The Dartmouth 01/10/19

THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 2019

VOL. CLXXV NO. 110

PARTLY CLOUDY HIGH 30 LOW 17

HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Construction begins on the Arielle Baker west end of campus Gr’19 steps into

policymaking

B y Cassandra Thomas The Dartmouth

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Construction is currently underway on the west end of campus near the Thayer School of Engineering.

B y Blake mcgill The Dartmouth

Gound clearing and plans to excavate the west end of campus have already begun as the College prepares for the construction of a new building that will soon house both the computer science department and the Thayer School of Engineering.

Thayer will gain a “new facility which brings together e n g i n e e r i n g, c o m p u t e r

science, the campus entre preneur ship center and the campus electron and microscope center,” provost Joseph Helble said.

According to Helble, the College has broken ground on the parking garage and is set to break ground on the building early this fall. The new building is set to be in use by fall 2021.

The construction will also include a new building to house the Irving Institute for

Energy and Society.

The College has recently seen a sharp increase of undergraduate engineering majors, Helble said. He added that even approximately 50 percent of the students not majoring in engineering h av e t a k e n c o u r s e s i n engineering — for example, in Engineering 12, “Design Thinking,” particularly since the creation of the humanSEE CONSTRUCTION PAGE 2

Hanover hosts Restaurant Week

B y Kyle mullins

The Dartmouth Staff

The Dartmouth Staff

B y Jennie Rhodes

From Dec. 8 to 15, Hanover held the town’s fifth annual Restaurant Week.

During this week, restaurants in the Upper Valley created special fixed-price menus or offered special discounts on food items to bring in more customers during the slow dining season.

Restaurant Week began as a statewide event, organized by the Restaurant Association of New Hampshire. However, the association primarily focused on advertising to the major cities in New Hampshire. This left Hanover residents feeling “out of the loop,” according to Hanover Chamber of Commerce SEE RESTAURANT PAGE 3

In two weeks Arielle Baker Gr’19, a PhD candidate in the neuroscience track of the program in experimental and molecular medicine (PEMM), will officially step out of the lab to tackle a completely different challenge: policymaking.

A f t e r re c e i v i n g t h e Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Graduate Fellowship, Baker will have a 12-week position on the Committee of Women at the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine.

One of her projects will be a study that assesses ways in which certain scientific disciplines can recruit and retain women at higher rates.

As a graduate student at Dartmouth, before Baker

knew she wanted to pursue an interest in p o l i c y m a k i n g, s h e found ways to make science more accessible to the community. With Emily Stephens Med’17 and other volunteers, Baker led community outreach programs in the Upper Valley to spark an interest in science among middle and high schoolers.

“I think that working in policy is, in some ways, kind of a different for m of teaching science,” Stephens said. “When you’re talking to a younger person, you constantly ask yourself, ‘How do I take this very esoteric, complex set of experiments and give it to someone so that they understand it, they don’t feel overwhelmed SEE BAKER PAGE 5

Advocacy group demands sexual misconduct reform The $70 million federal class action that the College faces has incited further action

by Dartmouth community members. On Jan. 2, the advocacy group “Dartmouth Community Against Gender Harassment and Sexual Violence,” which includes both students and alumni members, delivered a list of specific

actions to College President Phil Hanlon’s office.

The group says the actions must be taken in order to “address both individual incidents and the broader culture that permits sexual misconduct to recur.”

The list of demands was released through a letter the day before the College’s announcement of the Campus Culture and Climate Initiative, which aims to address some of

the concerns centered around sexual assault outlined in the letter. The letter also follows an earlier statement of support for the plaintiffs in the pending Title IX lawsuit against the College.

That first letter, which called upon the administration to acknowledge a “glaring breach of responsibility” and issue a public apology, was delivered Dec. 6 and signed by nearly 800 SEE LETTER PAGE 3

PAGE 2

THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 2019

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

Tuck students travel to Puerto Rico New building to host engineering and computer science B y EMILY SUN The Dartmouth

When Hurricane Maria struck in September 2017, Puerto Rico plunged into a blackout — one that would last for almost an entire year. Last November, staff from the Revers Center for Energy at the Tuck School of Business and ten of its MBA fellows traveled to Puerto Rico to research the factors that contributed to the prolonged energy crisis.

“The main objective was to gain exposure to how an island adjusts to certain situations compared to a big country like the U.S.,” Vengatesh Muralidharan Tu’19 said.

In preparation for the trip, many of the MBA fellows took courses in energy economics and interned for companies in the field, according to Aygul Sanzyapova Tu’19. He said that before the fellows left for Puerto Rico, they compiled online articles about Puerto Rico’s recent challenges to discuss as a group.

“Even before the hurricane, there were a lot of problems in the system,” Sanzyapova said. “The crisis just revealed these [internal] problems and just showed where there were weak points.”

A pril Salas, the executive director of the Revers Center at the Tuck School of Business, said

the team met up with various very passionate about their island, stakeholders while on the island. of their prosperity and of their These included the Governor’s future,” Sanzyapova said.

Recovery Office director for Salas said that the team is infrastructure, currently writing the Puerto Rico a white paper — a Electric Power “The main objective summary report A u t h o r i t y , was to gain — which delves independent into specifics power producers exposure to how of the energy such as AES and an island adjusts to problems the MBA EcoElectrica, fellows intended certain situations S u n Ru n a n d to address on the a m e m b e r o f compared to a big trip, an effort that Rocky Mountain country like the Muralidharan is Institute’s Islands leading. He said and Electricity U.S.” t h at t h e p a p e r Puerto Rico will be finished microgrid team. in the next few -VENGATESH The team said months and will be they encountered MURALIDHARAN TU’19 a comprehensive challenges an d convenien t m a k i n g source that connections on the island, due to compiles the information gathered limited contacts. by the trip attendees.

