The Dartmouth 01/27/15

VOL. CLXXII NO. 16

TUESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2015

HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Englishdepartment seekstofillnew professorpositions

SNOW HIGH 16 LOW 11

By ERIN LEE

The Dartmouth Staff

ELIZA MCDONOUGH/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

SPORTS

MEN’S BASKETBALL DEFEATS HARVARD PAGE 8

The English department, hosted in Sanborn House, is looking to hire three new professors.

RENDLEMAN: WRITING THE STRESS AWAY PAGE 4

ARTS

25 DARTMOUTH IDOL SEMIFINALISTS PAGE 5

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SEE ENGLISH PAGE 2

Tuck consulting group helps Upper Valley businesses

B y EMILIA BALDWIN OPINION

The English department is nearing the conclusion of three searches for assistant professor positions with a tenure track, an unusually high number of simultaneous recruiting efforts from the department, associate dean of the faculty and art history professor Adrian Randolph said in an email.

The searches are part of the regular cycle of departments replenishing their faculty, he said, but added that the need for hiring is partially due to the fact that several of

The Dartmouth Staff

Students at the Tuck School of Business have been using their classroom and work experiences to contribute to the Upper Valley community through a consulting club, Tuck Student Consulting Services.

The club, designed to provide Tuck students with real-world experience

in consulting, has been helping various companies and non-profits throughout the area, such as Carrie Cahill Mulligan’s Heirloom Handknit Hats, non-profit Positive Tracks and workforce development program WorkReadyNH. In total, the program works with 10 to 20 businesses per year, with each project being 40 to 60 hours in scope.

The program trains Tuck students

who wish to work, or who already have worked, in the consulting industry, as well as to provide an opportunity for Tuck students to give back to the community. The club contributes pro-bono advice to participating companies. Around 20 to 40 percent of each class participates in the program, which has a competitive application process, TSCS co-chair Annu Kayastha Tu’15 said.

College rankings proposal met with mixed reactions

B y KATIE RAFTER The Dartmouth Staff

The Obama administration recently proposed a new college performance ranking system, aiming to define the value and utility of different colleges based on a set of three key principles: access, affordability and outcomes, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Many college students and professionals have expressed critical opinions on the metrics of the proposed system.

The U.S. Department of Education defines access as the number of stu-

dents receiving Pell Grants or financial aid at the school. Affordability takes into account the price of universities and amount of debt students are left with upon graduation, while outcomes includes degrees awarded and transfer rates, as well as the rate of employment post-graduation.

Barry Toiv, the vice president for public affairs at the Association of American Universities said that the U.S. administration’s system seems to have a good understanding of how to evaluate the college career as a whole.

SEE RANKINGS PAGE 3

Kayastha said that there are many different benefits to participating in the program.

“This organization is open to everyone who wants to do it for volunteer purposes, leadership opportunities and anyone who is interested in consulting,” she said. “I used it for all three and it helped with my consulting SEE TUCK PAGE 5

PREPARE FOR FLAIR

JULIETTA GERVASE/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Relay for Life prepares to sell flair as part of the winter kick-off event.

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

PAGE 2

DAily debriefing Gov. Maggie Hassan D-N.H. declared a state of emergency on Monday evening as a snowstorm expected to cause heavy snowfall and strong winds moved toward the state, the Weather Channel reported. The state government will be closed on Tuesday, other than personnel essential to health, safety or storm response. Hassan encouraged local governments and private companies to follow suit, and for state residents to prepare to stay home for one to two days and keep off the roads. While the state does not expect widespread power outages, extra response crews will be on standby on Tuesday. A winter storm warning is in effect for most of the state, including Hanover, beginning Monday night and in effect until the early hours of Wednesday morning, according to the National Weather Service.

During a winter storm warning, a storm is “imminent or occurring,” and area residents are encouraged to return home and exercise caution. The National Weather Service predicted one to two inches of snow overnight, followed by six to 10 additional inches of snowfall Tuesday and one to three more inches Tuesday night. The forecast also predicts windchill values as low as -3 degrees Fahrenheit and wind gusts up to 25 mph during the day Tuesday. College Provost Carolyn Dever said Dartmouth would be “fully operational” Tuesday in an email to campus on Monday evening, noting that if the situation changed, the College community would be notified by email, local broadcast media and the College’s website.

Former New Hampshire governor John Lynch DN.H. received the Robert Frost Contemporary American Award at a ceremony in Manchester yesterday, the Concord Monitor reported. The award, created by Plymouth State University in 1970 in memory of Robert Frost, the noted New England poet, is given each year to a New Englander who embodies Frost’s commitment to individuality, hard work, humanitarianism and devotion to northern New England. Lynch, a Democrat, served as New Hampshire’s governor for eight years from 2005 to 2013. Larry Lucchino, the president and chief executive officer of the Boston Red Sox baseball team, presented Lynch with the award.

