The Dartmouth 1/26/17

VOL. CLXXIV NO.16

THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2017

HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE

2017 Trips directorate announced

CLOUDY HIGH 45 LOW 28

By VIGNESH CHOCKALINGHAM The Dartmouth

COURTESY OF EMILY BURACK

ARTS

STUDENTS FIND WAYS TO ENGAGE IN ARTS PAGE 8

OPINION

CHUN: TO BURN A FLAG PAGE 7

SZUHAJ: IN PURSUIT OF TRUTH PAGE 7

QU: WOMEN: FORWARD, MARCH PAGE 6

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Dartmouth Outing Club First-Year Trips director Doug Phipps ’17 and associate director Apoorva Dixit ’17 announced the 19-member 2017 Trips directorate last Thursday.

In a campus-wide email, Phipps and Dixit announced the cast of “superstars” who will come together to “make [Trips] more thoughtful, inclusive and welcoming than ever before.”

The group includes Dru Falco ’18 and Ivan CornishMorales ’19, who will both serve as outdoor logistics coordinators. Nitasha Kochar ’19 and Kristina Heggedal

Dartmouth Outing Club announced its 2017 Trips directorate last Thursday.

SEE TRIPS PAGE 5

The Pitch to offer Dartmouth Public Voices different awards Fellowship trains professors

By MIKA JEHOON LEE The Dartmouth Staff

The Digital Arts, Leadership and Innovation lab and the Dartmouth Entrepreneurial Network have restructured the award system for their “shark-tank” style entrepreneurial show The Pitch. Rather than

jointly awarding prizes, each group will now independently choose two winners.

The Pitch was started in the spring of 2014 by both DEN and DALI to foster entrepreneurial spirit at the College. About 20 groups participate in the competition SEE PITCH PAGE 2

By JULIAN NATHAN The Dartmouth Staff

The Dartmouth Public Voices Fellowship, launched in 2012 in partnership with The OpEd project, an organization dedicated t o i m p r ov i n g t h o u g h t leadership’s accessibility through media , trains 20

Upper Valley hosts Special Olympics

By DEBORA HYEMIN HAN The Dartmouth Staff

Approximately 80 to 90 athletes representing 11 teams participated in the 15th Annual Upper Valley Winter Games, hosted by Special Olympics New Hampshire, this past Saturday at the Dartmouth Alpine Valley Ski Hill.

They were cheered on by more than 150 Dartmouth students, community

Dartmouth faculty members each year to write op-ed articles and navigate TV and radio interviews.

The fellowship selects a new class each year from a pool of applicants nominated

by College leadership. Those chosen attend a series of four training seminars on campus over a year-long period. This

year’s fellows will be chosen on Feb. 24.

Both dean of faculty affairs at the Geisel School of Medicine Leslie Henderson and Geisel microbiology professor Timothy Lahey, cur rent participants in the program, said that the program’s primary intention SEE FELLOW PAGE 3

SUNSHINE, MOONSHINE

members, volunteers and supporters from Vermont and New Hampshire, according to Katie Robbins ’85 , volunteer coordinator for the Upper Valley Special Olympics Winter Games.

The local winter games, founded

by Pete Bleyler ’61 and the Dartmouth Club of the Upper Valley in 2003, SEE OLYMPICS PAGE 3

LAURA LEWIN/THE DARTMOUTH

Zilvinas Kempinas, an artist-in-residence, displays work in the Hopkins Center.

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

PAGE 2

DALI, DEN to offer new awards FROM PITCH PAGE 1

every term, each of which is allotted two minutes to pitch their start-up ideas to a panel of judges and the audience.

In the past, DALI and DEN jointly awarded three winners with first place, second place and third place prizes, respectively. Each winning group received financial support from DEN and development assistance from DALI. In the upcoming competition, the two organizations will evaluate the participants separately, DEN director Jamie Coughlin said. The first place and second place winning groups selected by DEN will receive $2,000 and $1,500 respectively, in addition to DEN’s management support, he said.

On the other hand, DALI will award the DALI Partner Prize to individual founders and the DALI Team Startup Prize to student teams, said computer science professor and executive director of the DALI lab Lorie Loeb. She added that the winners of the DALI Partner Prize will work with designers and developers from DALI to build a functional prototype over a period of one to two terms. The DALI Team Startup Prize will give teams a full DALI lab membership, which includes shared co-working space, technical workshops and one-onone mentorship from DALI senior designers and developers. Loeb said that DALI values its assistance at $7,500 per term, though neither of the prizes award winners with funding.

However, a team may potentially win both a DEN award and a DALI prize.

In addition to the four awards, the competition will continue to present

the People’s Choice Awards, which is determined by the audience members.

Loeb said that these changes were implemented because winning groups might have different needs.

“Some of the winners don’t really need our help but they need funding,” Loeb said. “Some of them don’t need funding but they need our help. Some of them need both.”

Coughlin said that the two organizations started The Pitch to create a platform that allowed community members to present startup ideas in front of an audience.

He added that DALI’s technical expertise is integral to The Pitch’s development.

“Most people have an idea, a problem they are uncovering and a market that they are interested in, but many of them lack the technical skills to be able to build what they are doing,” Coughlin said. “This is important because most of the ideas that we have seen throughout the years are software-oriented.”

According to Loeb, DEN has provided essential support to Dartmouth entrepreneurs. “[DEN] teaches people how to build an enterprise and what kind of things go together to make a business plan or get a funding,” Loeb said.

One week prior to The Pitch, participants are required to attend the “Pitch Clinic,” a workshop designed to help students prepare pitches and navigate through different databases.

“We do [the Pitch Clinic] so that everyone is basically on the same page, with same information and advice,” DEN program manager Eileen O’Toole said.

