VOL. CLXXIII NO.151
RAIN HIGH 52 LOW 43
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2016
HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE
Petition will not change Professors host disciplinary outcome ‘teach-in’ on election By DANIEL KIM
The Dartmouth Staff
ARTS
A TOUR OF OUTDOOR SCULPTURE PAGE 4-5
OPINION
GREEN: PRESUMPTION OF GOOD FAITH PAGE 8
OPINION
BAUM: WHY I VOTED FOR TRUMP PAGE 8
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On Oct 1., a fire broke out in Morton Hall, leaving it uninhabitable.
By EMMA DEMERS The Dartmouth Staff
The online petition created by Sebastian Lim and Daniel Ro will not play a role in their disciplinary process, according to College spokesperson Diana Lawrence. Lim and Ro admitted to causing the Oct. 1 fire in Morton Hall in an online petition on the Care2 peti-
tion site. In the letter, titled “Change Our Lives,” Ro and Lim apologized for their actions and asked people to sign the petition in support as the two have been expelled from the College for posing “a threat to the community at large.” The petition has garn e re d a p p rox i m at e l y 1,100 signatures as of
Assault reported near DHMC
By THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
A 23 year-old female was assaulted near DartmouthHitchcock Medical Center on Sunday afternoon, Safety and Security Director Harry Kinne announced in a campus crime alert emailed to campus yesterday. According to the report, the Lebanon Police Department received a call at 5:40 p.m. on Sunday from a victim on Loop Road reporting that a male had physically
assaulted her, throwing her to the ground. The suspect, described as a fair-skinned white male wearing a dark hoodie with dirty blond hair, fled in a dark-colored sedan. The victim suffered minor injuries and refused medical treatment, and there is no known connection between her and the suspect. The investigation by the Lebanon Police Department is ongoing, and anyone with information is asked to contact the department at 603-448-1212.
press time. “The fire in Morton Hall was a very serious incident that endangered the lives of students, staff, and first responders,” Lawrence said in a statement, adding that federal law prevents her from confirming that Lim and Ro were expelled. According to the FamSEE FIRE PAGE 3
Over 100 students, faculty members and town residents came together in Carpenter Hall 13 yesterday to discuss and learn about the ramifications of Donald Trump’s election to the presidency. Chiefly organized by women’s, gender and sexuality studies professor Eng-Beng Lim, the “teach-in” was a town hall style forum with a panel of eight professors from the fields of women’s, gender and sexuality studies, African and African American Studies, history and English. “The purpose of the forum is to consider the ramification of the election and how to think about citizenship in a Trump nation,” Lim said. “Tonight’s event speaks to those progressive aspirations and cleared space for people to think as a collective, as a critical community, as a way to organize and move forward.” Before the event began, students from Lim’s “Feminists in Queer Professions” seminar class gave a brief presentation on Trump’s history of sexual misconduct and abuse. The
students juxtaposed Trump as a defendant with his status as president-elect. “[In this class] we were working on how to profess feminism,” said Grace E. Carney ’17, one of Lim’s students who presented. “Following the elections, all of us realized that the question is more palpable than ever, so this was just a sort of a distillation of what we worked on.” After each professor provided a five-minute perspective on Trump’s presidency, the audience engaged both with the professors and other attendees on the issues raised by the results of the recent election, including race, gender, sexuality, class and disability. African and African American Studies professor Trica Keaton, the only black faculty member on the panel, emphasized the need to overcome the fear of Trump’s presidency to focus on tangible strategies to combat its possible consequences. SEE TRUMP PAGE 7
Pollack ’79 named new Cornell University president
By THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR Elizabeth Garrett from colon cancer. Hunter Rawlings III STAFF Martha Pollack ’79 will be Cornell University’s 14th president starting April 17, 2017. The university’s Board of Trustees elected the provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the University of Michigan unanimously yesterday. A presidential committee formed in April conducted the search. The committee was assembled following the March 6 death of previous president
has served as Cornell’s interim president since April and will remain in the position until Pollack takes over. Rawlings served as Cornell’s 10th president from 1995 to 2003 and also served as interim president from 2005 to 2006 following the resignation of former president Jeffrey Lehman. Pollack studied linguistics at the College before obtaining master’s and doctoral degrees in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania.
