The Dartmouth 01/29/2021

VOL. CLXXVII NO. 5

FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 2021

HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE

BVAC donor paid Jeffrey Epstein Winter Carnival to $158 million, report finds last three weeks, offer virtual, in-person events B y Caitlin Mccarthy The Dartmouth Staff

This article was originally published on Jan. 28, 2021.

NIK MEDRANO/THE DARTMOUTH

B y Emily Lu The Dartmouth Staff

This article was originally published on Jan. 26, 2021.

Leon Black ’73, longtime donor to the College and namesake of the Black Family Visual Arts Center, paid convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein more than $150 million from 2012 to 2017, according to an internal review ordered by the board of the private equity firm Apollo Global Management. Black, who co-founded Apollo and currently serves as its chief executive and chairman, will step down as CEO before July, according to The New York Times.

The review was ordered in October after an earlier New York Times report revealed that Black had paid Epstein at least $50 million in the years after Epstein first pleaded guilty to charges of sex crimes in 2008. Black, who served on Dartmouth’s Board of Trustees from 2002 until 2011, has donated to the

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College both personally and through his family foundation. In addition to his $48 million donation for BVAC, his gifts have supported endowed professorships in the English and Jewish Studies departments.

According to College spokesperson Diana Lawrence, there are currently no plans to change BVAC’s name.

“To date, we are aware of no allegations by anyone in law enforcement, the media or in Apollo’s report as described in The New York Times and Wall Street Journal that Leon Black engaged in any of Epstein’s reprehensible behavior,” Lawrence wrote. “Given what we know at the moment, there has been no discussion about removing the Black family name from the Visual Arts Center.”

Lawrence added that the College “forcefully and unequivocally” condemned Epstein and noted that Black has stated he is “appalled by Epstein and deeply regrets his involvement with him.”

The independent law firm conducting the review found no evidence that Black

played a role in Epstein’s criminal activities, which included federal sex-trafficking charges involving teenage girls. However, The New York Times reported that Black’s $158 million in payments to Epstein caused tension between the founders of Apollo — one of whom believed that Black should resign immediately to mitigate reputational damage to the firm — leading to Black’s decision to retire as CEO. Business ties between Black and Epstein spanned several decades, as Black made Epstein an original trustee of the Leon and Debra Black Family foundation in 1997. Epstein served as a director of the Black Family foundation until 2007, a spokesperson for Black told The Dartmouth in October, though he “played no operational role.”

The College’s senior vice president of advancement Robert Lasher wrote to The Dartmouth on Sept. 24 that the College had found no evidence that Epstein “played a role in any gift to Dartmouth.”

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OPINION

MEI: THE MYTH OF THE COLLEGE EXPERIENCE PAGE 4

HARRISON: THE END OF AN ERA PAGE 4

VERBUM ULTIMUM: PHYSICALLY UNFIT PAGE 4

MIRROR

A NEW DAY IN WASHINGTON: INAUGURATION DAY AT THE CAPITAL

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This year’s carnival, themed “LevelUp: Carnival Reloaded,” will feature specific video game franchises and also serve as “an homage to general video gaming,” including arcade, phone and computer games, according to Wagner.

“Every year we try and make the theme reflect the times if possible,” Wagner said, alluding to the many students experiencing Dartmouth virtually this year.

With regard to in-person events, associate director for student involvement and Winter Carnival council adviser David Pack said that students will have to sign up for events ahead of time in order to abide by

4U Bubble Tea brings popular drink to Main Street Hanover

MADDIE DOERR/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

CROSSWORD

SLOAN: DARTMOUTH TRADITIONS

Despite seeing some changes this season, Dartmouth’s Winter Carnival isn’t going anywhere.

Instead of a single-weekend event, the carnival will run from Feb. 5 until Feb. 21.

Programming this year will take place over three weekends, with additional events scheduled during weekdays. The longer timeframe will allow traditional events like the ice sculpture contest and human dog sled races to take place over multiple days, in order to keep group sizes small.

“We can space it out but still have as many people participate as possible over the duration of the carnival,” Winter Carnival council chair Colton Wagner ’21 said.

B y Sydney Wuu The Dartmouth Staff

This article was originally published on Jan. 22, 2021.

To the delight of many students in Hanover, 4U Bubble Tea on Main Street opened for business on Jan. 16.

Shop owner Janice Zheng said she came to Hanover to fill a bubble tea void.

Many Dartmouth students are excited that the bubble tea shop — which offers everything from traditional tapioca boba and milk teas to other Asian snacks — brings a favorite food item and social activity to Hanover.

“I created my own name for my store because I really wanted to introduce boba to everybody,” Zheng said. “I love boba.

Every time I go to Massachusetts or New York, the first thing I do is look for the boba. I created the name ‘4U,’ as in I do it ‘for you.’”

Zheng ran a gas station in White River Junction for six years before venturing to Hanover. Previously, she owned a restaurant in New York City that served a small selection of bubble tea.

“There are tons of bubble tea [shops] in New York City, and when I [came] here about seven or eight years ago, I wondered why there was no bubble tea shop around the Upper Valley,” Zheng said. “I [was] just too busy with my gas

station business, so I just didn’t have time to think about it.”

Originally from Fujian, China, Zheng described opening a new shop in the midst of COVID-19 as an “opportunity.”

“Before COVID-19, I really could not find any affordable space for rent on Main Street,” she said. “A few months ago, I finally found one that is actually perfect for the size that I was seeking and close to campus.”

The shop replaces My Brigadeiro, which moved to a more prominent Main Street location earlier this year.

Zheng’s bubble tea shop — which allows customers to order online or in person — has attracted many students within its opening days. She described business as going “very well” thus far, with Thai milk tea, taro milk tea and brown sugar fresh milk tea among the most popular orders.

“They love it. I already have many returning customers,” Zheng said.

4U Bubble Tea offers drinks including traditional hot and iced milk teas, popping bubble teas, milkshakes and flavored slushes. In addition, the store carries an assortment of imported snacks, including candies and mochi from Japan, Korea and Taiwan. The store is also offering a promotion of 10% off for the first order any customer places online.

May Fahrenthold ’22, who visited 4U

Bubble Tea for the first time this week, ordered a rose milk tea with tapioca pearls for herself and a honeydew milk tea for her boyfriend.

“We both liked them a lot,” Fahrenthold said. “I definitely think the store had a really cute atmosphere when I went to pick up my order.”

She added that she is “really excited” to sit in the shop and potentially do homework after the pandemic.

“It is distinctly a boba shop vibe,” Fahrenthold said. “If you were going to go study in Starbucks, why not go study and have boba at [4U Bubble Tea]?”

Lauren Hwang ’24, who said she has enjoyed many boba teas in the past, tried the shop’s taro milk tea.

“The drink itself was very sweet with earthy tones, and the taro flavor was pretty strong, but not overwhelming,” Hwang said. She noted the drink was a bit too sweet for her but said that next time, she would check out other flavors and perhaps ask for a lower level of sweetness.

