The Dartmouth 1/5/17

VOL. CLXXIV NO.2

MOSTLY CLOUDY HIGH 28 LOW 16

THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2017

Hanlon responds to CoFIRED petition

HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE

College to appeal denial of sports facility permit

By DEBORA HYEMIN HAN The Dartmouth

OPINION

SANDLUND: “I’M RON BURGUNDY” PAGE 6

MAYER: TRUMPISM: A VIOLENT IDEOLOGY PAGE 5

CHIN: PLAYING IT SAFE

In public and private responses to a petition calling for Dartmouth to declare itself a “sanctuary campus” for undocumented students, College President Phil Hanlon reaffirmed the school’s support for its undocumented students but has stopped short of adopting the title.

The petition asks the College to protect students from President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign promises to implement stricter immigration policies, including measures to overturn Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. The program currently protects over 700,000 undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children from deportation and makes them eligible for work authorization.

In a campus-wide email on Nov. 18, Hanlon stated that Dartmouth “will work within the bounds of the law to mitigate any effects on our students caused by possible revisions to DACA and other immigration policies.”

Hanlon was also among 550 university presidents who signed a letter entitled “Statement in Support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program and our Undocumented Immigrant Students,” published on the Pomona College website.

But the public commitments have fallen short of the petition’s appeals. Sent out by Dartmouth’s Coalition for Immigration Reform, Equality and DREAMers on Nov. 16, it calls for non-cooperation with Immigration and

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HOLLYE SWINEHART/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

During the winter, many teams practice outside or share practice time in Leverone Field House.

By CARTER BRACE The Dartmouth Staff

Dartmouth intends to appeal the Hanover planning board’s decision to deny the College’s proposed indoor sports facility, according to College spokesperson Diana Lawrence. The board denied the permit in a four to one vote.

The 70,000 square foot facility would have provided space for teams to practice indoors during the winter

Classes travel over interim

By PETER CHARALAMBOUS The Dartmouth

While most Dartmouth classes finished before the Thanksgiving holiday, a few continued into winter break by traveling abroad so that students could participate in experiential learning.

Students embarked to countries like China, South Africa, Poland and India to immerse themselves in the same topics they

first encountered in the classroom during the fall term.

While experiential learning has been prevalent at Dartmouth for years, the Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of Learning worked with different departments, institutes and centers on campus as well as the President’s office to send these courses abroad. They are designed to provide educational experiences

that allow students to immerse themselves in their areas of study by actively engaging in the real-world aspects of their fields. DCAL operates these programs under the College’s Experiential Learning Initiative, which supplies the Center with one million dollars per year to expand experiential learning opportunities.

DCAL has been provided SEE WINTERIM PAGE 3

months from November to March. As of now, teams have to compete for practice time in Leverone Field House or endure the cold weather.

The appeal will revolve around whether the planning board has the authority to deny an application even if it complies with local regulations, according to Hanover town manager Julia Griffin.

The appeal will be heard by the Grafton County Superior

Court. Even critics of the facility did not dispute that the building met zoning requirements.

However, opponents have argued that it violates the town’s master plan. The master plan refers to a guide for future planning, which each town in the state must create, that lays out what a community wants to preserve and how it adapts to changing circumstances in its planning, according to SEE SPORTS PAGE 2

NH health agency reports data breach

By SONIA QIN

The Dartmouth Staff

The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services announced on Dec. 27 that it has been a victim of a data breach that commenced in Oct. 2015. DHHS is the state’s largest agency and covers welfare benefits, Medicaid, child protective services and other services.

This data breach resulted in 15,000 personal records of DHHS

clients being posted on Facebook, including names, addresses, Social Security numbers and Medicaid identification numbers. The sensitive information was removed within 24 hours after the initial post with the help of the New Hampshire Department of Information Technology and can no longer be accessed by unauthorized users.

According to officials, the SEE DATA PAGE 2

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2017

DHHS patient records posted online Planning board denies sports facility proposal FROM DATA PAGE 1

information was accessed by a New Hampshire Hospital psychiatric patient on Oct. 10, 2015 who was using a public computer in the hospital’s library.

Investigators learned that computers in the hospital library were not locked out of the state network, thus allowing the hacker to access confidential personal information and internal documents.

“In the course of investigation, we learned that this individual was observed by a staff member to have accessed non-confidential DHHS information on a personal computer located in the New Hampshire Hospital library,” DHHS Commissioner Jeffrey Meyers said in a press release. “The staff member notified a supervisor, who took steps to restrict access to the library computers. This incident, however, was not reported to management at New Hampshire Hospital or DHHS.” In July 2016, the now-former patient posted DHHS training information on Facebook — information that he only could have gotten by accessing the department’s private network. This past August, the hacker sent a message to a hospital security officer saying that he had taken an “archive” of documents from the DHHS server.

On Nov. 4, four days before the Nov. 8 presidential election, the patient posted confidential, personal information on a Facebook account. This included several hundred documents and pictures, state hospital campus police confirmed.

State officials said that their monthlong investigation included locating the target suspect, determining which patients’ records had been hacked and

confirming that no victims had yet suffered financial losses.

Meyers announced the data breach and apologized to victims 53 days after the social media posting. Federal law requires public notice within 60 days.

The office of New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan also released a statement on Dec. 27 stating that the data breach was recently discovered by the state and is being treated with “the utmost seriousness by all relevant state agencies.” The statement added that the breach “highlights the importance of continuing to strengthen the state’s cyber security efforts to protect personal data from both hackers and human error.”

As of Dec. 29, state prosecutors have confirmed that the individual responsible for the data breach has not been arrested and is not being identified because of privacy concerns and preservation of ongoing investigation’s integrity.

“All available information indicates that this was an isolated incident stemming from unauthorized access in October 2015 as described above and is not the result of an external attack,” Meyers said in a statement.

Chief executive officer of cybersecurity firm SnoopWall, Inc. Gary Miliefsky said that access control and encryption are essential to preventing data breaches. If encryption had been in place with proper security and management protocols, the breach would not have occurred, Miliefsky said.

“There are so many breaches happening because people are not thinking of how to be proactive, but they’re being reactive,” he said. “Over 95 percent of breaches happen behind

firewalls.”

He added that in this particular incident, the patient who was using the public computer in the library could access the information because there was no access control to separate personally identifying information from publically accessible information.

Miliefsky said that the state should be more proactive about cyber security and focus on “breach prevention, not breach remediation,” especially since cybercrime has been on the rise in recent years.