“April Salas had a few contacts “I didn’t know anything about from the Department of Energy, Puerto Rico,” Sanzyapova said. “It but apart from that we didn’t have was interesting to compare Puerto any others,” Muralidharan said.

Rico to Mumbai or any other Sanzyapova also said that though island and see how its influences they were faced with contrasting and economic development impact opinions, as stakeholders differed the prosperity of people on the in how they thought the energy island.” department in Puerto Rica should Muralidharan added that all of be run. However, she said they the trip participants plan to pursue share the same goal of improving careers in different sectors of the the energy crisis on the island. energy industry after completing “Puerto Rican people are all their MBAs.

WINTER AT DARTMOUTH SHOWS SNOW MERCY

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Two students take advantage of the fresh snowfall and start a snowball fight between classes.

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

FROM CONSTRUCTION PAGE 1

“Their support is really inspiring, and it wouldn’t be centered design minor. possible to do this for Dartmouth Helble and Thayer interim dean without it,” he said.

Laura Ray said the central purpose This past April, the College for the creation of the new Thayer submitted its construction plans facility will be to house more to the town of Hanover for engineering courses and nearly approval. Hanover director of twice the number of engineering planning, zoning and codes professors as the original building. Robert Houseman noted that in Ray said she believes current the months prior to the design students will benefit from the submission, he and his staff had on-board i n g o f fac u lty an d been working with the College the increase in the number of to ensure all zoning laws and sections of fered for popular building codes of the town would courses like Engineering 12, be met. The Hanover police, fire “Design Thinking,” which has in and public works departments the past had a wait list of upwards then reviewed the College’s design of 200 students. plans and provided She added that recommendations. the process of “The notion that The planning recruiting new the physical world b o a r d raised faculty has concerns about that engineering already begun. the potential noise Although the represents and generated by the new new building building. The College the digital world was originally provided technical intended for new computer science i n fo r m at i o n , a n d Thayer faculty, represents are “after consideration, it will now the planning board also house the seperate has approved the computer science really gone away. project,” according department, to Houseman.

The worlds have according to Ray. In addition to “The notion come together.” the new building and that the physical the construction, the world that project comprises e n g i n e e r i n g -JOSEPH HELBLE, of an underground represents and PROVOST parking deck and the digital world modifications to computer science Engineering Drive re presents are and West Wheelock separate has really gone away,” Street, which will include a new Helble said. “The worlds have pedestrian crossing, sidewalks and come together.” bike lanes.

Housing the two departments While the construction will under the same roof will also allow likely be inconvenient for some the College to move forward with Hanover residents, Helble believes its entrepreneurship mission. the expansion of the west end of W h i l e e n g i n e e r i n g a n d campus, particularly to Thayer, computer science will remain will have a lasting positive impact separate degrees, the Magnuson on the community at large.

Center for Entrepreneurship, “About 40 percent of the faculty which includes the Dartmouth have started a company based on Entrepreneurship Network and the their research in roughly the past DALI Lab, will join the computer 10 years,” Helble said. “The goal is science department in moving to to get that to 50 percent. That will the new joint building. make the Thayer school without The project is likely to cost question the most entrepreneurial upwards of $200 million, with school of engineering in the country funding expected to come from on a per capita basis.” These donations by alumni and friends companies are almost always first of the College. The naming donors established in the Upper Valley. of the MacLean Engineering “ I f t h e s e i n d i v i d u a l s a re Sciences Center gifted the school successful, they will have a $25 million for the project. ver y positive impact on the According to Helble, there will local economy and the local be a space in the new building to environment creating high quality recognize those donors who are jobs that people can be proud of,” making the project possible. he said.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 2019

PAGE 3

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

Solidarity group voices misconduct concerns and demands oversight FROM LETTER PAGE 1

members of the greater Dartmouth community.

The two-page list of demands is divided into three categories: immediate, “time-bound” and longterm actions. These actions include changes in the style of communications around sexual misconduct on campus, the recruitment of ombudspersons trained in gender harassment and sexual assault cases, further allocation of resources to counseling services, additional education on topics such as gaslighting and power dynamics, training for faculty and administrators in leadership positions and further, more transparent community participation in the development of reforms.

Itzel Rojas, a graduate student in the experimental and molecular medicine program who helped write the list of demands, emphasized the grassroots nature of its development.

“We basically just formed a small writing group that actively created the document, edited it and then put it out for community feedback and took that in, just trying to get ... something that was really representative as well as accurate and ... as inclusive as possible,” Rojas said.

She added that the writing group included undergraduate students, graduate students and alumni spanning decades of classes.

“One of the really powerful things about this group is that we’re drawing from a really vast array of participants,” Rojas said.

Rebecca Finger, a fourth-year graduate student in the ecology, evolution, ecosystems and society program, joined the group after signing the first letter and said she provided feedback on initial drafts of the list of demands.

“I joined the group wanting to advocate more for graduate students, which I think is a group that doesn’t have a clear voice at Dartmouth,” Finger said.

Among the list of demands is further education on topics surrounding sexual misconduct.

Diana Whitney ’95 has taken a communications and management role within the advocacy group and helped edit the letter. Whitney said that while the group applauds the educational efforts of groups on campus, it wants to see a more unified approach.

“We wanted to acknowledge that there are some very good existing programs,” she said.

However, the College needs “a unified plan that stands across the whole campus,” she added.

Whitney also said that the group’s demand for mandatory sexual

harassment and misconduct training for Dartmouth’s deans and department chairs is “crucial.” She noted that there is already mandatory training on a variety of sexual misconduct issues for undergraduate students.