Customers can request variations such as “half sweet.”

Judy Guo ’24, who has lived in Hanover all her life, recently tried 4U Bubble Tea’s Thai tea and mango tea, both top sellers.

“Both drinks were super refreshing,” she said. “The bobas had great texture, the cat lids were so cute and the drinks

gathering restrictions.

The Winter Carnival council includes students both on and off campus, according to Pack. After the theme was announced, Pack added, more students joined in response to a second call for new members.

One of these students is Alex Yusen ’21, who is working on “video and virtual gaming opportunities” for the event, he wrote in an email. He added that after finding out the theme, he wanted to participate, since he is active as a co-leader in the Computer Gaming Association and the Super Smash Bros. club at Dartmouth.

Yusen wrote that some of these games and events will be held both virtually and in person, and others will be entirely online. Yusen added that these events will likely be “ongoing” rather than hosted one time.

Wagner said that the council has been looking at using social media more actively, potentially posting poll questions or short videos to help people “interact and feel the various aspects of Winter Carnival.”

One notable change to this year’s carnival is the traditional snow sculpture on the Green. Instead of the typical single sculpture piece, three teams of students — one per class, with the ’22s and ’24s working together due to fewer local students in these classes — will construct three separate snow sculptures.

“The idea was to have people more spread out,” snow sculpture chair Ethan Goldman ’22 said.

Each team will design its own sculpture fitting the theme. Over the next few weekends, participants will pack frames with snow to make three eight-foot cubes — one for each team — and then will work to carve them.

Participants can sign up to help work on the sculpture outside, and there will be a limit on the number of people constructing the snow sculptures at any given time. Off-campus students are not allowed to help build the sculpture.

While the opening ceremony is still being planned, Wagner mentioned that it may be moved to the Green from its usual location in Collis Common Ground, which currently has a capacity of 25 people.

One notable absence from the event will be the polar bear plunge, an event that takes place at Occom Pond. Pack said that the event is not conducive to mask-wearing and social distancing.

Another event missing will be the varsity ski team competition, as Dartmouth’s ski teams are not competing this term. However, the Dartmouth Skiway is still open, and Pack noted that there are still plans to give students a free lift ticket to be used during the duration of the carnival. He added that there will have to be some planning to spread out the amount of students using the free lift ticket each day.

themselves had the perfect ratio of ice to liquid.”

Whether patrons order online or in person, all customers must pick up their drinks from the store, as the business does not currently offer delivery.

Zheng said that the shop is not currently planning to offer delivery or participate in the online ordering service Snackpass in the future because they chose an address close to campus so that it would be convenient for student customers.

Jimmy Nguyen ’21, however, said he thinks any restaurant on Main Street should include delivery options, especially amid COVID-19, “partly because it’s winter and students are lazy, but also because it’s the safest option.”

Following the closure of Swirl and Pearl — which offered bubble tea — last summer, Guo added 4U Bubble Tea will bring “more diversity to Hanover.”

Nguyen grew up with “fairly large” Vietnamese and Chinese populations and plenty of boba shops in his hometown in Mesa, Arizona. He said he is “definitely looking forward” to having 4U Bubble Tea open in the area.

“Boba is something I got regularly with my family,” Nguyen said. “It’s something that is necessary in my opinion. When quarantine lifts, I’ll definitely be going and inviting friends to join me as well.”

PAGE 2

FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 2021

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

Rep. Ann McLane Kuster ’78 on the storming of the U.S. Capitol B y Kyle Mullins

couple of minutes, the Capitol police would announce new developments.

They told us that the mob was coming, This article was originally published on Jan. then they told us that the mob had 21, 2021. breached the Capitol and then they told us that the mob was in the rotunda, which The storming of the U.S. Capitol on is not far from where we were. They told Jan. 6 by a mob attempting to overturn us that tear gas had been used — we the results of the 2020 election shocked didn’t know if it was by the police or by the world, led to the deaths of five people the rioters — and that we would need and threatened the safety of legislators, to take the — they’re called hoods, it’s staff, reporters and Capitol security a gas mask — out from underneath the personnel. seats and be prepared to put that on.

Since then, the House impeached And at that point, that was when former President Donald Trump for it really became terrifying. There was inciting the insurrection, leading to a pounding on the door below us. By Senate trial that will overlap with the early then, all the people on the floor of the days of President Joe Biden’s tenure. Rep. House had been evacuated. The police Ann McLane Kuster ’78, D-N.H., whose were yelling at us, “Get down, get down, district contains Hanover and the Upper get down.” So we were trying to hide Valley, was in the House chamber when below the railing of the balcony, and I the Capitol was breached. Kuster spoke was trying to get my colleagues to safety with The Dartmouth on Jan. 15 about and out of the line of fire if the first her experience during the attack, why people through the door had had semishe voted to impeach Trump a second automatic weapons. That’s what I was time and what she most focused on — sees as the lasting “It could have been a I was terrified that ramifications of we were all going mass casualty event, these events. to die in a mass Where were you with anywhere from a casualty event. on Jan. 6 when dozen casualties up to the Capitol was How were you stormed, and what 100. If it had been five feeling at this was that time minutes earlier, there moment? period like for you? would have been 100 AK: It turns out it’s AK: It all started people on the floor of part of the process out very, very the House.” of dealing with peacefully. Vice the trauma to tell President Mike the story over and Pe n c e w a s i n -REP. ANN MCLANE over. Although, I’m the chair, he was driving in the car KUSTER ’78, D-N.H. presiding, and with my husband, Speaker Nancy and I don’t think Pelosi was on the it’s easy for him to dais with him. And we just started hear it over and over. through the process alphabetically going So anyway, we ducked behind the through the states, Alabama, Alaska. railing. And then, at that point, the police We got to Arizona, and we knew there said “Go, go, go, go.” And we had to run was going to be an objection. Sen. Ted all the way across the balcony. We were Cruz, R-Texas, made the objection, and able to exit the chamber and get across we started the debate over the election a short hallway to a bank of elevators, results from Arizona. And you know, it and that was another moment of terror, was sort of droning on, but I remember because I thought that the elevator doors very clearly Vice President Pence, his might open — we could hear the crowd voice being very calming. I thought: in the hall, we knew that something “There’s an end in sight to the Trump terrible was happening and I thought administration, and then we would that either somebody might burst into resume normalcy,” — that was what the elevator or that they might shoot us was going through my head. in the elevator. And then we got to the I don’t have all the timeline down, level many levels below the Capitol and but during the debate on Arizona I ran. I can’t tell you where we ended up, actually went to the ladies’ room and but we ran down tunnels and hallways had a conversation with some journalists until we got to the secure undisclosed about how the crowd was really building location where we were kept for the next outside. Shortly after I got back to five hours. my seat, we were locked down in the It was terrifying. And the group balcony in the gallery. The Capitol right behind me, it was even worse for police locked the doors so that there was them, because I got out of the chamber no ingress or egress from the balcony moments — not minutes, but seconds at that point. Then, we heard that Vice — before the shot rang out when that President Pence had been pulled from woman was killed, and my colleagues the Senate chamber. Immediately after right behind me got pinned down there. that, Speaker Pelosi was pulled from our Because, by then, the mob had made its chamber by her security detail. way up to the third floor and was in the So we knew that there was something hallway, and they couldn’t evacuate to very serious that was happening, but those elevators, so they had to lock those we couldn’t see anything: There are no doors. windows, so we didn’t have any sense of What I’ve now realized, piecing the size of the mob, or the intensity of together the timeline and seeing the the mob and of the attack. Then, every video, was that it was a very, very close The Dartmouth Staff

call. It could have been a mass casualty event, with anywhere from a dozen casualties up to 100. If it had been five minutes earlier, there would have been 100 people on the floor of the House.

