The Dartmouth 11/01/16

VOL. CLXXIII NO.141

SUNNY HIGH 52 LOW 39

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2016

HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Clinton support as high Homecoming as 85% among students weekend sees fewer incidents

By DEBORA HYEMIN HAN The Dartmouth Staff

ARTS

THE CAPITOL STEPS PERFORM PAGE 7

ARTS

STUDENTS CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN PAGE 8

ALEXANDER AGADJANIAN/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

By ALEXANDER AGADJANIAN ity, dissatisfaction and The Dartmouth Staff

With the presidential election just one week away, a recent survey conducted

by The Dartmouth found that students overwhelmingly support Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

Despite this near unanim-

ARTS

‘SOUTHSIDE WITH YOU’ REVIEW PAGE 8

Faculty meeting rescheduled

By MIKA JE HOON LEE

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pessimism regarding the election pervades student opinion. The survey also found a sharp split among Republicans, with Clinton, Republican nominee Donald Trump and Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson each pulling 25 percent from this group’s support.

The Dartmouth Staff

The first general faculty meeting of the school year ended in confusion yesterday after it was discovered 90 minutes in that the attendance did not meet the 150-member quorum.

About 70 faculty members attended the meeting, which began with speeches from Provost Carolyn Dever and College President Phil Hanlon.

As the attendees prepared to vote on changes to the “Organization of the Faculty at Dartmouth College,” a document outlining membership and responsibilities of the various faculty committees and councils, the meeting’s third-party parliamentarian Daniel Fitzpatrick pointed out that the meeting should not have been held without quorum and a member of SEE FACULTY PAGE 2

When offered to choose from five different candidate options, 76 percent of voter-eligible students said they would vote for Clinton. Johnson came in second with 8 percent, Trump in third with 5 percent, while 5 percent of SEE VOTE PAGE 5

Although the total number of security reports decreased this Homecoming weekend compared to previous years, the number of first-year students that attempted to touch the bonfire significantly increased, according to Safety and Security director Harry Kinne.

Kinne estimated that around 50 people attempted to touch the bonfire this year. Between 12:01 a.m. Thursday morning and Monday morning, Safety and Security received a total of 42 incident reports, representing a 36 percent decrease from last year’s figure of 66 incidents. Many of these reports were related to alcohol consumption.

Despite the high frequency of attempts to touch the bonfire, Hanover Police lieutenant Scott Rathburn said that the department arrested and charged only one student with a court date.

“Our officers were not getting into foot pursuits with people that touched the fire and ran,” he

noted. “So there may have been more actual people touching the fire.”

Safety and Security is still in the process of identifying individuals who touched the bonfire through video footage, among other means. Kinne said if someone is believed to have touched the fire, then Safety and Security will create a report on that student and forward it to the Office of Judicial Affairs, which subsequently makes a judgment on whether or not the student violated College policy.

Because so many students attempted to approach the fire and one student almost slid into the fire itself, the College and the Hanover Fire Department decided to knock down a part of the bonfire structure. This is something that has not been done in past years, Kinne said.

“We were afraid that there were so many students who were running up to touch it that it would collapse on them, and SEE BONFIRE PAGE 3

Día de los Muertos to start on Wednesday in Baker-Berry

By PAULOMI RAO

The Dartmouth Staff

The annual Día de los Muertos ceremony will kick off on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in Baker-Berry Library.

Considered a celebration of life, the Day of the Dead ceremony will begin with a presentation of the altar. Multiple items will adorn the altar, all of which are placed the purpose of commemorating the lives of those who have passed away.

“We dedicate the specific

altar for the loss of life, but along with that loss of life we are recognizing the celebration of life,” Oscar Cornejo ’17, co-president of La Alianza Latina said. “It’s not supposed to be a mourning. It’s supposed to be a happy, joyous moment.”

The Día de los Muertos ceremony is part of Latinx heritage month. In alignment with other Latinx programming, the ceremony will be specifically dedicated to advocate against police brutality and commemo-

rate the lives lost in the Orlando shooting.

Following the altar inauguration, all community members are invited to participate in a candlelit procession to the Latin American, Latino & Caribbean studies house. As in years past, the procession will stop in front of the LALACS house for a moment of reflection. Individuals often participate to honor a deceased loved one or family member. The celebration will SEE DIA PAGE 2

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

PAGE 2

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2016

Various votes delayed due to low faculty meeting attendance FROM FACULTY PAGE 1

right thing for graduates to thrive in where technology is becoming more the credential committee should advanced.”

After Hanlon’s talk, Dever highhave taken attendance.

The parliamentarian asked lighted the need to retain the core Dever to either immediately gather qualities of Dartmouth’s academic more faculty members to satisfy the curriculum while undertaking new quorum requirement or defer the initiatives.

In January of 2016, the Provost’s meeting.

Dever said there was no temporal Office developed a strategies and urgency to vote, so she postponed priorities process to solicit and fund ideas for academic initiatives from the meeting to another date.

“I’ve been here for more than the Dartmouth community. This 30 years and I have never seen a project resulted in 161 submissions meeting end quite like this,” French from individual faculty members, professor Kathleen Wine said after academic departments and administrative offices, with suggestions the meeting.