The group is also demanding transparency and community oversight, including town hall meetings and an independent panel that would review quarterly progress reports submitted by the administration.

“It’s important for [the College] to initiate the kind of transparency that [the] community demands of [it],” Rojas said. “If people still have certain kinds of questions or would like to be more hands-on in the process, for example, that’s something that [the administration] should be really sensitive to.”

Additionally, the group demanded that Dartmouth immediately issue a statement acknowledging a declaratory judgment pending in the Federal District Court of New York involving an alleged assault on campus. In the case, Monica Morrison ’07 seeks a declaratory judgment — a judgment of a court which determines the rights of parties — regarding her rights to speak about the assault. The complaint details her desire to protest a demanded non-disclosure agreement and resolve threatened claims of slander against her alleged assailant, then a student at the Tuck School of Business.

Whitney described the lawsuit as a question of academic freedom. The group’s letter asserts that “the premise of this case is to silence a Dartmouth survivor by denying her right to speak or write about her experience.” “[Morrison’s] alleged assaulter’s actions have been to use his power and wealth to silence her writing or speaking about her experience,” Whitney said.

“This is really relevant to the core values of the College.”

Morrison did not reply to a request for comment.

The roll-out of C3I appears to aim to address some of the demands in the letter, including mandatory sexual misconduct education and independent oversight of policy making. The advocacy group said in a statement that though it is “heartened by the appointment of an independent external advisory committee,” it found some of the points in the initiative to be lacking in detail and context and that they fail to address “Dartmouthspecific toxicities.”

Finger pointed out that two of Hanlon’s emails to the community have come soon after the delivery of a letter endorsed by members of the Dartmouth community.

“Clearly, I think we’ve made our mark,” she said.

Jennifer Ditano, a graduate student in the experimental and molecular

medicine program, applauded the use of National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine studies as a model but said she would like to see examples of actions the administration plans to take at Dartmouth.

Ditano added that she is worried the administration does not have “a concrete plan” about how it will address Dartmouth-specific issues.

“Taking a blanket approach won’t work here — the NASEM report is a good framework, but the pain and discrimination experienced here is colored in Dartmouth green,” Rojas wrote in an email statement.

Finger said she was disappointed to not see ombudsperson positions in the initiative, which she described as “standard practice” for top U.S. universities.

“The fact that Dartmouth does not have an ombudsman is pretty disgraceful when it comes to protecting students, faculty and staff,” she said.

Ditano said she was disappointed in what she said was a failure to acknowledge “survivors and victims from past decades up to the current.”

“As far as I can tell, nothing in their new initiative takes any responsibility on Dartmouth’s part for fostering the environment that we currently have,” she said. “I know that that’s been really hard for victims and survivors.”

Hanlon’s reply to the letter’s list of demands stated that he will “consider the ideas and requests that it includes over the days ahead.”

In response to both the list of demands and the December letter, Hanlon extended an invitation for the group’s leaders to meet with him, a proposal Whitney said the advocacy group intends to accept soon.

“What we are going to do is poll the whole group for questions for him and tell him what the biggest concerns are,” she said. “We really want to be representative of all the concerns. And as a Dartmouth survivor myself, I’m looking forward to talking with the president about my own experience.”

Other future plans include working with student groups on campus and holding a rally for “A Dartmouth Free of Sexual Violence.” Whitney said the advocacy group may consider working with groups such as the Sexual Assault Peer Alliance and the Movement Against Violence.

A representative for SAPA declined to comment and MAV did not reply to a request for comment.

Whitney said she has felt more engaged with the Dartmouth community now than at any time since graduation.

“Once I graduated, I didn’t really feel a lot of connection,” she said.

“This has been very interesting for me, personally ... to feel compelled to engage.”

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Something photo worthy happening.

PAGE 4

DARTMOUTHEVENTS

THE DARTMOUTH EVENTS

THE AVALANCHE OF AWAKENING

THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 2019

NEELUFAR RAJA ’21

TODAY

4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Dartmouth 250 Anniversary Campus Kickoff, various locations across campus

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

Collis 40th Celebration, sponsored by Collis Governing Board and Programming Board, Common Ground, Collis Center

9:00 p.m. - 11:30 p.m.

Thursday Night Live, in collaboration with South House, featuring Street Religion and Souls Scribes, House Center A (the Onion)

12:15 p.m. - 1:15 p.m.

Dartmouth Energy Collaborative Lunch: “The Social Cost of Nuclear Power,” with Dr. Louise Davies, First Floor Commons, Fahey Hall

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

Sing-Ins: Working on an American Dream, Paddock Music Library, Hopkins Center for the Arts

6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Conference: “Physicians for Human Rights: Planetary Health: Life in Our Changing World”, Oopik Auditorium, Class of 1978 Life Sciences Center

7:00 p.m. - 9:15 p.m.

Film: “The Hate U Give,” directed by George Tillman Jr., Loew Auditorium, Black Family Visual Arts Center

ADVERTISING For advertising information, please call (603) 646-2600 or email info@thedartmouth. com. The advertising deadline is noon, two days before publication. We reserve the right to refuse any advertisement. Opinions expressed in advertisements do not necessarily reflect those of The Dartmouth, Inc. or its officers, employees and agents.

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 2019

PAGE 5

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

Resturant Week comes to Hanover Women in Science graduate fellow transitions to policy FROM RESTAURANT PAGE 1

president Tracy Hutchins.

The Chamber of Commerce of Hanover started the event in 2013 after the change in the College’s term calendar, according to Hanover town manager Julia Griffin.

“Before the term calender change, December was the biggest month for restaurants,” Griffin said. “The Chamber of Commerce started Restaurant Week to get local residents to fill seats after the term schedule change led to the departure of students in December.”