O’Toole added that she believes the Pitch Clinic contributes to a huge improvement in the presentation and the information presented at the

event.

David Washer Tu’17 and Master of Public Health candidate, chief executive officer and co-founder of ClearPay Healthcare, which won the People’s Choice Award last fall, said that the Pitch Clinic helped his team members cultivate valuable entrepreneurial skills. “[The Pitch Clinic] helped entrepreneurs to think about the different aspects that I should communicate to the audience,” Washer said. “I had more practice to pitch, which is a valuable skill for entrepreneurs and needed for any venture.”

Washer added that DALI developers and designers were just as passionate about his venture as he was.

“At my first meeting with DALI, I was pleasantly surprised by the thoughtfulness of the questions that the team was asking about our venture and the healthcare system at large,” Washer said. “They invested a lot of time into learning about our venture and the problems that we are trying to solve.”

Sean Cann ’17, chief executive officer and co-founder of Seabird Apps, which won second place last fall, said that other entrepreneurial events hosted by DEN have helped Seabird Apps accelerate its expansion.

“We participated in Dartmouth Campus Ventures, an event where a number of startups pitch their ideas to students who are interested in joining our startups,” Cann said. “We are receiving a number of students from that event who are interested in working with us too.”

Applications for this winter’s Pitch are due Feb. 6. The show will take place on Mar. 2 at 7 p.m. in Filene Auditorium.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2017

Eleven teams participate in Special Olympics FROM OLYMPICS PAGE 1

is a celebration of athletes with intellectual disabilities who compete regionally to qualify for the higher levels of the Special Olympics. This year, the opening ceremony speaker was Walter Malmquist ’78 Tu’88, a former U.S. Olympic skier and longtime volunteer of the Games.

Malmquist said that since the last time he volunteered at the Games during the 1980s, the athletic abilities of the competitors have improved, making the Games more than a means to offer a particular minority of athletes opportunities to participate in sports, citing the alpine skiing event as an example.

“The alpine skiers are not just average skiers,” he said. “They’re competitors.”

Brandon Hester ’20, a member of the Dartmouth football team and a volunteer at this year’s Games, echoed a similar sentiment, noting how it was exciting to see the athletes “getting pumped up like any athlete would,” listening to songs and warming up before events.

Oliver Darwish ’18, who led the opening ceremonies and awards ceremonies this year, described the event as having the mindset of celebrating abilities.

“We get sidetracked in everyday life with focusing on what we lack, but in [the] Special Olympics, you learn to appreciate everything you can do,” he said.

For the participants of the Games, the fact that students and community are there to celebrate

this alongside them is meaningful, said PJ Bigley ’17, student liaison for the event.

“To see students at the bottom of the alpine venue with signs and to have people cheering you on is very special for them,” she said.

Student groups that were signed up to volunteer at this year’s event included Dartmouth’s football, women’s crew and women’s rugby teams, fraternities such as Zeta Psi and Alpha Chi Alpha and local high school teams such as Hanover High School’s girls and boys hockey. Since the event coincided with the presidential inauguration weekend and various related political movements across the country, Robbins said it is likely that fewer student groups were able to participate than those who had signed up. In addition, organizers did not have access to the campus listserv this year and therefore were unable to send emails to campus.

These two factors made outreach more difficult than in previous years, according to Bigley and Darwish.

Nevertheless, overall participation for the event was comparable to previous years, Robbins said. She added that it was exciting to see the “regulars” come back to the event each year.

“It’s beautiful to welcome new volunteers, but it’s great to see the same groups coming back year after year and that that tradition is so important to them,” she said.

Bigley is a member of The Dartmouth Staff.

QUIET PLEASE

LAUREN KIM/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Students listen to a presentation about The Pitch, which is sponsored by both DEN and DALI Lab.

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

Correction appended (Jan. 25, 2017): The original version of the article titled “The Real Dr. Seuss” stated that Geisel died on Sept. 25, 1991, when in fact he died on Sept. 24 of that year.

LAURA LEWIN/THE DARTMOUTH

The Orozco Mural Room is a popular study space for students.

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2017

PAGE 3

Professors engage in thought leadership training FROM FELLOW PAGE 1

is to increase the diversity of thoughts represented in opinion pieces. According to Lahey, an overwhelming majority of opinion articles in prominent publications are authored by white men.

“White men like me have a pretty easy time getting published in news media,” Lahey said, adding that the lack of diversity erodes scholarship as not all points of view have equal representation.

Henderson said that having a diversity of opinions represented in major publications could help to tell a fuller story about the problems facing the world today. She added that the program aims to tackle this problem by using mentorship

to encourage women and members of minority groups to publish their findings.

2015 program fellow and music professor William Cheng added that the program also has the benefit of improving Dartmouth’s visibility in both the public sphere and in academia. Cheng said that the program did not solely focus on teaching faculty to write effective op-ed articles — fellows are also coached on how to give effective interviews on television, radio and podcasts, he said.

Cheng said suggestions to improve fellows’ articles and interviews included writing on topics relating to their core expertise, finding hooks and tie-ins to current events and persevering in

the event that a publication rejects a story. Cheng said that rejection is common with large newspapers.

Lahey described the “elevator pitch” training activity, where he had to condense and explain an idea within a limited time frame, as if he were trying to do so in an elevator ride.

Cheng said that the program broadens scholarship and makes it more accessible to certain audiences. He said that reaching a larger audience through an op-ed piece can advance scholarship just as effectively as writing an article in a peer-reviewed journal.

Scholarship expressed through mass media can affect a lot of people, Henderson said.

“Dissemination of scholarship

can have a vastly bigger impact than a typical peer-reviewed journal,” Henderson said.

