The Dartmouth 02/17/15

VOL. CLXXII NO. 31

CLOUDY HIGH 20 LOW -3

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2015

HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE

DHMCreceivesA+financialrating United Way

fundraising period finished

By KATIE RAFTER The Dartmouth Staff

Co-founder of HFA Partners, a company that advises non-profit health care providers, Pierre Bogacz said that these ratings serve as credit scores and third-party assessments of the quality of borrowers.

“The rating process is really to the benefit of the bondholders that are buying the bonds issued by Dartmouth-Hitchcock,” he

Fundraising for this year’s Dartmouth United Way campaign ended on Saturday, Feb. 14 without reaching the goal of raising $320,000, Dartmouth United Way campaign co-chair Gail Gentes said.

The full amount raised is still unclear, Granite United Way relationship manager Katie Kobe wrote in an email. The final amount raised will only be determined once the fiscal year ends on March 31, Kobe said. As of Jan. 23, the campaign had raised $252,000 of the $320,000 goal. Kobe noted that although the campaign ended, many match dollars may still come in the next few weeks.

Last year, Dartmouth United Way raised a recordbreaking $305,956, surpassing its $300,000 goal.

Gentes said the $320,000 goal this year was ambitious and she is not disappointed by the outcome of the campaign.

Gentes said that she hopes the campaign reached the same amount as the campaign raised last year.

Gentes said that they exceeded the goal of attracting 100 new donors by 100 additional contributors.

She noted that United Way also introduced online donations this year and that the implementation of the new system ran smoothly.

Dartmouth United Way began providing funding to non-profits in the Upper Valley over 40 years ago as a member of the larger statewide organization Granite United Way.

SEE DHMC PAGE 2

SEE UNITED PAGE 5

SPORTS

WOMEN’S BASKETBAL SPLIT WEEKEND PAGE 8

OPINION

VANDERMAUSE: MOVING MINDFULLY PAGE 4

ARTS

“THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES” COMES TO HOP PAGE 7

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DARTBEAT 10 ARTISTS WE WANTED FOR GREEN KEY FOCO JOE FOLLOW US ON

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Dartmouth-Hitchcock Obligated Group received a top financial rating for the second consecutive year.

B y ERIN LEE The Dartmouth Staff

For the second year in a row, Fitch Ratings, a New York-based financial ratings agency, has awarded the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Obligated Group’s revenue bonds an A+ rating. The rating, which was issued earlier this month, is based on the approximately $69 million revenue bond series 2009 and $75 million revenue

bond series 2010, according to the Fitch report.

DHOG, which consists of DHMC and the DartmouthHitchcock Clinic, currently has $535.6 million of total outstanding debt, according to Fitch’s report.

Dar tmouth-Hitch coc k Medical Center director of external relations Rick Adams said that DHMC is pleased with the rating.Fitch described DHOG’s outlook as “stable.”

Ambassador Brzezinski ’87 talks climate change

B y ANNIE MA and PARKER RICHARDS The Dartmouth Staff

United States Ambassador to Sweden Mark Brzezinski, a member of the Class of 1987 addressed climate change, diplomacy and Arctic policy in his Monday lecture titled “#OurSharedArctic: U.S. Embassy Sweden and Modern Diplomacy.”

Brzezinski is one of the 2015 winter term Montgomery Fellows and was

in residence on campus from Feb. 14 through 17, His work on campus focused on the theme “Climate Change and Society.”

Brzezinski opened his lecture by discussing the extent of global warming and climate change in recent years. Thirteen of the warmest years on record have occurred since 2000, Brzezinski said. The melting of polar ice caps that reflect solar energy back into space creates dark SEE CLIMATE PAGE 3

TOUR DE DARTMOUTH

TREVY WING/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

A group of prospective students and their parents take a tour of campus.

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

PAGE 2

DAily debriefing As big data becomes more central to biomedical research, scientists conducting laboratory research and those doing the data analysis are realizing that it is important to be able to communicate well, the Geisel NewsCenter reported. The Burroughs Wellcome Fund recently awarded grants to four institutions, including the Geisel School of Medicine, to do this type of cross-training. Genetics professor Scott Williams and pharmacology and toxicology professor Carmen Marsit are co-directors of the $2.5 million grant. The grant will support a new Geisel program called Big Data in the Life Sciences, available to Ph.D. students enrolled in the quantitative biomedical sciences program. The track will offer additional training in physiology, biochemistry and molecular and cellular biology. Its goal, according to Williams and Marsit, is to maximize the potential of big data to improve human health.

Investigator Eugene Demidenko from Dartmouth’s Norris Cotton Cancer Center used a “gene rank” technique to capture and describe a new characterization of gene connectivity, according to the Center’s news release. The computer algorithm allows scientists to compare tissues within and across organisms. By viewing genetic networks from a new viewpoint, the technique may lead to new biological insights with possible clinical applications. Demidenko discovered that disconnected genes in tumors are potentially cancerous after applying the concept to several cancer-related gene expression data sets.

Further research showed that this may be useful in the early detection of cancer. In the future, Demidenko will utilize the new technique to see how gene connectivity changes during tumor development and to analyze variations across tumors.