All proceeds from the ceremony will go to scholarships at Plymouth State for New Hampshire students through the university’s Alumni Association Endowed Scholarship Fund.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2015

English department looking to hire FROM ENGLISH PAGE 1

the department’s faculty members have retired in the past several years.

The department is currently in the midst of the campus visit cycle, which is the final round of the hiring process, English professor and search committee member Alysia Garrison said. This past fall, the department issued a broad call for applications for three junior positions in three different subfields: fiction, hemispheric literatures and global Anglophone literature and/ or postcolonial studies.

The English department is increasing exposure to hemispheric studies topics in its curriculum and searching for individuals specializing in the field, Garrison said. She added that the two other positions opened to fill departures.

“We’re expanding our junior faculty ranks and trying to grow as broad and vibrant in the department as we can,” Garrison said.

In the arts and humanities departments, searches are generally initiated in the fall and continue through the winter, Randolph said.

The new faculty take up their positions in the summer and prepare to teach the following fall term.

Each search is run by a different committee of three people, comprised of junior and senior faculty members from the department, Garrison said. English professor Cynthia Huntington is chairing the fiction recruiting committee; English professor Donald Pease chairs hemispheric literature and English professor and department chair Patricia McKee led global

Anglophone.

English department chair Patricia McKee confirmed that the searches are progressing, but declined to comment further to avoid compromising the ongoing process.

Once a committee reads through the hundreds of applications received, they narrow the pool to 30 to 40 applicants and request writing samples and letters of recommendation, Garrison said. Each committee selects 12 candidates to interview at the Modern Language Association’s annual convention, which this year was located in Vancouver, British Columbia from Jan. 7 to 11, she said.

For each search, three candidates are brought back to campus for a day and a half to give presentations to the full department on their research and teaching pedagogy and meet with faculty and students, she said. The department deliberates and makes its offer soon after the campus visits conclude.

“We want to work off our initial impressions because they’re very striking and memory will fade as time passes,” Garrison said. “We try to meet immediately after all three candidates have visited and make a decision.”

English major Noah Smith ’15 said one of the features that distinguishes Dartmouth professors is their willingness to spend time outside of class with students.

“Professors have been interested and are always willing to speak with me about my interests,” he said. “I learn better from people when I can move beyond the pedagogical

paradigm. I still have meetings with four or five other faculty besides my thesis advisor who are just interested in advising me on my project.”

English major Emily Kochman ’15 said that the community in the English department feels small and supportive.

“Professors have a genuine desire to connect with students on an academic and personal level,” she said.

“Genuine interest in a student’s wellbeing and a student’s success really makes a difference, just because of how small the school is. They really want you to succeed.”

Kochman said that her sense of the hiring situation is that the department is trying to fill spaces where they currently do not have faculty in certain concentrations. She does not believe there has been a lot of turnover and said the department is trying to accommodate the number of students interested in English classes.

In 2014, 61 students graduated with a major in English, a number generally consistent with previous years, according to the College Fact Book.

English major Mac Simonson ’16 said that finding a mentor within the department can take some effort, but the range of specializations within the department is broad.

“If you have a subject you’re interested in, you can find a professor or two that shares your interest,” he said. “Or you can find that you end up being really interested in something else because you like the professor a lot and they’re good at what they do.”

NEWS FLASH

Hanover is considering installing video security cameras at its three reservoirs and additional fencing at its wastewater reclamation center in as the Department of Safety declared the sites are vulnerable to tampering, the Valley News reported today. The proposals stem from state reviews of “critical facilities” across New Hampshire deemed potentially “high risk.” The state is now offerring Hanover $12,500 to install security cameras that the town could monitor. Town manager Julia Griffin said that the town’s open reservoirs are a potential hotspot for terrorist attacks due to their currently unguarded nature. The town hopes to finance the project through grants rather than increased taxes or other funding sources. A public hearing was held by the Selectboard on Monday night over the matter.

— COMPILED BY PARKER RICHARDS

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

ANNIE DUNCAN/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

A News Channel 5 van drove around outside the Rauner Special Collections Library.

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

TUESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2015

PAGE 3

Students, professionals question methodology of rankings FROM RANKINGS PAGE 1

Tim Powers, the director of accountability and regulatory issues at the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities echoed that it is always a positive thing when the U.S. administration wants to increase transparency and accountability.

The U.S. Department of Education has not yet developed specific metrics that will be used to compare colleges, and both Toiv and Powers said that the successfulness of the proposed system depends on the way in which the metrics are developed.

“The notion of rating universities seems like an unhelpful concept considering the complexity of these institutions and the varying needs of students,” Toiv said.

Powers echoed Toiv, saying that when U.S. Department of Education starts to compare the value of different types of institutions with diverse missions, it can cause issues.

“When the federal government attempts to define value, you’re going to have some institutions that might be really good at maintaining their missions but might otherwise not fit into the value that the government has defined,” he said.

Powers said that information released by the Department of Education about their methods is too vague to predict the impact that the new ranking system might have on universities around the country and prospective students.

“In terms of this philosophy, it sets a dangerous precedent and may have unintended consequences,” Powers said.

