The Dartmouth 05/31/16

VOL. CLXXIII NO.92

MOSTLY SUNNY HIGH 83 LOW 49

TUESDAY, MAY 31, 2016

Divestment report released

HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE

College releases diversity action plan

By THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

ARTS

DANCE ENSEMBLE DELIGHTS PAGE 8

ARTS

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: ROGERS ‘16 PAGE 8

OPINION

CHUN: STUDENTS TO WATER PAGE 4

OPINION

HEGYI: LET’S ALL BE HUMAN PAGE4 FOLLOW US ON

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Divest Dartmouth hosted the largest climate rally in New Hampshire.

By ZACHARY BENJAMIN The Dartmouth Staff

The College released its report on fossil fuel divestment on May 13.

The report details rationales for and against divesting from fossil fuel companies, examining arguments from ethical, financial, academic and symbolic viewpoints.

College President Phil Hanlon commissioned the report from the Advisory Committee on Investor Responsibility in 2014, af-

ter the Divest Dartmouth activist group submitted a petition that requested that the College divest from fossil fuel companies. Work on the report began last summer, when students Katie Zhang ’16 and Kasidet Trerayapiwat Th’16 began research into the possible financial and social impacts of divestment. Thayer School of Engineering professor Mark Borsuk, who served as their advisor, began work in the fall to combine their findings into

Student Activities Budget announced

By TIANHONG DONG The Dartmouth

The Undergraduate Finance Committee released its allocation decisions for the Student Activities Budget on Sunday. The $1.1 million budget covers 10 undergraduate groups for the 2016-2017 fiscal year. UFC funds come from the student activities fee charged to each

student’s tuition every year, which is currently $86.

The Special Programs and Events Committee received $169,320; the Greek Leadership Council received $38,844; Programming Board, $321,210; Council on Student Organizations, $280,000; Collis Governing

SEE UFC PAGE 5

a single document. The final report was finished in April.

Zhang said she and Trerayapiwat spoke with approximately 10 to 12 students, faculty members and staff while researching for the report.

The report examines four possible levels of divestment: no divestment; divesting from the “Filthy Fifteen,” the 15 largest and most polluting coal SEE DIVEST PAGE 3

The College released the Action Plan for Inclusive Excellence in an announcement by College President Phil Hanlom. The document, compiled by the diversity and inclusivity executive committee comprised of Hanlon, Provost Carolyn Dever, Vice President for Institutional Diversity and Equity Evelynn Ellis and Executive Vice President Rick Mills, draws from the reports of the three inclusive excellence working groups published early this month.

The action plan reaffirms the administration’s 2014 goal of increasing the percent of tenure-track underrepresented minority faculty across the College to 25 percent by 2020. In order to reach this goal, the Diversity Recruitment Fund will be doubled to $2 million annually, while school deans will work with the Office of the Provost to retain key faculty.

Deans at the College will be tasked with reporting to the provost about institutional workload, such as the larger amount of mentorship that faculty of color undertake. These annual reports will be due on June 1, 2017.

The executive committee’s action plan also announced plans to add an additional two-year fellowship in Asian American Studies as well as

four new Provost’s postdoctoral fellows in “areas that support diversity.” The César Chávez and Eastman/Marshall fellowship programs’ lengths will be doubled from one to two years.

Thedocumentalsoannounced plans to conduct exit interviews with all departing faculty as well as interviews with current faculty to better understand employment factors and climate.

For minority staff recruitment, a working group will be formed by Sept. 15 with the goal of selecting a date by which to increase underrepresented minorities on staff.

The group will report by Feb. 15, 2017, the action plan stated.

All senior staff and search committees will undergo implicit bias training. Beginning with the 2016-2017 academic year, all new students, faculty and staff orientation will incorporate diversity and inclusion training.

The College’s Board of Trustees will also undergo training on bias and diversity.

The College will publish its first annual diversity and inclusion report by May 30, 2017. The College will also create an external review committee comprised of national leaders in diversity and higher education to report to the Board of Trustees.

Duthu named associate dean

By DANIEL KIM

The Dartmouth Staff

Native American studies professor N. Bruce Duthu ’80 will succeed French, comparative literature and film studies professor Lynn Higgins as the next Frank J. Guarini Associate Dean of the Faculty for International Studies and Interdisciplinary Programs. He will be the third in the position since its creation a decade ago, starting his tenure on July 1.

The associate dean position

encompasses the African and African American studies, Asian and Middle-Eastern studies, comparative literature, environmental studies, Jewish studies, Latin American, Latino and Caribbean studies, linguistics, cognitive sciences, quantitative social sciences, Native American studies, Neukom Institute, women’s, gender, and sexuality studies and the Institute for Writing and Rhetoric programs.

Duthu previously served as the director of the Native American Program, the associate dean

of freshmen and the director of the Intensive Academic Support Program. After teaching at Vermont Law School from 1991 to 2008, he returned to the College and chaired the Native American Studies department from 2009 to 2015.

Duthu wrote in an email that his time as the chair of the Native American studies developed his working understanding and appreciation of the “curricular wealth” in the areas he will now SEE DUTHU PAGE 3

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

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TUESDAY, MAY 31, 2016

Five Senior Fellows selected for the upcoming academic year

By SONIA QIN

The Dartmouth Staff

History, English, linguistics, music and chemistry will be the fields of expertise of next year’s Senior Fellows.

The program announced last week that five students — Julia Marino ’17, Annelise Brinck-Johnsen ’17, Corinne Kasper ’17, Tyné Freeman ’17 and Emmanuel Hui ’17 — have been chosen as the 2016-2017 fellows.

Senior Fellows are not required to enroll in class in their senior year nor are they required to complete a major. Their project will earn them six academic credits, but they must still complete any distributive requirements or remaining credits.

Former senior fellowship committee member and music professor Theodore Levin said that the program is intended for projects that cannot be completed within the existing College curriculum.

Application numbers have gone down in recent years, which Levin attributed to an increasingly flexible curriculum.

Marino will be researching the history of polio and the polio eradication effort spearheaded by Dartmouth alumnus Basil O’Connor, Class of 1912.

A course in United States political history sparked her interest in the topic during her sophomore fall.

Since then, Marino has taken seven different courses at the College for which she wrote several papers about the history of polio.

“I’m interested in how the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis directed one of the largest public health experiments in history,” Marino said. “It tested a vaccine that hadn’t yet been proven safe on more than 600,000 schoolchildren within one year, without government oversight.”

Marino said that foundations and non-profit organizations play a large role in shaping American health care policy and the direction of scientific research. This large influence raises questions about who should set priorities for health care and research, she added.