Her research focuses on artificial intelligence, and she has been on the faculty at the University of Michigan since 2000. Pollack was appointed Provost of the University of Michigan in May 2013 to fill the vacancy left by College President Phil Hanlon ‘77 when he left to assume his current position. Prior to this, she served as vice provost for academic and budgetary affairs as well as the dean of the School of Information. She also taught at the University of Pittsburgh and worked at the Stanford Research Institute.
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
PAGE 2
DAILY DEBRIEFING A student at the University of Oklahoma has been suspended temporarily for being linked to racist messages sent to several black students at the University of Pennsylvania last week, The Washington Post reported. The messages, which included a “lynching calendar” as well as images if people hanging from trees. The students were added to a GroupMe account containing the messages, which has since been removed and is being investigated by Microsoft, CNBC reported. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton officially won the state of New Hampshire and its four electoral votes, The Hill reported. Clinton defeated Republican nominee and President-elect Donald Trump by about 2,500 votes. Though the votes will not affect the outcome of the election, they do reflect the importance of college students voting in New Hampshire, one of 11 states with same-day voter registration as well as an important swing state. In Hanover, over 6,500 votes were cast for Clinton. Over 4,300 members of the Harvard University community signed a petition calling on university President Drew Faust to devote more support to undocumented students in light of the presidential election, The Boston Globe reported. Yesterday, over 100 students and professors rallied in support of undocumented students, with organizers saying there are at least 40 students whose families came to the United States illegally. – COMPILED BY PRIYA RAMAIAH
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2016
The Dartmouth names directorate By THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Ray Lu ’18 and Philip Rasansky ’18 will become The Dartmouth’s editor-in-chief and publisher, respectively. Lu, an economics major from Austin, Texas, joined the sports section his freshmen year and served as a sports editor his sophomore year. He will replace outgoing editor-in-chief Rebecca Asoulin ’17 in the winter. Rasansky, a mathematics major from Dallas, Texas, joined the advertising section his freshmen year, and currently serves as its director. He will replace outgoing publisher Rachel DeChiara ’17 in the spring. 2017 Editorial Directorate Kourtney Kawano ’18 will replace Gayne Kalustian ’17 as production executive editor, while Erin Lee ’18 will replace Annie Ma ’17 as news executive editor. Noah Goldstein ’18, Caroline Berens ’18 and Zachary Benjamin ’19 will replace Sara McGahan ’17, Michael Qian ’17 and Priya Ramaiah ’17 as news managing editors. Goldstein will serve a full tenure, while Benjamin and Berens will edit for one and two terms, respectively. Evan Morgan ’19, Chris Shim ’18 and Mark Cui ’19 will replace current sports editors Gayne Kalustian ’17 and Kourtney Kawano ’18. Cui
will only edit in the winter, while Shim will edit in the spring and fall. Morgan will serve as sports editor all year. Parker Richards ’18 will replace Andres Smith ’17 as opinion editor. Ziqin Yuan ’18, a current opinion editor, will continue to serve in her position in the spring and fall. Haley Gordon ’18, Madeline Killen ’18 and Nalini Ramanathan ’19 will become the arts editors, replacing Hallie Huffaker ’17. Killen currently serves as an assistant arts editor. Eliza McDonough ’18 and Hollye Swinehart ’18 will replace Kate Herrington ’17 and Annie Duncan ’17 as photography editors in the spring. Tiffany Zhai ’18, a current editor, will continue in the position in the spring. Paula Mendoza ’19 and Saphfire Brown ’18 will serve as photography editors in the winter term. Margaret Jones ’19 will serve as Dartbeat editor in the winter and spring, while Annete Denekas ’18 will serve in the spring and fall. Emma Chiu ’19 will edit Dartbeat in the winter, and Lucy Tantum ’19 — a current Dartbeat editor — will edit the Dartbeat section again in the fall. They will replace outgoing editor Grace Miller ’17. Ali Pattillo ’17, Mikey Ledoux ’17 and Tantum will become Mirror editors in the winter, while May Mansour ’18, a former Dartbeat
editor, and Lauren Budd ’18 will lead the section in the spring and fall. Budd currently serves as the Mirror editor, serving alongside Hayley Hoverter ’17, who will leave the section after this term. Jessica Campanile ’20 will replace Katelyn Jones ’17 as multimedia editor. Jaclyn Eagle ’19 will continue to serve as tempting editor. Alexander Agadjanian ’18 will become survey editor, a new position. Gayne Kalustian ’17 and Eric Wang ’20 will serve as design directors. 2017 Business Directorate The entire business directorate, including the publisher, will transition in the spring term. Shinar Jain ’18 will replace Rasansky, Addison Lee ’17 and Hayden Karp-Hecker ’17 as advertising director. Emma Marsano ’18 will replace Jain and Brianna Ager ’17 as marketing and communications director. Elyse Kuo ’18 will become the product development director, and she will be joined by Kelly Chen ’18 in the spring. The product development director is a new position. Roshni Chandwani ’18 and Alfredo Gurmendi ’18 will become the strategy directors, replacing Hannah Carlino ’17. Henry Wilson ’18, the current technology director alongside Jeremy Mittleman ’17, will continue in his role this upcoming year.
