VOL. CLXXIII NO.58
AM RAIN
TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2016
HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE
Assembly candidates discuss platforms
I ATE MY HOMEWORK
HIGH 48 LOW 30
BY SAMANTHA STERN The Dartmouth Staff
ELIZA MCDONOUGH/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
ARTS
FILM REVIEW: ‘THE REVENANT’ PAGE 8
CARNEY AND THE CARNIVORE HEADLINE FNR PAGE 7
OPINION
BACH: O’ER THE LAND OF THE FREE PAGE 4
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Eight students announced their candidacy for 2016 Student Assembly president early Saturday afternoon. Joby Bernstein ’17, Sean Cann ’17, Aaron Cheese ’18, Nick Harrington ’17, Ben Packer ’17 and Shiv Sethi ’17 are vying for the role in an unusually crowded field. Four candidates are seeking the office of vice president, all as running mates of one of the presidential candidates. Nathan Busam ’17, Sally Portman ’17, Menaka Reddy ’18 and Timo Vaimann ’17 are campaigning with Cann,
Baker-Berry Library hosted the third annual “Edible Book Festival” yesterday in Berry Library Main Street.
SEE ASSEMBLY PAGE 2
Palaeopitus Senior Society hosts ‘Reflections on Race’
BY SAVANNAH MAHER The Dartmouth
Identity, campus racism and Dartmouth’s legacy of slavery were all up for discussion at “Reflections on Race,” a student panel and dinner discussion held Monday night in Dartmouth Hall. The event, organized by Palaeopitus Senior Society and a number of cosponsoring academic departments and student groups, was attended by over 100 students. Charlotte Kamai ’16, a Palaeopitus
moderator and one of six members who took part in planning the event, described the goal of the night as giving students who do not often have conversations about race and inclusivity a space for dialogue and learning and to allow students who are already engaged with these issues to develop allyship with one another. “Our hope is that students will be able to connect with some of the stories they hear,” Kamai said. “Or recognize that even if they haven’t noticed these issues present at Dartmouth, they are a very
real part of some students’ experiences.” The event consisted of a panel, which featured six students and lasted about an hour and 20 minutes, followed by smallgroup, facilitated breakout discussions. The speakers shared personal experiences dealing with race and racism at Dartmouth and beyond. Some focused on leadership within their communities, while others discussed topics like identity construction and cultural assimilation. Many panelists shared stories of racist incidents they had experienced or witnessed on campus.
A female member of the Class of 2017 on the panel, who requested anonymity due to sensitivity of the subject, reflected on how she attempted to fit into what she called the “Dartmouth mold” during her early years at the College, but has since abandoned that pursuit. “The mold of the typical Dartmouth student is informed by whiteness, privilege and power,” she said. She added that, given the college’s legacy of enslaving black Americans and SEE PANEL PAGE 3
Science Day exposes high school students to science
By DANIEL KIM
The Dartmouth Staff
Local middle and high school students isolated DNA from strawberries, explored brain cells and made clouds inside cups this past Saturday at the fourth annual Science Day. Approximately 120 local students and close to 80 graduate student volunteers attended the event. Graduate students from various science departments volunteered at 18 stations across campus, exposing students to different scientific fields. Biochemistry graduate student and Science Day organizer Jessica
DeSimone developed her passion for Science Day after volunteering in previous years. The event’s main goal was to get kids excited about science, and to show them what a research career entails. “We introduce them to a higher level of science education they can pursue,” she said. “For older kids, this is a career development opportunity, where students can ask graduate students how to prepare for and what to expect as a scientist.” Quantitative biomedical science student Lia Harrington Gr ’19 volunteered at the “DNA You Can Eat” station, where students made DNA
out of jelly. “I think it’s really important that children discover their interest in science and make it accessible during their formative years,” she said. “I think Science Day is a great way to do that — I mean, who doesn’t like edible DNA?” Meanwhile, at the microbial discovery box station, students learned how microorganisms are present in things like smelly socks and cheese. Graduate student Shan Chen, a volunteer at the station, noted that while he does not expect Science Day to be a “huge experience” for the students, he hopes that the event
can give them a “spark of interest.” First-year molecular cellular biology student Chaya Patel, who volunteered at the strawberry DNA station, said that events like Science Day help tackle stereotypes that drive students away from science. “Science is often not considered as cool as other professions like being a doctor or firefighter among children,” she said. “It was great to see one little girl jump up and shout about how cool the experiment was — science really is cool.” To ecology, evolution, ecosystems SEE SCIENCE PAGE 3
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
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DAILY DEBRIEFING According to new data published by the American Association of University Professors, the salaries of full-time college faculty members have recovered strongly since the 2008 recession, The Chronicle of Higher Education reports. The AAUP survey found that faculty members who had worked at their institutions for two or more years earned 9 percent more in the 2015-2016 academic year than in the 2007-2008 academic year. Despite this, the report also showed that the total number of full-time tenured positions has dropped by 26 percent over the past four decades, while the the number of tenure-track positions has dropped by 50 percent. Data in the report was gathered from over 1,000 colleges across the United States. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that last month’s ban of Yik Yak from campus by Illinois College has not stopped students from using the social media app. The app, which was blocked on the school’s wireless network, has been a source of controversy across college campuses due to its enabling of anonymous and malicious commentary. Students at Illinois College can still access Yik Yak through their cellular network data plans, however, and have continued to use the app to post several jabs at the administration’s attempt to ban its use. Princeton University’s Board of Trustees decided against renaming both the public policy school and the residential college that bear President Woodrow Wilson’s name, The Chronicle of Higher Education reports. The decision comes after several students protested the former president’s “racist legacy.” The trustees did approve initiatives to increase diversity and inclusion on campus, including the installation of an educational sign outside of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs that elaborates on its namesake’s history. -COMPILED BY PRIYA RAMAIAH
CORRECTIONS We welcome corrections. If you believe there is a factual error in a story, please email editor@thedartmouth.com. In the April 4 article, “Alumna Q&A: Writer and director Clara Aranovich ’07,”the article incorrectly identified Clara Aranovich ’07 mainly as an actress in the headline and the first paragraph. She, in fact, mainly works as a producer and director. It also did not say that her main role in “Yosemite” was as a lead producer, not as an actress.
TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2016
Seven candidates vye for president FROM ASSEMBLY PAGE 1
Harrington, Cheese and Bernstein, respectively. On Monday night, the Elections Planning and Advisory committee announced that Matt Zubrow ’17 and Kevin Brotman ’17, his vice presidential running mate, suspended their campaigns after being announced as candidates in EPAC’s Saturday announcement. Voters will pick the president and the vice president separately on April 16, so the electoral tickets are ceremonial and do not directly affect the election’s outcome. EPAC announced all other candiates running in the 2016 elections. Dillon Rich ’17 and Elisabeth Schricker ’17 are running to be the 2017 Class Council president, while Abena Frempong ’17 and Andrew Goldfarb ’17 are both seeking the 2017 Class Council vice presidency. Toryima Asom ’18 is running unopposed for the three-seat 2018 Class Council. Candidates for the 2019 Class Council are Hanting Guo ’19, Josephine Kalshoven ’19 and Danny Li ’19. Four students — Morgan Corley ’18 , Oliver Edelson ’18, Daniel Lee ’17 and Ian Whitney ’18— are seeking seats on
the Committee on Standards and the Organizational Adjudication Committee. All elections are conducted using a first-past-the-post system, in which the candidate who garners the most votes wins, regardless of whether he or she received a majority of votes. There will be no runoff elections or preferential voting. Students will be allowed to vote for more than one individual when voting for class council candidates or members of committees that have more than one seat. There are more candidates running for Assembly president this year than in recent years. Just two students — Frank Cunningham ’16 and Jake Gaba ’16 — ran for president last year. In both 2014 and 2013, four students competed for the position, while in 2012, there were six presidential candidates. Several presidential candidates expressed serious concerns about a perceived lack of transparency within the Assembly and said they hope to reform its structure. Cann, Harrington, Bernstein and Sethi are all campaigning to introduce measures of gauging student opinion on major Assembly initiatives and college life by using digital aids such as surveys, poll-
ing apps and the group’s existing website. Having served as its chief of staff last year, Harrington said he recognizes that the Assembly is neither democratic nor transparent enough to address any of these concerns. In its current structure, the Assembly president and vice president hold the power to appoint students to committees, Harrington said. In his position, Harrington observed that power was overly centralized. “[Students] are not given enough autonomy and agency to do the work they want to do in Student Assembly,” he said. “If we’re going to make Student Assembly work again, we need to restructure the way it is now.” Sethi proposed drafting a termly accountability document that will list all of the Assembly’s goals, timelines and means of achievement to help hold the Assembly accountable. This document would be available to all students and would help fix the disconnect between the student body and its government, he said. Harrington is proposing a “democratic, transparent and SEE ASSEMBLY PAGE 5
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2016
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Panelists share experiences with race Graduate students plan event, share passion FROM PANEL PAGE 1
its charter mission of evangelizing Native people, Dartmouth was not built for her. Several panelists discussed last fall’s Black Lives Matter protest, touching on both the events they believed necessitated it and the troubling nature of some campus backlash, which included racist comments and violent threats posted online. Kevin Bui ’17 recalled being “trashed” on anonymous forums like Yik Yak and called a “race traitor” by other Asian American students for supporting the Black Lives Matter movement by participating in the protest. Sarah Waltcher ’16, who worked with fellow Palaeopitus members to organize the event, said that planning for the event has been underway since last November, when news of the Black Lives Matter protest dominated campus discourse and national headlines. She noted that the delegation often discussed Dartmouth’s racial climate during the fall term and recognized the urgent need for greater community dialogue following the negative responses directed at student protestors. “A lot of us in Palaeopitus thought, why is there such a high barrier to listening at Dartmouth?” she said. Throughout winter term, mem-
bers of Palaeopitus met with individuals, student groups, college-run organizations, faculty and staff to discuss strategies for fostering meaningful and productive dialogue on race, diversity and inclusion. According to Waltcher, they took their time planning the event to avoid the superficiality that can sometimes characterize diversity initiatives. Sociology professor Janice McCabe, whose department co-sponsored last night’s event, said that the event was a good opportunity to hear directly from a range of students on their experiences. She found the moderated breakout discussions that took place after the panel particularly valuable, given the taboo nature of race as a conversation topic. “Hopefully students will be able to dig deeper in these discussions and use the opportunity to talk through their own experiences and reflect on what they’ve learned from others,” she said. McCabe, whose academic focus is in education sociology, noted that a large body of social science research demonstrates that students of color experience different and more significant barriers to achieving success in college, and that some of those barriers are present at Dartmouth. However, she emphasized that the experiences of students of color are diverse and varied.