The faculty members were sup- ranging from the expansion of the First Year posed to vote Student Enricho n D e a n o f “I’ve been here for ment Program Faculty Affairs to the creation Leslie Hender- more than 30 years of new named son’s proposal and I have never seen professorships to revise the Ora meeting end quite and fellowships. ganization of Dever then met the Faculty of like this.” with deans and Dartmouth Colsenior leaders lege. to discuss col Hender son -KATHLEEN WINE, laborative possirequested in- FRENCH PROFESSOR bilities and with cluding lecturthe Finance and ers in the Geisel Administration School of Medicine’s definition of faculty, indicat- Office to decide how the College ing distinctions in voting status for should allocate its budget to fund different faculty groups and specify- these projects. ing that the one-year termination Over the next decade, Dever said notice pertains to only non-tenured that the Provost’s Office will invest in tenure-track faculty members. She three core areas: faculty and research also asked for the medical school to infrastructure, academic programs be referred to as Geisel in the docu- and residential experience. ment instead of Dartmouth Medical “We are going to enhance the Dartmouth commitment to eduSchool.

Henderson cited a geographi- cational programs that are second cal expansion of teaching faculty, to none,” Dever said, adding that formation of new departments at several opportunities to build on Geisel and reorganization of non- the work of the Moving Dartmouth clinical departments as reasons for Forward Initiative and the housing communities are available. requesting these changes.

Hanlon opened the meeting dis- During a question and answer sescussing the strengths of Dartmouth’s sion following Dever’s presentation, academic program as well as cur- German studies and comparative rent institutional challenges, such literature professor Irene Kacandes as building a diverse and inclusive raised concerns about the lack of campus, preventing harmful student investment in existing projects in the strategies and priorities process. behavior and restructuring Geisel.

He noted that the College should Computer science professor continue providing a rigorous liberal Daniel Rockmore stated that the arts education and sustaining its process should be more specific with commitment to the teacher-scholar the sequencing of the initiatives. model that makes Dartmouth “I think there are a lot of great principles in place, but I also believe unique.

“What we need to do is two that all the planning can’t just be things: teach [students] how to done in ten years,” Rockmore said. harness the power of technology, “There are some things that we but we also need to master things need to do tomorrow. Things move that make them uniquely human, quickly.” beyond technology, such as cre- A specific date for the rescheduled ativity, persuasion and emotional meeting and vote was not decided intelligence,” Hanlon said, adding on at the conclusion of yesterday’s that a liberal arts education is “the meeting.

HOLLYE SWINEHART/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

The first general faculty meeting of the school year was cancelled due to low attendance.

Students organize holiday celebration FROM DIA PAGE 1

continue when individuals enter the LALACS house, where there will be food and dancing.

Cornejo, who has participated in the Día de los Muertos ceremony for the last four years, noted that this year’s celebration was organized a little differently than usual. In the past, the student organization Movimento Estudiantil Chicanx de Aztlán primarily organized the event. After the recent collapse of MEChA, however,La Alianza Latina took over planning the event. Throughout the course of the year, combined student efforts within the Latinx community have kept the event running.

In addition, Patty Mendoza, the new advisor to Latinx students, has shifted the structure of many events, Cornejo said.

“The celebration this year has been much more collaborative and structured in its actual meaning, he added.

“Overall, it’s been a way to celebrate my culture and have a visible celebration of something so often not really understood at Dartmouth.”

This year, La Casa LLC, La Alianza Latina and the Latinx Heritage Month committees have all contributed efforts to help plan and coordinate Día de los Muertos.

Cornejo said that he thinks importance of the celebration is to share and make visible the Latinx culture and community at the College. Even with additional support and excitement from community members this year, a lack of overall understanding is frustrating for Cornejo.

“We were putting up the altar the other day and some people asked if

it was for Cinco de Mayo, which is a completely different thing,” Cornejo said. “It’s not even May, it’s the fall.

Even though it happens to be a Mexican holiday, you just can’t associate it with another Mexican thing.”

Cornejo noted that confusion among Dartmouth community members highlighted the importance of organizing events like El Día de los Muertos to raise awareness.

The placement of the celebration — in the well-traveled and visible corridor between Baker and Berry libraries — is intentional, Cornejo said.

On Tuesday evening, as part of the celebration, the movie “The Book of Life” will be screened in One Wheelock, with community members invited to engage in a discussion of topics of relevant to those celebrated on Día de los Muertos.

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

DIVYA KALIDINDI/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

The Día de Los Muertos display is set up in at Baker-Berry Library

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2016

PAGE 3

More students than usual attempt to touch Friday’s bonfire FROM BONFIRE PAGE 1

LAUREN KIM/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

First-year students ran around the bonfire Homecoming this weekend.

we couldn’t risk that,” he said.

Safety and Security officers, Hanover Police officers and Hanover firefighters were on the scene to monitor the bonfire, as were 10 hired officers from Green Mountain Concert Services. The rainy weather leading up to the event further exacerbated potential liabilities with the fire.

“The bonfire is a wonderful tradition,” Kinne said. “The touching of the fire is something that’s relatively new. It’s unfortunate that people put themselves at risk that way because if someone fell, it would be very difficult to get them out.”

He added that in the event of such a fall, first responders would be forced to go near the fire to rescue individuals.