CORRECTIONS We welcome corrections. If you believe there is a factual error in a story, please email editor@thedartmouth.com.
COURTESY OF RAY LU
Ray Lu ’18 will serve as the new editor-in-chief of The Dartmouth starting in the winter term.
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2016
PAGE 3
Domino’s bring competition to EBAs Students apologize to campus in petition By ALEXA GREEN
The Dartmouth Staff
There’s new competition to be the Upper Valley’s big cheese. Restaurant chain Domino’s Pizza recently established two locations in West Lebanon and Claremont, extending their delivery services to the surrounding area. The restaurants — open from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. on weekdays and until 3 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays — pose a threat to the financial success of local businesses such as Hanover’s Everything But Anchovies, EBAs Marketing and Catering Manager Danielle Paro said. EBAs opened in Hanover in 1979. The restaurant serves pizzas, wings, pasta and sandwiches from 11 a.m. to exactly 2:10 a.m., making it an attractive choice for students in need of food late at night, Paro said. She said that Domino’s extended hours, as well as short delivery times, have contributed to the restaurant’s success among College students. “They opened a branch here and in Claremont at the same time, so they became a big presence in the Upper Valley,” Paro noted. Paro said that she met with a group of 20 Dartmouth students earlier in the term to discuss Domino’s opening and possible changes that could be made to encourage students to con-
tinue buying from EBAs. According to Paro, the students concluded that a large appeal of Domino’s was its faster delivery time. However, the reduced time is largely a function of Domino’s pre-made pizzas, she added. In order for EBAs to increase their speed of delivery, Paro said it would need to reduce its menu size. “If we cut our menu down to just pizzas, it would make a difference, but that’s not what students order,” Paro said, adding that the chicken sandwich is one of the restaurant’s top sellers, but also requires at least 15 minutes to cook. “It’s finding that balance of what the students want with that expectation of time.” Domino’s has also undertaken a significant marketing effort on campus and in the area, offering discounts to Dartmouth students. Given its large marketing budget, the chain has been able to produce both television and radio advertisements. Although EBAs also has some radio advertisements, the company primarily relies on newspaper ads, Facebook posts and fliers to attract customers, Paro said. EBAs also sponsors events such as the Prouty and Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Hero races, Greek life philanthropic activities and Dartmouth athletics, Paro said, noting that this difference between EBAs small-scale marketing and Domino’s widespread advertising
has definitely affected delivery sales to campus and the Upper Valley. “I generally order delivery, and this term I have ordered more from Domino’s just because they are open later and generally deliver faster than EBAs,” Rebecca Holland ’17 said. However, others such as Alexa Dlouhy’19, say that Domino’s later delivery hours do not influence their choice. Dlouhy said that she usually purchases more from EBAs in order to support local business. Another unforeseen competitor in Hanover is Dartmouth Dining Services’ food truck, which opened this fall. Featuring sliders, fries, brownies, churros and cheese fritters in addition to vegan options, the DDS food truck accepts payments of DBA and meal swipes in addition to credit cards. The DDS truck likely deters some students who do not want to or cannot take the $10 or $20 out of their pockets, Paro said. Speaking as the chair of Hanover’s Local Business Council, she added that EBAs and other local establishments would “absolutely” accept College dining dollars, but the school will not allow the restaurants to do so. “Will Pine and Canoe Club see a direct effect [from Domino’s opening]? No, probably not,” Paro said. “Will Boloco or myself or the Chinese delivery places? We will.”