She has already written 250 pages toward her final product, which she intends on rewriting and revising after she travels to 10 more archives in the next few months to gather new primary source material. She intends to publish her work as a book and said she plans on attending graduate school to pursue a doctorate in American history and wants to continue to study the history of polio.

History professor Bethany More-

ton, Marino’s advisor, said students who apply to programs like the Senior Fellowship program are self-selecting and already self-directed and motivated.

Brinck-Johnsen will be pursuing research into Mary Shelley’s novel “Frankenstein.” She hopes to write scholarly and general interest articles focusing on different aspects of the novel, including its relation to climate change and connecting it to elements of Shelley’s later work.

Brinck-Johnsen first became interested in “Frankenstein” after she had to read it for three separate courses a few years ago.

“Instead of getting sick of it, it made me realize there were so many different aspects you could explore,” she said.

Brinck-Johnsen’s plans to travel to the United Kingdom in the fall to conduct research before returning to Hanover in the winter and eventually publishing her research. Next summer, she plans to take the LSAT and apply to law school as well as a few graduate schools in English literature.

“Frankenstein” is the most assigned novel written by a woman across college campus syllabi worldwide, Brinck-Johnsen said.

“It’s a huge cultural thing, but at the same time, a lot of people have never actually read the book and don’t know much about the book,” she added.

Brinck-Johnsen is interested in how a novel written 200 years ago can still have such a grip on the Western psyche without people necessarily needing to exactly delve into the text.

English professor Alysia Garrison, one of Brinck-Johnsen’s project advisors, said that this research unfolds across three interdisciplinary fields: the crisis of human rights in the Age of Enlightenment; questions of women’s literary authorship, copyright and law; and the relationship between anthropogenic climate change, literary form and the inhuman.

Garrison said that the most challenging aspect of Brinck-Johnsen’s project will be managing the workload and scope of the research, as a full year of archival research and writing could yield a thesis and one publishable article or op-ed, but probably not more.

“The archives can be very seductive and it’s very easy to get lost in its tangled pathways,” Garrison said.

Kasper, who is Pottawatomi, will be conducting a comparative analysis of the Ojibway, Odawa and Pottawatomi languages. She will also be examining the morphology of these

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

COURTESY OF EMMANUEL HUI

Emmanuel Hui ’17 is one of five Senior Fellows for the upcoming academic year.

languages and will be looking at the situations that arise due to language attrition and loss.

Kasper’s maternal grandparents, both Pottawatomi, attended Native American boarding schools, losing the ability to speak the language and pass it on to Kasper’s mother or Kasper. There are currently three native Pottawatomi speakers in the world.

“I feel like I have a duty to do [this research],” Kasper said. “Revitalization efforts and retaining language are very important and I have the ability to have an impact in revitalization of this sacred heritage language.”

For her project, Kasper will be attending Pottawatomi language classes in Wisconsin. She said she hopes to create pedagogical materials to facilitate the learning of the language. The final product will likely be a thesisstyle dissertation which will consist of the comparative analysis as well as outline a Pottawatomi grammar, Kasper said.

Kasper is also a Mellon Mays Fellow, a research-oriented program for minority students, which has taught her about the importance of academia in language revitalization and restoration.

“The breadth that she’s gotten in the three years at Dartmouth is exactly what prepares her to undertake something like this,” linguistics professor Laura McPherson, one of Kasper’s advisors, said, adding that Kasper is drawing from knowledge both from classes and from experiences in her own community.

Kasper said her project will actively work to re-indigenize academia, noting that indigenous frameworks deserve a place in mainstream academia.

“It’s not like I’m creating this for the consumption of others, I’m creating this for the consumption of my people,” she added.

Mellon Mays coordinator Michelle Warren said that by connecting linguistic research to language

pedagogy, Kasper has the potential to make an impact on language revitalization that could last for generations.

Freeman said her project will be centered on intercultural and music collaborations, and she will be working with various musical artists that she has met during her past travels.

This past fall, Freeman traveled on the African and African American studies foreign study program to Ghana, and during her break, she stayed with a friend in Kenya, where she had the opportunity to meet an artist who sang multilingual songs with a mix of different styles. This experience inspired her to collaborate with artists from different places and write multilingual songs that express different cultures, musical traditions and genres, Freeman said.

She will be co-writing songs with the different artists to produce a music album focusing on the African continent and diaspora, in addition to a reflexive ethnography reflecting on the process and its implications.

The Senior Fellowship program will fund studio time for the artists, as the collaboration will be virtual and every artist will be recording remotely.

Freeman said her project will be a musically rewarding one for herself as well as for the other artists involved.

“When I collaborate with someone I don’t leave the same artist,” she said. “I’m always able to learn something from the people that I work with.”

She added that the ethnography will allow her to reflect on how intercultural exchanges have shaped her identity.

Levin, who is also one of Freeman’s advisors, said that the project is ambitious for both its artistic and humanities components.

Freeman’s project will be an emotional one as she will be dealing with cross-cultural and multicultural connections, her advisor and music professor Hafiz Shabazz said, adding that music is a universal language.

“In a way, Tyné’s project is a 21st

century version of the Silk Road,” Levin said. “It’s her coming together with musical artists coming from Africa and using their differences as a catalyst for creativity.”

Hui is the only Senior Fellow pursuing research in a science field.

His project, named Pharm Project, aims to grow and extract ibuprofen.

Hui wrote in an email that recent clinical trials have shown that curcumin extractable from turmeric is equally as effective as ibuprofen when sufficiently concentrated. He will be developing a way for people to grow and extract curcumin at home and hopes to bring his methods to Thailand.

As a Red Cross officer, Hui has participated in several medical relief missions, where he has seen the desperation of people needing medication. People should have a supply of medicine, independent of foreign aid, that is not poisonous, he said.

Hui said that as his extraction process requires alcohol and rapid evaporation measures, he may have difficulty acquiring both in the middle of the Thai jungle.

He added that he wants to continue working on the Pharm Project after graduation until the final product becomes approved for human consumption and he can port his model of medicine making to other rural communities. He plans on pursuing medical school in the future.

He said that the Senior Fellowship program will grant him the time, funding, lab space and professor support he will need for his project that he otherwise would not have as an undergraduate.

Chemistry professor Gordon Gribble, one of Hui’s advisors, noted that the project has an immediate, concrete application.

“The benefits are very direct, it’s not hypothetical or something in the future,” he said. “It would happen right away.”

