VOL. CLXXIII NO.71
PARTLY CLOUDY
FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2016
HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE
Jasbir Puar to speak tomorrow
REACH FOR THE STARS
HIGH 61 LOW 30
By PARKER RICHARDS The Dartmouth Staff
SEAMORE ZHU/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
ARTS
SPOTLIGHT: CARENE MEKERTICHYAN PAGE 7
SPORTS
SOFTBALL LOSES FIRST IVY GAME PAGE 8
THE WEEKDAY ROUNDUP PAGE 8
OPINION
VERBUM ULTIMUM: MENTAL HEALTH PAGE 4
ADAPON: DETERMINING OUR STORY PAGE 4
FOLLOW US ON
TWITTER @thedartmouth COPYRIGHT © 2016 THE DARTMOUTH, INC.
Students and community members listen to an astronomy seminar on Thursday.
Divest plans largest rally By ALEXA GREEN
The Dartmouth Staff
Backed by over 110 cosponsors — the most of any single event in Dartmouth’s history — the Big Green Rally will be held tomorrow on Gold Coast Lawn in support of divestment from fossil fuels.
The Dartmouth Controller’s Office 2015 Endowment report states that the total market value of the College’s endowment was $4.66 billion as of June 30, 2015. Five to 15 percent of the endowment is allocated to natural resource investment. Formed in 2012, Divest Dartmouth
Migrant workers face challenges
By ZACHARY BENJAMIN The Dartmouth Staff
Many Dartmouth students know about the number of farms in and around the Upper Valley, which provide fresh dairy and other foods to the region. But few know about the migrant workers who keep these dairy farms running, or the struggles that they face on a daily basis. One group at Geisel, the Migrant Health project, is dedicated to improving care
for migrant workers at farms across New Hampshire and Vermont. Founded in 2010 as an Albert Schweitzer Fellowship, one of several projects that year designed to address health needs of underserved populations, the project has since grown into a student-run project at Geisel that takes new members each year. The group has a mobile health clinic that travels to farms, providing healthcare SEE MIGRANT PAGE 3
has been trying to change that policy by rallying for complete divestment divesting from fossil fuels. The rally is a continuation of the group’s efforts. Co-sponsors consist of Greek letter organizations and societies, student SEE RALLY PAGE 2
Controversial academic Jasbir Puar will speak at the College tomorrow as part of the Gender Research Institute at Dartmouth’s “Archipelagic Entanglements” panel. Puar was the subject of a large volume of media attention following a Feb. 3 speech at Vassar College. In her remarks, she encouraged American universities to not engage in academic exchange with Israeli scholars and instituions, coupled with comments that many viewed as anti-semitic. “We’re upset that someone who has said those things was invited, not that we’re feeling personally attacked because she’s coming here to speak,” Hillel president David Mannes ’17 said. Both Chabad and Hillel, the two major Jewish student groups at Dartmouth, plan to attend Puar’s talk on Saturday afternoon. The presidents of both organizations said they will not bring up issues related to Israel or anti-semitism as those are not the topic at hand. “We don’t want to block her from speaking or make this into an issue that will impact people on both sides
or be inflammatory,” Chabad copresident Matthew Goldstein ’18 said . Puar, a professor in Rutgers University’s women’s and gender studies department, was originally scheduled to speak on April 15, but the event was abruptly rescheduled following a conflict. Puar specializes in critical ethnic studies, feminist globalization studies, the study of immigration and diaspora, sexuality studies and queer studies. English professor Aimee Bahng wrote in an email that the change in timing was prompted by Puar’s receipt of an award in Toronto while several GRID organizers were dealing with family emergencies. She emphasized that delaying the event was not intended as an evasion of media criticism. Bahng, the event’s chief organizer, was not available to comment due to time constraints and directed inquiries to GRID postdoctoral fellow Max Hantel. Puar was invited to speak because of her work on intersectionality and other related SEE PUAR PAGE 2
Vocate aids students in job hunt
By RAUL RODRIGUEZ The Dartmouth
The Rosey Jekes building on 15 Lebanon Street has a typical Hanover storefront. Rustic architecture, a quaint and unassuming appearance and a teal paintjob to catch your eye. The inside of the building is anything but typical, home to a thriving start-up named Vocate — a free online career services plaform started by Alex Tonelli ‘06 that helps Dartmouth students find internships. Vocate users work through a series of game-like exercises to unlock new employers who
align with their interests. The company forms relationships with employers through its sales team, allowing Vocate to convince those employers to hire more Dartmouth sudents, Tonelli said. The start-up currently features over 250 active employers representing over 500 job opportunities, and is in discussions with over 2,500 companies. Tonelli started Vocate to make up for the shortcomings of college career centers. Having previously worked for the Center for Professional Development as a student, he said he realized that the CPD’s limitations were not
restricted to Dartmouth. “I think that the Dartmouth career center is a very well regarded career center amongst its peers,” he said. “But career centers in general struggle because they don’t have the resources to service the entire student body, so they end up focusing on a few industries or employers that have an inbound interest in coming to the school.” Consequently, campus career centers cannot meet the needs of every student, which is why only 23 percent of college students graduate with a job, he said. SEE VOCATE PAGE 3
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
PAGE 2
Puar’s statements draw controversy FROM PUAR PAGE 1
topics, Hantel said. The “Archipelagic Entanglements” talk is focused on the “fraught histories of race, sexuality, gender, class” and “addresses topics other than human beings,” he added. Hantel also said the talk will also deal with “multi-species ethnography and multi-species literary criticism” and “different geographical modes of connection.” When speaking at Vassar, Puar requested audience members not record her talk. The Vassar professor who introduced her stated that non-recording was “essential to the exchange of ideas,” a claim that was later criticized for being antithetical to the free and repeated exchange of ideas. At Dartmouth, Hantel said it is unclear if she will be recorded. According to Hantel, some GRID discussions are recorded while others are not. Goldstein and Mannes said that all or almost all GRID talks — and most academic discussions at Dartmouth — are recorded. Representatives from Hillel and Chabad will attend the discussion, Goldstein said, in case they deem any aspect of Puar’s remarks inflammatory or anti-Semitic. At Vassar, Puar called for the boycotting of Israeli academics as part of an “armed” resistance, stated that Israel had “mined for organs for scientific research” from dead Palestinians and also said that Israelis give Palestinians the “bare minimum for survival” as part of a medical “experiment.” The accusation that Israel harvested organs for scientific research was called a return to medieval doctrine of “blood libel” aimed at Jews by the Anti-Defamation League, a group that speaks out against anti-Semitism. Goldstein agreed that Puar’s speech invoked blood libel, and said her charges of organ harvesting from Palestinian terrorists was “absolutely not fact-based.” The Vassar campus previously saw “anti-semitic and racist messages published on social media” by the school’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine according to the ADL, a group that has also recently clashed with Jewish students in the City University of New York system. The SJP operates a chapter at Dartmouth. While Dartmouth’s Jewish groups “do not believe [Puar] is being invited in any sort of act of hostility,” according to Goldstein, they still find the “tacit approval” of her views by GRID organizers to be troubling. “The problem is getting larger [on college campuses],” Goldstein said.
