The Dartmouth 04/04/2019

VOL. CLXXVI NO. 9

SUNNY HIGH 43 LOW 19

OPINION

JONES: IN DEFENSE OF NATIONALISM PAGE 6

MIZE: INVENTING INNOVATION IN SILICON VALLEY PAGE 6

TRUONG: SUBWAY OR THE HIGHWAY PAGE 7

TWUM: WEALTH IN COLLEGE ADMISSIONS PAGE 7

ARTS

HASAN MINHAJ’S ‘PATRIOT ACT’ IS A BREATH OF FRESH AIR FOR COMEDY PAGE 8 FOLLOW US ON

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THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2019

HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Downtown Hanover Capital campaign surpasses sees additional $2 billion in donations business closures

B y GIGI GRIGORIAN The Dartmouth Staff

Hanover restaurant Orient Chinese and Japanese closed suddenly this week after it was discovered that the restaurant was pouring grease into a Hanover storm drain, according to Hanover town manager Julia Griffin.

“The town had repeated incidents with the operators of Orient, which involved their pouring large quantities of grease directly into our storm drain inlet behind the building,” Griffin said.

Griffin added that the management of the restaurant was “untruthful” after being confronted about the matter by town officials and that the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services became involved. After repeated offenses, the act was finally caught on video by a camera installed by the Six South Street Hotel at the request of the town.

The water in the storm drain goes directly to the river, and contaminating the water may

MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

SEE CLOSINGS PAGE 5

College to alter admissions practice

B y WALLY JOE COOK The Dartmouth Staff

Dartmouth will change its practices to protect the integrity of the admissions process for incoming athletes following a federal investigation that uncovered a widespread college admissions scandal and resulted in the arrest of 50 people.

College spokesper son Diana Lawrence denied any involvement by the

College in the scandal in an email statement to The Dartmouth. However, she said that precautions would be taken to prevent any such scandal in the future. “ G o i n g fo r w a rd , we will require that, before a coach communicates their support for a candidate to the Admissions Office, that candidate’s athletic credentials are reviewed and approved by an SEE ADMISSIONS PAGE 3

Over 83,000 individuals have contributed to the College’s “The Call to Lead” capital campaign.

B y The Dartmouth senior staff College President Phil Hanlon announced yesterday that the College’s ongoing capital campaign has raised just over $2 billion toward its goal of $3 billion.

When the campaign, titled “The Call to Lead,” was publicly launched 11 months ago, the College had already raised approximately $1.5 billion over the course of four years during the campaign’s quiet phase. The campaign — scheduled to end in 2022 — has raised at least $220 million since September, when The Dartmouth reported that the campaign had raised $1.78 billion so far.

According to a College press release, more than 83,000 individuals have contributed to the campaign so far, up from approximately 78,000 donors at the time of the campaign’s public launch. And, just over half of all gifts have been for $1,000 or less. Further, nearly 2,000 individuals have committed to $261 million in bequest intentions. In September, The Dartmouth reported that progress on the College’s capital campaign was outpacing Brown University’s progress on its $3 billion BrownTogether capital campaign.

At the time of the campaign’s announcement, its stated goals included

reintroducing need-blind admissions for international applicants; developing financial aid packages that do not include loans; constructing a new 350-bed residence hall; developing a f o u r- ye a r l e a d e r s h i p program for undergraduates; funding in research in the Arctic, energy and cancer treatments; developing a focus on entrepreneurship, business and design on the western part of campus; expanding the Hood Museum of Art; and renovating the Hopkins Center for the Arts.

To date, the campaign has already funded 165 new student scholarships, and SEE CAPITAL PAGE 3

PAGE 2

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2019

CPD employer fair offers few public policy, social sciences options B y CASSANDRA THOMAS The Dartmouth Staff

On Tuesday, the Center for Professional Development hosted 55 companies, firms and organizations at its Employer Connections Fair in the Hopkins Center for the Performing Arts. The fair included representatives from the finance, consulting education and technology sectors; however, the fair offered comparatively few public policy or social science opportunities. This career imbalance in favor of finance, consulting, and technology jobs is reflected in the career paths of graduates.

A survey conducted by the CPD of the outgoing class of 2018 found that 56 percent of graduates pursue careers in those sectors.

While the CPD has worked to address this imbalance through improved databases and alumni-student networks, many students with interests in the public sector still do not use the CPD’s resources — often relying on past connections, other campus centers or simply navigating the undergraduate job hunt alone.

CPD director Roger Woolsey explained that the disparity between private company recruiting and the apparent lack of public sector opportunities is associated with the resources companies allocate towards recruiting. The cost of having representatives at the career fair varies depending on the type of organization, with non-profits contributing less money to appear at the fair. Furthermore, according to Woolsey, the CPD’s partner system offers different tiers for companies or organizations that pay more money in exchange for privileges and an increased presence on campus. A full booth costs $695, a half booth costs $350 and a half booth for a non-profit costs $125 — not to mention the cost of sending representatives to Hanover.

“It’s not that we’re deliberately bringing banks and consulting companies and tech firms to Dartmouth,” Woolsey said. “They have a lot of opportunity, a

lot of turnover, and they have a lot of capital ... They can afford to send groups of people to select schools around the country.”

The money accumulated from these partnerships and fees to attend the career fair are used to subsidize the non-compensation operating budget of the CPD, according to Woolsey. Woolsey said that he is cognizant of the student complaints regarding the CPD’s lack of opportunities for non-profit or public sector work. He cited the CPD’s “Off the Green” programming, which brings students to major cities to experience various career paths and meet alumni, the CPD’s policy resource guide and the CPD’s partnerships with other campus centers as evidence of an effort to address this concern.

