VOL. CLXXII NO. 48
MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015
HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE
AD’ssuspension extendedfollowing brandingallegations
SNOW TO RAIN HIGH 49 LOW 29
By PARKER RICHARDS The Dartmouth Staff
ANNA DAVIES/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF
SPORTS
CALDWELL LEADS SKIING TO SIXTH PAGE SW3
OPINION
SIMINERI: RACISM AND MASCOTS PAGE 4
ARTS
SPRING BRINGS VARIETY OF ART EVENTS PAGE 8
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The College extended its suspension of Alpha Delta fraternity last week after allegations arose that members of the fraternity branded new members in the fall of 2014. AD responded in a statement from attorney George Ostler that acknowledged that branding had occurred but claimed that it represented “self-expression,” was limited to a small group of members, not the brotherhood as a whole and was neither a requirement for new or continued membership, nor did the decision to be branded affect a member’s standing in the organization. SEE AD PAGE 2
Alpha Delta fraternity allegedly branded new members in their house last fall.
Greek officers prepare as the hard alcohol ban begins
B y NOAH GOLDSTEIN The Dartmouth Staff
The “Moving Dartmouth Forward” hard alcohol ban, which prohibits any undergraduates, regardless of age, from possessing or consuming alcohol with a proof higher than 30 on campus, was officially implemented this past Saturday, and Greek leaders are planning for how the ban will affect their individual organizations and social events. Summer president for Sigma Phi
Epsilon fraternity Taylor Watson ’16 said that the policy makes sense to him. “The person most likely to fall off a roof is the person on the roof, and the people who are getting the most drunk are the ones drinking hard alcohol,” Watson said. “It is hard to deny that it is going to lower high-risk drinking.” Watson said that the Greek Leadership Council policy banning freshmen from attending Greek events serving alcohol during the six weeks of fall received similar criticism, namely that
high-risk drinking would be driven underground, yet campus saw a drop in Good Samaritan calls and alcoholrelated incidents involving freshmen. Watson said that his house will be compliant with the rule, due in part to the severity of the punishments. Prior to the ban some Greek houses auctioned off their hard alcohol, he said. Watson is also a co-chair of the “Moving Dartmouth Forward” social event and alcohol management working group.
Thayer School joins White House initiative
B y SEAN CONNOLLY
The Dartmouth Senior Staff
Thayer School of Engineering has joined 120 other U.S. engineering schools as part of a White House initiative to transform engineering higher education to tackle substantial social problems. Thayer Dean and professor of engineering Joseph Helble said that initiative aims to tackle a wide array of national problems connected to renewable energy, medicine, health care and the environment.
The initiative, which was announced last week at White House in a letter presented to President Barack Obama, aims to graduate approximately 20,000 “Grand Challenge Engineers” over the next 10 years. Helble said the initiative grew out of a series of meetings with other engineering schools’ deans with the explicit focus on what could be done differently in engineering education and how future engineering leaders SEE ENGINEERING PAGE 5
Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity social chair David Bassali ’16 said that the ban will change how his house operates in terms of events. SAE sent out a survey gauging responses to the ban among its members last term, Bassali said, and a majority were not opposed. Bassali said he was not sure how effective the policy would be at curbing student drinking, but he trusts administrators to implement the proper policies. SEE MDF PAGE 3
WELCOME BACK
JULIETTA GERVASE/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Undergraduate advisors prepare their residents for the spring term.
MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
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DAily debriefing Concord Coach Lines plans to build a new bus depot on Route 120 in Lebanon on a site previously occupied by Miller Chevrolet Cadillac, the Valley News reported. Concord Coach Lines is the parent company of the Dartmouth Coach, which connects Hanover to New York and Boston. The property was purchased for around $3.7 million, according to the Grafton County Registry of Deeds. Concord Coach President Harry Blunt said that the company is in discussion with the Lebanon planning department about what they must to do to meet town requirements for site developments. They expect to be open for business by the end of 2016. The New Hampshire House Finance Committee agreed on their budget proposal on Tuesday and the finalized plan is moving toward a full House vote next week, the Valley News reported. The proposal will likely face amendments during this vote. The House budget proposal increases fund spending by roughly $150 million, said House Financial Chairman Neal Kurk, R-Weare. This is around $240 million lower than the budget proposed by Governor Maggie Hassan, D-NH, because of the House’s prediction that the state would bring in less revenue than predicted by Hassan in the two-year budget cycle. At a press conference on Tuesday, Democratic lawmakers said that they do not support the proposal because it does not propose to fund Medicaid expansion, as well as reduce money for the state Department of Health and Human Services. Rep. Laurie Sanborn, R-Bedford, said she also did not support the bill, but she was replaced on the finance comittee before final votes were taken. Vermont’s unemployment rate has decreased to 3.9 percent in the month of February, marking the lowest it has been since May 2007, the VTDigger reported. The percentage of people actively seeking jobs but failing to find employment fell from 4.1 percent in January, according to the Vermont Department of Labor. The number of jobs available on non-farm payrolls decreased by 600 from January, and the number in the civilian workforce dropped by 300. Vermont was one of 26 states to report a pattern like this, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Annie Noonan, commissioner of the state Department of Labor, said that February was the ninth consecutive month that the unemployment rate has been better than it was before the 2007-09 recession. —Compiled by Katie Rafter
Corrections We welcome corrections. If you believe there is a factual error in a story, please email editor@thedartmouth.com.