After the event, Palaeopitus member Tyler Rivera ’16 said that turnout was higher than expected. Catherine Hastings ’17, who attended the event because she wanted to hear others’ perspectives on the campus racial climate, said that the night facilitated valuable dialogue and did a good job of acknowledging its own shortcomings. The event organizers said at several points that panelists were not “spokespeople” for any particular group of people, and could only speak to their own experiences. They also contextualized the event as one part of a larger movement for inclusivity. “In no way is this event isolated,” Rivera said. “People have been doing this work on campus for a long time, and we’re smack dab in the middle of some really important conversations.” Moving forward, the organizers hope that attendees will transfer their reactions to the panel discussion into more meaningful dialogue about race and inclusivity at Dartmouth. “We don’t want this to be an endpoint for students.” Kamai said. “We want this to be part of previous discussions and future discussions in the making on the topics of race and diversity and inclusivity, because the more dialogue we have about these issues, the more comfortable people are sharing their views and experiences.”
FROM SCIENCE PAGE 1
and society graduate students Ashley Lang Gr ’20 and Fiona Jevon Gr ’20, Science Day was an opportunity to practice explaining concepts in a clear and engaging way. “We need to be able to explain our research to all kinds of people, from kindergartners to very old adults,” Lang said. “Honestly, it’s hard to make soil sound interesting.” Jevon added that she was impressed by how many students were engaged and interested in what could be seen as a bland topic.
This year’s Science Day was the third one for Anda Brown, an eighth grader at Woodstock Middle School. She has always been interested in science, she said, and after watching the TV show “Bones,” she now dreams of being a forensics anthropologist. “I could connect what I learned from Science Day to what I’m studying at school,” she said. “Every year, I can understand more and more.” T he event was hosted by Dartmouth’s Graduate Women in Science and Engineering, with funding from the Graduate Student Council.
SEX, RACE AND TOURISM
ELIZA MCDONOUGH/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Erica Willams gave a talk on sex and tourism in El Salvador in the Rockfeller Center.
THE DARTMOUTH OPINION
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TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2016
STAFF COLUMNIST JINSUNG BACH ’17
GUEST COLUMNIST JAMES FAIR ‘18
O’er The Land of the Free
Earnest Engagement
American patriotism is nothing to be ashamed of.
I must admit to a sense of schadenfreude whenever I learn of foolish occurrences at other Ivy League colleges. It is devilishly fun for me to snicker at the misfortunes of our Ivy League peers, smugly satisfied that my school is, at least, not in their shoes. However, when such foolishness has far-reaching and dangerous implications, then that self-righteous snobbery transforms into genuine alarm. And then suddenly the smug superiority vanishes as I realize that the Dartmouth I love so much is vulnerable to the very same troubles. The misfortune in question happened at Harvard University. During an interview with Megyn Kelly on Fox News, Rachel Huebner, a Harvard student and staff writer for the Harvard Crimson, told an anecdote about a fellow student who wanted to put an American flag in his dorm. His roommate immediately stopped him, decrying the flag as a “political statement that he was unwilling to make.” This is a troubling tale. I have never considered American patriotism a source of shame or entertained the notion that I ought to be pressured to believe otherwise. Why should I? American pride does not turn me into some sneering imperialist. It does not make me respect other countries any less or dampen my curiosity to learn about them. Most importantly, my patriotism infringes on neither the rights nor the beliefs of others. Just as I am allowed my belief in American ideals, so, too, are others entitled to their own beliefs. Our perspectives may differ, but they also do not impinge on each other’s — nor do any of us have the right to force anyone else to believe differently. And so is the roommate’s hypocrisy in Huebner’s story exposed. Both friend and roommate are entitled to freedom of speech in whatever manner they choose. No one’s rights override anyone else’s, nor should anyone be asked to sacrifice their own freedoms to make way for another’s. Why, then, did the roommate ask the friend to do just that? If the friend is an American patriot and wishes to fly an American flag, then by all means he should be allowed to do so without repercussion. All of this has hit home particularly hard for this writer, whose own dorm is adorned with the American flag. I have always seen it as symbolic of this country’s commitments to the very personal
freedoms I have discussed. The adversities and challenges that come with such freedoms are welcome, because no price is too high for liberty. Sure, the United States may not be a perfect nation, but what country is? To me, the U.S. is unique and exceptional — yes, exceptional — in its championing of free expression and civil liberties. And more than anything else, it is my home. These are ideals to be embraced, not shunned. Another person being “unwilling” to make such a statement should not shame me into putting away my flag. It is uncouth at best, and unacceptable at worst, for anyone to deny my right to self-expression because they are “unwilling” to hold the same beliefs as I do. Students at Harvard apparently think otherwise. Typically, I would find this a cause for an eyeroll and a derisive snicker. Why take a Fox News interview so seriously? Something so silly couldn’t possibly happen here, could it? Given many recent events at Dartmouth, however, I can no longer be so sure. Ours is a school that has already allowed protests to divide our campus, praising such destructive behavior while demonizing a world that is, apparently, not very nice. Ours is a school at which a cardiac research fundraiser, “Phiesta,” was shut down because “offending even one member of the Dartmouth community was not worth the potential benefits.” And ours is a school at which cherished traditions continue to be trampled by a complacent student body, with no regard for what makes Dartmouth so unique among its Ivy League peers. Could a future Dartmouth be one at which opinion becomes taboo? Will it come to the point where every word I say must be so carefully engineered, so meticulously manufactured to hurt as few feelings as possible that I am afraid to speak at all? Could this Brave New Dartmouth espouse a future in which feelings are the only criteria that matter? Outlandish though the prospect may be, it seems less so in today’s context. As for me, my allegiance continues to stand with the same ideals upon which my country was built and the same ideals that Dartmouth should strive to uphold. The same ideals that allow the Stars and Stripes to fly freely in my room. And long may they fly, so long as American liberty remains alive.
