VOL. CLXXV NO.122
SNOW HIGH 29 LOW 5
TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2019
Students and community volunteer in Special Olympics
By Grayce gibbs The Dartmouth
Over 75 athletes gathered at the Dartmouth Skiway for the 17th annual Upper Valley Special Olympics on Jan. 26. This year, 140-plus total volunteers – over 75 of them Dartmouth students – supported the athletes. The Special Olympics hosts two main events: alpine ski races and snowshoe races, which involve 15200 meter sprints while
wearing snow shoes. Students and community members volunteering at the event helped record times, serve breakfast and lunch, escort athletes, hand out awards, cheer, and set up or take down the events. The games began with an opening ceremony that included an invocation and motivational speech from Olympic cross-country skier Dorcas Denhartog. Volunteer coordinator Kathryn Robbins ’85 said that
she likes the Special Olympics because of the opportunity for “the community [to come] together to support the wonderful athletes and the spirit of competition and teamwork that pervades the day.” “Seeing the expressions of on athletes’ faces of perseverance and joy and intense effort, their success in competing their events and their whooping it up for each SEE SPECIAL OLYMPICS PAGE 3
OPINION
PAK: HOMECOMING PAGE 4
SAMWICK: LEADERSHIP AT ROCKY PAGE 4
ARTS
REVIEW: ‘SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE’ IS VERY, VERY GOOD PAGE 7
‘INDIGENOUS RISING’ BRINGS NATIVE STORIES AND ARTISTS TO CAMPUS PAGE 8 FOLLOW US ON
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HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE
Student sues College over expulsion By Sunny Drescher The Dartmouth Staff
A lawsuit was filed in New Hampshire federal district court against the Trustees of Dartmouth College on Jan. 7, 2019, alleging the College’s “unjust” and “unlawful” expulsion of a student accused of perpetrating sexual violence against a classmate. In December 2018, a Title IX investigation concluded that in May 2018, John Doe — whose name was redacted in his court filings to protect his privacy — had nonconsensual sexual intercourse with Sally Smith — name also redacted — and accordingly violated Standard III of the College’s Standards of Conduct, which prohibits students from engaging in sexual misconduct. Doe was subsequently expelled from the College because of this finding, though he is appealing both the investigative conclusion as well as his expulsion, citing problems with the investigative process. Doe alleges that the investigation did not adequately afford him due process in that it did not fully consider potentially exculpatory evidence he sought to provide. Doe also alleges that the national and campus political and social climate regarding sexual violence influenced the investigation’s finding and the sanctions taken against him. The complaint notes recent criticism of sexual assault disciplinary proceedings in both national media and by the federal government. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and the Department of Education installed new guidelines for Title IX policy in 2017 that recommended the standard
Over 75 athletes competed in the 17th annual Special Olympics on Jan. 26 at the Dartmouth Skiway.
SEE LAWSUIT PAGE 2
First female “Odyssey” Businesses close, vacancies pend translator speaks B y Savannah eller The Dartmouth Staff
B y lorraine liu
The Dartmouth Staff
Students reading the new translation of Homer’s “Odyssey” in their Humanities 2, “The Modern Labyrinth” course had the rare opportunity of meeting the translator in real life when University of Pennsylvania classics professor Emily Wilson came to Dartmouth last Thursday. As this year’s
annual Hoffman lecturer, Wilson shared her experience as the first woman to publish a translation of Homer’s “Odyssey” into English, both during a public lecture and with students in several classes. Wilson’s translation of the “Odyssey” was published in November 2017, a fruition of her five-year contract with publishing firm W. W. Norton & Company. SEE EMILY WILSON PAGE 3
Those who appreciate d ow n t ow n H a n ove r ’s charm might be distressed this winter by the recent closures of several longtime small business staples. The Hanover Bookstore, Canoe Club restaurant, and the clothing retailers Folk and Rambler’s Way have all permanently shut their doors in the past few months, falling victim to a trend that
has made some Hanover merchants uneasy about the future. “It’s a gaping hole,” s a i d H a n ov e r t o w n manager Julia Griffin of the vacancies, “and that’s not good.” Plans for the vacancies are pending, according to Griffin. The bookstore will be divided into smaller rental spaces on the first floor and basement, while the second f loor has already been leased by
the College as an office for Tuck School of Business employees displaced by the Irving Institute expansion project. Landlord for the space Jay Campion said the bookstore closed at the end of its 10year lease. He predicted that the vacancy would most likely be filled by this summer after he completes needed repairs and updates in the building. SEE STORE CLOSURES PAGE 5
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TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2019
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
Dartmouth gear Suit alleges unjust dismissal for assault inspires Texas students FROM LAWSUIT PAGE 1
B y ANNE GEORGE The Dartmouth
Margaret Olivarez, a third-grade teacher at Copperfield Elementary School in Austin, Texas, wanted to get her elementary school students to be involved in the school district’s “College Shirt Wednesdays,” an initiative designed to frame higher education as a real possibility for underprivileged students. The Dartmouth registrar, along with more than 30 other universities, helped make this task a little easier by donating a much-needed supply of t-shirts. Olivarez said that most of her students come from low-income households and many of their parents never attended college. She said that theirs is also a community that is prone to increasing high school dropout rates, so it was a particularly important time to begin “inspiring them.” Unfortunately, Olivarez said she noticed only a few of her students were able to participate in weekly “College Shirt Wednesdays” because college apparel can be expensive and was not necessarily a priority purchase for parents who have multiple children attending the school. “I understand why,” Olivarez said. “These parents have two or three jobs, and we are a Title I school. It’s a lot of money to them, especially when they are already working to provide food and other things at home.” Title I schools are those with large concentrations of low-income students, determined by the number eligible for free or reduced lunch programs. These schools receive supplementary federal funding. Olivarez began reaching out to local Texas universities to see if they would be willing to donate some t-shirts to her classroom. She said that because of the high number of schools that agreed, she decided to contact others across the nation. “I started to get an overwhelming amount of replies,” she said. “I didn’t expect so many people to just ask, ‘What do you need?’ I began speaking to [Dartmouth registrar] Meredith Braz and she was so kind. She went as far as to make sure that the kids were getting the right sizes.” The registrar’s office typically does not field requests of this kind, but Braz said she felt strongly about what Olivarez was trying to accomplish.
