The Dartmouth 09/20/2016

VOL. CLXXIII NO.111

SUNNY HIGH 84 LOW 54

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2016

Community protests Dakota Access Pipeline

HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Sigma Delta adopts shakeout

By SUNGIL AHN

The Dartmouth Staff

OPINION

QU: BRUSH OFF YOUR BRUSH OFFS PAGE 4

OPINION

DE GUARDIOLA: PRIORITIES ASKEW PAGE 4

ARTS

FILM REVIEW: REDEMPTION FOR MUSICALS PAGE 7

ARTS

STUDENTS SPEND E-TERM IN THEATER PAGE 8

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Students gather on the green to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline.

By ZACHARY BENJAMIN The Dartmouth Staff

Around 200 people gathered on the Green Friday afternoon to protest construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. Critics say the pipeline threatens to harm

the water supply of many Native tribes while also cutting across their sacred lands and burial grounds.

Several Dartmouth students shared their stories about why they were opposing the pipeline.

Charli Fool Bear-Vetter ’15 spoke about her family’s experiences dealing with

the threat of contaminated water, something she said she can never forget. The DAPL does not care about such threats to the Missouri River, she said, criticizing the use of attack dogs and mace in Standing Rock against protesters.

CPD to host career fair in the Hop

By EMILIA BALDWIN The Dartmouth Staff

The Hopkins Center for the Arts will be teeming with jobseekers today and tomorrow as the Center for Professional Development hosts its annual Employee Connections Fair.

The CPD has hosted the fair for over a decade, but the employers present have changed with evolving student interests.

In recent years, students can walk through sections for technology, service and educational sectors that have been added

to the more dominant fields of consulting and finance.

Monica Wilson, senior associate director of the CPD, said that her focus has been to make sure that students explore as many companies and industries as possible. She added that the informal atmosphere of the event provides a forum for students to explore, but not make any commitments or have to bring a resume. The different set of employers on each day contributes to the SEE CPD PAGE 2

SEE DAPL PAGE 3

Starting this term, Sigma Delta sorority will exclusively recruit potential new members through its shakeout process, first piloted last winter term.

Potential new members can attend any of four Sigma Deltspecific open houses. They can then express formal interest in receiving a bid from the house by “shaking out” with the current members. This revised process will not overlap with formal recruitment events, and shakeouts are not binding. PNMs can therefore go through both Sigma Delt’s shakeout process and the formal recruitment process before choosing a house.

Shakeout will replace Sigma Delt’s direct involvement in the formal Panhellenic Council’s sorority recruitment process.

During formal recruitment, a multi-round format, PNMs attend parties at each participating Panhell sorority. After each of the two rounds, women list their top choices and rank their bottom houses, attending additional parties at the sororities that call

them back. The whole cycle, which happens early in fall and winter term, lasts about a week.

Emily Burack ’17 and Julia Dressel ’17, Sigma Delt’s recruitment chairs, said that the house did not want PNMs to make decisions before they were ready. Burack said Sigma Delt chose to use the shakeout process to prioritize autonomy of PNMs, to increase transparency in the recruitment process and to reduce the social anxiety that surrounds formal recruitment by facilitating a more relaxed atmosphere.

“We want PNMs to have as much information as possible before they commit to joining a house,” she said.

Meredith Nissenbaum ’17, Panhell vice president of operations, wrote in an email that Panhell has been working closely with Sigma Delt throughout the development of its shakeout process to ensure that the multiple recruitment models would not create SEE RUSH PAGE 3

WORKING HARD OR HARDLY WORKING

PAULA MENDOZA/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Students get back to work on Monday night of the second week of classes.

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

PAGE 2

DAILY DEBRIEFING An anonymous New Hampshire family claimed a $487 million Powerball jackpot through a trust via lawyers on Monday, The Valley News reports. The prize is the nation’s eighth largest jackpot, and the winning ticket for the July 30 drawing was sold in the town of Raymond, which has a population of about 10,000 residents. The family has already committed several thousand dollars of their winnings to a selection of regional charities.