Hutchins said Restaurant Week helps local restaurants continue to operate during the College’s winter break, when students and professors are away.

“The event helps to give local businesses a boost where they are lacking,” Hutchins said.

The Chamber of Commerce also aims to promote eating locally to Hanover residents, according to Hutchins.

“Any local shopping or dining is great for the local economy,” Griffin said. “Residents who work for our retailers are big proponents of eating locally. It’s important that our restaurants also support local producers.”

This year, there were seven participating restaurants: Lou’s Restaurant and Bakery, Molly’s, Pine, Salt Hill Pub and Skinny Pancake in Hanover, and Blue Sparrow Kitchen and Jasper Murdock’s Alehouse in Norwich. This was an increase in participation from last year’s six restaurants, according to Hutchins.

Lou’s general manager Craig Morley has had Lou’s Bakery participate in the event since its

conception.

Restaurant Week.”

“Restaurant Week is helpful for Recently, the Chamber of us,” he said. “It lures in locals that Commerce altered their advertising are afraid of coming into town when strategy. Great Eastern Radio it is busy because parking is pain.” broadcast Restaurant Week Lou’s offered menu items at a advertisements on three of their discounted price, whereas Salt Hill stations and has been a partner of Pub and Molly’s created a fixed-price the event for many years. Last year, menu comprising new dishes and advertisements were extended to customer favorites. social media websites like Facebook, “Originally when the Chamber to reach other towns of the Upper of Commerce Valley and beyond, d e s i g n e d Hutchins said.

“We would like Restaurant Residents of the Week, we were more to come on towns in the Upper all asked to come board. Every year Valley often come up with new fixedt o H a n ove r t o price menus,” we seek to improve experiment with said functions a little bit by looking new restaurants, manager of according to Griffin. at the metrics.

Molly’s Jennifer “The people of Packard. “Some Then, we make the Upper Valley felt limited by that notes on how to are fluid,” Griffin request, so the said. “We have a Chamber decided tweak things. It’s a willingness to travel to give restaurants work in progress.” to eat out.” both options.”

E v e r y y e a r, Lou’s, Salt Hill the Chamber of Pub and Molly’s -TRACY HUTCHINS, Commerce aims to have participated HANOVER CHAMBER improve on an aspect in Restaurant of the week long Week since 2013. OF COMMERCE event, according This year, Molly’s PRESIDENT to Hutchins. In saw an increase in 2019, the goal for filled seats from Restaurant Week last Restaurant is to expand the Week. However, event to a regional both Lou’s and Salt Hill Pub do not Restaurant Week offered to just believe Restaurant Week increased Hanover, said Griffin. their sales. While both restaurants do “The goal is to reach out to not have the metrics from the month restaurants in Norwich and Lyme, of December, Morley and Salt Hill and even in White River Junction Pub general manager Jennifer Galvin and Lebanon,” said Hutchins. “We both said they did not see an increase would like more to come on board. in diners.

Every year we seek to improve a little “The business I saw was on par bit by looking at the metrics. Then, we for course of the year,” Galvin make notes on how to tweak things. said. “There was no change from It’s a work in progress.”

MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Lou’s Restaurant and Bakery participated in New Hampshire’s Resaurant Week this past December.

FROM BAKER PAGE 1

or out of place in that discussion?’”

“Arielle stood out to us because of her obvious passion and enthusiasm for the issues our committee focuses on — including equity and diversity, scientific excellence, and access to high quality education experiences,” Director of the Committee on Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine Tom Rudin wrote in an email statement. “Plus, Arielle brings her own set of experiences in supporting equity and diversity as a graduate student in her campus activities, and we look forward to tapping those experiences here.”

In transitioning to policy, Baker has swerved from the traditional trajectory of Ph.D. candidates, a move that Leslie Henderson, a professor of physiology and neurobiology and dean of faculty affairs at Geisel, hopes more students will feel comfortable in taking.

“There’s a whole plethora of other sorts of opportunities a Ph.D. in science will prepare you for,” Henderson remarked. “One of the things that Dartmouth has gotten much better at doing is making PhD students aware of those other opportunities. Having

someone like Arielle who has gotten such a prestigious fellowship in this area really highlights these opportunities that our students from Dartmouth can achieve.”

Though she said her neuroscience-specific knowledge won’t be exercised in the same way in policymaking as it would be used in a lab, she says other skills acquired during her Ph.D. will be useful.

“A lot the skills that you learn during a Ph.D. are readily translatable to a number of different careers, policy included,” Baker commented. “Things like gathering evidence, analyzing the evidence that exists, thinking c r i t i c a l l y a b o u t t h e re s u l t s o f s tu d i es an d s y n th es i zi n g information to come up with objective conclusions.”

Coming out of this fellowship with policy-making expertise in addition to her neuroscience background gives Baker a chance to change the field for women in generations to come.

“Arielle is a very passionate person,” Stephens said. “She thinks something is important and she does something about it.

It’s important to me as a woman in science to have someone like Arielle representing me.”

LIVING IN A SNOW GLOBE

MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

A student walks to class after the night’s fresh snowfall.

PAGE 6

THE DARTMOUTH OPINION

THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 2019

CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST EMORY HOLZER ’22

STAFF COLUMNIST CLARA CHIN ’19

No Host? No Problem.

Critical Clothing

In their fight against falling ratings, awards shows have sacrificed their integrity.

Theory-inspired clothing makes philosophy a part of our everyday lives.

The Golden Globes began with an unexpected change in direction Sunday night. After two years of programing consumed by commentary — on topics ranging from sexual assault to immigration to the 2016 election — the show had begun to steer its reputation from drinking celebrities and casual festivities to a deeply political awards show.