Woolsey also noted that many companies do not need to have a presence at Dartmouth since they receive thousands of applications by simply posting a job opening online. For these kinds of companies, Woolsey said that the CPD is trying to build more references and connections in the Dartmouth community to make these jobs accessible.

For Jennifer West ’20, the CPD’s resources did not yield a successful experience. West said that she knew she wanted a political job in Washington D.C. after her freshman year and tried to engage with the CPD by signing up for their online resources, going to the CPD in person and attending information sessions. However, West said she was disappointed to find a lack of opportunities tailored to her interests.

“During sophomore summer, I was especially disappointed because there was only one public service recruiter brought to campus during the most intense recruiting season,” West said.

“So, while a lot of my friends who were seeking consulting or finance jobs were having lots of information sessions and visits from representatives of those organizations on campus, I really didn’t have anyone to talk to about my own internship or post-graduate career goals.”

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

West said that she has since done most “[Public sector jobs] don’t have of her internship searches independently the recruiting resources that larger and has successfully found positions in organizations have,” Janisch explained. entertainment and public service.

“There are some large public While various centers across campus organizations that do recruit people. It — including the Nelson A. Rockefeller really depends on the people you know.

Center for Public Policy and Social Private firms are probably more willing Sciences, the John Sloan Dickey Center to reach out to colleges whereas in the for International Understanding and public sector you really have to know the the Center for Social Impact — try person, so it’s [about] getting to know the to make different career opportunities alumni networks.” more accessible, the CPD itself continues Bryan also claimed that many to attempt to broaden its outreach students overlook the CPD’s resources to students. CPD assistant director before fully investigating what services Chandlee are available to them.

Bryan said that Bryan highlighted the CPD has “We do have a that, for example, resources for healthy number many students have students across not completely set of financial and industries and up their Dartboard levels of interests. consulting employers accounts, which According to participate in our give them access Bryan, one to résumé guides, of the biggest campus recruiting — in major-to-career factor s that part, that is because guides that illustrate students should how alumni have they do anticipate consider before used their degrees a job search is demand and plan out and internship or fullhiring timeliness, pretty early, and they time positions listings which tends to by industry area. start earlier in have the resources “We like to work the private sector to participate in the with you as early as and have more you want to work program.” variation in the with us, but in general public sector.

I think that we will Bryan expressed -CHANDLEE BRYAN, CPD meet you wherever frustration that you are,” Bryan said. throughout her ASSISTANT DIRECTOR “The more you put career she has into it, the more confronted the information you give “myth” that professional services are us, the more we can market to target to designed for students interested in finance your interests.” and consulting.

Rachel Mashal ’20 has been a “The myth that we struggle with all beneficiary of the CPD’s resources and the time, and this has been consistent services. As a participant in corporate in every Ivy that I’ve worked in, is that recruiting over her sophomore summer, career services are focused on finance Mashal worked closely with the CPD and consulting,” Bryan said. “We do beginning in her sophomore spring have a healthy number of financial and term and throughout the recruiting consulting employers participate in our process to find an internship in her area campus recruiting — in part, that is of interest. Eventually, she was selected because they do anticipate demand and as an intern for a law firm in New York. plan out pretty early, and they have the Mashal expressed appreciation that the resources to participate in the program.” CPD made a law internship accessible Rockefeller Center program officer to her despite the fact that law firms are Eric Janisch also described some of the less likely to recruit on college campuses. inherent challenges in finding jobs in the “From the beginning, I felt like the public sector, like lower compensation CPD was doing a great job,” Mashal and less brand appeal. said. “Before recruiting began I was

able to look at all the employers, their locations, which terms they’re available, which fields they were in … The people at the CPD are really knowledgeable and there to answer any of your questions.

They also really want to make sure that students are treated fairly and know what to expect from employers.”

Despite the strides made to widen job offerings, the issue of a job imbalance perpetuated by the CPD was incorporated into the final project for ENGS 12, “Design Thinking.” Wyatt Genasci Smith ’19, Ryan Murakawa ’22 and their group were challenged to design creative solutions to widen the scope of the CPD’s offerings. Genasci Smith mentioned that as a student going into an unconventional career, he thought it was important for Dartmouth students to look beyond what is considered traditional and focus on what makes them happy.

“We found that students who have interests in [finance and consulting] end up having an easier time navigating college and finding career opportunities, especially through the CPD,” Murakawa said. “We also found that the CPD is actually trying really hard to solve this problem on their own. It’s a mix of campus culture and the CPD having to cater to what most people want, which is increasing the problem.”

For their final project, Genasci Smith, Murakawa and the rest of their group presented ideas such as creating a physical space for the CPD in the library or alumni center so that students do not have to walk downtown, designing interactive screens to showcase alumni with unconventional careers and installing soundproof Skype rooms to talk to employers who don’t have the funds to come to campus.

Woolsey emphasized that the CPD itself is receptive to feedback, specifically in regards to addressing the concerns of students who think there is dearth of public sector opportunities.

“I think the number one thing that students need to understand is that, if they feel pressure, they should come to meet with an advisor at the CPD,” Woolsey said. “Because if you’re looking for a particular internship in an industry that is not as visible, advisors have information about employers — they also can help students find the right resources to research and locate employers within the industry that they’re interested in.”

THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2019

PAGE 3

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

College will review credentials of athletes

College to use funds to increase student scholarships, finance renovations

administrator as a legitimate recruit with the athletic talent necessary to contribute to our Division I varsity team,” she wrote.

“While the data from the last three entering classes demonstrates that no Dartmouth coach has supported an inappropriate candidate, this protocol is being instituted to further increase the rigor of the process in response to the Operation Varsity Blues’ scandal uncovered at other institutions.”

Although the FBI did not name Dartmouth in its investigation, an online biography of Mark Riddell — who has been charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and money laundering — said that he assisted students in gaining admission to a number of universities including the College.

Law enforcement officials have accused Riddell of tweaking clients’ standardized test answers to improve their scores while he worked as the director of college entrance exam preparation at IMG Academy, a Florida private school. Riddell’s page on the account’s website has since been deleted. However, to date, there is no evidence that Riddell used illegitimate means to provide this assistance.

Lawrence added that the College has not been contacted by the Justice Department in relation to the matter.

Vice provost for enrollment and dean of admissions and financial aid Lee Coffin said that he was disappointed, but not surprised, by the national college admissions scandal. He added that the highly competitive nature of college admissions may have motivated people to lie and cheat.

“It’s this idea of impossibility that I think is the wind in the sail of that scandal,” he said.

A lth o u gh I M G A c ad emy ’s website stated that Riddell helped students gain admission into Dartmouth, Coffin said he doubts

the College intends to increase this number to 250 by the end of the year in honor of the College’s 250 anniversary. In addition, the campaign has funded the recent expansion of the Hood Museum of Art, construction of the new Moosilauke Ravine Lodge and ongoing construction of a 160,000 square-foot engineering and computer science building at the West End of campus.

In August, the Valley News

FROM ADMISSIONS PAGE 1

that any wrongdoing could have been possible.

“What’s helping us too is that we’re small, so we’re not in this really huge, high-volume place where you can’t be reading files as thoughtfully and thoroughly as we are,” Coffin explained. “Some of our Ivy peers have larger classes than the number of people we’re admitting.”

Coffin said he is proud that the College was not involved in the scandal but is disappointed that the admissions process may need to be more critical in the future.

“I have not historically had to read every file and be suspicious of the material that’s been submitted,” he said.

However, he added that some files stand out when “something smells” about their authenticity.

“There are moments when you’re reading a file and the essays are overly scripted,” he explained.

“We have not, to date, been dubious of the materials a student has submitted, and it would be sad if that’s the kind of outgrowth of this, that we have to bring heightened scrutiny.”

A l i s o n I n g a l l s, a re c e n t l y admitted member of the Class of 2023, commented on the scandal from an applicant’s perspective.

“Obviously hearing about the scandal was hard, especially because the whole process of admissions was so real to me at the time,” she explained. “I was living and breathing it. I had put so much time and energy into putting together an application.”

Ingalls added that she has felt better since hearing that Dartmouth was not involved in the scandal.

“To think people could simply pay a large sum of money and get into the school of their dreams certainly made me lose faith in the process,” she said. “That being said, I was impressed and relieved to hear that Dartmouth had no part in the scandal. It made the acceptance letter that came a couple weeks later that much sweeter.”

FROM CAPITAL PAGE 1

reported that although the College was preparing to renovate the Hopkins Center, it had “no specific plans or timeline yet.” In September, The Dartmouth reported that the College’s Board of Trustees had approved a plan to develop a schematic design for a new 350bed dormitory. In the same month, The Dartmouth also reported that the College was in the preliminary stages of integrating a four-year, co-curricular leadership program into its undergraduate graduation requirements. In February, The

Dartmouth reported that the Irving Energy Institute had issued nine inaugural grants to researchers and one team of undergraduates.

The College press release did not explicitly mention what progress the College has made toward restoring need-blind admissions for international applicants, eliminating loans from financial aid packages and funding cancer and Arctic research.

A full story with more details will be published in the near future.

PAGE 4

THE DARTMOUTH EVENTS

THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2019

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

Lecture: “When Humour Has the Last Word,” by Elizabeth Rottenberg, sponsored by the Department of English and creative writing, Sanborn House, Wren Room.

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

Panel: “Understanding Social Justice,” sponsored by the Spanish and Portuguese department, Rockefeller Center, Room 003.

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

Film: “Clueless,” sponsored by the Hopkins Center for the Arts, Loew Auditorium.

TOMORROW 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Physics and astronomy Colloquium: “Driving Forbidden Vibrational Overtones in Molecular Ions,” by David Hanneke of Amherst College, Wilder Hall, Room 104.

7:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Film: “Vice,” sponsored by the Hopkins Center for Arts, Loew Auditorium.

FROM JONES PAGE 6

inclusive counterpart. The recent spike in hate crimes and the resurgence of white nationalism provide yet more evidence of the continued existence of exclusive nationalism in the United States.

Nationalism in the United States is complicated. At its best, American nationalism has stood as a force for inclusion and an opponent of tyranny. Its success stories include the American Revolution, the Civil War and World War II. At its worst, American nationalism has inspired exclusion and oppression, whether through slavery and segregation in the 19th century or white nationalism and calls for a “Muslim ban” in the 21st century.

Whether we like it or not, the nation state is the ultimate political unit in the modern world, and given that, nationalism isn’t going anywhere.

Nations follow different systems of government, pursue vastly-different goals and contain wildly-varying cultures. For better or for worse, one’s

national identity continues to come before one’s identity as a member of the human race. The emergence of some form of nationalism is thus inevitable. Given that, our society should reject not nationalism, but the exclusive, divisive form of it.