For example, prospective students might be dissuaded from applying to a school that could be an excellent fit for them based on

“The notion of rating universities seems like an unhelpful concept considering the complexity of these institutions and the varying needs of students.”

- barry toiv, vice president for public affairs at the association of american universities

the metrics chosen by the administration, he said.

He said that while students and families should have all the information to make an informed choice, the way that the government might rank a college cannot possibly capture the value of each institution.

Government professor Linda Fowler said that this kind of ranking system can not account for the

huge variation that exists in higher education in the United States.

Fowler said that there are a variety of different kinds of higher education institutions, and that it is hard to come up with “a one size fits all” model for evaluating schools.

“I find it hard to believe that this is going to turn out to be more useful that the [U.S. News & World Report] ratings,” Fowler said.

She said it is valid to consider graduation rates and the number of students on financial aid that graduate, but trying to apply a common method of comparison seems unrealistic.

“A lot of schools have populations with students who are not prepared for college and have families and second jobs, and it isn’t reasonable to expect that they would have the same graduation rate as wealthy liberal arts colleges with a lot of financial aid available,” Fowler said.

She said that the proposed metrics may be so broad that they are meaningless and may create an incentive for schools to alter their policies in order to rank higher. For example, schools with low graduation rates might alter their graduation criteria in order to increase their ranking.

Chegg — a company targeted at aiding prospective and current college students with a variety of services ­— carried out a survey on the proposed Federal College Ratings system, revealing students’ opinions and recommendations.

Prospective students would be

interested in seeing how satisfied current students feel at their respective schools, Chegg’s vice president of communications Usher Lieberman said in an email, although there are currently no plans to include this in the U.S. Department of Education’s proposal.

“According to our students, the ratings will likely be seen as another data point in the students’ decision-making process and not the primary vehicle by which students decide which schools to apply to and attend,” he added.

Jake Greenberg ’17 said that the U.S. administration’s proposed ranking system should require more factors emphasizing the school’s academic prestige on top

of the three principles.

Other Dartmouth students expressed mixed opinions on current college ranking methods.

Kathryn Sachs ’18 said that some current college ranking methods are based heavily on outside professor perceptions of the university, which tend to favor research institutions rather than universities with an emphasis on the undergraduate education.

Kyra Maxwell ’18 also said that undergraduate teaching should be emphasized in ranking methods.

“I think its important to place value on the emphasis put on students,” she said. “There are schools that are carrying out amazing research but don’t have great teaching.”

SNOW-DENT ASSEMBLY

CUE THE LIGHTS

ANNIE DUNCAN/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Snow is gathered on the Green in preparation for the Winter Carnival sculpture.

ANNIE DUNCAN/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Students gather for a late-night game of pool in 8 Ball Hall in the Collis student center.

THE DARTMOUTH OPINION

PAGE 4

Staff Columnist Vivien RendLEman ’16

CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST ZIQIN YUAN ’18

Writing the Stress Away

A Word of Difference

More students should take the time to write down their thoughts.

Like many, I make New Year’s resolutions each year, and — like many — I rarely ever keep them. Only eight percent of Americans stuck to their resolutions in 2014, and, sadly, I was part of the 92 percent who postponed their goals for another year. In spite of this failure, I still find the process of making resolutions constructive.

I have a written record for each year of what I found lacking in my life. Be it a want for more sleep or time with friends, the records of my shortcomings have — over the years — shown shifts in my values. Reading and reflecting on past resolutions gives me a distinct perspective on my annual mental state that helps me improve, even if I’m not actually successful in fulfilling my resolutions. If more Dartmouth students engaged in this sort of self-reflection, I think this school would be much happier.

Even more effective than tracking past New Year’s resolutions is keeping a journal. The benefits of “expressive writing” include better memory, improved health and even reduced mood disorder. A recent New York Times article, titled “Writing Your Way to Happiness,” detailed the scientific studies that led to these conclusions.

To quote the article, writing down your personal thoughts to alleviate stress and anxiety at the end of the day is no longer “self-help nonsense.” The benefits of journaling are grounded in research.

As someone who has kept a journal on and off for the past five years, this research doesn’t surprise me. The memory boost one gets from recording daily life is perhaps the most obvious result. Parceling through the events of a day can save some real gems of memories from being lost into the vague heaps of weeks on end. This is why I first began to journal. After reading enough of Shakespeare’s sonnets, many of which suggest that memories can only withstand “the wreckful siege of batt’ring days” when preserved, fossillike, in “black ink,” I was prompted to write for fear of forgetting all of high school.

While I can’t say in concrete terms how much recording the day-to-day of my high school career improved my memory, it undoubtedly changed the way I think about everyday life. I like to believe that intentionally thinking about

the small events in my life has led me to experience more “moments of being” — the moments Virginia Woolf envisioned as when an individual recognizes his or her everyday action as a part of the larger, connected world. The mundane becomes imbued with intense meaning, which can certainly make walking across the Green in subzero temperatures a little more exciting.