“I believe it is important to have someone believe in you, and often people can identify one or more teachers who were significant in their lives and influenced them at an early stage,” Braz said. “While college may not be the best fit or end result for every child, thinking about it as a possibility will hopefully encourage them to do well in school and keep that prospect alive.” Soon, Olivarez’s project became a community one, with parents volunteering to cut and sew the adult-sized college t-shirts to fit the elementary school students. “We had a sewing machine at the school for a while,” Copperfield Elementary School principal Georgie Arenaz said. “The parents were very happy with the program.” Olivarez added that a parent told her that they would not have talked about college with their children at this age had their children not “[come] home with one of those shirts.” Arenazexplainedthat“CollegeShirt Wednesdays” is only a “springboard for teachers to begin talking to their students about colleges.” After this program gained coverage in local and national news outlets, Copperfield Elementary School has been able to organize other college planning events. “Dr. Alberto Ruiz, [the dean of the College of Education and Human Performance at Texas A&M University-Kingsville], adopted our school,” she said. “He talked to the students about the importance of a higher education. He was one of 10 children in his family and he was a first-generation college student. We had another person who came to visit us from the University of Minnesota and he was the son of migrant workers, so I really like how this story resonates with adults because they understand the big picture.” In the past, the College’s registrar’s office has donated college-themed gifts to Native American elementary school students in New Mexico, according to Braz. “Those students became our pen pals, writing to us about themselves,” she said. “We would write back and also send snapshots of Dartmouth. They loved the snow.” At Copperfield Elementary School, Olivarez said that her students will “continue to wear their Dartmouth shirts with pride.”
of evidence to be the same across disciplinary procedures at universities. These guidelines asserted that colleges should not place a lower burden of proof on the plaintiff in sexual violence cases than in other college disciplinary proceedings. Additionally, new Title IX regulations were rolled out in late 2018, emphasizing the due process rights of the accused in sexual assault cases. These new regulations signal a shift from Obama-era Title IX policies that gave more weight to the burden placed on the victims in such cases. “Dartmouth felt undue pressure from the federal government, campus student groups, the national media, and alumni donors to support female reporters by finding male responding parties responsible for committing sexual assault,” Doe said in the complaint. Per Doe’s complaint, the alleged incident occurred during Green Key weekend in May 2018. Doe was offcampus at the time and was returning to campus for the weekend. Though he stayed with other friends Thursday and Friday nights, Doe slept in Smith’s room on Saturday, his final night on campus. Doe asserts that the two of them watched a movie and engaged in consensual kissing and other sexual activity, excluding sexual intercourse. He recalled Smith leaving her room, stating that she needed to go help a friend. The next morning, Doe said he collected his belongings and left Smith’s room. That same afternoon, Smith emailed Dartmouth’s Title IX office, and the next day she met with Title IX coordinator Kristi Clemens and filed an official report. The report was subsequently relayed to the
Hanover Police Department, which then began its own investigation. In accordance with Dartmouth’s Unified Disciplinary Procedures for Sexual Assault, Dartmouth’s Title IX investigation was put on hold while police completed their evidence collection. The Hanover police cleared Dartmouth to continue with its investigation in early July 2018. Doe was notified on July 5, 2018 by director of judicial affairs Katharine Strong that he was party to an ongoing investigation based on Smith’s allegations that he had nonconsensual sexual intercourse with her. A no contact order between Doe and Smith was issued a week later. Over the course of the investigation, which lasted approximately four months, Doe and Smith were interviewed by an independent investigator. Both Doe and Smith provided text messages to the investigator, but Doe alleges in the complaint that Smith omitted or deleted several messages that provide more context for their interactions that weekend. Additionally, Doe claims that he took a polygraph test that did not indicate deception when he was asked if he had engaged in sexual intercourse with Smith during Green Key weekend, to which he responded in the negative. However, Dartmouth deemed the results of his polygraph test inadmissible to the investigation. The complaint asserts that Dartmouth’s role in deciding what constitutes evidence “negates any notion that the Investigator was independent of Dartmouth.” Furthermore, Doe alleges that he was alerted late in the investigation that Smith had provided to Hanover police the clothes she was wearing
on the night of the alleged incident. After Doe found out that Smith’s clothes were undergoing forensic testing, he asked that the Dartmouth investigation be put on hold until the release of the test results. Though the College acquiesced to this request, Doe was later notified that the results of the forensic tests would not be shared with Dartmouth and that the College’s investigation would resume. On Nov. 29, 2018, Doe was alerted that he was found responsible for violating Standard III of the Unified Disciplinary Procedures. He was then given five days to provide a statement to the sanctioning committee that would determine appropriate sanctions against him. Following Doe and Smith’s statements to the sanctioning committee and after Doe submitted a second sanctioning statement to the committee, Doe learned that he was to be expelled from the College. Doe appealed both the finding and his expulsion, citing that the investigation did not consider Smith’s omission of text messages and potential to have obscured other evidence, did not consider Doe’s polygraph test, did not consider inconsistencies in Smith’s retelling of the sequence of events and failed to follow up on any of the aforementioned alleged issues. Doe filed a formal appeal with the College on Dec. 19 and the complaint for the lawsuit was subsequently filed on Jan. 7. Proceedings in the lawsuit are ongoing and the case has been assigned to Judge Joseph N. Laplante. College spokesperson Diana Lawrence declined to comment on the lawsuit. Doe’s counsel did not return a request for comment by press time.
SNOW FALLS ON A MISTY DARTMOUTH MORNING
CORRECTIONS Correction appended (Jan. 28, 2019): This article was originally published with the headline “Dartmouth welcomes first woman to publish a translation of ‘Odyssey’.” It has been updated to reflect that Wilson’s edition is the first English translation of the ‘Odyssey’ by a woman. We welcome corrections. If you believe there is a factual error in a story, please email editor@thedartmouth.com.