We as a society have a choice to make. On one side stands exclusive nationalism, which seeks to limit the boundaries and character of the state. To an exclusive nationalist, group identity serves as the primary means of political organization.

This identitarian nationalism defines outgroups in the negative space of the nation, thereby denying them the privileges afforded to the ingroup.

Inclusive nationalists think differently.

They consider certain rights inherent to all individuals and task the nation with upholding those rights. Inclusive nationalism defines a nation by values, not by group identities. This sort of nationalism is a matter of pride, not resentment. Inclusive nationalism calls individuals to their highest potential; it challenges them to exercise and defend the inalienable rights of all Americans.

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THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2019

PAGE 5

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

Incoming Thayer dean Abramson looks to raise the school’s profile B y SUNNY DRESCHER The Dartmouth Staff

Coming to Dartmouth as the next step in a career that has spanned the private sector, government and academia, Alexis Abramson has been named the next dean of the Thayer School of Engineering. Abramson will assume the post on June 17. She replaces interim dean of Thayer Laura Ray, who took over the position when Joseph Helble assumed his current role as College provost.

Abramson said she is excited to continue Thayer’s efforts to expand the engineering school’s presence in several ways, including “raising the profile and external visibility” of the school, growing and diversifying the faculty and promoting cross-campus and offcampus interdisciplinary collaboration.

“Given her track record and her strength as a leader and communicator, I am tremendously excited about her potential to be even more successful in diversifying the engineering student body and the faculty and staff as well,” Helble said.

Helble, the former dean of Thayer

for over 13 years, said that he thinks that Abramson will be an “inspiring leader,” and also cited Abramson’s experience across various industries as a factor that made her stand out.

Helble said that Abramson’s focus on energy-related engineering and research was additionally valuable in identifying her for the position, as that is one of Thayer’s two largest areas of research and education.

In addition to her track record as an academic at Case Western Reserve University and co-director of the university’s Great Lakes Energy Institute, Abramson worked in the Obama administration as chief scientist and manager of the Emerging Technologies Team in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Office.

She has also worked as a technical adviser for Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a $1 billion innovation fund started by Bill Gates to fight anthropogenic climate change.

“It brings a diversity of viewpoints to the position compared to someone who might have spent their entire life in academia,” engineering professor Eric

Fossum said. “Not that [working solely in academia] is a bad thing, but it was certainly something we liked about future dean Abramson.”

Helble added that Abramson’s valuable experience working in various settings to help groups of people collaborate — from establishing research programs at Case Western to helping individuals and groups secure funding from her position at the Department of Energy — was an important skill for the dean to bring with her.

“Good academic leaders don’t issue edicts — they build consensus,” Helble said. “She is clearly a thoughtful communicator and listener, and she’s been very successful at building consensus.”

Abramson said that two primary factors drew her to the College and Thayer specifically: the liberal arts education and the interdisciplinary approach to engineering research and academic engagement.

Sheaddedthatherownundergraduate liberal arts experience at Tufts University influenced her love for a multifaceted educational approach, adding that

although she was a mechanical engineer, she “took as many humanities and social science courses as [she] could.”

Thayer’s increasingly prominent role in engineering education was an additional draw to the institution for Abramson.

“Thayer is very well positioned to be at the forefront of the revolution of engineering education at the university level moving forward,” Abramson said.

“The future engineer will have to find a way to learn about not just the humanmade world, the engineered world, but integrate knowledge about human experience into that, and that is really the way to have significant impact moving forward.”

Abramson noted that Thayer already does this quite well — “the integration of the human-made world and the human experience”— which made the school very attractive to her.

Helble said that he and College President Phil Hanlon selected Abramson from a shortlist of finalist candidates, which was put together by a search committee chaired by Fossum and included several professors, several

alumni and one student from Thayer.

The committee was assembled by former interim provost David Kotz ’86, with advisement from then-dean Helble soon after Helble’s appointment to provost.

“The viewpoints represented different stakeholder groups in Thayer, whether it be students or faculty or alums, and these are all important voices to include in identifying the best possible candidate,” Fossum said.

As the second woman in Thayer’s 150-year history to lead the school, Abramson noted that it has sometimes been difficult being a woman in a field traditionally dominated by men.

However, she said that some of these hardships, including having been mistaken for a secretary, have helped her become a better person and leader.

“I’ve definitely had to take a few extra steps to demonstrate who I am and to demonstrate my capabilities,” Abramson said. “In the long run, that’s been a benefit, not a burden, because it’s helped me be more outspoken and introspective, as well as to better evaluate who I am and what I need to work on to grow.”

Orient restaurant found to have been improperly disposing grease FROM CLOSINGS PAGE 1

constitute a felony, Griffin said.

Griffin added that Orient also made “repeated New Hampshire food code violations.”

Even before Orient was caught pouring grease, the establishment had faced challenges. Unlike its neighbor Base Camp Cafe, which has “spotlessly clean kitchens” and “found its niche in the restaurant marketplace,” Orient struggled to compete, Griffin said. Its subterranean location added difficulty in drawing business as it was not visible from the street.

“We have decided to part company on a mutually friendly basis” property owner Jim Rubens said, declining to comment on the alleged food safety or environmental violations. “We are very happy to have suggestions from students who are obviously a major part of the business in downtown Hanover.”