I know that you can’t talk much about the bunker, but what was it like being there after all of this happened?

AK: As soon as I got there, I was able to talk to my family, both my sons and my husband, and just reassure them that I was safe. They were terrified too; they were watching on television. And then, after those phone calls, I looked around and realized that I happened to be sitting at a table near a group of Republican members who were not wearing their masks. And I was so surprised by it that I turned to the member next to me and I said, “Oh, here, I have an extra mask, would you like a mask?” And he said to me, “No, I can’t breathe,” which, you know, has its own implications.

So I went and got a Republican colleague to try to convince this group to wear masks. And then, you’ve probably seen the video of my colleague Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., who was trying to offer masks to them — but they refused. So then I knew it wasn’t going to be safe in this room. As a result of this exposure, at least four or five of my colleagues have gotten COVID, two of their spouses have gotten COVID. And as a result of my exposure, I wasn’t able to go back to D.C. this week. I had to get tested and stay home. I actually didn’t get the negative test until Wednesday night.

It’s the threat from within and the threats from without — we had double jeopardy that day. And the hardest part to deal with is my colleagues. Some of them are at a minimum complicit, and some of them, I believe it will be shown and demonstrated that they were inciting the violence and in collusion with the criminal elements — the domestic terrorists that attacked the symbol of our democracy that day.

You believe that some of your Republican colleagues were in touch with or connected with the protests themselves?

AK: Absolutely. The protesters have said that themselves. They’ve named our colleagues, and we had colleagues that spoke at the rally where the president incited the violence, and their language incited violence. There are also reports.

I think this needs further investigation, but a staffer of mine saw a member of Congress giving a tour of the Capitol the day before, on Jan. 5. She remarked on it, because, number one, they weren’t wearing masks, but number two, there are no tours. There had been no tours of the Capitol since we’ve been locked down for COVID since March.

The president has now been impeached due to the attack on the Capitol. What was the thinking in the Democratic caucus before the impeachment vote?

AK: We did not believe that the country was safe with Donald Trump as president having just incited this violence and this

COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF REP. ANN MCLANE KUSTER

Rep. Ann McLane Kuster ’78, D-N.H., was in the House chamber when a mob stormed the Capitol.

attack on our democracy, and we felt that the country would be safer with Vice President Mike Pence at the helm.

So, our first preference was to have the president resign. The second strategy was to urge the vice president to invoke the 25th Amendment, so that was the vote that we took on Tuesday night, and we gave him 24 hours to take that action. We knew that that had been under discussion by members of the cabinet, and we had hoped that that would happen. When that did not happen, and the vice president declined to take that step, impeachment was the next step that we had. We don’t have perfect tools for this situation, but fortunately, the founders and the drafters of the Constitution did have an ultimate penalty for when the president of the United States is not acting in a way that protects the American people and protects our democracy.

A common Republican critique of the impeachment proceeding thus far is that it is divisive and that we need to be bringing the country together, not taking actions that would be divisive at this time. What do you make of that?

AK: I would be very skeptical of the people suggesting that to you. I think that 10 Republicans voted with us.

There’s another at least a dozen or so that were prepared to move forward with censure. And there are dozens more that are more than willing to say this was a domestic terrorist attack against our democracy, and there has to be consequences. We will find plenty of common ground to work with rational people. I work with Republicans all the time, on numerous issues. I’ve been in touch with Republicans all week. There will be plenty of common ground, but not with people who want to overthrow our government.

Do you think that impeachment will overshadow some of the first hundred days of the Biden administration as he tries to pass legislation like COVID-19 relief ? What do you think the legislative process will look like?

AK: As Vice President Kamala Harris said: multitasking. What they’re going to do is bifurcate the trial — by the way, they don’t have to start now. One of the options that’s under consideration is to wait 100 days and roll out the whole agenda, so I don’t think this decision has been made yet.

But people can manage multiple lines, and we have critically important work.

I’m on the House health subcommittee working on the vaccine production and distribution and administering the vaccine, and we’re taking over from a total fiasco by the Trump administration.

We will be laser-focused working with President Biden and Vice President Harris on constructing a plan, funding the plan and making sure that, if we have to use the Defense Production Act, that we have sufficient quantities of vaccine and that those quantities get distributed and administered into the arms of 300 million Americans as soon as possible.

You said that you have been talking through the story of what happened as part of the healing process. How is that going, and how are you feeling now?

AK: Much better. But I’m learning a lot about the impact of trauma and working with my colleagues, trying to support them and support each other so that we can do the important business of the country.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.

Upper Valley hopes to sustain plateau in COVID-19 cases

B y Griselda Chavez The Dartmouth Staff

This article was originally published on Jan. 21, 2021.

Although the Upper Valley was able to sustain a lower number of COVID-19 cases than other parts of the country throughout much of the pandemic, the region has seen an uptick in cases since the fall, following national trends.

On Jan. 23, New Hampshire reported a seven-day average of 804 new active cases, whereas Vermont reported 142 new cases on a seven-day average. These numbers have spiked considerably since Nov. 1, when seven-day averages of 127 and 18 were reported in New Hampshire and Vermont, respectively — over a sixfold increase in both states.

Among New Hampshire counties, Grafton County has the second-lowest seven-day average of cases per 100,000

people, with 42 active cases, following Merrimack County’s 37. Meanwhile, Windsor County in Vermont — which includes the neighboring towns of Norwich and Hartford, has seen 22 cases on a seven-day average, yet it still has one of the higher case counts among counties in Vermont.

Despite the high case counts, there has been a “plateau” in the curve over the last two weeks, according to New Hampshire deputy state epidemiologist Elizabeth Talbot, meaning that numbers are not rising as quickly as they had been in recent months.

She added that health experts are “hopeful” the plateau will be sustained.

Anne Sosin, program director at the Center for Global Health Equity, noted that the spread of the virus is unpredictable and depends on human behavior and local policy. “[The trajectory in] the Upper Valley depends on how well we manage it at

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the state and regional level,” Sosin said.