PAULA KUTSCHERA/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF
After overnight snowfall, the sun shines on Baker Berry Tower and Rauner Library.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2019
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
PAGE 3
Wilson speaks about her unique translation
Seventeenth annual Special Olympics held at the Dartmouth Skiway
of her five-year contract with publishing firm W. W. Norton & Company. She said she worked with editors at Norton as well as her colleagues and students at the University of Pennsylvania for the translation process. The annual Hoffman lecture was established in the 1980s to honor James Hoffman ’82, a comparative literature major who died in a car crash shortly after graduation. Comparative literature program chair Gerd Gemünden said that the Hoffman lecture usually takes place in the fall, but this year’s lecture was pushed to winter term to accommodate students taking Humanities 2, who are currently reading the “Odyssey.” Gemünden said he was excited to bring Wilson this year. “For a translator, she got a lot of press [and] made the news in academia,” he said. “So we’re pretty thrilled that she’s coming.” According to Gemünden, the comparative literature department tries to “identify speakers whose work, in a very general sense, revolves around literature and politics” for the annual Hoffman lecture. Past lecturers have included University of Michigan American culture professor Lisa Nakamura on “Workers Without Bodies: A Feminist Critique of Labor on the Internet” and Michael Rothberg on “What Does It Mean to Inherit the Past? Holocaust Memory Through the Migrant Lens.” Gemünden added that Wilson’s lecture serves as a kickoff event for the initiation of a minor in translation studies. The lecture, which took place at the Rockefeller Center for Public Policy, lasted approximately an hour and attracted over 100 people, including both students and faculty. Gemünden said that due to the collaboration between the comparative literature department, classics department, the Leslie Center for theHumanities and the humanities sequence, students and faculty members from a wide range of disciplines attended the lecture. Wilson emphasized that she hoped to “do something different with the Odyssey than what was already available in modern English translations.” During her lecture, Wilson said she hoped to “convey some of the joy” of reading Homer. Her translation is unique in her use of iambic pentameter and choice to maintain the exact number of lines of the original poem, Wilson said.
other and hugging each other is priceless,” she added. Christy Lawrence, a community member from Springfield, N.H., attended the games for the third year in a row to watch her three grandchildren compete. She said that attending the Olympics gave her grandchildren “a challenge and the chance to get out to meet new people.” Katie Harris ’19 and Oliver Darwish ’18 were the student coordinators in charge of recruiting volunteers for the event. Alex Conway ’20 worked closely with them and will be taking over their position next year. “The environment during the Special Olympics is a little different,” Harris said. “Everyone there is supporting each other, and even if you wipe out or just don’t feel up for racing that day, everyone is cheering each other on. It’s a different environment from most sporting events.” This year’s Dartmouth volunteers included six sports teams, two fraternities and one sorority, as well as individual students.
FROM EMILY WILSON PAGE 1
“Most contemporary translations are either in prose or in free verse — they don’t have regular rhythm,” Wilson said during the lecture. “I didn’t want to do that. I wanted to do something which would feel engaging but also [be] totally metrical.” She also noted that the original text included a variety of dialects and regional variations of Greek. She wanted to reflect this variety in her translation. “I want to make sure that there are moments when the readers are surprised by the word choice,” said Wilson in the lecture. Wi l s o n a l s o s a i d s p e c i f i c translation choices added visibility to the role of slavery and women in the text. “I find it a more readable and approachable translation,” Gemünden said. “It makes the epic poem come alive in a really interesting way.” Lecture attendee Hannah Gallen ’19 said she appreciated the different light that Wilson’s work brings to the existing translations of The Odyssey. “She’s really trying to create an experience that is culturally and contextually relevant for a new generation of readers,” Gallen said. “I really admire her.” Gemünden said the program decided to invite Wilson this year because “there is certainly a political background” in Wilson’s translation. “She certainly reflects on how she wants to render the Odyssey to more contemporary readers,” he said. After a 45-minute presentation, the lecture shifted to a question and answer session in which students raised questions about Wilson’s works. Classics department chair Margaret Graver noted that she was impressed by the exchange between Wilson and the students. “It was a very lively interchange because students had responded to her work for a long time because they have to read the whole thing,” Graver said. “They had a lot to say and they were passionate about getting their questions in there.” During her time on campus, Wilson also met with classical studies professor Roberta Stewart and veteran undergraduate students to discuss Homer, and spoke as a guest lecturer in the Comparative Literature 19.01, “Translation: Theory and Practice” class. “It was great to meet everyone,” Wilson said. “I love how lively students were and how much they seemed to have these really thoughtful questions.”
FROM SPECIAL OLYMPICS PAGE 1
“I started doing the special According to director of the Olympics with my rugby team,” Upper Valley Special Games Jim Conway said. “I loved it my first year. Beattie ’76, the games were founded I thought it was so fun. I had a great in 2003 by Pete Bleyler ’61 and run time interacting with the athletes by the Dartmouth Club of the Upper and seeing a lot Valley. According to of the athletes on Beattie, they ran it “Hopefully the campus.” for a few years and Ski instructor Special Olympics then wanted to pass Sam Reed ’19 it off to a community reminds people volunteered for group. The event is the first time as a that there is so completely volunteer timer on the alpine run. much good that intermediate “A big part of can be done with the event is having slope. Reed said he so little of your the Dartmouth had seen the event community and the happen before time.” overall Upper Valley and it looked fun community come so he decided he together and show -ALEX CONWAY ’20 would volunteer. off the cooperation “Hopefully the and the fun that we Special Olympics have together when reminds people we do things that we that there is so are passionate about,” much good that can be done with Beatie said. so little of your time,” Conway According to Beattie, the Tuesday said. “Just by putting on a smile after the event the coordinating and [being] willing to be a team team will have a get-together for a player and help out can make you final meeting where they will look feel really fulfilled, and hopefully at all of the feedback to see how that spirit carries on into the rest they can improve the games for of the year.” next year.