Panhell, IFC condemn hazing FROM AD PAGE 1
The College’s hazing policy defines hazing as any act directed toward a student, or any coercion or intimidation of a student to perform or participate in an act likely to cause physical or psychological injury to any person, and if the act is a condition of initiation or admission into, continued membership in or association with any organization. The policy continues that this definition applies whether or not the act is considered “voluntary.” The investigation into the alleged violations committed by AD is ongoing, as are any disciplinary measures that are pending. College spokesperson Justin Anderson said in a statement that AD’s current suspension, which was set to expire in the spring, will be extended indefinitely pending the completion of disciplinary proceedings surrounding the branding allegations. The statement cited a three-year history of disciplinary violations, including hazing, serving alcohol to minors and hosting unregistered parties. Anderson declined to comment further. AD president Ryan Maguire ’16 and former president Mike Haughey ’15 did not respond to requests seeking comment, while other members of AD either did not respond to requests seeking comment or declined to comment. Director of Greek Letter Organizations and Societies Wes Schaub did not respond to a request seeking comment. AD’s current suspension began in September and was related to two incidents in the winter and spring of 2014. The fraternity hosted a party on March 1, 2014 where they served hard alcohol and did not check identification to ensure that students consuming alcohol were 21 or older. Later, on Aug. 3, a Safety and Security check found 70 individuals in AD when the fraternity had not informed the College that it would host and event of that size that night. In addition to the specific incidents that instigated AD’s suspension — and an alcohol ban originally set to continue through Sept. 2015 — the house had been on probation for nine of the 12 terms preceding the start of the suspension. In Ostler’s statement, provided to The Dartmouth by AD alumni advisor John Engelman ’68, AD acknowledged that some members had chosen to get body brands. The statement went on to describe the branding practice as a form of “self-expression,” which it likened to tattoos and body piercings, and stated that no violation of either New Hampshire law or College policy occurred. Both Ostler and Engelman declined to comment on the ongoing disciplinary proceedings. Hank Nuwer, a professor of journalism at Franklin College and a nationally recognized expert on collegiate hazing, said that branding is not an unusual haz-
ing technique. Such brands are usually nominally optional, Nuwer said. He noted that in most Greek organizations that use branding, peer pressure and a mob mentality convince most members to acquiesce. Nuwer added that, while researching a fraternity that utilized optional branding of the left side of the chest at Ball State University in 1989, a member noted that “No one has to get a brand, but no one in the organization is without a brand.” “It may be a form of expression, but it falls into all those kinds of hazing activities that involve peer pressure and a sort of group expectation and groupthink, in terms of the camaraderie that is expected and certain penalties for not going along with the group,” Nuwer said. Nuwer added that the derecognition of AD in response to the branding
“It may be a form of expression, but it falls into all those kinds of hazing activities that involve peer pressure and a sort of groupthink, in terms of the camaraderie that is expected and certain penalties for not going along with the group.” - HANK NUWER, PROFESSOR OF JOURNALISM AT FRANKLIN COLLEGE would “be the logical step” for Dartmouth to take. Susan Lipkins, a psychologist and expert on hazing who authored the book “Preventing Hazing: How Parents, Teachers and Coaches Can Stop the Violence, Harassment and Humiliation,” said that the best way to do away with potentially physically harmful hazing would be the wholesale elimination of Greek organizations in the United States. “When hazing occurs, there is no real choice,” she said. “The kids do not know exactly what is going to happen.” Lipkins said that Dartmouth’s administration should react strongly to the incident and attempt to alter the broader conversation about Greek organizations at American academic institutions. “If Dartmouth was brave enough and smart enough to do something rather radical and strong, it might actually start to penetrate the minds of the students at the College and of administrators at other colleges as well,” she said. Both Nuwer and Lipkins rejected the concept of branding as “self-