A Sunday welfare check on a Renihan Meadows condominium may have turned up a methamphetamine lab, The Valley News reports. Two people at the scene were charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. Evidence of materials and equipment used to make amphetamine were also found.

Prescription drug companies have given campaign money to state lawmakers and political parties, The Valley News reports. The Associated Press and the Center for Public Integrity found that drugmakers who produce opioid painkillers and allied advocacy groups spent over $880 million on campaign contributions. The findings come in the wake of 661 drug-related deaths in Vermont from 2006 to 2014, largely from prescription opioids and heroin.

-COMPILED BY PRIYA RAMAIAH

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2016

Career fair encompasses all fields

alumni attended the fair while they were undergraduates at the College. feeling of the fair being two different Cox, who currently works at Audax events, Wilson said.

Group, a private equity firm focused “I always hear of students applying on providing capital for middle marto jobs that they would not have known ket companies, initially found out about unless they about the comhad gone to the pany when he “I always hear of stufair,” she said. attended the fair Other univer- dents applying to jobs as a sophomore sities and col- that they would not at the College. leges hold similar Cox said the fair events, though have known about unsets up freshmen many opt for less they had gone to and sophomores smaller industryto put themselves the fair.” focused events in the best posirather than such tion possible for a large-scale fair, -MONICA WILSON, CPD future recruiting. she said. The He also said that Thayer School SENIOR ASSOCIATE juniors looking of Engineering DIRECTOR for a possible will host its own internship can career fair next discover their inweek, which will terests in compaheavily feature engineering and tech- nies that they did not know of before. nology employers.

And personally, he’s happy to be back For the past three years, Wilson informing Dartmouth students about estimates that over 1000 students have Audax. attended the fair over its two-day span. “It’s great to be back on the other Kevin Cox ’13 and Lilly Cassidy end of the table,” he said. ’16 will both be representing their Cassidy similarly discovered biorespective companies at the fair. Both tech and pharmaceutical consulting FROM CPD PAGE 1

firm Trinity Partners, where she currently works, at the fair during her time as an undergraduate. Cassidy will be one of four representatives for the company tomorrow. Trinity Partners will also return for the Thayer career fair next week.

Tyler Lakin, of Oxeon Partners, will also be representing his company at the fair. Lakin has worked with the CPD for several years now, including with his former company before joining Oxeon, and it’s a partnership that’s been “super helpful” to him as an employer.

Lakin said that the Center does a great job helping companies know what types of things Dartmouth students look for in a prospective job, which is especially helpful at Oxeon, a healthcare start up “focused on making people healthier.” Lakin also noted that he has considered the event to be well-attended in his years attending the fair.

Wilson emphasized that the fair is not just for upperclassmen.

Students can register for the fair through Dartboard. The fair is informational and students’ resumes will not be collected. On both days, it will run from noon to 4 p.m.

A CHANGE IS GROWING

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

The original version of this of a Sept. 12 article titled “Sabol ’18 drives campaign for reusable to-go containers” incorrectly listed Julia Granito ’18 as a pilot participant. She was friends with pilot participants, but not involved herself in the program. The article has been updated to reflect this change.

PAULA MENDOZA/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Growing Change hosts a meeting on the second floor of the Collis Center on Monday night.

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2016

Students share experiences at protest FROM DAPL PAGE 1

Augusta Terkildsen ’19, who is from North Dakota, shared her experiences in Standing Rock this summer. She encouraged people to spread the word about the situation there and expressed gratitude that awareness about the DAPL has increased recently.

“We deserve to live too, just as much as anyone else,” she said.

Terkildsen spoke out against stereotypes of Native Americans as alcoholics, or the usage of statistical drinking rates to try and dismiss other Native health concerns. Several of her relatives in North Dakota who have never drank have still become sick, an outcome she blamed on water conditions there. She said she felt torn between her obligations as a student and to help her family and people.

