overoptimism we find evidence by University of Wisconsin-Madison of will affect how many resources business professor Jordan Tong and his a manager pours into the initiative doctoral student Anastasia Ivantsova, he or she has decided to launch. If states that the more uncertain people you are deciding between different are about the value of their options, projects, are you dedicating all that the more likely they are to overestimate time and energy into that one idea the benefits of the one they choose. because you are expecting a certain Feiler, who specializes in behavioral level of return on that effort? Well, science, managerial decision making, if you are better calibrated, maybe human resources and negotiations, you would have allocated your resources, time discussed this behavior and energy into and its implications with “You should different things. The Dartmouth.
By HARRISON ARONOFF
choose the
In one study, W h e n d i d y o u alternative that you found begin working on, that someone “ G o o d C h o i c e, you would think who hires a B a d Ju d g m e n t : will be the best, candidate How C h o i c e and then you among a large Under Uncertainty pool tends to G e n e r a t e s should curb your overestimate Overoptimism” and expectations that chosen what inspired you to for it. That’s the c a n d i d a t e ’s study this topic? ability. Is this DF: A lot of times recipe for doing common in the managers, leaders well and being workplace? and decision makers DF: I do think get scolded for being calibrated.” that evaluations overconfident about the of potential courses of action they candidates for have chosen to take. -DANIEL FEILER, hire are really Perhaps they are overly PROFESSOR noisy and attached to a project OF BUSINESS uncertain—for they started, so they get accused of being ADMINISTRATION AT example, there’s lots of evidence self-protective or self- THE TUCK SCHOOL that says interview interested and inflating processes are not their beliefs about how OF BUSINESS ve r y g o o d at good something is identifying true going to be. This might happen, for example, because they quality. But in general, you are doing chose that course of action in the first the best you can to hire the highest place and they don’t want that choice caliber person, but your judgments are to look bad. So, what we were thinking really noisy. How many holes is this in our work is that there is a way to candidate going to be able to fill in get behavior that looks like what I your organization? And how well are described, even when you don’t have they going to fill those holes? You’re that kind of motivated reasoning or making judgments about these things self-interested belief formation taking and deciding which person to hire. At place. What we show is that people the heart of our paper is a really simple tend to be naive about the structure premise, which is that the more you of choice under uncertainty, and that overestimate an alternative, the more just that naivety alone is enough to likely you are to choose it. If that is cause people to be overoptimistic the case, then things you have chosen, about the courses of action you have on average, are overestimated. Let’s say we are choosing someone from chosen to take. a large set of similar candidates and Would you say overoptimism is we have noisy judgments about each. Then the one that we picked was the always detrimental? DF: To be clear, we are not talking one we probably fell in love with,
and consequently we have sky-high expectations for. But when we bring them in, they’re not delivering quite as much value as we expected.
After you realize that the candidate you hired does not live up to your expectations, would you make the same mistake again and overestimate another candidate’s abilities? DF: It’s funny you said that. We found that people are not good at picking up on this problem. And part of it is because the feedback is really noisy. So, we’re not saying that you are always overestimating everything you choose. If you are calibrated, your expectations will be 50 percent of the time too high and 50 percent of the time too low. But we’re saying that, depending on the parameters, you’re going to be too high with your expectations about 65 or 60 percent of the time, instead of 50 percent of the time. You’re not getting beat over the head with high expectations. It’s more of a subtle thing, and we found that people have a very difficult time picking up on this. Also, research has found that people tend to really struggle with learning a lesson in one context, understanding the general principle in that lesson and then applying it in a different context. So it’s not surprising that people would continue to struggle with inflated expectations as they move through a variety of seemingly unrelated experiences. But certainly how to facilitate learning here is a good question for future work. When is overoptimism most apparent? Is this behavior seen most in a business scenario? DF: The phenomenon we examine is a bigger problem as the number of alternatives you are choosing between increases, and as the degree of noise in your judgments about how good each is going to be increases. The latter happens when you lack expertise or when the alternatives are just difficult to forecast. Those are the key moderators we look at and the conditions under which overoptimism is likely to be a bigger problem. Can you can boil down the conclusion of this study into a couple statements? DF: You should choose the alternative that you would think will be the best, and then you should curb your expectations for it. That’s the recipe for doing well and being calibrated. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
CORRECTIONS We welcome corrections. If you believe there is a factual error in a story, please email editor@thedartmouth. com for corrections.
