The Dartmouth 5/17/2016

VOL. CLXXIII NO.83

PM SUNNY

TUESDAY, MAY 17, 2016

HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Petition calls for admin to step out of student life

INTERPRETER OF MALADIES

HIGH 65 LOW 39

By THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

KATE HERRINGTON/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Pulitzer Prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri speaks in Filene Auditorium on Monday afternoon.

Relay raises $23,514.50 ARTS

‘FOR COLORED GIRLS’ THESIS PERFORMANCE PAGE 8

ARTS

KINGSLEY: ‘SING STREET’ (2016) SINGS PAGE7

By JOSEPH REGAN

The Dartmouth Staff

This Saturday’s Relay for Life raised $23,514.50 for cancer research from 47 teams and 364 participants. The event ran from 6 p.m. Saturday night to 6 a.m. Sunday morning in Leverone Field House and saw an increase of 50 participants compared to last year.

The Colleges Against Cancer chapter at Dartmouth organized Relay

for Life at Dartmouth.

The money raised will be donated to the American Cancer Society. Mercedes de Guardiola ’17, the current co-president, shares her responsibilities with Ian Sullivan ’18 and Sai Mupparaju ’18.

“This year’s Relay exceeded expectations spectacularly,” de Guardiola said.

In preparation for the event, the Colleges Against Cancer chapter spent the fall and winter

OPINION

SOLOMON: REVAMPING THE SUMMER PAGE4

OPINION

CHUN: IN CASE WE’RE WRONG PAGE4 READ US ON

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Athletes compete at Special Olympics

By RAUL RODRIGUEZ The Dartmouth

This past Saturday, 80 Special Olympics athletes from the Upper Valley put on their swimsuits, jerseys and running shoes to compete from early morning to mid-afternoon in the 2016 Upper Valley Area Summer Games.

The games — which consisted of bocce, aquatic events and track and field at the College’s Karl Michael Pool and Hanover High School— were overseen by the Special Olym-

pics Upper Valley Area Committee. The teams included Fall Mountain, Connecticut River Special Olympics, Claremont Cool Cats and the Upper Valley Hawks.

Around 15 Dartmouth students participated as volunteers, with three students as volunteer organizers and one as head coodinator. Two members of Dartmouth Emergency Medical Services volunteered at the event.

Athletes, coaches and volSEE GAMES PAGE 3

terms raising awareness for Relay among the student body. The yearlong process begins every year in the fall when three subcommittees are formed: one for logistics and sponsorship, one for outreach and one for campus engagement. The organization sold flair in the fall and held a winter bazaar event in the winter to raise funds and defray costs of the Relay for Life event.

SEE RELAY PAGE 5

Student leaders at the College released a petition on Monday critiquing the administration and urging the Board of Trustees and College administrators to “depart from the realm of student life” and instead focus on fiscal decisions they say will enhance campus intellectual and social climate. As of press time, 528 people have signed the petition.

Senior class president Danny Reitsch ’16, senior class treasurer Michael Beechert ’16, Palaeopitius senior society moderator Robert Scales ’16, Student Assembly vice president Dari Seo ’16 and junior class president Elisabeth Shricker ’17 signed the petition’s accompanying letter, which was published on change.org under the title “Take Back Dartmouth.”

The petition criticized the “lack of fiscal disclipine” at the College, pointing to the rapid increases in non-faculty staff without stated justification.The petition states that the number of non-faculty staff increased from 2,408 in 1999 to

3,497 in 2015.

The petition also expresses concern with the consistent increases in tuition and attendance fees. This year, the Board of Trustees approved a tuition increase of 3.8 percent, and the cost of attendance at the College has increased by 39 percent from the 2009-2010 to the 2016-2017 academic years.

Calling administrators “paternalistic babysitters,” the petition also argued that the administration has taken sides in sensitive debates and undermined a free exchange of ideas. The document cited the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education’s recent lowering of the College’s speech code rating from a green to yellow.

The petition calls for a reduction in tuition and “appropriate investment in student-oriented infrastructure and academic programming.”

This article will be updated with more information as it is reported.

Faculty discuss trigger warnings

By AMANDA ZHOU

The Dartmouth Staff

On the first day of a Jewish history course on the Holocaust she taught many years ago, Jewish studies professor Susannah Heschel showed the 30-minute film “Night and Fog” (1955), which includes footage of the Soviets liberating Auschwitz. When the film ended, Heschel said she was taken back when a student angrily demanded that she should have warned the class about the upsetting content of the movie.

“I wanted the class to discuss what it means to make a

beautiful film about something horrible like the Holocaust,” Heschel said. “I was very startled because I assumed anyone who signed up would know [the class] was going to be upsetting.”

Since then, Heschel has always included a warning on her syllabus that some of the course material may be upsetting to students.

The tendency to verbally include trigger warnings in class or incorporate a warning about upsetting material on a syllabus has become a trend in higher education. However, there is a concern among academics that trigger warnings compro-

mise academic standards and infantilize students. In 2015, The Atlantic published an article called “The Coddling of the American Mind,” which citicized trigger warnings and advocated that students confront difficult material, even in the cases of personal history or trauma, as a means of cognitive behavioral and exposure therapy.