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Rapprochement with Cuba is not only beneficial — it is necessary. In her March 30 column “Resprehensible rapprochement — but one that Congress should Rapprochement,” Sarah Perez ’17 wrote that not act on until exiled families receive compensaPresident Barack Obama’s historic visit to Cuba tion for property seized during nationalization came despite continued abuses by the Cuban after the revolutionaries triumphed in 1959. government and an overall United States policy Engaging now also best serves to restore of weakness and appeasement. She accurately credibility in Latin America writ large. Early in highlights the challenges facing Cuba’s more than Obama’s tenure, continued exclusion of Cuba 11 million people, including severe economic from the U.S.-led Organization of American stagnation, crumbling infrastructure and the ar- States provoked anti-American rhetoric in Latin rests of political protestors even as Obama arrived America and the creation of the Community of on the island. Perez voices an understandable Latin American and Caribbean States in 2011 frustration with the pace of meaningful change which excluded Canada and the U.S. As a result since December 2014, when the two nations first of such measures, the U.S. holds a severely diminmoved to normalize relations. However, concerns ished negotiating position — a fact that opponents over the visible progress of rapprochement today of rapprochement too often overlook. Perez also miss the long-term advantages that engagement indicates that engagement so far has not resulted provides in the post-Castro in “getting much in return.” era. “We can and should still This quickly brings to mind As part of Dartmouth’s favorite Cuban aphorism: push for an end to Cuba’s a“La first cohort of students to real política no se ve,” or, study abroad in Cuba, I criminalized dissent and “You can’t see the real polientirely share Perez’s skepA frustrating picture of single-party politics — tics.” ticism towards the Castro continued abuses and weak regime and am just as con- and now we’re in a better appeasement often hides cerned with “rewarding” position to do so.” signs of progress, especially the Castros. The world’s in a government not prone to last remaining Soviet-style Washington’s hawkish press. economy doesn’t exactly In the long term, Cuban impress, and I met the dissident Damas de Blanco citizens will now be able to look inwardly to that Perez references one Sunday morning before their own government to respond to grievances. watching police unceremoniously detain them for Engagement removes the Castro regime’s faprotesting outside Havana’s Santa Rita church. vorite scapegoat that even the most mundane Despite this reality, the Castro brothers will soon power outage occurs because of American ill follow the rest of the 20th century’s dictators will towards the island. In my experience, Cuban into the recesses of history. When they finally citizens today harbor no nefarious Communist do — when Raúl Castro, now 84, sips his last agenda focused on derailing the American way daiquiri — do we really want to still be in the of life, but rather show a genuine appreciation same position we were in at the end of George and curiosity for American culture, music and Bush’s administration, when all non-essential politics. Indeed, they even share many Americans’ communications between the U.S. and Cuba incredulity at the Donald Trump spectacle. While completely ceased? We can I agree with Perez that much and should still push for an “Towithholdpersuasion, of last week’s historical visit end to Cuba’s criminalized adopted a synthetic pagdissent and single-party advocacy and diplomacy eantry wholly underserved politics — and now we’re at this stage because for the dictators of the island, in a better position to do so. Cubans — 70 percent of Perez first notes Castro’s of the aging duo only whom were born after the failure to receive Obama at serves to aggrandize revolution — will move on the airport as a symbol of without the Castros. To withunwillingness to move for- their influence into a hold persuasion, advocacy ward. I, however, wouldn’t new era that’s not their and diplomacy at this stage read too much into this, because of the aging duo considering Argentina’s own.” only serves to aggrandize President Mauricio Macri their influence into a new also sent his foreign minister to welcome Obama era that’s not their own. following his visit to Cuba. More importantly, last Diplomacy, especially in the context of murky week’s exchange saw Castro address a free press Cuban politics, comes down to a frustrating for the first time ever. Repressive regimes fear process of give-and-take compromises. I’m afraid open dialogue, an active citizenry and widespread Perez mistakes the current lack of progress for internet access, but normalization — which the a weak long-term strategy, but it is within U.S. American people heavily favor — fosters all three. strategic interests to take this opportunity for In stark contrast, absolute disengagement both engagement after more than 50 years of brinklacks tact and contradicts existing U.S. policy manship. In the words of Mick Jagger, “You towards nations with equally nefarious human can’t always get what you want,” at least at the rights records, such as China and Saudi Arabia. outset. As The Rolling Stones, who were once Critics are likewise concerned that lifting the banned from the island, played in front of half a economic embargo follows naturally in a policy million Cubans last week, his next words seemed of engagement. On the contrary, the economic to capture the spirit of arduous diplomacy in embargo remains as powerful leverage for change this era of cautious optimism — “But if you try in this time of normalization. Indeed, lifting the sometimes, you just might find/You get what economic embargo should be the ultimate goal of you need.”
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2016
PAGE 5
Candidates express concern about lack of Assembly transparency FROM ASSEMBLY PAGE 2
representative process” whereby students in each of the six new housing communities will elect representatives to serve on Assembly committees. His platform also includes three basic components: facilitating student input in administrative decisions, bridging the gap between student groups and improving student life by addressing both sexual assault and mental health while ensuring access to safe, inclusive environments. Bernstein proposed limiting the Assembly’s spending on personal expenditures like clothing and dinners for its members. Instead, he would like to donate a portion of the group’s budget to Upper Valley charities that he feels are in greater need of the monetary resources than Dartmouth students, he said. Cheese identified a lack of collective action at the College. The student body is powerful as a whole and Cheese plans to reach out to those who are not typically involved with governance to capitalize on that power. Strengthening the relationship between students and the administration is another key tenet of most of the candidates’ platforms.