She said that one of her favorite parts of the program was that it facilitated interactions between faculty members of different disciplines. These connections might not have ever been made outside of the program, Henderson said, adding that these relationships often lead to faculty members from multiple fields collaborating on articles.

Henderson herself collaborated with classics professor Margaret Williamson. The pair wrote an article about potential solutions to opiate addiction and about the importance of women’s, gender and sexuality studies professor Pati

Hernández’s “Telling My Story,” a program created to break down walls between socially isolated individuals and their communities.

Lahey said that collaborations between faculty members of different disciplines were common among his class of fellows.

Lahey, Henderson and Cheng said that the program improved the quality of their writing.

Lahey said that as a result of the program, he is more proud of the work that he has produced in the past year. Henderson said that because of its ability to increase the diversity of opinions expressed in major publications, the Public Voices Fellowship has been one of her favorite College-sponsored programs to date.

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THE DARTMOUTH EVENTS

THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2017

DARTMOUTHEVENTS TODAY

4:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Conversations with Changemakers panel discussion with the 2017 Social Justice Awards honorees, Filene Auditorium, Moore Building

6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

German Studies Lecture: Museum Politics in Nazi Germany with graduate exchange student Ameli Klein, Dartmouth Hall 212

7:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

National Theatre Live in HD: “No Man’s Land” with Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart, Loew Auditorium 104, Black Family Visual Arts Center

TOMORROW

3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Sapientia Lecture Series: “Nietzsche’s Psychology of Metaphysics “or, Metaphysics as Revenge,” with University of Kansas professor Scott Jenkins, Thornton Hall 103

5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Panel Discussion: Being with Dying presented by the Leslie Center for the Humanities, Haldeman 41 (Kreindler Conference Hall)

8:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.

Rudresh Mahanthappa’s “Bird Calls,” a jazz tribute to Charlie “Bird” Parker, Spaulding Auditorium, Hopkins Center RELEASE DATE– Thursday, January 26, 2017

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

ACROSS 1 Hindu noble 5 Like pastrami 10 Rum cake 14 “O no! it is an __fixed mark ... ”: Shak.

15 “SNL” alum Cheri 16 Restaurant in the same corporate group as Applebee’s 17 What rattlers that never bask in the sun may get?

19 Pool element 20 Vegetable __ 21 Sore 22 Oaf 24 Careless 26 “This __ test” 27 Strikebreakers at a brewery?

34 “Curb Your Enthusiasm” creator 37 Different 38 By way of 39 Controversial sightings 40 Demonstrators, often 41 Grammy category 42 Budgetary waste 43 Allen who managed the Beatles and Stones 44 Farmyard noises 45 What berets cover?

48 Wee battery 49 Odorless gas 53 Declare 56 Comic actor Jacques 58 Words in praiseful titles 59 Track component 60 Angry looks in the hayloft?

63 Military wind 64 African herbivore 65 Lot 66 Lost traction 67 Quaker in the forest 68 Adele’s brother

DOWN 1 They get carried away 2 Be of use to 3 Pudding snack cup maker 4 It may come after you 5 Bone below the sacrum 6 State on the Colorado Plateau 7 Fall back (on) 8 Before, in verse 9 Doesn’t care for 10 Lunch order with “special sauce” 11 “May I speak?”

12 Pro __ 13 High point 18 Flavorful 23 Cold War letters 25 Trident-shaped letters 28 Johnnycakes 29 Top story 30 Fine __ 31 Lady’s company?

32 Take to the cleaners 33 Fifth Avenue store 34 Keister

35 Miles off 36 Suffrage, with “the” 40 Moorish palace of southern Spain 41 Sneakily seek, with “for” 43 Dodge Aries, e.g.

44 Eye-related 46 Aced 47 Shows one’s feelings

50 Battling 51 “48 HRS.” costar 52 Moved carefully 53 Stray sounds?

54 Epic __ 55 Name for a poodle 56 Vacation plan 57 Diarist Frank 61 “I get it” sounds 62 Not quite right

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

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01/26/17

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01/26/17

THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2017

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

PAGE 5

New Trips directorate selected to welcome the Class of 2021 FROM TRIPS PAGE 1

’18 will be Vox Croo captains. The students in charge of first-year ’17 will be this year’s outreach students’ final days of Trips at coordinators, while Nakia Wighton Moosilauke Lodge will be Lodj Croo captains Sarah ’18 will serve as Salzman ’18 and risk management “The people that Milan Chuttani coordinator ’18. a n d M a d i s o n we have chosen Serving as S a b o l ’ 1 8 w i l l are extremely an outreach be sustainability self-aware of the coordinator on coordinator. Three the Trips 2016 students — Lily experiences that directorate, Eisner ’18, Lucia they’ve had and Phipps said he Pierson ’18, and realized not only David Mannes ’17 the experiences the importance — will be tasked that they haven’t and excitement with training this had and will work of participating year’s trip leaders. i n Tr i p s b u t H e a d i n g t h e incredibly hard to also “how much Grant Croo will make sure that the room Trips has be Jesse Feldmanto improve in S t e i n ’ 1 8 a n d voices that are not making sure Michael Baicker represented on that we are ’17, while Sarah the directorate are p rov i d i n g t h e Petroni ’18 and best experience Terence Hughes represented in the possible for every ’ 1 7 w i l l l e a d volunteer core.” single individual Hanover Croo. i n c o m i n g Claire Apuan ’18 student, not just will direct the -DOUG PHIPPS, ’17 many of a certain Klymbing Croo TRIPS DIRECTOR identity.” and Chris Huberty Dixit said that ’18 will serve as she shared a Oak Hill Croo captain. Tasked with ensuring safety, Francesca similar experience with Phipps, Governali ’18 and Leah Alpern adding that as a trip leader trainer

last year, part of her job was to help trip leaders provide an experience that would cater to students of all kind. Given her experience advising trip leaders, she said that Trips must ensure it is “inclusive of other identities at Dartmouth” and does not only “present one narrative of Dartmouth.”