But Andy Samberg and Sandra Oh, the evening’s hosts, set the tone of the 2019 ceremony from the get-go as apolitical. This transition back to the Golden Globes’ original identity underscores a broader shift in the awards circuit. In a world where live awards shows are no longer the ratings juggernauts they once were, producers have to make a decision: embrace the reality of live entertainment today or try to fight their way back into a lost past. Unfortunately, they haven’t had much success with the former, and aren’t likely to achieve the latter.

Since 2015 saw the duo of Amy Pohler and Tina Fey as hosts, the Golden Globes have struggled with viewership. This, though, is not exclusive to the ceremony. From the National Football League to the Oscars to the Grammys, live programing has struggled to achieve the ratings it once saw despite adjusting the level of politics, cycling through different hosts, creating new awards and making efforts to shorten runtimes. In today’s digital landscape, saturated with limitless on-demand content, viewers appear to be less likely to tune in to live television.

Faced with four consecutive years of steep ratings decline, ABC, which has an exclusive contract with the Oscars through 2028, pressured the program to address this nosedive in viewership.

In late 2018, the program announced drastic structural changes. By introducing a category to award the year’s best blockbuster film and tightening up the run time from four to three hours, the Academy sought to recapture a young audience that has been largely shrinking.

Further, ABC booked popular actor Kevin Hart to host the ceremony. However, after controversy surrounding the comedian’s past homophobic comments on Twitter resurfaced, Hart resigned. And now, with less than two months until the ceremony, the Oscars have no host.

Hart’s willingness to abandon his emcee position and the Academy’s ongoing struggle to procure a willing host for this year’s Oscars highlights Hollywood’s negative association with the role.

I recently purchased a tote on Instagram language is a continuation of the earlier with the words, “The cyborg in me streetwear trend that celebrates and recognizes the cyborg in you.” With the commodifies visual art. The California enthusiasm somewhere between that of skate brand RipNDip, for example, offers a hypebeast and intellectual nerd, I told T-shirts with pictures of the Mona Lisa my friends how it fell into my hands; the up in flames. Rokit has a Rauschenbergbag is sold by Instagram meme account @ inspired shirt with its logo screenprinted sighswoon, who created the phrase after on top, and The Incorporated has a shirt reading a text by digital and feminist studies with the text “Eyes Not Shut” above an professor, Donna Haraway. My cyborg tote image reminiscent of the film “Eyes Wide is one product within a larger trend of not Shut,” a nod to the surrealist sexualized only text-heavy apparel, but simple pieces nature of Stanley Kubrick’s work. These that reference moments in high culture. pieces mix high and low culture by making Some fellow theory lovers have dismissed literal parodies of famous works while also this as sad and reductive, while some of my celebrating them. more fashionable friends encourage me to Immanuel Kant, whose pragmatic work resist the urge to read into it. But Theory is less focused on affect and pleasure, Garb, as I’ll coin it, demonstrates the pop unsurprisingly called fashion foolish. While culture potential of theory when it does many contemporary aesthetic theorists not take itself too seriously, and serves as may disagree with Kant, it is true that the a reminder that it is the beginning of a broader fields of fashion and theory are question and not an answer to one. often criticized for the same reasons — Everything from Instagram baddie being superficial or indulgent. While there online shops to higher end streetwear are countless texts to argue why theory is borrow from the fine art and theory world. intellectually meaningful and interviews Some often think of the philosophy of within the industry as to why fashion is fashion as a more abstract occurrence — meaningful, these are not the mediums to such as a designer’s use of convince people already color, fabric or draping. in love with these fields.

“Everything from But literal invocations In fact, it is precisely of philosophical ideas Instagram baddie the reductive nature through texts and image online shops to of Theory Garb that replication have become makes both theory and m o re c o m m o n p l a c e. higher end streetwear fashion accessible to This draws primarily borrow from the fine everyone. High fashion is from ea rl y trending apparel what literary art and theory world.” to streetwear brands theory is to literature. like Supreme. Brands While both seem to offer like 10.Deep, Marble a depth and complexity Clothing and Pleasures use texts with than more immediate forms, such as this philosophical or affective buzzwords. article and other short-form writing and The current 10.Deep capsule has a shirt fast fashion, may offer, pursuing higher that says, “Feeling Lost? Searching for the education is not the only way to engage with way forward? Let us show you the way,” then theory, just as going to an exclusive technical lists “resources” such as “peer counciling” school is not the only way to engage with (spelled wrong intentionally) and “verbal fashion. In fact, many Heideggerians would intercourse.” It contains psychoanalytic argue that theory happens in our everyday subtext and a philosophical desire to find life, and philosophy as such only aims to meaning in life, yet the misspelling and enhance or further make conscious our rather blasé nature of the piece also seems every day musings. to poke fun at it. Marble Clothing sells a The immediacy of a shirt that says shirt with the text, “When did melancholy something like, “When did melancholy become cool?” above a small screenprint of become cool?” commodifies theory into a Van Gogh self-portrait. For anyone who a sound bite. It is enough to make people reads a bit too much literary theory, this think, but not enough to overwhelm. evokes Julia Kristeva’s “Black Sun,” which It may attract edgy Instagram teens as proposes the useful nature of melancholia. much as it may attract someone like me, A Dust Magazine sweatshirt says, “We Are an undergraduate student compelled by the Things We Have Lost,” a similarly anything melancholia-related ever since philosophical yet reductive catchphrase. discovering Freud’s case studies. A slightly The brand Misbhv features lines that higher-end streetwear shirt with text that evoke emotional extremes like “hardcore a model might wear on the runway “does” pleasure” and “joy,” as well as referencing theory, but in a more literal way than the architectural and digital design movements, abstract nature of many high-end brands. such as “brutalisme” paired with gothic The provocative nature of Theory Garb is fonts, grunge photography and simple twofold. The subtle affective and theoretical T-shirt lines. These clothing items borrow nature of texts and iconic films encourage from the rebellious and disaffected nature thought in the everyday, but the simplistic of streetwear, simultaneously destabilizing quality of such phrases challenge theory’s style and theoretical substance. seriousness, making it fun and enveloping This semi-philosophical, semi-playful it into the everyday.