“Vermont’s state leadership has done far better in managing the pandemic than New Hampshire’s leadership.”

Sosin noted that the state of Vermont implemented “targeted restrictions to reverse the trends,” including aid directed specifically towards its vulnerable populations. Among these measures, she cited a “robust” eviction moratorium, a moratorium on some utility shut-offs, rehousing homeless populations from congregate shelters to motels and providing rent support to landlords.

She compared these measures to a general lack of action in New Hampshire, noting that the state “has not done nearly enough to protect its vulnerable populations.”

“I’m just not confident that [New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu] is willing to take action,” Sosin said.

Hanover town manager Julia Griffin

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said that there have been a number of outbreaks in town since the start of late fall, even after undergraduate students left campus. For example, a mid-December outbreak at Hanover Terrace Health and Rehabilitation Center resulted in the death of seven residents and the infection of all but three of its 72 residents, as well as upwards of 45 staff members.

Griffin attributed the rising case count in Hanover, at least in part, to a postholiday boom. She noted that cases have appeared all across town, “often in family clusters.” According to Griffin, Hanover and Lebanon’s new cases “hover in the low twenties to upper thirties” over each seven-day period. “[Holidays] tend to portend what is coming up with post-holiday bumps in cases,” she said.

To try to curb the spread of the virus, Griffin noted that Hanover has implemented a ban on gatherings of over 10 people without permits and on youth sports leagues traveling out of the region, in addition to the town’s mask mandate.

So far, the virus has remained relatively contained on campus this term.

As of Sunday, Dartmouth’s student active case count sits at 12, while the faculty and staff count sits at six, according to the College’s COVID-19 dashboard.

Still, Talbot noted that it is possible that the virus will be introduced on campus after the arrival quarantine period ends. Looking back at the fall term, however, Talbot recognized the efforts the College community made to reduce transmission and noted that she believes the policies were “successful.”

The only reason she would expect to see a change in outcome from the fall term would be if students choose not to follow the community guidelines, she said.

Co-chair of Dartmouth’s COVID-19 task force Lisa Adams noted that going forward, another “big question” she is concerned about is the emergence of two COVID-19 variants from the U.K. and South Africa.

According to Adams, the emergence of these variants “do not seem to cause a more severe form of disease” but they are “40 to 70% more likely to be transmissible.” She added that it is “likely” the variants will eventually be found in New England.

“We can expect them to be in our community,” Adams said. “And in fact, they may already be here.”

In order to slow the COVID-19 transmission rate, Sosin noted that mask-wearing and social distancing are important, but she believes it has to be done “much more consistently.”

Talbot reiterated the importance of these non-pharmaceutical steps.

“We’re very pleased that [the] vaccine may help us to control this epidemic,” Talbot said. “But we’re being very clear that there will still need to be measures to follow to try to prevent community transmission.”

Correction appended (Jan. 25, 2021): A previous version of this incorrectly stated Sosin’s title as the Global Health Initiative program director at the Irving Institute for Energy and Society. The article has been updated to reflect that she is the program director at the Center for Global Health Equity.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 2021

PAGE 3

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

Michael Pyle ’00 to serve as chief economic adviser to VP Harris B y Soleil Gaylord The Dartmouth Staff

On Jan. 8, transition officials for President Joe Biden’s administration announced that Michael Pyle ’00 would serve as chief economic adviser to Vice President Kamala Harris. In the role, Pyle will be responsible for analyzing information on economic developments and providing policy recommendations to the vice president.

Prior to joining Harris’s team, Pyle worked as the chief investment strategist for BlackRock, an investment management company. He also served in President Barack Obama’s administration as special assistant to the president for economic policy at the National Economic Council.

In addition, Pyle has worked within Management and Budget. Prior to his tapping as chief economic adviser, he had known the vice president from his time as an outside economic advisor to her presidential campaign.

Public policy professor Charles Wheelan said that as Harris’s chief economic adviser, Pyle will face numerous hurdles beyond the immediate issue of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The big question, post-COVID, is what the plan is for ameliorating income inequality and lack of access to economic opportunity,” Wheelan said, adding that Pyle will face questions relating to issues

like the minimum wage and universal basic income, both of which have been exacerbated by the pandemic. He noted that he believes Pyle will approach these matters with a strong combination of “intelligence, thoughtfulness and practical policy experience.”

Pyle highlighted the challenges of his new role — public health and economic, climate and racial justice — and likened today’s situation to what he faced during the Obama administration. During that time, he addressed issues including the European debt crisis, the development of the Comprehensive Behavioral Health Reform and Recovery Act of 2016 and relations.

“I would compare it to 12 years ago. I think about how terrifying that moment was economically in the middle of the of the Great Recession,” Pyle said. “This moment is so many ways even more complex and challenging.”

Pyle added that his experience in the Obama administration taught him essential lessons in the importance of acting swiftly. He said his work in the private sector also provided important preparation for the job, underscoring the markets and the economy — ensuring that the “real economy” generates the conditions to elevate working Americans.

“There is no substitute for acting quickly and in size to confront those

DSU raises over $50,000 in mutual aid B y Daniel Modesto The Dartmouth Staff

This article was originally published on Jan. 28, 2021.

The Dartmouth Student Union, a student advocacy and fundraising collective, has raised over $50,000 for its mutual aid fund since its inception last April, providing stipends to over 100 students.

Since its founding, the DSU has worked to raise funds within the Dartmouthcommunityandforinitiatives for organizers in Peru after the Peruvian president was impeached last November — a move the DSU argued was a coup.

The organization also hosts an “Internet Commons” series, an educational forum featuring discussions on social justice.

When Dartmouth went remote amid the pandemic, the DSU established its mutual aid fund — a community-based of supporting students financially.

During its most recent fundraising push, which lasted from Dec. 28 to Jan. 3, the DSU raised over $6,000 in mutual aid students, according to Rachel Florman ’21, a DSU organizer who helps oversee the fund.

Though the College recently made

by COVID-19, there are students whose needs are more immediate, Florman said. students in a way that, for one reason or another, the school is not providing enough,” Florman said. “And that’s why we had to step up and be here for each other.”

Kendra Elk Looks Back ’24 was one of the students who received a stipend from the mutual aid fund during the recent round of distributions — $360 for transportation, lodging and baggage fees. However, she did not initially receive “extreme need in the community.” She sent a follow-up email expressing her own need, and within a day, DSU organizers let her know they had secured funds to help her.

Elk Looks Back said that she appreciated the DSU’s willingness to help her, even going so far as to message her on Twitter to tell her they were trying to She said that from her point of view, the mutual aid process seemed to be Florman said students have cited money from the fund. Utilities were the most common reason, followed by rent and groceries. Most students ask for the maximum dollar amount distributed per student, which has ranged from $300 to $500 depending on the round.