He also said that people should take more precautions to protect themselves since cybercrime is becoming much easier to commit.

This data breach is small compared to others that have been seen recently, but the right thing for the state government to do is to assume that it is bigger than it was, Miliefsky said.

He added that there was enough information contained in the records to be damaging and that the hacker could have sold the records on the black market had he wanted to.

Safety and Security director Harry Kinne said that there have been no reports of anyone being affected by this data breach on the College campus.

Lieutenant Scott Rathburn from the Hanover Police Department said that Hanover Police were not notified in advance of the breach but learned about it through the press release. He added that he is not aware of any residents in Hanover being affected by the breach.

“If somebody thinks that their information has been leaked, keep an eye on your credit reports and make sure you know where your accounts are,” Rathburn said.

FROM SPORTS PAGE 1

planning board chair Judith Esmay.

She was the only member to vote in favor of the permit.

Esmay said that the parts of the master plan that relate to the character of the communities, particularly the harmonious aspects of the neighborhoods, were in contention during the planning process.

Residents raised concerns that the facility would decrease property values and quality of life, affecting the character of the neighborhood. The facility would cast a literal shadow over many of the surrounding houses and was considered intrusive because of how large, unsightly and close to residences it would be, according to critics.

For planning board member Nancy Carter, the property values were not as great a concern as the facility’s size. The College could have chosen to locate it in the large area that contains most of its other athletic facilities, she said. Carter voted against granting the facility a permit.

Dartmouth pitched the proposed location to the Hanover planning board by saying that it was one the few locations within walking distance for student-athletes who are under pressure to maintain their academic performance, according to Carter.

Francis Manasek currently owns a property in the neighborhood affected by the proposed facility and was a critic of the project. Manasek said he has seen the town fill up in the 35 years he’s lived in Hanover.

“There’s no more space for projects like this in town,” Manasek said.

Athletic director Harry Sheehy said the College had studied the issue and did not believe the facility would impact the neighborhood negatively.

A denial of planning permission for a Dartmouth facility is “very, very rare,” Esmay said. Griffin added that a rejection for aesthetic reasons, in particular, was unusual.

Manasek said the proposed facility was “unique” compared to previous building projects because of its appearance, which he criticized, and proximity to the neighborhood.

Carter said that while there has usually been a lot of space separating institutional and residential buildings, the site for this facility was cramped.

The dispute was exacerbated because there is no clear indication of where institutional and residential zones meet, according to Carter.

She added that while the College typically locates its buildings sensitively, she believes it did not do so in this case because it wanted to keep the majority of its athletic facilities in the same area.

“It’s an in-your-face [move] by an institution that can outspend the neighborhood in legal fees and that can outlawyer the neighborhood and will put that building in regardless of the harm it does,” Manasek said.

Esmay further contended that the board could not judge an individual planning application by the longterm values of the master plan so that the owners of property can have some expectation that they can develop property in a certain way.

One of the most significant problems with the current lack of an additional indoor facility is that some teams have to practice in temperatures well below freezing.

“If you were taking an English class in February and it was eight degrees and the professor decided he was going to teach with the windows open there wouldn’t be a lot of effective teaching going on,” Sheehy said.

The limited space in Leverone means that the facility is being used continuously throughout much of the winter, often forcing teams to schedule late night or early morning practices that they would not otherwise plan.

Sheehy said that more space would allow teams to avoid practices at “ridiculous” times such as 10 p.m. to midnight or 5 a.m.

“I don’t think that’s the healthiest thing for our student-athletes,” Sheehy said.

The practice surface in the facility would also be more similar to what many other Ivy League teams normally play on.

“Generally, because we’re the most northern school in the Ivy League, this facility is incredibly important for our teams to be able to operate as they want to and need to,” Sheehy said.

In addition, the new facility would be beneficial to recruitment.

Dartmouth women’s lacrosse team coach Danielle Spencer wrote in an email statement that the ability to hold winter lacrosse camps would greatly impact recruiting efforts.

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

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2017

PAGE 3

Students participate in experiential learning abroad

KATE HERRINGTON/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Students interact with local residents abroad as part of the College’s Experiential Learning Initiative.

FROM WINTERIM PAGE 1

this annual budget since the fall of 2015 and has been guaranteed to receive funding for the next five years.

AshleyKehoe,whoservesasDCAL’s associate director for experiential learning, said that Dartmouth has a long tradition of experiential learning.

DCAL has focused on creating these new courses in order to expand the opportunities it offers to students and lower barriers to entry for faculty to teach such courses.

Adjunct professor of biology and Geisel School of Medicine professor of surgery and microbiology and immunology Michael Zegans and director of the Dartmouth Institute’s Learning Lab Dawn Carey traveled with the “Biologic Lessons of the Eye” course to visit the Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai, India. Offering assistance throughout the trip, Yike Jiang MED’14 GR’18, an M.D.-Ph.D student, also accompanied the group.

Aravind operates as the world’s largest eye care service group and

has treated tens of millions of patients since its inception in 1976.

It also serves as a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for the Prevention of Blindness.

Zegans first traveled to Aravind in 1997 while attending the University of California, San Francisco. Since his first trip, Zegans has visited the facilities multiple times, often bringing Dartmouth graduate students to assist in the work. This class is the first instance of the College sending undergraduates to the hospital.

During the fall term, students learned about the complexities of the eye while also strengthening their group work and presentation skills.

Working in groups, students created presentations that they delivered while at Aravind.

The students departed on Nov. 28 and returned on Dec. 8. While in India, the students witnessed surgeries and learned about Aravind’s manufacturing and outreach abilities.

They also experienced the challenges and rewards associated with working with international partners. During dinners, the students were able to form more personal connections with the faculty at Aravind by sharing meals at their guest house with doctors and technicians.

Demonstrating the work they completed during the fall term, the students shared their group presentations with their peers and Aravind faculty at a two-day conference. The class also visited cultural landmarks such as temples in India and documented their travels on a Wordpress blog.

Economics professor Elisabeth Curtis, who taught the course “The Transformation of Poland into a Market Economy,” took her class to Poland to examine the effect of Poland’s transformation from a central system under Soviet control to a market economy in the modern day.

Curtis is no stranger to experiential learning. For the last eight years, she has moderated the College Fed Challenge, in which students conduct research on monetary policy at the Federal Reserve and then present their findings in an academic competition. Her team has succeeded in both regional and national competitions. She also led a class to Poland last year to examine its transitional economy.