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STAFF COLUMNIST EOWYN PAK ’21
GUEST COLUMNIST ANDREW SAMWICK
Homecoming
Leadership at Rocky
A look back to move forward.
These days, after work or on the weekends, I walk around New York City. I’ll take random turns and change course if one path looks more interesting than the one I’m on. I have no agenda, no destination — just Google Maps running in the background to guide me home. Even though I used to call this eclectic metropolis “home,” I feel like a stranger. Like a tourist in my own city. And I really am. I find myself stopping every 20 minutes just to take a picture of the landscape and towering buildings and constantly have to stop in my tracks and turn around because I was walking uptown when I needed to go downtown, all the while restraining my urge to gape at the enormity of it all and my infinitesimal existence in this expansive web of diversity, culture and people. Part of the shock comes from the stark contrast between New York and Maryland, where I live now. For the first 10 years of my life, I witnessed everything: celebrities eating at Joe’s Pizza, sex toys and other paraphernalia in shop windows and blatant racism on the streets. Starting in the fifth grade, I was transported into the sheltered bubble of suburbia, full of neatly-clipped front lawns, polite small talk and quiet, lazy Saturdays. It might as well have been a different planet. I find that I have no strong preference or dislike for either of the two. Rather, I have come to appreciate both lifestyles and look forward to meeting people of other experiences or backgrounds. However, after some walking and reminiscent reflection, I realized that living here as a child was different from how I experience it now. My siblings and I would just follow my dad around to Zagatrecommended restaurants and wealthy residential areas without so much as a hair of geographical bearing. The memories I’ve made in Manhattan are so distinctly stamped by certain moments in time or specific neighborhoods that I was taken aback when I walked from Times Square straight into Korea Town because they’re much closer in proximity than I realized. I remember summer picnics, dad’s pickup soccer games and local bands playing on the
The Center’s programs enhance the Dartmouth experience.
large expanse of grass in Rockefeller Park — what was an uncharacteristically calm and peaceful nook, overlooking the glimmering Hudson and Jersey City towers, tucked into the urban chaos of the city. After school, mom would take us to Duane Reade to pick up our daily snack, and after wolfing them down, we would wet the sand and mold ambiguous structures, squeal in delight as we chased or were chased by other kids, slide down that steep steel slide (with sand on our butts to go faster) and flick water sprouting around the bronze dodo structure. Occasionally, dad would buy us ham and cheese subs to eat while we studied the curious bronze structures of Penny Park. On special days, mom would buy us beef empanadas. On top of all that, we would garden with gentle instructors, play chess and eat rook-shaped cookies, borrow hula hoops and Monopoly from the shack, and race for the highly sought-after swings. The green, playground, shack and slide are all still here, but filled with new families and young kids. The swing set remains half-empty most times. The slide doesn’t seem as tall as it does in my memories, and the empanada place has closed down. “Wintergarden,” the once cavernous shopping center filled only with echoes, is now jam packed with luxury brands and people eager to buy, relabeled as “Brookfield Place” to denote its chic, commercialized identity. Things are different. A mix of urban development and growing up. But then there are things that haven’t changed, the landscape, to some degree of course, but also the people. Willy, my old bus driver, used to drive a little ways away just to stop at an area more convenient for my mother to pick us up. Every time I boarded the bus, he’d greet me with “Princess” and reserve a special seat in the front. Enwar, the reticent, introverted and enigmatic ticket master at the ferry docks would crack a smile with endearing eyes whenever my brother and I would prank him and cause him trouble. After years of living in Maryland, I went over to the docks just last night and found him still there. “Yes?” he said looking at me expectantly, clearly unaware of who I was. SEE PAK PAGE 6
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ISSUE
TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2019
THE DARTMOUTH OPINION
LAYOUT: Mary Winters
SUBMISSIONS: We welcome letters and guest columns. All submissions must include the author’s name and affiliation with Dartmouth
College, and should not exceed 250 words for letters or 700 words for columns. The Dartmouth reserves the right to edit all material before publication. All material submitted becomes property of The Dartmouth. Please email submissions to editor@thedartmouth.com.