The closure of Orient was preceded by the announcement that

Zimmermanns The North Face will close at the end of June when its lease expires. In recent months, downtown Hanover has seen a number of changes, including the closures of the Dartmouth Bookstore, the Canoe Club restaurant, and clothing stores Folk and Rambler’s Way. However, according to Griffin, new businesses will soon be opening in the downtown area. The front area of the space that used to house the Dartmouth Bookstore will be divided into two parts facing Main Street and will house two new clothing retailers. In the rear of the Dartmouth Bookstore space, Allie Levy ’11 will open Still North Books, which will combine a small independent bookstore with a wine bar. Its entrance will be on Allen Street.

The Canoe Club space remains vacant, and Griffin said that it is difficult to fill at the moment, as there is construction on the rear of the building. However, she noted that there is some interest in the space from several

potential tenants.

The reason for the closure of Zimmermans The North Face, which occupies a space in a building owned by the College, was less unusual than that of Orient: The store has faced declining sales in recent years, according to the store’s manager Bill Boyle. As customers more frequently rely on online shopping instead of brick-and-mortar stores, the store struggled to compete with online The North Face sales and sites like Amazon. Griffin describes this phenomenon, felt in other Hanover businesses, as the ‘Amazonization’ of downtown Hanover.

Another factor that contributed to declining sales at the store, according to Boyle, was “changing taste,” as customers increasingly favor brands like Patagonia and Canada Goose. Boyle said that the store showed a “failure to adapt” to this trend. Although the store is not owned by The North Face, it was required to only sell the brand, according to Boyle.

High rental prices in Hanover have challenged Zimmermanns The North Face, as well as other businesses in town. “[Hanover is] almost not affordable if you are a small retail store,” said Annemarie Schmidt, owner of European Face and Body Studio.

Kayla Thibodeau, manager of retail stores for Farmhouse Pottery, noted that rent prices in Hanover are more expensive than in other similar towns like Woodstock, VT. Boyle also said that the small market in Hanover and the surrounding towns could not financially sustain Zimmermanns The North Face.

“How many times does someone need a new fleece?” he said, highlighting how The North Face products are not the kind of products that customers buy frequently.

Boyle added that sales in the summer have declined dramatically in recent years, citing a reduction in visitors to Hanover that he attributed to a decreasing popularity of summer

camps.

In the future, Griffin said she thinks that stores must shift their approaches to business in Hanover.

“The current buzzword is ‘curated products,’” Griffin said. “You really need to find a new age of retailers who are choosing a broader range of products and curating the products in a really interesting way. You get the sort of shopping experience you can’t get online.”

Hanover business owners expressed hope that existing businesses — as well as new ones set to open in town — will succeed. Griffin noted that this retail environment is part of the town and the College’s charm.

“Dartmouthwantsaquaintcharming Hanover downtown because it’s a really good recruitment tool for them,” she said. “However, the College has to be involved in supporting that downtown.

It can’t survive by itself.”

Peter Charalambous contributed reporting.

PAGE 6

THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2019

THE DARTMOUTH OPINION

CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST TANNER JONES ‘22

STAFF COLUMNIST FRANCES MIZE ‘22

In Defense of Nationalism

Inventing Innovation in Silicon Valley

Nationalism sometimes fails, but we abandon it at our peril.

The word “nationalism” calls to mind some of the darkest chapters in history. When I hear the term, I immediately think both of the divisive posturing that precipitated World War I and the fascist regimes of World War II. Nationalism seems pernicious.

It appeals to tribal instincts, making people forget their opponents’ humanity and inviting catastrophic human-rights abuses. What’s more, nationalism seems irrational. In an interconnected world of increasingly fluid borders, one might think it foolish to promote the arbitrary identities that underlie the nation state. Following this logic, some are quick to condemn nationalism as a plague of the 20th century and an anachronism that society must eradicate whenever it reemerges in the modern world.

This line of thinking has merit, but ultimately, I consider it wrongheaded. A healthy skepticism of nationalism should not blind people to nationalism’s tremendous capacity for good. I reject any blanket condemnation of nationalism and instead endorse a nuanced understanding, one that acknowledges both the benefits and drawbacks of the diverse set of ideas encompassed under the term “nationalism.”

The right form of nationalism can prove beneficial.

In his appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg criticized white nationalism and other far-right ideas. However, he argued, “We could actually be building out the best forms of nationalism, which is when you rally people around a sense of identity that we’re building each other up.”

Buttigieg’s suggestion is wise. Whether for good or for bad, nationalism is a force for unity. With this in mind, our society must wield nationalism for good.

Buttigieg’s assertion has solid historical backing. Just as nationalism fueled the genocidal totalitarianism of World War II’s Axis powers,

it also rallied the nations that defeated them. A nationalist spirit propelled the United States out of its firm isolationism of the 1930s and into the war effort of the early 1940s. The U.S.’s national spirit prevailed afterwards, eventually ushering in the fall of Communism. A desire for national supremacy even pushed the United States to the moon. History makes clear that nationalism brought the U.S. some of its greatest triumphs.

American nationalism dates back to our nation’s founding. The American Revolution, a repudiation of British colonial rule, was a nationalist project. A nationalist desire for a separate state, one free of monarchy and high taxes, drove the 13 colonies to rebellion and victory. With the signing of the Constitution, the ideals of the Revolution — ideals spurred on by nationalism — were embedded within our nation’s governing institutions.