This year’s class was sponsored by the Political Economy Project and focused on the issue of Poland’s emigration problem. With issues like Brexit and a transition of power affecting emigration, Poland’s current socioeconomic situation prompted the students’ research. During the fall term, students worked in groups of four to examine topics like the startup ecosystem, education-job mismatch, productivity and domestic innovation and mass emigration influenced by restricted immigration and low wages.

The group departed on Dec. 2 and returned on Dec. 17. Students continued their research in Poland by interviewing more than thirty people.

From business executives to professors to Polish emigrants, the students used the information they learned from this information to finalize their work and ultimately present it at the Kraków University of Economics. Over the course of the trip, the students also took language classes and toured both Warsaw and Kraków with their language instructors.

Curtis and her students will present their findings once again on Jan. 9 at a dinner sponsored by the Political Economy Project.

Economics professor Diego Comin’s “Inclusive Growth in China” course traveled to China over break in order to meet and talk with local people to learn how Chinese citizens are adapting to the country’s rapid changes. By meeting with locals, the course reemphasized the importance of people in social science. The group also examined the economic factors driving social issues like inequality in China.

Anthropology professors Jeremy DeSilva and Nathaniel Dominy traveled with their “Experiencing Human Origins and Evolution” class to South Africa. Ellison McNutt, a Ph.D student, also traveled with the class. During the fall term, 15 students, 14 of whom were female, researched anthropology topics that interested them in order to begin writing a research paper.

The students departed for South Africa on Nov. 28 and returned on Dec. 18. The students spent the first week in Johannesburg and viewed fossils they read about during the fall term. They also traveled to Malapa, a fossil-bearing cave, to work on an excavation site.

On the third day of excavation, the students uncovered the pelvis bone of a female Australopithecus sediba, an early human ancestor. This discovery helped complete some of DeSilva’s research.

During the second week of the trip, the students traveled to the Kalahari to visit members of the Khomani San, an indigenous hunting-gathering group in South Africa. The class conversed with members of the group and learned more about their unique lifestyle and cultural identity.

“The knowledge they had of the landscape is absolutely breathtaking,” DeSilva said.

For the last week of the trip, the students traveled to Cape Town. They witnessed the intersection of history and anthropology by visiting both Pinnacle Point, a location where some of the world’s first jewelry and body adornment has been discovered, as well as Robben Island, a prison for political prisoners like Nelson Mandela.

Over the course of the trip, the students continued that research that they started during the fall term.

DeSilva noted that most students were not able to find definite answers for the questions they posed in their research and instead kept answering questions about the topic.

“We want them to experience some degree of failure,” he said.

He elaborated that, ultimately, he wanted his students to experience the same drive and curiosity that motivates researchers in anthropology.

“The thing I learned the most from these students is that experiential learning works,” he said.

THE DARTMOUTH EVENTS

PAGE 4

THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2017

DARTMOUTHEVENTS TODAY All Day

Exhibit: Tibetan and Himalayan Lifeworlds, Baker-Berry Library, Baker Main Hall

5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Intermediate Dance Master Class, Berry Sport Center 103 Straus Dance Studio

5:30 p.m. - 6:45 p.m.

Pre-Show Talk: “Layla and Majnun: Crazy in Love,” Hood Downtown

TOMORROW

3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Charles C. Jones Seminar, Spanos Auditorium, Cummings Hall

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

Friday Night Sing-Ins, Paddock Music Library

7:00 p.m.

“Certain Women,” directed by Kelly Reichardt, Visual Arts Center 104 Loew Auditorium

8:00 p.m.

Mark Morris Dance Group, Hopkins Center Moore Theatre RELEASE DATE– Wednesday, January 4, 2017

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

ACROSS 1 “Scrubs” nurse married to Dr. Turk 6 Suddenly became attentive 11 Letter addition letters 14 They may be gray 15 Make one of many 16 __ polloi 17 Brown bread 18 Files in a recycle bin 20 Gathering for February’s big game 22 Exploit 23 Flooring choice 24 Irish lullaby syllables 26 Colombia neighbor 28 Lead-in for jet or prop 32 Gritty genre 33 Second of three O’s 35 Job rights agcy.

37 Adobe file format 38 George Washington never slept there 42 Singer Carly __ Jepsen 43 Sainted fifthcentury pope 44 Novelist Deighton 45 Publication sales fig.

47 1983 60-Down winner Tom 49 Siouan tribe 53 Big aluminum producer 55 Yale Blue wearer 57 Took cover 58 Heavenly protectors 63 Fleeting affair 64 “The Maltese Falcon” actor Peter 65 French season 66 Pianist Watts 67 Bubbling hot 68 Director Anderson 69 Seven-__ cake 70 What 20-, 38and 58-Across have in common

DOWN 1 Takeout packet 2 Stir to action 3 One with a sickle 4 Operate using a beam 5 Houston pro 6 Daily paper logic puzzle 7 From the beginning 8 Dough drawer 9 Sch. near the Rio Grande 10 Iris part 11 Occasions that usually elicit big smiles 12 Fair activity for kids 13 One of the fam 19 Waffle maker 21 Baker’s units 25 “Walk me!”

27 4 x 4, briefly 29 Tighten, as laces 30 Nectar eater 31 French “Wowza!”

34 Leather punch 36 Miler Sebastian 38 Follow too closely 39 Mythical hero with a labor force?

40 Electrified particle 41 Colorful card game 42 LG rival 46 Early steam engine fuel 48 Facade 50 Charlize of “Monster” 51 Coastal fuel extractor 52 1950s disasters

54 Easy-to-read font 56 Marriage acquisition 59 Perfumery that created Tabu 60 200-lap race, briefly 61 43,560 square feet 62 Asian desert 63 Grass coating

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

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THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2017

PAGE 5

Petition calls on College for “santuary campus” designation FROM COFIRED PAGE 1

Customs Enforcement in localizing and detaining students and the establishment of a non-compliance pact with ICE. In addition, the petition calls on the College to offer legal and mental health support to those affected by Trump’s election; create a pool of funds for undocumented students and their families to pay for legal counsel and DACA fees; and provide sensitivity training for staff and faculty on the rights of undocumented students and resources to protect those rights.

As of Nov. 17, 1,400 students, faculty and staff had signed the petition, its organizers told The Valley News in November.

In a correspondence with Geovanni Cuevas ’14, Hanlon clarified that the College would not play the role of enforcer on immigration laws. Cuevas initially reached out to Hanlon asking for comment while comparing Dartmouth’s position to that of Oregon State University, which declared itself a sanctuary campus.