FROM APPEAL PAGE 1
beyond Dartmouth and is relevant to others in the state committed to responsible development based upon clear and definite standards of design and review,” Lawrence wrote. The College hopes to define the scope of the Planning Board’s power to apply and interpret regulations through this appeal. In 2015, the College proposed a plan to build a $20 million, 70,000 square foot indoor sports practice facility. The facility, which would be built next to the Boss Tennis Center, would be utilized for indoor practice during the winter. The Hanover Planning Board denied a permit for the facility despite the fact that the plan complied with zoning regulations. Four of the five members on the
Planning Board voted against the proposed plan, citing other regulations. Further more, the Planning Board members called for projects to comply with “harmonious and aesthetically pleasing development of the town” as well as the town’s master plan, which each town in New Hampshire is required to have. The College appealed the H a n ov e r P l a n n i n g B o a r d ’s decision to Grafton Superior Court on the basis that the board lacks the authority to deny an application that complies with zoning regulations. The Grafton Superior Court denied this appeal on Sept. 21. Presiding judge Peter Bornstein noted in his decision that the College did not properly prove that the Board’s decision was “unlawful or unreasonable.”
Phi Beta Kappa inducts 22 new members FROM INDUCTEES PAGE 1
Alyssa Heinze ’18, Arielle Isaacson ’18, Robin Jayaswal ’18, Kennedy Jensen ’18, Kooshul Jhaveri ’18, Kevin Kang ’18, Christopher Kymn ’18, Jared Lichtman ’18, Christina Long ’18, Hung Duy Nguyen ’18, Nicholas Norwitz ’18, Jonathan Rost ’18, Emily Smid ’18, Leigh Steinberg ’18, Kent Ueno ’18 and Jean Zhou ’18. The nine juniors who received
the Sophomore Prize are Liu Chen ’19, Christine Dong ’19, Andrew Liu ’19, Anant Mishra ’19, Siyuan Qin ’19, Sonia Rowley ’19, Samantha Stern ’19, Alexander Sullivan ’19 and Ruoni Wang ’19. The induction ceremony was held at College President Phil Hanlon’s house. Qin is a member of The Dartmouth staff. Stern is a former member of The Dartmouth staff.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2017
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
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Dartmouth sees 14.6 percent in endowment investment returns annually, which could decrease tuition or increase financial aid, the “The market itself has been on size of the endowment necessitates a great run, and we’re benefiting a combination of revenue sources, from that because of our investment including tuition, research funding allocation,” Wagner said. and endowment spending. Wagner added that the College’s Wagner noted that Dartmouth investment strategy did not change is one of the top 50 schools in the significantly since the 2016 fiscal country in terms of endowment year, in which the endowment saw per student. He added that the a loss of 1.9 percent. He noted that College lies in a middle ground Dartmouth’s spending distribution between peer institutions like from the endowment last year of Princeton University that are more $225 million — around 25 percent dependent on their endowments of the College’s net operating for revenue, and those like the revenue — is Massachusetts a relatively Institute of typical amount. “Compared to Te c h n o l o g y, E x e c u t i v e returns we’ve seen which have more vice president funding from from some of our Rick Mills said research and are that in the long Ivy League peers, I less dependent on run, the College think our numbers their endowments. aims for a 7 to 8 Chair of the percent growth look good.” Board of Trustees’ rate in the i nve s t m e n t endowment, committee Richard -RICHARD KIMBALL wh i ch wo u l d Kimball ’78 a l l o w f o r a ’78, CHAIR OF THE called the positive 5 p e r c e n t BOARD OF TRUSTEES’ endowment returns distribution “terrific,” adding rate from the INVESTMENT that he thinks the e n d o w m e n t , COMMITTEE investment strategy assuming 2 for the endowment to 3 p erc en t is pointed in the inflation. right direction. “ H av i n g a “Compared to distribution rate that, together returns we’ve seen from some of with inflation, is equal to or less our Ivy League peers, I think our than the return rate gives you the numbers look very good,” Kimball ability to maintain the purchasing said. power of the endowment over the Of the Ivy League institutions long turn,” Mills said. “But returns that have released their endowment are highly volatile.” returns for fiscal year 2017, the Mills added that while it would College has seen the highest gains. be beneficial for Dartmouth to University of Pennsylvania, Brown spend more from its endowment University, Cornell University, FROM ENDOWMENT PAGE 1
ALEX FREDMAN/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF
The College’s endowment returns of 14.6 percent for fiscal year 2017 boosted its endowment to $4.96 billion.