Kalae Trask-Sharpe ’18, an indigenous Hawaiian student, discussed protests in Hawaii against the Thirty Meter Telescope, a proposed observatory that was intended to be built on lands considered sacred to Hawaiians. He talked about the importance of solidarity against such acts, including the DAPL.

The a cappella group the Rockapellas, of which Fool Bear-Vetter is a member, sang “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” and “Ella’s Song” at the rally.

In an interview after the event, Terkildsen said that she began planning the event a few weeks before she came back to campus, with most of the event coming together in the last two or three weeks. She said that she felt great about the turnout, and was pleased that the attendees were not only Native or people of color.

Moving forward, Terkildsen said she and other organizers will be working to raise money in support of Standing Rock. She directed those interested in learning more towards the Sacred Stone Facebook group.

Eliza Rockefeller ’17 said that she came to the rally because she supported what the Native students there were doing from both environmental and social justice perspectives. She described the people at the event as “lovely.”

Connor Gibson ’16 said that the DAPL is an important issue that everyone should support. While he was pleased with the level of turnout, he said that there could always stand

Shakeout first piloted in the winter rush process

from formal recruitment to shakeout went smoothly, EKT initially had trouble notifying people about any advantage or disadvantage.

Sigma Delt has been working the change to shakeout.

Many PNMs who attend EKT’s to implement shakeout since the fall of 2014, and the house has shakeout are uninterested in the been working with Panhell since formal recruitment process, Lopez spring of 2015 to get the change noted, and that they are happy to approved. The house’s vote to hold have access to an alternative procedure. She a shakeout process was unani- “We want PNMs to have also said that KT has mously passed, as much information Eseen a large Burack said.

E p s i l o n as possible before they number of omen of Kappa Theta commit to joining a wcolor express s o ro r i t y h a s interest in the been conduct- house.” house since ing recruitt h e s w i t ch ment through to shakea shakeout pro- -EMILY BURACK ’17, SIGMA out, which cess since the DELTA RECRUITMENT CHAIR she attribfall of 2014, uted to the making Sigma comfortable Delt the second atmosphere Panhell sororshakeout ity to adopt the creates. change.

EKT recruitment chair Cori Lopez ’17 said Burack expects the time committhat the shakeout process creates ment to host shakeout for current a more relaxed environment that members should be comparable to fosters one-on-one conversations. that of formal recruitment.

Sigma Delt’s open houses begin For EKT, switching to shakeout was “the best decision we could have on Sept. 20. Shakeout is on Sept. made for our sisterhood,” Lopez 29. If PNMs receive a bid the following morning, they will have until said.

Lopez noted while transitioning 10 p.m. on Sept. 30 to accept.

FROM RUSH PAGE 1

to be more.

Emily Hardwell ’16, who was the president of the Native Americans at Dartmouth last year, said that she thought the rally had a good turnout, especially given how few Native students attend Dartmouth.

She said the College itself should work to raise money in support of Standing Rock.

Divest Dartmouth, a group that advocates divesting from companies that extract fossil fuels, also joined the demonstration to show their solidarity with the NAD. Megan Larkin ’19, who is an organizer for Divest Dartmouth, said that about 15 members from the group were present at the protest. She said Divest Dartmouth recognizes that the fossil fuel industry “not only contributes to climate change in the future, but also has [negative] impacts right now, such as building pipelines in Native communities.”

Larkin said that given the College’s status as a prominent institution, protests that occur on Dartmouth’s campus are more likely to receive national media coverage.

Hailey Jiang contributed reporting.

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2016

STAFF COLUMNIST DOROTHY QU ’19

STAFF COLUMNIST MERCEDES DE GUARDIOLA ’17

Brush Off Your Brush Offs

Priorities Askew

Dartmouth students may not be used to rejection, but they should be.