The university stated that it does not and will not enforce federal immig ration laws or release confidential student information unless required by law. OSU also declared that they would oppose the creation of federal registries based on protected characteristics, such as religion, national origin or other identities.

In Hanlon’s email response to Cuevas, he outlined College policies that generally matched those of OSU. He said that while it is the job of federal officials, not the College, to enforce federal laws, the College can and will take actions to protect its students should they prove necessary.

Dartmouth would not release student information to immigration officials without a judicial order, as required by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, Hanlon wrote,

adding that no information would be released unless Dartmouth’s legal counsel determined it was legally required. He also said immigration officials would not be allowed in nonpublic areas of the campus without a warrant.

Hanlon declined requests for an interview with The Dartmouth.

Instead, College spokesperson Diana Lawrence forwarded a Dec. 15 email Hanlon sent to all Vermont and New Hampshire Congressional delegates and Dartmouth alumni in Congress. In it, he urged them to do their utmost to “ensure the continuation and expansion of DACA through work with the incoming administration and/or legislative actions.”

Lawrence also forwarded a letter Hanlon sent to the Dartmouth Association of Latinx Alumni. In it, he outlined many of the same commitments that he made in his correspondence with Cuevas, saying that the College’s top priority is the safety and security of its students. In addition, he noted that Dartmouth does not maintain a registry of students’ documentation status.

There is no standard definition for what constitutes a sanctuary campus, and the term has no legal meaning. Other members of the Ivy League, such as the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University, have declared that they will support policies similar to those at Dartmouth, such as refusing to share information with immigration officials without a warrant. UPenn called itself a “sanctuary” for its students, and the Columbia Daily Spectator released an article saying the university would provide “sanctuary” for its undocumented immigrants. Neither institution has officially adopted the term “sanctuary campus,” though other media outlets have applied the term to those schools.

Other universities, such as

Princeton University and Harvard University, have stated that their campuses will not become sanctuary campuses, citing the term’s lack of a legal basis. However, Princeton has expressed support for similar policies as Dartmouth, Penn and Columbia.

Harvard’s police department has indicated that they will not seek out information on its students’ immigration status or enforce immigration laws.

Emails to the official CoFIRED account from The Dartmouth did not receive a response.

Valentina Garcia Gonzalez ’19, an undocumented student with DACA status, said she believes Dartmouth should be willing to break federal law in order to protect its undocumented students. She sees Dartmouth’s status as a private institution in a small town as one that positions it well to agree to the petition.

“We’re not doing [the petition] to have a little safe space, we’re not doing it to have another little center on campus,” she said. “We’re doing it because people’s lives are literally at stake.”

Garcia Gonzalez said that the College should declare now that it will protect its undocumented student population as the threat posed by Trump’s proposed policies is an imminent one. She added that she believes Dartmouth is responsible for her safety during her time as an undergraduate student.

“If anything were to happen to me, it’s kind of Dartmouth’s fault because I was there, [my family] was entrusting me [to] that campus,” she said.

The national debate sparked by the sanctuary campus movement regarding the relationship between educational institutions and federal law, as well as the role of civil disobedience in achieving legal reform, has resonated on campus.

Tyler Baum ’20, a Trump

supporter, noted that the Trump administration has not yet entered the White House, and that it remains to be seen what measures will actually be put into place. While he is in favor of immigration reform, Baum said he is “very opposed” to sanctuary campuses and cities because they go against federal laws, adding that he does not believe it is Dartmouth’s place to break those laws.

“When there is a law that is disagreed with, I think it is essential to have civilized discussion about this, and it’s absolutely lethal to society if an individual is ignoring a law because they may not agree with it,” Baum said. “There are certain laws that I do disagree with, but ignoring them is never a positive step for yourself or for the rest of society or for the future of the country.”

In contrast, Garcia Gonzalez said that Dartmouth should not follow any potential laws that would require the deportation of undocumented Dartmouth students. She noted that to say the country is based on law and everyone follows these laws is hypocritical.

“We don’t [follow these laws],” Garcia Gonzalez said. “We follow the laws that are convenient for us. If we are a country of laws and powers, these laws and powers aren’t made and constructed for [minorities], for us.”

Chris McCorkle ’20, though he did not vote for Trump, supports the incoming president and does not agree with the petition. However, he believes Dartmouth has the right to oppose federal laws it is strongly opposed to, which can set legal precedents and change stagnant laws.

Cuevas, who does believe Dartmouth should become a sanctuary campus, added to this sentiment.

“I believe that parts of our heritage as Americans… is our right

to dissent, our right to disagree with people who directly oversee us and people who govern us,” he said.

“That is quite literally the core of our founding documents: our ability as people to dissent.”

Students interviewed had varied reactions to Hanlon’s response to the petition.

Garcia Gonzalez said the election results were the “final push” for her decision to be off campus during the winter term, and that Hanlon’s public email to campus did not reassure her.

“What more can I do for Hanlon or for the administration to take a firm stance on something?” she asked.

Baum said he appreciates Hanlon’s statement that the College will work within the bounds of the law, though he believes that the College’s messages should focus more on moving forward and working with the incoming administration rather than consoling those who are upset with the election’s outcome.

“Those are the types of things we stand for — being change makers and always having a voice and working across the aisle,” he said. “I don’t see that as being encouraged right now.”

McCorkle said Hanlon handled the situation appropriately.

“He’s at a good spot where he is now because he is simply asking for support, which is I think what our undocumented students need, because as of right now there is no action implemented yet,” he said.

Cuevas said Dartmouth “should at least hold itself to a standard of intellectual honesty and have open debate,” even if it is not willing declare itself a sanctuary campus.

“Right now, this conversation is happening behind closed doors, and it’s not okay,” he said. “Other campuses are walking out of their classes, other campuses are less apathetic.”

THE DARTMOUTH OPINION

PAGE 6

THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2017

GUEST COLUMNIST MICHAEL MAYER ’17

CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST WILLIAM SANDLUND ’18

Trumpism: A Violent Ideology

“I’m Ron Burgundy”

Perspectives that support oppression are more than “opposing viewpoints.”

The column “Why I Voted for Trump” perpetuates violence and reinforces perspectives that must become unacceptable if we are to create a world of peace and justice for everyone.