TUESDAY, MAY 31, 2016

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

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Report poses four divestment options Duthu to be third in his dean position “greatly increased” impact on each measure. Some options were also companies in the United States; considered to have an “uncertain” divesting from the “Carbon Under- impact. ground 200,” the largest 100 public Overall, Option A did the worst, coal and the 100 largest public oil with an “unchanged” rating in all and gas reserve owners based on categories save for “promote vigtheir potential for carbon dioxide orous and open debate of ideas,” emissions; or divesting entirely “attract and retain students, faculty from all companies with holdings and staff ” and “maintain positive or operations in coal, oil or gas relations with alumni,” where it or corporations which heavily received “slightly diminished” consume these fuel sources. Divest ratings. The report attributed this Dartmouth advocates divesting to a shift in campus climate due from the Carbon Underground to activism in recent years, where 200. campus members have increased The report also looks into dif- their demands for sustainability ferent options for reinvesting the and divestment. divested funds, such as integrating The outcomes from the other them into existing holdings, invest- categories were less clear-cut. ing in other Option B was competitive “unchanged” funds to main- “What I hope that the in all categories tain diversity report can do is initiate save for those or investing in the broad a dialogue around under clean energy “Ethical Responinitiatives. In these issues and make sibility” objecaddition, it where the it more transparent tive, clarifies that outcomes were it is only look- maybe than it would “ s l i g h t l y e n ing at divesthanced.” otherwise be.” ing from direct Option C holdings that was either “ent h e C o l l e g e -MARK BORSUK, THAYER hanced,” “slightholds in its ly enhanced” or own name — PROFESSOR AND REPORT “unchanged” divesting from ADVISOR in all categories indirect holdsave for “posiings such as tively impact mutual funds donor contribuwould impose tions,” where it an unrealistic received an “unfinancial burcertain” rating. den on the College, it says.

Option D “enhanced” or Based on this, the report pro- “greatly enhanced” the categories poses four options for divestment as under the “Ethical Responsibility” sample possibilities, though it notes objective, and “slightly enhanced” that other combinations also exist. all others, save for “maximize Option A would be no divestment, return on investment,” which was Option B would be divesting from “slightly diminished,” and “posithe Filthy Fifteen and investing in tively impact donor contributions” diverse funds, Option C would be and “maintain positive relations divesting from the Carbon Un- with alumni,” which were “uncerderground 200 and investing in tain.” The report emphasized the diverse funds and Option D would importance of having the College be divesting comprehensively and speak more with alumni to see what investing the funds into clean en- impact different levels of divestergy. ment would have on their feelings Next, the report looks at the and donations. potential consequences divestAn appendix to the document ment would have along a variety showed how changing the weightof scales. It identifies four broad ing of different categories, such as objectives for a successful divest- ethical duties or financial impacts, ment: fulfilling the College’s ethical could lead to different outcomes responsibility, minimizing financial depending on the College’s priimpacts, promoting the College’s orities. Assigning points to each academic mission and making a option based on its rating in each symbolic statement. Each of these category, the report argued that categories was further subdivided under a balanced weighting Option into goals such as affecting social D would be the best option even in change, positively impacting donor the worst-case scenario, where all relations and attracting people to of the “uncertain” ratings were asthe College. sumed to be “slightly diminished.”

The different options were However, it also noted that Option then evaluated under each of B did the best job of balancing difthese scales, ranked from hav- ferent priorities without sacrificing ing a “greatly diminished” to a any.

FROM DIVEST PAGE 1

With extra weight given to the financial category, Options B, C and D all did equally well under the worst-case scenario, while Option D did the best in the best-case scenario. Options B and C were both considered more balanced in the best-case scenario. With extra weight given to the ethical category, Option D did best in all scenarios, though Options B and C were still more balanced options.

Borsuk emphasized the importance of deciding what objectives to value when interpreting the report’s results. Depending on what the College chooses to emphasize, different options might be more or less attractive for them, he said.

“What I hope that the report can do is initiate a dialogue around these issues and make it more transparent maybe than it would otherwise be,” he said.

Zhang agreed with this, saying that value decisions would have to rely on what the College chooses to prioritize. She did note that the report seems to suggest that increased divestment would benefit the College.

Julian Heninger ’17, a member of Divest Dartmouth, said he supported how the report looked at divestment from multiple angles.

While many have viewed Divest Dartmouth as a primarily ethicsbased movement before now, he thinks the report will also allow them to see other possible benefits for divestment.

In terms of the different options presented, Heninger said that while Option B would be a step in the right direction and a positive impact overall, it would not be enough. “[Option] B would be a partial victory, but it would be by no means the final one,” he said.

In addition to the first report, the College also released a short document detailing pros and cons of divestment , listing four pros and seven cons. Not all of the first report’s arguments are included, and several arguments that were not included in the first report are also listed.

Borsuk said he is not sure why the document was written, noting that compared to the report, it seemed “cursory” and did not cite any sources.

Heninger said that during a meeting with Hanlon during his office hours, Hanlon told Heninger that there were concerns the first report contained bias in favor of divestment. For a period of three weeks, Heninger was not sure if the report would be released, he said.

Borsuk was invited to give a presentation about the report by Divest Dartmouth tomorrow evening at 8 p.m.

FROM DUTHU PAGE 1

oversee.

Before the position was created, the interdisciplinary programs were scattered among the arts and humanities, sciences and social sciences departments. Higgins said that she continued the work of her predecessor, classics and linguistics professor Lindsay Whaley, to consolidate collective projects and identities of the programs.

“Interdisciplinary programs tended to be an afterthought in a lot of conversations,” Higgins said. “I’ve looked to remind the College that these are a part of our mission and essential to many of the things that we hold dear.”

During her time as associate dean, she created the women’s studies program, as well as implemented shorter term programs, December interim programs and hybrid programs that combine traits of exchange and study abroad programs.

Duthu said that although the interdisciplinary and international programs are distinct, they both involve working

closely with faculty leaders and the relevant oversight committees to ensure meeting goals in terms of intellectual rigor, academic coherence and overall contribution to the growth and development of students.

“These programs provide critically important pathways for our students to learn from and to engage with cultures and societies different from their own while also developing and enhancing their capacity for thinking across disciplines in imaginative and productive ways,” Duthu said.

After he assumes his new position, Duthu’s teaching will decrease to one course per year so that he can focus on his new responsibilities. Duthu said that he will be meeting with faculty, administrative staff and students to enhance existing programs and develop additional ones.

“I’m excited, for example, to explore the possibilities of greater collaboration between and among our programs/ departments in arts and sciences and those in the graduate and professional schools,” he said.

THE DARTMOUTH OPINION

PAGE 4

STAFF COLUMNIST STEVEN CHUN ‘19

GUEST COLUMNIST RENATA HEGYI ‘16

Students to Water

Let’s All Be Human

How do we learn to desire “prestigious” jobs?