I have never sent a flitz, but I haven’t formidable wall of insecurities, you should received one either. My excuse is that my be proud of yourself for even considering hard-to-spell-Chinese-pinyin-blitz name applying or auditioning for something you is a secret that I have fought hard to keep. think would be fun but have no guarantee I’m not talking about romantic rejections, you can excel in. Conversely, if you love though. The rejections I speak of are far the feeling of meeting new people and bemore difficult for some to brush off. Group ing judged, then kindly explain to me your rejections, whether they are from sports secrets. teams, comedy troupes, a cappella groups, College is by no means completely repredance ensembles, Greek houses, leader- sentative of real life, but one of the realest ship councils or even classes, are truly the experiences you will get from Dartmouth ones that can keep you up at night. It’s no is rejection. Some rejections, such as being surprise then that the rejected from your only height of audition and potential apartment, can application season — “Embrace rejection! be troublesome, but there right about… now — is are no repercussions for Say it in front of the ripe with the sorrows of any rejections you may mirror three times. Get experience here at Dartfresh rejections.

I understand that see- it tattooed. Write it on mouth. And yet, a rejecing the word “rejection” tion is still a rejection. in such a concentrated your burger patty with Therefore, it’s in your manner above may have ketchup and then eat it best academic interest sent some of you into to take advantage of this shock. Perhaps you’ve in one bite.” opportunity and experinever been turned away ence it. No one is going in your entire life, and to look at your transcript you shudder at the thought of such a hor- and see written with invisible ink, “didn’t rible experience. Or, perhaps you were just get into Acting 1.” It’s almost as likely that brought back to the memory of an intense no one is going to look at your transcript, eight-grade class council speech in front of period. the entire school in which you forgot half I will now share this undisclosed piece of your speech (not speaking from personal information with you, unnamed reader: I experience or anything). The bottom line received six rejections early in my freshman is: rejections can be hard to deal with, and year, and I expect many, many more over sometimes you just want to hastily hide them the coming years. Freshman fall, however, away in the darkest, dustiest part of your I had a very different approach towards brain forever. But I, with all my wisdom, rejection. It was difficult to not take it will grace you with one piece of important personally, and I seriously considered not advice for college: do not fear rejection. showing up to the auditions I had followEmbrace rejection! Say it in front of the ing these rejections. It seems very silly to mirror three times. Get it tattooed. Write me now that I might have missed out on it on your burger patty with ketchup and what is now a group of some of my closest then eat it in one bite. friends on campus.

You shouldn’t feel ashamed about your There will always be opportunities for rejections, nor should you pity your friends you at Dartmouth, and you shouldn’t let for theirs. Putting yourself out there can fear of rejection or a lack of morale prevent be one of the most stressful and unpleas- you from finding your niche. There is always ant feelings you may have the pleasure to another group. There is always another experience. The more you go outside your term. In the meantime, don’t cower before comfort zone, though, the easier it will be- rejections. Take it out on a nice dinner. Split come. If your comfort zone is fortified by a the check. And enjoy your freshman year!

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

The College needs to shift its focus back to its undergraduates.

Dartmouth has often been touted as one of the leading schools for undergraduate teaching in the United States, as it should be: in many other leading institutions, rarely does one find a noted professor teaching undergraduate students, much less is it the norm across classes. At Dartmouth, prospective students and parents can rest assured that their classes will likely be small, their professors will be present and participation will be held to a rigorous standard. Thus, if anything, Dartmouth’s drop in the recent U.S. News & World Report 2016 ranking of the best undergraduate teaching institutions from second to seventh should be read as one of many indicators of problems with the current administration’s policies.

It is easy to look at the rankings and assume that the drop isn’t dramatic. After all, Dartmouth did rise from 12th to 11th in the past year for overall education. Small shifts in rankings are to be expected — it would be boring, not to mention a little strange, for each school to maintain the exact same ranking from year to year. However, while the overall rankings are based on a multitude of factors, the best undergraduate teaching ranking — in which we have now dropped to seventh — relies on only one: peer reviews from leading college administrators across the country.