Seeing my life in writing — even if it is just a quick jot about how cold my hands got one evening — seems to make it less meaningless.

It’s there, it’s preserved and it’s eventually going to fill my notebook.

Another benefit of keeping my own journal — one based less on the authors I read in high school — has been lower stress levels. Recording my worries allows me to more easily identify and track their causes. Once I know the cause of my worry, I can go about fixing it. The Times article likened this process, one I’ve experienced firsthand, to editing one’s perception of his or her life. Humans err, and sometimes they misplace the blame. When an individual records his or her “personal narrative,” though, it becomes easier to correctly identify obstacles and the sources of one’s anxieties. With our fast-paced academic terms, it is easy to feel overwhelmed by all the stressors we experience. If we were more thoughtful about identifying and addressing them, I believe we would find life at Dartmouth much more manageable.

Indeed, few would dispute that students here are a stress-prone bunch. In large part, I think this stems from the fact that we’re not a self-reflection-prone bunch. Turning inward and examining one’s deepest thoughts — motives and fears, hopes and frustrations — is an act of vulnerability. It’s also an act of self-realization and ultimately self-care — you can’t fix yourself if you don’t know what’s wrong. It may seem difficult at first to fit writing your thoughts in a journal into your day, especially when it’s already midnight and you have to wake up at six. While it may at first seem arduous or time-consuming to record your thoughts each day, it pays off in the long run. Write daily. Make it your 21 Day Challenge. It’s one resolution you’ll want to keep.

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2015

NEWS EDITOR: Sara McGahan, LAYOUT EDITOR: Morven Chin, TEMPLATING EDITOR: Sam Heath, COPY EDITOR: Maggie Baird.

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.

We should consider the impact our words have on how we feel and think.

Connotations matter. We are continually reminded of the importance of word choice — by our English teachers who distinguish between “slender” and “skinny,” by our parents who scold us for cursing, by our friends whom we argue with over misunderstandings. But knowing that, we still exaggerate. We say that we’re “bored to death” when we’re studying or that we’re “devastated” when we missed an assignment. While there may be some who experience true feelings of devastation, for most, this is not the case. Hyperbolic statements can even be dangerous, altering how we perceive ourselves, how we see the world and how we look at the future.

Many studies have focused on how language affects the way we interpret our surroundings. An Aug. 2010 New York Times article cited a study showing that the words we have in our native language inform how we orient ourselves, how we see objects and even how we store memories.

People from cultures that communicate directions geocentrically — in terms of north, south, east and west — for example, think and see differently than people from cultures that communicate directions egocentrically — in terms of in front, behind, right and left. Evidently, the vocabulary that we use, often with little awareness, deeply influences how we process information.

The words we use and the emotional response they elicit also play a large role in our judgment.

In 1974, researchers Elizabeth Loftus and John Palmer published a study called “Reconstruction of Automobile Destruction: An Example of the Interaction Between Language and Memory,” in which they described a car accident with various verbs — smashed, collided, bumped, hit and contacted — and asked students to estimate how fast the cars were going when the accident occurred.

When researchers said the cars “contacted” each other, the students estimated, on average, that the vehicles were going 31.8 mph. When asked the same question, but with the word “smashed” instead of “contacted,” however, students estimated the vehicles were going at an average of 40.5 mph — a significant difference. A change in just one word has a clear effect on how we visualize a situation.

Understanding the importance of a word’s connotations is, of course, no new idea. For millennia, skilled orators, from Socrates to President Obama, have been using word choice to influence how we think. Advertisers routinely manipulate words — they know that people are more likely to buy cleaning products that kill “99.9 percent of germs” than cleaning products that are merely “antibacterial.” As long as humans have had language, there has been the possibility of winning others over by selectively choosing certain phrases.

If something as simple as word choice can profoundly change how we see things, why don’t we manipulate it more to benefit ourselves?

The most relevant example for students may be the idea of “midterms.” Most classes will have multiple “midterms” in a term, completely defying the definition of the word — a test given in the middle of the term. The word “midterm” has a much more stressful connotation, inherently implying that you have only one chance to do well. For most people, it is connected to negative memories — think back to high school when midterms required anxiety-inducing preparation and midterm grades were weighted more heavily than usual tests. To most students, in college or otherwise, the word “midterm” instills a much more dreadful feeling than simply “test.”

We should start calling midterms by their proper name — tests. The word “test” is not as loaded as the word “midterm.” It sounds like a less overwhelming task, and it’s more accurate.

Ultimately, most of our tests are not midterms, and calling them such, especially when they don’t occur anywhere near the middle of the term, adds an unnecessary sense of panic to our academic lives.

There are plenty of other linguistic choices beyond just “midterm” that we should reexamine.

Why not call a “failure” a setback? Why not talk about “the worst day ever” as a rough day? The takeaway is clear — we can change how we look at the world by changing how we describe the world. Choosing our words wisely has the power to make our outlook more upbeat, boosting our motivation while reducing stress.