“It is important to break down and deconstruct the image of the perfect Dartmouth student,” Hughes said.

Phipps and Dixit released Trips directorate applications to campus on Dec. 7, 2016 with a deadline of Dec. 30, 2016. Those selected as members of this year’s directorate were notified on Jan. 15.

“The directorate represents a wide variety of Dartmouth experiences, and we’re proud of that,” Phipps said. “The people that we have chosen are extremely self-aware of the experiences that they’ve had and the experiences that they haven’t had and will work incredibly hard to make sure that the voices that are not represented on the directorate are represented in the volunteer core.”

Dixit agreed, saying she hopes that the directorate will be able to improve the Trips experience with a more representative volunteer core and that the current one does not

PAULA MENDOZA/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Members of the Class of 2020 participate in bonding activities at the Lodge during First-Year Trips.

represent the full breadth of all of to “thoughtfully and critically” the experiences that can be found improve the program. at Dartmouth.

Phipps said that he and Dixit are The Trips directorate features pleased with the group they have students with vast academic and assembled. extracurricular interests, Phipps Now, the directorate will move and Dixit both said. forward into a “think big phase,” Phipps added Hughes said, that there is one “What we were adding that he characteristic envisions the that unites the looking for in directorate will s t u d e n t s : t h e a directorate now set its sights on desire to make “brainstor ming was a group of students feel big changes, students who are welcome. big goals and “ W h a t w e passionate about big missions for were looking for Trips.” in a directorate making students Dixit said that was a group of feel welcome the directorate students who are will be releasing at Dartmouth, passionate about v o l u n t e e r making students whether that be applications to f e e l w e l c o m e through Trips or campus later this at D a r t m o u t h , term. whether that be just being a friendly “I think Trips is t h ro u g h Tr i p s person on campus.” one of the things or just being a that Dartmouth friendly person does best,” said on campus,” said -DOUG PHIPPS, ’17 Dixit, adding that Phipps, adding TRIPS DIRECTOR she hopes this that he and Dixit year’s directorate were looking will make Trips for people who even better. could question the traditions and expectations for Trips while also Dixit is a former member of The coming up with innovative ideas Dartmouth Staff.

PAULA MENDOZA/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Several programming events welcome first-year students to Dartmouth.

THE DARTMOUTH OPINION

PAGE 6

STAFF COLUMNIST DOROTHY QU ’19

GUEST COLUMNIST JULIA COHEN ’18

Women: Forward, March

At Our Origins

The march was beautiful but must do more to embrace diversity.

This weekend, I’ve seen all kinds of analyses on why President Donald Trump may have not gotten the inauguration turnout that he and his administration predicted. I’ve heard: “It was raining,” “White tarps give the illusion of having less people present,” “People have jobs” and an assortment of “alternative facts.”

Whatever else may have been said, these factors unquestionably did not seem to apply the day after, when the largest organized protest in American history came to Washington, D.C. The Women’s March, which started as a small Facebook event, brought together millions people from every single continent in opposition to Trump and his sexist, racist, xenophobic, ableist and anti-science — I’m running out of breath — rhetoric and policies.

I’m incredibly proud to know countless, determined peers around the world who participated in this event. Charlotte Grussing ’19, for example, attended a march in London, England. Most, though, congregated on the East Coast. Allison Chou ’17 and Emily Patrick ’17 are two of the many Dartmouth students who made the trek to D.C. this weekend. There, 500,000 individuals assembled peacefully at the southeast corner of the National Mall. Chou told me that she wasn’t completely sure how far she was from open space during the entirety of the march — there were far too many people to be able to tell.

Chou and Patrick spent about four hours listening to speakers and three hours marching.

Meanwhile, Julie Solomon ’17 and Caroline Cutler ’19 participated in the Vermont Women’s March. They, along with other attendees, were shocked as Sen. Bernie Sanders — a “special guest” — unexpectedly spoke at the event. His powerful speech reasoned that Trump’s bigotry has actually inspired a new, unconquerable determination in those who are brave enough to fight back. This mass mobilization of voices, many realized this weekend, is the true definition of democracy. Throughout these large marches, along with those in New York City, Los Angeles and even Antarctica, there were many common sights and sounds: clever protest signs, saturated orange Trump cartoons, catchy chants and bright pink “pussy hats.”

These rallies seem to be the poster-child for peaceful protest. However, no movement is perfect, and one could easily debate the intricacies of the relationship between trivializing Trump — “You’re orange, you’re gross! You lost the popular vote!” — and creating a positive and uplifting atmosphere. Indeed, one can even argue that the atmosphere was not an inviting one for people of color. At the D.C. protest, participants were so eager to march that the remaining speakers at the time, all women of color, were to condense their speeches to 30 seconds or less. Chou and Patrick both noted the disconnect between those who were aware of the importance of intersectionality in feminism and those who were not. When singer Janelle Monáe performed a song written specifically about police brutality against women of color, Chou noted that many around her were confused and unaware of these issues. Chou said that Tamika Mallory, Co-chair of the D.C. march, responded to this phenomena by urging those new to protests to look to black women and other marginalized people, for they have experienced this strife for decades. Furthermore, the “pussy hats” that caught so many eyes and inspired mirthful small talk in reality harmfully simplify the notion of womanhood to mean “having a vagina.”