Princeton University and Harvard University saw FY2017 returns of 14.3 percent, 13.4 percent, 12.5 percent, 12.5 percent and 8.1 percent respectively. Like Wagner, Kimball said that the College’s investment strategy did not change significantly since last year, but he noted that the College is trying to be more disciplined in finding the best possible money managers for the endowment while leaving under performing managers. “It’s pretty simple,” Kimball said. “If you find managers that … are consistently outperforming [the market], you probably want
ERIN LEE/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
The College saw investment returns of 14.6 percent, the highest reported so far of the Ivy League institutions.
to give them money.” the return statistic figure was In an email statement, economics calculated. He added, however, professor Bruce Sacerdote said that that the news will probably have the College’s investment office has a positive impact on the FY2019 been able to find the best money budget. managers, and that the College In three of the last four years, has positioned itself as a desirable the College reported net shortfalls long-term partner. in the budget, including a $112 “Dartmouth million loss last d o e s w e l l b y “[The endowment] year. allocating to Mills noted that sectors that have over the long Dartmouth has high returns and term has a roughly $450 by finding great million in cash significant impact managers within a n d o p e r at i n g e a c h s e c t o r, ” on the quality of reserves separate Sacerdote wrote. education. And from the “Dartmouth has endowment that a very long-run we’re fortunate also saw positive mentality which at Dartmouth to returns, but did enables the not specify to have a fairly large investment office what extent. to allocate money endowment for an Kimball said to illiquid, but institution of our that a growing high retur ning, endowment i nv e s t m e n t s i n size.” is especially p r i v a t e e q u i t y, important venture capital, to students -RICHARD KIMBALL energy and real considering estate. Dartmouth ’78, CHAIR OF THE that full cost also has a lot of the BOARD OF TRUSTEES’ of educating portfolio in public a Dartmouth equities which does INVESTMENT student is require a longa p p rox i m a t e l y ter m mentality twice the price since the year-to-year fluctuations charged to a full-paying student; are sometimes painful.” therefore, he noted, the endowment Sacerdote added that a larger allows the College to essentially endowment allows the College offer its product at a 50 percent to spend more on financial aid, discount. faculty hiring, research, student “[The endowment] over the support services and athletics, long term has a significant impact among other fields. on the quality of education,” Wagner said that the recently- Kimball said. “And we’re fortunate reported endowment returns will at Dartmouth to have a fairly large not affect the current FY2018 endowment for an institution of budget, which was planned before our size.”
CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST CALLUM ZEHNER ’21
CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST RACHNA SHAH ’21
My Heart’s Devotion
Halfway Down the Stairs
The island territory of Puerto Rico is struggling —and statehood could help. To most American citizens, the small Caribbean island of Puerto Rico seems to be distant and wholly irrelevant to the country as a whole. Indeed, only 54 percent of Americans are aware that the 3.5 million inhabitants of the island are U.S. citizens. And they are suffering, not just from Hurricane Maria, but from underlying issues worsened by the island’s territorial status. Washington has a duty, therefore, to protect its citizens by accepting Puerto Rico into its ranks as the 51st state in the Union. Hurricane Maria has been the source of recent attention on Puerto Rico. With damage that knocked out the vast majority of the island’s electric grid, contaminated much of its potable water supply and wiped out 80 percent of crop value, the hurricane has grabbed headlines. However, Maria has only exacerbated severe economic issues that Puerto Rico has been quietly reeling from for at least a decade. The island’s economy is floundering. After years of heavy borrowing to support general government services, Puerto Rico has amassed $123 billion in debt and pension obligations (equating to 180 percent of gross national income). Due to the nature of its half-this-half-that status, Puerto Rico’s public companies have been unable to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, the method that rescued the city of Detroit. In May of this year, the island finally declared a form of bankruptcy, made possible by the passing of a federal law, the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act, in 2016. The pseudo-bankruptcy, however, was contingent on Puerto Rico relinquishing control over its own finances, which has made the island’s citizens feel increasingly disenfranchised and even more like colonial subjects than citizens of the United States. Statehood would give the island’s municipalities the ability to declare insolvency, helping to manage its debt burden. This alone would only deal with less than half of its debt, the benefits that come from statehood would help to alleviate much of the economic malaise that created the debt crisis. In the last decade, the Puerto Rican economy has shrunk every year but one. Last year, Puerto Rico’s gross domestic product shrunk -1.1 percent. Statehood would help the economy grow. With statehood, Puerto Rico would receive as much as $10 billion more in federal funds annually, a large sum in a $103 billion economy. The federal government would also pay an increased proportion of Medicaid bills; the 80 percent of