FROM FIRE PAGE 1
ily Educational Rights and Privacy Act, “a school may not generally disclose personally identifiable information from an eligible student’s education records to a third party unless the eligible student has provided written consent.” Comments on the petition cite various reasons for signing, including that the College had been too harsh on Lim and Ro, and that they showed strength of character by admitting their mistake. “Daniel and I are really happy with the petition and the support it gave,” Lim said. He declined to comment further on the investigation but stated that he and Ro would thank the community for their support soon. Morton fire victim Abigail Buckley ’19 expressed concern over the fact that the College has not released any information regarding the investigation. After hearing about the online petition and Lim’s and Ro’s possible expulsion on Nov. 11, Buckley immediately contacted head of Safety and Security Harry Kinne
for the results of the investigation, but was not given any information. “As someone whose term has been negatively impacted academically, socially and emotionally by the fire, the least I and the rest of former Morton residents are entitled to is information,” she said. Buckley added that until Lim and Ro or the College release a statement on the investigation, the public should refrain from casting judgment. “I believe it is extremely premature to take a stance on an issue we really know nothing about until the results of the investigation are made public,” she said. The four-alarm fire in Morton Hall was caused by a charcoal grill left unattended on the roof of the building, according to a press release from the New Hampshire State Fire Marshal. The hibachistyle grill was placed on a flat section of the roof outside of a dormitory window. Morton Hall is currently uninhabitable as a result of extensive smoke and water damage caused by the fire.
SENIOR RECITAL
LAUREN KIM/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF
Senior recitals are beginning at the Hopkins Center for the Arts
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
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“X-Delta,” a sculpture by Mark di Suvero consists of a collection of metal beams arranged to look like Greek letters. The sculpture is famous on campus most often for the wooden swing that hangs at its forefront. The sculpture is kinetic in that sitting on the swing moves the upside-down pi structure behind it, creating a dichotomy of motion and solidity, according to Hood docents Linda Oidtmann and Sybil Williamson. The docents mentioned that the statue was previously placed in four other locations on campus before settling behind the library.
“It looks like letters for a frat. It’s brown, which could signify that frats are dirty.” -ELISABETH SANSON ’20
What many students call the pile of rocks in front of the Admissions Office is an Inuit inuksuk, which translates to a likeness of a person in the Inuit
language. Inuksuks mark locations for travelers in northern Canada, symbolizing cultural values like “strength, leadership and motivation,” according to
the panel that accompanies the statue. Looking through the sculpture’s window from one direction, observers can see McNutt Hall — in the other direction, the
rest of campus, suggesting there may be multiple meanings for this seemingly simple structure.
Inuksuk- “[This sculpture Thel-“They look like obstacles...like represents] perseverance and hard larger versions of those concrete floors with work; all those things accumulate one like little bumps in them? I feel like they’re by one to make something great.” larger versions of that.” —Kavya Menon ’20 -Grace Lee ’20 Dartmouth Panels- “I thought they were a way to brighten up the space. It could also serve a political and social message; I thought of gay rights, which are typically associated with the rainbow.” -Adina Harri ’18 Robert Frost- “I think they’re trying to show us that...you have to sometimes look up from what you’re doing and appreciate the beautiful environment we’re all in here together at Dartmouth.” -Emily Luy Tan ’20 Design by Jee Seob Jung ’20 /The Dartmouth Story and Photography by Kylee Sibilia ’20 and Betty Kim ’20/The Dartmouth
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2016
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2016
PAGE 5
Most students know “Thel,” a sculpture consisting of five white, steel, pyramidal structures, as more of an obstacle course than a piece of public art. However, artist Beverly Pepper designed the structures
to mirror the nearby architecture as well as the snowy New Hampshire weather. On the panel, Pepper explained that “the use of nature within Thel is...to link it to process and change in man’s life and society.”
“It shows us the disruptive nature of life.” -SOPHIE D’ORCHIMONT ’18
The Black Family commissioned Ellsworth Kelly, an abstract artist famous for his eye for color to create the vibrant “Dartmouth Panels” for the Hopkins Center. According to the art description, the panels were revealed during the opening of the Black Family Visual Arts Center. The piece is meant to celebrate the arts as well as
reference the altarpiece of a cathedral or church, according to Hood docents Linda Oidtmann and Sybil Williamson. The blue rectangle in the center references the Virgin Mary, who is traditionally illustrated wearing blue in paintings. The art specifically plays on its relationship to the buildings around it.