Once a great honor, hosting the Oscars seems to present a burden today, with little opportunity for payoff and every opportunity to be blamed for the show’s falling ratings. The Academy is seemingly unable to muster anyone to subject themselves to a media flaying at the center of a sinking ship. At the Golden Globes, this vacancy felt like a looming presence, signifying a dying world of awards show pomp and circumstance. After consecutive years of controversy, the shows no longer have the magic they once had. Dark details about sexual assault, homophobia and racism have haunted Hollywood, its awards shows and their hosts.

But a ceremony without a host could be an opportunity to catalyze a much-needed change in the show’s format and tone that would mirror the drastic change in the media landscape. Instead of chasing better ratings, the Oscars should focus on adhering to their original purpose: honoring achievement in film. The idea of the Oscars as a ratings juggernaut has sunk. But film itself has not, and, with more independent films winning accolades today, the awards are more pertinent than ever as a means of providing these films with the recognition they deserve.

The evolution of media has been accompanied by a burgeoning of options. This is the generation of choice. With thousands of programs at the fingertips, viewers no longer watch a program just because it is on. In a world without streaming services, people turned on the Oscars because it was the prime programming that night. Now, though, entertainment has become more niche as audiences only click play on shows they choose to watch. Although the Oscars raked in an all-time low of 26.5 million viewers in 2018, it was still the eighth most watched program in 2018. While the awards are no longer what they once were, they are very much alive in the hearts of those 26.5 million viewers. Rather than contorting the program in a fruitless effort to attract a broader audience, the Academy should adhere to the program’s intention by building something those viewers want to continue watching: a program focused on film.

Opening the Golden Globes, Andy Samberg quipped, “We are gonna have some fun, give out some awards and one lucky audience member will host the Oscars!” But rather than scramble, the Academy should let the host fall to the background and let the awards take center-stage.

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 2019

PAGE 7

THE DARTMOUTH OPINION

STAFF COLUMNIST DAN FISHBEIN ’19

CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST EZGI OKUTAN ’22

The World Will Be Watching

Yet Another War to be Won

I don’t always notice it — when trying to Left’s demands by any means. His campaign beat the KAF line or, in the opposite direction, rhetoric of “law and order” encouraged a rushing to my history classes in Carson. But, crackdown on their protest activity, as well as when not confronted by a menacing time on that of the Panthers, AIM and other groups crunch as I progress down First Floor Berry, pushing for a redress of their historical and the year 1968 can’t help but catch my eyes in political grievances. Nevertheless, the efforts its bright red lettering. of demonstrators in Chicago in the summer As an Americanist scholar, the majority of 1968 to force their country’s attention of the history classes I’ve taken have covered toward the chaos of Vietnam did succeed. the last 100 years, the Their actions illustrate the tumultuous “American effect that a small group of Century” — I gravitate “Their actions determined activists can toward the 1968 exhibit illustrate the effect have in turning elections “USA: The Whole World and changing American Watching.” Reading the that a small group of history. panel, I learn (or, rather, determined activists As I stare through the refresh my memor y) exhibit glass and muse can have in turning that that year witnessed about the historical role vibrant debates within elections and changing played by these activists, I the Democrat Party. This American history.” wonder what our country’s sounds familiar, I think, future might look like if even as today’s debates we allow the memory of among Democrats will not crescendo for 1968 to transcend the confines of museum another year or so. I remember the headlines displays and inspire us to act. “Someone I’ve read in The New York Times in the past recently asked me whether I thought things few days: “2020 Candidates are Lining Up. were better or worse now, 50 years later,” Which Democrat Matches the Moment?” and librarian Dennis Grady writes in the exhibit.

“The Democratic Primary Doesn’t Have to “I have yet to answer.” A little more than a Be a Nightmare.” year from now, the eyes of the country will The 1968 convention sure was one. The look to New Hampshire. I hope that people assassination of Robert Kennedy, the one will have made up their minds by then, and candidate who perhaps best offered a response will know that they can still enable change to civil rights and anti-war activists, shocked the through a willingness to take firm stances on nation. Reports on the horrors of the Vietnam their beliefs.

War, or the prolific protest displays of groups Several issues hang in the balance that will like the Black Panther Party and American dictate the future identity of the Democratic Indian Movement, interrupted regular Party. The primary will play a large role in campaign coverage. That July, as Democrats determining the future of crucially important gathered in Chicago to decide the future of Democratic standpoints, such as those on their party, police and national guardsmen immigrant rights, the political role of large attacked 10,000 anti-war demonstrators in corporations, the structure of our health care Grant Park. For those anti-war demonstrators system and our efforts to save the environment. and the more than 40 percent of the Past primary election cycles have shown that a country that disapproved of the War, the candidate’s performance in New Hampshire nightmare continued as pro-war candidate can dictate the final outcome of the race. While Hubert Humphrey New Hampshire assigns emerged victorious from “A little more than a few delegates, the media the Convention. coverage of the country’s However, that public year from now, the first primary can elevate display by 10,000 young eyes of the country a flailing candidate to the and determined activists at front running position; will look to New Grant Park helped ensure studies show that a win in that the Vietnam War Hampshire. I hope New Hampshire raises a became the decisive issue that people will have candidate’s share of the final of that year’s election. primary count in all states Although Richard Nixon made up their minds by 27 percent. had taken hawkish stands on by then, and will When newscasters went Vietnam in 1967 and earlier, to Chicago in July 1968, know that they can his advisors encouraged they turned their cameras him to pivot to an anti- still make change and microphones not only war position to pin the through a willingness to inside the International war’s chaos on the Lyndon Ampitheatre where the Johnson administration, to take firm stances convention unfolded, but where Humphrey had on their beliefs.” also to the parks outside. It served as vice president. took only 10,000 people to Upon his victory, Nixon shift the narrative in that enacted a brief escalation in American election. If activists start organizing now, intervention, then proceeded with a gradual making plans for how they can redirect election withdrawal of American troops that ended cycle media coverage to the issues they care with a complete exit in 1973. about, they too may find that they can dictate Now, Nixon did not meet all of the anti-war a monumental election, and history.