“There are things that are being masqueraded as political causes that are actually very anti-semitic.” Hantel declined to address charges of anti-semitism against Puar. “Of course it’s reasonable for [Jewish student groups] to take part in academic freedom and to come to a public event and partake in it,” he said. He did not want to engage with the discussion of anti-semitism in Puar’s work, he said. “To engage in it at that level is to create the very conditions of the controversy,” he said. “I don’t know how to answer that question, I can only ask people to read what she has written.” For their part, Mannes and Goldstein also encouraged the Dartmouth community to read Puar’s work. Goldstein said that awareness of her beliefs and past comments is essential for understanding why the Jewish community takes issue with her appearance. “We do want people to know that things she has said in the past are horrendous and are out there as a matter of public record,” Goldstein added. In an email, Bahng cited a variety of Puar’s academic work. In one article, Puar wrote that charges of anti-semitism against her “were intended to discredit scholarship about the deleterious effects of the occupation on Palestinian daily life.” Bahng also cited an article that discussed the differences between antiZionism and anti-semitism, a distinction that she said is important in understanding Puar and her supporters. A variety of media outlets ran stories on Puar’s remarks at Vassar, with many criticiziing her statements while others defended her. Writing in The New York Obsever, Ziva Dahl — herself a Vassar alumna who is currently a fellow at the Haym Salomon Center — compared the cosponsorship of the event by Vassar’s Jewish Studies program with the hypothetical endorsement of the Ku Klux Klan by the Africana Studies program or a talk featuring Ray Rice hosted by a women’s studies program. “This lecture was hate speech, pure and simple,” Dahl wrote . Still, not all saw the Vassar talk as anti-semitic. The left-wing Israeli newspaper Haaretz said that while Puar’s speech was “irresponsible” and her claims “unsubstantiated,” it was not anti-semitism. Puar’s work has been referred to as “anti-Israel sentiment mixed with ageold anti-Semitism” in one Wall Street Journal article. “The false accusation that a people, some of whose members were experimented on at Auschwitz,
CORRECTIONS We welcome corrections. If you believe there is a factual error in a story, please email editor@thedartmouth.com.
are today experimenting on others is a disgrace,” the piece’s authors — the chairman and executive director of the Academic Engagement Network, which opposes academic boycotts of Israel — wrote in the article. Following Puar’s appearance, an article authored by the president of the Vassar Jewish Union appeared on Forward stating that “The anti-Semitism that is constantly reported is the real exception.” GRID’s director, Spanish and Portuguese professor Annabel Martín, directed requests for comment to Bahng, who directed those requests to Hantel. The “Archipelagic Entanglements” panel will also include Yale University women and gender studies Vanessa Agard-Jones; George Mason University English professor Zakiyyah Iman Jackson; University of California, Riverside ethnic studies professor Maile Arvin; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill English professor Neel Ahuja; and Fordham University communication research fellow Larisa Kingston Mann, also known as DJ Ripley. The event is scheduled for 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Kreindler Conference Hall. Following the event, Mann — in her DJ Ripley persona — will host a dance party in Sarner Underground. Matthew Goldstein is a former member of The Dartmouth Staff
FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2016
Climate rally to be most co-sponsored event FROM RALLY PAGE 1
groups, Upper Valley community groups and allied sustainability campaigns. Leehi Yona ’16, one of the founders of Divest Dartmouth, said that the goal of the rally is showing the large amount of support both in the community and among students and alumni for climate action and divestment. Divest Dartmouth member Catherine Rocchi ’19 said that she did not want the College supporting fossil fuels due to their harmful environmental impact. More specifically, divestment refers to the removal of investment assets such as stocks, bonds and funds. “It is wrong to wreck the climate as these fossil fuel companies are and it’s wrong for us to profit from that wreckage,” Rocchi said, adding that there are also financial incentives for divestment. “These fossil fuel companies own more reserves than we can actually burn and stay under the 2-degree Celsius limit set by the United Nations, which means that they are quite over-valued and have a lot of strained assets.”