History professor Udi Greenberg acknowledged the balance between challenging students and using trigger warnings to respect their mental health. In an email, he SEE TRIGGER PAGE 5

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

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WISP celebrates 25 years at College was surprised to find that so few of the engineering majors were women, The Dartmouth Staff and that Thayer only employed one Next Thursday, Dartmouth will female faculty member. host the Wetterhahn Symposium in In late 1989, when chemistry honor of the late Karen Wetterhahn, professor Karen Wetterhahn was who died in 1997 and co-founded the appointed associate dean of the Women in Science Program. WISP arts and sciences, she announced celebrated its 25th anniversary in her goal to encourage the inclusion April. of women in sciences. Together, Established in 1992, the sym- the two found a “common passion posium is comprised of an annual not only for this goal, but also for keynote address from a distinguished results-oriented action,” Muller said scientist followed by an undergradu- in her remarks. ate research poster presentation.

With their complementary This year, Anne Gelb, a profes- experiences, knowledge, skills and sor of mathematical and statistical positions at Dartmouth, Muller and sciences at Arizona State University, Wetterhahn outlined a program to will deliver the keynote address. recruit and retain more women in Gelb has collaborated with re- STEM fields. searchers at the “ K a rEuro-Mediterra- “ W h i l e en was one of m y nean Center for the best collabClimate Change understanding of what orators with and is currently we need to do to effect w h o m I ’ v e being funded by worked over the Air Force Of- change has grown t h e ye a r s, ” fice of Scientific considerably more Muller said in Research to reher remarks. construct images nuanced, I think we still Elizafrom synthetic ap- pretty much got it right beth Hart ’19, erture radar data. who found the WISP works all those years ago.” program to be with women inincredibly useterested in sci-CAROL MULLER ’77, WISP ful, completed ence, technolan internship ogy, engineering CO-FOUNDER through WISP. and mathemat“ I ics fields in their don’t think I first year at Dartwould have mouth. WISP also had the conruns a research program that places fidence to get involved in research participants in internships with so early without it,” she said. “I professors and a peer mentoring am learning so much and getting program that matches upperclass- experience with multiple topics that men to first-year women. To date, interest me.”

WISP has placed 1,707 student She also noted the benefits of diresearch interns with over 330 rectors such as WISP director Kathy faculty research mentors and over Weaver “who are available and ready 4,400 students have participated in to help us whenever we have any the peer mentor programs. problems with our research.”

WISP has contributed to a subWhile Hart said the interns have stantial rise in women in science- a lot of responsibility for their own related fields at Dartmouth. In 1990, success, she believes that bringing the only 45 women majored in STEM interns togethers through the peer subjects, but by 2015 that number mentoring program has helped her more than doubled, with 114 women learn from the experiences of others. graduating in the sciences.

Weaver wrote in an email that Almost 50 percent of Dartmouth the success of the program largely engineering majors are female, com- depends upon the sense of compared to the national average of 19 munity that peer mentorship fosters. percent. Today, more women major The program establishes a support in biology at Dartmouth than men. system for freshmen to look up to Carol Muller ’77 — a former upperclassmen for guidance and assistant dean at the Thayer School helps to dispel the academic comof Engineering and one of WISP’s petitiveness found at other schools. co-founders — said in her opening “The peer mentoring program is remarks at the 25th anniversary that, much more statistically significant by the 1990s, Thayer “had scarcely in persistence of women majoring been impacted by the great social in science than we had previously changes of the 1960s and 70s.” She thought,” she said at the 20th an-

By ALEENA VIGODA

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

niversary function.

Weaver, who has been the director of the WISP program for almost 20 years and appreciates the challenges she has overcome throughout her time with WISP. “I have an admiration for the passion and persistence of many extraordinary Dartmouth students and faculty that I get to work with through the program,” she states.

Over time, WISP has “developed valuable partnerships and collaborations across campus so that we are no longer alone in doing this work to promote women in sciences,” Weaver said.

Zohra Aslami ’18 said WISP is an “amazing program that helps women at Dartmouth overcome institutional and social barriers into research, medicine, engineering and other male-dominated professions.”

She credits discovering her passion for research to the program and strongly encourages all freshmen women interested in STEM fields to apply.

“While my understanding of what we need to do to effect change has grown considerably more nuanced, I think we still pretty much got it right all those years ago,” Muller said.

TUESDAY, MAY 17, 2016

GET YOUR GAME ON

KATE HERRINGTON/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

The Special Olympics took place on Saturday at Dartmouth and Hanover High.

TUESDAY, MAY 17, 2016

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

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Special Olympics hosts summer area games FROM GAMES PAGE 1

unteers organize the event, with Dartmouth students volunteering every year since the event began. Although this year consisted of mostly individual volunteers, in years past athletes from Greek houses, the football and lacrosse teams volunteer in groups, volunteer coordinator Rachel Sang ’17 wrote in an email.

The collective interests of organizers and athletes alike gives the Special Olympics an atmosphere that Special Olympics New Hampshire president Mary Conroy called “competitive and relaxed,” which she says is her favorite part about the event.

The Special Olympics provides children and adults in 170 countries with the opportunity to train and compete year round. Athletes are categorized based on age, ability and gender. As such, every competitor has a chance to win if the sample is large enough, which is what makes the event so special, Conroy said.

“It has been said that Special Olympics competition is sport in its truest form — everyone tries hard and takes the time to celebrate the experience and the accomplishments of others,” she said.

Last year’s summer Special Olympics had 72 participants. Special Olympics New Hampshire also hosts the Upper Valley Area Winter Games.

Event coordinator Erika Daukas ’16 got involved with the Special Olympics her freshmen year after receiving an email that the organization was looking for volunteers. She began as the coordinator of the track and field event and eventually became the director of events, a position she has held for the past four years.

This year, the employee turnover created some challenges, including mak-

ing it hard to determine organizational structure, she said. Furthermore, Greek house volunteer organizer Ivan Carrier ’18 said that the timing of the event affected the attendance.

“There were a couple of [volunteers] who signed up but decided not to come because they did not want to wake up that early on a Saturday morning,” he said.