the bill currently footed by Puerto Ricans would go down to 20 percent. The U.S. Government Accountability Office has also stated that investment would likely greatly increase as businesses would now be working with a familiar, standardized legal system, thereby boosting confidence. Paradoxically, the federal personal income tax Puerto Ricans would start paying would actually be beneficial. Forty-six percent of Puerto Ricans live below the federal poverty line, so many of them would get a rebate through the system of progressive tax credits for low-income workers. Because statehood would relieve most of the substantial Medicaid debt burden, boost investment and therefore reverse the rapid population decline, it would also ensure that another debt crisis would not plague Puerto Ricans. Another factor to take into account is the Puerto Ricans themselves and the degree to which they desire a say in the affairs of the U.S. Under the current arrangement, Puerto Ricans are not able to vote in presidential elections and have no real voice in Congress. The territory has a Resident Commissioner in the House of Representatives who can speak on the House floor and introduce bills, but she cannot currently vote on any bills. Therefore, there are millions of Americans who have no say whatsoever in the federal legislative process. Were statehood to be granted, Puerto Rico would have two senators and around six congressmen. This would have a significant impact on the layout of the House, as the island has a greater population than 21 states. Especially since certain federal laws such as the PROMESA substantially impact the island, it is obvious that Puerto Ricans should have a part to play in the federal process. Puerto Rico is not in an ideal place. It is gripped by debt, its economy is shrinking and its population is in free fall. Statehood may not solve everything, but it will give the island the means by which it can get back on its feet. The ability to contribute to national politics and to have greater agency over its finances as well as a tighter relationship with the U.S. will be highly advantageous to the territory. Both the Republican and Democratic parties support statehood for the island, and Puerto Ricans themselves are in favor of it, with 61 percent of voters supporting it in a 2012 plebiscite. Puerto Ricans treasure being Americans. It is up to Congress to step in and protect them.
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ISSUE
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2017
THE DARTMOUTH OPINION
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NEWS EDITOR: Peter Charalambous, Mika Jehoon Lee, Julian Nathan
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.
Working hours in America and at Dartmouth are too long.
Earlier this term, a floormate told me how guilty she felt for watching YouTube videos unrelated to coursework, something she had never felt in high school. While Dartmouth students have a reputation of being laid-back, even as a first-year I have seen how deeply imbued students are in the corporate recruiting world. As week five approaches and the term reaches its halfway mark, this balancing act becomes a juggling one. We manage academic and athletic schedules, friendships and relationships, healthy eating and declining DBA. This seems logical — most of us are Dartmouth students because we are wired to take advantage of every opportunity we can. But despite the extent to which our classmates pretend to have it all, not everything is possible. Unless we consciously change it, America’s emphasis on stress and corporate culture begins during our four years at college. The notoriously stringent Japanese work environment, often considered one of the strictest in the world, is based around values of hard work and loyalty, where seniority and harmony are expectations and priorities. However, a recent study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showed that the average Japanese workweek is less than that of the average American workweek by 1.35 hours. Closer to the bottom of the OECD’s list are Norway, the Netherlands and Germany, all with less than 28-hour workweeks. The European Union’s Working Time Directive also asserts that workers cannot work more than 48 hours per week. But there are also differences in business culture — Europeans tend to view time as more fluid and lenient than their American counterparts do. It is not surprising that certain countries and corporations offer an opt-out option to the EU’s Working Time Directive, allowing workers to work more than 48 hours per week. Even if Dartmouth limited the number of hours we spent in class, it may simply be in our nature to challenge ourselves and to work. Work is an activity — any activity — that involves mental and physical labor to bring about a result. While the real world has more second chances and less sweatpants than college does, our time here is the closest model to the workplace we have until we actually enter the workforce. Dartmouth’s work environment involves, on average, 10 credit hours spent in class per week, 30 additional academic hours spent out of class time (if the 1:3 ratio holds true), not including athletics, jobs, extracurriculars or research. In addition, the notion of summer break is increasingly mythical as we fill up the time between terms with seasonal jobs and internships. The standard answer to the question of why we work so hard is that we are preparing ourselves for the future. We enter fields ranging from business to medicine with the understanding that we will be