Aside from incidents related to the bonfire, the overall number of security reports has gone down for the third year in a row — a fact that Kinne attributes to the ban on hard alcohol, an emphasis on first-year safety and the policy that bans firstyear students from entering Greek houses until after Homecoming weekend. Though Kinne said he does not believe that the hard alcohol ban has eliminated issues related to alcohol on campus, he has noticed

a decrease in highly intoxicated students.

“Even if students have a tendency to want to drink hard alcohol and are

drinking it, I speculate they are drinking it in more moderation because of the fact that it is prohibited,” he said.

THE DARTMOUTH OPINION

PAGE 4

STAFF COLUMNIST JINSUNG BACH ’17

STAFF COLUMNIST MERCEDES DE GUARDIOLA ’17

The Dissenting Opinion

Let’s Build Community

The Editorial Board’s endorsement of Clinton overlooks her flaws.

On Oct. 21, the Dartmouth Editorial Board voiced its endorsement of Hillary Clinton for President of the United States. I do not share my colleagues’ enthusiasm for the Democratic nominee. I am instead among the plurality of Americans that reserves a deep skepticism for both major party candidates, and I cannot overlook the many questions surrounding Clinton’s credibility as a leader. No matter how innately flawed her Republican counterpart might be, I find Donald Trump’s failings an ill excuse for Clinton’s own shortcomings.

I believe it is dangerous to look at a Clinton presidency through rose-tinted glasses. The messianic image that so many project upon Clinton — indeed, upon the entire Democratic Party — is not conducive to a thorough understanding of the person we are poised to elect as our next president. Whether Clinton really is our best choice for the presidency is irrelevant. If we choose to elect Clinton as the leader of the Free World, then we must do so knowing all her qualities, the bad as well as the good.

Over the course of this tumultuous election season, scandal after scandal has plagued Clinton’s campaign. As of press time, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has renewed its investigation into Clinton’s email controversy in light of new evidence from the Anthony Weiner scandal. This follows allegations of criminal conflicts of interests between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department, to speak nothing of the Democratic National Convention’s blatant undermining of Vermont Bernie Sanders’ campaign. Put together, the information presented to the American people paints an unflattering picture of Clinton, marred by double standards and underhanded trickery.

The Editorial Board’s endorsement calls these criticisms “unfounded and unfair” and asks the reader to overlook them in favor of her many years of public service. I say this is too much to ask of the American people, given the importance of upholding our nation’s ideals with integrity. Even if this behavior did not warrant criminal charges, it erodes most of the legitimacy she might have had as president.

Her legacy would be one of endless doubts as

people continually question her motivations and honesty, leaving her with no mandate to govern. As Clinton herself has so clearly emphasized, it is essential that America’s word be credible. Do the same standards not apply to America’s leaders?

Integrity aside, we have reason to be wary of Clinton’s policy positions. She has enticed many young voters with pledges of debt-free college and expanded entitlements, but she has said comparatively little about exactly how to carry through with these promises. Her platform runs on the promise to tax high-income individuals and corporations more heavily to finance her vision, but she fails to properly answer concerns that such taxes could adversely affect investment and entrepreneurship. I share the grave concern many Americans have that Clinton’s policies represent governmental overreach into many civil liberties, from gun control to mass surveillance of U.S. citizens.

A strong résumé of public service alone does not, as the Editorial Board suggests, a President of the United States make. The presidency requires a communion of faith with the people, born from a mutual trust that they can forge a better America together. Instead, there is a prevailing perception that Clinton places herself above the common American. Her struggle to inspire confidence in many voters reflects their resentment towards her, many of whom seem to feel like pawns in her agenda.

No matter how much she tells the people that she is working in their best interests, the people will not truly accept her as their leader if she cannot command their respect.

Nonetheless, my criticism of Clinton should not be construed as an instruction to vote for another candidate. My only intention is to complement what the Editorial Board has written, in the hopes that the reader will have a clearer picture of Clinton as a candidate. If the reader truly believes that Clinton is the best choice for America, then he or she should by all means vote for her. A democracy means little if one can’t act on one’s own beliefs. Regardless, any position worth having is a position worth questioning to the last drop, and I hope the reader will take into consideration the other side and its respective concerns as well.

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ISSUE

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2016

NEWS EDITOR: Daniel Kim, NEWS LAYOUT: Sungil Ahn, TEMPLATING EDITOR: Jaclyn Eagle COPY EDITOR: Daniela Armas

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 need to talk about ways we can build a better sense of community.