Undeniably, President-elect Donald Trump has embodied racism, sexism, xenophobia, queerphobia and a plethora of other “phobias” and “-isms” throughout his campaign. Trump has served as a figurehead for white supremacy and has created a platform that empowers others with similarly horrifying values. He did not create this oppression, he merely harnessed it for his political ends.

The column by Tyler Baum ‘19 published

by The Dartmouth on Nov. 15, plays a role in these systems of oppression by encouraging readers to either actively support or passively condone the harmful perspectives maintained by the Trump campaign and all it represents.

For example, the author perpetuates sexism and rape culture when he writes, “To clarify, I do not condone President-elect Trump’s comments regarding women, but I believe in his ability and commitment to leading our great nation.” Not only is this claim false — as evidenced by the author’s vote for Trump — but it also excuses Trump’s words and actions and encourages others to do the same.

The author advances racism and xenophobia when he writes, “I grew to appreciate [Trump’s] strong ‘tough-guy’ stances on a wide variety of issues including his opposition to illegal immigration.”

This “tough-guy” stance includes the dehumanization and detention of millions of people in the Latinx community and the violent deportation of tens of thousands of individuals. Trump’s campaign has provided a platform to celebrate such xenophobia and racism.

Baum demonstrates an ignorance of

history when he writes, “I was concerned

by Trump’s campaign slogan, ‘Make America Great Again,’ a slogan I now cherish and defend to the core.” For many people, America has never been great. This perspective ignores five hundred years of resistance to settler colonialism by indigenous nations; hundreds of years of slavery; a hundred years of Jim Crow Laws; the creation of the prison-industrial complex; the devastating impacts of American imperialism in Latin America, the Middle East and Asia (in which former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had a hand); and the rampant history of sexism, queerphobia and transphobia in the United States. To support returning to a period filled with even more hatred, oppression and violence is not morally acceptable.

To date, hundreds of white supremacist hate crimes are being reported and transgender suicide hotlines have been slammed. This is on top of the dozens of police-involved shootings since Election Day, which have mysteriously disappeared from mainstream discourse. In short, for many this is a matter of life and death.

The author leaves us with this: “As Trump is now the president-elect, I would like to draft a call to action for all Americans: unification.”

I agree in part: unity is necessary for our collective freedom, though oppression has no role in that. We must call on those who share our identities. We as white folks must become uncomfortable, acknowledge our privileges and be vocal and active in fights against injustice. It is through thoughtfulness and the destruction of oppressive systems that we build a path towards a more compassionate and just future.

In the meantime, perspectives like “Why I Voted for Trump” should not be treated as simply an “opposing viewpoint” but rather as dangerous discourse that threatens the lives of many people.

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Are our identities truly our own choice— and are our leaders different?

Of all the leaks of former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s personal emails, one that attracted the least attention in the end was her description of having both a private and public stance on Wall Street. Clinton was articulating something deeper here: the idea of politicians having differing — perhaps untruthful — personas in public. In itself, this is not a bad thing. As long as public promises are kept, or there is at least an attempt to keep them, I see no reason to care about a politician’s personal beliefs. That said, this notion of a divided identity can only work when it is not public.

And keeping it secret is increasingly improbable in a time of hacks and leaks — those grownup offspring of yesteryear’s tabloid journalism.

Today, politicians’ private lives are fair game for the public eye — but so are everyone else’s.

The world we live in is one where public and private personas have been collapsed by the growth of technology. Modern technology allows for a pre-articulated presentation of us, a sort of edited text of our instinctive reaction to the outside world, to take centre stage in how peers see us. The cult of personality that existed in the 20th century was clumsy in comparison to this subtle beast, groomed by the advent and encroachment of reality television, that perfect conflation of private and public life unfolding before our eyes. Through social media, we create our own reality television for peers giggling at parties stuffed with other gigglers, all fixated on separate stories unfolding behind separate screens.

Technology is the primary force responsible for changing how we understand ourselves. There is usually a lag in the emergence of a technology and its impact on subjective experience. To appreciate how our understanding of ourselves has changed over time we must consider the development of language. Language itself is a technology, as is the ability to disseminate it through the printing press. In Europe it was Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press of 1440 that preluded one of the earliest momentous shifts in subjective experience. It took Martin Luther another 77 years before he articulated a new conception of subjective experience. His Ninetyfive Theses were the catalyst of the Protestant Reformation, a rejection of Catholicism’s monolithic, monarchical understanding of church doctrine. Protestants favored vernacular translations of a Bible previously only available in Latin, as well as promotion of a personalized interpretation of its text.

A similar intellectual trend took place in China during the advent of neo-Confucianism around the turn of the second millennium as a response to Daoism and Buddhism. Buddhism in particular had a sophisticated theory of mind that questioned the nature of reality and human subjectivity in a way that Confucian doctrine had not yet considered. Zhu Xi and Wang Yangming were the main articulators of a neo-Confucian philosophy that promoted an exploration of self. It is no coincidence that this intellectual trend inwards started during the Song dynasty, when moveable type printing presses made access to Confucian teaching more widespread.

Seemingly, as we become more connected, we become more inward looking. Is this to balance

our inherent social limitations? After all, humans can only have so many meaningful relationships — our brains are not adapted to the technologies we have created.

The trend inwards spiraled downwards in the 19th century, with Friedrich Nietzsche questioning the utility of language based on eradicating differences among concepts, and describing what was arguably a veiled nihilistic appraisal of a human world rendered thus by the construction of language. He was turning inwards on the inward-turning movements in philosophy, going down the rabbit hole of subjective experience and coming up seemingly empty handed. He had inherited the scientific use of reason and the notion of self-exploration.

He went insane. Was the modern dissonance between objectivity and subjectivity too much, or was it simply a case of an intellectual Sisyphus with syphilis?

In America, the 20th century solution to this intellectual malaise was to embrace objectivity as a way of understanding the world. We developed the nuclear bomb, spaceships, the internet.

Technology swept forward, and our nation became wealthy. Our religion of science was a faith grounded not just in objectivity, but in the outward surface of things. We gobbled up images of Marilyn Monroe and were disgusted by Communist leaders’ crude attempts to politicize what we Americans had made. Andy Warhol was onto something when he manufactured prints of Monroe as well as Mao. These public personae existed because of faith. Just as we used to believe in God, so in the 20th century we believed in science, in leaders, in the technology that exposed us to those leaders.

But then the internet changed everything. We started to go down the rabbit hole once more.