By divesting, Rocchi said, the College would publicly shame such companies and implicitly denounce their activities. Maanav Jalan ’19, a member of Divest Dartmouth, said that climate change is more than just a scientific phenomenon. “I think climate change tends to be portrayed as a science or research issue. It’s very clinical and data driven,” he said. “For me, climate change is very much a social justice issue and I think Divest Dartmouth gives space for these voices to be heard.” Divest Dartmouth outreach coordinator Ches Gundrum ’17 said that students are interested in the campaign for a variety of reasons. To Gundrum, unlike supporting social and racial justice movements, backing movements like Divest is easy because “it’s kind of hard to say you don’t care about the planet.” Gundrum added that many students are frustrated with the current campus climate because there has not been much active dialogue between students and the administration. “It’s very obvious our efforts have SEE RALLY PAGE 5
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2016
Farm workers struggle with health needs FROM MIGRANT PAGE 1
for the workers there. Some of the services the group provides include vaccines, blood pressure measurements, disease screenings and other basic medical care, all of which are performed on site. For more serious issues that require traveling to local clinics, the group also provides translation services for Spanish-speaking workers. This year, co-leaders Caledonia Moore Med’18, Claire Hogue Med’18 and Michael Connerney Med’18 also focused on conducting research to learn about barriers to healthcare for migrant workers. Their work has highlighted the need for improved dental care. In response, they launched the Migrant Oral Lifestyle Advocacy and Advancement Resource Service, or MOLAARS, in conjunction with the Dartmouth Primary Care Cooperative Research Network. MOLAARS partners with a local dental clinic to provide regular checkups and cleanings for migrant workers, offering them transportation and translation services. MOLAARS has also focused on providing dental education, Connerney said. Currently, the group has a
two-pronged strategy. The first part is to get workers into dental clinics and keep them coming back, so they can be exposed to dental professionals and pass on what they have learned to their friends and family. The second is to provide education about how to properly care for one’s teeth with regular brushing and flossing. MOLAARS also distributed toothbrushes, toothpaste and floss to migrant workers, Connerney said. In addition, the Migrant Health project is working on providing better mental health care to workers, an initiative that started this spring. Right now, first-year students are working in focus groups with farmers to figure out how to model their programs. Hogue spoke about the health issues that the migrant workers she treats face, including high blood pressure, diabetes, gastrointestinal complaints and upper respiratory issues. Language barriers, long hours and high costs can make it difficult for them to get care, she added. The rural nature of Vermont and New Hampshire also provides unique challenges for workers in the area. SEE MIGRANT PAGE 5
PAGE 3
Tonelli ’06 founded Vocate platform FROM VOCATE PAGE 1
The company concentrates on 10 industries of varying sizes — from three person firms to 30,000 person companies. Vocate’s range of opportunities is what inspired Ellis Guo ’17 to use its services. Guo, a computer science major, was looking for a technology internship this past winter. He said he chose to use Vocate instead of the CPD because he thought that the CPD would not have as many opportunities in his field. “I think that CPD predominantly aims toward finance and consulting opportunities, since both fields are so huge at Dartmouth,” he said. Within a month of contacting Vocate, Guo landed an internship building a website for a startup in New York called Eli’s Plate, a major gourmet food company that delivers pre-portioned ingredients and recipes to New Yorkers that they can then cook themselves. Vocate employee Clare DetrickYee ’16 said she has seen her friends benefit from the company’s services. “My roommate was one of the first people I reached out to in the winter,” she said. “Within two weeks, she landed a full time job in Boston at a healthcare start-up and she had a
great experience. Another one of my friends came in last week on a Monday. We matched him on Tuesday, and he had his interview on Wednesday.” The company has received $3 million in financing and Tonelli expects this trend to continue. However, online career centers are coming out all the time, senior assistant dean and director of the CPD Roger Woolsey said, adding that they are no replacement for in-person career centers. Online platforms are not concerned with one-on-one advising sessions and pre-professional development workshops that prepare students for the changing economics of the job market, Woolsey said. Additionally, Vocate does not offer as many opportunities as the CPD does. The CPD’s 2015 Cap and Gown Survey, which measures future plans of soon-to-be graduates, showed that the CPD posted 7,204 jobs and internships, held on campus fairs with 130 employers and helped 89 percent of the Class of 2015 get at least one internship during an off term. Another problem with online market places like Vocate is that they use resumes to match students to jobs, Woolsey said. “When I went to Silicon Valley to visit Dartmouth alumni and other employers, they all told me that they
do not want to be bombarded with resumes,” he said. “There must be a better way to access applicants.” Nonetheless, Woolsey said he is not against online career centers, as he is more worried about whether or not students actually get jobs. In addition to Dartmouth, Vocate’s services are currently used by the University of San Francisco and Millsaps College. Tonelli expects to expand to Arizona State University, Brown University and seven other schools by the end of 2016. He is also in the process of building a software to help students develop skills and recognize their own strengths. Founded last September, Vocate has major offices in San Francisco and Poland, but it remains a Dartmouth company, Tonelli said. The start-up is heavily tied in with the Dartmouth Entrepreneurial Network and has productive working relationships with organizations across campus. “We believe that Hanover would be the heartbeat of the company for a long time and will be in the DNA of the business,” he said. “I believe that this is one of the few examples of Silicon Valley venture capital money coming to Hanover and we think that that will be a meaningful part of the ecosystem here in Hanover going forward.”