expression.” “It’s really a method that fraternities and sororities and other organizations have used in order to wiggle out of the true definition of hazing and try to make it appear as if it was a voluntary decision, which it is not,” Lipkins said. Nuwer noted that branding and tattoos for new members is not a behavior limited to collegiate fraternities. “It is just so indicative of cult-like groups to get these kind of things and to coerce others into getting it,” he said. Branding can also leave physical damage to the impacted skin, Nuwer said. He said that raised scar tissue can expand and skin can be harmed or change color. “Certain people with either sadistic tendencies or who are under the influence or foolish will try to get creative with how those brands are administered, and that’s an added danger with it,” he said. In separate statements provided by Inter-Fraternity Council president Chase Gilmore ’16, who is also a member of AD, and Panhellenic Council vice president for public relations Allison Chou ’17, both the IFC and Panhell condemned hazing and said that their organizations do not haze new members. The IFC’s statement noted that IFC and fraternity presidents unanimously voted to end pledge terms for new members in a fall 2014 vote. The Panhell statement said that hazing is antithetical to their values and undermines the community of the Greek system. Panhell president Jordyn Turner ’16 said that she was “disappointed” by the allegations of hazing. “Regardless of the fraternity name, it is disappointing to hear about hazing in general,” she said. Turner also reaffirmed Panhell’s commitment not to haze its new members. “We don’t tolerate hazing,” she said. “We do not haze, and that’s something we do not want to be associated with as an organization.” Other Greek organizations have also suffered suspension or probation in recent years as a result of hazing violations. Beta Alpha Omega fraternity was suspended in October 2013 following publication of numerous emails and a Google document detailing proposed hazing practices of the fraternity to initiate new members by Gawker. Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity was placed on probation for three terms following investigations into hazing allegations relating to forced exercise routines and beatings with wooden spoons in the fall of 2012. Pledges were also allegedly prevented from talking to friends outside their fraternity. Director of undergraduate judicial affairs Leigh Remy declined to comment and redirected requests seeking comment to Anderson. Allison Chou is member of the The Dartmouth business senior staff.
MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
Greek houses plan to comply with alcohol ban FROM MDF PAGE 1
The house will turn to buying other forms of alcohol allowed under the new policy and continue to have a similar social scene as they had prior to the ban, he said. SAE president Adam Grounds ’16 sent an email to members of SAE advising them to remove any hard alcohol they may have from the house, Bassali said. Watson predicts that another side effect of the ban could be that more houses host non-alcohol related activities, Watson said. “Part of the policy will be a continuation of a trend promoted by [College] President [Phil] Hanlon and the administration of Greek houses being more of organizations that exist in the daytime as they do in the nighttime,” Watson said. For example, Watson said Phi Delta Alpha fraternity showed movies on their lawn during the summer, and said he could foresee more daytime events being held, which could promote a more open social scene on campus. Tabard coed fraternity social chair Julie McConville ’17 said the ban would not have a large effect on Tabard, as the organization is not as “drinking-oriented” as other houses may be. The house is promoting awareness among members of the ban through emails, meetings and spoken word, she said. Tabard will also start registering more kegs, as opposed to liquor, during the week, along with buying more wine as a result of the ban. McConville said she thinks the ban will have the greatest impact on the freshman social scene and predicted that pre-gaming in dorms, for
example, may become less frequent. McConville said that she did not think the policy would be effective in curbing student drinking. Chi Heorot fraternity social chair Nick Ruppert ’16 said he does not think students need hard alcohol to have a good time and that other forms of alcohol can be safe and fun. Ruppert said that members of Heorot are accepting of the ban. The change will not have a large impact at the house, which sees a lot of beer pong and beer consumption, Ruppert said. The house will continue to host dry dance parties and hold tails events featuring alcohols permissible under the current rules. Interim Dean of the College Inge-Lise Ameer sent an email last Friday to remind students that the policy was going into effect. Penalties for violating these rules vary. If a student is caught for possession or consumption of hard alcohol or public intoxication, they will be placed on probation. The next incident results in a one-term suspension, while a third offense will warrant a two-term suspension. Additional violations will see escalating punishments up to and including expulsion. If an individual provides hard alcohol to others he or she will immediately receive a one-term suspension, followed by a two-term suspension for the next violation. The first incident for an organization incurs a one-term suspension of recognition along with a specific period of time where they may not serve alcohol. The second incident results in a one-year suspension. The first incident within three years after that organization returns results in permanent loss of recognition.
