The Dartmouth 1/19/17

VOL. CLXXIV NO.11

THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2017

HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Students plan snow sculpture despite cancellation

CLOUDY HIGH 41 LOW 23

By SONIA QIN The Dartmouth Staff

PETER CHARALAMBOUS/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

ARTS

INTERNATIONAL DVD AND POSTER PAGE 8

JONES FAMILY SINGERS COME TO HANOVER PAGE 8

OPINION

ZHU: EIGHT YEARS LATER PAGE 7

SANDLUND: ACADEMIC RIGOR MORTIS PAGE 6 READ US ON

DARTBEAT SNOW SCULPTURE 2017 FOLLOW US ON

TWITTER @thedartmouth COPYRIGHT © 2017 THE DARTMOUTH, INC.

After learning that the Winter Carnival Council would not be building the traditional snow sculpture this year, Mercedes de Guardiola ’17 reached out to fellow students to build their own sculpture, saying that she wanted to keep the tradition alive. As of press time, 100 students have expressed interest in helping and several have volunteered to lead the project.

Last Friday, the Winter Carnival Council sent a message to campus saying that they will not provide focus or funding for an official snow sculpture this year, marking the second year that this annual tradition has been canceled.

After an unusually warm day, the majority of the snow melted on the Green.

College cuts fee for study groups

By DEBORA HYEMIN HAN The Dartmouth Staff

The Academic Skills Center launched an initiative last week to make student study groups free of charge for all students regardless of financial aid status. Prior to the change, students on

KAF plans fundraiser

By KRISTINE JIWOO AHN The Dartmouth Staff

financial aid paid an upfront fee of $10 for the term, while those who were not on financial aid paid $30, said Holly Potter, assistant director of Tutor Clearinghouse.

During the fall 2016 term, 214 students participated in student SEE STUDY PAGE 3

King Arthur Flour will hold its second annual MELT: Grilled Cheese Challenge at its flagship store in Norwich, Vermont this Saturday, Jan. 21.

Fo u r t e a m s o f K A F employees will serve their variation to customers on the grilled cheese sandwich, featuring local ingredients.

With a five dollar donation,

Effective altruism group raises awareness

By VIGNESH CHOCKALINGAM The Dartmouth

Dartmouth Effective Altruism has a simple premise, says founder James Drain ’17: “Do as much good as possible in the most effective way we can.”

Midway through last fall, Drain founded Dartmouth Effective Altruism, a student-led initiative to spread awareness of the emerging philosophy

SEE SCULPTURE PAGE 5

people can sample the four different sandwiches, along with tomato soup, then vote for their favorite variation.

Last year’s winner was the French Melt, which included Cabot extra sharp cheddar, caramelized onions, maple mustard spread, Vermont Creamery sea salt and maple butter – all on sourdough bread.

A l l p ro c e e d s b e n e f i t Wa r m t h , a s t a t e w i d e emergency-based program

t h at u t i l i ze s d o n at i o n s to provide home heating assistance to low-income f a m i l i e s. T h e Wa r m t h program is administered

by C o m mu n i t y A c t i o n A g e n c i e s, a g ro u p o f nonprofit agencies, including the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity, designed to fight poverty across Vermont.

The Warmth program SEE KAF PAGE 3

IT’S NOT EASY BEING GREEN

of effective altruism.

A social movement and philosophy that has gained popularity in recent years, effective altruism looks to optimize the ways in which individuals improve the world around them. For example, one strategy involves rating how cost-effective charities are by measuring how many lives they save SEE ALTRUISM PAGE 2

MORGAN MOINIAN /THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Depsire the cold weather outside, plants thrive in the greenhouse.

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

PAGE 2

Alumnus sells popular dating app

By RACQUEL LYN

leverage what we learned at BAE runs the DALI Lab through the to grow our new parent company’s computer science department, was The dating app BAE, co-founded existing brands will position them for instrumental in allowing him to

by Jordan Kunzika ’16 in 2015, has long-term success within the social structure his senior year so that he been acquired by the technology consumer app space,” Gerrard wrote. could work on BAE full time and company if(we), the parent company Jamie Coughlin, the director still continue his studies. He said that of entrepreneurship because of her help, he was able to of popular at the College, said write a senior thesis and graduate d a t i n g “I think that the that the Dartmouth with high honors. Kunzika also noted w e b s i t e opportunity to Entrepreneurial Network that she gave him the motivation and Tagged. helped support the BAE opportunity to pitch BAE, and that Ku n z i k a leverage what we dating app early on and she always provided feedback that and Justin learned at BAE that both Kunzika and contributed to the development of Gerrard to grow our new Gerrard heavily used the his entrepreneurial mindset.

Tu’16 both DEN innovation center Gerrard, following the acquisition, s e r v e d parent company's as a brainstorming place. was hired to work at if(we), where i m p o r t a n t existing brands will The BAE team was a he currently leads marketing and roles in recipient of multiple growth. Kunzika has transitioned t h e a p p ’ s position them for awards, creation — long-term success to work as including Kunzika was a software within the social t h e D E N “I hope that my a co-founder engineer at F o u n d e r entrepreneurial and Gerrard consumer app Google on a G r a n t . was the chief space.” team called T h r o u g h story with BAE marketing G o o g l e a d d i t i o n a l and its aquisition officer. The Expeditions. app, which -JUSTIN GERRARD TU'16 mentorship, will inspire more Ku n z i k a the BAE team is targeted at said that he also won the people, especially black users, hopes the was initially launched at Howard grand prize at the 2015 underrepresented acquisition University and in its first month Dartmouth Ventures will benefit minorities.” received 17,000 downloads. Since conference, now known the black then, BAE has gained several a s t h e D a r t m o u t h community hundred thousand users and has Entrepreneurial Forum. -JORDAN KUNZIKA '16 by helping been ranked as one of the top 50 Since then, DEN has the app gain “Lifestyle” apps in the iOS App used both Kunzika and international Store in 20 African and Caribbean Gerrard as mentors and exposurand speakers for some of its countries around the world. directing Kunzika wrote in an email that events. attention to the experience of developing the Throughout their other issues app, building a community of users time at the College, the black and eventually being acquired was Kunzika and Gerrard met with many community faces. people and organizations within “I hope that my entrepreneurial an “amazing journey.”