THE DARTMOUTH OPINION
PAGE 4
GUEST COLUMNIST BENNY ADAPON ’19
Determining Our Story
Dartmouth needs to divest from the fossil fuel industry. “Walang pasok sa Metro Manila,” the broadcaster announces. Classes canceled. Class cancellations “due to inclement weather conditions” are unexceptional back home. Growing up, I loved the days I’d get off school because of dark skies, raging winds and endless rain – what kid wouldn’t? Typhoons got worse as the years passed. I didn’t notice how often they came through because they became normalized. But when my dad was younger, a major typhoon would only roll through once every four years. Now, we expect two to three in one season. Climate change has amplified both the frequency and the strength of these typhoons and thereby magnified the damage they cause. Like Gener, Milenyo, Bebeng, Juaning, Sendong, Santi, Labuyo and Yolanda (Haiyan), the storms are endless. It’s nearly impossible to distinguish when one typhoon ends and another begins. We Filipinos, sometimes called the happiest and most resilient people on Earth, conceal dismay and dejection behind our welcoming demeanor. Typhoons are part of life — we make jokes about them, write songs about the rain, have GPS apps indicating where the nearest flood detour is. In reality, typhoons mean losing one’s livelihood, home, children or hope. Most agree that climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time — it’s an intersectional problem, with grave consequences for everyone. In addition to harming the environment, climate change is a humanitarian issue stratified along racial, economic and gender lines. It’s difficult, if not impossible, for one person to combat its effects on any significant scale. In the Philippines, climate change has tangible and sobering consequences. Yet this isn’t the case everywhere. In Hanover, it’s obvious that the climate is changing, if this past unseasonably warm winter was any indication. But what we experienced here didn’t destroy thousands of homes or take lives like in places where natural disasters are becoming increasingly common. Privilege plays a role in who is affected and to what extent. We’re extremely lucky to attend Dartmouth, where we have geographic privilege — our safety is not compromised by extreme weather events combined with poor infrastructure. At Dartmouth, a majority of students are environmentally conscious to some extent,
actively recycling, composting and turning off unused lights. On a university scale, these actions amount to significant waste and energy usage reduction. But they are not enough. Divestment involves terminating investments in an industry. In our campaign, we’re asking the College to divest from the 200 dirtiest fossil fuel companies via its endowment and transition those investments to something that better reflects our values as an institution. Divestment is a way for the College to take public action, to tangibly combat climate change beyond research or classwork and to encourage other institutions to do the same. We all are operating within an existing, broken system inextricably tied to the fossil fuel industry. It’s currently impossible to live in a way that is carbon-neutral. Divestment is a tool we can use to dismantle this system from the inside. Our hope is that if Dartmouth and other colleges divest, we will start a domino effect, prompting the world to reconsider investments and their bearing on the climate’s future. Without moral and financial support, the fossil fuel industry will lose stranglehold on the world’s energy market, leaving more room for renewables. Divestment is by no means an end goal, but rather a significant step in the right direction. The act of investment implies support for the company. Renewable energy technologies are becoming cheaper and more viable every year. Fossil fuel companies’ futures are uncertain at best. Activists and state attorney generals are investigating Exxon concerning allegations of misinforming the public about climate change since the 1970s. I wouldn’t want to be invested in an industry that is dishonest and financially questionable, and neither should Dartmouth. This is our call to action, Dartmouth. Tomorrow, at 1 p.m. on Gold Coast Lawn, Divest Dartmouth is organizing the largest climate rally New Hampshire’s ever seen — the most co-sponsored event in Dartmouth’s history, with over 110 community and student groups’ support. This is a pivotal moment in Dartmouth’s story. Join us. Show Dartmouth that its students will not tolerate supporting an industry that has brought grief and destruction to so many, an industry that will only continue to do so if it isn’t stopped. With numbers comes power, and with power comes change. Be part of that change.
6175 ROBINSON HALL, HANOVER N.H. 03755 • (603) 646-2600
REBECCA ASOULIN, Editor-in-Chief ANNIE MA, Executive Editor
RACHEL DECHIARA, Publisher MAYA PODDAR, Executive Editor
SARA MCGAHAN, Managing Editor MICHAEL QIAN, Managing Editor PRODUCTION EDITORS NICOLE SIMINERI & REEM CHAMSEDDINE, Opinion Editors ANDRES SMITH, Editorial Director HAYLEY HOVERTER & CAROLINE BERENS, Mirror Editors RAY LU & GAYNE KALUSTIAN, Sports Editors HALLIE HUFFAKER, Arts Editor KOURTNEY KAWANO, Assistant Arts Editor MAY MANSOUR & ANNETTE DENEKAS, Dartbeat Editors KATELYN JONES, Multimedia Editor KATE HERRINGTON, Photography Editor
PRIYA RAMAIAH, Managing Editor BUSINESS DIRECTORS HANNAH CARLINO, Finance & Strategy Director HAYDEN KARP-HECKER, Advertising Director ADDISON LEE, Advertising Director NOAH GRASS, Operations & Marketing Director BRIANNA AGER, Operations & Marketing Director ALISON GUH, Design Director JEREMY MITTLEMAN, Technology Director
ELIZA MCDONOUGH, Assistant Photography Editor ANNIE DUNCAN, Assistant Photograhy Editors
ISSUE
NEWS EDITOR: Noah Goldstein, LAYOUT MANAGER: Jaclyn Eagle, TEMPLATING EDITOR: Julia Yoon.
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.
FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2016
VERBUM ULTIMUM THE DARTMOUTH EDITORIAL BOARD
Selective Paternalism
The College needs to expand its mental health resources. Mental health is complex and nuanced, be able to afford expensive psychological and therefore many aspects of mental health treatment from getting the help that they are widely misunderstood, then neglected need. Even before that point, it is often due to a combination of outdated stigmas difficult for students who need help to get and a lack of comprehensive scientifi c an appointment with a counselor. CHD has understanding. People often assume that a total of 10 psychologists and counselors mental health means only the diagnosis and on staff, which can’t be considered nearly treatment of mental illness, ignoring the fact enough for upwards of 4,000 undergraduthat everyone requires some mental upkeep, ate students. If one in four students report regardless of whether or not their specific having contemplated suicide, that is roughly experience fits the textbook definition of 1,000 students at any given time, or 100 a mental disorder. There are few times in students per counselor. That only includes someone’s life when they are at greater risk suicidal thoughts or actions, and doesn’t even of mental health challenges than when they take into account the myriad of concerns are in college. Students face everything from which many students face in college, from experiencing loneliness, to dealing with, eating disorders