FAIZAN KANJI/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF
College President Phil Hanlon announced the hard alcohol ban on Jan. 29.
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THE DARTMOUTH OPINION
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CONTRIBUTING Columnist NICOLE SIMINERI ’17
GUEST Columnist HOYT ALVERSON
Racism and Mascots
Rethinking Residential Life
Native American mascots are offensive and should be changed. This spring break, I had the privilege of working with the vibrant, vast Native American community in Denver alongside 11 other members of the College as part of alternative spring break program. We went to the state’s capitol and watched the proceeding of House Bill 1165 — a bill that would create a subcommittee of Native Americans to review Native American mascots used by public schools and determine whether to ban a mascot’s use, at a penalty of $25,000 per month for noncompliance. Fortunately, the bill passed — but only by a narrow 6-5 vote. While this bill is a critical milestone, it is too little for such a significant issue and has taken far too long to be created. There are 562 federally recognized Native American tribes in the United States, not to mention the countless other tribes that are struggling to gain recognition from a government that they never wanted in the first place. With such diversity, mascots such as Hackberry Hill Elementary School’s “Indians” in Arvada, Colorado are meaningless. Such mascots generalize Native Americans based on archaic and inaccurate stereotypes and disregard the various languages, traditions and customs that each tribe possesses. Offensive mascots like these exist throughout Colorado, like at Central High School’s “Warriors” in Grand Junction. While such mascots may seem like positive celebrations of Native American culture, they are in reality perpetuating harmful stereotypes. There are many more offensive mascots in Colorado that nonetheless persist. Clifton Elementary School’s “Chiefs,” for instance, is a clear misappropriation of Native American cultures with no consideration for tribal history or diversity. Lamar High School’s “Savages” and La Veta School’s “Redskins” are racial slurs that dehumanize and degrade the entire Native community. Perhaps the most ironic mascot is Rangeview High School’s “Raiders” in Aurora — it seems that too many have forgotten that it was white people who did the raiding. Even more disturbing is the bills’ opponents’ claim that Native American mascots are an insignificant issue. Among the examples the
opponents used to compare the issue of Native American mascots to are Swedish meatballs and bulldogs. According to these arguments, being offended by “Indians” or “Redskins” is like being offended by “Keggy the Keg.” As one of the bill’s cosponsors, Representative Joe Salazar, D-Thornton, eloquently responded, meatballs, bulldogs and kegs did not approach him to complain about their offensive representation as mascots — Native Americans did. Such comparisons only trivialize this critical issue. Some members of Colorado’s white-dominated state assembly are evidently able to empathize with animals and foods more easily than with human beings. As always, money matters — opponents voiced their concerns about the money schools would have to put toward getting new mascots, designing new team uniforms and repainting school gymnasiums, seemingly prioritizing finances over the psychological and emotional well being of the state’s many Native American youth, who must attend schools where their cultures — their lives — are nothing more than caricatures. While money is important, the schools were built at the expense of Native populations in the first place. Other opponents are worried about using an unelected subcommittee of Native Americans to select the offensive mascots to be banned, citing this as an undemocratic process — but where were Native Americans’ due process when they were being systematically massacred? This is one issue where other institutions should follow the College’s example. The Board of Trustees finally banned the unofficial “Indian” mascot in 1974, stating that its use was “inconsistent with ... advancing Native American education.” Our typically conservative institution was able to recognize the detrimental effects of these mascots on Native American students more than 40 years ago. There are no more excuses to continue using these mascots in any form. People are not mascots, and using Native Americans as mascots treats them as less than human. If non-Natives are so determined to reduce entire cultures to mascots, then they can use their own.