In its Verbum Ultimum on Jan. 25, The Dartmouth editorial board asserted that “The [Rockefeller] Center must recommit to its original guiding mission.” The contention in the editorial is that “much of the Rockefeller Center’s identity has been constructed around the notion of ‘leadership.’” In this response, I will explain why the second of these assertions is true but the first is not. I will also argue that rather than being a detraction from the liberal arts experience at Dartmouth, leadership programs of the sort offered at the Rockefeller Center are an essential element of Dartmouth’s mission to prepare its students for “a lifetime of learning and of responsible leadership.” The editorial begins with excerpts from speeches and news articles produced at the Center’s founding 35 years ago that describe the initial vision for the Center. As the Center’s director for the last 14 of those years, I would contend that our leadership programming is consistent with those aspirations. For the purposes of argument, however, we can note that the founders didn’t just make speeches about the Center’s mission, they wrote it down. The “History of the Center” page in the “About the Center” section of the Center’s website lists the six elements of the Center’s mission, one of which is to “Develop undergraduates’ potential for leadership.” This is the mission as it was passed down to me from my predecessor, and no one has any business directing the Rockefeller Center who cannot fulfill this critical element of its student-centered mission. The editorial then claims, after listing the different purposes of the Center’s four core leadership programs, that “what ‘leadership’ means, however, is often far less clear.” A lack of clarity in communication could be a failure of the sender or the receiver, but the standard practice in both academic and journalistic settings is for the receiver to ask for that clarification. Had the editorial board asked for our definition of leadership, they would have gotten the same answer that I gave in a Dartmouth News story in 2017 featuring our leadership programs: Leadership is the ability to mobilize a group and its resources to achieve a common goal despite a variety of competing interests. The editorial board would have gotten substantively the same definition from reading a summary of a presentation I made to the Academic Affairs committee of the Alumni Council in 2011 or, for that matter, from anyone working at the Rockefeller Center to design and implement our leadership programs. The same sources shed light on the more important question of why the Rockefeller Center devotes its resources to leadership development. Quoting my remarks in the Dartmouth News story cited above: “We do not see how it is possible to improve public policy without developing leadership capacity. … It was my experience
in the year I served at the Council of Economic Advisers that the lack of subject knowledge is seldom the constraint in effecting better public policy. The binding constraint is that too few policy makers have the ability to translate knowledge into socially beneficial outcomes. That translation requires leadership.” I would pose the question to the editorial board as to whether they see the validity of this claim. To inform their thinking, they might read the discussion of climate change by governor Washington Jay Inslee, whose visit was reported by their newspaper on the same day as this editorial appeared. Quoting the governor, “The young people of this nation understand science, they know there is no debate about climate change, and they know they are the ones that will be living with the degradation of their lives … if we do not act.” The Rockefeller Center’s leadership programs cultivate the mindset and capacities to act when action is called for. That the ability to do so will make students more effective not only in mobilizing for action on climate change but in whatever their chosen field is an added benefit of these programs, not a basis for the editorial board to demean them as “vague and vocational training programs.” They have pedagogies and curricula that are described on our website and in other materials freely available at the Rockefeller Center. Our deputy director, Sadhana Hall, has even co-written a book, “Teaching Leadership: Bridging Theory and Practice,” that has been described as an “essential guidebook for faculty members who are involved in leadership education.” There is no need to wait until graduate school or early years in employment to develop leadership capacity. Quite the contrary, the public policy challenges facing our society demand otherwise. The Rockefeller Center aspires to help students develop as leaders during their time at Dartmouth, so that they graduate better prepared to make progress in the world beyond Hanover. Our success in doing so is evident in the testimony of students who have taken advantage of these opportunities. Each year, we collect their stories in the “Rocky and Me” series on our website. I invite the editorial board to read for themselves about the impact of our leadership programs on the Dartmouth experience. Samwick is the director of the Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences. The Dartmouth welcomes guest columns and letters to the editor. We request that they be the original work of the submitter. Letters should not be longer than 250 words and must include the name, location and contact information of the author. Submissions may be sent to both opinion@ thedartmouth.com and editor@thedartmouth.com. Submissions will receive a response within three business days.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2019
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
Store closures on Main Street exemplify challenging job market FROM STORE CLOSURES PAGE 1
Parking in Hanover has also at the price that’s available online, become a point of contention which is often lower,” she said. Sonya Campbell, co-owner of The space formerly occupied by for many merchants on or near the Canoe Club is currently open main street. With only one the hardware store Hanover True to rent, but Griffin said it may not parking garage and limited spaces Value, which also serves as a UPS be in use again until this summer elsewhere, employees must search ship and pack location, said the due to an expansion project to for a parking spot each morning prominence of online shopping add square footage to the back of unless the employer has rented was a challenge with which the spaces for their town would have to reconcile. the building. use, according “I think that’s going to be a big R a m b l e r ’ s “Some of the smaller t o C a m p b e l l . shift in consumer behavior that Wa y was — what I would define S h e s a i d t h at Hanover has not yet caught onto recently many l o w - yet,” she said. re placed by as more niche and w a g e w o rk e r s She said the hardware store’s Ve r m o n t creative businesses — i n H a n o v e r shipping center sees more return b a s e d c a n n o t a f f o r d packages from online retailers than c o m p a n y just can’t possibly rent the extra expense they see packages going out with F a r m h o u s e the spaces.” each mor ning, locally-bought goods. Pottery. emphasizing Hanover senior planner Vicki Hanover that “no service Smith acknowledged that the Chamber of -JULIA GRIFFIN, HANOVER worker in this empty spaces did not inspire Commerce TOWN MANAGER town ... should confidence for retail customers in president pay for parking.” Hanover. T r a c y G e t t i n g “What’s your impression of the Hutchins said a n d k e e p i n g downtown when you have empty she believes the recent changeover does not em ployees i s a s tru g g le fo r spaces?” she said. Hanover businesses are working signal an economic downturn in Campbell, who says commute time, parking and the state’s overall collectively to combat some of Hanover. “You’ll see a lot of turnover all low unemployment rate are factors these fears, however. According at once, and then things will be that make service jobs hard to to Hutchins, the Chamber of fill. Hutchins Commerce takes quiet for a while,” she said. a n a c t i ve ro l e i n While each of the recent agreed, saying “I’m staying promoting business closures have individual causes the challenging in downtown by not linked to economic trends in job market does positive. I think providing information the town, the difficulty of doing more to stifle things are going to prospective business in Hanover has increased small business to change, and businesses and hosting in the past decade, according to g r o w t h i n Hanover than people are going events meant to boost Griffin’s estimation. o t h e r to start to want sales during slower Griffin noted that Hanover rents a n y times of the year. have become prohibitively high for influence. to come in stores She said Restaurant some stores with more specialized t h a t f i n d i n g and shop and look We e k , i n w h i c h goods. local restaurants “Some of the smaller — what e m p l o y e e s at things.” collaborate to offer I would define as more niche and h a s b e c o m e prefixed menus, and creative businesses — just can’t “ m o r e o f a the shopping event possibly rent the spaces,” Griffin limiting factor -LISA NEWCITY, for doing well Celebrate the Season said. both happen during Lisa Newcity, manager at Main than anything MANAGER AT MAIN t h e d ro u g h t m o s t Street Kitchens, has seen this e l s e a t t h i s STREET KITCHENS H a n ove r r e t a i l e r s trend produce what she sees as point” for local experience over the exorbitant rent and lease prices businesses. M a n y College’s winter break. more appropriate for Boston and New York than a small town with downtown stores are also facing Hutchins said the events are any decreased revenue due to online effort to mitigate the break’s effect limited consumer traffic. shopping, according on local business. “They’re to Griffin. She John Haas, co-owner of Lemon making it added that college Tree Gifts, said his fear was that impossible for “They’re making it students especially Hanover might become less a small business impossible for small h a v e c h o s e n t o town for commerce and more a owners to hold business owners to m ove aw ay f ro m corporate center. He said he will their spaces in buying local, instead be watching how the empty spaces the town,” she hold their spaces in o r d e r i n g o n l i n e are filled in the coming year. said. the town.” and having goods “We’re hoping those are going Campion, delivered on campus. to be filled with businesses and not however, said T h e c o nve n i e n c e just office spaces,” Haas said. t h e h i g h e r -LISA NEWCITY, and lower prices of Despite the changing landscape rates reflect MANAGER AT MAIN online shopping are of commerce in downtown, Hanover’s major motivators, merchants like Newcity remain d r aw a s a n STREET KITCHENS Griffin said. hopeful. academic and “Many of the “I’m staying positive,” she said. cultural hub students when they shop in a “I think things are going to change, in the Upper Valley. “I think the rents are higher downtown store will see an item, and people are going to start to in Hanover, and they should be take a picture, find that item online want to come in stores and shop and ask the retailer to sell it to them and look at things.” higher in Hanover,” he said.