The idea that we are all trapped inside our own echo chambers is once again the perceptive thing to expostulate. Of course it’s true, but it never ceased being true. What’s different now is that as we have a new form of communication, of fame and politics, that intentionally blurs the line between what is real and what is a performance in a way that was previously reserved for postmodern art, something that makes accountability increasingly elusive.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy is based on such uncertainty — as are Kanye West’s rants, or President-elect Donald Trump’s endless contradictions. Part of our rage at the ridiculousness of their spewings is the uncertainty over what is sincere, what is deceptive and what is, well, self-aware inanity.

Even amidst the accusations of “shiftiness,” Clinton was at least a known entity. The mask is now fused to the face in a grotesque masquerade she was not invited to. And now our existential angst is being manufactured into a strange new political tool for mobilizing media coverage and gaining political exposure.

So when you smile and utter ironically “you do you,” that anthem of the celebration of self so prevalent across college campuses, please ask — what are you really saying? Who are you really “doing”? And where is the answer?

Nowhere, probably. But you knew that already.

So just try and figure out whether other people have too.

THE DARTMOUTH OPINION

THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2017

PAGE 7

STAFF COLUMNIST CLARA CHIN ’19

CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST MICHAEL ZHU ’20

Playing It Safe

Generation: Awkward

Regional fashion differences can be a metaphor for our country’s divisions.

The clothing options on Hanover’s Main Street, like J. Crew and other aesthetically similar boutiques, epitomize the general fashion trends of our campus and town. This is why one of my first destinations upon returning to California for winter break was Fairfax Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles. It was a refreshing break from chinos and plaid. Regional fashion, of course, is not homogenous, but Los Angeles taste-makers err towards a deceptively casual aesthetic.

I often hesitate to write about fashion — after all, it perfectly captures the materialism and superficiality that sometimes pervades American culture. There are, after all, more serious issues to think about, like the president-elect’s promises to “build a wall,” multiple sexual assault allegations and instances of Islamophobia. But when I returned to Los Angeles, I found myself in fashion culture shock. The dramatic difference in dress styles reminded me of a phenomenon widely discussed in the media since Presidentelect Donald Trump’s presidential win: political fragmentation, or the idea that those in densely populated cities are out of touch with their fellow citizens in smaller towns. It is difficult to conceptualize the political differences in various parts of the country because they are not directly quantifiable or visible. Fashion fragmentation, on the other hand, can be understood with a quick glance at the streets of Hanover and the streets of Los Angeles (even if that quick glance is at a photograph). The variety of clothing tastes in various parts of the country is a helpful tool in understanding two particular aspects of fragmentation: risk-taking and elitism.

Los Angeles is home to clothing brands most affiliated with the urban-chic aesthetic popular in other fashion landmarks around the world (New York, London, Paris). This includes high end street-wear stores like Supreme and FourTwoFour, pop-up shops like RIPNDIP and mid-range street-wear stores like Huf and Diamond Supply Co. The store American Rag, which carries vintage clothing and designers like Native Youth, Opening Ceremony and Rag & Bone, describes itself as a “mainstay of California culture.” Based on the range of low to high prices and the mix of street-wear, vintage and designer clothing, one can deduce that this “California culture” is an aesthetic of studied carelessness.

Style blogs like The Sartorialist, Highsnobiety and Hypebeast frequently reference Los Angeles stores and fashion thinkers because they live up to the global fashion of avant-garde, contemporary streetwear. They describe them as notorious and eclectic. The risk-taking fashion of Los Angeles is simultaneously ironic, down-to-earth and pretentious, like the profane cats of RIPNDIP and the Supreme tee shirts featuring jazz and rock bands.

The Los Angeles trend of individuality and the avant-garde is diametrically opposed to the universalism of stereotypical New England fashion. There’s little that can be construed as controversial or unique about L.L. Bean boots, chinos and plaid shirts. While this look may be aesthetically pleasing to some, it is generally considered regional style, not high fashion. At New York Fashion Week, it carries nostalgic connotations that are antithetical to the more daring looks that now frequent the runway. While

Los Angeles fashion tends to focus on a look that is simultaneously individual, global and constantly changing, the New England look is classically Americana and consistent.

The contrast between the Los Angeles fashion aesthetic of standing out and the Hanover mantra of fitting in reminded me of the differences between city and small town politics. In Los Angeles, I’m used to seeing protests, some of which became dangerous — including people lying down on the highway to protest police brutality. The few demonstrations I have seen in Hanover were smaller and less dangerous.

Even the protest that garnered national attention only included mere accusations of verbal abuse, nothing that could actually lead to injury. The way people dress is a sign of mindset in general.

If people are willing to take risks in fashion, they are also more willing to take political risks.

This leads to verbal and physical fights. On our campus, there is often little room for discussion and many people are unwilling to breech topics like race and gender.

That is not to say that the risk-taking mindset of many Los Angelinos is necessarily an indicator of a healthy political environment. In fact, the other parallel between fashion and political culture — elitism — is prevalent in both Los Angeles and Hanover. In an earlier article I wrote for The Dartmouth, I discussed the socioeconomic implications of dressing “preppy.” That Los Angeles fashion pretends to be unpretentious is itself a paradoxical sign of its elitism. Perhaps the preppy, high-collar dress style of many New Englanders may seem pretentious, but expensive is expensive. The façade of apathy is too often an elitist excuse for appropriation. Los Angeles street-wear fashion may tend to glamorize poverty, and California bohemian-chic sometimes appropriates Native American culture. Some people wear fashionable band tee shirts without knowing the bands or skate brands despite not knowing how to skate. On the other hand, this fashion may be considered an ironic critique of the corporate system. In politics, we tend to fault liberals for being elite. But to understand that there are elite liberals and elite conservatives, just look at fashion: there is the elitism of small towns and the elitism of cities.

Other than the emphasis of individuality in Los Angeles’ clothing, it is the paradox of expensively cheap — or high-low fashion — that explains the difference. Many clothing-conscious people in Los Angeles are unafraid to make a fashion statement, even if that means appropriating skate culture, a regional culture or an art culture. The opportunity for controversy is not present in the clothing that many Hanover residents wear, which relies on a simple, put-together aesthetic.

Of course, I cannot say that all people in each region dress the same. But despite the variety that occurs within each region, the overall tendencies remain consistent. While I do take issue with the elitism of Los Angeles fashion, I also appreciate its outspokenness. How you dress is beside the point. But we can apply the fashion mantra of Los Angeles to the way we think about politics: be not afraid to engage in tense debate — take risks in order to gain a deeper understanding of an issue whether or not one changes sides and be unafraid to stand out.