to gender identity to issues separation from one’s family to determining concerning diversity and exclusion to sexual career paths. All of this exacerbates issues assault. that many are already struggling with, Dartmouth needs to increase the number and the data reflects this. According to the of counseling sessions students have access National Alliance on Mental Illness, one in to per year as well as increase the number three students reports having experience of full-time CHD staff. These are just two prolonged periods of depression, one in four suggestions of many potential ones that students reports having suicidal thoughts or the College could make to improve mental feelings, and one in seven students reports health support for students. It could adopt a having difficulty functioning at school due system like Cornell’s “Let’s Talk” program, to mental illness. The director of NAMI, in which counselors hold open, anonymous Ken Duckworth of Harvard Medical drop in hours that don’t require paperwork. School, highlights Any care at Dartmouth the importance of that doesn’t involve a crisis this issue, saying, “If the College is going requires an appointment. “Undiagnosed men- to claim to take care A program like this, which tal illness can cause would benefit from an inpeople to withdraw of us, then it needs creased staff of counselors, socially, drop out to actually take care would help students who of school, engage may just need to talk through in substance abuse, of us.” a particular issue or who may or exhibit other unbe uncomfortable formally settling behaviors.” seeking help. The University With the importance of mental health to of Pennsylvania recently created a task our well being, as well as the risk that college force of students, faculty and counselors to students face regarding mental illness, one address mental health, specifically focused would think that this would be a top priority on eliminating “Penn Face,” the culture of for schools all around the country, especially appearing effortlessly perfect while strugDartmouth. However, the reality is that the gling in silence. Many point to a similar College is not doing nearly enough to take culture at Dartmouth, often referred to care of us mentally, especially considering here and elsewhere as “Duck Syndrome.” its stated goals in the past. We should consider the benefits of a task Of course, like on any major college force or concerned effort to tackle culturally campus, there are resources for Dartmouth specific issues like this one. students to turn to if they are concerned Several of the very public changes that about their mental well-being. Students can Dartmouth has made recently were made take advantage of the Office of Counsel- under the stated purpose of taking care of ing and Human Development’s resources, Dartmouth students. The College markets which include access to on call counselors policies like the hard alcohol ban, as well in case of a crisis situation as well as access as all of the larger “Moving Dartmouth to counseling sessions for more complex, Forward” policy initiative, as the school perhaps less urgent issues. However, these doing what is best for our well-being. If the resources are simply not adequate. For ex- College is going to claim to take care of us, ample, a student seeking help who doesn’t then it needs to actually start demonstrating have an immediate crisis (which CHD’s this through policies that address mental website defines as “thoughts and/or plans health. It can’t be selectively paternalistic. to hurt yourself or someone else, engaging If the school is going to claim to know and in behavior that is life threatening or if you act in our best interests, it actually needs to have been assaulted, physically or sexually”) take steps to act in our best interests. Because has access to 10 to 12 counseling sessions right now, a lot of us aren’t getting the help per academic year. If they require continued we need. care, their counselor gives them a referral. However, this referral doesn’t come with The Dartmouth Editorial Board consists of the any financial assistance for continued help, Editor-in-Chief, the Executive Editors, the Pubwhich easily prevents students who may not lisher, and the Editorial Director.
FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2016
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
Rally is most co-sponsored event having had a single, public meeting with the Board of Trustees nor with been stalled [by the administration] President Hanlon, I would never have and a lot of other groups can feel believed that to be possible,” she said. that too,” she said. “This is a way Past meetings between Divest for them to support us and say they Dartmouth members and the adunderstand what it is like.” ministration were off the record, as College spokesperson Diana Law- they occurred during Hanlon’s office rence wrote in an email statement hours. The organization’s members that College President Phil Hanlon have gone to over 30 combined hours regularly meets with members of of Hanlon’s office hours. Divest DartIn March 2014, mouth and “I think at this point, Divest Dartmouth ag rees that asked the Board the administration is energy needs of Trustees for a are one of the using a lot of stalling meeting regardpresent day’s tactics. ing fossil fuel digreatest chalvestment. Hanlon lenges. subsequently reH a n l o n -LEEHI YONA ‘16 sponded, telling applauds stuthe group that in dents for shinorder to hold a ing a light on meeting with the this issue and Board of Trustees, believes Dartmouth is positioned to the Advisory Committee on Investor intensify its scholarly efforts to better Responsibility had to write a report understand the political, social and on fossil fuel divestment. Yona said policy implications of global warm- that two reports have been written, ing and climate change, Lawrence but no copies have been made public. wrote. Many peer institutions have Yona said that she was surprised by divested some of their funds, but the lack of communication between have refused to remove all investthe group and the administration. ments from fossil fuels. At Stanford, “If you had told me that I would the universiy’s trustees stated that, graduate from Dartmouth not even based on a review of its investment FROM RALLY PAGE 2
responsibility criteria and input from its Advisory Panel on Investment Responsibility and Licensing, the university would not completely divest. In 2014, Stanford announced it would take the steps to divest its $18.7 billion endowment of investment stock in coal-mining companies. The Yale Times reported that Yale University would partially divest from coal producers. Yoha said that a total of $3.4 trillion has been divested from fossil fuels as a result of university and church actions. “So, it’s a huge amount. And Dartmouth would not be the largest endowment divesting if they decided to,” Yona said. “I think at this point, the administration is using a lot of stalling tactics.” Divest Dartmouth’s membership has tripled each year since 2014. The group currently has over 2,000 signatures on their “Go Fossil Free!” petition. In April of 2015, Alumni for Dartmouth Divestment diverted its annual College fund donations to the Multi-School Fossil Free Divestment Fund, where they will be held until Dartmouth divests. The Big Green Rally will start tomorrow at 1 p.m. on Gold Coast Lawn.