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Changing social culture at the College requires an overhaul of residential life. Over the years of 2003 to 2005, students in my course, “Introduction to Research Methods in Cultural Anthropology,” carried out participantobservation studies of dormitories at the College. Their reports documented pervasive discontinuity in student life, much like that often found in backpackers’ hostels. What their research found absent are those social characteristics typifying successful multi-functional, face-to-face residential communities — continuity, commons, caring and sharing. In light of the “Moving Dartmouth Forward” plan for residential life, here are suggestions for significant changes to Dartmouth dormitory living, derived in part from the students’ research. The discontinuity of co-residency, created by the year-round calendar and the D-Plan, is the biggest obstacle to residential stability. To change dorms from hostels to congregate communities, to give each dorm an identity and to create the experience of it as a home, their resident populations, spaces and activities should be a relatively stable four-year experience for each student. My students found that only a small part of dormitory living includes what might be called a “commons” — the collectively managed physical and social resources required for reproducing a community over time. Design and maintenance of, as well as participation in a “residential commons,” should be a larger and more explicit aspect of dormitory life by including guests-in-residence, seminars, colloquia, debates, discussion of films, book groups, intramural sports, talent shows, service work, food drives, field trips and shared use and maintenance of physical facilities within the communities. A most important kind of sharing and exchange, especially in a collegiate atmosphere, is rewarding conversation, which would be stimulated and informed by dorm-specific and interdormitory “co-curricular activities” such as those suggested above. For better or worse, the College’s Greek organizations have a strongly developed sense that the house and its activities comprise a commons. This commons now includes many very unfortunate elements, to be sure. As these Greek organizations prove, however, commit-
ment to a commons has demonstrated power to build and maintain bonds of community. Preparing and eating meals together creates community. Mass centralized dining, such as in the Class of 1953 Commons, is a major deterrent to residentially-based food preparation and eating. Nothing facilitates conversation, getting to know one another, activity planning, intellectual and emotional exchange and building ties of friendship as does the daily breaking of bread together among co-residents. Much of student social life at the College is, like dining, centrally planned and provided to the campus as a whole. We have “centers” for most student activities, which — with the exception of sleeping — are financially, architecturally and programmatically tethered to “centers” for the arts, worship, classes, sports, community service and the like. Many activities and facilities now located in and sponsored by “centers” could and should be located and undertaken in some form in and among neighboring dormitories. The College’s current residential culture will not change predictably by deploying a few, selected “silver-bullet” interventions. Planned culture change, with plausibly predictable outcomes, requires systemic thinking. If the College wishes to change the Greek system, for example, the Greek system will have to be but one element in a system-wide plan. Note that one of Dartmouth’s peers, Yale University, is currently building two new residential colleges, each of which incorporates the features and rationale described above — and all of which have also been key parts of the older colleges there. Dormitories at the College have changed over past decades to their detriment by abdicating their social prominence — mainly under the pressure of year-round-operation — to the Greek houses, which have become by default the preeminent centers of students’ residential lives. Fundamental change in the entire social ecology of dormitory living is a necessary condition for a successful plan to improve and move the College’s residential life forward. Hoyt Alverson is a professor emeritus of anthropology.
MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
Thayer hopes to train engineers for change FROM ENGINEERING PAGE 1
can be trained to tackle societal issues. He added that it was natural for Thayer to join the program because it builds on what he called an open-based project system, which he said Thayer has had for a long time. “It built so naturally on what we were already doing,” he said. Helble explained that the program explicitly appeals to graduate students who have fulfilled a series of requirements stipulated by the initiative and by making sure that students have project-based learning opportunities, experiences connected to stated Grand Challenges and interdisciplinary learning. The five core elements of the project, as stated on the Thayer website, include creative learning experience connected to Grand Challenges, authentic interdisciplinary experiential learning with clients and mentors, entrepreneurship and innovation experience, global and cross-cultural perspective and social consciousness through service learning. Helble continued that the “Grand Challenge” prog ram articulates that a faculty member will be appointed to oversee that students meet these requirements. “For us it really is a culmination of experiences that students will get that are undertaking projects that are related to national challenges,” he said. He also said that there is potential with this program for collaboration between different universities’ engineering programs, but
that planning for such programs is still preliminary and that nothing concrete has been established. He said the time frame to roll out this program will be over the next 10 years. “The goal is for very institution to graduate a certain number of students with grand challenges experience over a decade,” he said. “It’s a push to develop students that have these kind of experience.” He added that outward facing nature of the Thayer engineering education lends itself to this program and that they are excited to be part of this. Engineering student Martin Anguita ’16 said that he is excited about the potential for this initiative, but added that many of the stated goals already align with how engineers see their work and role in society. “I think it’s awesome that they’re training us for the grand challenges of humanity of the upcoming century, but at the same time, that’s what engineers have always had to do,” he said. “It’s reinforcing what engineers have always had to do so that’s awesome because graduates will just have that much more training.” Fifth year engineering student Paul Hogan ’14 Th’15 said that he did not know about the specifics of the White House program, but said he appreciates the already broad engineering curriculum that Thayer offers and how it allows students to be flexible in their education and prepares them for a wide array of engineering fields. Hannah Chung contributed reporting.