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

TUESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2015

Local businesses benefit from Tuck consulting

suggestion made by TSCS was for Mulligan to increase the price to $275 per hat. interviews.”

Vincent Accurso ’06 Tu’16 said “They said that the type of person he appreciated the opportunity to who spends $250 will probably spend help various businesses. He said the $275, which is true,” Mulligan said. program is set up such that students “It’s not that big of a difference.” apply to the program in the fall, then She said that she had not heard are assigned to a consulting group from the consultants recently, but attributed that is specific the recent lack to a company in “Tuck is in our of communicathe region. tion to heavy “It really al- backyard, it only recruitment lows you to build made sense to reach job during the past a relationship few months. She with people in out to Tuck and the said her experithe area,” he College to help our ence with the said. consultants has Accurso was mission.” been beyond assigned to help positive, as they Canaan, New - nini meyer, founder have forced her Hampshire, to reevaluate her resident Carrie and director of business model.

Cahill Mulli- positive tracks Posigan, who owns tive Tracks and a niche business WorkReadyNH selling heirloom hand-knit hats that is trying to grow are two non-profit organizations that have used TSCS. Positive Tracks in scale.

“They made me question: what was founded in 2009 by Nini Meyer makes my business special?” Mulli- to raise money for a nine-year-old gan said. “I hadn’t really considered leukemia patient named Cameron what I appreciated about my busi- Marshall. The organization holds ness, or what I really wanted from fundraising athletic events and gives it, so they’ve really had me question the proceeds to various causes. Their events have spanned 35 states and that.”

Prior to her work with TSCS, four countries, and they raised nearly Mulligan sold her high-end felt hats $4 million in 2014 alone. Meyer at various New England craft fairs. reached out to TSCS to help her Her hats, which go from $135 to non-profit receive a $1 million grant. $250 each, are intended for a high- “We haven’t landed the deal paying consumer, she said. One yet, but Tuck has helped us make a

PAGE 5

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list of the best potential corporate partners,” Meyer said. “Basically, they’re helping us present ourselves in the best possible way to potential donors.”

She explained the importance of pro-bono work in the non-profit

GABRIEL KIRLEW/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

The Tuck Student Consulting Group advises businesses throughout the Upper Valley.

sector, since she would have had to pay for five consultants had she not utilized Tuck as a resource.

“Tuck is in our backyard, it only made sense to reach out to Tuck and the College to help our mission,” she said.

She added that she would recommend the program to any business in the Upper Valley.

“The [consultants] were enthusiastic from the get-go, and were full of ideas,” she said. “A lot of the guys have already worked in consulting before business school, so they really

know what they are talking about.”

Martha Mott, program director of WorkReadyNH, a tuition-free workforce development program under the Community College System of New Hampshire, also said her work has benefitted enormously from TSCS. Her hope is to fill all of the available spots in the program, since only half of the available spots have so far been filled. TSCS’s main suggestion for Mott is to build a social media presence, since in the past the organization has depended solely on print advertising.

PAGE 6

DARTMOUTH EVENTS

THE DARTMOUTH COMICS

“Politics As Usual”

TUESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2015

Matthew Goldstein ’18

TODAY 12:00 p.m.

“A Better Life” (2011), film viewing sponsored by Institutional Diversity & Equity, Blunt Alumni Center 324

5:00 p.m.

“Exposed Spine-Making — Making a Book with Stitching on the Spine,” book arts workshop, Baker Library, Room 21

7:00 p.m.

“EYEWASH: JO DERY,” screening and performance series, Black Family Visual Arts Center 001

TOMORROW All Day “Exhibition: Zenovia Toloudi,” art exhibit, Strauss Gallery, Hopkins Center

4:30 p.m.

“In Conversation with Jake Sullivan,” Dickey Center lecture, Haldeman 41

6:00 p.m.

“Voxmasters: Dealing with Distractions,” public speaking workshop, Rockefeller Center, Class of 1930 Room

ADVERTISING For advertising information, please call (603) 646-2600 or email info@thedartmouth. com. The advertising deadline is noon, two days before publication. We reserve the right to refuse any advertisement. Opinions expressed in advertisements do not necessarily reflect those of The Dartmouth, Inc. or its officers, employees and agents.

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THE DARTMOUTH ARTS

TUESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2015

PAGE 7

Twenty-five semifinalists advance in Dartmouth Idol

B y kourtney kawano The Dartmouth Staff

After a lengthy six-hour audition process and an even longer, nerve-racking deliberation period, the stage is set for the semifinals of the eighth annual Dartmouth Idol competition, which will be hosted in Spaulding Auditorium on Feb. 3 at 7 p.m.

In the opening round of competition last Sunday and early Monday, 70 undergraduate contestants flocked to Faulkner Recital Hall from 12 to 6 p.m. While the audition process for the popular reality television show “American Idol,” on which the competition is based, allows millions to view tryouts, auditions for Dartmouth Idol are intentionally a private affair. Only the panel of four judges — comprised of Dartmouth Idol founder and music director Walt Cunningham, production staff members Joshua Kol ’93, Kaitlyn Sheehan ’09 and vocal coach Janet Salter — were permitted in the audition room and given the sole responsibility of narrowing the field of 70 contestants to 25 semifinalists. Last year’s competition had 30 semifinalists.