Despite being here for three years now, hosted in these spaces tend to be huge parthe first and only time I have participated in ties — unlike the more relaxed pong scene at making the Homecoming Bonfire was this most fraternities that allows for more casual past weekend, when the 2017 Class Council conversation. When — and if — freshmen hosted a brunch for the senior class so we women do meet upperclasswomen in fratercould all sign the Class of 2017 board. By the nities, they’re not spaces in which they can time I arrived — after taking advantage of regularly bond with the same women. having no classes on One solution would be to Friday and sleeping open up Greek houses more in — a sizeable crowd “One solution would because, like it or not, they had already come be to open up Greek are a major part of student and gone in Collis at Dartmouth. Houses houses more because, life Common Ground. can be used to help introduce But as I signed my like it or not, they are freshmen to a larger comname, I noticed that a major part of student munity without necessarily my signature only life at Dartmouth.” encouraging younger stuadded to maybe 30 dents to join a Greek house or so others. later on. Instead of focusing Since freshman year, one of the major on holding events in fraternity basements, trends I have noticed at Dartmouth is a very Greek houses should sponsor more events real lack of community in major areas. It’s on campus to encourage bonding between strange, considering that we have a reputa- classes. Service events or daytime activities tion for being so involved in Greek life and like pumpkin carving can serve as an easy so heavy on traditions. At times I’m happy gateway to meet older students. for it — it’s kind of nice not to stress about Though there are some traditions that missing sports games or big parties, whereas have rightfully been discarded, Dartmouth at some schools it might mean the end of students seem to want to get rid of the good your social life. But it’s an issue I’ve seen ones as well. Why isn’t decorating the Homeaffect my own time here as well as that of coming Bonfire something every student others, and it’s an issue that we should look rushes to do? Why don’t people line up to be to fix. a part of the Homecoming Parade? Last year, One of the major complaints about the lack of a snow sculpture marred winter freshman year is that is can be immensely carnival. The last minute snow sculpture of hard to meet upperclassmen. Though liv- the hat of Dr. Suess’ “Cat in the Hat” paled ing with only other freshman can have its in comparison to the full sized Cat built in benefits, there are also major downsides. 2004. While there are areas of social life on Many freshmen tend to only spend time with campus that need to be seriously changed if their floor for the first few months, leaving we want to see communities built, the student those who don’t form tight bonds with their body also should step up instead of letting floormates feeling left out. While the ban the opportunities for community-building on Greek houses aims to discourage risky slip away. drinking behaviors and to introduce freshThough it is too soon to tell, the new men to alternate social spaces, it also takes house system may help build communities. away an easy venue to meet other students One change that could help in the meantime and gives immense social power to students would be to rename the houses and the who host parties for freshmen. In contrast to community spaces that accompany them the open-door policy in place at most Greek — House Center B, for example, is a name houses, freshmen dorm parties are usually unlikely to muster much enthusiasm. Personinvite-only, leaving many freshmen excluded ally, although I feel that the housing system from simple social events would have better served and without a forum to the student population by “At the end of the meet other students. using single dorms instead As a freshman, the day, while Dartmouth of clusters of 500 to 800 inability for freshman students, I think that the can provide women to interact with increased programming upperclasswomen con- opportunities for will prove beneficial to tributed the most to my building community. students to build feeling of exclusion from Ultimately, the the Dartmouth commu- community, it’s up to lack of community will nity. Although it would the students to take not be solved this year, be nice to approach this or maybe not even in the problem outside of the advantage of them.” next 10 years. Despite this, Greek system, one of the we can take small steps to benefits of being male at improve and build comDartmouth is the ability munity at Dartmouth. to meet and spend time with the same up- This should start with the many organizations perclassmen weekly at fraternities once the and groups on campus discussing the issue. ban ends in the fall. For women, there is no At the end of the day, while Dartmouth can social space where we can regularly do this, provide opportunities for students to build since very few events are hosted in female- community, it’s up to the students to take dominated social spaces. The few events advantage of them.

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2016

PAGE 5

Increase in support for Clinton among student voting body FROM VOTE PAGE 1

why Trump receives relatively little support from even his own party’s rank-and-file voters on campus.

Among likely voters who selfidentify as Republicans, 26 percent support Trump, 25 percent plan to vote for Clinton and 24 percent back Johnson. Without third party candidates listed, Trump sits at 32 percent and Clinton at 29 among Republicans. This stands in great contrast to the other major party’s internal dynamics. Among likely voters who self-identify as Democrats, Clinton received 92 percent of support in the five-way option and 99 percent in the two-way option.

students remain undecided. When given only the two major party nominees as candidate options, Clinton’s lead grew to 83 percent and Trump’s to only 6.

A likely voter screen increased Clinton’s support in both vote choice questions. Once narrowed down to students who said they were “very likely” or “somewhat likely” to vote in the general election — which 81 percent of the student body chose — Clinton’s lead in the five-way question jumped three percentage points to 79 percent, and two points in the two-way question to 85 percent.

Non-major party support tends Feelings about the election to f a d e th e Among likely closer we are voters, Dartt o E l e c t i o n Among likely voters mouth students Day, and thus who support Clinton, as a whole are the 85 percent slightly more inmark for Clin- 65 percent said they clined to vote ton — among were unsatisfied with “against” Trump likely voters percent) than the field of candidates (44 in the two“for” Clinton (42 way question compared to 25 percent). A simi— p rov i d e s percent who were larly small differthe clearest ence holds when p i c t u r e o f satisfied. comparing the student vote vote choice mointention at tivation of only the moment.