TREVY WING/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF
Thayer School of Engineering joins the White House’s “Grand Challenge” initiative.
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DARTMOUTH EVENTS TODAY ALL DAY “The Secret Revealed: The Book Arts Workshop at 25 Years,” BakerBerry Library, Baker Main Hall
2:00 p.m. Physics and astronomy colloquium with professor Rahul Sarpeshkar of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Wilder 104
4:00 p.m. “Health Systems Design and Implementation: A User-Centered Perspective,” Thayer School of Engineering, Cummings 200
TOMORROW 4:30 p.m. “Intermediate Dance Master Class,” with Kyle Abraham, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Berry Straus Dance Studio
5:00 p.m. “Spring Volunteer Fair,” hosted by the Tucker Foundation, Collis Common Ground
7:00 p.m. “When The Wolves Come In,” by Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion dance troupe, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Moore Theater
THE DARTMOUTH EVENTS
MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015
THE DARTMOUTH ARTS
MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015
“Red Army” explores the story of 1980s Soviet hockey
B y andrew kingsley The Dartmouth Staff
Many of us have fond memories of the hockey film “Miracle” (2004,) which tells the story of how the 1980 U.S. men’s hockey team defeated the juggernaut Soviet team at the Lake Placid, New York Winter Olympics. Much like the Space Race, this game was steeped in Cold War politics and pitted capitalism against communism in the battle for global and athletic supremacy. In short, hockey was war, and the Russians had the biggest guns. While we savor our underdog American victory, in all the patriotic fanfare, we forget about those fallen Red Goliaths. The documentary “Red Army” (2014) shows “Miracle” from the other side, giving audiences a rare glimpse behind the Iron Curtain. The documentary centers on interviews with the capricious and snide Viacheslav “Slava” Fetisov, a member of the USSR’s losing 1980 team and the captain of their gold medal-winning 1984 and 1988 teams. He recounts his stories with fresh emotion, his eyes illuminated by the memories of fluorescent lights and ears still aroar with the cheers of adoring Soviets. Victories are introduced with a Cheshire cat smile, savored like bonbons as he relishes the comically lopsided Russian victories. Defeats are told with simmering rage through vice-clenched teeth. He was a member of the illustrious Russian Five, a dream team that dominated international hockey in the 1980s. They were the true Titanic of hockey, except for when our raggedy band of college and amateur players sunk them at Lake Placid. For the Soviets, hockey was war, politics and pride, but it was also beauty and art. Fetisov remarks on the gracelessly primitive American style, which was heavy on hard hitting and selfishness. Our “Puck Frinceton” mentality would sicken him. Watching the Soviet team weave across the ice, creating a human tapestry of delicate passes and colorful goals, was like witnessing a chess master organize his pawns into an elegantly impenetrable phalanx. This was communist hockey — share the puck evenly, and we all win. These awe-inspiring displays were enough to awaken some procommunist feelings in me. Luckily the overpriced, cloying Sour Patch Kids and artificially-buttered popcorn brought me back to my capitalist senses. Behind the whole organization was Anatoli Tarasov, who The New York Times has called
the “father of Russian hockey,” a monomaniacal genius who saw hockey as a combination of ballet and chess and was more similar to Russian chess Grandmaster Garry Kasparov or Confederate Army commander Robert E. Lee than hockey coach Scotty Bowman. He created the unique Russian system, which bred the best eight- and nine-year-olds in the Soviet Union into Olympic all-stars by the time they were 20. One can see where China gets it. Tarasov fathered these players into world-class athletes, teammates and brothers, lifting their hockey play to a level that made a young Wayne Gretzky admit after a humiliating defeat, “They’re just too good for us, it isn’t fair.” But after Tarasov refused a political request to throw a game, the KGB replaced him with one of their own, the dictatorial Viktor Tikhonov, who coached the losing Lake Placid team and reigned over an era of abusive leadership and Gulag-style training camps. While he coached the team to back-toback gold medals in 1984 and 1988, he bred such discontent amongst his players that many defected to the U.S. National Hockey League after the Cold War ended. Yet this pipeline has sapped Russia of its hockey talent, as
many young prospects seek the fame and fortune of the NHL, which began with Fetisov’s own defection to the NHL back in 1989. When Russian-born NHL star Alexander Ovechkin is shown taking slap shots at Russian nesting dolls filled with Russian dressing for a publicity stunt, you grimace at the infectiously gauche American style. Capitalism may have won out, but did hockey? The film is like the Russian version of Clint Eastwood’s “American Sniper” (2014) about its own sharpshooter defenseman — except here there are no casualties or latent soapboxing, only a respectful homage to classical Soviet hockey. The director Gabe Polsky, born to Soviet immigrant parents and a former Yale University hockey player, directs like Tarasov, weaving these complex threads of history into a compact gem as short and flashy as a hockey game itself. A tribute to his hockey heroes, camaraderie and patriotism, Polsky has created a documentary that makes hockey fans out of even the least skate-savvy viewers and scores the rare hat trick of entertainment value, humor and history lesson. Rating: 10/10 “Red Army” is playing at The Nugget at 7:00 p.m. until Thursday.