In the time that College President Phil Hanlon has been at the College, Dartmouth has lost its once steely grip on the number one spot for undergraduate teaching in U.S. News, falling to fourth in 2014. While we rebounded slightly to second in 2015, we currently hold the not-as-illustrious seventh ranking for 2016. Since this ranking is based not on such factors as average class size or teacher-to-student ratio but, rather, on reviews from college administrators who presumably communicate with their peers at Dartmouth, it gives credence to an idea that’s been gaining traction for the past few years: Dartmouth is moving away from its focus on undergraduate teaching.

Hanlon’s tenure has been marked by numerous initiatives supposedly designed to bolster the school. In examining these initiatives, however, a question arises: are these actually improving the College’s main strength as an institution of undergraduate education?

In the past few years, students have seen such changes as the implementation of Moving Dartmouth Forward policy initiative and the new house communities system and the establishment of the School of Graduate and Advanced Studies, just to name a few. Most recently, Hanlon announced the creation of the Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society, which raises questions of its own given that it aims to study energy problems while being funded by $80 million of oil money.

We often hear words like “diversity” and “inclusion,” and we get numerous announcements about new deans and administrative positions — but missing from the administration’s conversation around these initiatives is how they will definitively improve student learning and, moreover, continue to improve and support our undergraduate faculty.

Last year, the administration’s own campus climate survey showed that 69 percent of tenuretrack faculty have seriously considered leaving the college. A recent survey from this document revealed that 71.2 percent of students surveyed disapproved of how Hanlon has handled his job as

president of Dartmouth. While American colleges are traditionally a place of protest, the mood on this campus is not just the normal college disquiet: there is a serious undercurrent of dissatisfaction and anger, and the administration needs to take note instead of pursuing new initiatives that put band-aids on deeper problems and do little to address existing issues.

Currently, faculty compensation is 6.8 percent lower at Dartmouth than the average compensation at U.S. News Top 20 Schools. In 1999, the Board of Trustees voted to remedy this issue — which has since only gotten worse. Adequate housing, for both faculty and students, is also an issue. Combined with the lack of competitive pay, the lack of affordable housing around the College for faculty makes teaching here a hard sell to both current and prospective faculty. While a study would be needed to examine the issue for students, anecdotally, I’ve had numerous friends who were unable to get housing with the College and struggled to find off-campus housing within walking distance, as it normally needs to be arranged months before you can even apply for campus housing. I myself had issues getting housing for sophomore fall. Fortunately, the school does guarantee housing for freshmen and sophomores, and my roommate and I ended up being placed in a random room just two weeks before the term started.

Instead of spending ridiculous amounts of money on house swag that looks like it could from a fake Harry Potter shop, the administration should put that money towards the $5.4 million it would take to close the compensation gap between Dartmouth and our peers— one of only many changes that would need to happen if we are to make Dartmouth the most attractive school for undergraduate professors. To reaffirm its commitment to undergraduates, the administration should reinstate Convocation, the prime symbol of our place as an institute of higher learning.

If we can raise money for “cluster hires” and bulking up the administration, surely the school can start a fundraising campaign to build a new dorm on campus — and name it after an oil giant without raising questions of academic integrity and impartiality — to ease the student housing problem. If the administration really can’t let go of their initiatives, a unique one would be to invest in a program to bring guest professors to campus during sophomore summer so that sophomores would truly be able to take oncein-a-lifetime classes and not be required to pay full tuition for a term with only mediocre course options. These are just some of the issues facing our undergraduate program — though at the very least, surely someone could have created an initiative to come up with better house names.

If there’s anything harder than making it to the top, it’s staying there. Even as one of the top undergraduate teaching institutions in the country, there are serious issues on campus that could and need to be resolved to create an even better institute of higher learning. Dartmouth is an undergraduate institution first and foremost, and the administration should look carefully at its commitment to undergraduate teaching and what it can do to continue and even improve that tradition of excellence before what are now surmountable problems become insurmountable.