In an age of digital reality, I find it worldwide and that “Turkey, China, and vitally important to reevaluate, if not Egypt were responsible for more than half mourn, the many wrongdoings endured of those jailed around the world for the third the previous year while celebrating the year in a row” — all three nations being start of a new year. Without doubt, the republics and democracies. murder of Jamal Khashoggi would be at In the 21st century, although it seems the top of many journalists’ lists. On Oct. as though the world is becoming more 2 last year, Khashoggi, an inclusive and liberal, it acclaimed Saudi journalist “In the 21st century, appears that, under the and an opposition to the mask of democracy, both although it seems Saudi government, was governments and the public allegedly ordered to be as though the world are equally intolerant assassinated by the Saudi is becoming more toward opinions different Crown Prince Mohammed from their own. So, if bin Salman, as suggested inclusive and liberal, the freedom of the press by an audio recording. The it appears that, is jeopardized by both news shocked the entire highly structured forces international community, under the mask of like the government and especially given that the democracy, both more haphazard forces like cold-blooded murder took governments and the individuals, then what is the place inside a consulate, solution? Is there one? symbolic of how tenuous public are equally Looking at the issue from and flimsy the idea of intolerant toward a theoretical lens, the best freedom of the press still is. way to ensure the freedom N o w, s o m e w o u l d opinions different of speech is to rule out any respond by underscoring from their own.” and all censorship unless the that Saudi Arabia is an piece explicitly encourages absolute monarchy, and crime and jeopardizes the thus the Khashoggi murder could not be safety of citizens. Nowadays, freedom of a generalization for the rest of the world. speech is jeopardized for the most part Some would respond, as alluring as it sounds, because various groups become offended. that freedom of speech violations are not as However, if there isn’t a direct threat to those widespread as it seems in the Western world, groups, the possibility of angering others at least not in democracies. must not get in the way of the propagation However, many instances indicate that of journalists’ pieces and expressions of democracies are not free from freedom of personal ideas. In this way, every group will speech violations and aggression toward have the right to respond to each other and journalists. Let’s go back to 2018 and both ends of the spectrum will find an outlet examine U.S. journalism recent history: the to share their values and beliefs.

Committee to Protect Journalists reports True liberalism does not only stand that at least three journalists were arrested for the ideas that are already welcomed, in 2018, and 34 in 2017. Last June, five but also for the right of unwelcomed journalists were murdered in a shooting ideas to be shared. This is exemplified by at Capital Gazette in Maryland after their the University of Chicago’s decision to coverage of a criminal case. Meanwhile, remove safe spaces. In a letter to the class President Donald Trump, in a meeting with of 2021, the university’s dean of students Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, John Ellison stated: “Our commitment to proclaims that it’s “frankly disgusting the academic freedom means that we do not way the press is able to write whatever they cancel invited speakers because their topics want to write.” might prove controversial, Another freedom of “True liberalism does and we do not condone the speech violation last year not only stand for creation of intellectual ‘safe was the White House’s spaces’ where individuals s u s p e n s i o n o f C N N the ideas that are can retreat from ideas and reporter Jim Acosta’s press already welcomed, perspectives at odds with pass after Acosta had a their own.” I endorse this confrontational exchange but also for the right choice because it stands with Trump. Even though of unwelcomed ideas for the actual freedom of federal judge Timothy speech, rather than just to be shared.”

J. Kelly overruled the a pleasant replica of it.

White House’s decision Opinions can hurt, but and Acosta returned to the press briefings, that’s a price that must be paid for the Trump announced that the White House freedom of intellectual discourse. would tighten its rules for correspondents.

From a national perspective, though, it’s In brief, even the United States, the intrinsically hard to change how governments ostensible stronghold of freedom and respond to press outlets as the idea of national democracy, is not free of speech violations and sovereignty comes into the picture. So change violence toward journalists. Unfortunately, seems to have to come with a bottom-up flow. the same trend persists all around the world, Therefore, as we conclude 2018, let’s keep including other democracies. CPJ again pondering on how to challenge the injustices reports that 251 journalists were jailed the press will face in 2019.

New Hampshire’s primary could offer activists a useful spotlight.

2018 was a challenging year for the freedom of the press.

PAGE 8

THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 2019

THE DARTMOUTH ARTS

Review: ‘Vice’ is a dramatic, complex look at an American villain

By WILLEM GERRISH The Dartmouth Staff

Adam McKay seems to have something of an obsession with the American culture of corruption and excess. After his masterfully quirky 2015 film “The Big Short” about the 2008 financial collapse, the writer and director has now turned his sharp, sardonic eye toward former U.S. vice president Dick Cheney. The aptly titled “Vice” is something of an exposé on the infamously secretive Cheney, revealing how president George W. Bush’s VP connived his way into becoming one of the most powerful vice-presidents in American history. While the film doesn’t quite match the sheer brilliance and impact of “The Big Short,” “Vice” is still an impressive piece of filmmaking that displays McKay’s distinctively strange and sarcastic style of writing and directing.