Aside from these challenges, Daukas said that the Special Olympics organization was very useful in making the event happen.

“They are very hands on,” she said.

“Athletes sign up for the event through them, they bring the majority of the equipment, send in a rep the day of to make sure everything is going smoothly and create the instructions for the games.”

The combined effort of volunteers, student organizers and the Special Olympics helped to make this event a success, she said.

“I think the event worked really well, as we had over 40 volunteers — some of them coaches themselves. Everyone was smiling and events went through quicker than in previous years,” she said.

Although Daukas feels that the competition will remain the same, she recommends reinforcing institutional memory to improve the coordinating and planning of the event.

“An example of this would be having a track coordinator who’s a ’16 and a co-track coordinator who’s an ’18 so when the ’16 graduates the ’18 will have two years to find their footing.”

Overall, Saturday’s event was a good experience, Carrier said. He said that he would definitely do it again, noting the transformative power of sports.

“I have been a longtime athlete and I really appreciate what sport could do for people,” he said.

THE DARTMOUTH OPINION

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STAFF COLUMNIST STEVEN CHUN ’19

STAFF COLUMNIST IOANA SOLOMON ’19

In Case We’re Wrong

Revamping the Summer

We’re awash in righteous certainty, but someone has to be wrong.

Dartmouth never makes for boring dinner conversation. A recent heated Foco debate ended in a statement of unanimous resignation — “everybody wants to be right.” In a conversation in which no one could agree, it was the one universally accepted truth. Everybody — at the table and here on campus — stands by their views precisely because they believe them to be right. Of course, no one backs views they find faulty. But there are multiple sides to any debate, and unless you subscribe to some exceedingly extreme and annoying form of relativism, that means someone is wrong. What if that’s you?

Seriously consider this, if just for the novelty: your most cherished beliefs are objectively incorrect. That ideal you’ve been pursuing? Maybe you’re right, but you’re really mucking up how you’re going about it. The foundations of your worldview? Totally made up — you’re not only wrong, but so hilariously incorrect that you’ll be a colored side panel meant to liven up a history book. In reality, you’re probably not that wrong.

Remember, I’m not suggesting that you’re wrong, just that you ask yourself if you might be wrong.

Because there’s a difference. We’ve got plenty of people proselytizing the wrongness of others.

We’re swimming in righteous certainty, but what we need is more doubt.

No evidence of our beliefs is watertight.

Crowds are certainly no measure of correctness.

The tyranny of the masses is often the folly of the masses. Extensive government polling of the West Coast was one of the more compelling reasons for the implementation of Japanese-American internment camps. They found widespread animosity towards Japanese-Americans all over the West Coast, and indeed the voice of the people called for the imprisonment of a whole group of innocent people on the basis of our worst instincts of fear and mistrust. In an election cycle in which populist candidates have surged forward on both sides, it’s important to remember that the vote of the people has and will continue to err. And while we’re on the topic of politics, it’s important to note that brand certainly doesn’t convey any credence to your beliefs. If you think that Democrats are generally always right and certainly preferable to Republicans, then I would find it prudent to ask you your views on slavery and secession. I think

it’s useful to look at these historical examples. In a different timeframe you find that people who wore your same labels and voted with your same passion and were utterly wrong. And if they were, you can be too.

But what if your views are backed by science?

It’s one of the safer bets for correctness, I concede.

But even then, there’s room for doubt. This is a dangerous thing to say when climate change denial shortens humanity’s rapidly shrinking window to avoid global catastrophe, but even science makes mistakes — if only occasionally.

Before you flaunt your scientific consensus, remember that until 1973 you would could have been waving around the second edition of the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” which still listed homosexuality as a mental illness. That’s the issue. No matter what the issue, no matter what the time period, you could be wrong in serious and damaging ways. And it’s simply not productive to emphasize that about other people anymore, it needs to be a personal consideration.

It’s very possible and very productive to doubt yourself. In a seemingly singular and unique display in politics, House Speaker Paul Ryan highlighted his own faulty beliefs, saying to a group of Washington interns, “There was a time when I would talk about a difference between ‘makers’ and ‘takers’ in our country [...] But as I spent more time listening, and really learning the root causes of poverty, I realized I was wrong. ‘Takers’ wasn’t how to refer to a single mom stuck in a poverty trap, just trying to take care of her family[...] And to label a whole group of Americans that way was wrong.”

On the other side, Nicholas Kristof ’s opinion piece, “A Confession of Liberal Intolerance,” reveals fascinating revelations about the makeup of American universities. I believe that the digestion and thought required by writing encourages this type of self-reflection — I know, smug coming from an opinion columnist. But curiously, I also find that remarkably little discourse on this campus actually occurs through thought-out arguments and prose. Writing forces you to taste your own ideas, before you serve them up to someone else. Of course, I might be wrong — someone has to be.

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

Restructuring sophomore summer could provide substantive benefits.

On May 5, The Dartmouth Editorial Board published a piece titled “Verbum Ultimum: Real Term, Real Education” in which it addressed the deficiencies in course offerings and academic resources provided by the College during sophomore summer. As a required on-term for most undergraduates, sophomore summer serves both as part of a system to work around shortages in on-campus housing capacity, and as a way for sophomores to develop deeper connections with members of their own class, enjoy the beautiful Hanover summer landscape and take on leadership roles within the organizations they participate in. However, while sophomore summer is in so many ways a unique experience, it is still one that the College mandates and expects its students to treat seriously. By not supplying the same level and variety in course offerings or options for academic engagement, the College is counterproductively limiting the depth of that experience.