I have a friend from home who just graduated from the University of Pennsylvania.

He is especially reflective and keen to proffer advice. Just a few months before he entered the real world, he sent me an article from Sociology of Education titled “Career Funneling: How Elite Students Learn to Define and Desire ‘Prestigious’ Jobs.” Of everything he’s ever told me, from “don’t take dumb classes freshman year” to “don’t worry, you’re at Dartmouth — you can always sell out,” this article was the single most enlightening piece of information.

The gist of it is that kids at elite schools — here defined as the Ivy League and comparable schools — go into the finance, consulting and now technology industries at alarmingly high rates. Of Harvard University’s Class of 2014, 31 percent went into finance or consulting. But this is nothing new, especially at Dartmouth. What was fascinating was the analysis of why these fields are so coveted. But before I jump into the myriad of social machinations that make elite students dream of sugarplums and Goldman Sachs, I want to emphasize that there is absolutely nothing wrong with these jobs. Dartmouth’s biting self-awareness has already, often humorously, done plenty to point out this trend. But financial markets are necessary for any developed country and incredibly important in driving economic growth (and occasionally crashing it). Tech is driving huge advances in essentially every single field you can think of from agriculture to rocketry.

Consulting…does something. I’m still not sure exactly what it is, but it’s probably important.

But then again, these jobs are not significantly different from any of the prestigious jobs that generations past aspired to. The article notes the fact that in the 1950s, the Central Intelligence Agency and the State Department were the top destinations for elite students.

Years later, in the 1970s and 1980s, the desired jobs were in the triumvirate of law, medicine and corporate business. However, it’s not really the specific jobs that we’re curious about: it’s the reason why elite students consistently gravitate towards such a narrow field.

The article found that all the factors that influence this narrowing of perceived “prestigious jobs” had a commonality: they all

occur on the college campus. Firstly, college career centers and recruiting services are heavily skewed towards finance and consulting, primarily due to the high fees these sectors are willing to pay to have access to the student body. Secondly, the very instinct that led many of us here to Dartmouth also drives a competitive desire for acceptance into prestigious jobs and internships. Finance and consulting have very formalized recruitment processes. In an interview, a Stanford University student described it by saying, “As soon as you enter the more senior courses, [consulting] is what everyone is talking about. And it sort of becomes this affirmation for how you rank with respect to your peers… It sucks a lot of people in.”

The fact is, these jobs are prestigious because we, as students, have decided that they are prestigious. Even though we are exposed to diverse career opportunities, a combination of intensive recruiting and a cultural emphasis on these sectors has significantly narrowed our considerations for the future. Pursuing these fields helps us satisfy common insecurities — the need to do something “impressive” with our degree and to provide some financial security so we can “move onto something bigger and better.” The existence of these factors isn’t a reason not to pursue finance, consulting or tech if those fields excite you but, rather, I beg you to remain conscious of the forces that can make these fields seem like the only option.

It’s a tragedy if an aspiring academic or public servant shorts themselves for the security of a six-figure paycheck and a big name.

Prestige is a curious thing. It really only holds value when we’re looking for validation from others. For a high school student, prestigious awards are valuable because that student will soon be evaluated by colleges.

For college students, prestigious degrees are valuable because we will soon be evaluated by companies or graduate schools. But after that, the value of external validation sharply declines. At some point, we will — or at least should — be living our lives to satisfy ourselves — not some external evaluator. At that point, prestige is worthless. As such, it’s important to know how and why we are led to the holy pool of exalted jobs, and it’s also important to know that we don’t have to drink from it.

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TUESDAY, MAY 31, 2016

NEWS EDITOR: Parker Richards, LAYOUT MANAGER: Jaclyn Eagle, TEMPLATING EDITOR: Jaclyn Eagle.

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.

A proposed solution to the social tensions on campus.

Dear Students: require all of our best efforts. We face the If you are like me, you have been curious threats of a changing climate caused largely about, frustrated by, empathetic toward and by manmade systems. We have a growing even angered by the degree of social tension global population, and we are not prepared on this campus. Given that racism is a painful to meet the food, water and energy needs of national issue that impacts the lives of all of the masses. Corporate oligarchies and corour fellow classmates, the tension shouldn’t rupt politicians are fueling widespread viobe surprising. Racism doesn’t only impact the lence and instability. Directly related to these groups of people that American society has issues, alarming socioeconomic divisions historically marginalized and dehumanized. exist both in our country and throughout Those classified as what is commonly seen the world. We can only face these problems as the oppressor may be experiencing a deep together, and we can only succeed if we put sense of self-loathing or shame for negative aside socially constructed divisions like race. characteristics they are assumed to possess I recognize the historical importance of based on the color of their skin. racial pride movements as a tool to counter Despite being told over and over again white supremacy, cultural subjugation, intelthat the anger and hate are not personal, it’s lectual erasure and physical violence. But if hard not to feel guilt and vexation. Rather we keep using race as a definitive aspect of than initiating change, these emotions are our identity, we will never be rid of the ugly often counterproductive, as they are directed power plays that come with it. As Ta-Nehisi more at the self than at the system. It’s hard Coates wrote in his book, “Between the not to feel isolated and uncomfortable when World and Me,” “Difference in hue and hair many of your classmates have uttered thinly is old. But the belief in the preeminence of veiled disparagements about your race, or hue and hair, the notion that these factors encouraged social movements that strive to can correctly organize a society and that they bring racial equality in theory but encourage signify deeper attributes, which are indelalienation rather than inclusion in practice. ible — this is the new idea at the heart of While I can appreciate the irony of this [people] who have been brought up hopeimposed dislike of one’s lessly, tragically, deceitfully, to own skin color, I still see the believe that they are white...