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DARTMOUTHEVENTS
THE DARTMOUTH EVENTS
LOWER STANDARDS
TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2019
CECILIA MORIN ’21
TODAY 4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Lecture: “All of Yesterday’s Tomorrows: Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky and the Time-Travel Narra,” with Reed Johnson, sponsored by the Russian Department
4:45 p.m. - 6:45 p.m.
Film: “ON EXILE,” on listening and the interpersonal as a primary mode of humanization. Followed by a talk with José Carlos Teixeira, a visual artist, filmmaker and researcher
TOMORROW 12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Hood Highlights Tour, Hood Museum of Art
6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m
Pre-show discussion for “Indigenous Rising,” with Native American Studies professor Bruce Duthu and Hood Museum associate curator of Native American Art Jami Powell, Top of the Hop, Hopkins Center for the Arts
7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m
Spoken Word Performance: “Indigenous Rising: An Evening of NextGen Native Artists,” guest-curated by arts activist Andre Bouchard, Bentley Theater, Hopkins Center for the Arts
FROM PAK PAGE 4
“Do you remember me?” I ask with a smile. His eyes briefly squint in confusion, then widen as he recalls. Through the small ticket opening, I extend my hand and he takes it, greeting me warmly, asking how I’ve been doing and marveling at my height. “Say hello to your brother and mama for me,” he says, as I leave for home, already too late. So on my late night walks I reminisce with bitter-sweet nostalgia, trapped in a liminal space where things seem both new and old at the same time. It’s unsettling, but I’d like to stay here for a bit longer. I used to hold my mom’s hand while window shopping on Madison Ave,
and now, I walk alone at night. I’d run with my dad across station platforms to make transfers, and now, I hurriedly fumble with my iPhone, making sure I’m on the right route. No longer a young child, but a working young adult, I’ll make new memories that will never take the place of old ones, but they will characterize my experience here. And it’s a part of growing up: looking back to see how far you’ve come since and taking in the changes one nostalgic memory at a time. But no matter what, I know that each time I come back, I’ll look upon my memories with the same fondness, grateful to have New York City as my childhood home.
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TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2019
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THE DARTMOUTH ARTS
Review: ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ is very, very good B y Sebastian Wurzrainer The Dartmouth Staff
Let’s begin this review with the following two statements: 1. SpiderMan was the first superhero to whom I was introduced. 2. “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” is hands down the best Spider-Man film ever made. Full stop. No qualifications. I mention these two things in conjunction because even though they initially appear to be unrelated, they are, in fact, intrinsically linked. I never read comics as a child, and when I finally did find myself immersed in the world of superheroes, my favorite was always Batman thanks to Tim Burton’s bizarre, stylish 1989 film adaptation. Nevertheless, my first proper experience with anything superhero related was watching Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man 2” at the impressionable age of 7 or 8. Thus, even to this day, I have a special fondness for everyone’s favorite web-slinger. At the same time, I’ve always felt myself to be a little out-of-synch with the general critical consensus in regard to the various cinematic iterations of the character. Fans view Sam Raimi’s first two films as masterpieces; I think they’re fairly decent. Conversely, I’ve always thought that the much-maligned “Spider-Man 3” was a smidge underrated. I’ve never understood why Mark Webb’s two “Amazing Spider-Man” reboot films encountered such vitriol. And while
everyone was gushing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s recent “SpiderMan: Homecoming,” all I could think was, “Eh … that was pretty good, I guess.” The point is that I’ve always had some strange, ephemeral idea in my head about what the perfect SpiderMan movie might look like, and yet I’ve never seen it fully realized. It’s the number one reason why I anticipate every new film featuring the webcrawler, and why I tend to exit the theater a tad disappointed even when I had an overall positive experience. The Raimi trilogy, while sincere, was always a little too goofy, the Webb films a little too “hip” and “edgy,” and “Spider-Man: Homecoming” just felt too chained to the superstructure of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, unable to break free and fully spread its wings. I know that for many fans, at least one of these iterations has already captured the perfect blend of humor, pathos and zaniness; just not for me … until now! “Spider-Man: Into the SpiderVerse” is the perfect Spider-Man film that I didn’t even know I wanted. Moreover, it couldn’t exist conceptually without all the preceding films, thereby making all the trials and tribulations up until this point entirely worthwhile. The film starts off with the familiar groundwork already in place. Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, has been saving New York for at least a few years after having been given superpowers by
a radioactive spider. In his most recent crime-fighting foray, he tries to stop a crime lord, the Kingpin, from using a particle accelerator to gain access to parallel universes. In the process, Parker dies but passes on the baton to Miles Morales, an Afro-Latino teenager who has also just been bitten by a radioactive spider (the film sort of glosses over the odd coincidence of both Parker and Morales being bitten by these spiders, which is honestly fine). Much to everyone’s surprise, though, the particle accelerator has essentially vacuumed up Spider-People from five other dimensions and plopped them into Miles’ universe. Among them are the flabby, failed Peter B. Parker, the standoffish Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman, the anime-inspired, robot-wielding Peni Parker, the 1930s detective-esque Spider-Man Noir, and the wisecracking Looney Tunes-inspired pig known as Spider-Ham (alias for Peter Porker). Together, all six of these heroes must work together to stop Kingpin and simultaneously return home to their respective dimensions. I apologize for having to spend so much time on a lengthy plot description, but as you can see, it’s a very strange premise. Indeed, I’ve haven’t even mentioned the Kingpin’s motivation, the half-dozen prominent henchmen at his disposal, the entire subplot involving Miles’ parents and uncle, the backstory for each of the alternate universe Spider-Folk and so