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THE DARTMOUTH EVENTS

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2016

DARTMOUTHEVENTS TODAY 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Employer Connections Fair, featuring over 100 companies interested in hiring Dartmouth alumni, Alumni Hall, Hopkins Center

3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

“Ionosphere-Thermosphere Data Assimilation and Forecasting Techniques,” Alex Chartier, Johns Hopkins University, Wilder 111

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

Telluride at Dartmouth Film: “Things to Come” (2016), directed by Mia Hansen-Løve, Spaulding Auditorium, Hopkins Center

TOMORROW

5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

“America’s Constitution: Progress & Promise,” Elizabeth Wydra, President, Constitutional Accountability Center, Rocky 003

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

“Motherstruck,” a one person play by poet Staceyann Chin, Moore Theater, Hopkins Center

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

Telluride at Dartmouth Film: “Maudie” (2016), directed by Aisling Walsh, Spaulding Auditorium, Hopkins Center RELEASE DATE– Tuesday, September 20, 2016

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

ACROSS 1 Pilothouse wheels 6 Sphere in a library 11 Cheering syllable 14 Use a broom 15 Lubricate again 16 Touchdown approx.

17 Adjusted sales figure on which some royalties are based 19 Bus. get-together 20 Gentle touch 21 Letter that opens with a click 23 Headache treatment 26 Concerning, on memos 27 Seasonal bug 28 Wood-finishing tool 33 Tennessee senator __ Alexander 36 Zoo critter with striped legs 37 Brass instrument played like a trumpet 42 “Sure, I’ll give you a ride” 43 Sleep audibly 45 Long, narrow mollusks 50 Hotel divs.

51 Poet Khayyám 52 Place for meditation 55 Intense personality 57 Response to a clever put-down 59 Actress Hagen 60 Motto for the cautious ... or a hint to the starts of 17-, 28-, 37and 45-Across 65 Washington MLBer 66 Mount in Exodus 67 Lucky break 68 Genetic info letters 69 Seagoing mil. training group 70 Spine-tingling DOWN 1 QVC rival 2 Baaing mom 3 Tennis do-over

4 Gracias, across the Pyrenees 5 Hurled weapon 6 “The Heart of the Matter” novelist Graham 7 Hawaiian floral rings 8 “Uh-oh!”

9 Stand-up routine 10 Besides 11 Send back, as to a lower court 12 Clothing 13 “Marvelous” Marvin of boxing 18 Bed with high sides 22 Yellow “Despicable Me” character 23 CIO partner 24 Balkan native 25 Shoe company with a cat in its logo 29 Doone of Exmoor 30 Ref’s ruling 31 Retired newsman Donaldson 32 LAPD alerts 34 1990s veep 35 Camper driver, for short 38 And so on: Abbr.

39 Shop __ you drop 40 Par 41 Clever Bombeck 44 Contractor’s fig.

45 Portly 46 “The Joy Luck Club” novelist 47 Mexican revolutionary played by Brando 48 Word before “Pizza” or “River,” in film

49 PlayStation maker 53 Social faux pas 54 Lots and lots 56 Part of AAA: Abbr.

57 Point __ return 58 Qualifying race 61 __ conditioner 62 Capek’s robot play 63 Slide down the slopes 64 Collarless shirt

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09/20/16

THE DARTMOUTH ARTS

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2016

PAGE 7

‘La La Land’ (2016) reinvigorates the movie musical

By SEBASTIAN WURZRAINER The Dartmouth

Call me a heretic if you want, but I am not prone to loving musicals. Which is not to say that there aren’t many excellent examples of the genre, there just happen to be many more examples that I find unappealing and tiresome. But as I left Spaulding Auditorium Saturday night, having just seen Damien Chazelle’s “La La Land” (2016), I felt something I had not felt in some time: the need to rejoice! To rejoice at the fact that there was a director working today who had the guts to make a movie that is so shamelessly

nostalgic and positive in spirit. This may only be Chazelle’s, who directed “Whiplash” (2014), third film, but it is so confident that I have no doubt he will become one of the defining filmmaking voices of this generation.

“La La Land” chronicles the love affair of aspiring actress Mia (Emma Stone) and struggling Jazz pianist Sebastian (Ryan Gosling).