Gerrard wrote in an email that his Dartmouth who helped the pair story with BAE and its acquisition experience from BAE will add a lot achieve success. Kunzika said in a will inspire more people, especially of value to his new position at if(we). phone conversation that computer underrepresented minorities,” he “I think that the opportunity to science professor Lorie Loeb, who wrote in an email statement.

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2017

Students increase altruism awareness FROM ALTRUISM PAGE 1

five to seven attendees at its weekly meetings. Drain explained that the per dollar received. While effective club’s public Facebook group has altruists abound in the nonprofit grown to have around 50 members. philanthropic sectors, the philosophy At meetings, Drain introduces has also spread to affect the choices the concept of effective altruism, individuals make both at work and directs students to resources through at home. The movement — which which they can learn more about the remains cause-neutral, meaning it movement and facilitates “heated does not subjectively value certain philosophical discussions” on methods of charity over others pertinent topics, such as the question, — urges its adherents not only to “Should we value people that don’t be more charitable, but also to be yet exist?” charitable in the most cost-effective The club hopes to continue to grow in size while spreading the philosophy way possible.

Drain became interested in of effective altruism throughout effective altruism in the summer of the Dartmouth community. Drain 2016 when he read “Doing Good envisions a pledge drive in which Better” by William MacAskill, a co- students make a promise to donate founder and leader of the movement. a certain percentage of their lifelong The book, which aims to introduce income to charity. the concept of effective altruism to A similar pledge drive has the greater public, struck a chord already taken place on the campus with Drain. He began spending hours of the University of California, exploring websites of organizations Berkeley. EA Berkeley was founded in the fall of 2014 such as 80,000 by undergraduates Hours, which Ajeya Cotra and aims to help Oliver Habryka i n d i v i d u a l s “Students of diverse and has a optimize their interests can come membership of careers to be about 20 students. as impactful as together and talk E a ch s e m e s t e r possible, and about how their since the spring Giving What of 2015, around We Can, which interests affect this six students have asks the public overall project to pledged 10 percent to give more of their lifetime significantly improve the world.” income to charity. and more A k h i l Ja l a n , e f f e c t i v e l y.

-AKHIL JALAN, PRESIDENT president of EA Both were Berkeley, noted founded in part OF EFFECTIVE ALTRUISM that the club

by MacAskill.

BERKELEY connects a variety Effective of students who altruism first are all interested in arrived at effective charity.

Dartmouth “Students of when Lydia Harris, a representative for animal diverse interests can come together rights advocacy group, Mercy for and talk about how their interests Animals, came to campus early affect this overall project to improve last fall term to speak about her the world,” he said. organization’s work. Drain, who Drain hopes that Dartmouth was in the audience, approached Effective Altruism can lead a similar her after she finished. Recounting campaign on campus because the interaction, Drain said that after he believes effective altruism is discussing effective altruism and its philosophically neutral and has effects on Harris’ work, she asked mass appeal. In the future, he would him if he was involved in the effective like the club to help students lead altruism community at Dartmouth. impactful careers, inform them of “I wouldn’t know what that would charity evaluators like GiveWell mean because there is no effective and encourage them to act on their altruism community here,” he told knowledge of effective altruism by donating to cost-effective charities. her.

Drain, with Harris’ help, made He also envisions that the club could contact with an effective altruist utilize Dartmouth’s Greek system to at Harvard Business School and institutionalize a culture of giving submitted a charter to the Council effectively. on Student Organizations. Director With the creation and growth of the College’s Ethics Institute Aine of Dartmouth Effective Altruism, Donovan agreed to serve as the club’s Drain hopes to instill in Dartmouth’s campus a culture of “getting your best faculty advisor.

So far, the club has had around philanthropic bang for your buck.”

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2017

KAF to raise money for charity FROM KAF PAGE 1

supplements the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Prog ram, which is designed to assist families with energy costs, and the state’s Crisis Fuel Assistance services.

“Home heating is continually an issue because of plain and simple poverty,” said Jan Demers, executive director of the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity.

“The deepest, most immediate crisis need is answered through the Warmth program.”

According to the War mth p ro g r a m ’s a n nu a l re p o r t , Community Action Agencies staff screen applicants for income eligibility and need. Applicants must be within five to seven days of running out of bulk fuel or in danger of having their utility service disconnected in order to be considered for Warmth financial assistance.

Most Warmth donations come from customers of participating fuel and utility companies that help distribute fundraising information and raise awareness about the program, Demers said, adding that the majority of Warmth funding is both raised and spent by CVOEO. Weatherization programs of many Community Active Agencies provide a more long-term way to tackle the issue of home heating, Demers said.

She added that if a household uses a lot of LIHEAP dollars, it would automatically get referred to the weatherization program as well, which insulates homes so that they are both warmer and take less

fuel to heat up.

Warmth’s annual report stated that it raised $419,488 and assisted 2,939 households in the 2015-2016 season.

“The Warmth program really is about neighbor helping neighbor,” Demers said. “We all know what it’s like to be cold. So when you’re sitting in a warm home, realize that your neighbors might not be able to. That’s where the donations come from.”

Fa c i l i t i e s o p e r a t i o n s a n d management associate vice president Frank Roberts said that the College is in the process of finalizing the study of transitioning to a hot water-based heating system from its current steam heating system.

T h e College burns approximately three and three quarters of a million gallons of water a year, Roberts said, adding that if a house uses approximately 1,000 to 1,500 gallons a year, the Dartmouth campus uses as much as approximately 3,000 houses.

Roberts said that hot waterbased systems are approximately 20 percent more efficient than steam systems and have many other advantages. “ W h e n yo u c o n s i d e r t h e reduction in greenhouse gases, the fact that [hot water-based systems] are more efficient and economical, require less maintenance, are much easier to control and lead to greater occupant comfort, there are a number of reasons to make this decision to convert from steam systems to hot water systems,” Roberts said. “We just have to do the economic analysis because it

is a significant investment.”