PAGE 5
Migrant workers deal with language barriers FROM MIGRANT PAGE 3
Connerney said that the spread-out nature of farms in the region make it difficult for migrant workers to form a sense of community outside of their own farms. This is compounded by lack of access to transportation, he said. Moore spoke about the lack of resources for Spanish speakers in the area. For example, she said she does not know of any Spanish-speaking churches near the farms for workers to go to. She mentioned one worker who found it difficult not be able to walk to Spanish-speaking stores. Hogue highlighted the struggles of those who speak languages other than Spanish, such as Chinese and Arabic. There are few language resources avaliable for these groups. She said that the Migrant Health project is looking to add more translators who speak these languages. Cathleen Morrow, chair and associate professor of community and family medicine at Geisel, who has acted as a mentor for the Migrant Health project, echoed the students’ comments. Isolation is a significant issue for workers in the Upper Valley, Morrow said. The small sizes of communities in the area, combined with low levels of diversity and lack of resources for Spanish speakers, exacerbate the problem. Grocery stores, for instance, lack traditional Hispanic ingredients. Morrow also said that migrant workers’ long hours could make it difficult for them to access proper health care. Many of them find it difficult to take time off of work, she said, leaving them little time to go and visit physicians. Morrow said that migrant workers’ more active lifestyles lessen some of the issues that many sedentary Americans face. However, they do suffer from more acute issues such as musculoskeletal pains, skin problems and injuries sustained on the job. There are also issues with getting appropriate levels of screening and preventative care, she said. Connerney said that he thinks it is important to have more qualified health centers at both the state and federal level to address the needs of migrants and other underserved populations. The qualified health centers the group works with have been indispensable in fulfilling the group’s mission, he said. Medical issues are not the only obstacles that migrant workers in the area face. Another group, Migrant Justice, is focused on providing access to better housing, transportation and work conditions in addition to health care. The group was founded in 2009 after the death of a migrant worker,
José Santiz, in a workplace accident, member Will Lambek said. Santiz was caught in a machine and strangled by his clothing. This served as the catalyst for the group’s foundation, which has organized approximately 1,500 workers across Vermont, Lambek said. One early project for the group was increasing access to transportation, Lambek said. They campaigned to change Vermont’s laws to allow undocumented migrants without Social Security numbers to obtain driver’s licenses. Ultimately, their efforts were successful, and in 2013 Vermont became one of the first in the country to give undocumented immigrants driver’s licenses, Lambek said, allowing migrant workers to leave their farms, form communities and shop for groceries much more easily. Hogue said that she thinks a similar law in New Hampshire would be helpful for immigrants. Lambek also highlighted the daily struggles many migrant workers face, such as long hours and low pay. Many migrants work 60 to 80 hours a week, he said, while nearly half are paid at levels below the Vermont minimum wage or do not receive any days off. Another issue unique to Vermont is housing, Lambek said. Many workers live in housing on the farm, housing which Lambek said is often “unfit for humans to live.” “It’s old trailers next to manure pits, or it’s leaky apartments right above the cows on the second floor of a barn,” he said. Many workers say they have gone without sufficient heat in the winter, he said, or lack access to potable water. To improve farm conditions, Migrant Justice has begun work on a campaign they call “Milk with Dignity.” It uses what they call “worker-designed social responsibility,” a phrase they adapted from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, which fights for, among other things, workers’ rights on tomato farms in Florida. The campaign is centered on targeting dairy buyers, Lambek said. It seeks to persuade them to buy milk only from farms that have met standards for working conditions set by workers on the farm. Companies that agree to the plan will pay higher prices to those farms to support their business model, the farm owner and the workers, Lambek said. An independent third party will monitor participants to ensure the standards are met. In 2015, Ben and Jerry’s became the first company to join the program, Lambek said. They are currently in talks with Migrant Justice about how to organize their supply chain to meet the organization’s standards. The program has not yet been implemented for any supply chain, Lambek said.
PAGE 6
THE DARTMOUTH EVENTS
FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2016
DARTMOUTHEVENTS TODAY 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
“Reproductive Suppression in Response to Novel Males,” lecture by Jacinta Beehner, Room 001, Rockefeller Center
4:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Water River Life Giver Symposium, keynote speech by Navajo Nation vice president Jonathan Nez, Dartmouth Hall 105
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
“Lifted: Art as a Form of Social Resistance,” student performance showcase, Collis Common Ground
TOMORROW
9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
“The Evolution of Radio at Dartmouth: Student Learning for 75 Years,” public talk moderated by Tim Brooks ’64, Haldeman 41
2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Dartmouth College Gospel Choir, performing uplifting music about faith, love and inspiration, Spaulding Audtorium, Hopkins Center
8:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
“WIRED: A 24- Hour Playwriting Experience!” Bentley Theater, Hopkins Center
ADVERTISING For advertising information, please call (603) 646-2600 or email info@thedartmouth. com. The advertising deadline is noon, two days before publication. We reserve the right to refuse any advertisement. Opinions expressed in advertisements do not necessarily reflect those of The Dartmouth, Inc. or its officers, employees and agents. The Dartmouth, Inc. is a nonprofit corporation chartered in the state of New Hampshire. USPS 148-540 ISSN 01999931
FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2016
THE DARTMOUTH ARTS
PAGE 7