Hillary Clinton The likely voter screen peeled supporters. In the two-way quessupport away from other candi- tion among likely voters, 49 perdates. Even then, when choosing cent of Clinton supporters said between several candidates, third they were voting “for” Clinton, party candidate Johnson receives while 50 percent said they were greater support at 7 percent than voting “against” Trump. When Trump does at 5 percent. only looking at Democrats on cam The vote choice results repre- pus, the motivation takes a more sent marked increases of support affirmative tone — 53 percent for for Clinton among students. In a their candidate and 45 percent survey of members of the Class against the opposite one. of 2018 in August — who are For a national level comparison, representative of the student body a recent ABC News poll found — Clinton received 67 percent of that 56 percent of Clinton voters support from likely voters when all mainly supported Clinton, while candidate options were given, and 42 percent mainly opposed Trump.

76 percent when only Clinton and In other words, Clinton supportTrump were candidate options. ers across the entire United States With the caveat of small ques- support their candidate much more tion wording differences between in the affirmative than Dartmouth surveys, Clinton appears to have ones do. consolidated Dartmouth student Students also showed great body support over the last few signs of dissatisfaction with the months. candidate options in the election.

The closest national com- A plurality at 36 percent said they parison one can draw is with vote were very unsatisfied with their intention numbers from 18-29 choices, and in total, 68 percent year old likely voters. A Politico/ of likely voter students said they Morning Consult tracking poll in were very or somewhat unsatisfied late October found that among with the candidate options. these young voters, 56 percent Interestingly, among likely opted for Clinton and 31 percent voters who support Clinton, 65 for Trump. While it presents the percent said they were unsatislargest disparity by age at the na- fied with the field of candidates tional level, Clinton’s advantage compared to 25 percent who were here pales in comparison to hers satisfied. Out of all three partisanamong Dartmouth students, who ship groups, Democrats were most skew much more liberal and come satisfied with their options, as only from much higher socioeconomic 62 percent said they were unsatisbackgrounds. fied, compared to 81 percent of This latter quality may explain independents and 89 percent of

Republicans.

In describing the emotions that this election has engendered, students expressed overwhelmingly negative feelings. Feeling “frustrated” was most common among students at 69 percent, and 60 percent of students said they felt “disgusted” and 50 percent “scared.” These answers heavily outweighed more hopeful outlooks: only 8 percent felt “optimistic” and 9 percent felt “excited.” Even interest in the election came in at low levels, with only 27 percent saying they were “interested.”

Compared to the entire country, Dartmouth students expressed a more pessimistic outlook on the election on all counts of these feelings. A Pew Research Center survey from earlier this fall found 57 percent of registered voters saying they were frustrated, 55 percent disgusted, 43 percent scared, 31 percent interested, 15 percent optimistic and 10 percent excited.

Candidate perceptions Throughout the primary and now the general election season, both major party candidates have been criticized for their ideological orientations. Liberals have decried Clinton as being too moderate, while conservatives pointed to her being too liberal to gain their vote.

Those on the left have condemned Trump’s apparent right-wing extremism, while many on the right question Trump’s ideological consistency.

Among likely voters, 59 percent

of Dartmouth students categorize Clinton as “somewhat liberal,” 29 percent see her as “moderate,” and only 10 percent as “very liberal.”

This perceived ideology mirrors the distribution among Democrat students well — for example, 63 percent of Democrats see her as “somewhat liberal” and 32 percent as moderate — but among Republicans, Clinton gets classified as “somewhat liberal” 46 percent of the time and “very liberal” 38 percent.

Perceptions become much more extreme when evaluating Trump, however. Among likely voters, 45 percent of students see him as “very conservative” and 44 percent as “somewhat conservative.”

Interestingly, fewer self-identifying Republican students — 24 percent — view him as “very conservative.”

It’s nevertheless clear that Dartmouth students view Trump as staunchly conservative. At the same time, it’s worth noting that this perception may not be as clear-cut in light of certain political science research. This line of research came to term Trump as an “ideological moderate,” not because he’s moderate on individual issues, but because his extremism on various issues averages out to moderation. For example, in the context of GOP politics, while very conservative on immigration, Trump is relatively more liberal on government spending.

In other words, the mixed bag and inconsistent nature of his support doesn’t make Trump moderate by any means, but puts him far out of step from conservative orthodoxy

— and thus less solidly conservative.

Finally, Dartmouth students responding to the survey were asked whether they think Trump’s influence on American politics — the voter base he’s attracted and the ways in which he’s redefined the Republican Party — will continue past this election cycle. Among all respondents, 61 percent agreed that his effect would continue, 25 percent were not sure, and 14 percent disagreed with this notion.

While self-identifying Democrats and Independents were in line with these average perceptions, Republicans were more likely to believe their party and the political system would shed itself of Trump – 51 percent said Trump’s influence would last, while 29 percent said it would not.

Methodology From Oct. 25 to Oct. 31, The Dartmouth administered an online survey of Dartmouth student attitudes on the 2016 Election through Pulse, an online survey platform designed to collect and share student public opinion.

The survey was sent out to 4,602 students and 517, or 11.2 percent, responded. Using an opt-in survey such as this one does not make for a random or entirely representative sample. Results were weighted to match the demographic makeup of the Dartmouth student body by gender and graduating class year according to Office of Institutional Research data. The survey results have a credibility interval of +/4.4.