working harder than our lives than ever before — but by this point, it has become a familiar refrain. We work hard because of societal norms that surround the notions of what is “wrong” and what is “right.” We work hard because it’s what we know to do, it’s what we’re socially programmed to do. This is not the way that the world has always been, or how the rest of the world is. One only has to look at European countries for proof that shorter workdays can be effective economically and socially. As students, we may find ourselves drawn into “the machine.” Yet we have the choice to find meaning outside of work. We can choose to relax when we feel that we need to. With hundreds of unopened blitzes in our inboxes and midterms lined up around the corner, it may seem like there’s no time to waste. Yet doing nothing is the best way to combat the wear and tear of our daily lives and to refresh our neural networks. Doing nothing is not the same as accomplishing nothing, which happens when you mindlessly scroll through your social media feeds and emails or fill out Buzzfeed personality quizzes. Doing nothing rather is closing your eyes; taking a walk around Occom Pond; waiting for a meeting without checking your phone; hiking on a nearby trail; canoeing in the Connecticut River. Doing nothing reminds you of the meaning in life. It takes one time to retrain one’s brain to consider breaks as time well spent instead of time wasted. American and Dartmouth’s student body productivity is nothing to scoff at, but gross domestic product and GPA are not the only measures of success. In the United Nation’s World Happiness Report, happiness is measured with six indicators, one of which is social support networks. Another is the freedom to make life choices — the ability to choose between consumption and leisure without feeling as though one lacks a choice between the two. Dartmouth’s academic schedule can be frustratingly fast-paced at times, especially when our initial goals and expectations of a term are not met. Our high expectations inside or outside of the classroom enhances this feeling. When each term is 10 weeks, every goal we have may seem short-term, but we cannot lose sight of the greater path ahead. Beyond doing well financially, we all have a responsibility to ourselves and to our health. As college-age citizens, we cannot recondition the American workplace, but we can improve our campus culture and prevent stress from enervating our community. The Muppets are known for their hilarity as much as they are known for their wisdom (as Dartmouth’s admissions essays have recognized). In one of the show’s iconic songs, Robin the Frog sings, “I’m not at the bottom, I’m not at the top,” as he sits halfway down the stairs. How you choose to read the Dartmouth community and your position within it is all a matter of perspective. As week five progresses, consider this: You are also halfway up the stairs. What’s at the top?
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2017
College appoints task force to study campus food sustainability FROM FOOD PAGE 1
announce [the member ship] shortly.” The working group will have its first official meeting at the end of the term. Environmental studies professor Andrew Friedland, who, alongside Kerr, co-chaired the College sustainability task force from April 2016 to April 2017, said that food has a strong impact on the environment. “Our task force identified that food has the potential to generate large impacts on the broader environment in relation to feeding people at Dartmouth,” Friedland said. “We just don’t have a great deal of information on what the current impact is of our food system, and we don’t have a good answer on how to make our food system more sustainable, [so] we suggested that there needed to be more investigation [into] and studies of our food systems on campus.” Friedland added that the sustainability task force was
comprised of 20 members including students, faculty and staff members, much like the expected composition of the working group. In addition to finding ways to quantify the environmental impacts of the food system at Dartmouth, Kerr states that two of the working group’s primary goals will be education and understanding. “I wouldn’t want anyone to think that we’re at a place where we’re going to make decisions about or food system that are going to radically change how people eat at Dartmouth, at least not right out of the gate,” she said. “I think the mission here is to educate people about how their personal choices might impact the sustainability of the food web.” Alexandra Sclafani ’18, who currently serves as a sustainable Dartmouth intern and last year worked as sustainability office student consultant to Dartmouth Dining Services, emphasizes how important the education component of the working group is for students at Dartmouth. “You can’t ask people to critically
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ACROSS THE LINE
think about where their food is coming from or ask them to stand up and say, ‘We need to change the food system at Dartmouth,’ without them knowing what the issues at hand are and what the broader implications of food at Dartmouth are for the environment,” Sclafani said. “An ultimate goal that I would have for a food working group on campus is to make students aware of the environmental and social issues that arise from the food and agriculture systems and then to inspire them to make that something they’re aware of in their lives outside of Dartmouth, beyond these four years.” According to Kerr, these concerns are at the forefront of the working group’s mission. “I think [Dartmouth students, as a result of the establishment of the working group] will see increased education and communication around the sustainability impacts of their food choices,” Kerr said. “They’ll start to see more indication that we’re aware of the effects of our food system and that they have a hand in making choices about the food system.” SABA NEJAD/THE DARTMOUTH
Women’s rugby is undefeated after a win against Harvard University on Saturday.
DON’T STOP BELIEVING
TIFFANY ZHAI/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Dartmouth defeated Yale University during its Homecoming game in a 28-27 upset at Memorial Field on Saturday.