Roberts also said that people can be more energy-efficient by having a good building envelope: making sure that doors and windows are closed, weather-stripping and paying attention to the set point of the thermostat – keeping the thermostat closer to 68 degrees Fahrenheit as opposed to 75.

L a s t y e a r, K A F r a i s e d approximately $600 and served around 120 people through the Grilled Cheese Challenge. All of the sandwiches were sold out within half an hour. KAF marketing coordinator Natasha Payton said that they are better prepared this year for the anticipated large crowd and hopes to surpass last year’s amount of $600.

Besides the Grilled Cheese Challenge, KAF also organizes other events throughout the year that benefit local charities, Payton said. The next event will be Maple Daze on Mar. 25 and 26, a pancake breakfast with KAF pancakes, maple syrup, bacon and coffee.

Donations from this breakfast will benefit Vermont Food Education Every Day, an organization that raises awareness about healthy food and nutrition.

Payton added that popular past events include the annual Sundae Sunday, an ice cream social with Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, Cabot whipped cream and sundaes.

All donations benefited David’s House, which provides support for families with children receiving treatment through the Children’s Hospital at the DartmouthHitchcock Medical Center, she said.

ANNIE KUNSTLER/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

King Arthur Flour employees close up for the day at their Baker-Berry Library location.

PAGE 3

Students react to free study groups

— or after meeting is no longer needed for the week. study groups, divided among 33 Vivian Lee ’18, a former study study group leaders. The greatest group leader and study group participation was among the member, said that she sometimes freshman class, accounting for 62 had difficulty making it to study group sessions when she attended percent of participants.

Students who opt-in for this them as a member. program meet with study groups She also noted that students once a week for eight weeks to go might be less willing to pay up front over class content. Student leaders, for a service they may or may not who are invited to become tutors use. based on their previous success T h o u g h t h e f e e r e m ov a l in the course, create topics for alleviates this potential barrier discussion or further explanation, to using the service, an increase in student and students are participation also encouraged may also cause to bring in a burden o u t s t a n d i n g “In the idealistic on student q u e s t i o n s sense we want to study group regarding class give the maximum leader s and material. study group The transition benefit to as many capacities. c o m e s f ro m a desire to increase students as we can — S i d d i q u i mentions the academic support it seems like a good potential for for those who “bumping” fall in between idea.” students’ t h e c at e g o r i e s requests of “financially fo r o n e - o n i n d e p e n d e n t ” - ALI SIDDIQUI ’17 one tutoring and those to student r e c e i v i n g study groups financial aid, Potter said. It is not clear what because of a lack of tutors. the number of those students is, she “That works to an extent,” he said, because people may not want said. “I can’t exactly effectively to put a “spotlight” on themselves study group a class of 25 people.” as being unable to afford the Students also wonder what the service. This, however, is the reason effects of the cost elimination will be on other Potter believes academic it is necessary programs to eliminate the offered at the financial barriers “The question then College, such altogether — to becomes will we as the resident see whether there be able to do other e x p e r t is a significant program, in p a r t o f t h e programs as well which former D a r t m o u t h or expand other students for s t u d e n t classes — population that programs in light of primarily in has gone without this.”

STEM — desired academic work with support. students “If t h e -ALI SIDDIQUI ’17 t h r o u g h numbers creep the housing up, and they creep communities. up significantly, that will be an indicator that more Potter noted that the revenue thought needs to go into my whole generated by the $30 or $10 fee theory of taking away the financial had only served as a minor offset to costs, and that removing those barrier,” she said.

In addition to the cost itself, costs have not resulted in a change the student study group system for the total budget for the tutor presents challenges for students in system. terms of availability and schedule “In the idealistic sense we want alignment, study group leader Ali to give the maximum benefit to as Siddiqui ’17 pointed out. Siddiqui many students as we can — it seems noted that the study groups are like a good idea,” Siddiqui said. planned according to the leader’s “The question then becomes will availability, so a study group may we be able to do other programs meet at a time that is advantageous as well or expand other programs for the student — before an exam in light of this.”

FROM STUDY PAGE 1

THE DARTMOUTH EVENTS

PAGE 4

THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2017

DARTMOUTHEVENTS TODAY 4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Panel: Implications of a Republican White House and Congress — Health Policy, Georgiopoulous Classroom, Raether Hall, Tuck School of Business

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

Fireside Chat with Jennifer Lopez ’08, DEN Innovation Center

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

The Jones Family Singers, Spaulding Auditorium, Hopkins Center

TOMORROW

10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Lecture: Psychic Nowhere with Professor David Eng, Leslie Humanities Center Seminar Room, Haldeman Hall

4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Panel: Implications of a Republican White House and Congress — Energy and Environmental Issues, Georgiopoulous Classroom, Raether Hall, Tuck School of Business

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

Friday Night Sing-Ins, Paddock Music Library, Hopkins Center RELEASE DATE– Thursday, January 19, 2017

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

ACROSS 1 Naproxen brand 6 Yap 10 Documentary divisions 14 Ricoh competitor 15 Green-skinned “Return of the Jedi” girl 16 Approaching 17 Not shady 18 Action figure?

19 Site of Shah Jahan’s tomb 20 Protective charm often adorned with feathers 23 Decorative globe 26 Ice cream maker Joseph 27 Holed a fivefooter, say 28 Start of a handsoff declaration?

30 Fivers 32 Pigs out (on), briefly 33 Stamina-testing ballroom event 36 Longtime Labor Day telethon org.

37 Wild bunch 38 Gold units: Abbr.

40 Forensic analyst’s discovery 46 Swiss river 48 “Peter Pan” pooch 49 Travel org. freebie 50 Lamentation 52 Miss an easy grounder, say 53 It can follow directions 54 Device found in this puzzle’s three other longest answers 58 Cold drink brand 59 Come & Get It! pet food maker 60 Annoyed 64 Like some warnings 65 Jetty 66 “Keen!”