Robert Frost is famous at Dartmouth as a member of the class of 1896, although he only attended the College for two months, his poetry, and of course, the “Robert Frost ashes” prank played on new students during Dartmouth Outing Club’s First-Year Trips every year. His statue, created by George Lundeen, depicts him writing the first line of “Mending Wall,” one of his most famous poems, which are depicted on the pad of paper sitting on his lap. Frost looks out toward the wilderness in a representation of the poet’s fascination with nature. In another nod to the poet’s preference for the natural world, the statue is placed away from the hustle and bustle of campus, near Shattuck Observatory. The statue is uncannily life-like, giving the impression that the viewer could sit next to Frost and read over his shoulder as he worked.
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2016
Professors discuss ramifications of a Trump presidency FROM TRUMP PAGE 1
“I don’t share the same fear that most people here do because I come from a longue durée of history, encompassing genocide, enslavement, legal racism and mass incarceration,” she said. English professor Jeff Sharlet, who has investigated Trump and the Republican party as a journalist for outlets such as The New York Times Magazine, extended the focus on action. He said that Trump represents the convergence of several different right-wing groups – secular, religious, extreme and alt-right. He added that students should spend more time learning about Trump’s transition team and its power structures. Italian, comparative literature and women’s, gender and sexuality studies professor Graziella Parati and German and film and media studies professor Gerd Gemünden brought up similarities between
Trump’s campaign and the rise of fascism in 1930s Germany. English professor Andrew McCann said that the Trump phenomenon echoes philosopher Theodor Adorno’s ideas about the relationship between mass media and an authoritarian personality. One debate that arose during the question and answer session was that of empathy and unity: how much should those affected by Trump’s policies attempt to understand the perspectives of those who voted for Trump? Film and media studies and comparative literature professor Amy Lawrence drew a comparison between Trump supporters and those who appear in paranormal reality TV shows. Both groups are misunderstood by outside observers, but their pain is real even if it cannot be explained in rational or academic terms. History professor Bethany Moreton said that although it is important
to avoid condescension when addressing dissenting viewpoints, this “does not foreclose morality as a category of analysis.” “Some interests are simply opposed to others,” she said. “This country has historically held interest in white supremacy. There has not been a time when black people
“It’s time for a fight — in the interest of that fight, we need to understand why a small contingent of Muslims voted for Trump, and why 29 percent of Latinos voted for him. -JEFF SHARLET, ENGLISH PROFESSOR
were not met with outright terrorism when they tried to bring about social change.” Music professor William Cheng questioned the dialogue’s focus on empathy. “Actual empathy is not possible,” he said. “When I march for #BlackLivesMatter, I don’t presume I can perfectly empathize. Empathy is an imaginative ideal to overestimate our own capability.” Sharlet echoed these sentiments, but added that understanding the opposition’s reasoning is important to dismantling the systems that give Trump power. “It’s time for a fight,” he said. “In the interest of that fight, we need to understand why a small contingent of Muslims voted for Trump, and why 29 percent of Latinos voted for him.” Other topics raised by the audience included violence, education, identity politics and political correctness.
Although the majority of the audience consisted of those who agreed that Trump’s presidency poses social problems, some expressed the opinion that the event placed a biased framework on the election. “I fundamentally reject the notion that Trump supporters are all lower middle class white racists,” local conservative radio host and attendee Keith Hanson said. Geovanni Cuevas ’14 said that the event was successful in generating a conversation. “The event was an attempt of intellectual trying to think through the current crisis,” he said. “I think this event validated that there is a crisis. [The professors] were trying to speak to potential strategies and I appreciated hearing where they were coming from.” Lim said that while there are no further “teach-in” events currently planned, he hopes that others will take the lead and create similar spaces for thinking about these issues.