I recently had the opportunity to engage in a profound discussion regarding the current framework and potential of a liberal arts education with a Dartmouth alumnus, Richard McArdle Tu’86. Beyond strengthening my faith in the liberal arts, McArdle, who is heavily involved with the Center for Professional Development and the Tuck School of Business, shared with me his vision of what sophomore summer could be, and how a new model could reinforce Dartmouth’s liberal arts advantage and better prepare students for professional success.

The experiential learning program envisioned by McArdle details a reconfigured sophomore summer in which Dartmouth’s undergraduate body collaborates with the three graduate schools: Tuck, the Thayer School of Engineering and the Geisel School of Medicine. The first part of the program would involve running all Dartmouth sophomores through the Tuck Bridge program, not meant to pressure students to pursue a career in business, but simply to provide a way to develop a fundamental understanding of marketing, data and spreadsheet modeling, organizational behavior, basic finance, communication skills and other important tools.

For four weeks, students would be divided into 20 sections of roughly 55 members, in which team-building exercises, experiential learning and common objectives would enable the creation of new relationships and affinity groups.

These sections would work together towards a culminating activity, building to the second part of McArdle’s proposal, an experiential learning project. With the CPD joining in to advise students on career plans based on their current studies and aspirations, sophomores would then select a pathway, stemming from their major or general interests ranging anywhere from energy and sustainability to healthcare to investment banking or even to film studies. Each pathway group would benefit from connections to faculty or experts in relevant fields, fostered by the three graduate schools and the vast Dartmouth alumni network. Dartmouth organizations like the Rockefeller Center, Dickey Center and Digital

Arts, Leadership and Innovation Lab would be heavily involved, and Dartmouth-wide programming could include panel discussions, conferences and other opportunities to aid students in their development and in the completion of their projects.

I do not know how feasible this initiative is, what it would take to implement, and how far the administration would go in considering it.

What I do envision, however, are clear benefits.

A sophomore summer as outlined by McArdle would provide a distinct and meaningful experience, one that expands access to graduate resources, one that fosters the development of relationships across diverse groups, and one that is truly unique to Dartmouth. Besides these positives, however, lies an even deeper potential solution to some of Dartmouth’s biggest problems.

For one, mandatory immersion into the program would help solve the lack of exposure of underprivileged groups to professional career support. It would underline the importance of building connections and of taking advantage of some of Dartmouth’s unparalleled resources, and it would create a more even playing field where students from vastly diverse socioeconomic, ethnic and social groups are propelled to interact and work towards a common objective. The experiential learning program could reduce some of Dartmouth’s highly-criticized exclusivity and allow its students to focus on an experiential project and really spend time thinking about their futures, without the demands of a socalled rigorous academic program serving as a distraction.

Besides bringing more sophomores together, the proposed model could enhance Dartmouth’s liberal arts framework, alleviating career-related stress and better utilizing the alumni network. Knowing that they will learn real skills to aid them in pursuing a career, students could feel far more confident studying whatever they are truly interested in, worrying less about connecting each class to their future professional plans and feeling less like they’ll need to reach out to hundreds of alumni to come to the rescue with jobs and opportunities. With well-developed connections among their class, a strong foundation of fundamental tools and the shared history of such a unique experience, students would hopefully be encouraged to think outside the box, to pursue creative pathways and to begin their lives outside of Dartmouth well-prepared and self-assured.

While I want it to work, I do not know if this plan will. But whether the experiential learning program devised by McArdle succeeds in being implemented, sophomore summer definitely needs a revamp. Moreover, Dartmouth’s current educational model needs a revamp. It needs more people thinking of innovative solutions, more administrators, faculty, alumni and students dedicated to improving the academic and professional resources provided by the College, and it needs more of us demanding a better and more competitive education, one truly conducive to building the success we know we are capable of achieving.

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

TUESDAY, MAY 17, 2016

PAGE 5

Courses navigate difficult materials Relay partners with Collis Governing Board FROM TRIGGER PAGE 1

wrote that students need to engage with material they find uncomfortable or disturbing in class, because the world is filled with uncomfortable issues and confronting them is part of being a thoughtful individual. At the same time, he said that it is crucial for professors to accommodate the mental health needs of their students by being clear about class materials.

At Dartmouth, professors have a variety of policies concerning difficult material covering in class.

Religion professor Randall Balmer teaches a course on religion and the civil rights movements. Because of some topics covered in his class, such as lynchings and the actions of Klu Klux Klan, he warns students at the beginning of the term and before specific parts of the lecture when he presents upsetting material. Psychology professor Janine Scheiner, who teachers classes on developmental psychology, similarly gives trigger warnings in her classses when she thinks students may want to opt out of certain films or parts of lectures.

Pyschological and brain sciences professor William Hudenko said he notices that this generation of college students is more outwardly concerned and sensitive to social issues and difficult material in school. Hudenko believes that increased sensitivtity to other people’s emotions in the classroom is a “generally positive trend.”

Lisa Baldez, government and Latin American, Latino and Carribean studies professor, said that if she were to give a trigger warning every time difficult emotional material was discussed and student took the opportunity to leave her classroom, there would be almost nothing left to learn in her course.

Baldez referenced a class she teaches on Latin American history and gender policies, which includes topics such as military dictatorship, violation of human rights and torture.

However, before classes on especially difficult materials, Baldez said she tries to give the material context while acknowledging that these topics can and should very difficult and emotional to read about.

French professor Lucas Hollister, who teaches classes on French film, crime fiction and noir, intentionally does not give trigger warnings, as he is without any formal psychological training and therefore does not feel qualified to determine what will trigger students.