As far as a plot synopsis goes, that’s all you need to know. “La La Land” relies on its simplicity. Its story is a mere framework for its affectionate tribute to movie musicals from a time long gone by. The entire film feels as though it might be a relic from the ’60s, a relic with admittedly vastly

improved image and sound quality.

This is not to say that I long for some “Golden Age” of movies that can never be recaptured. I simply have a soft spot for older films, and I can’t help but admire a filmmaker who tries to breathe new life into a film genre that many (myself included) thought had long since died.

As with “Whiplash,” Chazelle shows an innate aptitude for the musical elements of his story. He understands how to link music and moving images in a way that makes them feel inseparable. All of the songs are catchy, and I feel confident that “City of Stars” will eventually find its place in the pantheon of

great musical numbers. Gosling and Stone are both fantastic and, most importantly, genuine. Apparently both trained extensively for this film, and the effort really showed. Chazelle has a tendency to use extensive long takes during the musical numbers, which feels unconventional at first.

But this technique assures the audience soundly that nothing here is being hidden with flashy editing or distracting camerawork. Rather, we get to see all of the actors’ hard work pay off as the camera focuses on them unbroken second after unbroken second. Some actors are award-worthy until you ask them to perform in a musical (see almost the

entire cast of “Mamma Mia!” (2008) for a prime example). But Gosling and Stone look effortless on screen, and they make the acting, singing and dancing seemingly indistinguishable.

When they aren’t singing we can still feel the song in their hearts, and when they are singing we can still see the deepest of emotions played out across their faces.

The filmmaking itself is magical, leaping into flights of fantasy with a sort of reckless abandon which is rare in a film era so focused on hyperrealism. And while the story here may be simple, the message is less so. “La La Land” is certainly in love with old musicals but, like all great art, it adds to the cinematic conversation. The film divides itself into two distinct halves, and while the first half is very much an homage to old Hollywood musicals, the second half maturely comments on them, making this film accessible to a more cynical modern audience without losing any of its charm. Before the film was shown in Spaulding on Saturday, the audience was informed that Chazelle had said that he tries not to stay in a permanent state of celebration. And indeed, “La La Land” also does not stay in a permanent state of celebration; its second half is considerably less jubilant. But the tone shift never feels like a cheat because every moment rings out with a real sense of emotional honesty. The melancholy second half allows Chazelle to both honor and subvert the clichés of the classic Hollywood musical and create a story which will endure.

If I had to point out one flaw — though I’d almost prefer not to — it is that the transition between the two halves of the film is a little rocky.

As the first half was wrapping up, I was so euphoric that I really didn’t want the film to keep going. And it did take me a second to adjust to the fact that there was at least 30 to 40 minutes left in the movie. But once I realized where Chazelle was going with the second half, I was right back on board.

I confess that this review is intentionally vague because I don’t want to spoil the experience of seeing this movie for any of you. 2016 has admittedly been something of a cinematic dumpster fire, but I implore you to see this film because it truly is something unexpected and special. I mentioned at the top of this review that I am not prone to love movie musicals. I loved “La La Land.”

This showing of “La La Land” was part of this week’s Hopkins Center initiative “Telluride at Dartmouth,” which premieres six films direct from the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado. Tonight, “Things to Come” will be showing at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. in Spaulding Auditorium.

Rating: 9/10

THE DARTMOUTH ARTS

PAGE 8

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2016

‘E-Term’ gives students a taste of the professional theater world

By MICHAELA LEDOUX The Dartmouth Staff

For some students, leave terms consist of working on Excel or fetching coffee. But for the five students participating in the pilot program of the theater department’s Experiential Term, partnering with theater company Northern Stage, days are spent working with theater professionals in West Lebanon and soon, New York City. The program is a natural progression of the theater department’s long-term affiliation with Northern Stage, an award-winning, professional regional theater in White River Junction, Vt. For 15 weeks, students in the program will be immersed in all aspects of professional theater, culminating in their participation in two productions: an Off-Broadway production of “Orwell in America” in New York City and in the company’s production of “A Christmas Carol.”