Researchers at the Geisel School of Medicine separated patients with systemic sclerosis by their shared biology, helping them to discover how disease heterogeneity can be defined, the Geisel NewsCenter reported. This research will allow targeted selection of patients for future clinical trials. The research was led by Michael Whitfield of Geisel’s genetics department and the Norris Cotton Cancer Center, along with post-doctoral fellows Michael Johnson and J. Matthew Mahoney. The researchers published two papers on their findings.

The Whitfield team has done several studies, and their results currently represent the most comprehensive analysis of signaling pathways in SSc, which will be useful in both the diagnoses and treatment of patients. The team also demonstrated that the genetic risk factors for SSc largely cluster within the immune system.

—Compiled by Kelsey Flower

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

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2015

DHMC affiliates with other hospitals FROM DHMC PAGE 1

said. “It’s the rating agency’s estimate of the likelihood that the borrower will be able to make the payments.”

In the report, Fitch Ratings said that DHMC’s status as the largest provider of health care services in New Hampshire and its efforts to “grow its regional footprint” were key factors in the rating.

Bogacz said that DHMC’s status in the A category indicates strong credit quality, as most other healthcare systems are in the BBB or A category. He added that a few larger institutions are in the AA category.

By comparison, both Dartmouth College and Geisel School of Medicine have AAA ratings from Fitch, while DHMC’s closest competitor, Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, Vermont, has an A- rating.

According to the Fitch report, DHMC has a goal of reaching a four percent operating margin while reducing costs in line with Medicare rates. Adams confirmed this target and said that based on the most recent fiscal quarter, DHOG is on track to reach the goal by the end of the year. In the report, Fitch said this goal

“will be challenging to achieve,” though it noted that the institution’s operating performance has improved over the last two years.

DHOG had a two percent and 2.7 percent operating margin in 2014 and 2013, respectively, compared to the A category median of 2.5 percent, according to Fitch.

Adams said DHMC’s goal is to reform healthcare payment to get to a place where operating costs are equivalent to Medicare reimbursement rates.

He said that DHMC is currently operating under a fee-forservice model, where the institution is paid for the number of procedures performed, a system that is “unsustainable.”

“It forces doing more for the sake of doing more and is not in the patients’ best interests,” he said. “We want to talk about value rather than volume, providing the care that the patient wants safely and of the highest quality and lowest cost.”

The report noted that DHMC has consistently posted lower Medicare spending rates compared to national averages.

In the last two years, DHMC has affiliated with New London Hospital and Mt. Ascutney Hospital and is looking to affiliate with

Cheshire Medical Center in early March. DHMC is also in talks with Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital.

Affiliation bewteen DHMC and APD would allow the latter to expand access to care, decrease cost and improve quality while continuing to compete with larger health care institutions, the APD announced.

APD associate vice president for external affairs Peter Glenshaw said that APD expects to reach a formal agreement with DHMC by the second half of 2015. He said that the hospital was hoping to be affiliated by this time, but the process, which requires the approval of the New Hampshire attorney general and other officials, has taken longer than expected.

Fitch’s last review of DHMC was conducted on Feb. 7, 2013.

Bogacz said that Fitch conducts ratings every two years for category A organizations, while its two primary competitors, rating agencies Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s Investors Service, release reports annually.

He said that these three firms provide the vast majority of publicly available municipal bond ratings for investors.

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2015

Climate issues present urgent problem FROM CLIMATE PAGE 1

water that instead absorbs heat, which Brzezinski said contributed to the overall warming of the planet.

“What happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay in the Arctic,” Brzezinski said. “There’s a direct interaction between what happens in the Arctic and what happens in the rest of the world.”

He said that the effects of warming in the polar ice caps can be seen across the country, even here at the College. Brzezinski noted that while the region still experiences extreme cold, global warming has led to already noticeable damage to apple crops, maple sugaring and the ski season in the New Hampshire area.

“Scientists are predicting and project catastrophic consequences for mankind and the planet if we stay on the current global warming path,” he said.

Brzezinski estimated that the international community has approximately 20 years to act before it “may be too late.” In order to successfully combat the warming trend, Brzezinski highlighted the need for a collaborative approach that incorporates a range of international perspectives.

He said that this was exemplified in a 2013 visit to Sweden by President Barack Obama, during which he met with heads of government from Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway and former Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt to work on solutions to combat climate change.

He said that this process involved reaching out to other countries and multinational development banks to secure support.

Brzezinski noted the shared culture of sustainable innovation in Sweden and the United States and said that the private sector would be

crucial to this movement’s continued success. Awareness and advocacy also play key roles in solving this issue, Brzezinski said.

“Part of the problem is that too few people know about it,” Brzezinski said. “Vast numbers of people are unaware of the imminence of this threat and time is not on our side. The generation after the next generation will really feel it.”

Brzezinski has made use of social media to promote public awareness around the issue of climate change.

He produced a series of videos titled “Our Shared Arctic” that can be streamed on YouTube. The videos focus on the societal impact of climate change and briefly feature Dartmouth’s Institute of Arctic Studies director Ross Virginia.

Virginia said that the lecture exposed students to Brzezinski’s narrative as a successful alum that demonstrates the formative and powerful nature of a Dartmouth education. He noted that he hopes the lecture would serve as inspiration to students.