Sethi noted that some progress has been made in realizing the “Moving Dartmouth Forward” policy initiative, but that some students do not agree with administrative proposals such as the introduction of new housing communities. “I want to bridge this gap again, to make students and the administration work together and come up with solutions together rather than solutions being imposed on the students,” he said. Bernstein said that students at Dartmouth are in the upper echelon of those in the country and are smart enough to make their own decisions. As Assembly president, he would like to prevent the administration from overstepping its bounds to enforce “arbitrary rules” ranging from those informing how students register parties to their abilities to declare a major. “I hate the idea of promising to do something and coming short of that,” he said. Bernstein refrained from commenting on specific policy ideas, though he did mention that he would like to change the way the administration is dealing with Greek life on campus. Busam said the large number of administrators with overlapping
titles and positions can be confusing for students. “One of the challenges [Dartmouth faces] seems to be lack of transparency and awareness of what is going on,” he said. “We have all these deans, and I don’t know who does what. It seems like the person guiding the ship is so fragmented and [power] is distributed.” Other novel policies are candidate-specific. Cann noted that, “Instead of doing a bunch of lofty things, we want to focus on very simple, straightforward [and] achievable goals that will create actual change and will improve student life.” His objectives include producing a weekly events schedule, getting softer toilet paper in the bathrooms, standing desks in the library, covered bicycle racks to protect bikes from harsh weather outside and laundry hampers for the laundry rooms. Although Dartmouth provides an abundance of resources for students interested in finance and consulting, Sethi said there are not enough outlets available to students who want to pursue careers in areas like design, film media and software development. He said he
would like to encourage the formation of pre-professional clubs in these areas that will be advised by alumni in these industries. Cheese, the only member of the Class of 2018 running for student body president, said he felt a sense of urgency to run this year. Leading the Assembly earlier on in his Dartmouth career would give him time to implement policies and witness the impacts of his policies firsthand, he said. Cheese served on the Assembly’s public relations committee in the 2014-2015 academic year and is now on the 2018 Class Council. Although he declined to comment on specific initiatives, he said that he wants to promote transparency, liability and continuity within the Assembly. Specifically, he intends to expand the attention placed on sexual assault and mental health. Packer declined to comment on the specifics of his platform. While most campaigns are looking to appeal to the Dartmouth electorate in general — especially those dissatisfied with the Assembly — Sethi hopes to appeal particularly to international students. As an international student from New Delhi, Sethi said that inter-
national students have to navigate a completely different educational system at the College and do so without appropriate support. He wants to provide international students with a voice in the Assembly and implement programs that will make their time at Dartmouth easier. Campaigning began at midnight on Sunday, April 10. Two debates are scheduled to take place later this week. At 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, a debate on Greek issues will be held in Collis Common Ground, followed by a debate at 4:00 p.m. on Friday moderated by The Dartmouth managing editor Sara McGahan ’17. Voting will take place over a 24-hour period, beginning on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. All elections will take place online through a platform that will be emailed to students by EPAC. While they were running, Zubrow and Brotman campaigned under the slogan “Make Dartmouth Great Again” — a reference to the slogan of Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump’s campaign position — and focused on issues related to Greek life and student career support, among other topics.
KATE HERRINGTON/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Student Assembly candidates began campaigning on Sunday, with many literally taking to the streets and using chalk to promote their campaigns.
THE DARTMOUTH EVENTS
PAGE 6
TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2016
DARTMOUTHEVENTS TODAY All Day
“Daoist Ritual and Practice,” curated by professor Gil Raz, Berry Main Street, Baker-Berry Library
3:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Dartmouth Softball v. University of Massachusetts Lowell, Dartmouth Softball Park
3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Dartmouth Baseball v. University of Massachusetts Lowell, Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park
TOMORROW
8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
“Northern Lights Quilt Exhibition,” work from the Northern Lights Quilt Guild, 7 Lebanon Street, Suite 107
12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
“Vaughan Recital Series,” Fred Haas, Jason Ennis, Faulker Recital Hall, Hopkins Center
6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
“Nine to Ninety” (2014) film screening and discussion with producer Juli Vizza, Filene Auditorium RELEASE DATE– Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS 1 Gearshift letters 6 Where a baby develops 10 Largemouth fish 14 Pianist Chick with 22 Grammys 15 Sheltered, at sea 16 Johnson of “Laugh-In” 17 Banjo sound 18 Org. with many long missions 19 Whopper maker? 20 “Fine, don’t listen to me” 23 Old TV-top receiver 26 Calms 27 Lobster-steak combo 31 Prefix with -logue 32 “Airplane!” actor Robert 33 “We don’t know yet,” in a TV schedule 36 Corner-to-corner line: Abbr. 37 Accustom (to) 39 Timely blessing 40 Some MIT grads 41 Tabloid twosome 42 Lull in a cradle 43 Two-rope jumping 47 Texas landmark 51 Two-man Army helicopters 52 Nonverbal communication ... and what the starts of 20-, 27and 43-Across can be 56 Spirited horse 57 Like some dorms 58 PlugIns Scented Oil maker 62 Multigenerational tale 63 Sharpen 64 Haunted, say 65 Marked, as a ballot 66 Squeezed (out) 67 Ward off DOWN 1 Tipper’s 15: Abbr. 2 Use oars 3 Org. promoting hunter safety 4 Navigational hazard
5 Southern California’s __ Beach 6 Classified listing 7 Skin care brand with an Active Botanicals line 8 Middle: Pref. 9 Sweetheart 10 Lightweight wood 11 Ram in the sky 12 Like bread made into stuffing, perhaps 13 Feudal servants 21 What a keeper may keep 22 Two-legged zebras? 23 Remark to the audience 24 Film with nakedness 25 Financial dept. 28 Green digit? 29 Onetime EgyptSyria fed. 30 Sandwich bread 33 Place for a crown or cap 34 Lawn bowling game 35 Pharaohs’ crosses