The E-Term provides students with the opportunity to work fulltime in a professional company, making it unlike anything available to undergraduates studying theater, participant Virginia Ogden ’18 said.

Because many of the theater department faculty members work at Northern Stage and many Dart-

mouth graduates go on to work there, the E-Term is a way to formalize the relationship between the College and the company. Theater professors Peter Hackett and Carol Dunne are directing the program, which they liken to a “theater laboratory,” Hackett said.

The department recognized a missing opportunity for students of the arts to work alongside their professors, similar to the way STEM students can assist in a professor’s lab. Hackett said that he hopes that this program will be that opportunity.

And it is not only the students that are participating in these offcampus opportunities. Hackett will be directing “Orwell in America” and “A Christmas Carol” while Dunne is entering her fourth year as the artistic director of Northern Stage. In addition, theater professor Jamie Horton will be playing George Orwell in “Orwell in America.”

These three professors will be able to mentor the students based on their different perspectives derived from their diverse roles in the company.

The students have appreciated learning from their professors in such an intimate setting. Claire Feuille ’18, another program participant, commented on how ben-

eficial it has been to work alongside professors. “[Horton] is an incredible actor,” Feuille said. “I’ve learned so much from seeing him do a table reading.”

They have also appreciated being treated like true professionals.

Dunne remarked that the program is “taking theory and putting it into practice” for the students. Participant Tess McGuinness ’18 said that the students are given a lot of responsibility.

“They have thrown us into this professional environment to see how we thrive,” she said.

Funding from the Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of Learning and the Leslie Center for the Humanities helps provide students with housing and a stipend.

This allows them to experience the life of a theater professional who is “getting paid and working under union rules,” Dunne said.

In addition to their daily interactions with professionals in the company, the students will also benefit from formal master classes with actors from “Macbeth” and from attending and discussing shows while in New York City. This experience will allow them to understand what they are “getting themselves into” as prospective professional actors,

ROCKIN’ THE GREEN

participant Jackie Pageau ’18 said.

When Dunne started her career as an actress after her college graduation, Dunne said that she was not prepared for the world of professional theater, particularly because there is no clear path to a career in the arts.

“You need to find people who can open doors for you,” Dunne said.

“That is what we hope the program will do.”

Furthermore, the students’ work this term will make them eligible for 11 of the 50 “equity points” needed to gain a union card, one of the biggest obstacles for newlygraduated actors, Feuille said. The students in the program are grateful for how supportive Dartmouth is being towards their growth as theater professionals.

“For theater, you need a special kind of education, and Dartmouth is making sure we get that,” Ogden said. “This is one of the most competitive and unpredictable fields.”

Apart from the Dartmouth professors, each student has a different mentor and role within the company, taking the lead on projects throughout the organization. All five students have an interest in pursuing a professional acting career in the future but are enjoying the com-

prehensive view of how a regional theater functions, provided by the internship, Ogden said.

Ogden is the only student who will not travel to New York City in October for the production of “Orwell in America” because she is acting in the local “Macbeth” production. The other students’ projects range from being an assistant stage manager like Lela Gannon ’18 to redesigning and updating the company’s artist database and writing context pieces for performance programs like Feuille. Pageau is helping create and facilitate an adult learning class centered on the company’s production of “Macbeth.” McGuinness’ work has focused on promoting the company’s 2017-2018 season by writing role descriptions and marketing blurbs. She is also organizing preand post-performance discussions, which she will help moderate.

Hackett applauded Northern Stage’s commitment to education and hopes that the program will be able to continue in the future, particularly because it functions as an experiential learning term.

“We are all super grateful — it has already been an incredible learning experience, and it’s only been two weeks!” Pageau said.

THROWN FOR A LOOP

SEAMORE ZHU/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

The Mowgli’s performed on the Green this past Friday as part of the house communities kick-off event.

SEAMORE ZHU/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Students participated in an interactive Bandaloop workshop last week.