“He’s an ’87, but Dartmouth students today still have that same drive and desire to do good work that changes the world,” Virginia said.

Virginia said that the arctic is a “critically important region of the world.” He noted that our lifestyles release greenhouse gases that contribute to rapid climate change in the arctic that then affects our climate in return. The issue is critical to the future, he said, noting that 15 of the world’s largest cities are along coastlines that could be affected by rising sea levels.

He said that Brzezinski emphasized the arctic as “a global space” that all people share and have a responsibility to protect. Virginia noted that the mission of the Dickey Center for International Under-

standing is to deal with great issues, and that one of the most important challenges we face is climate change.

Virginia said that students from all academic backgrounds can play a role in combating climate change.

He added that he hoped students walked away from the lecture pondering what role they can play and with a broader understanding of the challenges climate change presents.

“When I was a student sitting in those very seats, I never could have imagined standing before you as an ambassador, as the personal representative of a historic president deployed in a country where my passion matches the core issues of our engagement,” Brzezinski said.

Brzezinski said that Dartmouth allowed him to pursue work in public service.

Anthony Addo ’18 said he attended the lecture because he has been exposed to the issue of climate change and found it a “frightening” prospect. He said he wanted to see the people at the forefront of combating climate change after high exposure to disastrous news on the subject.

He said the lecture focused on the dangers of climate change and reassured him about the presence of people who work to mitigate the affects of climate change.

He noted that with lectures such as this one, engaged students attend while students who could learn a lot often do not.

“I really think the issue is becoming more pressing and people are becoming more aware,” Addo said.

The second Montgomery Fellow, soil ecologist Diana Wall, will be in residence Feb. 28 through March 7.

Her public lecture, “Soil Biodiversity in the Cold: Life in the Antarctic Dry Valleys,” will take place on Tuesday, March 3, in Filene Auditorium.

PAGE 3

D-LAB LAUGH

MAY NGUYEN/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

D-LAB held its fourth session, focusing on leadership with others in the community.

Join us for lunch at the

Sustainability Minor Meet & Greet Tuesday, February 17 12:00 – 2:00 (drop in anytime) Collis One Wheelock Interested in connecting your academic work to realworld solutions to contemporary social, economic, and environmental issues? Come learn about the sustainability minor before signing up for spring term classes! Talk with faculty from departments across campus who teach sustainability-related courses, and with current students minoring in sustainability.

Students of all majors and interests are welcome.

TREVY WING/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Ambassador to Sweden Mark Brzezinski ’87 gave a talk yesterday afternoon about climate change.

Link your major to real-world solutions.

Be a Sustainability Minor.

THE DARTMOUTH OPINION

PAGE 4

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2015

Staff Columnist JON VANDERMAUSE ’16

STAFF COLUMNIST ANNIKA PARK ’18

Moving Dartmouth Mindfully

Better Left Said

Mindfulness should form the centerpiece of the Dartmouth Thrive program.

Regardless of whether you think the entirety of the “Moving Dartmouth Forward” plan is a treasure chest or a dung heap — and campus opinion has swung in both directions — there is at least one crown jewel in College President Phil Hanlon’s slew of proposals to improve student life.

It’s what the presidential steering committee calls Dartmouth Thrive, a holistic program intended to promote student development and wellness. The committee’s vision for the program is lofty, targeting every dimension of students’ lives — mind, body and spirit — to create a more engaged and reflective student body. Like many of the other proposals in the committee’s report, however, the details have yet to be hashed out.

If Dartmouth Thrive is to become a transformational initiative rather than a failed administrative decree, it should be backed by science and address point-blank the everyday stresses that students face. To accomplish this, the College should use mindfulness-based stress reduction as the centerpiece of the program.

According to professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School Jon KabatZinn, who helped pioneer the use of mindfulness meditation in western medicine, mindfulness is “the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally to the unfolding of experience moment by moment.” It underlies much of Buddhist meditative practice, but commitment to a religious tradition is hardly required. It is, in Kabat-Zinn’s phrasing, an “attentional stance,” one that can frame the diverse actions of everyday living — from eating a raisin to doing the dishes.

Devoting such diligent attention to the present moment is not an easy feat here, where students bounce from commitment to commitment like pinballs in a machine. Quarters crunch a semester’s worth of material into less than 10 weeks, and the D-Plan keeps the campus population in flux term to term. It is difficult to find peace in the present when your mind is trained on worries about the next midterm or the next meeting.

There is always something on the to-do list.

It surely does not help that we are trained, as citizens of a world overflowing with easy-access

distractions, to avert our gaze from the present. If there is a lull in conversation at dinner, everyone at the table whips out their smartphone in synchrony. If a lecture seems stale, students surf the web. We reel at the slightest whiff of boredom, filling up pauses in the rhythm of everyday life as quickly as we can. In clinging to cheap distractions to escape the present moment, we obscure our ability to appreciate what is right in front of us.

As research has shown, mindfulness offers a healthy way of coping with stress. In one study, parts of the brain associated with positive emotional expression lit up more often in employees who had undergone mindfulness training, and their immune systems improved. In a 2010 review of the literature on the effects of mindfulnessbased therapy, mindfulness was shown to improve anxiety and mood symptoms. Other research has shown that mindfulness reduces stress, boosts memory and improves focus.