I understand that there is a delicate balance between spreading awareness and potential antagonization. Yet, the frustrations of women of color and the LGBTQIA community are not unfounded. They are very, very real, and it is up to you to ensure that care for this movement does not end with your latest Instagram post. Continue to update your vocabulary, your empathy, your understanding and your dedication to the cause. Just today, a University of California, Berkeley sophomore messaged me, saying he “hopes that more of his fellow Americans recognize this and continue these acts of protest for marginalized groups, and not simply as a passing trend for personal validation.” Don’t let this march be a memory that you’ll simply look back at with pride. It’s bigger than you. Instead, make this movement last. Mobilize your peers, join the conversation and actually write to your senators. Good luck!

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ISSUE

THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2017

NEWS EDITOR: Sonia Qin, NEWS LAYOUT: Carter Brace, TEMPLATING EDITOR: Jaclyn Eagle

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

Off-campus studying is valuable for reaching into our past.

Underneath the sweat of the Malapa excavation team and Dartmouth students laid the fossilized bones of our ancestors. Kneeling with my peers, sweeping away layer after layer, we explored the earth for clues into our past.

Paleoanthropologist Lee Berger paced back and forth, looming over us as we excavated the site that he and his son Matthew had found eight years before.

When paleoanthropologists find a fossil, there is a one in 250,000 chance that it is a fossil of a hominid, or ancient human ancestor. The other 249,999 belong to other African animals — bovids, carnivores, birds, micro-fauna and so many more. These discoveries are important, but less relevant to the study of human evolution that paleoanthropologists seek.

On Dec. 1, 2016, Dartmouth anthropology students improved those odds. When digging at Malapa, the cave site found by Berger, students from Anthropology 70 “Experiencing Human Origins and Evolution,” with the help of the full-time team, found the fossilized right pelvis bone from a female Australopithecus sediba.

Australopithecus sediba is an ancient human species that lived approximately 1.977 million years ago in southern Africa. It has features that bridge the gap between our oldest human ancestors and ourselves. For example, their locomotion is very human-like, yet their small bodies and long arms are more representative of earlier australopithecines.

Two skeletons, one male and one female, have been found at Malapa, located in the Cradle of Humankind — a UNESCO World Heritage Site northwest of Johannesburg.

The Dartmouth students working on the excavation were on an extension of Anthropology 70 which biological anthropology professors Jeremy DeSilva and Nathanial Dominy led.

DeSilva, describing his motivation and experience with the class, said, “For me as an educator, it was very powerful and inspiring to watch you guys learning in the space that I do my research ... I’m always thinking, ‘Well, I wish my students were here.’”

During the fall 2016 term, we explored topics of evolution by studying the environment, anatomy, diet and culture of early human species.

“When you’re at a place ... you’re engaging [with the material] in a different way,” DeSilva told me. “When you’re on site seeing the real things, you spot things, you notice things, you ask questions that you otherwise wouldn’t have asked, so the creative juices are flowing in a much different kind of way when you’re in the presence of the fossils.”

After Thanksgiving, 15 Dartmouth students and five staff members left for South Africa and took to the field. Beginning in Johannesburg, students entered the vault at the University of the Witwatersrand to examine the largest collection of hominid fossils in Africa. From there, the group moved to the Cradle of Humankind to excavate, learn and tour preexisting cave sites where hominids have been found.

We excavated in the Cradle of Humankind for three days, split up into teams that excavated, sifted and documented. The process is extremely slow and repetitive.

“I had no idea what excavation entailed,” Jackie Saralegui ’18 said.

Jessica Kittelberger ’18 agreed: “I didn’t realize the tedious process that goes into excavation,” she said.

But the excitement was contagious. Watching DeSilva and Berger bring the process to fruition by identifying the fossil we had found made the excruciatingly slow excavation worth it.

The right female pelvis fossil from a skeleton named MH2 is necessary to understand two important features of Australopithecus sediba: how it walked and how it gave birth. These can help scientists imply whether or not the species was bipedal and the level of sociability during childbirth among this ancient human species.

“The evolution of childbirth has been difficult for us to figure out because there have been so few female pelvis fossil discovered,” DeSilva said.

“The MH2 pelvis gives us this new data point for looking at what birth was like in australopithecus.”

He has been working on a reconstruction of this missing pelvis fossil for Australopithecus sediba, yet it has been challenged recently because the size and shape of the bone had only been estimated.

The fossil will clarify the data to provide a complete picture of the pelvis.

After finding the fossil, our journey took us to a safari in Pilanesberg National Park. Driving with elephants, zebras and giraffes was exciting, but nothing was as memorable as sitting meters away from hungry lions munching on their freshly caught impala. Minutes later, we blew out our front tire, so our professors had to brave the savanna in order to bring their students back to safety. And almost two million years before us, Australopithecus sediba would have walked those same plains.

In Cape Town, our class met with prominent paleoanthropologist Becky Ackermann, who taught us about the importance of diversity in the field. This especially resonated with our group, which was comprised of 14 female students and one male.

After, we went to Cape Agulhas, the southernmost point of Africa, to explore the region in which the earliest Homo sapiens may have lived. We ended at Pinnacle Point, a cave system on the Indian Ocean where paleoanthropologists believe human origins may have arisen.

Our experience took us throughout South Africa, exploring and studying — we were to our elbows with the best and brightest in our field, working on the most significant anthropological puzzles. We searched, questioned, and engaged in our own research projects to better understand exactly where we come from as a species.

After finding the Australopithecus sediba fossil, Kathy Li ’17 felt amazed.

“Although our contribution was small, to me personally it was huge,” she told me. “It made it real. This sort of experience is once in a lifetime.”