In certain instances where someone has urgently needed funds after a round of stipend distribution, members of the DSU have pooled together their own resources, though Florman noted that

this is not common.

While people can make donations to the fund at any time, the decision to make a fundraising push in preparation for a sixth overall round of stipend distributions — the second one over the winter break — was a result of the continued financial need some Dartmouth students experienced during the holidays.

“We had just planned on doing one round of openings during [the interim], but the need that was demonstrated was so high,” Florman said. “We decided that given the time of year and given the amount of need, we saw the possibility to raise enough money to reopen.”

She explained that the stipend request form opens when organizers determine they have enough money to start disbursing funds and closes once the total requested amount exceeds what the organization is able to distribute at the time. during winter break, the form closed after three hours, and during the second round, the form closed after just 22 minutes.

During the most recent round of fundraising, DSU organizers were featured on the organization’s Instagram account in a series of “takeovers,” during which they could answer students’ questions. To solicit donations, the DSU encouraged students to raise funds within a club or organization and then donate on behalf of that group.

The DSU also held a custom in which organizers pledged to match contributions. Through these initiatives, the fund saw donations from current students and community members, as well as alumni.

“We were especially touched by the number of alumni who participated, and it was really moving to see alumni are giving back to the community that gave them something,” Florman said. “That we were able to really engage with the was really rewarding.”

She added that DSU organizers have been planning to make the donation process easier, and the team is planning to open a Patreon — a subscription-based fundraising service — “very soon.”

Mock Trial vice president of membership Zoe Schwartzman ’21, who organized a donation during the most recent fundraising push on behalf of the team, said that she felt that it was an important chance to give back to the DSU through Instagram during the summer and watched the organization’s “Internet Commons” series.

“I think it’s fantastic to see a student communityhasandaddressingitthrough grassroots means,” Schwartzman said.

Flormanunderscoredtheimportance of community participation — whether by organizations or individuals — to the success of the mutual aid fund.

“We were really glad that clubs and students were participating because again, that’s the whole point of mutual aid,” she said.

challenges,” Pyle said. “At the end of the day, the risks are in doing too little rather than too much.”

Pyle graduated as salutatorian from Dartmouth with a degree in economics.

He noted that his experience at Dartmouth informed his career path.

“I think of so many professors who really shaped my time there and channeled what had been an unformed belief in the need for public service and expertise in public policy and economics,” Pyle said.

Economics professor Douglas Irwin, who taught Pyle as an undergraduate student in ECON 39, “International Trade,” said that Pyle consistently made an impression in class, which he remembers to this day.

“He was incredibly bright and remains so,” Irwin said. He added that Pyle’s appointment as Harris’s chief economic advisor is well-deserved and a moment of pride for the College.

“I think it is very exciting for him, for Dartmouth, for the administration. He is very sensible, so I am sure he is going to Economics professor Andrew Samwick echoed Irwin’s sentiments, saying he had

Samwick added that Pyle’s professionalism and skill would be instrumental given the need to act swiftly under the Biden administration.

“There is a lot at stake for this administration, having Vice President Harris being integral and visible,”

Exposed!

Samwick said. “A lot of things that happen in policymaking circles are done on such a time crunch that you want smart people in the room.”

Samwick also said that he thinks Pyle may earn a higher-up role within the administration as Biden’s term progresses.

“I think there would be opportunities for him to move into positions that are more central to the economic policy,” Samwick said. “Somebody as smart, and worldly, and experienced as [Pyle] has the chance to shine.”

Pyle’s appointment follows the appointment of Janet Yellen, former Federal Reserve chair, as Treasury secretary. Pyle will also be joined by two former BlackRock employees — Brian Deese, who has been appointed as director of the National Economic Council, and Adewale Adeyemo, who has been nominated to the position of deputy treasury secretary.

Some have criticized Pyle’s involvement in the administration in light of his position at BlackRock, especially given the other former BlackRock personnel who have recently signed on to Biden and Harris’s team. Irwin, however, said he feels that the backlash is overblown.

“I view this as credential carping; there are always going to be critics out there,” Irwin said. “He is very practical, and I think he is a great appointment.”

Before his involvement in the workforce, Pyle received his law degree from Yale Law School and Cambridge University,

where he studied as a Keasbey Scholar.

Afterward, he clerked for Judge Merrick Garland, Biden’s nominee for attorney general — a period in which Pyle said he learned the virtues of public service.

Since graduating, Pyle has made frequent trips to campus. Wheelan, who teaches GOVT 68, “The Future of Capitalism,” said that Pyle often stopped by to advise students on their class projects.

Rockefeller Center for Public Policy director Jason Barabas said that Pyle has been a “valued member” of the Rockefeller Center Board of Visitors, noting that Pyle consistently expressed his willingness to help Dartmouth students.

Pyle would be an ongoing resource for Dartmouth students in Washington, D.C. Pyle emphasized the pride he felt in having been a part of Obama’s team and the history that Obama made as the

Pyle said that the vice president called “I was extraordinarily surprised and honored, and I accepted on the spot,” Pyle said. Pyle also knew Biden previously from accompanying him as an economic advisor on a foreign service trip.

In his job working for the Biden administration, Pyle said he hopes to model for his three young sons what it means to “embrace the future of this country.”

Sara Cavrel ’23

PAGE 4

FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 2021

THE DARTMOUTH OPINION

THE DARTMOUTH EDITORIAL BOARD

CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST KAMI ARABIAN ’24

Verbum Ultimum: Physically Unfit

The Genome Is Under Attack

The College’s physical education requirement has little value and should not be reinstated post-pandemic.

Since the onset of the pandemic, many Dartmouth implicitly penalizes certain forms cherished aspects of the Dartmouth experience of exercise which do not fall under its direct have remained on hold. One familiar feature of purview, disincentivizing “non-official” Dartmouth life, however, has not been sorely physical activities, even when many offer missed: the physical education requirement. meaningful opportunities to get active. Even Often derided as a waste of time at best and more confusingly, the College does provide a hidden fee at worst, the PE requirement support, through credit, for certain activities is most notable for bogging down students that require seemingly little physical exertion, with mandatory — and often expensive — such as mindfulness classes and a class on checkbox-filling activities. Eliminating the PE learning strategies. graduation requirement for the Class of 2020 Within the Ivy League, only Columbia and the Class of 2021 was a necessary move University and Cornell University share given the pandemic, but it’s time to go further. mandatory physical education requirements.

The College should permanently do away with All of the remaining institutions have the PE requirement. determined that students are The motive behind the “Many Dartmouth autonomous and sensible PE program is not itself enough to pursue exercise objectionable. Exercise students enjoy without coercion. is fundamental to health physical activity, but None of this is to and well-being, and New say that PE classes should Hampshire provides a they should be able to be eliminated entirely. fantastic setting to get partake in it at their Some students enjoy the outside. Unfortunately, the own discretion.” opportunity for regular, mandatory program suffers planned physical exercise. from a number of issues.