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Spring shows range from African art to opera FROM PREVIEW PAGE 8
in Western Europe. “Once one great work is in place for a concert, the fun challenge is developing a program that partners well to create a meaningful experience for the audience and Ensemble,” he said. Graduate student Scott Smedinghoff and Benjamin Meyer ’15 will perform the solos for the Stravinsky piece and the Arutiunian’s Trumpet Concerto, respectively. On May 5 and 8, the College’s music department will present the Festival of Contemporary American Music. The festival will feature performances by the string ensembles Flux Quartet and String Noise. The College’s theater department will present its spring musical, “Merrily We Roll Along” on May 8, 9 and 10. Celebrating its graduating seniors, the Barbary Coast Jazz Ensemble will perform its 36th annual senior feature concert at Spaulding Auditorium on May 9. The concert will honor flutists Leif Harder ’15 and digital musics graduate student Angela Kim, saxophonists Hannah O’Flynn ’15, Manav Raj ’15 and Brett Szalapski ’15, trumpeter Matt Metzler ’15, trombonist Dan Nulton ’15 and drummer Eli Derrow ’15 through pieces selected and performed by the seniors and the Ensemble. Barbary
Coast director Don Glasgo said that the performance will include pieces written by two seniors. Glasgo said the concert will also include a singing element as Jeremy Whitaker ’15 will accompany the Ensemble for their performance of Cab Calloway’s “Minnie the Moocher” (1931) and John Coltrane’s “Resolution” (1965). The Handel Society of Dartmouth College will perform Guiseppe Verdi’s classic “Requiem” (1874) on May 16 with a full orchestra. Comedian Tig Notaro, one of Rolling Stone magazine’s 50 funniest people, will perform at the College on May 20. On May 22 and 23, the Dartmouth Dance Ensemble will perform, while directed by former-Mark Morris Dance Group member John Heginbotham. The performance will include new pieces by Heginbotham and Rebecca Stenn, the group’s 2014 guest director. Wrapping up the term will be a trio of musical performances, starting with the Dartmouth Gospel choir on May 23. On May 27, the World Music Percussion Ensemble will perform pieces from South America and West Africa. Finally, the Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra will wrap up the term with a performance of Gustav Mahler’s “Symphony No. 6” (1904) on May 30.
THE DARTMOUTH ARTS
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ARTS
MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015
Spring will bring variety of arts events to the College
B y kourtney kawano The Dartmouth Staff
From the visually-engaging and thought-provoking exhibitions at the Hood Museum of Art to the enchanting melodies performed by student ensembles and unique performances that will be shown at the Hopkins Center for the Arts, the 2015 spring arts season is primed to be another term full of celebration for music, film, dance and the visual arts. Aside from the ongoing events for the current exhibitions such as “About Face: Self-Portraiture in Contemporary Art,” which is on display through August 30, the Hood Museum of Art will open three new exhibitions in April. “Water Ways: Tension and Flow,” which will open on April 4, will feature more than 24 landscape and portraiture photographs depicting the delicate balance between water’s effect on human life and vice versa. Although most of the works in the exhibition are drawn from the Hood’s permanent collection, the audience will be able to see these works in a new light as they all provide commentary about different aspects of water’s significance for sustaining life. While many of the photographs are from the 20th and 21st centuries, “Water Ways” will also include depictions
by Roman and Egyptian artists in conjunction with the Nile Project— a group of musicians, educators and activists who are set to perform a blend of African and Arab music on April 17 in Spaulding Auditorium as a part of the group’s residency from April 13-18. The exhibition will also include the screening of the documentary “Watermark” (2013) on May 20. Two exhibitions, “Auto-Graphics: Works by Victor Ekpuk” and “Ukara: Ritual Cloth of the Ekpe Secret Society,” will open at the Hood on April 18. “Auto-Graphics” will combine several works by Nigerian artist Victor Ekpuk, including his graphic and pastel print Composition No. 13 (Sante Fe Suite) (2013), which features Ekpuk’s characteristic use of nsibidi, a Nigerian writing form of the Ekpe people. On April 24, Ekpuk himself will give a lecture titled, “Excavating Memories” to share how his cultural and social experiences influences his art. Hood Museum head of publishing and communications Nils Nadeau said that Ekpuk will create a largescale drawing in the second-floor galleries, in tandem with the exhibition that is devoted to his recent work, beginning on April 20. “Anyone can stop in and witness his progress live as he creates a new wall drawing,” Nadeau said.