Hollister said he worries that trigger warnings could have a “chilling effect” on teachers who choose not to work with “safer canonical texts.” He said that while a teacher would never get in trouble for teaching a classic author like Albert Camus, he or she might not have the same sort of support for an “edgier text.” As a result, he said every time he puts together a

syllabus with a difficult but valuable text he goes “around and around about where I put it on the syllabus.”

“When you’re teaching something that’s shocking or violent, you have to be careful with how you teach it and you have to do a lot more work with it yourself and you worry about treating it fairly,” he said. “Sometimes, I think, ‘I should just do a safer syllabus’ each time.”

Heschel made the distinction between a professor and a counselor in the classroom.

“I think we need to be really careful about expecting professors to also be counselors,” Heschel said. “We’re not and [for] most of us, we’re not trained in that. That’s not our job.”

However, Hollister said that at the beginning of the term he gives a “pseudo-trigger warning,” letting the class know that his syllabus tends to have “lot of material that might be difficult for people who don’t have an official medical condition.” For students who want to take the class and opt out of watching a particular film or reading novel that may be too intense, he is willing to work with them to choose a substitute movie or book, he said.

Mark Detzer, who teaches undergraduates psychology courses along with psychiatry courses at the Geisel School of Medicine, said that in cases of students with personal trauma who cannot discuss certain topics regardless of the circumstance, he allows them to “shift and approach it in a straight academic way” through a research paper or project, in order to prevent retraumatization. Detzer noted that students should be accountable and provide solid reasoning for making that request. Detzer does this to ensure students cannot completely opt out of a topic if it is included in the curriculum of a course.

Greenberg, who teaches courses on World War II and the history of Germany, said that he does not allow students to opt-out of class materials completely since he selects materials carefully that play an important role in class analysis and discussion. Once a student chooses to sign up for a class, he or she should expect to engage with all the assigned materials, he added.

Women’s, gender and sexuality studies professor Giavanna Munafo, who incorporates trigger warnings as a topic in her course, pointed out the term has become more vague.

“I don’t use the language of a trigger warning. For me it’s a problematic label if you don’t explain what we’re talking about and how complex it is,” she said. “A trigger is a psychological term and I’m talking about a more wider possible experiences people might have in relation to the text.”

The Health and Wellness center runs a first responder workshop for faculty through Dartmouth’s Center for Advance of Learning. Training happens on a regular basis so that

faculty can learn what the impacts of trauma are and how they can respond to students who have been affected by sexual assault, Dartmouth Bystander Intervention manager Benjamin Bradley said.

Munafo said that professors who have taken it respect the program, but she is not sure the course is being offered regularly enough for people who would chose to complete it. She said one possibility would be if the chair of a department strongly suggested or required everyone within the department to take such a course.

Aside from using trigger warnings, professors emphasized the importance of creating a positive and safe classroom atmosphere.

The key is to set the tone where people can find a way to express their opinions in a respectful way and appreciate that part of the learning process is dealing with confrontational topics, Detzer said. Scheiner and Detzer agreed that in order for people to feel psychologically safe in the classroom, there needs to be ground rules that are enforced.

On the other hand, Heschel mentioned the fact that outside the classroom, safe atmospheres do not always exist and it is important for students to know how to handle difficult material practically and emotionally in the real world.

“I would like the world to be a safe space for everybody but it isn’t and we walk a fine line between eliminating anything upsetting that happens in college versus teaching students how to handle situations like that so that when they gradate they’ll know how to talk back and fix it,” she said.

English professor Christian Haines said that while some professors may consider trigger warnings as a threat to learning, faculty must recognize that, in part, trigger warnings can serve as a way for students to be more engaged in their education.

“I think we as faculty have to recognize that at least in part, trigger warnings are an attempt by students to participate in the governance of colleges and participate actively in their education,” Haines said. “I think that some professors see it as an affront to academia or learning. I think in most cases, it’s the opposite: it’s students saying, “Look, I’m really involved with my education and as such, I really want to have some input’ and I think we as faculty need to have some responsibility on how to negotiate or how to respond.”

Heschel similarly emphasized the personal and academic growth that can happen when students confront difficult issues, and Baldez also said that emotional reflection can enhance the learning process.

“I think [reflection] allows students to develop their own original take on the material that ultimately can lead to original research and insight,” Baldez said.

off, followed by the Fight Back ceremony, which honors current Sullivan, co-president of Col- cancer patients and survivors. leges Against Cancer alongside de During the closing ceremony at Guardiola, said the winter bazaar 5:30 a.m., the highest-fundraising in February kicks off fundraising teams were announced. for the Relay for Life event in the Cardigan Mountain School’s spring, and included performances National Junior Honor Society by all-female a cappella group the raised the most money with a total Decibelles and all-male a cappella of $4,299. In second place was group the Brovertones, pie-throw- Alpha Delta Unrecognized with ing, temporary tattoos and various $3,520, followed by Alpha Phi sorority at $2,840. The top prize for other activities.

Last Tuesday, Collis Governing the winning team is a breakfast with Board partnered with Colleges College President Phil Hanlon. De Against Cancer via their weekly Guardiola noted that members of trivia night. Sean Cann ’17, a mem- the winning team were there the ber of Collis Governing Board, entire night, as were many other said for the special trivia session participants. on Tuesday, three of the six rounds “The point of the event is not were devoted to questions about just to raise money, it is for encourcancer and the Relay for Life event. agement as well,” Sullivan said.

This is the second year that trivia This year every sorority on camp u s fo r m e d night has s u p p o r t e d “Our goal is to get every a t e a m , a s well a maRe l a y f o r student at Relay and bring jority of the Life.

C a n n the community together to f r at e r n i t i e s.