Awkward interactions show the miraculousness of our age.

Every year, during the holiday season, I on past experience and another based on find myself constantly cringing at interactions newfound optimism. In some ways, that’s a between my generation, the next generation good thing. It lacks the divisive edge of politics and the previous generation. It’s painfully and is grounded on an unchangeable, stubborn unavoidable. Whether it’s discussing premise that old ways will always conflict with relationship advice, American politics or new ones. nostalgic movies, there’s always at least one But no matter the political or social time per party where I wince at some sort of arguments you can make against your elders, awkward discussion. you can’t dispute the fact that there are some The worst interaction a college student things in your life that you see as retro — can have with an adult is Harrison Ford, perhaps, about relationships. It’s “My generation has or Coldplay — and that so inevitably awkward, your younger brothers because you go into the seen things that the or sisters just haven’t conversation knowing next generation has experienced your favorites your elders will be you have. Eight-yearnot, but while it makes as infuriatingly didactic. old Adam might know “How are the ladies?” us feel proud, it also every legendary Pokémon your grandpa will ask, makes us feel old.” in Pokémon Sun but can’t his face glowing red from describe the indecision wine. If you do have a when choosing between significant other, it’s easy to inform grandpa Charmander and Squirtle (nobody ever of your relationship, shower praises on her chooses Bulbasaur) in Pokémon Red on the looks and personality and assure him that Game Boy Color. Twelve-year-old Alana everything between you and her is going well, might be obsessed with Beyoncé but can’t relate even if it isn’t. If you don’t, it’s a whole different to the Black Eyed Peas. And to ten-year-old story. You can invent an excuse for why your Alex, Ford is just Han Solo or Indiana Jones. irrepressible charm is just not working on To me and many others in my generation, people. You can blame a ceaseless academic Ford was a hero, a worshipped idol, the legend schedule, accuse people of being too selective with a blaster and a master with the whip; and denounce society for various vices. In Charmander always turned out to be better short, you lie and you feel awful about it. than Squirtle; and “I Gotta Feeling” used to Then there’s the disappointment in your be the go-to song not too long ago (seven years grandpa’s eyes, the pity isn’t too bad). in your grandma’s words Sure, call me nostalgic. My “We’ve all met that twist your stomach generation has seen things — and afterwards. And that one uncle who that the next generation has of course, the story of complains about not, but while it makes us how your grandparents feel proud, it also makes got engaged that you can liberals and society us feel old. It’s so peculiar recite verbatim already. and millenials and that as we continuously Butatleastrelationship battle our elders, we like President Barack advice is easier to handle to embrace our “old-ness” than political discussions. Obama’s policies. ourselves. I love to mock We’ve all met that one And you want to cry my parents’ inability to uncle who complains use Instagram and selfie about liberals and out and say, ‘Obama sticks, but at the same time society and millennials wasn’t that bad!’ or I love to show kids younger and President Barack me the trending ‘Not all milennials are than Obama’s policies. And hashtags or newest styles. you want to cry out and weak crybabies!’”

I love the energy of the say, “Obama wasn’t Chainsmokers but I can that bad!” or “Not all always enjoy the Beatles. millennials are weak crybabies — just look at Being at this age makes me laugh at both the my perfect brother who actually has a job and stubborn seniority of my elders and the naïve couldn’t care less about our president-elect.” youthfulness of the younger generation — The core of political discussions always even though I possess a little of both. involves the unending conflict between We should cherish this age of indecision, nostalgia and hope for the future — however identity crises and divided feelings. We should dismal or disheartening it may seem. It always treasure generational politics and relationship seems to be a clash between what used to be advice, no matter how frustrating or repetitive and what could be, their cherished memories it may seem. We should laugh at our elders and and your vision of society. our siblings, simultaneously teasing ourselves “The good ole days were so much better,” for their qualities. Being at an age in between someone would say. “What has this world two radically different generations opens up become?” so many different viewpoints. It marks the “It’s my world,” you want to respond. “It’s transition from childhood to adulthood. It also a new world with a new generation.” magnifies the differences between childhood So perhaps the political discussions aren’t and adulthood. political in nature. It’s a conflict between two And it always makes for terribly awkward adversarial visions of the world, one based conversations.

THE DARTMOUTH ARTS

THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2017

PAGE 8

‘Arrival’ delivers fresh, emotional take on classic sci-fi topic

By SEBASTIAN WURZRAINER The Dartmouth

Who would have thought that the most impressive science fiction film of 2016 would not be “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” but instead Denis Villeneuve’s thought-provoking, psychological and deeply moving “Arrival.” Villeneuve has already proven himself to be an extremely talented director with films like “Incendies” and “Sicario.” Despite this, I was skeptical when early reviews called “Arrival” a new scifi masterpiece. Good films have a tendency to buckle under the weight of tremendous hype, and I was nervous that Villeneuve simply wouldn’t be able to live up to the mammoth expectations being set by the film’s early admirers.

Yet somehow “Arrival” surprised me, finding a way not to meet my expectations but instead surpass them and engage me on both an intellectual and emotional level.

At its heart, “Arrival” is a work of speculative fiction that wonders what first contact with an alien species might realistically look like. When 12 eggshaped spaceships begin to hover above

various locations across the world, governments scramble to contact the aliens and determine their intentions.

To this end the U.S. military recruits Louise Banks (Amy Adams), a linguist, and Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner), a theoretical physicist, to communicate with the extraterrestrials. The rest of the film chronicles Banks and Donnelly’s attempt to learn the aliens’ language and enable a conversation.

Before I even saw the film, I knew that I would be impressed by Villeneuve’s technical prowess as a director. “Arrival” confirms what I had already suspected while watching “Sicario”: Villeneuve is one of the finest cinematic craftsmen working today. His films are beautifully directed without ever being showy or pretentious because his focus is always on the story. But I also admire his ability to infuse his films with a potent atmosphere that almost serves as an unseen character. In “Sicario” you can almost touch the sense of dread the film creates, and much the same can be said for the feeling of awe in “Arrival.” When we as a species finally do encounter an alien race, I suspect we will all be overcome with the mix

of terror and wonder that this film depicts so well.

What surprised me most, however, was the genuine connection I felt with the characters. “Arrival” has been billed as a film with a fairly lofty concept, and, indeed, the majority of its run-time is spent on the world’s most high-stakes linguistics lesson, the ending of which aims to make you think long and hard while at the same time blowing your mind. Films with such intellectual ambitions can sometimes lose character depth and warmth amidst the plot and ideas.