on. When examined from a bird’s eyeview, this film looks like it compressed 60-plus years of comic book history and lore and then regurgitated it into a two-hour package. Yet it never feels overwhelming or overburdened. The script is air-tight, fluidly incorporating a dozen major characters, various subplots and the distinct tonal and stylistic approaches incumbent with each of the heroes. The film is produced by Phil Lord ’97 and Chris Miller ’97, with Lord also co-writing the screenplay. In that regard, “Into the Spider-Verse” bears remarkable similarities to Lord and Miller’s “The Lego Movie”; both are fast, charming and frenetically funny, but also work not only because they have an emotional center, but because that emotional center is woven so deeply into the very fabric of the narrative. For some storytellers, the actual heart and soul of the tale often feels like a dressing or a spice; it’s a nice little addition, but not imperative. Yet in both of these films, Lord, Miller and their collaboratives have managed to craft narratives that would collapse without that heart. In the case of “Into the Spider-Verse,” they latch onto the most painful and relevant message of the Spider-Man mythos. All of these heroes haven’t just experienced great tragedy, but in one way or another, they are each partially responsible for that tragedy. As a narrative device, that adds a degree of nuance to the
characters and their actions that you don’t usually see in this kind of film. And it’s made all the more effective by some genuinely impressive voiceacting. In particular, Shameik Moore’s vocal vulnerability makes Miles the most engaging protagonist we’ve ever had in a Spider-Man film. But enough with themes, characters and all that nonsense! Let’s talk about the fun, superficial stuff — like the animation. I can honestly say that I’ve never seen anything that looks quite like the animation in this film. It’s colorful, dynamic and absolutely spectacular. The music is unique and complementary. The editing is tight and flowing, basically everything works. Are there flaws? I’m sure there are, but I’m a little too elated right now to be bothered with them. For me, the tell-tale sign that you’ve just had a remarkably fun viewing experience is when you internally groan with frustration as the credits roll. Not because the ending is bad, but because you just want to spend a little more time with these characters in this world (though, admittedly, you might also be groaning because the Spaulding Theater seats are oddly uncomfortable). “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” is proof positive that you don’t need to end with sequel bait to get audiences excited about a followup. After all, a great movie on its own terms is basically sequel bait hiding in plain sight.
New artist-in-residence Emily Jacir explores Palestinian narratives B y Courtney McKee The Dartmouth
The Studio Art department is hosting a new Artist-in-Residence for the winter term. Emily Jacir is a conceptual artist who works in a range of mediums, from photog raphy to sculpture to installation. “What I find most striking about her work is the breadth of her practice, the rigor with which she approaches all of those forms,” said studio art professor Gerald Auten. Auten has been running the Artist-in-Residence program for 25 years. Beginning in 1932, Dartmouth has given artists such as Josè Clemente Orozco and Frank Stella a home in which to focus on new projects with no expectation to teach, as well as to interact with the student body. “Relationships with residents happen because students want to get to know them,” Auten said. “The resident will usually establish a relationship with around five students and these relationships continue throughout their lives; the artist becomes like a mentor to the student.”
Each resident artist is chosen by a committee of nine faculty members of the studio art department. Jacir, who was born in Bethlehem but splits her time between Rome in Italy and Ramallah in Palestine, seemed a fitting choice for the program, which seeks to expose students to diverse perspectives. “We hadn’t had someone like her for quite a while,” Auten said. Jacir’s exhibition, currently in display in the Jaffe-Friede Gallery in the Hopkins Center, is entitled “Where We Come From.” It consists of a series of photographs from 2000 and 2001, taken in response to restrictions placed by the Israeli government on the free movement of Palestinians around Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. “People were unable to reach e a ch o t h e r a ny m o re, ” Ja c i r explained in an interview with The Dartmouth. “The exhibition came out of a desire to have a conversation across borders with each other, as Palestinians.” Jacir, protected by her American c i t i z e n s h i p, a s k e d a f f e c t e d Palestinians one question: “If I could do anything for you, anywhere in Palestine, what
would it be?” The photos show here that raise narratives about her completion of these requests, the world beyond Dartmouth.” with most people asking to live Indeed, Jacir’s work is largely vicariously through her as she concerned with revealing hidden spends time with the families they and forgotten nar ratives. It are not allowed to visit. recognizes how much of the “My favorite request came from world can be explained through a girl named these narratives H a n n a w h o “The exhibition came and how much asked me to go history resides out of a desire to have to Haifa where in a single her family came a conversation across story. Her work from and play borders with each reminds viewers soccer with the that conf licts first Palestinian other, as Palestinians.” are not just the kid I saw,” Jacir chess matches said. of governments -EMILY JACIR, ARTIST IN Students but that they present at the RESIDENCE materialize at exhibit opening the smallest o n Tu e s d a y levels — the were struck by the casual intimacy individual and the home. of the photographs. Jacir’s previous exhibits include “I like how her photos show a “Europa” at the Irish Museum of fulfillment of promises; it gives Modern Art in 2016, a hundred them a really warm quality,” Emma years after the 1916 Easter Rising. Dunleavy ’22 said. “They’re very “Europa was an accumulation of personal.” research about the shared heritage Others expressed gratitude that between Palestine and Ireland,” Dartmouth is supporting artists Jacir said. “I was interested in like Jacir. excavating that further, through “Her work is very interesting,” the lens of keeping time in public Farid Djamalov ’21 said. “I’m happy space.” that the college is bringing artists Both states share the experience
of being under an occupying power and both are “connected by i m p e r i a l i s m a n d s e t t l e r colonialism,” Jacir explained in her opening talk on Jan. 15 at the Loew Auditorium. She gave an example of one such parallel. In 1916, the British government ruled that Dublin Mean Time, 25 minutes behind London, was inconvenient for telecommunications and that Ireland would operate under Greenwich Mean Time. A year later in 1917, upon capturing Jerusalem, the British demolished a clock tower displaying Ottoman time after deciding it to be an eyesore. The recounting of these small yet significant moments in histor y demonstrates the fastidiousness of Jacir’s research. “She is so engaged with contemporary culture,” Auten said. Jacir’s intellect, coupled with her poetic sensibilities, have made her an important figure in the art world. “I want as many students as possible to meet her,” Auten said. “I am thrilled if a resident changes even three students’ lives, and how they think about the world.”