Although still a competition, Cunningham said that Dartmouth Idol is an event that encourages diversity and musical interaction among the collective student body.

The main goal of “Idol,” Cunningham said, is to find the talent that exists on campus and create opportunities for those students.

“Every year, I’m just so pleasantly shocked of the gifts that exist,” he said. “The biggest thing for students is to let us know that you’re out there.”

Salter, who was also a judge for Dartmouth Idol in 2012, echoed Cunningham’s statements.

“When we find that star, sometimes it can change a person’s life perspective for the better,” she said.

“This event can really have a huge impact for the contestants.”

It was not until Monday afternoon that the judges had narrowed the pool of contestants to the 25 who would move on.

For their audition, contestants were asked to memorize and perform a cappella one verse and the chorus of song from any genre.

Students could also perform an original song for the judges if they so desired. Neither were to exceed

five minutes. This format gave the contestants the creative freedom to showcase their talents in a comfortable setting before testing their adaptation skills in the later rounds.

The panel of judges determined who would move on to the semifinal round based on each contes-

“Every year, I’m just so pleasantly shocked of the gifts that exist.”

-Walt cunningham, founder and music director of Dartmouth Idol

tant’s vocal abilities, musicality and overall performance. These parameters ensure that the individual not only sings with superb rhythm and phrasing but also commands the stage with confidence.

Of the 25 semifinalists, 10 represent the Class of 2015, two are juniors, nine are sophomores and

four are freshmen. This year’s semis will feature 11 experienced contestants who have already competed in past performances of Dartmouth Idol. Semifinalist Jeremy Whitaker ’15 placed third in 2013 and made it to the second round in 2014. Jamie Mercado ’15, Katelyn Onufrey ’15, David Clossey ’16 and Latika Sridhar ’16 will also make their third consecutive appearance as semifinalists next week. For 13 contestants, however, this will be a new and potentially thrilling experience altogether, as for some this may be the first time singing in front of a large crowd.

Jessica Kocan ’18 — a first-time semifinalist who auditioned with Scottish singer. Emeli Sandé’s “Read All About It” (2011) — is looking forward to pushing herself out of her comfort zone.

“I’m ecstatic and really thankful to have this opportunity,” Kocan said.

The semifinalists have just under a week to prepare for the second round, which consists of performing a song chosen from a karaoke list in front of a live audience.

Like “American Idol,” the semifinal round will feature an

interactive judging process where each contestant’s score is an equally weighted combination of the judges’ scores and audience votes. As a result, only six finalists will move on to the third and final round.

Joining Sheehan — a finalist in the 2009 Dartmouth Idol competition — in the judges’ panel for the semi-final round will be vocal coach and former Dartmouth glee club member Elizabeth Roberts ’00 and two other judges who have yet to be determined from the pool of applicants.

The winner of Dartmouth Idol receives a $500 prize and the opportunity to record a two-song demo. The second and third place winners will receive $250 and $100, respectively.

Dartmouth Idol is sponsored by the Hopkins Center for the Arts and the Office of the Provost.

Tickets to the semi-finals will cost $10 to the public and $5 to Dartmouth students. The 2015 Dartmouth Idol finals will be held in Spaulding Auditorium on March 6 at 8 p.m. Tickets will cost between $15 for regular admission and $5 for College students.

Beyond the Bubble: Don’t forget printed books

B y Andrea Nease The Dartmouth Staff

A forgotten art and declining practice, bookbinding is not given the same consideration that it once was now that the age of technology has equipped consumers with the e-book.

Factory-bound books, let alone handbound books, are no longer a reader’s most convenient option. The practice of bookbinding is on the threshold of demise, and we can only hope that its value as a functional art form will salvage it from the brink.

When I think of books, I think of Barnes & Noble. I think of overpriced hardcovers with glossy book sleeves and flimsy paperbacks stacked neatly on shelves. I, however, am an enthusiast of physical books and often dismiss e-books as indolent imposter.

Despite my personal critical stance on digitized novels, there are many people nowadays who consistently opt for the ease of the e-reader. When told to think of books, they think of their e-book reader at home on the coffee table or their iPad claiming residence in their school bag. But what kind of experience does a media file really offer?

Can you sniff the distinct smell of a newly bound book? Can you feel the rugged texture of an old book’s pages between your fingers? No, you get a screen that never changes size or color or smell. While you may enjoy the convenience of e-reading, in reality, you are missing a tradition of the past that

can truly be considered an art form.

A book’s title page used to boast enamels, jewels and ivory embellishments. Now a book’s title page is a glossy pdf image, easily dismissed with a single swipe across the screen. It holds such limited significance and requires such minimal effort it barely holds any resemblance to its ancestors.