This isn’t to say that all U.S. nationalism is positive. Throughout U.S. history, nationalist currents have pushed for injustice. In 1860, as southern states threatened to succeed, the spirit of an inclusive nation-state faced a formal challenge from a rival nationalist project, one that sought to entrench exclusion and oppression. The bloody civil war between the two nationalisms set the stage for subsequent battles, sometimes legal, sometimes political, over America’s national vision. In the 20th century, exclusive nationalism spurred the creation of the House Un-American Activities Committee and incited Senator Joseph McCarthy’s anti-communist paranoia. Today, some opponents of liberal immigration policies base their concerns in an exclusive vision of the United States. This is just the latest resurgence of nationalism’s dangerous, exclusive form, an iteration that coexists with its SEE JONES PAGE 4

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It’s time we reconsider our definition of “disruption.”

A new HBO documentary “The Inventor: products affect human health, and a culture of Out for Blood in Silicon Valley” chronicles innovation alone cannot ensure their success. the rise and demise of Theranos, a health- A charismatic personality is not enough to tech company that claimed to have designed ensure safety, and neither is cultivating highblood tests requiring a very small amount of tech corporate jargon. Holmes dropped out blood. Its inexpensive tests could, it claimed, be of college and had no legitimate scientific or administered and analyzed without a physician medical credentials, yet she still convinced a or a lab, thereby cadre of elite investors to bringing healthcare “The Theranos case support a product that was closer to the consumer. never proven to work. When Theranos received should make us question a set of traits becomes endorsements from the ‘disruption’ mentality so aligned with progress, a series of influential someone present that that blinded observers to might figures, including aesthetic as separate from former U.S. Secretary the company’s fraudulent any real advancement? of Defense James practices.”

In adopting a kind of Mattis, former U.S. Silicon Valley-ness devoid Secretary of State of any real foundation in George Shultz and technology, Holmes seems media mogul Rupert Murdoch. The company’s to have done just that. peak valuation reached $9 billion. But in 2015, Holmes based Theranos in a glass-paned its technological claims were revealed as false. headquarters in Palo Alto’s Stanford Research By 2016, Forbes estimated the net worth of Park, next door to tech companies like Tesla Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes at virtually Motors and Hewlett-Packard. She pushed nothing. Her company was a scam. her story as a 19-year-old Stanford dropout, a The Bay Area, including Silicon Valley and scrappy young revolutionary out to change the San Francisco, receives nearly 45 percent of all world. Playing into the cultivated image of the venture capital investment in the United States “disruptor,” she publicized her idiosyncrasies and has long stood as a bastion of technological — the same black Steve Jobs-style turtleneck development. Prominent figures in Silicon Valley every day, only leaving the office to sleep four often speak of a spirit of “disruption” — a term hours a night — and used these indicators, to which many in the industry quickly attached not actual data, to support the validity of themselves following the Great Recession. her product. Lacking a functioning product, “Disruption” came to stand for cheaper, Theranos had nothing more than the image of simpler products that undercut the success of the “disruptor.” And disturbingly, for a while, those larger competitors deemed as the elites. this proved enough to succeed.

Under the sway of Silicon Holmes’ story and Valley’s massive public “Lacking a functioning the Theranos story both influence, this “disruption” product, Theranos had became more important became synonymous with than Theranos’ product. innovation. Of course, nothing more than the Theranos presented an most companies did not image of the ‘disruptor.’ appearance of progress pursue Theranos’ model in place of any true of fraud; however, the And disturbingly, for progress. This deception Theranos case should a while, this proved becomes all the more make us question the enough to succeed.” concerning given its focus “disruption” mentality on medical technology that blinded observers to on which people’s lives the company’s fraudulent often depend. None of practices. this is to dispute the importance of technological The pursuit of “disruption” grows more advancement and change, but when it comes to concerning as Silicon Valley expands its focus physical health, a thin veneer of “disruption” is into the world of medical technology. Here, no stand-in for real innovation. Silicon Valley, the pursuit of the “disruptive” ideal of cheaper try as it might, cannot be the entire world, and and simpler products becomes more difficult, at the end of the day, an iPod is a very different and more dangerous, to create. Medical thing from a blood test.

THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2019

PAGE 7

THE DARTMOUTH OPINION

STAFF COLUMNIST VALERIE TRUONG ’21

Subway or the Highway

Public transportation facilitates immersion in a place.

The sun was setting in the Mataderos neighborhood of Buenos Aires, and I had just attached myself to the longest bus line I had ever seen: It wrapped around the corner and ended right next to an overflowing public trash can. Ten minutes passed, and the line and general discontent only grew. Another 15 agonizing minutes passed. Finally, a half-filled bus rolled up to the stop. I took one look at the line and knew that I’d probably have to wait for the next bus.

But the bus somehow kept swallowing passengers, and before I knew it, I stood near the front of the line. I and a handful of others squeezed through the doors, and the driver announced that he had to close them. This bus was so full that I had to stand in front of the driver. I couldn’t reach the card reader to pay, and the driver had to keep getting up to check for oncoming traffic because he couldn’t see through all the passengers.

At this point, I asked myself why I hadn’t just called an Uber. It would have saved me a good hour and spared me a great deal of discomfort. But some part of me realized that I enjoy taking public transport, despite its inconveniences and seemingly-constant violation personal space. I learn a lot about a place from riding its various forms of public transportation, whether buses or subways or trains. One of the most visible cultural phenomena on the Argentinian bus was fashion: In Buenos Aires, it took the form of embellished platform sandals and Crocs. Taking public transit is a way for me to experience all those unspoken rules and norms of a society — some of which are universal and others of which are more specific to a certain place. Whether riding the subway in New York City or taking a bus in Buenos Aires, it’s common courtesy to offer your seat to senior citizens and pregnant women, place your bag on your lap and say “excuse me” or “permiso” if you’re trying to get past someone.