There are a number of ways that Dartmouth Thrive could tap into these benefits. The program could follow the lead of Kabat-Zinn’s Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, where teachers trained in mindfulness meditation guide groups of students in their practice. While there are already a few programs at Dartmouth that resemble this — the Meditation and Relaxation P.E. course and the Mindfulness Practice Group are two examples — they are scarcely promoted by the College, and only a fraction of the student body participates in them. Dartmouth Thrive could create a mainstream space for guided mindfulness meditation that welcomes all students.

The program could also incorporate other activities that promote mindfulness. According to a 2010 study in the Journal of American College Health, several physical fitness programs, including Pilates, yoga and martial arts, can increase mindfulness among college students.

By promoting mindfulness, Dartmouth Thrive has the potential to positively shift the way students think and behave. If you don’t buy the science behind this claim, test it on your own mind by paying attention on purpose. The results might surprise you.

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We should be more critical of our everyday attitudes toward food.

As I write this column, I’m sitting in One Wheelock with two empty containers in my workspace — one a 130-calorie coffee-flavored Greek yogurt, the other an 120-calorie glutenfree, vegan chocolate pudding. At the back of my mind, I think to myself, “I’m feeling peckish, but if grab a muffin right now, how many calories does that leave me for dinner?” I fear that my calorie counting is not an unhealthy habit that only I have, but one that I share with many other students here at Dartmouth.

In 2010, the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders labeled the current situation of eating disorders on college campuses a “crisis.” Eating disorders, as described by the American Psychological Association, consist of “abnormal eating habits that can threaten your health or even your life.” Individuals with eating disorders may have distorted views of their bodies, binge eat or purge after eating. A 2010 survey of counselors and other professionals conducted by the Eating Disorders Recovery Center revealed that most college students did not get treatment for an eating disorder, with a shocking 82 percent “unwilling to seek treatment.” Eating disorders are not acknowledged and treated readily enough.

Eating disorders can be facilitated by insecurities about body image. In some cases, they can consume one’s life. An eating disorder is like a parasite that transforms the way one thinks — in their worst form, eating disorders can become a way to derive a sense of achievement and fulfillment.

The 2014 Dartmouth Health Survey reveals that 10 percent of respondents indicated experiencing an eating disorder or related concern, similar to health survey results of previous years.

I argue that these results, however, do not show the complete picture. Even if a large majority of students do not report experience with eating disorders, many students still do not think or talk about food in a healthy way, and we enable a culture of disordered eating in which eating disorders can go unnoticed.

My view may be based on anecdotes and overheard conversations about students’ relationships with food and their bodies, but there are glimpses

that suggest a less-than-desirable image of student life and happiness. When I walk to Alumni Gym, I often find groups of students obsessed with physical fitness. The prevalence of form-fitting clothing like Lululemon yoga pants certainly does not help — how can we not feel insecure about every tuck and curve of our thighs when leggings are an integral part of campus style?

In the King Arthur Flour line, I have overheard conversations between students about whether or not they should get a roll or an apple with their salad intermingled with calculations of how many beer calories were shot-gunned the night before.

When I get to the cashier, I fiercely debate in my head whether I should get whole or skim milk for my chai tea latte.

We must also keep in mind are expectations we have of ourselves. I believe that the stereotype of the Dartmouth student is a harmful one. As Conan O’Brien said, the Dartmouth student is the “cool, sexually-confident lacrosse-playing younger sibling who knows how to throw a party and looks good in a down vest.” While O’Brien’s remark was a joke, it does shed light on how we imagine the “typical” Dartmouth students — and we can’t all live up to the preppy, athletic ideal.

Drinking habits also contribute to students’ unhealthy relationship with food. I myself can admit to having limited what I ate during the day for fear that I might drink that night, even though common sense should tell me that a full stomach before consuming alcohol is best. “Beer diets” that forego food during the day to save space for the calories that come from beer are not unheard of on campus. Students, male and female alike, can be acutely aware of what they consume, regardless of whether it is food or alcohol.

We must fight these negative pressures on our relationship with food. We should be more open to confronting our unhealthy eating habits and talking about body image issues on campus.

Eating disorder resources should receive sustained publicity, so that students always know where to go for help. Otherwise, we risk perpetuating an environment where those with eating disorders and disordered eating struggle alone, unable or afraid to get the treatment they need.

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2015

United Way uses funds to support local charities FROM UNITED PAGE 1

Kobe said that the success of this year’s fundraising came from the support from College President Phil Hanlon and Gentes’ decision to match $25 for all donations as well as departmental match commitments.

Gentes said that in order to raise awareness and fundraise, United Way held a number of small events where the agencies applying for funding gave small presentations and held question and answer sessions. Gentes said these events put a face to who was receiving donors’ contributions.

She said that this year’s campaign saw increased effectiveness of the communication of United Way’s message through department coordinators.

“We try to reach as many people as we can to educate them about the work that United Way is doing,” Gentes said.

Gentes said that donors contributed to the “health and well-being of the community in which we live.”