Sullivan said said the Collis Govern- fight cancer, which is such most of these ing Board a personal thing. We are houses each c o n t r i bu t e d often works with vari- all in this together and we o v e r $ 5 0 0 . ous groups are going to keep fighting.” de Guardiola said that athon campus letic teams at t o b ro a d the College do e n o u t - - MERCEDES DE GUARDIOLA not often form reach, and ’17, RELAY FOR LIFE COtheir own ReTu e s d a y lay teams, Trivia usu- PRESIDENT but this year ally draws the women’s around 60 club soccer to 80 people team and each week. men’s rugby Colleges football club Against Cancer also sold lanterns on registered and were admirable Wednesday for use in the luminaria participants. The Christian Union ceremony held last Thursday eve- and Agape Christian Fellowship, ning on the Green. Attendees in- organizations which did not have scribed the lanterns with personal teams last year, also formed teams messages and illuminated them on this year.

“Our goal is to get every stuthe Green all night.

Saturday’s event was comprised dent at Relay and bring the comof four main ceremonies along with munity together to fight cancer, activities such as mini golf, a movie, which is such a personal thing,” laser tag, an obstacle course, board de Guardiola said. “We are all in games and face-painting, allowing this together and we are going to participants to stay active for the keep fighting.”

This year the entire event was all-night, 12-hour event.

“The reason for the length of dedicated to the memory of Sumthe event is it is supposed to be mer Hammond ’17, who died last metaphorical for the journey of a July due to complications from radiation treatment. cancer patient,” Sullivan said.

The event began with an open- Hammond herself was a dediing ceremony featuring Wolfram cated member of the Relay for Life Goessling, a physician and pro- committee, de Guardiola said. fessor at Harvard Medical School “She was always so positive and as well as a cancer patient. The last year was already emailing me opening ceremony is intended to with ideas she had for this year’s remember those cancer patients Relay for Life,” she said. “We are all sorry she could not be here to who have died.

The Survivor Lap then kicked see it.”

FROM RELAY PAGE 1

THE DARTMOUTH EVENTS

PAGE 6

TUESDAY, MAY 17, 2016

DARTMOUTHEVENTS TODAY

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

Senior Fellows Symposium, 2016 Senior Fellows present their idependent projects, Occom Commons

4:15 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

“Hardware Based Security for GE’s Industrial Control Systems,” talk bysenior principal engineer for security at GE David Safford, Carson L02

7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Sally Pinkas and Jan Müller-Szeraws, piano and cello concert, Spaulding Auditorium, Hopkins Center

TOMORROW All Day

Summer term course change period

3:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Philosophy Department Honors Thesis Presentations, reception to follow, Thorton Hall 105

7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Fifth Annual Digital Arts eXpo, showcase of student digital artwork, Hood Auditorium and Hood Museum of Art

RELEASE DATE– Tuesday, May 17, 2016

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

ACROSS 1 Negotiated agreements 6 Coagulate 10 Cry of disbelief 14 Wake-up call alternative 15 Talk wildly 16 Dance that tells a story 17 Arm bones 18 Sign of things to come 19 Wild goat with recurved horns 20 Outgoing sort 23 Spews 24 Sets upright 28 Danger color 29 Body shop fig.

31 Feel remorse over 32 Chop (off) 33 Extra-earnest entreaty 36 Crate component 39 Multivolume ref. work 40 Common diagnosis for distracted kids: Abbr.

41 KP duty need 46 Back in time 47 Black __: spy doings 48 Critic Reed 49 Punching tool 52 Sales enticement 54 National park on the Maine coast 56 Clerical worker, facetiously 60 April honoree?

63 German automaker 64 Occupy, as one’s time 65 Bridges in Hollywood 66 TMZ twosome 67 Creepy 68 Vexes 69 Gather in the fields 70 Expression of disdain DOWN 1 Prince’s lookalike, in a Twain novel 2 Assert without proof

3 Enjoyed a ride in a birchbark 4 Police stings, e.g.

5 Metal refinery 6 Edit for size, as a photo 7 __ duck 8 “Back to you,” in CBspeak 9 Stiffen in fear 10 Moan and groan 11 Center of activity 12 Draft pick 13 Price add-on 21 Latin 101 infinitive 22 Sports analyst Hershiser 25 Unlike Lady Godiva 26 Poppycock, to a Brit 27 Made tracks 30 Car roofs with removable panels 31 Golf’s __ Cup 33 Class-conscious gp.?

34 Golf ball support 35 Musical gift 36 Box for practice 37 Theater section

38 Get from __: make slow progress 42 Carryall bag 43 Outdoor 44 Spring 45 Reasons that may be flimsy or lame 49 Cling 50 Dog at a roast 51 Kitchen storage area

53 Top grade 55 Colorado skiing mecca 57 Baby-faced 58 Invention beginning 59 Like overcooked pasta 60 Justice Dept. agency 61 On top of, in an ode 62 Furniture wood

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

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05/17/16

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05/17/16

THE DARTMOUTH ARTS

TUESDAY, MAY 17, 2016

PAGE 7

Alumna Q&A:TV host ‘Sing Street’ sings from start to finish Anna-Kay Thomas ’12

By ANDREW KINGSLEY The Dartmouth Staff

By DIEGO MORENO The Dartmouth

Anna-Kay Thomas ’12 works as a freelance entertainment television host primarily out of New York. She has interviewed the likes of Kevin Jonas, D.M.C., Hoda Kotb, John Starks and other entertainment personalities for various news outlets. Thomas is also an award-winning and nationallyranked slam poet.