More specific to Buenos Aires’ public transport is the multitude of ways in which people use it to earn some additional income.

For one, you have the classic upcoming musical act. Some musicians set themselves up in subway stations, but many wheeled in speakers and microphones onto subway cars, along with all types of peso-collection apparatuses. I heard them sing everything from rap to traditional folklórico. Then came the vendors, selling everything from

common snacks like alfajores and turrón de maní bars to accessories like hair ties and socks. Occasionally, salespeople handed out household items like scissors and notebooks.

Finally, there were the panhandlers.

Impassioned speeches were made as they distributed printed cards describing difficult life situations. Underlying all of this was a notion of generosity — I noticed that more often than not, whenever the panhandlers came around, five or 10 pesos exchanged hands.

Of course, you can still learn a lot about a city by taking Uber or taxis. Cabs open the door to one-on-one conversations and allow for the exchange of personal stories.

I met drivers from Argentina’s provinces as well as drivers fleeing Venezuela’s economic crisis. But I find it more difficult to realize a place’s values and norms when insulated from that sweaty and crowded agglomeration that is mass public transportation, from that reality in which adhering to your place in the bus line is almost a religion, examining and not buying a vendor’s items is expected and sitting in between two strangers is preferred to standing in open space.

As much as I loved the craziness of the bus, it was clearly unsafe. The driver couldn’t see the road through the crowd of passengers. But I still made it where I had to go. What my experience made clear was that people — myself included — would rather get on the first bus and be that sardine in a can than wait for the next bus. And it’s true: Researchers at U.C. Berkeley found that frequent, consistent service, along with reliable transfers between stops, are what matter most to riders. Significantly less important is whether rides are crowded or whether seats are available. Of course, safe and efficient public transit is ideal, but even when transit isn’t perfect, there’s still something beneficial about taking it.

Granted, some cities have terribly inefficient public systems that just aren’t functional. Still, public transit is the only option for many people who can’t afford to buy and maintain their own car. But if you’re lucky and have the agency to choose how to get where you need to go, consider sacrificing some time and comfort in order to connect with the people around you. So take the bus — you may well appreciate the mundanities of the journey, and even learn something new.

GUEST COLUMNIST AKOSUA TWUM ‘21

Wealth in College Admissions

The bribery scandal highlights the unmerited role of wealth in college admissions.

During the college application period, some parents support their children by reassuring them that hard work and good grades can get them into a good college. Other parents decide to support their children in a more unconventional way. Thirty-three wealthy parents, including Felicity Huffman from “Desperate Housewives” and Lori Loughlin from “Full House,” were recently involved in what the case’s prosecutors referred to as the “largest college admission scam” ever. These parents spent anywhere from $200 thousand to $6.5 million to get their kids into elite colleges such as Georgetown, Yale, Stanford and the University of Southern California.

William Singer, the ringleader behind the scandal, helped his clients’ children get into elite colleges by manipulating entrance exam scores.

Singer paid psychologists to falsify disability reports, enabling students to receive extra time on their exams. At controlled test centers, proctors hired

by Singer would either correct the students’ exam answers or work with the students to complete the tests. In the end, students received near-perfect scores on their entrance exams.

The effort to manipulate entrance exams was blatantly unfair, particularly given the advantages that wealthier children already have when it comes to academics. Wealthy children have the opportunity to attend the best schools in their state, if not the country — few others ever get that chance. These are children surrounded by the best teachers and the best resources, both of which will help them on entrance exams later on in life. High-performing schools feature programs like Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate, both of which help challenge and push students. Wealthy students can afford to receive academic and test-prep help from tutors and learning centers; some even turn to highpriced admissions and test-prep consultants. Poorer students often don’t have those opportunities, due to the lack of academic resources, financial support, and even awareness that such opportunities exist.

Even aside from the recent scandal, they have to work harder just to compete with wealthier students.

Another key part of the scandal concerned athletic recruitment. Singer bribed college coaches to list his clients’ children as recruits, even though those students didn’t play the sport for which they were being “recruited. Singer even used Adobe Photoshop to artificially place his clients’ faces onto the bodies of real high school athletes.

Once again, the scandal presents a new low.

But its parallels with entirely legal inequalities are eerie. Wealthy students have an advantage when it comes to accessing sports and extracurriculars, beginning with their well-funded schools, which often have access to great sports programs. Wealthy

students have the resources needed to train and become actual student-athletes. Some poorer schools don’t have such well-funded and equipped sports programs, so the athletic route isn’t always an option for students. When it comes to extracurricular activities, better-funded schools often have better and more diverse programs that look better on college applications. Even ignoring availability, some less-wealthy students don’t have a choice about whether to participate in extracurricular activities. Many need to work to make ends meet, and some don’t have the means to pay fees and equipment costs. Some have to take care of their younger siblings because their families can’t afford a babysitter or after-school care. All these factors combine to make extracurricular activities far more difficult for less-wealthy students.

There are other legal, but ethically dubious, ways for wealthy families to help boost their children’s college applications. Parents are allowed to donate money to schools. In a Vice News video, the former associate dean of admissions at the University of Pennsylvania said that “what would always help students [was] if . . . their family had a lot of financial resources. You were really looking at seven-figure donations, eight-figure donations.