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THE DARTMOUTH EVENTS
DARTMOUTHEVENTS TODAY 3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
“Magnetic Reconnection Experiments with Intense Lasers,” professor Jiayong Zhong, Beijing Normal University, Wilder 111
7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Handel Society of Dartmouth College, Spaulding Auditorium, Hopkins Center for the Arts
8:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Sheba Hip-Hop Dance Showcase, Moore Theater, Hopkins Center for the Arts
TOMORROW
3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Culminating Presentation: Performance Laboratory in Chamber Music, Faulkner Recital Hall, Hopkins Center for the Arts
4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Anthology of poets and writers presented by the Osher Institute at Dartmouth, DOC House, 10 Hilton Field Lane
5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
“Human Scale — Technology and the Built Environment,” Nate Beatty, CTO of Iris VR, DEN, 4 Currier Place, Suite 107 RELEASE DATE– Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS 1 Wobbly dessert 6 Pal 9 Vintner’s tub 12 Birdlike 13 Drachma replacer 14 B&Bs 16 Source of posttoilet training anxiety 18 Use too much of, briefly 19 Many SAT takers 20 Dashboard feature 21 Reach through the air 22 Surfer’s destination 25 Treat, as table salt 28 Major blood vessel 29 Male in the hive 30 Sharp-tasting 32 Trailer park parkers 35 Actor Cariou of “Blue Bloods” 36 Great Depression recovery program 39 Question of method 40 Letters on a law office door 41 Purges (of) 42 “The Hot Zone” virus 44 Quick-as-lightning Bolt 47 Apt to malfunction, as wiring 48 Youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II 52 Illumination units 53 Have __: know someone 54 “The Night Of” channel 57 Slender woodwind 58 Desert plant suggested by this puzzle’s circles 61 Dingbat 62 Flat-package furniture chain 63 River through western Germany 64 Florida island 65 Video game initials 66 Separates for the wash
37 Great Lake 50 British DOWN bordering four noblewomen 1 Quick punches states 51 Where to see the 2 “Did you __?!” 38 Knowledge Sun, the Sky and 3 The eyes have seekers the Stars: Abbr. them 43 Flower source 54 Will beneficiary 4 Murphy’s __ 45 Companion of 55 Like an arm in a 5 Standard eggs Bashful sling purchase 46 Bldg. coolers 56 Lyrical lines 6 Play with Lincoln 47 Get no credit for, 58 Altoids Logs, say in school container 7 Coffee hour 48 Walk heavily 59 Island strings vessel 49 Big name in 60 Question of 8 Peat source puzzle cubes identity 9 Purple shade 10 Artist nicknamed ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: the “Pope of Pop” 11 Govt. bill 13 And others, in bibliographies 15 Stuck-up sort 17 Goodyear product 21 Pres. who developed the 36Across 22 Finish in front 23 Stuff to sell 24 Itty bit 25 Not employed 26 Rock groups? 27 Man of La Mancha 30 Packing rope 31 Say further 33 Chevy’s plug-in hybrid 34 Rock to music 11/15/16 xwordeditor@aol.com
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11/15/16
THE DARTMOUTH OPINION
PAGE 8
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2016
GUEST COLUMNIST ISAAC GREEN ’17
GUEST COLUMNIST TYLER BAUM ’20
A Presumption of Good Faith
Why I Voted for Trump
We must believe in the fundamental decency of our fellow Americans. Donald Trump is the next president of the United States. It seems easy to lose hope, to believe that this election shows the irredeemable hate that lives in this nation’s underbelly. We desperately want to disengage and hope that, in four years, there will be enough of a millennial or minority vote to return us to the path of “progress.” Mostly rural, white Americans decided this election. They felt left out, excluded from the progress of the past eight years. They have grounds to believe that globalization and technology have robbed them of their once-thriving livelihoods. They have been told that life is better now than it was eight years ago by people for whom that is true — but that is not how they feel. They have expressed this anxiety through a rhetoric rife with hate, but hate alone did not win this election. To continue to believe that it did would be to continue missing what the media and liberal America have failed to recognize over the past year and a half. Until 8:30 p.m. last Tuesday night, I could not fathom a Trump victory. Every news source, Facebook post, and Op-Ed firmly reassured me that Trump would not win, that the resurgence of America’s dark past he heralded would be squashed on Election Day. I realize now that I was living in a bubble — one that I share with my educated and progressive peers and from which our country has been ruled for the past three decades. I could not see Trump’s appeal. Trump is a misogynistic bully; he is a racist, megalomaniacal, thin-skinned, attention-craving reality TV star — and that’s the only side of him my Facebook showed me. But I have to believe that Trump didn’t win because he fits all of those descriptors; he won in spite of it. He won because we left those in the middle of our nation behind. We have made progress in pursuing our ideals of an egalitarian society; we have benefitted from globalization; we have been the beneficiaries of the past eight years’ progress. Many — particularly the historically oppressed and disenfranchised — finally felt that the political system was beginning to work for them. But, in our race toward progress, we left white rural America behind. Last week, they reminded us of that. Although we often couldn’t hear their voices from our liberal bubble, their votes counted every bit as much as ours did. Today we have two nations: one that has moved forward and one that has lagged behind. The internet-fueled world that led us to believe that we are more connected than ever before has