The fossilized pelvis we found gives us a small window into the intertwining connectivity of humanity. Paleoanthropology has the power to bring us back down to earth and realize our insignificance as a species in the great history of earth — and life upon it.

With each fossil that we find, we can better understand our evolution as a species, highlighting the similarities among us. We are all human and are only a part of a long lineage of hominids that came before us.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2017

THE DARTMOUTH OPINION

PAGE 7

STAFF COLUMNIST BEN SZUHAJ ’19

STAFF COLUMNIST STEVEN CHUN ’19

In Pursuit of Truth

To Burn a Flag

Defend the truth, however you can, in the face of a lying administration.

Discussion is good, but attacking another’s dearest beliefs can cause harm.

While it is difficult to gauge accurately the administration only further the divides between size of inauguration crowds — the National Park Americans. For every one person who can listen Service has not conducted a formal head count to his talking heads spewing lies about inaugural of crowds gathered at the National Mall since attendance and say, “Yes, clearly that is a lie,” 1995 — the aerial photos published by National there is another person who will believe the lie Public Radio show a startling difference between simply because Trump and his ilk said it. the turnout for former President Barack Obama’s Trump, a man who has sought his whole life 2009 inauguration and President Donald Trump’s to turn his name into a brand, has succeeded in inauguration last Friday. For a man who prides branding the most valuable and elusive of things: himself on drawing large crowds, this comparison the truth. “Trump Truth,” one could call it, is probably did not sit well with something which a sizable Trump. In fact, the NPS “For every bit of selfportion of the population was ordered by the White will buy into, no matter how congratulatory pomp House to stop tweeting poor the quality. For every on Friday after sharing ...in Trump’s inaugural one person who remains the photos comparing the address, I do agree indefatigable in the face crowd at Obama’s 2009 of nonsense, and for every inauguration with the with one idea ... we, one person who buys into obviously smaller one at the people, are the “Trump Truth,” there is a Trump’s. third person, a very regular bedrock of American The NPS Twitter person, who is simply worn account was reactivated democracy.” down by this constant battle Saturday. Their first tweet to discern the truth. These back: “We regret the people will recede from the mistaken RTs from our account yesterday and political process, become wary of all news as look forward to continuing to share the beauty being “fake,” and, by doing so, aid Trump. and history of our parks with you.”

What Trump seeks is power, unquestioned White House press secretary Sean Spicer and unable to do wrong, and he is pursing such went on record Saturday, claiming that the crowd power using the same playbook used by other at the 2017 Presidential inauguration “was the authoritarian regimes, including his friends in largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, Moscow. The point of his lying is not to convince period.” When pressed about the obvious lie the majority of Americans of his “alternative

by NBC’s Chuck Todd, Trump’s counselor facts.” Rather, it is to wear them out, to cause Kellyanne Conway argued that Spicer had them to lose contact with the democratic process presented “alternative facts,” and that drawing and by doing so, to consolidate his power. into question the validity of these “alternative But hear this: we will not give up. For every facts” was yet another example of unfair treatment bit of self-congratulatory pomp and circumstance of the president by the mainstream media. in Trump’s inaugural address, I do agree with It is not an example of unfair treatment. The one idea that he mentioned: we, the people, journalist’s role is to seek the truth, and by doing are the bedrock of American democracy. The so, to question the powers that be. The fact that media is not without its flaws. I do not seek to Trump would so actively and overtly choose defend journalism from the ivory tower of my to attack journalistic institutions — he claims liberal education, nor do I seek to defend how he is engaged in a “war” with the press — and hyperaware we are of political correctness in our shamelessly lie to the American public is deeply speech. I believe that extremism, in all forms, is troubling for a number of reasons. bad. I believe that in this extraordinary age of The terms “gaslighting” has been much- electronic connectivity we are more isolated than discussed as of late. It is a phenomenon commonly ever, that we are isolated by self-selection and that observed in abusive relationships, one in which the our isolation is fundamentally dangerous. abuser attempts to undermine the abused’s belief I also believe in the resilience and curiosity in the truth. For example, an abusive husband of the human spirit. I believe that history will may rearrange the furniture in a house while his look back on the opening days of the Trump wife is at work and then convince her that she administration, and it will judge its members with rearranged it the night before. The effect of this historical bias, yes, but it will judge them with a is to loosen the receiver’s grip on reality. This is degree of insight afforded only by the passage exactly what Trump is doing by claiming that of time. The textbooks will read: “The size of obvious, flagrant falsehoods are actually true — the crowd present at the 2017 inauguration was that they are “alternative facts” — and that the difficult to determine, but historians estimate it truth as we might have first seen it is a deception, was far below that of the 2009 inauguration.” or “fake news.”

The point was belabored by the Trump The danger in this pattern of manipulation Administration, an act which foreshadowed the cannot be overstated: if we cannot trust our own dissemination of falsehood over the next four eyes, then we will start to see the world through years. However, the American people did not somebody else’s. In this case, that means through allow a distrust in government to fatigue their the carefully constructed eyes of the Trump desire for truth. Leading scholars of the Women’s administration, a heady, pompous gaze, which March on Washington believe that the millions views the world from the balcony of egotism, of Americans who came together on the day through the narrowing binoculars of nationalism following the inauguration foreshadowed a trend and fear. in their own right: the unequivocally American Although Trump supposedly hopes to unify tradition of peaceful protest in pursuit of equality the nation, the unabashed untruths of his and truth.

Any discussion of flag burning must start soldiers, friends returning from overseas, who from one critical point: it is constitutionally considered flag burning a desecration of the protected as free speech per the Supreme lives lost in the act of service. That resonated Court’s decision in United States v. Eichman. with me. How could it not? You can oppose a Last Friday, Timothy Messen ’18 gathered a war, you can oppose violence, but you cannot group of people of different views together for deny loss and sorrow. That is not political; it is a discussion on flag burning — and I walked human. While politically valid, burning a flag away from the Green that day, more confident in front of people for whom it means so much in human goodness and able to rethink the felt cruel. way we treat those with whom we disagree.