But sometimes six figures, plus a connection with someone on the board, was even more powerful.”

She also mentioned that the university reserves spots specifically for students whose parents have donated or intend to donate money to the institution. While donations aren’t fraudulent attempts to deceive the admission committee, their effects are similar: They give wealthier students an unearned advantage.

The college scandal is all the more upsetting given the systemic advantages that wealthier students already receive in the admissions process.

Each person implicated in this scandal not only committed crimes, but also took opportunities away from hard-working students who genuinely deserved a spot at these colleges. College impacts a person’s entire life, making a system that blatantly favors wealth all the more unjust. Our society doesn’t fully discuss the role that wealth plays in education, partly because when it comes to college, we still ascribe to the false notion that hard work is the key to success. However, as the recent scandal highlights, it seems like the key to college success comes with a hefty price tag.

Twum is a member of the Class of 2021.

The Dartmouth welcomes guest columns. We request that guest columns be the original work of the submitter. Submissions may be sent to both opinion@thedartmouth.com and editor@ thedartmouth.com. Submissions will receive a response within three business days.

PAGE 8

THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2019

THE DARTMOUTH ARTS

Hasan Minhaj’s ‘Patriot Act’ is a breath of fresh air for comedy B y Joyce Lee

The Dartmouth Staff

Netflix has been a boon for stand-up comedians these past few years, offering an enormous platform for artists whose work would have been a little more difficult to find for our generation of instant streamers. I fell into the rabbit hole of stand-up around the same time I started my Netflix subscription, which means for a while, I hadn’t done much else but listen to the upteenth comedian give a self-deprecating monologue.

Much like any other genre that’s consumed rapidly in bursts, stand-up comedy started to wear thin after watching 50 or so specials. As much as the content and style of each comedian differed, it still felt like I was watching the same middle-aged man stand on an empty stage and talk about his children, his relationship to his wife and give an exasperated shake of his head at the current state of politics.

Hasan Minhaj’s “Homecoming King” stand-up special was a jolt to this brand of stand-up, not only because he’s an Indian American, Muslim man coming off a solid tenure as a correspondent on “The Daily Show,” but because of his own special brand of charisma and energy. I watched his special around the same time that the second season of his Netflix talk show, “Patriot Act,” started airing in February, and I found that much of the elements that made his act so invigorating had translated into his “late-night” format that the “Patriot Act” is in.

In “Homecoming King,” Minhaj recognized something about comedy that I’ve always felt was lacking in the all of the other specials I’ve watched. It’s a philosophy that Hannah Gadsby also acts upon in her special “Nanette” — that comedy is inherently connected to pathos and that comedy rings

truer when it is evoked in relation to a deeper and more emotional story.

For Minhaj, and for many among his fellow immigrant audience, this pathos is rooted in his family and his ethnic and religious background.

People often point out, and sometimes criticize, when a stand-up uses race as a predominant theme in their comedy set. Some call it “lazy writing” because the comedian uses what’s most obvious and apparent about them to get cheap laughs by playing on the same stereotypes and hackneyed observations that are well-ingrained in our culture. The comedian essentially invites the viewer to join them in making fun of their identity, to be self-deprecating about something that is already undermined and marginalized.

Minhaj does the opposite by actively inviting the audience to understand and empathize with the cultural specificity of his comedy. He doesn’t attempt to tailor his points for a white audience, but he still makes his set accessible for those who might not immediately pick up on what he’s saying. However, it is on the viewer to deduce the context of his comedy, and it is here that we are confronted with not only a new type of comedian and host, but a new type of audience as well.

In “Patriot Act,” Minhaj brings over this style of interaction with his audience; he seems committed to developing a personal connection to the people sitting in the studio and watching his show. It helps that a lot of the people in the audience are noticeably South Asian or of South Asian descent; he uses this to generate an atmosphere of understanding and empathy for his extremely specific talking points. No other show host could reference a lota and then reach out to audience members to garner support for the specificity of his

reference. In “Homecoming King,” audience members gasp as soon as Minhaj says “Log kya kahenge,” a Hindi phrase that translates to “What will people think?” They gasp because they know this phrase and can trace it back to their own memories and personal histories. They know in their bones what it means to hear this phrase from their parents, and hearing it in the context of an American stand-up show brings a kind of cultural relief.

As the first Indian American and Muslim show host, Minhaj is not just breaking new ground with fresh material; he’s actively engaging with the concept of “collective memory,” or the shared memory of a community of

people. I am neither Indian American nor Muslim, so I don’t share in either group’s specific collective memory, but I do understand the feeling of having this memory articulated within a western context in which minorities are constantly shunted out. Minhaj is capable of engaging with his audience in all of the various overlapping contexts present on his show; it is what makes the show and his work seem like a bolder and more distinct addition to the former white- and male-dominated genre of late night talk shows.

Minhaj’s work is all the more important in the genre of political comedy — especially the kind of political comedy that exists in today’s

climate. Both systematically and historically, the people who are set up to suffer the most from our current administration’s policies are minorities — people who are marginalized and underrepresented. Political comedy exists to provide relief for people who feel the effects of very real and very damaging policies enacted against them. But this comedy can’t strike a chord unless it comes from someone who understands, down into their bones, the harrowing and frightening reality of living as a part of a marginalized community. Minhaj has clearly exhibited that he understands, and that he’s willing to articulate what has gone unspoken for so long.

A NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM

NAINA BHALLA/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Students socialize in the newly re-opened Hood Museum of Art.