“A social prejudice, [These people] were somedivisions that breed it as deeply problematic. A social no matter its origin, thing else before they were prejudice, no matter its oriwhite — Catholic, Corsican, gin, justification or validation justification or Welsh, Mennonite, Jewish — for anger, is still a shackle. If validation for anger, and if all our national hopes we want to end racism in this have any fulfillment, then country, it’s going to take all is still a shackle.” they will have to be someof us. thing else again. Perhaps they I have found that protests will truly become American and the suppression of free speech — no and create a nobler basis for their myths.” matter how inflammatory — create antipaLike Coates, I believe that to effectively thy where there was apathy or simply plain fight for an egalitarian, sustainable country, ignorance before. It takes time, a lot of effort we all have to become American. Even beand vulnerability to truly begin to empathize yond American, I’d love to see us all become with the experiences of someone who does first and foremost human, and to celebrate not look like you and who has dealt with cultural and ethnic diversity, the depth and psychological pain that is completely foreign breadth of human experience. But first, we to you. I came to Dartmouth mostly unaware have to eliminate all systemic cultural biases of the prevalence of racism in this country. that hurt any person’s or group’s ability to Learning of my peers’ experiences was become productive, respected and valuable traumatic in and of itself. It took me deep, members of our society. We have to give often difficult conversations, disbelief, despair, up the absurd notion that identity politics reading and reflection to get to a point where has anything to do with intelligence, ability, I could even imagine what it might be like disposition or beliefs. We also have to give to be a person of color in this country. My up the dichotomous nature of identity. Skin learning was possible because I was willing color is a spectrum, just like gender or sexualto really listen, and I met someone who was ity. willing to share something deeply painful and Identify as a member of the human race personal with me — someone who would with me. Take the time and put in the effort give me a chance to understand, without to fight your own ignorance, share your expepassing judgement on me based on the color riences and stand in solidarity with a larger, of my skin alone. more interconnected and intersectional social It is not easy to be patient and show and economic justice movement for equality compassion when all you feel is frustration, of opportunity and a sustainable way of life sadness and anger, and it takes lots of time, for us all. honest effort and vulnerability to become a Yours truly, true ally. Indeed, it is a privilege to be able to choose to not listen. But racial absolutism A ’16 who was never categorized by the color only makes productive exchanges more and of her skin until she moved to the United more difficult.

States, and didn’t learn to despise it until she The greatest challenges of our time experienced a few years at Dartmouth.

TUESDAY, MAY 31, 2016

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

GLC budget increases from last year

The UFC held weekly meetings on Monday this term to hear presentaBoard, $84,660; Council on Class tions of each organization about their Officers, $30,000; Dartmouth Outing proposals and then decided the final Club, $51,792; Club Sports, $46,812; budget allocation for the next fiscal Student Assembly, $44,000; and year. Dartmouth fiscal years begin the Homecoming Bonfire received in the summer terms and end at the $33,362. conclusion of spring term.

The UFC Not all proposa d v i s e s t h e “UFC’s basic mandate als were accepted, Office of StuSrikanth said, indent Life on is to fund events that cluding some that d i s t r i bu t i n g otherwise would not had been made the student acrepeatedly in retivity fee. It is occur, and also events cent years. Club comprised of that are open to all sports’ request for seven at-large a safe travel fund members, nine campus.” for its members organizational was rejected, for representatives instance. Accordf ro m D a r t - -ASHWATH SRIKANTH ’18, ing to Srikanth, the mouth’s gov- UFC CHAIR problem is that alerning orgathough club sports nizations and are generally open two non-voting advisors: the Office to campus, “a lot of travel functions of Student Life’s Associate Dean Eric tend to be more selective.” That Ramsey and Student Life Coordina- program is therefore not the best tor Juliann Coombs. The committee allocation of the UFC’s budget, he members elect the UFC chair every said. spring, and this year Ashwath Sri- The GLC received a large, 34 kanth ’18 won the election. percent increase in its allocation this “UFC’s basic mandate is to fund year. Last year, the GLC experienced events that otherwise would not oc- an unexpected funding gap, Srikanth cur, and also events that are open to said, when the organization was supall campus,” Srikanth said. posed to receive external funding from FROM UFC PAGE 1

a College source but did not actually receive the money. The increase is meant to make up for that shortfall.

The GLC works with its subcouncils and also Greek organizations on campus. It holds events that are open to all campus without alcohol.

The funds allocated to the GLC cannot be used to subsidize events that are exclusively attended by affiliated students. For the past three years, the GLC has helped sponsor events for freshmen each fall during the period when they are banned from entering most Greek events.

The UFC distributed roughly the same amount of money to other organizations without a significant increase or decrease.

Srikanth said that Student Assembly has been on a fixed allocation for several years. As the Assembly usually changes its leadership in the spring, the president and vice president have one or two weeks to submit its proposal to the UFC. This short window does not give the leadership time to fully develop a solid plan for what they hope to accomplish.

“By giving the Student Assembly a fixed allocation every year, we hope to ensure that they can develop their plan during their presidency without the pressure of the UFC funding,” Srikanth said.

PAGE 5

DAILY DEBRIEFING According to Bored at Baker founder Jonathan Pappas — known online as Jae Daemon — the anonymous social forum may be re-enabled as a “private space for Dartmouth” starting Wednesday. The website was shut down at the end of last October. Pappas announced in a blog post that over the past decade, students, alumni and faculty have made over 1.5 million posts. He said that “bored@baker has seen and experienced Dartmouth go through profound changes and events over these years and there is a rich history here.” Previously, Bored at Baker saw several controversial events related to the inflammatory nature of some of its posts. In winter 2014, for example, a user posted a guide on how to rape a specific member of the Class of 2017. Pappas still runs several similar sites through BoardAt, Inc., such as those for Columbia University and Carleton College.

On Thursday, Baylor University’s board of regents announced plans to remove the university’s president Kenneth Starr and fire the school’s head football coach, Ari Briles, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported. The decisions come in the wake of several reports of the Texas school failing to respond to reports of sexual assault over the past three years.

Starr will remain in his position as chancellor of the university as well as a tenured law-school faculty member.

The University of North Carolina school system said on Friday that it will not enforce the controversial state law requiring transgender people to use bathrooms in accordance with their sex assigned at birth, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported. The legislation, known as HB2, has no enforcement mechanism. The U.S. Justice Department has declared the law a violation of federal civil rights statues, though the state’s governor and congressional leaders have made legal moves to defend the law.

— COMPILED BY MICHAEL QIAN AND PRIYA RAMAIAH

MEMORIAL CHALLENGE

TIFFANY ZHAI/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Students participate in the Memorial Challenge on Saturday.

THE DARTMOUTH EVENTS

PAGE 6

TUESDAY, MAY 31, 2016

DARTMOUTHEVENTS TODAY All Day

Fall term course change period lasts until 11:59 p.m.

All Day

Summer term course change period lasts until 11:59 p.m.

4:15 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.

“Mobile & Vehicular Crowdsensing for Traffic Safety,” lecture by Marco Gruteser, Rutgers University, Carson L02

TOMORROW All Day

Pre-examination break begins and lasts until Thursday

2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Japanese Brush Ink Paintings Exhibit Reception featuring the work of Kathleen Dixon Swift, OSHER@Dartmouth Office, 7 Lebanon Street, Suite 107

4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

“Walrus: A Symbol for Climate Change,” lecture by Tom Arnbom, World Wildlife Fund of Sweden, 008 Kemeny

RELEASE DATE– Tuesday, May 31, 2016

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

ACROSS 1 “The Aviator” actor Alan 5 Subtle attentiongetter 9 Charge the quarterback 14 Enter 15 Indian princess 16 Haunting 17 Boot out 18 __ before: deadline words 19 Gone up 20 Photo caption for Condoleezza with a bowl of pintos?