Would you love to live in New York regardless or is it something that has come about because of your work?

mass media and especially for people who don’t know there’s a slam poetry world, they can get a taste of what it’s like. It’s a little more commercial than going to a coffee shop or a venue, but at least, people are getting exposed to the art form.

What was something important that you learned at Dartmouth?

AK: One of the most important things I learned is doing what’s right for you and following your own path.

Undergraduate students get so caught up in taking the standard [paths] of being a doctor, being a lawyer or going to grad school or business school.

It’s not to say that those paths aren’t great and aren’t right for some people, but I think that there’s more out there than those particular paths. My time at Dartmouth taught me not to be scared to really believe in the things that I’m good at and that I like and that I could make a career out of being authentic to who I am.

AK:I love New York. I think everyone in their twenties should have a period of time when they live in New York.

I think that there’s a grit about the city that really humbles you, and as a young professional, that’s a characteristic that’s really helpful for your development. As far as entertainment goes, New York is a wonderful hub for entertainment. There’s a lot of morning talk shows and a “My time at Dartmouth lot of synditaught me not to be cated shows t h a t c o m e scared to really believe out of New in the things that I’m York. L.A. is definitely the good at and that I like mega-land for and that I could make it but there’s a career out of being opportunity in New York as authentic to who I am.” well.

I’m not sure how much you keep up on campus issues but over the weekend there was a Blue Lives Matter display set up in Collis that angered many students who felt the display was meant to H ave yo u -ANNA-KAY THOMAS ’12 mock the Black been able Lives Matter to market movement. yourself through social media Speaking from your experience and an online presence or have going to school here and what you needed to make interper- you’ve seen after graduating, sonal connections as well? do you think Dartmouth does enough to support minority AK: Social media plays a huge part students on this campus? in it but a motto I live by is “work hard and stay nice” because no one AK: I think that Dartmouth does a lot, wants to work with or refer or endorse but there is a lot that needs to be done. someone who’s a jerk. It doesn’t mean It’s getting better. I didn’t actually hear being fake or being disingenuous, but about that news until you told me I think coming at everything with an but that’s very unfortunate. College open mind is really useful for growing campuses should be a place where your brand. Having a presence online people are free to express themselves, is crucial especially now. but I think the issue with Black Lives Matter and a lot of the political and Do you find it hard to balance socioeconomic unrest in our country your commercial work with stems from a lack of communication your artistic work? and being open to understanding the other side. I think as Dartmouth AK: I think it can be a balance. I don’t moves forward there can be a lot compete as much as I used to or as done to have people be able to listen much as I’d like to, but I’ve been able to each other on the other side, that to bring a lot of the slam poetry I do communication can help ease a lot of into the commercial work I do. I just tension on campus. did a video for Huffington Post that was basically one long slam poetry This article has been edited and condensed piece. It’s really cool to bring that to for length and clarity.

The story of a teenager forming a band to woo his crush sounds like the cliché of a shirtless guitar player playing to fawning fans on a college quad. Yet in director John Carney’s expert hands (he also directed “Once” (2007) and “Begin Again” (2013)), the intersection of music, love and hardship once again becomes fruitful grounds for exploration. His latest, “Sing Street” (2016), applies his formula to troubled Irish teenagers and breathes his quintessential exuberance into the unlikeliest of places.

Fortunately, the film never descends into “High School Musical” (2006) theatrics and maintains a heartfelt authenticity. Perhaps this comes from Carney’s choice to only cast nonprofessional actors in the lead roles.

The songs feel real, felt, not evoked through programs or methods. The dance numbers aren’t expertly choreographed with backflips and perfect costumes, but comically low-tech and rag tag. The eponymous band’s homemade music video for their debut song “The Riddle of the Model” includes a kimono, vampire fangs, a cowboy costume and an excess of guyliner, all recorded in low-def VCR. Raised on MTV, these boys style their sound and look on the latest hits, switching from punk to new wave to pop, all attracting the disdain of their austere, violent Catholic school principle, Mr. Baxter. The bleached hair, eye shadow and tinted glasses don’t go well with the school’s motto: “Act Manly.” “Says the guy in the black dress,” piths Conor (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo).

Growing up in inner city Dublin, improvisational realism to his charConor finds escape through songwrit- acters, a trait rarely found in musicals ing from his parents’ collapsing mar- which are inherently theatrical and riage and his tumultuous new public hyperbolic. Moreover, the characters school, Synge Street CBS. While this face the very real effects of Ireland’s sounds like a traditional angsty teen, economic downturn, where daily no-one-understands-me tale, Conor ships leave the Irish coast for England’s shows a remarkable resilience — “grit” more promising shores. Conor’s father in modern terms — when dealing with drinks himself into oblivion between these hardships. Instead of sinking shouting matches with his wife, while into melancholic solipsism, Conor Conor’s drop-out brother Brendan converts his despair into music. In one (Jack Reynor) shapes Conor into the of the most suave pick-up scenes (guys, musician he never could be. Within take note), Conor convinces the local decaying Dublin, Sing Street remains dreamgirl, Raphina (Lucy Boynton), a beacon of hope; when success is that he leads a band. Conor then scram- measured in escape, how does one find bles around life in the crumthe neighbor- “In this era of helicopter bling neighborhood to form hoods? parents, “screenagers” a band and

A testawoo his muse. and micromanaged ment to misfits, The scheme schedules, this is exactly rock n’ roll, miraculously brotherhood works, and soon the film from which and downright “Sing Street” young students should good film(far better than making, “Sing take inspiration.”