In more far-left circles, I’ve heard the very If you somehow missed the large, act of possessing conservative beliefs decried eclectic gathering of as causing tangible harm sign-wielding students, or being an existential “In more far-left leather-clad members threat to Americans. That of a New Hampshire circles, I’ve heard the may be somewhat valid for ch a p t e r o f Ro l l i n g very act of possessing those on the far right such Thunder and curious as anti-Semites and white onlookers, then here’s conservative beliefs supremacists, especially the skinny: a Dartmouth decried as causing when a subsection of those student wanted to meet suggest policies that tangible harm or being beliefs to discuss burning a target certain groups. But U.S. flag as a response an existential threat to if that is valid, then it seems to President Donald Americans.” equally valid that burning Trump’s comments on a flag is causing real harm the matter. Word got to those for whom the out to a group of veterans who organized a American flag is a fundamental symbol of counter-demonstration. What happened was their lives and service, especially when it is a generally polite, respectful and ultimately symbolic of the loss of a friend. valuable encounter between the two polar Both actions ­­— being a conservative and caps of the political spectrum. burning a flag ­— are entirely legal. What Flag burning is provocatively theatrical — matters is that in both cases, the other side but that label doesn’t diminish its significance sees that action as an attack on the things or power. In the same way that the dissident most fundamental to their lives. It may be punk group Pussy Riot uses loud, unsanctioned their religion, their service, their access to musical performances to fight against contraception, their Second Amendment authoritarianism, flag burning uses shock, rights or their economic well-being. Whenever awe and insult to make political statements. the crucial aspects of our lives seem threatened, They’re both meant to draw the attention and we are driven not to reasoned discussion ire of their opponents. This kind of political and debate, but to desperate action. This showmanship has become a common tool: desperation seems to characterize the each side has its provocateurs who revel in harshness with which both conservatives and angering those across the aisle. Bill Maher loves liberals attack that which the other side holds to provoke with raunchy and sarcastic rhetoric. dearest.

Milo Yiannopoulos’s entire career is built on I’m not trying to address the politics behind reminding people that the First Amendment this all, but rather the way we treat the other protects his absurd free speech fundamentalist side. If you disagree with this article because theater. In many ways, it’s low-grade politics, of a political difference, then you’re not seeing but it rouses support and riles enemies. the point. As this election has brought out the At first, my thoughts on flag burning were far right and far left, we’ve increasingly gone black and white. It’s totally legal, and I find for the jugular. Our political discourse is crafted Trump abhorrent. Even better, the student not to be the most convincing but to cause the wanted to have a discussion — not just to most harm to the other side. We’ve become make a statement. I’m not usually one for convinced that because our own political beliefs extremes, but this seemed different. But as are the right ones, vicious or ad hominem events unfolded, the act took on a different attacks are justified. form. Those who had gathered to counter- The flag burning event on the Green protest were largely respectful — although was beautiful. It was the total opposite of they occasionally tried to drown out Messen. the political discourse I’ve just described.

After Messen spoke, a man from the anti- Once each side started interacting with each flag burning counter-demonstrators’ group other, both seemed far more interested in responded with his own speech. Both talked conversation than in scoring political points. to many on both sides of the protest thereafter. I’m afraid that this is much harder to do in No flag was burned, and the point had been echo chambers or online. But if there’s a lesson made. But it was the conversations I heard here, it’s that taking the other side’s feelings into and had afterward that made me rethink flag account sometimes makes for a better political burning. outcome. Far-left college students horrified I heard a man express his frustration at the by Trump aren’t “safe-space snowflakes” and paradox that he fought to protect an act of free conservatives horrified by a flag burning aren’t speech that he so strongly opposes. I spoke to racist or misogynistic or ignorant. We’re all a man whose strongest connection to the flag trying to protect the things that matter to us. was the image of it draped over the coffins of We should remember that.

THE DARTMOUTH ARTS

PAGE 8

THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2017

Hopkins Center offers many ways for student arts involvement

Entry-level projects include in Alumni Hall, a venue specifically Dartmouth students recently used c rafting useful objec ts like chosen to facilitate and encourage a children’s song to explain how The Dartmouth bookshelves, small tables, bowls audience participation. parts are also components of a larger and cutting boards, but students The Dartmouth College Gospel entity.

So you’re a NARP — that is, and faculty have also made chests Choir, directed by Walt Cunningham, The START program is a great a Non-Artistic Regular Person — for drawers, chairs and even musical is another group that is dedicated way to get off campus, meet kids and but you want to get involved with instruments, Elder said. to helping beginners grow and learn about communication in the artsy things. Whether it’s because However, for the craft-averse develop their musical affinity. The real world, Gaetz said. Volunteers you’re searching for a creative outlet among us, performance may be group does not require auditions. are not exclusively arts majors. In for school-related stress, trying a more welcoming route than the According to Bryan Robinson ’16, the past, they have included preto become a more well-rounded workshops. Though the audition administrative assistant of the gospel med students, psychology majors individual or looking to post an process for performing groups choir, administrators will guide even and students interested in going into artsy Instagram picture to woo your on campus can feel those students who have never sung education, Gaetz noted. campus crush (a most competitive and exclusive, in a group before and do not know Students can take these skills to noble cause), Dartmouth there are two musical their voice ranges. the next level through the Hop’s p r ov i d e s p l e n t y o f “It’s a rare opportunity for ensembles on Dartmouth’s Robinson added that the gospel senior internships program. Brandea opportunity for you to people to learn woodworking. campus that are noted choir is inclusive of students of all Turner, senior events manager and accomplish your goal. for their dedication to religions. Though Cunningham internships coordinator, said that Unfortunately, many of Most colleges don’t have providing a lear ning is Christian, he usually refers to juniors and seniors interested in the these great opportunities woodshops where any students for students a general “higher power” when arts can commit to an internship that remain relatively unknown can go in and work, and once you experience of all skill levels, especially speaking to students instead of lasts for the fall, winter and spring to the undergraduate beginners. a particular deity. Robinson said of one academic year. student body. No fear: both leave here, it’s really hard to find