23 Take for granted 24 Neptune’s domain 25 White lie 28 Fillable flatbreads 31 Ultimatum words 33 “__ as directed” 36 Photo caption for Chris with a sandwich bun?

38 Headlights-in-fog effect 40 Put on television 41 Film spool 42 Photo caption for NFL Hall of Famer Sam with a pastry shell?

47 Farm pen 48 Joins 49 Uncomplaining type 51 Chewie’s shipmate 52 Like many a morning coffee: Abbr.

54 Fake 58 Photo caption for Kevin with his Easter basket?

61 Jeweler’s unit 64 Fat used in baking 65 Bellini’s “Casta diva,” e.g.

66 Love 67 Not busy 68 Become softened by cuteness 69 Study aids 70 Whole bunch 71 Canonized mlles.

DOWN 1 Greek marketplace 2 Jazzman Armstrong 3 Spinal column components 4 Poker dealer’s request 5 Characterized by 6 Material for some castles 7 Supercilious sort 8 Runs out of gas 9 “The Natural” author Malamud 10 Luau keepsakes 11 1040-reviewing org.

12 __ score 13 Path to enlightenment 21 “The Kite Runner” boy 22 Really long time 25 Arctic ice phenomena 26 Land in a river 27 Beer __ 29 Military sch.

30 Decides not to go to 32 Goof up 33 “Yep” 34 Steamy setting

35 Pixielike 37 Stuck in __ 39 Many a time, poetically 43 Fizzes up 44 Fraction of a min.

45 Word seen on cornerstones 46 Come across 50 Bath & Body Works products 53 Plays a round 55 Everglades wader

56 Physically wellcoordinated 57 Exams for legal wannabes, for short 58 Like floors without rugs 59 Pusher catcher 60 Vicinity 61 Item in a food drive donation 62 Brouhaha 63 Go bad

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

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05/31/16

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05/31/16

THE DARTMOUTH ARTS

TUESDAY, MAY 31, 2016

PAGE 7

Alumnus Q&A: Children’s author Dan ’90 and Jo Ann Kairys

By KAINA CHEN

The Dartmouth Staff

Mother and son illustrator and author duo Jo Ann Kairys and Dan Kairys ’90 forged a successful career together creating the children’s books “Sunbelievable”and “I Want Cake!”. “Sunbelievable,” published in 2011, won five top national book awards for storytelling and illustration. “I Want Cake!”, published in 2016, won two. Known for their quirky storylines and unique digitalcollage style illustrations, these stories have captured kids’ imaginations. The author, Dan Kairys, currently practices as a surgeon in Florida. His mother, Jo Ann Kairys, lives in New Jersey and illustrates the books.

Could you give us a quick introduction to these children’s books?

DK: The kids in these books are mostly two girls, typical kids from Miami, based on my own children.

I don’t think there’s anything super unique about their experiences, even at the multicultural level. But the thing about the characteristics that seems more universal to me, and maybe more of what their books are about, is their connections as sisters — interpersonal connections in the middle of this multicultural environment.

You’re a surgeon, and your mother is a former faculty member at the Geisel School of Medicine — how did the idea of writing children’s books come about?

DK: The whole series has been a brainchild of my mother. I’ve written the stories, five so far. The language is very simple — she did all the real work.

JK: I was inspired by a story that Dan had written many, many years ago.

It was called “Round,” a short story about children who started searching for an item, and as they searched, they traveled around the earth. The end of the story, they return to their starting place — hence, the title.

Could you give us some insight on how the illustrations were put together?

JK: The art style is one that I developed using Photoshop. I took photographs of the characters, and I blend them into backgrounds that are completely digital. It’s an interesting composite to see a real individual on a background that’s completely made up. That’s pretty much the arts style — it’s digital, it’s very unique, it uses photographs and combines them together.

What was the inspiration behind these unique types of storytelling and illustrations?

DK: Well the stories that I’ve written are simple stories — stories about my kids and my life. I grew up in Hanover, and I was never really exposed to different cultures and languages as a kid. My kids have a Haitian mother, and they live among Cubans, and they hear Creole and Spanish. The characters [in the stories] speak different languages, and the stories about their lives turn out to be very multicultural.

JK: [The illustrations] complement the whimsical nature of the stories.

I’ve never had formal training [as an illustrator], so I had to learn about composition, lighting, shadows. As I got better and better I got more confident, and the book won awards for this style of illustrations — they’ve been called “magical,” “stunning” and “breakthrough.”

How long is the process of writing and illustrating one of these books?

JK: Because I was learning [Photoshop], the first book took me almost a year. I did the second book in a little less than two years, but when I got the proofs back, I started all over again because I had become technically better and more skillful.

Dan’s stories were so good, I really felt that I had to match them.

How has working on this project influenced your relationship to each other?

DK: I was happy to be engaged and give her good stories to pursue this project. We wanted to stay close — she lives out in Jersey and I don’t see her that often. These stories based on [my children’s] lives, and were a way to get closer to them.

JK: Well, Dan — he’s always been an avid, avid reader. He has a natural ability to tell stories. As a parent, I watched that and think that it’s such a beautiful, wonderful quality of a person — [the quality of being] interested in the world. Overall, I think [this project] has really brought [Dan and I] together. When a parent and a child share something, and create something that uses native talents and abilities, which is what we each have done. It’s wonderful.

What are your interests beyond storytelling?

DK: I’m a surgeon in central Florida.

I live in a primarily agricultural, labor town. It’s the best thing to be able to take care of people. People are generally very appreciative, thankful, kind. I have a great time; I just love it. In this town, I’m the

only surgeon here. There are limitations to what I can do by myself, but I just take care of people, and it’s a great time.

What is the most rewarding and most challenging about publishing a children’s book?

DK: I’m just really happy that the books are like an album of the family.

The pictures [used for the illustrations] were taken over a period of time. The most difficult has been sometimes been the editing and the particulars on the story, but it has worked out well.

How would you measure the success of these stories?

DK: I would say that they’re successful to me if they speak to me. If I can read it even after I’ve seen it a thousand times, if it still captures to me the connections [between the two characters], I can still see that it’s successful.

Any potential future projects?

DK: Well, don’t we all. If I ever have time, maybe. I think I would write about, now, stories about the families here that have been here forever, the migrant families.

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

Kingsley: ‘Love and Friendship’ (2016) finds new life in Austen

By ANDREW KINGSLEY The Dartmouth Staff

Jane Austen has seen a small insurgence in recent cinema. “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” (2016) debuted in February of this year, grafting the historical appeal of Austen’s oeuvre to our de rigueur taste for zombies.