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THE DARTMOUTH EVENTS
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2017
DARTMOUTHEVENTS TODAY
12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Lecture: “Point to Point: A Journey Through Form and Color,” with indigenous artist Margaret Jacobs ’08, Native American House
4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Lecture: “Sublime Eclipse Science for the Humanist,” with Colgate University professor Anthony Aveni, Filene Auditorium, Moore Hall
4:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Lecture: “Theater as Medicine: Healing from the Impact of Lifelong Trauma among Women Living with HIV,” with Rhodessa Jones and professor Edward Machtinger, Dartmouth Hall 105
5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Lecture: “The French-American Relationship: My Experience as Ambassador and a Look to the Future,” with ambassador Jane Hartley, Rockefeller Center 003
TOMORROW
4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Lecture: “Brazil(s) and the Small Screen(s) in the Pay-TV Law Era,” with film and television professor Eli Carter, Rockefeller Center 002
4:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Lecture: “Is Capitalism Necessarily Racist? New Thoughts on an Old Question,” with New School professor Nancy Fraser, Dartmouth Hall 105
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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2017
THE DARTMOUTH ARTS
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Group spotlight on Dartmouth Argentine Tango Society
within them they otherwise may not have encoutered. Co-president The Dartmouth Jay Raju ’18 joined the group his In Sarner Underground every sophomore spring term, without Monday evening, a diverse group much prior dancing experience. — ranging from nervous ’21s to “A very close friend of mine … members of the local community — encouraged me to check [DATS] gather together to learn and practice out, which eventually became him the beautiful art of Argentine tango. physically dragging me to tango,” Founded by enterprising students Raju said. “I wasn’t really sure what with the help of faculty advisor Armin to expect, I was worried that everyone Helisch in April 2005, the Dartmouth would be a better dancer than me Argentine Tango Society has been … But not only was I not the only striving to create a fun, accessible first-time dancer there, but everyone and inclusive space on Dartmouth there — even the very experienced campus. dancers — were incredibly supportive “We have a mission that’s written in at helping me along the way.” our constitution,” Ja c q u e l i n e co-president Faith “We aim to use Anders ’18, Rotich ’18 said. a member of “It’s to foster dance as a means DATS, shared a p a s s i o n a t e to educate people the emphasis on interest in the art accessiblitly and about Argentine of tango among inclusivity. the Dartmouth history, tradition and “[DATS is] very and surrounding cultural practices.” progressive, super local community. open,” Anders We aim to use said. “I wouldn’t dance as a means -FAITH ROTICH say [Argentine to educate people tango] is a ’18, CO-PRESIDENT about Argentine beginner-friendly history, tradition OF DARTMOUTH dance, but the a n d c u l t u r a l ARGENTINE TANGO instruction is practices.” very beginner D A T S SOCIETY friendly.” continues to The large strive toward introducing tango to community involvement also beginners and sparking a passion impacts the friendly and close-knit
By LEX KANG
atmosphere of the group according to its members. “ [ T h e re ’s ] mu ch m o re community involvement,” Anders said. “[Community members] are probably half the club … which is very good. It gives you a different vibe.” Helisch, who is also a long-time volunteer instructor for DATS, explained another factor that adds to the open nature of the group. “The people that want to dance tango just seem to be nice people that tend to like to be with other people,” Helisch said. “We’re not [following the] traditional idea of men as leaders and women as followers only, but we want everyone to lead and to follow so everyone feels welcome regardless of gender and gender identity.” Anders echoed a similar sentiment about the equal learning opportunity within DATS. “How to follow, how to lead — they make you do both, which I think is very cool,” Anders said. The intimacy and the communicative bond for med between members is characteristic of DATS that Raju attributes to the inherent nature of Argentine Tango itself. “[Tango] is a very intimate dance in terms of how close you are to the partner … and when the leader steps forward, the follower must immediately know to step back,”
Raju said. “The only way to make effectively communicate the nuances something like that work without of moves to other people has given ever speaking or communicating me a lot of personal satisfaction.” verbally is to be attentive …. and by Other than the love of the being as clear as possible and as open community and camaraderie found as possible. You actually find these within the society, members also like amazing connections that, at least how the dance evokes a sense of in my personal life, I haven’t really passion and attachment. been able to find to that very visceral “I guess I enjoy dancing,” Anders said. “If I’m ever near any [major nature outside of tango.” cities], I would This emphasis have an easy put on community time to go [to building, trust and “Learning how a tango club] communication to effectively once a week was understood or so and widely among the communicate the hang out with group members. nuances of moves to [It’s] When describing other people has given people. super fun.” her favorite dance Rotich, move, the volcada, me a lot of personal who was also Rotich said trust satisfaction.” first introduced was key. to tango at “ Yo u p u t Dartmouth, almost all your -JAY RAJU ’18, COhighlighted weight on your PRESIDENT OF the unique partner,” Rotich “presence” said. “And you DARTMOUTH ARGENTINE required of have to trust that TANGO SOCIETY tango dancers. you will not fall. “ Yo u T h e re ’s m a ny people we’ve met through teaching have to be there, and you have to tango, and I think that’s been be willing to connect with someone else,” Rotich said. “It’s energizing in probably the biggest enrichment.” Raju said that the collaborative a way.” teaching the club undertakes has Anders noted an added benefit of learning tango. personally benefitted him. “[Tango] has awakened my inner “Being able to dance is very teacher,” Raju said. “Learning how to attractive,” Anders said.