Cynthia Crutchfield, a member of the Dartmouth United Way steering committee, said that the success of this year’s campaign was a result of the enthusiasm of those involved. She said that department coordinators played a key role in

raising awareness.

Crutchfield said that giving agencies the opportunity to interact with potential donors benefited both parties.

Agencies had a chance to explain their cause and potential donors had the opportunity to see where their donations would be going.

“Each year we get better and better at connecting with the individuals and educating them,” Crutchfield said.

She said that the use of different forms of media allowed them to develop a more cohesive and comprehensive communication plan.

Kathleen Vanni ’15 , a member of national Greek honor society the Order of Omega, was involved in raising awareness during the fall term.

Vanni said that the society had a postcard campaign to raise awareness for poverty in the Upper Valley. This campaign consisted of writing postcards to potential donors, which highlighted the lack of donations.

The importance of United Way’s work becomes evident when one understands the issues the Upper Valley faces, she said. Vanni noted the necessity of supporting an organization that aims to help local charities.

PAGE 5

Fifteenth Annual Stonewall Lecture

Fears, Fallacies, and Failures: How AIDS Became an Epidemic Denise McWilliams is Executive Director of the New England Innocence Project. She was director of the Boston AIDS Consortium and the General Counsel for New England’s largest and oldest AIDS service organization. In 1997, McWilliams oversaw and co-authored “Until There’s A Cure,” the first comprehensive plan for delivering services to people living with HIV in New England.

February 17 • 4:15 PM • Rockefeller 2 Rescheduled! • Free and Open to the Public Sponsored by the Women’s and Gender Studies Program

President Hanlon invites you to

Open Office Hours For students:

For faculty:

Tues, February 17, 4-5pm Mon, February 23, 5-5:45 pm

Fridays, 3-4 pm

Meetings are offered on a first-come, first-served basis and are held in

Parkhurst 207 NATALIE CANTAVE/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

The fundraising goal was raised from $300,000 last year to $320,000 this year.

Please check dartmouth.edu/~president/officehours for any changes in the schedule

PAGE 6

DARTMOUTH EVENTS TODAY 4:15 p.m.

“Fears, Fallacies and Failures: How AIDS Became an Epidemic,” Rockefeller Center, Room 002

5:00 p.m.

“Locked Up, Locked Out,” dinner discussion, Collis Center, Common Ground

7:00 p.m.

“The Vagina Monologues,” student performance, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Spaulding Auditorium

TOMORROW 12:00 p.m.

“Global Regulation in a Post-Snowden World,” lecture with FTC Commissioner Julie Brill, Tuck School of Business, Borelli Classroom

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2015

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“Argentine Tango Course and Practica” for beginner and intermediate, Sarner Underground

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PAGE 7

“The Vagina Monologues” will explore female experiences

B y amelia rosch

The Dartmouth Senior Staff

About 40 self-identifying Dartmouth women will take the stage tonight to perform monologues in the 17th annual performance of Eve Ensler’s “The Vagina Monologues” for V-February.V-February is the College’s annual campaign to end gender-based violence and promote gender equality, and the monologues performed tonight will encompass an array of issues relating to women’s sexuality, ranging from comical to more emotional and provocative performances.

Director Margot Yecies ’15, who has performed in the play three times, said that the performance is meant to address topics that go beyond issues exclusive to the College and raise awareness to themes of sexuality and gender in general.

“To me, it’s meant to start discussion more than anything else,” she said. “It’s a conversation starter for topics about female sexuality and the female body in general.”

Yecies said that one of the strengths of performing “The Vagina Monologues” at the College is that it helps bring together a strong community of women.

“I loved the experience of getting to meet all these women who were so confident in their femininity and sexuality,” she said. “That’s what got me hooked.”

Assistant director Lauren Budd

’18 said that while she applied to be on the executive board for V-Feb, she did not apply for a position with “The Vagina Monologues” specifically. Nevertheless, she said she was excited to be part of the production because it combines her interests in theater and combatting sexual assault through art. She said that she looked forward to being able to combine the two.

Budd echoed Yecies in citing the community of women that the production creates, saying that her favorite part of working on “The Vagina Monologues” has been getting to know the women involved in it.

“We have such a large cast of Dartmouth women from different backgrounds,” she said. “I’ve liked getting to know people from different contexts.”

Kit Hattier ’18, who is performing in this year’s production, said that she decided to get involved with the monologues in order to meet more women and be involved in a feminist issue. She said that she enjoyed getting to know a wide range of women, as well as gain new confidence in her femininity.

“The diverse group of women immediately became a safe, encouraging environment for self-expression, which I had never had the chance to experience in the past,” she said.

Lisa Li ’15, who is also performing, said that she was interested in participating after seeing the performance her freshman year because of the

impression it left on her.

“I wanted to feel the other side and the performances of these stories and create more discussions around the issues surrounding women,” she said.

Yecies said that many of the performers in this year’s cast do not have previous acting experience, but the rights of “The Vagina Monologues,” stipulate that anyone who identifies as a woman and auditions must be cast.

“It’s one of the strengths that it has an open and inclusive community,” she said.