Conor’s recomStreet” is a mendation, “La transformative Vie”) is churndose of winning ing out cover after cover of 80s hits. The spirit. Like in “Annie,” we get the hard film’s tempo and the band’s energy are knock life, but the band’s anthem would infectious; even the school bully cannot be “Today!” instead of tomorrow. They resist. are their own salvation, music and ap The film coasts on its musical plause their Daddy Warbucks. In the core, returning intermittently to foot- era of helicopter parents, “screenagtapping, finger-snapping montages ers” and micromanaged schedules, this of “Maneater,” “Rio” and “Town is exactly the film from which young Called Malice,” as well as the film’s students should take inspiration. What own originals including “Drive It Like was the last song written about a STEM You Stole It” and “To Find You.” You class? may just find yourself downloading the soundtrack after the credits roll. Rating: 9/10 Yet what brings the film to another “Sing Street” is now playing at the Nuglevel is how Carney imbues a near get Theaters at 4:15 p.m. and 6:45 p.m.

JOINING TOGETHER HAND IN HAND

COURTESY OF ROB STRONG

Carene Mekertichyan ’16’s thesis production of “for colored girls” addresses the experiences of women of color.

THE DARTMOUTH ARTS

PAGE 8

TUESDAY, MAY 17, 2016

‘for colored girls’ brings women of color to center stage

By NALINI RAMANTHAN The Dartmouth Staff

As the pop tunes stop playing and the lights begin to dim, seven women walk slowly onto the stage from all corners of the Bentley Auditorium, distinguishing themselves from the crowds they mingled with just moments before.

Plants and scattered marble tiles that become increasingly strewn at the stage’s far reaches surround a porcelain bathtub. The audience encircles the raised black platform on all four sides, allowing the members to view each other’s reactions throughout the performance. As the actresses move between the edges of the auditorium and its center, all are pulled into the narrative, while equally reminded of the larger implications of the work, still relevant despite being 40 years old, as a reflection of women of color’s experiences today both at Dartmouth and in the world.

As a woman of color and a student activist, Carene Mekertichyan ’16 saw her honors thesis production of “for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf ” (1976) as a way to embrace the nuances

of her identity while onstage.

The choreopoem embraces many elements of theatrical jazz and Yoruba traditions, including call-and-response sequences and a nonlinear narrative.

The show also focuses on the efforts of women of color to find self-love in a society that often silences them and devalues them.

In the piece, Mekertichyan plays the Lady in Red, a character who in one story attempts to reclaim her sexual freedom as a woman of color and revert traditional gender dynamics and in another experiences domestic violence and the loss of both of her children at the hand of her abusive ex-partner and father of her children.

As dramaturge, Mekertichyan also had a supervisory and consulting role in all aspects of production. Along with guest director Deena Selenow, brought through the theater department’s VOICES program, Mekertichyan thus worked to not only bring up issues that women of color face but also to make them part of a larger community discussion.

The show ended with some sharp emotional punches. Zahra Ruffin ’17, playing the Lady in

Blue, delivered a poem on her character’s emotions after being raped. Shaking and confused, Ruffin staggered around the stage as if bearing a physical wound, eventually collapsing into tears as she stood in the bathtub.

As both the audience and the actresses became more enveloped by the stories, this idea of a particular wound borne by women of color followed visually and emotionally throughout the piece, increasingly expressed both in the movement of the actresses and in their stories.

Even during instances of comic relief, trauma remained a consistent factor in the piece, whether imprinted in the sense of the characters’ self worth after years of maltreatment or in the audiences’ memory of more recent narratives.

As the choreopoem came to an end, the women held hands, facing the outside world which had once pushed them to consider suicide in solidarity. Yet as they chanted “i found god in myself/ and i loved her/ i loved her fiercely” over and over, the audience felt both empowered and overwhelmed.

After the show ended, Selenow encouraged the audience to dance to their emotions out to a

COURTESY OF ROB STRONG

Carene Mekertichyan ’16 put on the show as her senior thesis in order to highlight issues women of color face.

COURTESY OF ROB STRONG

Carene Mekertichyan ’16 was the dramaturge for the production.

few songs by Beyoncé before the post-show discussion. Although few did, many audience members congratulated their friends on their performances, noting both the number of times they had cried and how much they enjoyed the performance.

As conversations came to an end, Selenow led the post-show discussion, encouraging audience members to move beyond the more subjective “like” and “don’t like” to more applicable themes.

She first asked the audience members what moments stuck out to them. One audience member said that the talk on rape, which included discussing how perpetrators may be someone close to the victim, resonated with him. He noted that it was a theme applicable to students on campus as well.

Another audience member noted the way Mekertichyan dealt with men as the Lady in Red. Although she reverses the “joke” men often play on women, she ends up crying, a theme he saw throughout the play.

Veronica Burt ’16, a theater major who is also friends with Mekertichyan, said that she enjoyed the way the choreography emphasized the text of the piece.

She also noted the value of the

positioning of the audience.

“You’re seeing the other person’s reactions across the room from you, and it feels more like an intimate activity,” Burt said.

Selenow’s second discussion prompt asked about the value of the production in this day and age, an issue Mekertichyan answered as part of her thesis.

Gricelda “Grizzy” Ramos ’18, who played the Lady in Orange, said that she found the work very therapeutic, noting the pressure she felt as a woman of color to bottle up her thoughts. She said this piece, however, reinforced the idea that it was acceptable to open up.

Selenow ended the discussion by imparting some last words to her audience.

“When you see a friend that is not being seen, elevate them,” Selenow said. “When you see something that is not cool, say it.”

Mekertichyan was pleased with the piece.

“It was better than I could have imagined. It was emotional, I was crying, but it was good. At the end, it felt like such a release,” Mekertichyan said. “Feeling the audience’s energy and all of this love in this moment in this space, it was so beautiful.”