If students freely choose to The current requirement take such classes, then so be — three PE credits — requires a large time it. We instead take issue with the obligatory commitment. For undergraduates balancing nature of the current program and the demands academic classes, extracurricular activities and on students’ time it can incur. Instead of working jobs, the imposition of obligatory, inflexible with students who actually want to attend, the periods of College-monitored exercise seems current PE program forces all other students to unwarranted. Many Dartmouth students enjoy expend hours on classes they have little interest physical activity, but they should be able to in taking. partake in it at their own discretion.

The College should give students the agency Additionally, decisions about what activities to choose how they exercise. PE courses may count and don’t count for PE credit are still be offered on a strictly voluntary basis. confusing and seemingly arbitrary. For instance, But PE requirements serve little purpose, save Dartmouth denies credit to a variety of to demand students’ time and dollars beyond student-led outdoor activities operated by the their tuition payments.

Dartmouth Outing Club — hiking a 23-mile long traverse of the Presidential Range with The editorial board consists of opinion staff the DOC receives no credit, while a virtual columnists, the opinion editors, the executive editors sailing class counts for the PE requirement. and the editor-in-chief.

Congress must regulate genome editing before the technology becomes unmanageable.

This column was originally published on Jan. 28, 2021.

When Aldous Huxley published his novel, “Brave New World,” in 1932, he had no way of knowing that his dystopia — a society in which children were essentially designed in a lab — would eventually become possible. While his readers could take comfort in knowing that the horrors of the “World State” were confined to the realm of fiction, our generation does not have that luxury. In recent years, it has become increasingly clear that commercial genome editing will affect us in one way or another and, if left unregulated, will very likely prove dangerous. Thus far, the advance of genome editing technology has outpaced our ability to produce legislation to regulate its use, so Congress must — without further hesitation — redouble its efforts to keep up.

In the past decade, the world was introduced to a new method of genome editing known as CRISPR — shorthand for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats. This technology offered numerous advantages from the get-go, most notably precision, efficiency and affordability. CRISPR has been used in a variety of fields, particularly in gene therapy. Thousands of heritable diseases are dictated by a single gene — including cystic fibrosis, hemophilia, Huntington’s disease, muscular dystrophy and sickle cell disease. It makes perfect sense: If we can prevent these diseases with technology we’ve built, then we should.

However, just a few years after the discovery of CRISPR, it became evident that our ambitions did not end at gene therapy. This should surprise no one. After all, our species has a long and proven history of hubris. And so, at the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing in Hong Kong, Chinese researcher He Jiankui delivered a presentation that shook the world: “CCR5 gene editing in mouse, monkey and human embryos using CRISPR/cas9.” In it, He described the process by which he and his team had allegedly used CRISPR to create the first genome-edited humans: a set of twins who were genetically engineered to have increased resistance to HIV. These changes to the twins’ genomes are heritable, meaning they have the potential to permanently enter the human genepool.

Scientists around the world — most notably in China and the United States — immediately condemned He’s research. He was dismissed from his position at the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, China, and a year after the summit, he and two of his colleagues were arrested and sentenced to time in

prison. The court ruled that his experiment was a blatant violation of Chinese legal guidelines.

Xi Nanping, vice minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology, went as far as to call it “extremely abominable in nature.”

He’s detractors warn of the possibility that his subjects — who of course are unable to provide consent to be experimented on — would experience unforeseen long-term biological complications throughout their lives. To make matters worse, since the alterations to the genome are heritable, such complications would affect the subjects’ progeny as well. Additionally, his detractors cite societal concerns — speculating about a divide between those who can afford to enhance their children and those who cannot.

For instance, genome editing could allow wealthy parents to buy their children better physical capabilities, a more attractive appearance and a better brain — leading to the creation of what some critics call the “genobility.” However, despite how one may feel about He’s research, it is impossible to deny that a precedent has now been set. The human genome has been edited before, and surely, the human genome will be edited again.

Congress must produce legislation to guide this technology before it becomes too widespread to contain. Genome editing — in a problem that marks all sciences — does not have an inherent moral dimension. That is to say, this technology is neither inherently good nor inherently evil. Its effects are entirely dependent on applications.

While Congress has already restricted the use of federal funding for research on human embryos, there is currently no legislation that restricts private researchers from editing the genes of human embryos. Of course, researchers would still need approval from the Food and Drug Administration, but the lack of legislation entails the possibility that research similar to — and perhaps even more disturbing than — He’s can be repeated.

Through our elected officials, we can collectively and conclusively decide what will and will not be tolerated in the field of genome editing using clear-cut federal guidelines. Genome editing promises to do a lot of good when it comes to therapy, promising to confine heritable diseases to the history books, so an outright ban on the practice would not be wise. By enacting legislation to strictly regulate the commercial genome editing industry, Congress can ensure that future research will be conducted with careful consideration and caution — in the name of therapy, rather than pushing boundaries for their own sake, as He had done.

CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST THOMAS DE WOLFF ’24

CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST ELAINE MEI ’23

The Right to be Wrong

The Myth of the College Experience

Congress should repeal and replace Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. This column was originally published on Jan. 26, 2021.

How should big tech companies such as Facebook and Twitter weigh preserving free speech against curbing the spread of misinformation? This is a pressing concern of the modern age, especially given Twitter’s recent ban of former President Donald Trump. However, before contending with this dilemma, one hurdle must first be overcome: Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a regulation that says providers of interactive computer services cannot be treated as the publisher of third-party content. Thanks to this obsolete law, lawmakers have been unable to determine how liable tech companies should be for regulating what appears on their social media platforms.

Trump thrust this rule into the spotlight when he vetoed the National Defense Authorization Act in December partly because it did not repeal Section 230. President Joe Biden has also called for its repeal, and its reform is supported on both sides of the aisle. The time is ripe for Congress to repeal Section 230 and update its regulation of social media platforms.

Passed in 1996, Section 230 grants tech companies immunity from litigation related to most content posted by their users. It also allows companies to take down content “in good faith” if they feel it is “obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing or otherwise objectionable, whether or not such material is constitutionally protected.”

The role that tech companies play within the ecosystem of the internet has changed dramatically since Section 230 was passed. It is unrealistic to expect modern corporations like Facebook or Twitter to function similarly to companies that were around when AOL was the world’s largest service provider and people paid for internet access by the hour. The internet and its major players have evolved radically since then, and the regulations we apply to tech companies should reflect that distinction.

Courts have interpreted Section 230 as granting tech companies leeway to remove not just illegal content, but any user content, since publishers have discretion over what to publish. This is a double standard: it treats social media companies both as neutral platforms and as partisan publishers, when they cannot be both simultaneously. Companies should be considered platforms if they passively host user content, and publishers when they regulate it.