67 Fresh answers 68 Quick on one’s feet

69 “Business @ the Speed of Thought” co-author DOWN 1 Guns N’ Roses’ Rose 2 Sheltered side 3 Bit of work 4 Cancel 5 More than just edgy 6 Morning fare since 1952 7 Study, e.g.

8 Actor Baldwin 9 Rampart topper 10 Legislate 11 Punctual 12 Concurred 13 Result of a messy breakup?

21 Wax-coated cheese 22 Rear 23 Ancient 24 Gad about 25 Wall Street figures 29 1980 Chrysler debut 30 Something in the air 31 Cake with a kick

34 “Too true!”

35 Creole vegetable 39 German industrial region 41 Youngest BrontÎ 42 Short rests 43 Weight allowance 44 Stud, e.g.

45 ICU worker 46 Rose garden pests 47 “The Good Wife” wife 51 Nice thoughts?

52 Bishop John for whom a Georgia university was named 55 Movie trailer unit 56 Imitator 57 One-half base times height, for a triangle 61 Dennings of “2 Broke Girls” 62 Juillet’s season 63 Big affairs

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

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01/19/17

THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2017

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

PAGE 5

Students look to revive Winter Carnival sculpture tradition director of the Collis Center Anna Hall said, agreeing with Pack.

The email that was sent to campus Hall added that normally the said that the decision was made planning process for the snow because of “increasingly warm sculpture begins in the fall, so finding winters with limited snowfall, many a student leader for the project now years of declining involvement from would be too difficult. the student body at large and an Benjamin Nelson ’17 assisted in absence of student leadership for the building of the snow sculpture the construction of a sculpture this in his freshman year and was snow year.” sculpture chair in his sophomore In response to the announcement, year, the last year there was an official de Guardiola reached out to College-sponsored sculpture. Nelson Dartmouth Outing Club vice was also part of the student volunteer president group that built Kenzie Clark the sculpture last ’17, who then year. s e n t o u t a n “People just do not “People just do email to DOC not want to go want to go out into the members asking out into the cold if anyone would cold and build a snow and build a snow be interested sculpture for hours sculpture for in helping to hours and work build a snow and work on it.” on it,” Nelson sculpture. said, adding that “ We k e e p the atmosphere getting told that -BENJAMIN NELSON at the College is s t u d e n t s a r e ’17, FORMER SNOW not conducive not interested to large-scale SCULPTURE CHAIR in doing this, student projects and that the requiring traditions are falling apart because significant time commitments. no one wants to do it,” de Guardiola He said that students are too busy said. “I want to prove that wrong to build a substantial snow sculpture – the students care about these that would be sizable, recognizable traditions.” and safely constructed. de Guardiola said that her Nelson also noted that when the family has always loved the snow College sponsored the event in the sculpture tradition and that the past the snow would be gathered in youth population of New England large quantities from campus. Panels used to come to Hanover specifically of wood would be used to create a to see it. mold which would be filled with snow Associate director of the Collis and water, turning into ice-snow Center David Pack said that Winter overnight and allowing students to Carnival would still retain its carve the snow sculpture, Nelson spirit, despite the lack of an official said. He added that for last year’s sculpture. student-initiated “Snow sculpture, students sculptures had to gather snow are just one “Seeing the student body by themselves. part of the come together for this de Guardiola weekend,” said that her Pack said. project would probably be plan is to begin “ W i n t e r the highlight of my time at construction the Carnival week before Winter has a lot Dartmouth.”

Carnival in order to of different make sure weather events, and -MERCEDES DE GUARDIOLA c o n d i t i o n s w i l l the spirit of permit the building celebrating ’17 of a snow sculpture. winter is The snow certainly will probably be still there.” gathered from the snow mounds Some of the other events that around campus, she said, adding that students can look forward to for as Collis will not be contributing to Winter Carnival include the Polar the project, it may be more difficult Bear Swim, human dogsled races, to acquire snow in large quantities the ice sculpture contest, a winter like in past years. ball and live owls that Collis will be “Seeing the student body come bringing in, Pack said. together for this project would “The overarching tradition of probably be the highlight of my time Winter Carnival is celebrating at Dartmouth,” de Guardiola said.

Dartmouth’s location in cold, snowy New Hampshire and embracing that Peter Charalambous contributed [tradition] for the weekend through reporting. outdoor activities, occasionally Mercedes de Guardiola is a member of indoor activities and winter sports,” The Dartmouth staff.

FROM SCULPTURE PAGE 1

MARGARET JONES /THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Last year, “rogue” builders assembled on the Green to create an impromptu snow sculpture honoring Dr. Seuss.

THE DARTMOUTH OPINION

PAGE 6

GUEST COLUMNIST TIMOTHY MESSEN ’18

CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST WILLIAM SANDLUND ’18

A Call to Protest

Academic Rigor Mortis

We must protest — and consider our right to burn the American flag.

After President Barack Obama’s historic presidency, President-elect Donald Trump will follow him into the White House with a regressive agenda. He is responding to and playing on fears many Americans rightfully have in ways that may enrich his family and inner circle of supporters. This cynical appropriation of American nationalism to enable the takeover of the government by an ultra-wealthy cabal has been helped bring latent hatred to the surface of public life.

Since Trump’s election on Nov. 8, 2016, we have seen an increase in sexual and racial violence that has drawn us a portrait of an America where racial profiling and sexual paternalism — as well as sexual harassment — are dire realities. Trump has ignored the values of this republic: freedom, equality, individualism and diversity. Today, we are living in an America that not only turns a blind eye to racism but also entrenches institutional racism while rejecting the principles of gender and sexual freedom. Trump’s proposed border wall and Muslim ban are shining examples of his discrimination-based proposals. We shall not yield to this bigotry under the banner of patriotism.

The days, months and years to follow will be decisive for America. Right now, we need more than a dialogue in the pages of our newspapers and on our television screens — so much more, as guest columnist Adam Gardner Med’17 suggested in a column on Jan. 12. We need action, because little will be achieved by discussions of whether Trump supporters are good or bad people since Trump’s politics implicitly and explicitly threaten Americans and citizens of the world.