THE DARTMOUTH ARTS
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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2017
‘Blade Runner 2049’ continues saga’s exploration of humanity By SEBASTIAN WURZRAINER The Dartmouth Staff
In my review of “Arrival,” I wished director Denis Villeneuve luck for his next endeavor, a sequel to my favorite film of all time: Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner.” To be clear from the outset, the original “Blade Runner” is far from perfect. It is a flawed masterpiece, as influential as it is imperfect. And that’s probably why I love it. It is a slow, poetic and evocative film that never asked for or needed a sequel. But here we are 35 years later and “Blade Runner 2049” actually exists. Is it as good as the first film? Of course not, but I didn’t really expect it to be. Is it, at least, a worthy successor? By and large, I think so. As the title might suggest, “Blade Runner 2049” picks up 30 years after Rick Deckard and his lover Rachael fled a dystopic Los Angeles. The future is looking no less grim in 2049 where Officer K (Ryan Gosling), like Deckard before him, works as a blade runner, or hunter of rogue replicants (androids). K is a replicant himself and, moreover, he knows it. Niander Wallace (Jared Leto), a tycoon with a serious god-complex, has designed the newest models to be the perfectly obedient slaves that the
original models never were. While on the job, K uncovers a mystery with the potential to change the world — a mystery that eventually leads him to Deckard. Part of what made the original so special was that Scott took what could have been a standard science fiction thriller premise and made a thoughtful neo-noir mystery that contemplated existential themes surrounding memory, mortality, the nature of creation and what defines us as human beings. In some respects, “Blade Runner 2049” continues in this spirit, focusing this time around on the implications of replicant birth. If they can bear children, then have they become, in the words of the original, “more human than human?” The film takes full advantage of this ingenious premise, complementing the existential themes in the first story. However, the film is a decidedly more action-packed affair than its predecessor, and the story is also much grander in scope, clocking in at just under three hours. Admittedly, much of this spectacle is truly impressive: Legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins has received attention in every review I’ve read and for good reason.
Every frame of this film is beautiful and invigorating, the sort of thing that will inspire future filmmakers. For all its grandeur, though, the film occasionally forgets the deeply intimate touch that grounded the original. Likewise, once in a while it loses its way in the maze that is the gigantic, complicated plot. As one might expect, the film is filled with spoilers, mysteries and moments that I dare not reveal. Some of it is a little uninteresting. Most of it is captivating. The last half hour, especially, features one hallucinatory set piece after another, forming one of the most breathtaking climaxes I’ve seen in years. The final shot, in particular, redeems any of my grievances, closing on a perfect note, uplifting yet also heartbreaking. As is always the case with Villeneuve’s films, the casting is perfect. Gosling makes for a compelling hero and Leto, for all of his method acting shenanigans, is quite an intimidating villain. Sylvia Hoeks is wonderfully enigmatic as Luv, Wallace’s determined replicant hitman, and even Dave Bautista brings an unexpected layer of depth to his minor role. But the real surprise for me was Ana de Armas as Joi, K’s holographic girlfriend. The premise behind her existence is a brilliant
continuation of the franchise’s built-in themes: If replicants can be considered “human,” can virtual beings? Joi’s story is one of the more moving aspects of the film, a devastating tale about her desperate, sometimes misguided, attempts to feel as human as she knows she is. Harrison Ford is currently in the midst of successfully reviving old roles, but his performance in this film is something else entirely. For one thing, I appreciated that the filmmakers remembered that Deckard may have been the main character in the original film, but he certainly wasn’t a hero. Even “antihero” sounds too generous. He was a lonely, selfish, aloof man who helped enforce a form of slavery simply because maintaining the status quo was the path of least resistance. The whole point of that film is that Deckard slowly regains his lost humanity, which is why I’ve always felt it to be critically important that we never get a definitive answer as to whether or not he is actually a replicant. The point, I’d argue, is that it doesn’t really matter. Suffice it to say, the sequel remains respectful to that mystery, for which I am immensely grateful. And while it doesn’t dismiss Deckard’s more misanthropic character traits, it
does demonstrate that he has matured. His pain, his regret and, yes, his humanity, are portrayed with incredible depth by Ford who frankly deserves an Academy Award. When people first saw “Blade Runner” in 1982, many declared it a hollow film, full of visual splendor but lacking a human soul. In retrospect, those criticisms seem laughable — few films have proved to be as deeply human as “Blade Runner.” But as I walked out of “Blade Runner 2049,” I wondered if I was becoming like those early critics. I also felt that this sequel was a little hollow. But perhaps that was simply inevitable. I have invested in this story so much already that there was no way my feelings about the original wouldn’t dominate the entire experience. “Blade Runner 2049” is a good film, even a great film. But I’m not quite ready to say that it’s a film I love. That said, it is as ambitious as anything I’ve seen so far this decade. From what I understand, Villenueve’s next project will be a film based on Frank Herbert’s “Dune,” a notoriously tricky book to adapt. Once again, I wish him luck. Because “Blade Runner 2049” may be imperfect, but, like its predecessor, it will not be “lost in time, like tears in rain.”