Section 230’s immunity only applies if companies are considered to be platforms. If corporations interfere with the natural expression of information on social media, either through content moderation or through algorithms based

on user engagement, then they are no longer strictly platforms and should not enjoy the immunity granted to them. Repealing Section 230 and passing legislation in its stead that strictly defines the moderation powers of tech companies will solve the immunity crisis destabilizing online and real-world communities.

The U.S. Department of Justice has, in June 2020, promoted redefining the language of Section 230 to cover only illegal content instead of content companies find objectionable. The DOJ also supports defining “good faith” to ensure moderation decisions are made according to a clear standard. These changes would safeguard against arbitrary or biased moderation decisions to a greater extent than the current regulation, and would protect the impartial reputations that tech companies try to promote.

The immunity from litigation enjoyed by tech companies has led to moderation policies that some members of Congress see as being indulgent and arbitrary. Content in violation of companies’ terms of service, such as conspiracy theories surrounding the election and the spread of COVID-19, has been allowed to remain up. However, other political content that does not violate terms of service has been removed without explanation, such as when Facebook temporarily took down campaign ads supporting Sen. Marsha Blackburn R-Tenn. for exaggerating information but later reversed that decision. While replacement legislation would not prevent companies from exercising their power to remove content, the companies would no longer be free from litigation challenging their decision if the content is merely objectionable rather than illegal.

One consideration associated with the outright repeal of Section 230 is that doing so could facilitate the spread of misinformation. This is a valid concern, and it is why Congress should pass legislation as part of the replacement for Section 230 that reflects what some in the United Kingdom have proposed: “Require platform companies to ensure that their algorithms do not skew towards extreme and unreliable material to boost user engagement.”

When replacing Section 230, Congress must avoid the initial vagaries in language that allowed the courts to enlarge its scope. Any legislation replacing Section 230 should mimic the measure’s original sentiment, wherein companies are not liable for what their users post. However, it must also specify that only the removal of violent, obscene or otherwise illegal content will be immune from litigation and that companies would be liable for moderation that exceeds these boundaries. Should Congress do this, they will successfully protect freedom of speech, ensure these companies are liable for enabling unlawful actions to take place and incentivize keeping illegal content off of social

The “college experience” is an unsustainable ideal for U.S. higher education.

That goal might be better achieved at a nonresidential institution like Minerva Schools at Keck Graduate Institute, where students On day one of my dorm room quarantine, get the chance to spend every semester on I watched my professor’s lecture through a a new continent while taking classes online. laptop screen. My food was delivered twice Want to gain access to exclusive professional daily by a person whom I never saw. I was only opportunities? Attend professional conferences allowed out of my room in order to use the and schedule coffee chats with people who can bathroom and seek medical help. Though the change your life. Want to be in close proximity situation sounds eerily similar to the premise to other 18 to 22 year olds? Go to Coachella of a dystopian novel, it’s actually my college for a weekend. experience, taking place entirely through College is not a coming-of-age opportunity screens and six-foot distances. that everyone gets, or even wants. At least In the 21st century, the archetypal “college 35% of American students attend two-year experience” means living independently, institutions, and with the growing popularity of meeting new people and undergoing a process online education, nontraditional educational of self-discovery that serves as a transitional models are widely expected to gain further period from childhood to life as a full-fledged traction in the future. Even before the adult. Last July, an Axios/College Research pandemic, residential colleges were by no poll showed that 76% of students said they means utopias. would return to campus in the fall if given Some students, particularly those who the option. I was one of them. are first-generation or low-income, have It wasn’t necessarily the academic always faced barriers to the archetypal experience that I was missing. In some ways, “college experience.” There are students who I’ve been privileged enough always took classes online, to have my education worked full-time while in enriched by the virtual “As much as American school or took time away format. Attending office life has come to be in order to care for their hours is more convenient and pursue nondefined by the college families than ever, and jumping academic interests. There from meeting to meeting experience, the are students who rely on no longer requires making benefits of residential their campuses not only for cold treks across the Green. social life and debauchery, However, there are certain college life could also but for secure housing, Wiexperiences at Dartmouth be gained through Fi and health care. Students — particularly the social at private institutions not other avenues.” ones — that can’t be quite as well-endowed as fully replicated virtually.

Dartmouth may face the College parties are obvious risk of suddenly losing casualties of the digital age, their semester housing or as are kayaking across the Connecticut river, other university-provided necessities if their throwing snowballs during the first big snowfall school abruptly shuts down. Such precarious of winter and joining in those long-standing circumstances were never fit to provide a traditions and spontaneous interactions that long-term vision of the “college experience.” make Dartmouth’s community feel like home.

Though it is unlikely that residential Although obtaining a college degree colleges will disappear altogether, this past generally increases a graduate’s median year should act as the reckoning we need to income by more than 50%, career readiness is make higher education more affordable and only one fraction of why people go to college. accessible. Doing so will risk compromising the For decades, American life has been defined college experience, but it’s a risk worth taking. by college — by its tendency to determine With large budget cuts, growing acceptance home buying decisions, marriages and where of online education and reluctance among one chooses to live after graduation. It’s a students to pay skyrocketing tuition costs, trend that tends to drive income inequality residential universities will need to pivot in and make social mobility more elusive. order to sustain themselves in the coming As much as American life has come to decades. Virtual education options should be a be defined by the college experience, the part of that package, but only if those options benefits of residential college life could also become affordable and accessible. Students be gained through other avenues. Want to have been forced to adapt. Colleges should become a well-rounded, open-minded person? do the same.

This column was originally published on Jan. 25, 2021.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 2021

PAGE 5

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS

SPORTS

On-campus student-athletes prepare to resume practice

By Ethan Strauss & Sara McClanahan

practice this term will run smoothly, citing her program’s prior experience with COVID-19 restrictions. She The Dartmouth said that holding practice over fall On Tuesday, with the initial two- term taught her and her staff how week quarantine over for students to effectively manage practice while living on campus, student-athletes keeping athletes socially distanced. resumed training. After a fall term “We’ve already built a practice marked by stringent COVID-19 schedule for the student-athletes, regulations on practice and low kind of a rules and regulations,” COVID-19 rates campus-wide, this Dobson said. “Each event group will winter’s return-to-sports protocol is be sectioned off into different parts slightly more accelerated. of Leverone, and we’ve mapped In the fall, athletes followed a everything out … how we’ll be able to three-phase return to sport protocol, distance this, who’s using what lanes moving from individual conditioning on the track and which equipment to small group workouts and finally and so on and so forth.” to small group practice sessions. This Although training will be limited winter, the first and second phases and masked, Dobson said her have combined into a single opening coaching staff and student-athletes are protocol. excited to resume In this modified preparation f i r s t p h a s e , “Even though we have f o r future scrimmages and systems in place for c o m p e t i t i o n , other game-like w h e n e ve r t h a t simulations for maintaining 10 feet may be. For many, team sports are not of distance — you’re group training has permitted. Instead, been impossible as in the fall, teams wearing masks all for the past 10 will practice in the time, not sharing months. smaller training equipment, not sharing As in past terms, pods that vary in teams will have size de pending water bottles — there’s t o a c c o m o d at e o n t h e t e a m . that still small chance athletes living off While this model campus. College allows student- that having that many r u l e s s t i p u l a t e athletes to work people together may that these students on individual skills, cannot participate cause an issue.” it also comes with in any in-person major drawbacks, practice or other according to some -BEN SCHULER, HEAD ATHLETIC team activities. student-athletes.