Spotlight: Carene Mekertichyan ’16’s thesis explores race, gender Merkertichyan was cast as one Although the theater departof two actresses to play Matron ment is very welcoming, MekerThe Dartmouth Staff “Mama” Morton in “Chicago” tichyan said, many of the per As one of the few women of (1975) this winter. formances tend to be shows with color in the College’s theater de- Mekertichyan said that she predominantly white roles and the partment, Carene Mekertichyan constantly thinks about the way casts tend to have very few people ’16 has continuously employed her roles represent women of color, of color. Although these shows her talents to spur discussions on particularly when she is the only reflect the current composition gender, race and identity using the woman of color on stage. of the theater department, she stage. Her honors thesis produc- In “In the Next Room (or The said that when people of color see tion of Ntozake Shange’s piece “for Vibrator Play)” (2009), a period these shows with few individuals colored girls who have considered piece produced by MainStage in the that look like them, they have difsuicide / when the rainbow is fall of 2014, Mekertichyan played a ficulty visualizing themselves in enuf ” (1976) could provoke new wet nurse. theater and conversations at Dartmouth. As the only tend to shy Hailing from Los Angeles, Me- woman of away from kertichyan was always interested color on- “It can kind of be a tough the departin acting, choosing Dartmouth stage play- thing to navigate the politics ment. because of its theater program ing a role After when she was applying to college. t h a t c a n of ‘Well, how do I empower seeing hon As a student from a low-income sometimes this woman?’ when the ors theater background who had never been p e r p e t u thesis perwriting isn’t necessarily out of the country before coming ate stereofor mances to the College, Mekertichyan said types, Me- empowering her because it’s by the class that Dartmouth has given her kertichyan written by a white woman.” of 2012 many opportunities to expand w a s p a ras a freshher perspective in the realm of t i c u l a r l y man, Metheater, from her theater FSP in concerned -CARENE MEKERTICHYAN ’16 kertichyan London to the many shows that a b o u t knew she the department funds majors to f i n d i n g ON HER ROLE IN “IN THE NEXT wanted to see. d e p t h i n ROOM” complete Like all theater majors at Dart- her charan honors mouth, Mekertichyan trained in all acter, she thesis. aspects of theater. Her focus in the said. M e department, however, is acting. “It can kind of be a tough thing kertichyan said she chose a play Mekertichyan has been in to navigate the politics of, ‘Well, with only actresses of color in three of Dartmouth’s MainStage how do I empower this woman?’ hopes of changing the underrepproductions, which are faculty or when the writing isn’t necessar- resentation of women of color guest-directed shows put on by ily empowering her because it’s in theater. The show highlights the theater department each fall written by a white woman,” Me- minority issues and features a cast and winter term. Most recently, kertichyan said. of seven women of color, including five actresses from outside the theater department, Although Mekertichyan said she has always been fascinated by this work, she chose this piece in particular because she said she found the issues it discussed, particularly self-love, sisterhood and sexual assault, relevant to Dartmouth campus life despite its age. As a public policy minor with a concentration in identity and president of MOSAIC, a club at Dartmouth that deals with multiracial, multi-ethnic and multicultural identities, Mekertichyan works to address issues that people of color face at Dartmouth and the world beyond it. During her time Dartmouth, Mekertichyan said that she noticed some issues, although not exclusive to the College, that she wanted to address in her work, from the way women are treated when they come forward after sexual assault to the lack of discussion of issues that particularly affect women of color. Mekertichyan hopes that this show will help foster greater discussion around these issues. Shange’s piece is in a “choreopoem” style, involving a non-linear narrative and twenty poems uniCOURTESY OF CARENE MEKERTICHYAN fied by music and dance. Seven Carene Mekertichyan ‘16 starred as “Mama” Morton in “Chicago” last term. women of color play the roles,
By NALINI RAMANTHAN
identified only by the “color” they selections from “Cheetah Girls” are assigned. Mekertichyan herself to more sexual themes in Cassie’s plays the Lady in Red, who ties “Me & U” (2006) and Nicki Minaj’s the play together and is the only “Anaconda” (2014). character who stays on stage for She has also used her role as the entire performance, something dramaturge to create a source of she has never done before. background knowledge for her She chose the character because cast. Mekertichyan said that she it spoke to her. When she first has attended every meeting from presented her thesis proposal, production to design, to ensure that Mekertichyan said she was not her vision for the piece is realized. sure what role she would play. But She has also used her role to foster when it came time to decide, she a more collaborative community responded with the character’s among the cast and crew. name immediately. Many productions, stage man Theater professor Jamie Hor- ager Liza Couser ’17 notes, are ton, who is advising Mekertichyan often more hierarchical. However, on her acting for her thesis, noted due to the material, the size of the Mekertichyan’s talent in accessing cast and Mekertichyan herself, this emotions, particularly when act- show proves to be an exception. ing as Elizabeth in “In the Next Ashley Dotson ’18, who does Room.” Her thesis production is lighting design for the show, noted rooted in emotion as well, accord- how accepting Mekertichyan was ing to guest director Deena Sele- of her ideas. now, who has been working with “Since this is my first time really Mekertichyan since week three. As working on any sort of production director, she tells the cast to focus at Dartmouth, it’s definitely helped more on the emotional and less on me in my confidence to work on the logical. her show, which is really reassur “When this honors thesis was ing,” Dotson said. being discussed and proposed, Guest director Deena Selenow, it just felt like a wonderful fit for who has been working with Mekerher to challenge herself, to really tichyan since week three of progrow,” Horton said. duction, much longer than many Mekertichyan also works as a guest directors, Mekertichyan dramaturge in her production, said, noting the significance of advised by theater professor Laura the show’s all-female design team, Edmondson. Although the term lighting, cast and director. often refers to the research and This, Horton said, can be seen historical contextualization of a in the show itself, even in its earlier piece, Edmondson said that the stages. role of a “It’s dramaa very talturge is ented group “It’s a very talented group rather of young fluid and of young women. I think women,” c a n e x - the material, the room, the Horton said. pand and “I think the c o n t r a c t rehearsal atmosphere that is material, the as need- brought out by the director ro o m , a n d e d . Fo r the rehearsis bringing out something Mekeral atmot i c hy a n , of a really, really special sphere that she said, nature.” i s b ro u g h t this role out by the seems to d i re c t o r i s have ex- -JAMIE HORTON, THEATER bringing out panded. something PROFESSOR Fo l of a really, lowing really special the tranature.” ditional After role of a dramaturge, Meker- graduating, Mekertichyan plans to tichyan researched the history of move back home to Los Angeles to the piece. Although there was little pursue acting and writing. She will critical scholarship on this piece, be back this fall for eight weeks in Mekertichyan researched aspects September and October to play a of black theater, involving both the witch in “Macbeth” at Northern history of this play and the state Stage in White River Junction, a of the world today. role she said she landed with the This work can be used to create help of theater professor Carol a more modern interpretation of Dunne. the piece, as Mekertichyan did, “for colored girls who have conchanging some of the nursery sidered suicide / when the rainbow rhymes to more relevant musical is enuf ” will be showing May 13 choices from her generation, rang- and 14 at 8 p.m. and May 15 at 2 ing from themes of sisterhood in p.m. in the Bentley Theater.
THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS
PAGE 8
SPORTS
FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2016
FRIDAY LINEUP
No athletic events scheduled
Softball compiles 14-2 Ivy League record with four games left By DANIEL LEE
The Dartmouth Staff
Dartmouth softball (26-12, 14-2 Ivy) was handed its first loss in Ivy League play this past weekend in the second game of a double header against Yale University (15-28-1, 7-9 Ivy). The humbling moment halted the team’s seemingly unstoppable momentum that remains a testament to the dangerous offense and unhittable pitching the team displayed this month. Both player s and coaches handled the seemingly devastating Ivy League losses, the second coming on Sunday against Yale, with elegance and took it as a sign to work even harder as the season winds down. Despite all odds pointing to a third straight Ivy League Championship for the Big Green, head coach Shannon Doepking continues to remind her players of the importance of taking nothing for granted. “We have a great team and we play fundamental softball,” Doepking said. “We swing at strikes, we
make routine plays, and we’re a very tough team to beat, and as you saw this weekend, when we get away from doing some of those little things, we’re also a team that can get beat every single day.” Despite dropping two losses in a row, the last of which was a shutout, Dartmouth is hitting a collective .343 in conference play. The most prolific hitter of the team has been Katie McEachern ’16 who holds an impressive .480 batting average in 50 Ivy at bats. She has hit five out of the team’s 14 League home runs helping her achieve a .880 slugging percentage and 18 RBIs. McEachern is not too far from emulating the impressive performance that earned her the 2015 Ivy League Player of the Year, as she continues to prove that she is the most lethal offensive player the College has ever seen. After hitting only a single in five at bats in the two losses against the Bulldogs, McEachern expressed the importance of the lessons that a streak-ending loss entails. “Our first loss [was something] we needed,” McEachern said. “It
was definitely humbling and that was definitely what our coach said when it happened. We needed that kick in our butts to force us to continue to get better and push ourselves and not just be satisfied being the best in the Ivy League. We want to be the best players we can be.” After the departure of ace Kristen Rumley ’15 from the team’s rotation, Morgan McCalmon ’16 and Breanna Ethridge ’18 masterfully transitioned as the new onetwo punch for the team and have carried much of the workload. After pitching a gem in the second game of Sunday’s double header, Ethridge maintains a 1.94 ERA in 75.2 innings pitched and has an overall opponents’ batting average of a mere .211. McCalmon is just as unhittable with an overall ERA of 2.21 in 117.1 innings, striking out 102 batters and pitching 10 complete games. Both pitchers combined have a 25-8 record. “Breanna has been huge for us,” McCalmon said. “She has really stepped up and is tough to beat. She has just been amazing,
and I wouldn’t want to pitch next to anyone else. We work off each other and we’re always there for each other in the dugout and [on the mound].” A clear disparity is revealed when the Big Green’s performance is compared to that of its opponents. The pitching staff holds a collective 2.65 ERA and 199 punch-outs while the offense has scarred opposing pitching with a 4.29 ERA and has scored 60 percent more earned runs. A clear, symbiotic relationship exists between the two workforces of the team, to which McCalmon accredits much of her success. “Our hitters have carried me and Breanna all season and they’ve been the reason why we’ve both been so successful,” McCalmon said. “They’re there to pick me up when I’m not doing my best and we’re going to be there to pick them up [when they aren’t doing their best].” Dartmouth will carry this momentum to Cambridge, Massachusetts to face the final and likely toughest opponent of the
season, Harvard University (25-14, 13-3 Ivy), with hopes of blemishing their flawless 10-0 record at home and breaking their current six game winning streak. In preparation for the Crimson and the likely Ivy League Championship, Doepking hopes to get back to the fundamentals of softball. “We’re just going to get back to the basics,” she said. “We have to be a lot more disciplined at the plate and we need to be aggressive on the strikes. Offensively, we are a great softball team, and we have a lot of weapons when we stick to our approach which is swinging at pitches we know we can handle.” Doepking is looking forward to the game against Harvard. “Harvard always has a great series with us. They’re a great team and they’ve got a lot of weapons and they’re playing great softball right now so it’s going to be important for us to start working out the kinks that we need to work out.” The team will play the first game of the doubleheader at 2 p.m. this Saturday and will finish the season at home the following day.
The Roundup Compiled by James Handal and Evan Morgan
Baseball Dartmouth baseball defeated Siena College 5-3 on Wednesday afternoon on Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park to complete its nonconference schedule. The Big Green is 15-23 overall, 8-8 in Ivy League play. The Siena Saints took a 1-0 in the first inning off a RBI double to lead 1-0. In the third inning, Dustin Shirley ’18 hit a sac fly, Thomas Roulis ’15 hit a double and Joe Purritano ’16 lined a single to finish the three-run inning for the Big Green. In the fifth, the Saints were able to grab a run back to trail Dartmouth 3-2, but in the sixth, Justin Fowler ’18 was able to score off an error in an outfield catch. The Big Green and the Saints each earned a single run in the seventh inning leave the Big Green leading 5-3. Jackson Bubala ’17 recorded his first save.
Each team had seven hits in the game. The Big Green pitching was led by Jack Fossand ’18, Sam Fichthorn ’18 and Marc Bachman ’18 to limit the Saints to three runs in the first seven innings. This weekend, the Big Green face Harvard University in a Saturday/Sunday doubleheader while chasing the Yale University Bulldogs in the race for the Red Rolfe Division. The Big Green is at Harvard on Saturday with games on ESPN3 and the Ivy League Digital Network. Senior Day is Sunday in Hanover. Men’s Lacrosse Men’s lacrosse concluded the season on a low note on Wednesday afternoon with a 16-3 loss to No. 2 Brown University. The rout was the Big Green’s second largest of 2016, leaving Dartmouth 1-13 overall and winless in the Ivy League. With the win, Brown clinched its 10th Ivy
SEAMORE ZHU/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Softball pick up its first two losses in Ivy League play this past weekend against Yale University.
League crown. The Big Green managed to keep the game close in the first quarter, which ended with Brown up 3-1. Jack Korzelius ’18 scored the lone Big Green tally of the quarter, a man-up goal with an assist from KC Beard
’16. After Korzelius’ score, however, Dartmouth was shut out until only 6 minutes 30 seconds remained in the game. Brown took the game firmly in hand, notching two goals in the second quarter and nine in the third. In the waning minutes of
the fourth quarter, Richie Loftus ’18 and Cameron Nolting ’19 added two more for the Big Green, but Brown came away with the 16-3 victory. Brown took 48 shots at goalies Joe Balaban ’19, Blair Friedensohn ’16 and Ty Vandenberg ’18.