37 Norah Jones’ “What Am __ You?” 38 Modern, in Munich 39 “Enter the Dragon” martial artist 41 Hollywood favorite 44 Praised 45 Waste watchers: Abbr. 46 Cloak’s partner
47 Put down 48 Seuss’ environmental advocate 49 Words of wisdom 50 “Oops, sorry” 53 Yearn (for) 54 Corner for breakfast 55 Trait carrier 59 Dadaist Jean 60 Yahtzee cube 61 Slender fish
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
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04/12/16
THE DARTMOUTH ARTS
TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2016
PAGE 7
Rhymefest visits campus to discuss ‘In My Father’s House’ By NALINI RAMANATHAN The Dartmouth Staff
Although predominantly known for his collaborations with Kanye West, Chicago-based rapper and songwriter Che “Rhymefest” Smith takes a different approach to rap than his former collaborator, focusing more on philanthropy, emotional intelligence and the value of family. Dartmouth students and community members experienced Smith’s approach when he visited the College for the Hopkins Center’s screening of the documentary film “In My Father’s House” (2015) this past Thursday. Smith is known for co-writing the Grammy award-winning song “Jesus Walks,” from Kanye West’s album “Yeezus,” and the Oscar and Golden Globe award-winning song “Glory,” from the film “Selma” (2014). “In My Father’s House,” produced by filmmakers Ricki Stern ’87 and Annie Sundberg ’90, depicts Smith’s reunion with his absent father and explores Smith’s progression as an individual emotionally, spiritually and philanthropically. Even after purchasing his father’s childhood home, Smith still felt a sense of incompleteness in his life. Raised by his grandparents and his mother, who had him at 15, he felt as if the house represented a connection that he lacked to his father’s legacy. Thus, at his mother’s encouragement, he began a documentary on his search for his father. In the process, he hoped to make his life more of “an open book.”
Los Angeles producer and friend Daniel Kellison took note of this search and contacted award-winning documentary duo Stern and Sundberg of BreakThru Films, known for their character-driven documentaries such as “Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work” (2010) and “Knuckleball!” (2012). Along with Smith, the two directors visited Dartmouth this past week. Stern led a master class in film and media studies professor Jim Brown’s narrative film class, “Directing for the Camera,” in which students watched clips from five of her and Sundberg’s films, including “In My Father’s House.” Stern discussed their approach to each scene, and answered student questions. Some of Stern’s films took a span of many years to complete, including a 13-year process for “The Trials of Darryl Hunt” (2006), a film on the wrongful conviction and exoneration of Darryl Hunt. Stern and Sundberg’s approach, Brown said, is rather traditional, following the vein of cinéma vérité, a technique in documentary filmmaking which aims to provide a more honest, unedited relationship between the camera and the subject. Stern described her main focus in filmmaking is creating a narrative that involves the viewer. “Very simplistically, if I sit there and I’m mesmerized on whatever it is, however it’s told, that’s what I look for,” Stern said. “It doesn’t always have to be artistically, stylistically the most creative.”
After studying English, theater for openness in a society which they and film at Dartmouth, and taking find often encourages emotional classes on religion, sociology and repression. psychology, Stern felt this exposure to This emotional repression is somedifferent fields helped her understand thing that Smith often works to fight the process of storytelling and human against in his work as both a politician development crucial to documentary (he ran for Chicago’s City Council filmmaking. It was her documentary in 2010) and a philanthropist. film class which helped her tie all of In his work at Donda’s House, a her interests together. non-profit arts group featured in the However, Sundberg, one of documentary that teaches creative Brown’s first students, took one of writing to young adults ages 14 to 24 his more advanced classes focused in at-risk communities in Chicago, on documentary filmmaking. Brown Smith encourages children to unpointed to derstand their Sundberg’s anger and gain evident un- “I was able to be open confidence. He derstanding and not feel like I was aims to foster of the value being judged. And a strong, supof collaboraportive envition in film- that’s the image that I ronment or making as a like at Dartmouth. It’s family, that college stumany children like people can express dent. g rowing up S t e r n ’ s themselves and group in poor areas daughter lack, as he felt together.” Kyra Guillehe did. min ’19, who This is interested -CHE “RHYMEFEST” SMITH idea of family, in film and he said, is the English as main focus of well, worked as an intern for the the documentary. He elaborated on documentary. She worked on tran- it during the “lunch and learn” that scription and media management he led at the Tucker Center, where and wrote the film’s opening music. he talked about his social activism The film itself is edited in a and his work as a rapper. scrapbook-like fashion, as an audi- “I like things that are family. And ence member noted in the discussion it felt like family. And so I was able to following the screening of the film in be open and not feel like I was being Loew Auditorium. This, Stern and judged. And that’s the image that I Sundberg explained, was meant to like at Dartmouth. It’s like people reflect Smith and his wife’s search can express themselves and group
together,” Smith said. In the discussion, Smith touched on the importance of using one’s talent as a “superpower” to create good. For himself, he said, this talent is creativity. He used this creativity, he said, to “rewrite his father back into his life,” as well to run for office, create a community and to create music to inspire good. In his rap music, Smith focuses more on social activism, exemplified by “Glory,” which celebrates the struggle and triumph of Civil Rights both in the 1960s and today. Dartmouth freestyle rap group DStyle opened for Smith’s Friday concert with a series of freestyle rap games typical of many of their performances. Although the group has a different style than Smith, DStyle member Latika Sridhar ’16 said it was an honor to perform with him, and admired the deep, often politically minded thought Smith puts into his work. Sridhar also admires the artistic side of Smith’s work, especially the way he originally integrated the music with the rap. “Coming at it from a more musical perspective, during the show, I really liked how he alternated lines with [the musicians],” she said. Smith performed with several Dartmouth musicians and talked to members of the audience individually after the show. Smith said that he really enjoyed his time at Dartmouth, and plans to apply for a Montgomery Fellowship at the College in the future.