The exhibition focused on ukara, a traditional cloth that represents the prestige of the Ekpe society, will also explore African culture through the ukaras’ designs and use. Each ukara includes a specific pattern and dye, as well as nsibidi symbols to convey a deeper meaning for the owner. Many of the ukaras featured in the exhibition were given by Eli Bentor, an art history professor at Appalachian State University, who will be leading a panel discussion about the collection on May 15. In addition to the Hood Museum’s new exhibits, there will also be a variety of events at the Hop throughout the spring term, beginning with the dance performance “When the Wolves Came In” choreographed by 2013 MacArthur Fellow Kyle Abraham and performed by his company Abraham.In.Motion, on March 31 and April 1 in the Moore Theater. Abraham’s choreography blends classical and modern styles set to African spirituals and music by classical music composer Nico Muhly and jazz pianist Robert Glasper that celebrates the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation and the 20 years since the end of South African apartheid. Dutch theater ensemble Hotel Modern and composer Arthur Sauer will perform “The Great War” on
COURTESY OF THE HOPKINS CENTER FOR THE ARTS
Kyle Abraham’s “When The Wolves Came In” will lead off the Hopkins Center’s spring season.
COURTESY OF THE HOPKINS CENTER FOR THE ARTS
The Hood Museum and Hopkins Center will join together through the Nile Project.
April 7 and 8 at the Hopkins Center. The play will recreate World War I through household materials and narration based on soldiers’ letters. In addition to hosting outside performers, the Hop will also present shows by student ensembles. Under the direction of music director Louis Burkot, the Glee Club will pair with opera professionals and Dartmouth alumni in ¡Figaro! (90210), a modern adaptation of Wolfgang Mozart’s comic opera “The Marriage of Figaro,” on April 9 and 10. The performance, which was written by Vid Guerrerio ’96 and premiered at the Los Angeles Opera, will feature New York-based singers Javier Ortiz and Candace Lynn Matthews as the opera’s leads. The Contis will be played by fellow New York professional Lee Velta and Handel Society of Dartmouth College vocal coach Erma Mellinger. Other notable roles in the performance will be portrayed by Emma Orme ’15, Nathaniel Graves ’13, doctoral candidate Olivia Kang and Tyler Putnam ’09. Tony-award winning actress and Grammy-award winning singer Audra McDonald will perform selections from her newest album at the Hopkins Center on April 14. The show will include a discussion with McDonald. On April 17, the Dartmouth Glee Club will perform a selection of poems by Christina Porter ’06, who died 10 years ago, to celebrate the opening of an exhibition of Porter’s work at the Black Family Visual Arts Center. The Australian Chamber Orchestra will visit the Hopkins Center on April 19 and play pieces by artists ranging from Mozart to alternative
rock band Radiohead. On April 21, the College will present the Dartmouth Film Award to Oscar-nominated director Abderrahmane Sissako and screen his film “Timbuktu” (2014). During his time at the College, Sissako will host discussions and visit geography, film and media studies and African and African American studies classes. The Hopkins Center will host the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain on April 22. The orchestra will cover artists from alternative rock band Nirvana to singer Otis Redding. On April 24, two award-winning jazz groups will perform together, as the Terrence Blanchard E-Collective and the Ravi Coltrane Quartet share a bill at the Hopkins Center. The performance will include a post-show discussion and a masterclass with Coltrane. Honoring the rich sound of 20th-century European music, the Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble will perform the music of Russian composer Igor Stravinsky and his contemporaries in Spaulding Auditorium on May 2. The concert will include French composer Florent Schmitt’s “Dionysiaques” (1914), Stravinsky’s “Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments” (1924), Belgian composer Jules Strens’ “Danse Funambulesque” (1929) and Armenian composer Alexander Arutiunian’s “Trumpet Concerto in A-flat Major” (1950). Wind Ensemble conductor Matthew Marsit said that he organized the concert around the Stravinsky concerto and the composer’s connections in the artistic community SEE PREVIEW PAGE 7