Bookbinding is a 2,000-year-old practice with a rich history of cultural importance and symbolism. Predating the decline of bound books, covers were utilized as canvases while pages were treated with individual care. Bookbinders were trained through apprenticeship, which cultivated the artistic skill necessary to cleanly bind pages of papyrus or, eventually, paper.

Prior to the 1400s, books in Europe were not only bound individually without the aid of a machine, but each book’s text was transcribed by hand and typically flaunted embellished initials and page illustrations that were a true testament to a book’s artistic value.

Fortunately, the printing press did not diminish the usage of in-text decorations.

Even after the invention of the printing press, books continued to be bound by hand. The artist’s hand lost visibility in the 19th century when the high demand for books pushed for the commercialization of binding, which then became the primary method.

Hand bookbinding still thrived in a niche market after the mechanization

of the process and, in a way, factorybound books still held close the values of tradition. Although the average reader no longer experienced the personal touch of a hand-bound book, many factory-printed books offered inspiring covers that matured into a new form of literary art.

Cover designs grew with the times, and even in the modern age offered talented illustrations of the book’s contents. Physical books still hold claim to this asset today, whereas e-books cannot offer the same experience. It is a similar idea to seeing a Google image of a famous painting versus seeing that painting in person.

A physical book is the beauty of historical innovation packed into a very convenient form. By digitizing the world of books entirely, publishers are removing one more physical connection from our lives. While I don’t believe that binding books by hand would be a wise decision, I do hope e-books never fully replace the physical.

E-books offer the benefits of convenience, inexpensiveness and economized space. They do have a place in our world, but physical books will always be superior to me. I understand reading a calculus textbook off an iPad for ease, but reading novels by Tolstoy, Austen and Wolfe would not have the same feeling if read in the iBooks app.

There is a reason old books are treasured, and it concerns me that each year e-books climb the sales chart,

threatening to outsell physical books ever since the release of Amazon’s Kindle in 2007. Headlines such as “E-books to Outsell Print by 2018” do not surprise me, but they do worry me. If people do not realize the value of print, let alone the artistic quality of print’s history, then e-books may very well take over.

A study released by Pricewaterhouse Coopers last summer said that the ebook market will increase from £380 million to £1 billion by 2018, while sales of printed books will fall by around a third.

Despite their predictions, I have faith in print. If museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art or

libraries like Baker-Berry Library keep recognizing the art of bookbinding, print has a chance to survive. Educating our generation on the beauty of binding and the value of books through exhibitions and workshops will only have a positive effect on their attitudes toward print consumption.

Baker-Berry Library offers a variety of workshops on bookbinding, page detailing, letterpress and other print projects. Fully equipped with a letterpress and bindery, studio students have access to hands-on bookbinding.

Offerings such as this are how print will stay alive, because the second we lose sight of the artistic value of books, we may lose sight of print books for good.

JULIETTA GERVASE/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Baker-Berry Library’s printing press allows student to appreciate the printed book.

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS

PAGE 8

SPORTS

TUESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2015

TUESDAY LINEUP

No athletic events scheduled

Dartmouth basketball busts Harvard’s 9-game Ivy win streak

B y ray lu

The Dartmouth Staff

For the first time in six years, the Dartmouth men’s basketball team defeated Harvard University on Saturday, Jan. 24, ending Harvard’s (11-5, 1-1) nine-game win streak over Ivy League competition and Harvard’s 11-game win streak over Dartmouth. Down by 14 points with 13 minutes left to play, Dartmouth (8-8, 1-1) dominated the next 10 minutes of play, going on a 26-2 run and ultimately winning the game 70-61.

“In my four years, it was my first time beating them,” co-captain Gabas Maldunas ’15 said. “It’s my final game against Harvard, and to know that we’re better than them in our last game was really a great feeling.”

A three-pointer by Harvard senior Wesley Saunders put the Crimson up 14 with 13:09 left to play. However, in less than six minutes, the Big Green scored 14 unanswered points, tying up the game at 43.

“We just looked at each other and said, ‘We have a lot of time, let’s just take this one possession at a time,’” co-captain Alex Mitola ’16 said.

Six different players scored points to fuel the run, including Maldunas who put in the game-tying layup.

“The guys off the bench, especially Malik [Gill ’16] and Tommy [Carpenter ’16], did a great job of giving [the start-

ers] a spark,” Maldunas said.

After Dartmouth caught fire, it managed to sustain its high level of play for the rest of the game, shooting 50 percent from the field to Harvard’s 37 percent in the second half.

With 6:39 to go in the second half, Gill was fouled driving to the basket. He managed to stay balanced and sink the layup before tacking on a free throw to convert his and-1 opportunity, giving the Big Green its first lead, 46-45, since late in the first half.

Dartmouth would not relinquish that lead for the rest of the game. Miles Wright ’18, two-for-eight from the field on the night, hit a pair of three-pointers and a free throw — his only points in the game — when it mattered, helping stretch Dartmouth’s lead to 10 with 3:21 left to play.