in fact divided us so much that we couldn’t see what was right in front of our faces. We were so consumed by social media curated to confirm rather than to challenge our ideas that we could not fathom the discontent of a nation left behind. “Make America Great Again” is more than the racially charged appeal that many of us dismissed it as; rather, it’s a nod to those for whom the American Dream, once so vibrant, is no more. If we want to continue on President Barack Obama’s path towards progress, we must first bring into the fold those we have left behind. The worst mistake we could make is to continue dismissing Trump’s constituency as merely bigoted white people who dream of a return to pre-civil rights America. While these people surely comprise some of Trump’s coalition, his camp also consists of many regular, decent and hard-working Americans who, on Tuesday, voted for the only candidate who has spoken to them in years and who, whether believably or not, seems to understand their pain. Everything else aside, Trump’s win has given these voices a megaphone to reach the establishment and people like myself. Now we must choose how to respond. We can either deepen the divides between us and retreat further into the echo chambers that led us to being blindsided by the results of this election, or we can acknowledge the grievances of the members of this nation we have ignored for so long. I might be wrong to underplay the full current of his campaign’s divisive and racist nature, and should he choose those themes as his mandate, I will use my voice and presence to fight against bigotry and hate. I do not expect us to ignore the dangers that Trump poses, nor should we allow his ideology to be normalized into the American psyche. Giving a voice to the grievances of a forgotten populous does not absolve Trump of responsibility for the hate he has unleashed in this country, and I am certainly privileged to be able to see past his bigotry. But I need to see a glimmer of hope. I want to believe in the fundamental goodness of our democracy and in the people that comprise it. For that, we must believe that this election was about more than race and sex, that this win represents more than a repudiation of the liberal social progress we have made. If we are to have hope we must believe in the decency of one another, and listen to each other so that we can begin the painful work of reconciling our families, communities and nation.
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SARA MCGAHAN, Managing Editor MICHAEL QIAN, Managing Editor PRODUCTION EDITORS NICOLE SIMINERI, Editorial Chair ANDRES SMITH & ZIQIN YUAN, Opinion Editors LAUREN BUDD & HAYLEY HOVERTER, Mirror Editors GAYNE KALUSTIAN & KOURTNEY KAWANO, Sports Editors HALLIE HUFFAKER, Arts Editor MADELINE KILLEN, Assistant Arts Editor GRACE MILLER & LUCY TANTUM, Dartbeat Editors KATELYN JONES, Multimedia Editor KATE HERRINGTON, Photography Editor
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ISSUE
NEWS EDITOR: Sam Stern, Hailey Jiang NEWS LAYOUT: Sungil Ahn, TEMPLATING EDITOR: Jaclyn Eagle
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A millennial Republican’s path to voting for Trump and a call for unity. Shortly after Florida Sen. Marco Rubio announced his candidacy for president of the United States on April 13, 2015, I pledged my support to his campaign — a campaign largely grounded on the rural conservative ideologies I was raised with. My support for the Republican candidate’s campaign strengthened as the GOP debates progressed last fall, and I did not look back. I distinctly remember when Rubio, while on the campaign trail in Waverly, Iowa this past January, promised an atheist voter that “no one’s going to force you to believe in God. But no one’s going to force me to stop talking about God.” As an evangelical Christian and a Constitutionalist who supports atheists’ rights as firmly as those of Christians, I became even more committed to Rubio and his campaign after hearing this. Then February arrived plunging a dagger in the heart of Rubio. A few weeks later, Rubio suspended his campaign and, with it, his promise to usher in a “New American Century.” This was not what I wanted to hear, but I faced this adversity with prayer and trust in both the Lord and the other candidates in the Republican Party. I soon realized, however, that I would not have to look far for a candidate to support. After a conversation with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz at the Conservative Political Action