ALEXANDER AGADJANIAN/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

THE DARTMOUTH EVENTS

PAGE 6

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2016

DARTMOUTHEVENTS TODAY 4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

An informal talk with gallerist Stefan Andersson, Director of Galleri Andersson/Sandström, Room 58, Hopkins Center for the Arts

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

“Efficient Virtual Memory for Big-Data Systems,” professor Abhishek Bhattacharjee, Rutgers University, Kemeny Hall 006

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

“Politics, Privilege, and the Humanities,” writer William Deresiewicz, Filene Auditorium, Moore Building

TOMORROW

12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Town hall with executive vice president Rick Mills, Spaulding Auditorium, Hopkins Center for the Arts

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

“No Laughing Matter Revisited,” professor David Bindman, Harvard University, Carpenter 13

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

“Drive” (2011), directed by Nicolas Winding-Refn and starring Ryan Gosling, Loew Auditorium, Black Family Visual Arts Center RELEASE DATE– Tuesday, November 1, 2016

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

ACROSS 1 Working stiff 5 Brief timetable 9 Racing venue near Windsor Castle 14 “Beetle Bailey” dog 15 Greet from a distance 16 Waste not 17 Inch or foot 18 Actor Bana of “Closed Circuit” 19 Singer Haggard 20 *Shake off one’s daydreams 23 Towel holder 24 Strokes on greens 25 Rap fan 27 Little child, in Cannes 30 Decanter relatives 33 Richly adorn 34 “Born Free” lioness 37 Carne __: Mexican dish 38 Old AT&T rival 39 *Cause of chubby cheeks, perhaps 41 Perp’s prey, in copspeak 42 French floor 44 Like the lama, but not the llama, in a Nash poem 45 Foot warmer 46 Switches for mood lighting 48 Boardroom illustrations 50 Farmland measure 51 Tawdry 53 Trojan __ 55 Leave hurriedly ... and, literally, what the first words of the answers to starred clues can do 60 Joint commonly sprained 62 __ facto 63 “__ a heart!”

64 Stout mug 65 Property claim 66 Biblical garden 67 __ four: small cake 68 “A __ of Two Cities” 69 Bird’s home

36 Word in a 51 Vintage photo DOWN thesaurus: Abbr. hue 1 High hair style 39 Temporary 52 Painter’s stand 2 Active European Oktoberfest 53 Hornet, e.g. volcano structure 54 Poker bet that’s 3 Of the ears 40 “The not optional 4 Tablet Untouchables” 56 Highland garb 5 Sugary brewed gangster 57 Florida’s Miamidrink 43 Yukon __ County 6 K, to a jeweler automaker 58 Times to call, in 7 Lesser of two __ 45 Drink pourer’s ads 8 Metric prefix words 59 Apartment 9 Kid in a military 47 Actor Stephen payment family 49 Wellness gp.

61 52, in old Rome 10 Observe 11 *Ingratiate ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: oneself (with) 12 Norwegian capital 13 Ready to be kicked off 21 Gallop 22 Ltrs. in an unfilled TV time slot 26 Western treaty org.

27 Urged (on) 28 Gangster Frank in “Road to Perdition” 29 *Bargain hunter’s venue 30 Street eatery 31 Order from on high 32 Pink-slips 35 Debt-heavy corp. deals 11/01/16 xwordeditor@aol.com

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11/01/16

THE DARTMOUTH ARTS

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2016

PAGE 7

The Capitol Steps appeals to all age groups, political parties

By MADELINE DITZLER The Dartmouth

What do you do with years of congressional staffing experience and an appreciation for the finer absurdities of our political system? For the members of the Capitol Steps, the answer was obvious: start a political comedy group!

In 1981, three Senate staffers formed the Capitol Steps, who performed at the Hopkins Center last Thursday at 7 and 9:30 p.m. as part of a “Night of Political Pun,” after being asked to plan entertainment for a Christmas party. When no wise men or Virgin Mary’s could be found in all of Congress, the group delved

into headlines to piece together a satirical skit. Although not all members are ex-Congress staffers, they have 62 years of collective House and Senate staff experience and 18 offices between them. The familyfriendly, bipartisan group has since recorded 30 albums, and has been featured on NBC, CBS, ABC, and PBS, and can be heard twice a year on National Public Radio stations nationwide during their “Politics Takes a Holiday” radio specials, according to their website.

The Hop and the Rockefeller Center involved students in the performance by holding a contest for best political song parody, the winners of which performed at the

Capitol Steps’ later show. Finalists had the opportunity to perform for a panel of judges. Jennifer West ’20, who performed with Iris Wang ’20 and Oliver Levy ’20, won the contest. West’s group performed her rewrite of Flo Rida’s “My House” with comedic variations which played on this fall’s greatest national anxiety: “Welcome to the White House / Trump is on his third spouse / Time to move abroad now / Auf wiedersehen, goodbye, ciao!” The audience enthusiastically received the trio, and after the performance cast members credited the trio for the Capitol Steps’ much warmer reception in the later performance.

“I was looking to put myself out

there more in college, and try to do a lot of Trump’s gaffs and his whole things that I thought were risky — in a political campaign is much more sense, push myself out of my comfort prone to these kinds of criticisms than zone. And I’d always written songs, is Hillary’s,” Schroen said. “I mean, but I had never really sung them in criticisms of Hillary’s campaign public,” West said of her decision to are more depressing than they are enter the contest. funny.”