In closing out the game, Dartmouth maintained control of the lead and converted on its opportunities, exemplified

by Mitola’s 10-for-10 performance from the line in the final minute and a half.

“We just kept putting it on them and finished strong,” Mitola said.

Mitola had a led both teams with 18 points and a 3:1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Gill matched that ratio with six dimes of his own and nine points. Gill and Mitola currently rank third and fourth in the Ivy League in assist-to-turnover ratio, with 2.5 and 2.4 respectively.

Carpenter had eight points and four steals in 14 minutes of playing time,

ANNIE DUNCAN/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Men’s basketball caught fire in the second half to take down Harvard for the first time in six years.

while John Golden ’15 had nine points on four-for-eight shooting. Beyond his game-tying effort, Maldunas chipped in eight points, six boards and three steals.

Dartmouth’s success came from a collective team effort, Maldunas said, and the substitutes played a large role in helping the team regain its focus after falling behind.

Saunders and junior Siyani Chambers were the top scorers for the Crimson with 13 points each. Senior Jonah Travis chipped in nine points off the bench,

including a game-high seven in the first half.

“We had to disrupt Harvard’s rhythm because they are so talented and well-coached,” coach Paul Cormier said in an interview with dartmouthsports. com.

Saturday’s game was a rematch of the Jan. 10 Ivy League opener played at Leede Arena, when the Crimson limited Dartmouth’s offense to 33 percent shooting for the game and won 57-46.

“This time in practice we focused

Squash teams score victories over Bates at home

B y emily wechsler The Dartmouth Staff

The men’s and women’s squash teams came out on top in the first matches of their four-game home stands, as they both scored victories over Bates College at the Berry Squash Courts on Sunday. With decisive 7-2 victories, the No. 7 women (4-4, 0-3) topped No. 15 Bates (6-8), and the No. 11 men (3-5, 0-3) overcame the No. 16 Bobcats (7-7).

Dartmouth’s only losses came at the number one and two spots, showcasing the depth of the team.

“The top of the ladder is really difficult because all the other schools recruit foreign kids that are of a way higher caliber, but the fact that we have a deep team really helps make the bottom of the ladder almost a

weapon,” James Fisch ’16 said.

Dartmouth’s success over Bates came as a result of performing properly and executing its game plan, head coach Hansi Wiens said. “[On Sunday] both teams gave 100 percent,” Wiens said. “They did everything we needed to see.”

The men swept the first round of matches against Bates on Sunday with a three-game win from Kyle Martino ’16 and four game wins from Michael Mistras ’15 and Joshua Renaud ’17.

The men’s team clinched the victory during the second round of matches after Glen Brickman ’17 and Fisch secured wins. “[My opponent] was injured and wasn’t moving too well, so I tried to keep him behind me and make sure that when I put it forward, he would be stretching out as much as

possible,” Fisch said. “It was also hard for him to change directions, so I caught him off guard.”

The final slate of matches saw some of the day’s best play. Mark Funk ‘15 had a four-game victory in which the final game went several points extra. Both of the other matches went for the full five games.

Alexander Greer ’16 fell, but Brian Giegerich ’18 played smart squash to come back and win in five at the end of the day.

“We thought [Greer] would be really pushed, but he played well and changed the pace,” Wiens said.

One area of focus for the squash team in the off-season this year was conditioning, and the team has looked strong in longer matches, Fisch said. “[Fitness] helps at the beginning of the match to come out firing

and ready to work hard, and it also prevents you from getting injured,” Fisch said.

Nicholas Harrington ’17 is currently injured, but Fisch feels that once he recovers, the team could have a shot at a few upsets to bring them into the top eight.

The win for the men ended a three-game losing streak and gives the players some confidence going into difficult matches this weekend against No. 3 Columbia University and No. 7 Cornell University.

The women had a slightly easier road to the win, with five matches ending after three games.

I feel really good about it. I think overall we came in confident and that really showed when we were playing,” Jacqueline Barnes ’17 said.

Madeline Fraser ’17 ended her match with an 11-0 game. Zainab

on our offense and made sure that we really knew our plays,” Maldunas said.

“We knew that we could stop them defensively. We just needed to make sure that our offense was clicking as well.”

The Big Green improved to 95-85 all-time against the Crimson, and Coach Cormier now holds a 13-14 record against Harvard.

The Big Green continues its fivegame road spree this weekend with trips to the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton University.

Molani ’18 had the only five-game match, and she won it after coming back from a 2-1 deficit. “[Molani] pushed hard,” Wiens said. “She struggled a bit in the beginning of the match but she pushed hard and changed her tactics.”

Barns fought hard against a competitive opponent, but ultimately fell in a three-game match. Tori Dewey ’16 offered the only other loss for the Big Green, ending in a four-game defeat.

The men faced Cornell earlier this year at the Ivy Scrimmages and narrowly lost with some important players injured.

The women are also looking forward to facing No. 9 Columbia and No. 6 Cornell this weekend.

Both teams will remain at home this weekend facing Columbia Saturday and Cornell Sunday, all at noon.