“Interstellar” is a great example of a film filled with truly compelling and thought-provoking ideas that fails to achieve its full potential because it never finds a way to connect with the characters, try as the actors might.

Thankfully, this is not the case with “Arrival.” All of the performances are universally excellent, but the highlight really is the relationship between Adams and Renner. Their developing friendship and the innate way in which they care for each other is the element that grounds this story. Moreover, it is beautifully mirrored by the relationship shared by the two aliens with whom

they communicate, whom they lovingly nickname “Abbott” and “Costello.”

The movie’s only flaw is that its ending might come across as a little jarring for some. Frankly, I love it and I think it makes the film, but I imagine that some audience members will be a little taken aback when watching it for the first time. After a second or third viewing, however, I expect the ending won’t feel quite so much like it comes out of left field. I also suspect that on repeat viewings I’ll come to appreciate the film’s message about communication and compassion even more. I love a good alien invasion film, but there’s something surprisingly uplifting about a movie that suggests that perhaps aliens might visit us for entirely peaceful purposes. And starting Jan. 20, our new administration might need to be reminded that not everything foreign or alien is necessarily a threat — in fact, far from it.

When the Golden Globe nominations were announced, I was saddened to see that “Arrival” had not received a nod for Best Motion Picture — Drama. I just hope the Academy Awards don’t make the same

mistake. Like I mentioned, “Arrival” is the sort of film which only grows deeper in meaning the more times you watch it. But watching it just once was enough to convince me that it was something special. On Oct. 6, 2017, Denis Villeneuve’s next film, a sequel to “Blade Runner,” will be released in theaters. “Blade Runner” happens to be my favorite film of all time, so this makes me inherently nervous.

However, based on “Arrival,” I have a great deal of confidence in Villeneuve’s ability to surprise and impress me.

Good luck, sir! You’ve earned it.

Rating: 9/10 Top 5 Films of 2016 A quick caveat: There are a number of films that I didn’t see this year which may or may not have made my list. Of the films I did see, though, these are the five that reminded me most why cinema is my passion.

1. “La La Land” 2. “The Nice Guys” 3. “Arrival” 4. “Sing Street” 5.“Everybody Wants Some!!” and “Southside with You” (TIE)

December’s music in review: Ryan Adams, ZAYN and The xx

By LONG DO

The Dartmouth

“To Be Without You,” Ryan Adams, “Prisoners” Adams’ new album’s lead single “Do You Still Love Me?” features riff after riff of heavy guitar, but this new song offers a much calmer, acoustic vibe. “To Be Without You” is downright simple. Adams kept all the aspects of the song straightforward and unpretentious. The tempo is moderate, the percussions distinct and the vocals clear. It is an honest post-breakup narration.

The song hardly exceeds three and a half minutes. Its lyrics are divided into four stanzas, each ending with “Nothing really matters anymore.”

Adams combines imagery with real details to convey his hopelessness.

“Thunders in my bones out in the streets where I first saw you / And everything was new and colorful, it’s gotten darker,” he ponders. It is easy to sound devastated when discussing heartbreak, but it’s more difficult to sound as genuine as Adams does on

“To Be Without You.”

chorus is forgivable.

Rating: 4/5

Rating: 3.5/5

“Say Something Loving,” The xx, “I See You”

“I Don’t Wanna Live Forever,” ZAYN & Taylor Swift, “Fifty Shades Darker: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack”

“Say Something Loving” by The xx is the latest promotional single for its album release later this month. The song features the band’s trademark ostinato riffs of electronic instruments and soft vocals by Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim. The xx recently shared that its upcoming LP will be “more open and expansive” in sound. This new track is, in fact, brighter compared to the tightly boxed “Crystalised” or “Chained.”

“Say Something Loving” describes a yearning for attachment, with lyrics such as “Say something loving / I need a reminder, the feeling’s escaped me.” Although the verses succeed in creating anticipation, the song’s chorus is melodically insufficient. It is only during its bridge that the song picks up energy again. At its best, the song still convinces listeners what “the thrill of affection” means. Its unrewarding

“I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” — the pairing of Swift and “Fifty Shades” — feels like a surprise, but in hindsight, we could have seen it coming.

Swift is perfectly capable of writing for the newest installment in the dark franchise. Remember “Boys only want love if it’s torture” and “If the high was worth the pain” from “Blank Space?”

Both ZAYN and Swift showcase their vocals in this track. Swift has rarely been this confident singing in fifth octave, and ZAYN’s falsetto is impressive (even though the song is more pleasant when he uses chest voice). Since Swift’s talent for lyrics is absent here, the hero of “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” is producer Jack Antonoff. He subtly sharpened a note in the chord progression, adding a 80s-classic feeling to the track.

With great sense of modicum, he incorporated those thick bass synths first thing into the chorus to enhance the already marketable melody. ZAYN and Swift try to sound erotic, but it is Antonoff who makes the song fifty shades darker.

Rating: 4/5 “Versace on the Floor,” Bruno Mars, “24K Magic”

“Versace on the Floor” is one of the highlights from Mars’ new LP “24K Magic.” A 90s-throwback R&B-pop ballad, the song conveys Mars’ intimate desire for his partner: “Above us all the stars are watchin’ / There’s no place I’d rather be in this world.” These lyrics walk the thin line separating expressive from cheesy, but they are acceptable given the song’s affectionate context.

“Versace on the Floor” remains one of Mars’ best thanks to its arrangement.

It is sweet, desirous and wistful, like a timeless track to be played during the slow dance at prom. On top of that, Mars gave a convincing performance on the recording. He fills the song with

sheer passion, limiting the sugar that he often overuses when talking about love.

Rating: 4.5/5 “Unicron Loev,” Raleigh Ritchie, “Mind the Gap” In summary, “Unicron Loev” focuses on Ritchie’s exhilaration with his new love. “You keep my head busy / And I’m in deep, I’m dizzy,” Ritchie sang in the song’s second verse. The title, which seems more interesting than the lyrics, may have been intentionally mispelt to reflect this profound impact of being love-struck.

The strength of “Unicron Loev” lies in its consistent warmth and zeal. The song is built upon smooth electronic beats, fused with R&B elements. As it flows into the chorus, elements from the mysterious intro reappear to add more layers. “Unicron Loev” closes with chimes and racing horses, invoking a sense of magic. The track never needs to be loud to be triumphant.

Rating: 4/5