Erik van Hove introduces exhibit ‘The Craft of Art’ By SUSIE DAVIDSON The Dartmouth
Walking into Belgian artist Erik van Hove’s exhibit in the Hopkins Center’s Jaffe-Friede Gallery, one is taken aback by the intricacy of the large, mechanical looking piece that takes up most of the center of the gallery. A team of Moroccan craftsmen created the reproduction of the Mercedes V12 engine. The piece is a behemoth of wood, bone and engraved metal. Van Hove’s exhibit, titled “The Craft of Art,” explores beauty, craftsmanship, individuality and their place in a thoroughly industrialized consumer society. His project is part of the Artistin-Residence program, and van Hove serves as a liaison between the extremely skilled craftsman of Morocco and the contemporary art world. The engine and the smaller car parts which are displayed alongside it are beautiful, elegant in design and intricately rendered. They
serve as a testament to the noble dignity inherent to craftsmanship and vouch for the relevance and necessity of skilled hands in the face of technology and mass production, which pose a real threat to the workers commissioned by van Hove for this project. Van Hove is no stranger to learned technical skill — he has worked repairing churches and has been formally trained as a calligrapher. When asked about the distinction made between contemporary art and the skilled craftsmanship found in places like Morocco he simply said that, “the distinction does not exist in Morocco, you create something because there is a need for it.” He was inspired to recreate the engine while he was researching a unique car that claimed to be “100 percent Moroccan.” Upon further investigation he discovered that while the body of the car was indeed Moroccan-made, the engine was the famous Mercedes V12 engine, a well-known feat of
German engineering. He decided to purchase a Mercedes V12 engine of his own, hauling it to a Moroccan mechanic in the back of his mother’s minivan. He commissioned the mechanic to completely dissemble the engine and gave the myriad parts to several local craftsman to serve as models for their handiwork. Over the course of nine months the men completely recreated the individual components of the engine for reassembly. Van Hove also had the leather conveyer belt on the side of the engine embroidered by local Moroccan women. Since most female craftsman in Morocco are in the carpet business, and do not work in wood, he used embroidery to incorporate them into the project. They reassembled the handmade engine to prove that it all fit together like a real engine. The engine’s construction underscores the importance a functioning interior and the significance of tiny parts which seem inconsequential but which
are crucial to the overall wholeness of the system. The project gave the craftsman an opportunity and a challenge worthy of their advanced skill. The craftsmen primarily make ashtrays or lamps to sell to tourists even though they are capable of much more ambitious projects like this one, but even the lamps and ashtrays can be created more cheaply in an assembly line style of production. Next on van Hove’s agenda is the motorbike industry in Morocco. Motorbikes, according to him, play a role in signifying social status in Morocco and thus are in high demand. He employed more local friends and craftsman to make a functioning motorbike out of handmade non-plastic materials. The fully-functional motorbikes could provide jobs to the craftsmen and improve the daily life and transportation options of the customer. In his talk about the exhibit, van Hove also mentioned opportunities for craftsmanship in
the wheelchair industry. The backstory of the pieces is just as beautiful as the Germandesigned and Moroccan-rendered engine. “I’m an engineer, so the look of the pieces are really appealing to me,” Daniel Jung ’18, an exhibit attendee said. Jeffrey Fastow ’18 attended the exhibit after reading about van Hove in an art appreciation class. The pieces can be appreciated from both a mechanical perspective and a purely artistic perspective, and the opening reception attracted people for different reasons. The exhibit poses a question about what it means to practice conscientious consumption. Van Hove attempts to bring back craftsmanship for practical reasons that go beyond nostalgia. With this installation, van Hove actually proposes some proactive course of action in the face of a corporate existence, rather than merely lamenting it’s shortcomings.
THE DARTMOUTH ARTS
PAGE 8
TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2016
Grace and the Carnivore headline last Friday’s FNR By DIEGO MORENO The Dartmouth
Last Friday night, the lights in Sarner Underground illuminated the stage with mood-setting hues as Grace Carney ’17, member of the Rockapellas and winner of Dartmouth Idol 2016, took the stage along with her band Grace and the Carnivore to headline a Friday Night Rock show that featured a trio of Boston-based alternative bands. FNR, a student run organization that works to bring alternative music acts to campus, have welcomed notable past performers such as Danny Brown, Titus Andronicus, The World Is a Beautiful Place and I’m No Longer Afraid to Die, Of Montreal, The Mountain Goats and The Front Bottoms. Persistence finally paid off for Carney, who said she had been working with FNR since her freshman fall to play a show at Sarner. “It’s been a long journey with FNR,” she joked. The show turned out to be a homecoming of sorts for Du Vide and Horse Jumper of Love, the two bands that opened for Grace and the Carnivore. All three of the bands know each other well and admire each other’s work. “Favorite Boston bands, the two of them are so good,” John Carney of Grace and the Carnivore said in praise
of his fellow performers. The bands also often collaborate with each other by playing shows together in Boston and borrowing band members from each other to round out their lineups. The opening band, Du Vide, composed of band members Harrison Smith, Alex Fatato and Thatcher May greeted the early crowd to a show of self described “reverb indie rock,” playing songs off of their EP “Clutter.” The experimental use of reverb and raw vocals made the band stand out as an exceptional opening act. Horse Jumper of Love, a regular in the top ranks of the Boston house show scene, played next, entertaining a larger group with their self described “slow rock” sound. Horse Jumper of Love’s mix of soft, washed out vocals along with lugubrious strumming and lyrics that can only be described as ingeniously visceral earned the band a 5.9 Pitchfork rating on their debut, selftitled album as well as an enthusiastic response from the FNR crowd. Grace and the Carnivore took the stage last and treated the packed crowd to an outstanding show. An empty keg, a floodlight that painted the stage and crowd blue and powerful vocals accompanied by the jazz-pop-rock sound of Grace and the Carnivore was enough to work the crowd into
a frenzy with many students dancing and some students even singing along to the songs. Emily Golitzin ’18, a member of the Rockapellas, commented on the special opportunity to see a friend perform. “I was so excited to hear her play. Her band’s new album came out last year, but I hadn’t gotten the chance to hear them live until Friday,” Golitzin said. Although Golitzin has performed alongside Carney countless times in Rockapellas shows, she remarked that, “It’s nearly impossible to ascertain someone’s musical personality when you’re just imitating instrument sounds for six hours a week.” FNR has been working since 2004 to make up for the lack of live music in Hanover by bringing their own shows to campus. Based on Friday’s high attendance, it seems that people crave these sorts of shows. Vanny Nguyen ’17 who attended the show noted that the live performance creates a new kind of energy on campus. “FNR is great because it brings night life to campus, live music is a great way to end the week and start the weekend,” Nguyen said. Du Vide is set to tour in May with Sports Coach. The band compiled selected demos into an EP titled “Clutter” available to stream on Bandcamp.