“Vice” is a film that fosters a very complicated relationship with the truth. Indeed, much criticism has been launched at the movie for its supposedly inaccurate portrayal of real-life people and events. But

McKay is the sort of filmmaker who only cares for the truth so much as it allows him to craft an engaging story, and the resulting film is simultaneously grounded in reality and twisted into a caricature that is almost blasé about its shaky verisimilitude. The film opens with a statement that the movie is “as true as it can be given that Dick Cheney is one of the most secretive leaders in history. But we did our f—ing best.” Meanwhile, later scenes openly address the fact that this movie is at least partly fictional.

In one instance, as Cheney and his wife Lynne are discussing whether or not he should sign on as Bush’s running mate, the narrator pauses the action to tell us that nobody actually knows what was going through Cheney’s mind or what he talked about with his wife. Then, in one of McKay’s grandest extravagances, Dick and Lynne engage in a comedic Shakespearean dialogue complete with Elizabethan English and formal addresses. Moments like these are McKay’s way of shoving his artistic license down the viewers’ throats. He knows that any sensible human will realize that

the Cheneys didn’t actually discuss major life decisions in the Bard’s tongue and should accept the scene for what it is: a dramatization. And this seems to be the best way to approach “Vice” overall — as a movie that takes drama and humor more seriously than it does the truth.

The film uses a jarring, disjointed narrative to tell its story, leaping around between time periods and interspersing images of American culture and everyday life. The latter is one of my favorite McKayisms, a tactic that he employed beautifully in “The Big Short” and does so again here. These collages of pure Americanism — images of a Walmart cashier, a workingclass kitchen table and millennials partying to forget their struggles — help ground the film’s grandiosity in the stark truth of American reality. They remind us that while Cheney was ordering extraordinary rendition and legitimizing torture, the nation over which he presided was soldiering on in hedonism, strife and complacency. What’s more, almost every person in the theater was alive during Cheney’s tenure — we were all a part of that

COLORFUL TIMES AT THE HOPKINS CENTER

MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

The Hopkins Center is lit up in blue and purple in the evenings, making it a glowing landmark across the Green.

army of ignorance.

The weakest aspect of “Vice” is the narrative itself. The film tracks Cheney’s life from his college years as a drunkard who got kicked out of Yale to the present day, and it seems to me that taking such a broad approach was a mistake on McKay’s part. The truth is, Cheney’s life before the vice-presidency was not all that interesting. He married his hometown sweetheart, worked as a Congressional intern for representative Donald Rumsfeld, and held a number of positions in the Ford and Bush Senior presidencies — impressive, yes, but not exactly riveting stuff. As the movie tracks these developments, it begins to get bogged down in boredom as we await Cheney’s inevitable power play. Finally, the real drama and intrigue begin as Cheney strikes a deal with the younger Bush: he’ll be his V.P., but he doesn’t want it to be just a “nothing job” — he wants significant control of military, energy and a plethora of other governmental sectors. Bush agrees, and the proverbial game is afoot.

This happens about halfway through the film, and the ensuing action is kinetically enjoyable. We see Cheney weasel his way around both traditional vice-presidential precedents and the law itself to achieve his goals of power and control. When 9/11 happens, and the entire American government is in crisis, Cheney is calm and calculating as he realizes he’s presiding over a golden opportunity to consolidate power and capitalize on the blind faith of the American public in a time of overwhelming fear. If McKay had focused his film solely on this period in Cheney’s life without slogging through the details of his development, he could have achieved something much more enjoyable and captivating without losing an iota of the film’s importance.

Despite the occasionally sluggish narrative, “Vice” still has a major point of interest running the length of the film: the magnetic, resounding performances of its actors. As Cheney, Christian Bale is unrecognizable beneath a massive weight gain and some phenomenal prosthetics, and he plays the part with a monotonous, brooding air that adds to the semi-villainous portrait that McKay is painting.

Around him are a tremendous Amy Adams as Lynne Cheney, an uproarious Steve Carell as Donald Rumsfeld and a delightfully drawling Sam Rockwell as George W. Bush. These performances command the screen even as McKay’s script occasionally lags.

The question that really lingers after watching “Vice” is a judgement of degree: just how evil was Dick Cheney? I commend McKay for not falling into the trap of making him seem too much like a looming, sociopathic villain. Of course, there are moments when this conclusion seems imminent, such as when Cheney is urging an invasion of Iraq or condoning torture, but he never completely deserts his humanity. Interestingly, for a staunch conservative, Cheney’s most morality-saving moment comes due to gay marriage. His daughter Mary comes out to her parents as a lesbian, and after a long pause Cheney embraces her and declares, “We will always love you no matter what.” Protecting Mary soon becomes an important aspect of Cheney’s political life, and he even forgoes an attempt at running for president because he knows that opponents will go after Mary to try to destroy Cheney’s reputation with conservatives. Later, when discussing issues with George W. Bush, Cheney asserts that he won’t make any appearances in support of Bush’s stance against gay marriage, proclaiming with conviction, “It’s my daughter, and that line is drawn in concrete.”

In the end, Cheney comes out as a complicated character who clearly messed with morality and whose political decisions caused harm and cost lives. But in the final shot before the credits roll, Cheney addresses the audience and delivers a shocking, Machiavellian manifesto about his job to protect the American people. “I can feel your recriminations and your judgement,” he growls, “and I will not apologize for doing what needed to be done so your loved ones can sleep peacefully at night.”

It’s a final monologue full of solemn audacity and reluctant truth, and it leaves viewers with the clearest possible insight into Cheney’s motivations: he was doing what he believed needed to be done to keep America safe. Now it’s our turn to decide if he was right.