Though West had never perAlthough the fact that the Capitol formed before, this was not her first Steps is a clean comedy group allows exposure to comedy. West writes for them to reach the dinner tables of Dartmouth’s humor magazine the families across the nation, the familyJack-O-Lantern, and her family are friendly nature of the show may have big fans of the Capitol Steps’ work. lost them some pull with students.

After a three-day writing process “It was definitely geared towards inspired by SNL sketches and a You- the older demographics,” Schroen Tube binge on song parodies, West said. brought on two floormates involved Mathematics professor Craig Sutin a cappella groups to help record ton is familiar with the Capitol Steps’ her submission video. Unfortunately, brand of humor, having heard them the very a capella membership which perform on NPR. made her floormates ideal perform“I think if you like this sort of ers also made them unavailable for nice little puns and things like that, a Thursday night performance. and plays on words then, yeah it’s Mandatory a cappella rehearsals interesting,” Sutton said. “It’s not conflicted with the “Night of Political Chris Rock or anything like that, it’s Pun,” so after winning the parody a different land of humor, but yeah, contest, West had to scramble for I enjoyed it.” new performers.

However, Eman Morsi, of the At the last minute, West found two Asian and Middle Eastern languages courageous friends to join her act, and literatures professor, had a lukeand the trio only started rehearsing warm response to the performance. the day-of. Wang said, “Literally, “It had its moments,” Morsi said.

Jenny bumped into us in the library Some of these moments drew on and was like, ‘Will you guys sing with more controversial topics, which deme on stage spite drawing tomorrow at “There is a lot of anxiety laughter from the Hop?’ And the audience, we were like, about what might are really not ‘Sure!’” happen, but I think that humorous subL ev y d e jects. is part of what humor scribed his “ I previous sing- helps people deal with.” mean, we i n g ex p e r i laughed at the ence as “in the Arizona thing, shower.” Levy -CRAIG SUTTON, but that’s acand Wang both MATHEMATICS PROFESSOR tually a very admitted that sad situation,” their singing Mor si said. abilities are not up to par with Dart- “Arizona, and Texas as well, is one mouth’s a cappella groups, but the of the worst places to be an immiaudience’s reaction was enthusiastic grant, from Mexico especially.” nonetheless.

In the act Morsi refers to, an In a sentiment echoed by her armed border patrolman encounters fellow performers, Wang summed an immigrant crossing the Arizona the night succinctly: “It felt like a border. When asked to leave, the dream.” immigrant reveals that he is a Native The main act of the night pro- American. The punchline is that, vided clean laughs for people on ironically, it is the European settlers both sides of the political aisle. The who have been “illegals since 1492.”

Capitol Steps put on a show which The Capitol Steps uses humor left audience members agreeing that to make many distressing situations, folly might be the only quality which including treatment of immigrants in our parties have in common. From this country, the choice between our immigration law, to Obamacare, to two presidential candidates and the the absurdity of our current election, economic situation in Greece, palatthe Steps covered it all. able for after-dinner conversation.

Part of being family-friendly “There is a lot of anxiety about also means avoiding partisan bias, what might happen, but I think that or rather indulging in partisan bias is part of what humor helps people equally with gibes directed at both deal with,” Sutton said. major political parties.

Though jokes about our candiPeter Schroen ’19, who identifies dates are perhaps more painful now as conservative, felt that the show that Nov. 8 is upon us, audience criticized Trump more than it criti- members found something to laugh cized Hillary. about, and perhaps more impor“That doesn’t surprise me or tantly, something to take away for necessarily even bother me, because future discussion.

THE DARTMOUTH ARTS

PAGE 8

Halloween takes over Hanover

By KRIPA SHRESTHA The Dartmouth

A little under 10 weeks ago, I packed the relics of my 19 years of life in Nepal into one outrageously purple suitcase and another softer chocolate brown suitcase and spent almost 48 hours flying over continents, seas and cityscapes to find a home at Dartmouth. These 10 weeks have contained many firsts for me — my first snowfall, my first football game and my first time running around a larger-than-life bonfire in a splendid preservation of tradition.

But embracing Dartmouth and its culture is more than assimilating into college life — it is also my window into American society and tradition that I had once only experienced through dazzling and perhaps exaggerated accounts in the media.

As the last of the orange leaves fall, I often catch myself pondering how curious I find some of these traditions — in particular, those that accompany Halloween. Pumpkin-carving and dressing up as fantastical creatures from the netherworld to get your neighbors to give you free candy? The holiday is both odd and endearing.

Adeline Braverman ’20, whose favorite holiday is Halloween, reckons it was originally a Christian holiday that had something to do with dressing up to ward off evil spirits, which

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2016

JUST IN TIME

eventually gave rise to the tradition of trick-or-treating. In reality, Halloween is thought to have originated with a Celtic pagan holiday, according to History.com.

The best part about Halloween, Braverman said, is that “it kind of moves in stages throughout your life, so as you age, Halloween ages with you and becomes something a little bit different.”

As a child, Braverman trick-ortreated for Halloween and in middle school she hung out with friends, transitioning to partying in high school and college.

“I’m excited for when I have kids and get to take them trick-or-treating,” Braverman said. “I love how you can really make Halloween your own. It can mean different things for different people.”