We need more than discussion because history does not repeat itself; it rhymes. In ignoring our own dreadful history that has brought us injustice, misery and murder, we risk writing a new verse of history to rhyme with the centuries of slavery and genocide on which America was founded and has glacially acted to reform thanks to the liberal republican values our history classes teach us we need to utilize against injustice. We need to be strong, stand up and speak out. It’s time to stand up for yourself and stand up for others. We need to

act and stand up for our integrity, rather than be lulled into complacency by “unification” as Trump and his supporters have advanced.

Trump tweeted on Nov. 29, 2016 that flag burners should be stripped of their citizenship or sentenced to jail. We should neither take this threat nor his ignorance of the First Amendment lightly. The best way to defend our rights is to exercise them. To place the value of the American republic on a piece of striped cloth with 50 stars on it, rather than the liberties and democratic institutions that make this country remarkable, is to misplace and misvalue what is wonderful about living here.

Polish-German revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg once wrote in a critique of state censorship in the early years of the Soviet Union, “Freedom is always the freedom of dissenters.” She added: “If ‘freedom’ becomes ‘privilege,’ the workings of political freedom are broken.”

The Trumpian rhetoric of unity attempts to undermine exactly that freedom of dissent and the working of political freedom. To burn the U.S. flag is fully within our rights. Ceding ground on this right for fear of disturbing some unity, which has never really existed — much like the “Great America” Trump tells us is past — capitulates to the anti-civil libertarian views already clearly voiced by the incoming administration.

In this moment, we need neither unity nor healing but an active and engaged citizenry unafraid to exercise its rights. I invite Dartmouth’s community to join me on the Green this Friday for a discussion on what rights are threatened by the incoming administration, what steps we can take to ensure that they are not simply taken away and what burning an American flag might achieve. And then, if we so wish, we will burn the flag, for we are free to do so.

Anyone interested in attending Messen’s discussion on Friday should contact him personally.

The Dartmouth welcomes guest columns. We request that guest columns be the original work of the submitter. Submissions and questions may be sent to either opinion@thedartmouth.com and editor@thedartmouth. com. Submissions will receive a response within three business days.

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ISSUE

THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2017

NEWS EDITOR: Sonia Qin, NEWS LAYOUT: Peter Charalambous, TEMPLATING EDITOR: Jaclyn Eagle

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

The fight for our hearts and minds was lost before it began.

One has to wonder at the fortitude of winter’s merrymakers. From the depths of January, on evenings worn black by nights already eight hours old, you can observe something strange. Scurrying about Webster Avenue in the freezing cold are spectral lumps. These creatures mill over icy roads and through weather-biting winds, and a stench of beer incubates beneath their heavy winter layers to be released as a heady perfume upon arrival at some familiar destination … The cold air often invigorates these inebriates, and it is perhaps at this moment that one of the creatures recalls those now indelible lines from College President Phil Hanlon’s Moving Dartmouth Forward plan: “Our vision is for Dartmouth to be a place of around-the-clock learning.” The student grumbles, to no one in particular, “Around-the-clock what?” before continuing a jumbled march onward, unsure about what this sentence could mean in a world as cold and confusing as ours.

Two years and millions of dollars later, Dartmouth has moved sideways. The dust has settled in the wake of yet another effort by that the College to manufacture a new image from the ashes of our exceptionally poor publicity. One of the most ineffectual aspects of this effort has been the attempt to introduce “academic rigor,” which in itself is a rather terrifying buzzword hardly evoking of the idyllic liberal arts education the College markets. It is not clear why the more edifying “academic vigor” was passed up in favor of this portentous term. Perhaps the idea of “experiential learning,” a veritable buzzword behemoth, was seen to offset the hardness of “rigor.” In any case, over the past year, the administration has shifted its emphasis from “academic rigor” to “intellectual engagement,” but we all remember the original, terrible term best. Regardless of titles, the result of the initiative has been a minor inconvenience to students without a tangible intellectual shift on campus. The annual MDF report devotes less than a page to this part of the effort and focuses on “implementation” rather than results, simply because there aren’t any.

Readers might feel it is unfair for me to try and measure “intellectual engagement;” however the objection raised here is not to the effects of MDF, but the methods used. There is a carrot-and-stick strategy employed by the powers that be. We have a short-term stick, in the form of classes on Saturdays, earlier classes and fewer cancellations of classes. The long-term carrot? It is the end of negative publicity garnered by us, the idiotic pride and shame of our school, guaranteed by the gradual edging out of independent student life in favor of chaperoning and houses.

Students gain a more valuable degree from the perception of Dartmouth as a sober hotbed of research and academia than they do from its current national image as a school whose only more notable virtue than its drunkenness is its frozenness.

This forms part of a trend to pamper and pander to fashionable concerns. Yet the one constant in the ever-changing world of higher education is the student body. As adults, we

often thrive when given the opportunity to run organizations on our own. When I ask affiliated friends what they like so much about their respective houses, it is the sense of community formed independent from our school yet still of our school more than anything else.

That said, this article is not an entreaty to preserve the Greek system; rather, it is about addressing Dartmouth’s failed attempts to effect meaningful change in our intellectual community. In a March 5, 2015 article on MDF, professors are quoted calling for more “magic moments” of late night intellectual discourse and more fraternity debates à la the 1850s Dartmouth of their fantasies. Instead of making any real effort to realize these cotton candied dreams, however, we simply have more class. What happened?

Perhaps it was just a publicity stunt, as Dartmouth Review writer Kush Desai suggested in his Feb. 26, 2015 article. That is a tempting explanation, but it has also been a lost opportunity to create an immediate sense of agency amongst students. If something as simple as a quarterly academic publication of the finest work from each undergraduate department was to be organized amongst upperclassmen, there could be a tangible step toward creating a more intellectually serious community. It would be a form of citation that would see essays, projects and proofs publicized in a forum that would help resumes and increase exposure to ideas. This is a simple idea, and perhaps it is impractical, but it demonstrates a different approach based on reward and empowerment rather than control and punishment. With a little luck, we all could be having more of those “magic moments” — just be careful, if your dose is too high, you may end up having a bad trip and realizing that, for all the bluster of academic rigor, the magic was a sham.