Conference in March, I knew I could count on him, an evangelical Christian like myself, to represent my core values while maintaining a commitment to limited government and protecting the Constitution, free-market capitalism and national defense. Although I cast a vote for Cruz in the Pennsylvania primary, however, President-elect Donald Trump won every county in that state, nearly solidifying his path to the GOP nomination. Just a week later, following his loss in Indiana, Cruz suspended his campaign. I felt heartbroken and hopeless. Trump would be the nominee of the Republican Party, and my political role models were headed back to the Senate. As a Republican, it is often difficult to express that I did not support Trump from the beginning. I was concerned by Trump’s campaign slogan “Make America Great Again,” a slogan that I now cherish and defend to the core. With his disrespect toward war hero and Arizona Sen. John McCain, his campaign’s lack of vision and unity, and, later, his rhetoric toward women, Trump was not the type of candidate that most traditional conservatives would support. The resulting divide within the party seemed lethal and historic, a surefire way for the GOP to quickly drown. I discussed the possibility of a Trump presidency with officials within the GOP, and I listened to speeches supporting Trump by Pennsylvania Rep. Keith Rothfus during his campaign for re-election. I was torn between the two sides within the Republican Party: between traditional conservatism and radical change with an outsider attempting to shake up Washington and drain the swamp. I was even torn between two campaigns I was working on: Rothfus’ re-election bid and Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey’s re-election campaign, which disavowed Trump’s candidacy. Clearly, I was not facing the easy decision I had faced after Rubio dropped out of the GOP race. By the summer, I was all aboard the Trump campaign, prepared to “Make America Great Again.” My personal endorsement of Trump,
however, did not come reluctantly. It did not even result from my dislike of the only other realistic choice, former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, whom I have consistently viewed as a sly, disrespectful, corrupt politician with a “pay-to-play” agenda. Rather, my support for Trump grew organically as I listened to his plans and visions in greater detail. I grew to appreciate his strong “tough-guy” stances on a wide variety of issues including his opposition to illegal immigration, the Common Core and taxes, as well as his commitment to many of my values, particularly a stellar national defense and the protection of rights such as the freedom of religion, freedom of speech and the right to bear arms. Yet on Oct. 8, following the release of his 2005 conversation with Billy Bush, I painfully wrote a statement on Facebook denouncing my support for Trump as president. Although I remained very strongly opposed to Clinton and her corrupt campaign, I explained, Trump’s disrespectful comments toward women were “far beyond my threshold to support this man for president,” and I expressed my hope that the GOP produce better candidates for this important office. I quickly transitioned from identifying as a pro-Trump voter to an anti-Clinton voter, torn between writing in an almost certainly unsuccessful vote for Central Intelligence Agency Officer Evan McMullin or reluctantly casting a vote for Trump. I took a step back from the political sphere until Election Day, taking the time to seek counsel from professors, pastors and Republican Party operatives. The only sure thing in my mind was that I was determined to vote for a conservative Supreme Court and to ensure that Clinton would not see another day in the White House. As I received my absentee ballot, I almost wrote in McMullin and prayed for a GOP victory. Yet in a Pennsylvania county distinct for being one of the most important in the entire election, I instead voted for Trump. To clarify, I do not condone President-elect Trump’s comments regarding women, but I believe in his ability and commitment to leading our great nation. I trust that he will serve and fight for our citizens, just as he has throughout the past 17 months as he earned the highest office of the land and employed outsiders such as Kellyanne Conway, the first woman in American history to manage a successful presidential campaign. As Trump is now the president-elect, I would like to draft a call to action for all Americans: unification. Thomas Paine once stated, “Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it.” Without unification, our country will become more polarized, and, with a Republican-held White House and Congress, the likelihood of liberal agendas being considered in the near future is slim to none. My fellow Americans, rather than protesting the concrete result of this election, I challenge you to unite behind President-elect Trump while continuing to positively profess your views, a right that the Constitution fervently protects. As a Republican, I reach my hand out to all Democrats, Independents and Republicans alike. We shall achieve much for every citizen only through unity.