Northern Stage puts on ‘A Doll’s House’ starring Big Green alumni By SAVANNAH MILLER The Dartmouth
On Wednesday, Sept. 20, Northern Stage premiered its production of “A Doll’s House.” Written by Henrik Ibsen in 1879, the play follows the unraveling of a seemingly perfect marriage and is considered by many a staple piece of feminist literature despite its author’s stated ambivalance to the cause. Robert Kropf wrote this version of the play, with Eric Bunge directing. The play tells the story of Nora Helmer, a Norwegian housewife living a perfect life of luxury with her husband Torvald. However, her wonderful life begins to unravel when personal, secret debts begin to catch up with her. Unbeknownst to Nora, her husband plans on firing Nils Krogstad, his employee and the secret lender of Nora’s money. What follows is a story of desperation, familial turmoil and discovering one’s self-worth. The story is supplemented by a charismatic cast of characters that
includes Dr. Rank, an elderly family friend who cares deeply about Nora’s well-being, and Kristine Linde, a nononsense woman roped into Nora’s debacle out of financial need and a prior romantic entanglement. “A Doll’s House” is being shown in reperatory with “Robert Frost: This Verse Business,” a one-man show starring “NYPD Blue’s” Gordon Clapp. “We really do want to program a variety of plays,” director of sales and marketing at Northern Stage Irene Green said. “We want there to be something for everybody.” Green referred to the theme of the current season at Northern Stage, “Opening Doors,” and cited the play’s continued relevance in society as the main reason the stage decided to produce the show. While the play features an infamous door slamming closed, it is a slam that Green hopes will open a dialogue about the way women were treated in society, and how issues in the 19th century surrounding gender
exist today. “The election last year — regardless of which side you fall on politically — brought to the forefront the way women are treated in society,” Green said. “It’s a play that definitely has relevance in 2017.” “A Doll’s House” was a collaborative project for Northern Stage, and the piece was very personal to several involved. Bunge, the director of this piece and the managing director for Northern Stage, has a strong connection to Ibsen — before coming to Northern Stage in 2013, Bunge began the first ever American Ibsen festival in Minnesota. “I think [Ibsen is] an important playwright,” Bunge said. “We should produce his plays every once in a while to remind ourselves that, however far we think we’ve come, we haven’t come that far after all.” Despite his familiarity with the playwright, this was Bunge’s first time directing “A Doll’s House,” and it was not without its challenges.
“For me, the challenge in directing a piece like this is that people come in with these expectations and have a preconceived notion of the play,” Bunge said. “The trick when producing the play is making sure the characters don’t become stereotypes.” The production features three Dartmouth graduates: Hannah Chodos ’06, Matthew Cohn ’08 and Olivia Gilliatt ’08. Gilliatt plays the principal role of Nora, a role she recognizes comes with challenges and expectations. “I think there’s always a certain pressure when playing an iconic role, feminist or not,” Gilliatt said. “But the reality is I’m playing a person.” Gilliatt was familiar with the text long before being cast as the protagonist, having read it during her time at Dartmouth. Some courses, such as Theater 17: “Theater and Society III: 19th and 20th Century Performance,” may require students to read the play. While Gilliatt admits that she did not relate to Nora when she initially read
the play, she now feels as though Nora was a very groundbreaking character, especially for the time in which Ibsen was writing. “There are whole swaths of Nora’s experience as a woman navigating a very circumscribed world that I can relate to much better as a 31-year-old than I did as a 21-year-old,” she said. The production is just over three weeks into its six-week run, and it has already sparked conversation among audience members about sexism in contemporary society. In that way, Green believes the piece has already become a success. “It’s not just a feminist play,” Green said. “It’s a humanist play.” Gilliatt echoed those sentiments, saying she felt the play has been so consistently popular because of its relatable and permeating message. “To me, this is a play about those who have power, and those who don’t,” she said. “If you’ve ever felt powerless … then I think this play is deeply resonant. “A Doll’s House” closes on Oct. 29.