And so each year we fall forward, steered ever closer to the source of the autumnal winds of change. The breath of Hanlon, moving past his mustache and into our awareness, breaks us out of an impenetrable alcoholic stupor every now and then.

I want to end this article mentioning that some of my fondest memories from finals are the mirror image of “binge drinking.” Where binge drinking entails drinking too much with friends, as many young people are wont to do, there can be an academic equivalent of such risky behaviors — staying up all night desperately writing papers, regretting going out in the days after classes ended, hating every ounce of my horrible, stressed-out self. These were learning moments, I think. For every one-time, part-time, full-time Dartmouth degenerate, I know there is also someone underneath passionate about learning and ideas. The violent shift from wasted wastrel to engaged student, finding a last minute paper or problem set surprisingly interesting, is a skill in life as well as a crash course in experiential learning. The College should not demand we prepare for well-adjusted balance without any experience of the prior state of intemperate imbalance. Enjoy the weekend and its requisite “around-the-clock learning.” Have fun, be safe.

THE DARTMOUTH OPINION

THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2017

PAGE 7

STAFF COLUMNIST JOSEPH REGAN ’19

CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST MICHAEL ZHU ’20

Obdurate Nations

Eight Years Later

Europe is a set of nations acting as an idea. The United States is the reverse.

“Why isn’t Ireland racist?”

“Because they never let [migrants] in.”

This joke encapsulates the cultural homogeneity of many European nations, a force that causes the recent surge of migrants into the continent to be seen as a “crisis.”

When winter thaws into spring, millions of immigrants will surge again from east to west.

To deal effectively with the renewed masses of hopeful migrants, European states must treat them with the same spirit when allowing them in. European states cannot deal with migrants if they do not first deal with themselves — and that is far more difficult than simply finding accommodation for millions (a tall order in itself).

The problem is an ideological one. Europe is a set of nations masquerading as ideas, but the United States is a set of ideas masquerading as a nation. For the migrant crisis to truly be solved, Europe must become more like the U.S. Irish people tend to look alike, but so do Italians, Germans and most other groups one is likely to see roaming the streets of any European city. Europe may be less homogenous than it used to be but is still seriously non-diverse. Americans may take issue with ethnic generalization, even with a statement as innocuous as “Romanians tend to look like Romanians.” The reason this upsets us is because here in America, we internalize life in one of the most diverse countries in the history of the world — it is our “normal.”

And it’s not possible to look American in the same way it is possible to look Irish or Dutch.

If you dispute this point, consider: if you want to argue that it is possible to look American, at what point is there an established America filled with people to look like? There is a constant expansion and influx of people that makes such a question impossible to answer.

It is further impossible because looking like you are from “somewhere” is not a question of individual residence, but rather the result of historical residence by established ethnic group. John F. Kennedy looks Irish because his heritage is Irish. That heritage is associated with particular characteristics because it hails from Europe.

Nations were formed in Europe long before they clamored for and obtained governments based on ideals other than strength or bloodline. To clarify, I use the dictionary definition of “nation:” “a group of people who share a language, ancestry and culture in a particular place.”

A migrant in America and a migrant in Europe experience two completely different realities. It is not only more difficult to become a citizen of European states than to become an American citizen — it is questionable whether a migrant can ever become a part of the nation he or she settles in. They may eventually prevail in the arduous citizenship process, but they will be doomed to always look and sound different. They can attempt to blend in with the national culture, but many are ultimately precluded from it on the basis of that otherness. Examples, such as Algerian Frenchmen, butt against this trend.

However, the spectre of colonization hangs

over their assimilation. In the United States — itself a colony that through off European occupation — there is not one way to dress or look American.

In America, there may be those who mistakenly argue that native birth makes them more American than someone who must become a citizen or is attempting to become one. This is ignorant. If you are not following the liberal, inclusive ideas that established the United States of America, you are essentially not American yourself, for those ideas are the fundamental basis of America: we are a nation of immigrants, of pluralism, of acceptance.

Each European state has its own governing documents espousing democratic ideology, but the nation of people that ratified it so precedes the modern states’ existence that there is a cultural weight which must be confronted if the migration crisis is to be resolved. The problem for a migrant in Europe is that cultural fluency and citizenship are not enough — native status is de facto required.

The problem of race in America exemplifies the difference in scale of the problem for European acceptance and American acceptance of migrants. The color of a person’s skin, for a grossly unjust amount of time, determined how much access a person had to the rights America’s founding documents provided for its citizens. Racism is not dead, but the idea that race makes someone less American is losing its grounding.

In Europe, it is not necessarily wrong to say that a migrant is not French. In America, a racist may hold other races to be inferior, but no one should be able to claim someone is un-American based on race. However, in France, the burka ban introduced in southern towns was instituted because “the garments impinged upon French culture and way of life.” The weight of centuries of homogeneity has merged the particular look and the very idea of French culture into a monolith. This is true for many European nations.

American culture is a collection of traditions as many as the varied places they came from.

The essence of France is the ancestral history of Gallic peoples, a long and remarkable national story. Another way of representing the problem is that American cuisine is as diverse as our culture; French cuisine is predetermined around certain gastronomic factors in a way American cuisine, being American, simply could never be. France is just one example, but the pattern persists throughout Europe.

The migrant crisis brings a reckoning to Europe because the countries must choose the path of nations or the path of states.

They can accept as many migrants as they want into their national boundaries, but societal acceptance will never come until the weight of each European nation’s cultural history is addressed. Until a foreigner from the Middle East hawking roasted chestnuts on the streets of Paris is considered as French as the immigrant from Europe who made frankfurters ubiquitous in New York City is considered American, the migrant crisis will not end for Europe. It is a question of acceptance but of a kind deeper than the nominal acceptance so far offered.