Ezekiella Carlos ’19 said that “past the candy stage” people like Halloween because it is the one day of the year when they can go “all out” and be something or someone they are not.

Carlos remembers dressing up as a princess, pirate and angel. She loved that on Halloween, you could wear something unconventional.

“It was okay to do that,” Carlos said. “Everyone did it, and you were supposed to do it.”

Fabián Štoček ’17, an international student from the Czech Republic,

recalls feeling very confused his first Halloween at Dartmouth. Last year on Halloween, when Štoček was living off campus, a group of children took him and his housemates by surprised wen they knocked at his door asking for candy.

“We gave them some unwrapped chocolate that was left over,” he said. Štoček was also surprised that the children had not prepared any tricks.

He had expected they would do something to his house because of the term “trick-or-treating” and his lack of free candy for the trick-or-treaters. Štoček said this was a prominent Halloween experience for him that he will remember for the rest of his life.

He remembers thinking, “Oh, I have a house now. I guess I have to do these things.”

This year he is better prepared and has bought candy for the house.

The mood at Dartmouth and the preparation for the holiday surprised Carlos, given that Hanover seems to lack younger children.

Carlos looked forward to Halloween, given that Homecoming, Halloween and the end to the fraternity ban all fell in the same three day period.

“The energy level just skyrockets,” Carlos said. “That’s why it’s nights like these, nights like the big weekends, that get us so hyped even if we’re not really sure what’s in store.”

Construction on Baker Tower finished just in time for Homecoming weekend.

sound like a gimmick, yet based on the advertising I felt fairly confident that I would enjoy this film. Thankfully, I did, though what I experienced was also not quite what I expected. It would have been so easy to make “Southside with You” a standard romantic comedy with the only exceptional aspect being that it’s about two of the most powerful people in the world, but Richard Tanne’s screenplay is far too intelligent to take the easy road. He clearly drew a great deal of inspiration from Richard Linklater’s “Before Sunrise” (1995) and, like Linklater’s romantic classic, “Southside with You” seems to appreciate the spoken word above all else. Tanne understands the power of simple, direct and moving dialogue, but he also understands the power of silence, and it is this quality which ultimately gives “Southside with You” a far more mature, and even melancholic, tone than other films of its kind. One of the film’s best scenes takes place in an art

museum, in which Tanne’s camera lingers on evocative art while compelling dialogue occasionally breaks the silence.

The effect was simple but profound.

Sumpter and Sawyers have to carry the entire runtime of this film on their backs, but they never show any sign of the strain. Both actors wisely decide not to try too hard to impersonate their real world counterpart, probably because they realize how distracting that would be. Instead, they find a way to capture the essence of these two wellknown figures. Sumpter embodies the intelligence, wit and drive of Michelle while Sawyers effortlessly portrays the more laid-back yet equally motivated Barack. The film portrays both of them as flawed but also as essentially decent human beings who always want to do the right thing even if they don’t always know what the right thing is.

The film’s approach to the inevitable political side of its story is actually one of its most brilliant aspects. Too often

politicians seem to argue about specific political issues in a vacuum without a grounded real world basis. “Southside with You” finds a way to show that real world basis without becoming overtly partisan. One speech in particular shows the foundation for many of the basic ideas that the Obamas support, but it does so without trying to alienate right-leaning viewers. Instead it tries to get all audience members to relate to the struggles that both of these characters have faced, especially institutional racism. This approach is ambitious, but Tanne finds a way to pull it off. If the film does have one flaw, it is that it can sometimes be a little too on the nose. At one point Michelle asks Barack if he is interested in becoming a politician, and he responds “Maybe.” You can almost feel the writer winking to the audience in moments like these.

I have no idea if the director and the studio planned for “Southside with You” to be released during the middle of

KATE HERRINGTON/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

‘Southside with You’ handles love, politics gracefully

By SEBASTIAN WURZRAINER The Dartmouth

Making a film about Barack Obama during his presidency is a bold move.

Premiering that film only a few short months before the 2016 election — well, that’s just downright audacious.

Releasing “Southside with You” during the current political climate is bound to stir up strong responses, so all I will say is this: I will try my hardest to keep my personal politics out of this review, but I also acknowledge that there are people who will dislike the mere idea of this film no matter what I say. And that’s fine, because for the rest of us, “Southside with You” has a whole lot to offer.

This may well be the simplest premise to summarize of any movie I’ve reviewed yet. The film tells the story of Michelle Robinson’s (Tika Sumpter) first date with Barack Obama (Parker Sawyers). On its own, that idea might

the most divisive presidential election in memory, but to ignore the perfect timing would be to turn a blind eye to perhaps the film’s most praiseworthy attribute.

While Tanne clearly views Barack and Michelle Obama in a highly favorable light, he also uses the aforementioned speech to remind the audience that we are all basically decent people who happen to have different agendas, which is why it is our job to compromise and empathize so that we can “keep these states united” (the film’s words, not mine).

As the divide between our political parties appears to be growing wider and wider, Tanne encourages us to come together and listen to each other’s narratives. These are all relatively simple ideas, but they are also extremely important ones, and, just like this film, they might be exactly what we need right now.

Rating: 9/10