According to that students need only show a Danielle Moragne ’17, who was NARPs and the already a woodshop unless you make Hafiz Shabazz, the director willingness to come to rehearsals previously a START volunteer, more artistically-inclined of the World Music and a dedication to learning about is now an intern for START. She among us can find an your own because of liability Percussion Ensemble, music. said that her combined experiences outlet among the many issues.” the ensemble welcomes For students who are interested in gave her skills required for a variety creative options that do students who have not the arts but might not necessarily want of different kinds of jobs, as well not necessarily require played a percussion to learn a craft or music performance as a better understanding of how proficiency in an artistic -GREG ELDER, WOODSHOP DIRECTOR instrument before. Both skills, volunteer and professional administration works in the real skill offered by the Hopkins Shabazz and intermediate opportunities that develop useful world.

Center for the Arts.

If students are looking for an making; workers excel in teaching students in the ensemble give skills like communication and Turner specified that jobs and opportunity to create art they beginners, and each project usually instruction to new members, and administration are also available internships at the Hop are not only for students interested in a can take home with them while costs between $3 and $15 to make. even students who do not know how through the Hopkins Center. forming new connections in the “It’s a place for students to to read music are compatible with The Students Teaching in the career in the arts. Still, for those who are interested design process, they can descend creatively regenerate and exercise the group. in a slightly to the basement of the Hop, which parts of their brains that don’t S h a b a z z “[The jewelry workshop is] a place for less intensive houses the jewelry and woodworking n e c e s s a r i l y g e t [ exe rc i s e ] , ” c h a n g e d students to creatively regenerate and experience but still workshops. For those interested in Georgantes said. “Students [can] t h e g r o u p ’s want to be involved working with clay, they can walk exercise their creative side without n a m e f r o m exercise parts of their brains that don’t or drive to the Davidson Ceramics worrying about the constraints of “West African necessarily get [exercise] ... without worrying with the arts, Drumming there are several Studio, which is located across the grades.” jobs available, Ledyard Bridge toward Norwich, The woodworking workshop Ensemble” to about the constraint of grades.” including that Vermont. Although some students is also a great place for students the World Music of a box office who visit these workshops may to learn new skills and work with P e r c u s s i o n -JEFF GEORGANTES, JEWELRY STUDIO DIRECTOR attendant, a frequently develop strong creative materials and machinery they may Ensemble to student stage skill sets, these workshops are not be familiar with. Though safety “ ex p a n d t h e manager and an especially geared toward people who concerns often deter students from consciousness have little to no experience. Each woodwork, director Greg Elder of the ensemble,” opening it up to Arts Program is an opportunity usher. None of these jobs require workshop charges a termly fee of reports that at least two professional non-African people as well as people for students to work with children. prior experience. $12, with nominal additional costs instructors are always on hand who were interested in playing world START volunteers work with nearby “If you’re good at talking to to watch and guide students. music not only from Africa. The elementary and middle schools people or have customer service for materials.

Jennifer Swanson, director of the Additionally, before students are able group plays music from different by planning and executing arts background and like interacting with ceramics workshop, recommends to use power tools, they are required continents, and Shabazz even integration activities. According people, that transforms into skills you handbuilding — working without a to take a safety orientation class. The encourages students to suggest music to START volunteer program need as an usher,” Turner said. pottery wheel — as a starting activity last class this term will be held on linked to their ethnic or national coordinator Mary Gaetz, volunteers For the NARP, for students who origin. do not have to be studying or are already artistic and for students for beginners. Molding a handbuilt Tuesday, Feb. 7. piece can take as little as one hour “We really do like having The ensemble uses instruments of proficient in an art — any student who simply want to develop skills before glazing, and budding potters beginners here,” Elder said. “It’s a all kinds, depending on the program. who simply likes a certain art form or required in the professional world, are free to leave an unfinished piece at rare opportunity for people to learn Many beginners start with conga is interested in working with children the Hop is brimming with untapped the workshop to be finished at a later woodworking. Most colleges don’t drums, which originated in Cuba. can apply to be a part of the program. potential for engaging students in the time. Those who feel ambitious are have woodshops where any students Students also receive the chance to Currently, START volunteers are arts — it’s simply a matter of taking allowed to practice wheel throwing, can go in and work, and once you show off their new percussion skills in working in a fifth grade classroom, advantage of its numerous programs a slightly more difficult technique, leave here, it’s really hard to find a several performances throughout the doing music, theater and visual and facilities, learning to perform woodshop unless you make your own year. This winter, the performance arts projects centered around with one of its student ensembles after taking two lessons. schedule features a “dance party” the scientific concept of matter. or work at the Center.

To make the workshop more because of liability issues.”

By BETTY KIM

accessible to students of all levels, there is always at least one professional ceramics instructor and several student workers available to help anyone who is struggling, Swanson said. Besides the $12 termly fee, a four-pound block of clay can be purchased for $5.

According to Jeff Georgantes, the director of the jewelry workshop, the studio is a great place for all students to learn about jewelry