The presidency of Barack Obama has been one of mixed results.

One of my earliest memories of President be Obama’s fault: Republicans have constantly Barack Obama was his speech at the 2004 denied any political discussion of the issue, Democratic National Convention, back when the although 55 percent of Americans believe laws Democratic Party still preached straightforward, governing the sale of firearms should be stricter. persuasive ideologies. I was only a 6-year-old back Had House Republicans not tried to repeal or then, but the memory of his message that night otherwise defund the Affordable Care Act more still lingers on with me. That eloquent message of than 50 times during Obama’s two terms, the optimism and hope, unity and patriotism, unselfish rollout and implementation of health care could motives and unfaltering strength. It wasn’t even have been smoother. his election, but it certainly seemed so; Obama And clearly, Obama’s presidency is not without spoke for his party’s candidate — then-Sen. John straightforward achievements. During his two Kerry — but it almost seemed he was offering terms, the number of Mexicans living illegally in his own story and his vision for the first time. the U.S. declined and is now below its peak in the Eight years later, he’s leaving the Oval Office Bush era. The number of immigrants convicted and passing it on to perhaps the most controversial of crimes who were deported was double the and divisive political figure in recent times. We’ve number deported by the Bush administration. seen Obama’s heights and nadirs. We watched The number of violent crimes continues to unemployment rates dip below pre-Great decrease, contrary to what our president-elect Recession levels, as over 22 million Americans believes. Repealing the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” went back to work between 2010 and 2016 — policy fought discrimination against gays, lesbians although economic growth has faltered, never and bisexuals in the military. Obama also passed exceeding three percent per year. We watched his a number of financial reforms and Wall Street health care plan, in the form of the Affordable regulations that may help prevent another 2008Care Act, raise health care coverage to 91 percent like recession. by 2015, although many of the 30 million But despite Obama’s accomplishments and Americans who bought failures — whether or not private health care had to you agree with his policies pay higher prices as they “Obama possessed a and ideology — he was the switched to “Obamacare.” certain charisma and embodiment of our ideal We watched him oversee president. His grace under self-confidence that the assassination of pressure, his unwillingness to Osama bin Laden and our president-elect attack opponents personally, pull soldiers out of Iraq, seemingly lacks and his oratorical eloquence and beginning the withdrawal casual joking, his utmost from Afghanistan. Still, artificially conveys hope in our nation and his terrorist networks are still through Twitter and unwavering optimism in the active, Russia and China good of every American — continue to brazenly spread bragging about his regardless of race, gender, their geopolitical influence, fortune.” sexual orientation, age or and the U.S. has become political belief — revealed mistrusted by many of its to us a fundamentally oldest allies. respectable and good man. He showed to us the Those are only some of the issues in which type of man, the type of character, that we want Obama leaves a disputed legacy. He reduced to see in our president. carbon emissions and convinced China to do Obama possessed a certain charisma and so too, to the dissatisfaction of coal miners and self-confidence that our president-elect seemingly refinery workers. He spent his way out of the lacks and artificially conveys through Twitter and recession, facilitating a massive economic recovery bragging about his fortune. In the chaos of the but nearly doubling the national debt in the 2008 recession, Obama offered a vision of hope: process. that fundamentally our neighbors and fellow Meanwhile, his message of unity failed. More citizens are good people, and if helping each other than 70 percent of Americans say that the U.S. stand up is nothing more than being American. is more divided than it was when Obama was His lack of personal scandals and insistence on first elected. Race relations have become more operating with dignity and respect brought an divisive, and racism has become more visible uncharacteristic purity to the White House; than ever before. Obama’s constant message to meanwhile, his racial presence empowered respect conflicting ideologies and, most recently, African-Americans across the country to strive for to consider things from other point of views racial equality, fight for justice when it mattered seems almost hypocritical; rarely was there a and offer their voices to the maelstrom of social moment when Obama publicly considered the change. conservative point of view, and as a result, he It will require some time to judge fairly the became out-of-touch with his voter base that legacy of Obama’s presidency. His terms were would eventually hand President-elect Donald perhaps two of the most divisive ones in recent Trump the election. history, marked by a progressive agenda that But it would be unwise to attribute all of that to helped many Americans and raised a nation back Obama. Certainly, the argument can be made that to its feet, marred by political battles and inaction.

Trump’s rhetoric has contributed to the increase But I’ll never forget his message on that night of hate crimes since his election — in Dec. 2016, in 2004, that vision of a nation unified not by the New York Police Department revealed that race or political ideology but by national identity there was a 115 percent increase in bias crimes and our inherent ability to do good. Just like that since Trump’s election. The government’s failure message, President Barack Obama won’t be easily to enact proper, agreeable gun control cannot forgotten.

THE DARTMOUTH ARTS

PAGE 8

THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2017

The Hanover Exposition: “Closer to Nostalgia”

By KEVIN HU

The Dartmouth

Located in the heart of Main Street, International DVD & Poster, a small entertainment store, invites its visitors to explore the modern evolution of entertainment culture. It’s a small, magical realm encapsulating the ethos of music and the arts across several decades.

Boxes of vinyl records, vintage travel posters and miscellaneous prints line the walls. Decades of college ephemera, movies and film decorate the shelves. Early Miles and Coltrane, easy jazz, smoothly carol in the background. This is a room where stories become movement, design and architecture — human experience hybridized with art and music.

So how does one describe a place like this?

“Closer to nostalgia,” Bryan Smith, manager, said.

Well-versed in film and music history, Smith’s personal endearment for his collections stems from a lineage deeply rooted in Dartmouth and the arts, including a grandmother who funded the creation of the Paddock Music Library, an uncle who was a founding member of the Dartmouth Aires and a grandfather who founded the Dartmouth film studies program

and served as the College’s vice president. Smith imbues a genuine spirit and vitality to the backbone of the store. He’s much more than just the manager; he’s a storyteller.