She said that the play’s flexible structure makes a larger cast size possible, with last year’s cast including 23 women. Yecies said while some of the monologues will be performed by a single woman on stage, others were split up among groups to accommodate the larger cast size. She said that parts were assigned based on fit and comfort.

Yecies said that despite having been performed 16 times at the College, this year’s production will still be original. She said that Ensler writes an original final monologue each year, and the College’s production will include a monologue, “My Short Skirt,” that was not included last year. She said that having a new cast for each production helps keep the play fresh.

“It’s always original because different people are always doing it, many of whom have never acted before or

been involved in theater or feminist issues at Dartmouth before,” she said.

Yecies said that one of her goals as a director is making sure that the actors feel connected to their characters and emphasizing that all the monologues come from the experiences of real women.

“Even if they haven’t directly experienced it, we want them to find a way into that character and experience,” she said. “It’s about highlighting the humanity of it.”

Yecies said that her favorite monologue in the production is “My Angry Vagina,” which explores the day-today injustices of having a vagina, including tampons and pap smears.

Her preference for the piece, she says, comes from its humorous take on the topic.

“It’s super funny, but it addresses real problems with how women have to live in society,” she said. “I think that humor is an effective way to address some of these issues. It helps keep people engaged and realize that there’s humor to be found in the worst situations.”

Both Hattier and Li said that “My Angry Vagina” was also their favorite of the play’s monologues.

“It feels good to laugh with other women over thoughts that are so common among us,” she said. “It’s funny, it’s true and it’s empowering.”

Li said that “My Angry Vagina” was her favorite of the monologues because she could relate to the issues and frustrations it raises.

Budd said that the range in monologues makes it hard for her to choose just one as a favorite. She said that she thinks different monologues will speak to different audience members because they range from humorous to moving.

In addition to the traditional pieces, the performance will also feature the Dartmouth Rockapellas.

The play is performed as part of V-Day, a movement started by Ensler to raise awareness of and end global violence against women and girls .

She wrote “The Vagina Monologues” in 1996 after interviewing over 200 women about their experiences with sex, relationships and violence against women.

Because of student criticism that “The Vagina Monologues” does not accurately address all women’s experiences, the V-February organizers added the new, student-written production “Voices” to the month’s lineup in 2014.

“The Vagina Monologues” will be performed at 7 p.m. in Spaulding Auditorium, with a post-performance discussion. It will be free for students and $10 for community members. All proceeds raised by the performance will go to WISE of the Upper Valley and V-Day .

“Voices,” also part of V-February programming will be performed on March 3 and 4 at 7 p.m. in the Moore Theater .

Budd is a member of the Dartmouth staff.

Beyond The Bubble: In Defense of “Fifty Shades of Grey”

B y andrea nease The Dartmouth Staff

Everyone and their cousin has heard of and has probably formed some opinion on “Fifty Shades of Grey.” The book trilogy and newly-released film adaptation have garnered both a lot of fans and a lot of criticism over the past few months. After watching the movie myself last Friday, I would like to explore why the film has elicited such polar reactions — why the fans and why the criticism?

It’s unnerving to log on to Facebook every day just to see another group, such as the National Center on Sexual Explotation, criticizing or protesting “Fifty Shades of Grey.” I think what makes it so disconcerting is that these articles are exaggerating the issues — I have seen a variety of misinterpretations about Ana and Christian’s supposedly abusive relationship as well as the expected criticism of the trilogy’s inherently risqué nature.

I understand the initial reason for critique — the seeming promotion of rape culture — and I understand that not everyone is running

to go read the book or see the movie.

What I do not understand, however, is what seems to me to be an allor-nothing mentality toward the series, the hardcore fan versus the protester. “Fifty Shades of Grey” is not the first book to delve into heavy issues such as domestic abuse and, ultimately, rape culture, but, perhaps because people feel these issues are glorified, many people are acting as if it is.

From “Breathing Underwater”

by Alex Flinn to “A Child Called ‘It’” by Dave Pelzer to “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky, the list goes on — all of these books and plenty more engage with some aspect of abuse, both sexual and domestic. In “Fifty Shades of Grey,” the story showcases a main character — Christian Grey — who develops obsessive behavior toward the leading heroine — Anastasia Steele — including stalking, possessive mentalities and a troubling reverse psychology of “I’m not good for you, so you have to stay away — but I won’t stay away from you.” Just because the characters show these behaviors, however, does not automatically

mean the author condones them.

Novels and movies often cover the bad and the ugly, just as they cover the good. Just because the bad and the ugly are covered, however, it does not mean they are condoned.

I think that is where the criticism of “Fifty Shades” has been taken too far. I think it is safe to say that E.L. James is not encouraging rape, since there is most definitely a safe word in the book. Further, James’s inclusion of Christian’s behavior in the novel does not mean James supports this behavior. She is merely telling a story.

When someone reads Junot Diaz’s short stories, they probably are not thinking about whether or not Diaz condones misogyny, which he does not. When I read “Fifty Shades of Grey,” I wasn’t thinking about how E.L. James could be glorifying sexual abuse — I was thinking about the internal conflict Ana dealt with and her emotional growth with Christian.