Somehow it flopped. Yet for the diehard Austenites hoping for her work to not so literally come back to life, Whit Stillman’s “Love and Friendship” (2016) brings out Austen’s sense of wit and timing in this raucous period comedy.

Based on Austen’s 1871 epistolary novel, “Lady Susan,” “Love and Friendship” centers on Lady Susan Vernon (Kate Beckinsale) a recently widowed public pariah known as a flirt and seductress. Homeless and lacking money, she is taken in by various friends and family, and begins the husband hunt for herself and her daughter, Federica (Morfydd Clark). She generates a panic akin to Dorian Gray, seducing young men and faithful husbands into hopeless promiscuity. Her confidante, Alicia Johnson (Chloë Sevigny), is sent back to America for confabulating with her, where, Lady Susan fears, she’ll be inevitably scalped. An Austenian femme fatale, Lady Susan plays upon

high society, knowing its every stop and fret to get what she wants. Yet her only crime may be her frankness; in a society straitjacketed by its own propriety, Lady Susan merely exploits the diffidence in its civility.

Like with most Austen narratives, the intricate and dynamic web of relationships must be mapped to appreciate the story’s dizzying complexity.

Lady Susan’s brother-in-law, Charles Vernon (Justin Edwards) welcomes her to his family’s Churchill estate.

Here, Lady Susan initiates her marital gameplan with a grandmaster’s craft by wooing Charles’s debonair son, Reginald DeCourcy (Xavier Samuel).

Meanwhile, the wealthy, loveable idiot Sir James Martin (Tom Bennett) comes to Churchill to wed Federica, who resists his attempts at courtship. And just for good measure, Lady Susan courts Lady Manwaring’s husband, the wealthy and stunning Lord Manwaring.

Stillman evokes Austen’s humor in all shapes and sizes. Sir Martin brings the guffaws with his halting, meandering babble and infantile delight in the world. Much like modern audiences, Sir Martin reflects a bafflement towards the intricacies of English high society.

However, his ignorance borders on the absurd, for example when he discovers

there are only 10, not 12, command- get a child to laugh at the subtleties of ments and ponders which to remove. Or Austen, you’ve succeeded. his simple delights in the playful, little What Lady Susan successfully brings green balls on his plate — peas, he soon out is the inherent instability of the auslearns — and the lively dance he apishly tere social orders surrounding Austen. claps along to after dinner. Then there Her infiltration and manipulation is is the incisive wit of Lady Susan, whose reminiscent of the Marx Brothers, who impatience with courtship’s decorum were masters of recognizing structures and protocol of power and comlead her to pletely dismantling “Yet for the diehard mock the enthem. The tensions tire process Austenites hoping for inherent in rigid — “Facts are her work to not so systems of order — such horrid bureaucracy, govthings,” she literally come back to ernment, morality, admits. No life, Whit Stillman’s ‘Love heteronormative wonder she love — invite destaand Friendship’ brings just attacks bilization, which the jugular out Austen’s sense of thereby generates and incites wit and timing in this chaos and comedy.

Lord ManWhen marriages waring to raucous period comedy.” are centered on divorce his lineages and forhysterical wife. But Stillman astutely tunes while genuine love — and heaven shows how even the stiffest propriety is forbid, lust — are foregone or repressed, rooted in humor, and how comedy is the process of courtship becomes housed within the polite, flowery euphe- ripe for disruption and humor. Like a misms of early 19th century manners. vampire Lady Susan swoops into these Just the smallest glances and pauses of families, generating a comic hysteria and lords and wives trying to obscure their emotional excess out of these families so distaste can provoke laughter. Even a anxious for their genealogy’s continuachild in the front row of the theater tion. Lady Susan merely rolls her eyes at was giggling at the farce. If you can all this foolishness and admits the true

drive behind all this fuss: money and sex.

Rating: 10/10 “Love and Friendship” is now playing at the Nugget Theaters at 4:40 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

After 60-some film reviews for The Dartmouth, my reign of terror has finally ended. I began my career two years ago getting yelled in “Maleficent” for taking notes on my iPhone. Now I no longer have to take notes, and directors can rest easy knowing their films will no longer be submitted to my critical snobbery. Thank you to all my editors, as well as the readers for their own love and friendship and for making it to the last page of the newspaper each week to check out the latest melodramatic, formulaic garbage I decided to lambaste. I am thankful for the rich film community that Dartmouth and Hanover fostered. My corpus merely stands as a testament to the area’s vibrant cinema culture. Thank you to the Nugget for all the free tickets and snack packs and to the Hopkins Center for their incredible programming over the years. I will always have Hanover.

Well now I’m getting formulaic. I’ll give this farewell a 7/10.

THE DARTMOUTH ARTS

PAGE 8

TUESDAY, MAY 31, 2016

Dartmouth Dance Ensemble delights in spring showcase

By ELISE HIGGINS

The Dartmouth Staff

The Dartmouth Dance Ensemble incorporated flashing lights, flying leaves and dynamic movements into its performances this past Friday and Saturday in the Moore Theater. The show featured five pieces with different choreographers and styles of dance.

John Heginbotham, guest director of the ensemble, choreographed two pieces, both of which incorporated quick, sharp movement that correlated with the rhythm of the fast paced music. Heginbotham said that the music inspired him to create the different movements, particularly for his first piece. He felt the second piece provided the show with a more upbeat dance to balance out the flow.

In contrast, Philip Montana Med’18, a professional dancer and current student at the Geisel School of Medicine, choreographed a slower, more thoughtful piece. The dancers at first avoided a pile of leaves on stage but eventually began to interact with it.

Much of their movement corresponded with the drama of the moving leaves.

The dancers worked in pairs, reacting to each other’s movements on stage.

The piece was a continuation of a solo Montana choreographed last year

with both dances dealing with distances or loss. This year, he was inspired by the idea of being present when someone else isn’t, either emotionally or physically.

The idea of having fun in the moment, but realizing the mess you have made when you step back, led to his use of the leaves.

Mina Lawton, a ballet teacher at Dartmouth, also choreographed for the show. Her piece began with three dances wearing masks. Their movements were fluid, yet appeared choppy because of strobe lights. Following the trio, one of the members removed her baggy clothing and mask and performed a solo.

Lawton was inspired by how a memory is altered every time it is reaccessed. The flashing lights represented how a memory is lost just as some of the choreography was lost in the darkness.

The solo piece explored identity — how we present ourselves to the world and how others can manipulate that identity.