For customers, each visit affords not only the potential entertainment grail but also a personal vignette linked to any object of interest. A $1.95 purchase consists of much more than just an Ella Fitzgerald 75th birthday celebration book with original Decca recordings; it includes a captivating personal narrative about meeting the First Lady of Song at Thompson Arena as a teenager. “[Smith] is kind and generous with his time and resources and is well-known by students and alumni of all ages,” said Melissa Haas, owner of the former neighboring boutique Lemon Tree Gifts. “He is somewhat iconic in town.”

With the primary objective of celebrating Dartmouth and providing for the town, IDVD & Poster prudently tailors its services and resources in the best interest of the community.

“If a student organization is hosting a themed event, I’ll try to provide posters, cardboard cutouts and prizes to help sponsor the event, whatever genre it may be,” Smith said. “We spend a lot of time listening to what the customer wants. We try

our best to find it and get it in for them.”

Whether it be an out of print ’74 Dartmouth Winter Carnival poster or an original Beatles 45, if a customer has an object of interest, Smith will do his best to procure it.

Alongside a circle of close friends, Smith explores flea markets, garage sales and church bazaars and even does special orders to get his hands on whatever a customer desires.

“In addition to its excellent service, [IDVD & Poster] provides a safe, educational work environment for students at Hanover High School who are working their first jobs,” said Bill Boyle, manager of the local store Zimmermann’s The North Face. “[Smith] structures it so that the work environment is supplemental to their first priority — being students.

It’s an underappreciated and rather unknown consideration that the store provides to the town.”

The customer service models the hospitality that denotes the essence of the Hanover community.

“When we first started selling football programs, we only had a handful. A married couple came in around six years ago asking if we could find the Dartmouth versus Yale [University] 1964 football program,” Smith recounts.

Smith searched for two weeks,

eventually locating a collector in Oklahoma who sold it to him. He contacted the couple and when they came in, the woman sat down and started to weep.

Relieving Smith from an initial moment of confusion, the man explained, “You have to understand … that’s the game we met.”

“And he squeezed in on the chair and just held her for about ten minutes as they went through the program,” Smith said. “The couple was preparing to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. She was

emotionally overwhelmed because it was physical tactile thing that gave her all those memories of the first day she met her husband.”

Imparting memorabilia that enable customers to tangibly revisit cherished memories is the core of Smith’s excitement and zeal for what he does.

As if frozen in time, IDVD & Poster pays tribute to a mélange of iconic cultures. With a special old-time feel, this rare entertainment time capsule is sure to leave any visitor misty-eyed and touched by a breath of nostalgia.

COURTESY OF BRYAN SMITH

International DVD & Poster sells vintage goods, such as posters and prints.

Jones Family Singers to celebrate equality and joy through song

By BETTY KIM The Dartmouth

Making music for racial harmony, healing and hope just between Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Inauguration Day, the Jones Family singers will perform today in Spaulding Auditorium.

Comprised in part by five sisters, two brothers and their father, the Jones Family Singers are a gospel ensemble from the small town of Markham, Texas. The group earned significant recognition both locally and in mainstream media but continually emphasized sharing the joy of the gospel and the healing quality of song with people of all backgrounds as its musical mission.

“We want to reach every area there is on this creation and share what God has given us — a ministry of love [and] showing that God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above anything you could ask or

think,” said Alexis Jones, lead singer and youngest daughter of the Jones family.

According to Jones, the ensemble toured nine countries and over 47 states. The members are currently on tour as a part of their Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, which pays homage to King as a leader of the Civil Rights movement. Fred Jones said that the tour is meant to celebrate his role as a “drum major for freedom.”

Bishop Fred A. Jones, father of the Jones family, pastor and founder of the Mt. Zion Pentecostal Cathedral of Markham and the chief executive officer of Family-Styled Records, praised King for giving the world an opportunity for all ethnicities to exercise the rights that he tenaciously fought for.

“He cared for all men. And that’s the message ­— it’s not just this hue, but [also] this hue,” Fred Jones said.

Fred Jones also emphasized unity

while commenting on the group’s origins in the black church, saying that the ensemble’s music is fused with a variety of sounds from different cultures in order to reach a variety of people. He remarked that while others might not understand growing up in the black church, or the story and plight of the black church, the Jones Family Singers try to take different backgrounds and cultures into consideration for the development of mutual understanding.

The Jones Family Singers recently recorded a cover of Johnny Cash’s song “All of God’s Children Ain’t Free.” Fred Jones said that cover also has some stylistic additions that give the song a “Jones Family signature.”

According to Alexis Jones, the group often combines their traditional gospel style with different genres like rock and roll, R&B and country, and modernizes the group’s style to keep various audiences energized.

Fred Jones noted how this song

expressed a need for unity among Americans, saying that the plight of one group should be everyone’s fight.

“We say to the powers that be: until those that you serve — those that elected you to lead and govern — until you remember them and not walk on them, all God’s children ain’t free,” Fred Jones said.

The group also released an album called “Live from Mount Zion” in 2015, a year after its 2014 album “The Spirit Speaks” received critical acclaim. “Live from Mount Zion” was recorded at the Mt. Zion Pentecostal Holiness Church in the family’s hometown.

The Jones Family Singers have been performing in Pentecostal churches for over three decades but have started performing for those outside the faith in the last few years.

In 2015, director Alan Berg explored this journey in his documentary “The Jones Family Will Make a Way.” The band also performed at the South by

Southwest film festival in 2014, where Rolling Stone and National Public Radio described the performance as “a must see act.”

Commenting on its mainstream success, Fred Jones cited the group’s continuing devotion to music and the spread of gospel as a constant, whether the family performs in a spiritual or a cultural institution.

“We know that a lot of folk don’t know traditional gospel,” Fred Jones said. “They know Michael Jackson, James Brown, Beyoncé, so we layer [the gospel] on top of some of the beats. They know the beat and get with it, but they also hear the message, and it changes it a lot of lives.”

According to Alexis Jones, the program for tomorrow’s concert will also mainly be gospel, with some “soul-stirrers” in the mix. She said the performance will include an energizing program with lots of audience participation, “movement, excitement and joy.”