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TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2019
THE DARTMOUTH ARTS
‘Indigenous Rising’ brings Native stories and artists to campus B y Madison Wilson The Dartmouth Staff
In its 250th year, how can Dartmouth recognize the failures of the past while celebrating its diverse present and future? “Indigenous Rising: An Evening of NextGen Native Artists,” an upcoming event at the Hopkins Center for the Arts featuring three Native American artists, is attempting to do just that and represent more Native artists. The three artists — Ronee Penoi, Storme Webber and Scotti Clifford and Spirits Cry — will bring groundbreaking performance pieces of spoken word, music and theater. The Hop has pushed for more indigenous representation in art this year, featuring films like “Dawnland,” about Native American children in foster homes, and “Chamisso’s Shadow” about native Alaskans, among others. Andre Bouchard, a representative for Native artists, organized both the upcoming “Indigenous Rising” event as well as “Looking for Tiger Lily” with Native artist Anthony Hudson last spring. Bouchard, who is from the west coast and of Ojibwe and Kootenai descent, organized and curated next week’s event. He represents Native artists across mediums to promote Native expression and creativity.
“As Native American people in the United States, there are so many stories about us by people who have very little knowledge about us,” Bouchard said. “And so there’s quite a few misconceptions. The grand idea is that we are out here replacing the stories about us with our own stories.” Bouchard also mentioned that the Hop has been very influential in promoting Native voices. “My work with the Hopkins Center has been an important extension of [expanding Native representation in the arts],” he said. “The Hopkins Center itself has been really on the national forefront of giving opportunity for indigenous performing artists to work, and they have made a significant commitment and a significant impact on the field through their leadership.” Bouchard said that he believes these artists are generous with their work and are interested in cultivating relationships with other artists and even students, and is excited that the Hop will be featuring all three in the same event. After Hudson’s performance last spring, Bouchard found that the community is receptive to less traditional forms of Native representation and hopes that “Indigenous Rising” will challenge
the audience. According to Bouchard, each of the artists in “Indigenous Rising” will incorporate some element of the blues in their work. Scotti Clifford and Spirits Cry, a rock and blues group from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, have shared the stage with acts like Dave Matthews Band and have performed across the country. The trio are very talented, Bouchard said, and see their music as a modern day “buffalo hunt.” Bouchard said that Ronee Penoi is a longtime theater veteran who graduated from Princeton and then went on to work in Washington D.C. According to Bouchard, Penoi uses musical theater to explore the idea of generational trauma in Native culture. Penoi will be presenting Indian School Project, a performance piece that will explore the traumatic history of the Carlisle Indian School through song and satire. Penoi produces what Bouchard calls “complicated, cutting-edge theater.” “In all of my travels I’ve never encountered someone who is using the performing arts — musical theater, for that matter — to explore these ideas around generational trauma,” Bouchard said. The final artist, Storme Webber, will be bringing her unique brand of
PHOTO COURTESY OF SCOTTI CLIFFORD AND SPIRITS CRY
Scotti Clifford and Spirits Cry will perform rock and blues music at the event on Wednesday evening.
PHOTO COURTESY OF STORME WEBBER
Storme Webber will be performing spoken word and poetry.
performance art, poetry and spoken word to “Indigenous Rising.” The Two-Spirit artist will bring her unique perspective as a Native and Black artist to a groundbreaking performance piece. Her work crosses genres and includes themes of gender, race, sexuality and identity, among others, and was recently featured in a solo show at the Fyre Art Museum in Seattle. She will be bringing a version of that exhibition to “Indigenous Rising.” “I’m hoping that it will make space for people to reflect upon the histories of their home families, particularly indigenous and urban native histories,” Webber said. Her performance at the Hop will examines themes of social history and memoir through an urban native perspective, Webber said. The work will include archival photography and audio recordings, and draws inspiration from her hometown of Seattle, she said. “I want people to think about the stories that are missing from our grand narrative of this country and elevate those stories … who is controlling the narrative is really powerful,” she added. “I hope that this work causes us to reflect upon
that and reclaim those stories that are absent from our home people, and see those places where we can connect as working people or marginalized people in any sort of way.” “Indigenous Rising” promises to be a fascinating and challenging look at Native identity and artistry. “It’s an exciting time to be indigenous. It really is …” Bouchard said. “[These artists are] a part of an emerging group of people that is breaking ground. They’re finding opportunities that have not been available to them before, and it’s only my hope that this continues, and even more opportunities will be available to the next generation. It’s my hope that young folk coming up will be able to see people like themselves on stage.” “Indigenous Rising” shows at the Bentley Theater this coming Wednesday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. and at 9:30 p.m. There will also be a pre-show discussion with Andre Bouchard and Native American studies professor Bruce Duthu at the Top of the Hop at 6 p.m. and a post-show discussion with the three artists following the first show at 8:30 p.m.