I do not think that people should feel pressured to indulge in one of these novels or watch one of these movies. I simply believe that people need to remember that a novel’s

content does not infer support or acceptance of character behavior.

Fortunately, if there are still people who look to single out “Fifty Shades of Grey” and exploit its contents to suit their boycott, the movie adaptation provides a different account of Ana and Christian’s budding relationship. I’m going to avoid spoilers at all costs so I will leave it at this — if you believe the book condones rape, which in my opinion it does not, then do not boycott the movie because it is a completely different ball game.

If we can’t move past criticisms of the book, let’s at least see the merit in a movie that takes this fandom-worthy eroticism away from what can be read as abuse and transforms it into a sort-of awkward, sort-of not, steamy romcom that I thoroughly enjoyed. Yes, there are sex scenes that may be on the graphic side and yes, Christian’s stalker tendencies are still present, but Ana’s voice as a strong woman is also present.

You have to admit that if the trilogy and the movie were really as awful as articles from The Daily Beast to The Atlantic are telling us,

there wouldn’t be such a following.

If “Fifty Shades of Grey” were so undeniably protest-worthy, there wouldn’t be so much support, like the upwards of 60 young women sitting in the theater with me on opening night.

Just this weekend Sigma Delta sorority threw a “Fifty Shades of Bey” party as a spin-off of the recent erotica release and, of course, Beyoncé. The Dartmouth Subtleties and Sugarplum will be giving their ode to “Fifty Shades of Grey” this Wednesday with a “Fifty Shades of Subtleplum” performance. I urge all of you to stop listening to those articles on your Facebook timeline that are just about shaking with negativity toward “Fifty Shades of Grey” because a book is a book and if you’d like to indulge a little, then indulge.

Reading the book or watching the movie will not make you a supporter of sexual abuse or rape.

Recognize the issues presented because they are important, but also recognize that watching “Fifty Shades of Grey” is no different than watching “Magic Mike” (2012).

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS

PAGE 8

SPORTS

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2015

TUESDAY LINEUP

No athletic events scheduled

Women’s basketball splits weekend, ends losing streak B y Alexander Agadjanian The Dartmouth Staff

Looking to regain its early season form and snap a five-game losing streak, the Dartmouth women’s basketball team headed to New York this past weekend for the middle two games in its Ivy League schedule. While the first matchup ended in yet another loss — 6646 to Cornell University — the women delivered a monumental victory in the second, edging Columbia University 61-54 in overtime.

In the first of a four-game road trip, the Big Green endured a calamitous start to its Friday night contest in Ithaca, New York. Facing against the Big Red, which stood third in the Ivy League at the time, Dartmouth had one of the worst starts to a game all season, smothered by an early Cornell offense that left the score at 12-0 in the first three minutes.

The efficiency and speed at which Cornell executed this early rampage were perhaps the most overwhelming aspects of their attack. With their hands on the ball, Cornell was absolutely clinical with its shot attempts — the team converted its first six field goals before finally missing at the 14:53 mark, paving the way for an extraordinary shooting display and a 28-11 lead through the midway point of the first half. To some

extent, Cornell’s shooting was an aspect of the game over which Dartmouth had little control, but nevertheless the early stretch confined the Big Green to a deficit for the remainder of the night.

Dartmouth failed to cut the margin to single digits for the rest of the night. “[It was] really frustrating,” head coach Belle Koclanes said about the early part of the game. “We’ve had a tough stretch, we’ve just been working through some things as a team, with competing and bringing that competitive nature every day and showing up.

And I felt really good about our prep going into Cornell. I felt great about where the team’s energy and focus was.

And then the game starts, and it’s like, I don’t recognize you guys.”

In what has become customary on defense, the Big Green succumbed to opposing drives toward the basket throughout the night, especially during the early stages. All of Cornell’s first 10 points in its blazing opening stretch stemmed from penetrations into the paint, whether through layups on easy looks or generated foul shots. By the end of the first half, the Big Red had accumulated 14 points in the paint and 12 at the charity stripe.

On the offensive end, the Big Green was equally disoriented. The first possessions of the contest yielded the same

WEIJIA TANG/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Fanni Szabo ’17, the Big Green’s leading scorer, ended with 27 points against Columbia.

dismal result, as Milica Toskovic ’15 turned the ball over twice in 31 seconds.

In only the first three minutes of the game, Dartmouth missed two field goals, turned the ball over three times and committed three fouls. Finally, Fanni Szabo ’17 broke through with a layup at 17:00 to put the Big Green on the scoreboard and netted eight of her team’s first 10 points. Szabo still found herself in a rough shooting stretch, making five of 12 attempted shots in the first half before going 0-5 in the second half and 5-17 on Friday night.

Turnover issues only further stalled the development of Dartmouth’s offense. With eight scattered across the first 10 minutes of play, the team could hardly attain any effective flow to the game, much less scoring opportunities.

This key opening stretch served as a microcosm for the rest of the game and effectively ended it early, as the Big Green could not match its foe’s efficiency and energy. At the end of the first period, Dartmouth found itself in an insurmountable 39-24 hole. Big Red forward Nia Marshall, the Ivy League’s leading scorer, led her team’s offensive charge at the halftime break, surpassing her 17.7 points per game average in just 15 minutes of play with 18 points.