Rebecca Stenn, the choreographerin-residence for the ensemble also created a piece for the show. Stenn found inspiration in music and how the body reacts to it. When creating pieces, Stenn likes to see how the dancers’ bodies want to move with the music, and based on that she will shape the movements into actual choreography.

As the choreographer-in-residence,

Stenn comes up to Dartmouth occasionally and instructs the dancers. She began working here because of her close relationship with Heginbotham.

The two were classmates together at the Juilliard School, and Heginbotham even performed in the first show for Stenn’s professional company, the Rebecca Stenn Company, founded in 1996. Over the years the two remained close, and Heginbotham reached out to Stenn about working at Dartmouth.

“When he started working here I think he realized he wanted to bring in someone else to sort of help support this really blossoming, growing environment of the Dartmouth Dance Ensemble,” Stenn said.

Stenn said that she loves working with the ensemble because its membership is comprised of undergraduates, graduate students, medical students, staff and community members.

Lawton also appreciates the Ensemble membership’s diversity in class years, but she chose three undergraduates for her dance because of their youth and dynamic. In addition, all three performers in her trio, Michael Aaberg ’18, Mykel Nairne ’16 and Katelyn Schultz ’16, attended Lawton’s ballet classes. Lawton was excited to work with them because the three have strong dance backgrounds.

Nairne joined the Ensemble this past fall after Lawton’s encouragement. She was previously a member of Sugarplum, a student-run dance group. Sugarplum’s style differs from the Ensemble’s, Nairne said, describing Sugarplum’s as more jazzy, and the Ensemble’s style as more modern.

Nairne, who wants to pursue dance professionally, thought that learning the style of the Ensemble would be beneficial to her future career.

Student-run dance groups and college-run dance groups are organized differently, Nairne said. While the student-run groups tend to be more casual, the Ensemble puts together full productions on stage with lighting and costumes.

Montana designed the costumes for many of the pieces performed last weekend. He developed a background in costume design after learning as a dancer that providing your own costume is cost-effective and logical.

“I think it’s easier when you’re a dancer because you understand how a costume should move,” Montana said.

In addition to the professional staging for the show, Nairne also appreciated the opportunity to be able to work with professional dancers even if it can be challenging at times.

“It’s different from a student group

in that way because I had older people that could mentor me and sort of push me to do better,” Nairne said.

This past weekend marked the Ensemble’s yearly culminating show.

Nairne enjoyed having the opportunity to work on the choreography throughout the year.

“That’s been amazing having that time because the D-Plan is so crazy,” Nairne said. “That’s one of the only times I’ve been able to work on something for a full eight or nine months.”

The time spent on the choreography truly ingrained the movements in the bodies of the dancers, Nairne said.

For example, Lawton decided to add extra elements to her trio such as masks, which made it difficult to see, yet the choreography was so ingrained in the bodies of the dancers that they were able to accomplish it.

“I think that was really special to have that opportunity to keep on working through the same material and finding new things within it,” Nairne said.

Heginbotham enjoys working with dancers from all different backgrounds because they all are enthusiastic and willing to learn and be challenged.

“I want them to have fun, and I want them to get something out of it that’s going to be valuable to them,” Heginbotham said.

Student Spotlight: Lizzy Rogers ’16 to screen film tonight

By DIEGO MORENO The Dartmouth

In her film and media studies culminating project, Lizzy Rogers ’16 dabbled with conventional and experimental animation techniques to create a short film that is both narratively compelling and aesthetically stimulating. The film, titled “A True Story About You,” deals with existentialist realizations.

“I really wanted to play with the idea of truth in cinema as well as connecting with the viewer,” Rogers said.

Film and media studies professor Jodie Mack, who has been Rogers’ advisor throughout the process, remarked on the various techniques that Rogers was able to incorporate into her film.

“It basically approaches different types of direct address to the audience and also techniques of mindfulness,” Mack said.

Rogers hand-drew and animated the four-minute silent film. In an era of increasingly advanced animation

technology, Rogers breaks away from the mold of modern approaches to animation. Instead, Rogers concerns herself with the physical mode of production by drawing every frame by hand.

Furthermore, Rogers avoids creating a simplistic film for the sake of artistic choice. Her drawings are not crude or haphazard but instead embody a sense of humanism that can only be found in works that are self-conscious about their modes of production. Rogers also pairs her hand-drawn animations with a series of statements and questions that provoke the viewer to consider some truly large and universal themes regarding the human condition.

“It uses a structure of call and response to map out the most existential condition of humanity,” Mack said.

Rogers explained that animation creates a sense of reality that live action films cannot recreate.

“I have a very strong opinion on truth in film and I think it has a bias

that doesn’t necessarily agree with the reality that people automatically think pictures portray,” Rogers said.

She prefers animation as her medium of choice because it can “communicate something that’s more real than just taking a picture of something can.”

Rogers chose the topic for her film because she wanted to deal with real issues that meant something to her.

“I wanted to do something that was positive and still tackled some sort of issue,” Jones said. “Issues of stability and mental health are really integral to my life.”

Mack compared the film’s uplifting message to a “moving self-help book.”

“If you watch the film you feel like it’s talking directly to you and sort of giving you a pep talk,” Mack said.

Reed Sturtevant ’16, a friend of Rogers’ who has seen her work before, said that the film makes people “feel good about life.”

“Every piece that she makes has

the feeling of truth to it,” Sturtevant said. “Everything that she makes is highly personal and comes from her own voice.”

Rogers’ mix of personal ideas and unique modes of production create an intricate hybrid that blurs the lines that define genre and even storytelling in its most fundamental form. The film works as a conduit, delivering a message that reads much more like a poem than a film. The animation works in tandem with the writing to reinforce the message on a more personal level that crucially resonates with viewers.

Sturtevant noted that the personal nature of the films more closely links the audience with the content.

“Something I get from this piece and a lot of her pieces is kind of a sense that the observer is in an intimate conversation with the artist,” Sturtevant said.

Rogers has been working on the project for over a year, with most of that time spent working on the project independently.

As a film major concentrating in animation, Rogers found it difficult to connect the two within the department.

She has found that many of the classes focus heavily on theory as opposed to practice. Rogers has been able to navigate the department smoothly for the most part, acknowledging that most professors are understanding and allow her to bring the thinking behind her animation to theory-driven classes.

“A lot of my work in the film department was figuring out how I could do what is required of me but also focus on what I wanted to focus on,” Rogers said.

Rogers has previously had her films screened at festivals such as the White River Independent Film Festival in White River Junction and the Indie Grits Film Festival in Columbia, South Carolina.

“A True Story About You” will be shown for free in the Loew Auditorium in the Black Family Visual Arts Center tonight at 7 p.m.