com. Horse Jumper of Love is playing next in Shea Stadium BK on May 14, and their debut self-titled album is also available on Bandcamp.com. Grace and the Carnivore is working on a new collection of songs, and they
hope to tour after they complete this work. Their record, “Look at Me,” is available on Bandcamp.com. FNR returns this Friday with a battle of the bands. Doors open at 9 p.m. and the show starts at 9:30 p.m.
COURTESY OF GRACE CARNEY
Grace and the Carnivore played alongside two other bands at Friday’s FNR.
‘The Revenant’ (2015) cannot bear its own weight By ANDREW KINGSLEY The Dartmouth Staff
With Leo officially in the Oscar record books, we can all rest easy. But it took “The Revenant” (2015), a film plagued with budgetary problems, threats of hypothermia, cast injuries and a fired producer to get him there. Alejandro González Iñárritu has a history of torturous films (“Biutiful” (2010) and “Birdman” (2014)) that study the processes of human will and endurance. His films are inflections of this central theme, and “The Revenant” applies his aesthetic to the 1820s American frontier, before Manifest Destiny was a national rallying cry and the road to expansion was paved in blood. The film opens on a team of fur trappers as they nearly escape a Native American raid, filmed in the long-take ballet style of cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki. The
trappers must then carry what’s left of their cargo on their backs through the unforgiving wilderness. After a grizzly bear mauls a lone Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) and fellow trapper John Fitzgerald (a scalped and garble-tongued Tom Hardy) murders Glass’ son, the team makes the difficult decision to abandon the near-dead Glass. In a time and place at which humanity was just another link in the food chain and survival of the fittest is dogma, the unscrupulously cunning Fitzgerald leaves him for dead. Like a frontier version of “Dawn of the Dead” (2004) Glass drags his carcass out of his would-be grave and pursues Fitzgerald for the rest of the film with machine-like ferocity, fueled by a sense of cosmic retribution. Having suffered the destruction of his body and his spirit, Glass exists in the abyss, and plans on dragging Fitzgerald down with him.
A personified primal scream, Glass devours buffalo liver, sleeps inside a horse carcass, survives a vertiginous freefall, patches gashes with gunpowder and fire and, of course, wrestles and kills a mother grizzly. DiCaprio distills Glass’s complexities into his face, with pain expressed only as a palimpsest beneath his icy mien. Here, Iñárritu captures the central beauty of cinema: the face is a frontier we will never tire of exploring. However, the narrative drive becomes mere one-upmanship, as Iñárritu must formulate increasingly shocking conceits for Glass to endure like a frustrated Jigsaw toying with an indestructible captive. The idiom mirrors this year’s other 19th century bloodbath, “The Hateful Eight” (2015), with both films reveling in their tortures. In this Jobian epic, only the hanging of Glass’ Pawnee brother affects, where human nature challenges Mother
Nature’s own senselessness. Glass becomes a reactionist, a receptacle for nature’s brutality, which leaves his characterization remarkably barren. Besides the fairly hackneyed flashbacks and hallucinations of his deceased wife, Glass has no texture; he lacks an objective correlative since his extreme emotions are underdeveloped and left unsupported by the narrative. Instead, Iñárritu and Lubezki spotlight nature as the central star with interspersed images somewhere between National Geographic and Terrence Malick. These flourishes of artistic sublimity similarly tire after overuse, and their grandeur slowly devolves into grandiosity with the spirituality of a turgid Instagram account. While their postcard beauty provides respite from Glass’ Herculean trials, they feel manufactured, preprogrammed for awe, exploiting nature’s architecture
to induce a form of metaphysical wonderment. The visual sophistication thus borders on sophism, as Lubezki’s long-take aesthetic and beatific frames fail to generate a primal, visceral communion with nature. Ultimately, the epic scope of the film’s narrative daunts the denouement between Glass and Fitzgerald. After battling a grizzly bear, Native Americans, a suicidal fall and threat of hypothermia, how can Fitzgerald compete? Perhaps the film began too powerfully and failed to sustain its explosive start, or relied too heavily on its imagery and shock value to generate the complexities of Iñárritu former works. When the film strove for shock and awe, I often felt boredom. This is how Glass’s world ends: not with a bang, but a whimper. Rating: 7/10