The next 20 minutes of action brought more of the same, as Dartmouth’s shooting struggles worsened, dropping from a 31.4 field goal percentage in the first half to an 18.5 percentage in the second.

Cornell’s lead hovered around 20 points for the rest of the night, en route to a 66-46 final score as Dartmouth fell for the sixth straight game. Another disappointing shooting night — 25.8 percent from the field — as well as getting out-rebounded 43-34 contributed heavily to the loss.

Perhaps the one bright spot was the performance by center Tia Dawson ’15. The senior had a noitceably strong impact on the boards, collecting 11 rebounds and staying in the game for 28 minutes — an extremely positive sign for a senior plagued by leg injuries this year and averaging only 13.6 minutes per game.

The following day, Dartmouth traveled southeast to face Columbia, who was tied with the Big Green for the worst record in the Ivy League at the time. Despite playing the second half of a grueling road back-to-back set, Dartmouth secured a win for the first time in more than a month in its most dramatic conference game to date.

To start the contest, both teams had to struggle through clumsy offensive

play. Szabo, who ultimately had one of her best games all season, acted as the spark plug early on. The sophomore represented the team sole’s source of offensive production in scoring Dartmouth’s first eight points of the game and 12 of its first 15.

On the other end of the court, the Big Green sunk into an offensive lull.

Before Dawson hit a put-back layup at 4:16 to break a more than four-minute long drought — and tie the game at 19-19 — Dartmouth whad missed four shots and committed five fouls as a team since its last bucket.

The scoring margin stayed within two points for the remainder of the half. By halftime, the Big Green had managed to overcome a rough shooting night — 4-for-27 from the field — to build a one-point lead at 22-21, largely on the heels of Szabo’s early scoring outburst.

Columbia, the second best free-throw shooting team in the Ivy League behind Dartmouth, uncharacteristically left several points on the board in the first half, going 7-for-15 from the charity line. The aberration later loomed large in such a close contest.

When the second half started, the Big Green’s slim lead vanished in an instant, as Lions forward Devon Roeper scored 13 seconds into the new half. Within the first minute, Columbia had snatched a 25-22 edge. Columbia’sTori Oliver, the third-leading scorer in the conference, played a big part in helping the Lions grow their lead to 35-29 eight minutes into the second half with eight points and two assists by the 12-minute mark.

Trailing by six and playing with a sense of urgency, Dartmouth bounced back forcefully, jump-starting a 12-2 run over the next four minutes to grab a 41-37 lead. Roland, who up until this point had been quiet, came to life with seven points during the key stretch. Her surge proved indicative of strong play to come from the junior.

For the rest of regulation, the game was as hotly contested as ever.

The lead changed hands five times with ties at three different junctures before an overtime period was needed.

Dartmouth barely avoided a crushing buzzer-beating loss, as Oliver failed to release a successful shot by only a few tenths of a second.

It took only a minute in overtime to realize that Roland was taking control of the game. After missing a layup 16 seconds in, the junior powered into the lane on the next position and sent the ball into the hoop off the backboard using sheer will. A few minutes later, it was time to put the game to bed.

With a little over a minute left to play, Dartmouth led 55-54. Amber Mixon ’18 fed the ball to Roland near the top of the key. As the rest of the team gravitated towards the weak side to set up an isolation play, Roland dribbled down the left side, drew a double team and released an off-balance shot that swished through the net. Toskovic’s four overtime points and Szabo’s pair rounded out a huge 61-54 win, but Roland’s assertiveness and imposing play were undoubtedly paramount in the overtime period.

“So far this season we’ve played really well in overtime, we’ve won all our [overtime] games,” Szabo said. “I think that’s a strength for us, we are really wellconditioned this season, so I think that helps a lot, and we were just focused in that part of the game.”

Throughout the entire course of the game, Szabo posted a terrific offensive performance. Playing in 43 of 45 possible minutes, the sophomore netted 27 points — albeit on 37.5 percent shooting — along with eight rebounds.

Dawson — still in the midst of healing a few ailments — once again proved vital in the low block for the Big Green. The senior established her presence near the basket in collecting nine rebounds and adding nine points as well.

“Here and there I might have some pain, but I’m just trying to play through it,” Dawson said of her injury. “I only have about three weekends left [in my senior year], so I’m just going to have to play through it.”

Dawson’s ability to play through the pain a not only shows her drive as a player, but provides a strong presence on the court for the team as a whole.

“With [Dawson], we don’t use the word ‘injury,’ we use ‘healing.’ We like to keep things on the positive,” Koclanes said. “She’s a presence out there defensively and offensively, we [say] that [Dawson] breathes life into us, because every time she gets an [offensive] board, you get new life in that possession.”

Coach Koclanes was particularly proud of the heart and competitive spirit her team showed on Saturday night.

“We had some hard conversations that are necessary... in challenging our players to become competitors... and say, ‘I’m a competitor, here’s what being a competitor means...this is the pride I have as a Dartmouth women’s basketball player,’” she said. “When I got into the locker room at the end of the game, our team was singing the fight song.

And that makes me so proud, because they’re starting to understand. They’re starting to understand what wearing that uniform really means.”