W h i l e c o a ch e s “As any athlete TRAINER can easily send knows, the out independent best teacher is training regimens experience,” said men’s basketball to these athletes, team bonding is a player Taurus Samuels ’22. “Even harder thing to foster online. just playing against each other and According to Samuels, Zoom implementing those skills that we’re meetings and check-in calls have learning … we didn’t get that [in the helped strengthen team unity. He fall].” and his basketball teammates stay in Track and field and cross-country touch — regardless of where each director Porscha Dobson believes that squad member is currently living —

Teams will begin practicing in pods before returning to full team activities later.

through additional calls outside of mandatory meetings.

According to head athletic trainer Ben Schuler, the athletics department has assumed the responsibility of ensuring that students comply with COVID-19 protocols, including mask wearing and maintaining social distance. Due to the winter weather, more teams will need to practice inside, which by College guidelines will require the athletics department to manage participant numbers.

As the COVID-19 situation continues to progress, the athletics department plans to stay prepared for any necessary adjustments.

“We work very closely with the College [COVID-19] task force to make sure that whatever guidance we’re using mirrors what they’re using and what they’re putting out,” Schuler said. “If there was to be a change in the campus reopening, we would mirror that change within athletics as well.”

COURTESY OF DOUG AUSTIN

Although restricted, studentathletes on campus will make the most of their training regardless of individual circumstance. Many feel that the opportunity to be on campus with their teammates and coaches is well worth any pandemic-driven limitation.

“We enjoy the game, we enjoy each other and that gives us all the energy we really need,” Samuels said. “We are looking ahead to when we do have a season, and all of this is going to

Orioles’ Cole Sulser ’12 prepares for third MLB season

By Andrew Doerr

under his belt, Sulser said he is looking forward to competing in spring training and earning a spot on the team for a After spending seven years working full 162-game season. his way up the minor league ranks, Cole “I’m really not trying to take Sulser ’12 finally earned a full-season anything for granted,” Sulser said. “I bullpen spot this past year, pitching for want to go into spring training and just the Baltimore Orioles. compete to the best of my ability — try Sulser had a decorated career to earn another spot on the team and with the Big Green, winning the compete at that level again.” second-most games in College history, Sulser displayed a similar work accumulating 202 strikeouts and ethic during college, according to garnering selection to three All-Ivy Dartmouth baseball coach Bob League teams, including First Team Whalen, who praised him for his All-Ivy honors during his junior year. coachability and communication skills.

Along with his individual accolades, “[Sulser] always wanted to be great, Sulser also helped Dartmouth win not just good,” Whalen said, “He consecutive Ivy League championships understood the level of commitment in his freshman and involved at the sophomore years. “[Sulser] always wanted Division I level, The 30-yearand he had a good old Orioles reliever to be great, not just understanding of will soon enter his good . . . He understood what it takes to third MLB season success at the level of commitment have after debuting with the professional the Tampa Bay involved at the Division I level and also as a Rays in September level, and he had a good student.”

2019 and throwing Susler’s 7 1/3 scoreless understanding of what h a rd wo rk at i n n i n g s . L a s t it takes.”

Dartmouth paid season, Sulser off early when the secured the closer’s Big Green won role for the Orioles -BOB WHALEN, HEAD BASEBALL the Ivy League through August COACH championship for and recorded the first time in 22 five saves in eight years his freshman opportunities. He year, which Sulser held a 3.46 ERA through Aug. 22 before pointed to as one of his favorite a rough final nine innings ballooned his moments with the team. Coach ERA to 5.56.

Whalen also recalled the 2009 Ivy It has been a long journey to the championship fondly, citing the success MLB for Sulser; the Cleveland Indians and leadership of talented young picked him in the 25th round, and he players Sulser and Chicago Cubs starter has endured two Tommy John surgeries. Kyle Hendricks ’12.

Navigating the postponement and “When you’re involved on an shortening of the 2020 MLB season athletic team and you have a very during the pandemic has presented a talented person, the other guys are new challenge for Sulser. going to have a good measure of “The season got shut down in respect,” Whalen said. “But it takes March, and not knowing when exactly it to a whole other level when your the season was going to start back up teammates respect you because you’re was kind of difficult,” Sulser said. “… a great teammate. And both of them When we got into season, we’re pretty were great teammates.” used to baseball being a little bit more The impact that Sulser has had on of a marathon season with 162 games the Dartmouth baseball team extends a year, so to get into a season — and it’s beyond his four years of play at the only a 60-game season — it was much College. His brother, Beau Sulser ’17, more of a sprint.” joined him on the Big Green pitching With a pandemic-shortened season staff in 2013 and was selected by the

The Dartmouth

Sulser returned to campus via Zoom to discuss his professional career.

Pittsburgh Pirates in the 10th round of the 2017 draft.

Current Dartmouth pitcher Justin Murray ’22 said the team got to speak with the Sulser brothers over Zoom this fall, and he was impressed by Cole Sulser’s long journey through Dartmouth and the Minor Leagues before reaching the MLB. “It’s definitely cool to see guys from our program make it [to the MLB] because that’s where we all want to be at some point,” Murray said. “It’s been fun to follow him as he’s built his career over the last year and a half or so.”

Murray said that speaking with Sulser and other Dartmouth baseball alumni, including Hendricks, has made him appreciate what he called a “great” Dartmouth baseball culture.

“I think that speaks to the culture and how much people love just being at Dartmouth and love their four years they’re playing [here],” Murray said.

“It really speaks a lot to guys being willing to come back and talk to us as current players about the journey, whether it’s baseball or just school or life in general.”

COURTESY OF RICHARD LEWIS

PAGE 6

MIRROR THE DARTMOUTH MIRROR

FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 2021

Behind the Mask: Dartmouth’s On-the-Ground Testing Operation B y BRIAN ZHENG The Dartmouth

This article was originally published on Jan. 27, 2021.

Since the College partially reopened in the fall, making the trek to the south end of campus to receive a COVID-19 test has become a regular ritual for the Dartmouth undergraduates living in the Hanover area. The process is quick and simple: Students register for an appointment slot online, check in at the specified time, take a nasal swab test and depart, knowing that within the next day or so, results will appear in their inbox.

While COVID-19 testing has become an integral part of the o n - c a m p u s e x p e r i e n c e, m o s t conversations about testing have revolved around data and institutional mandates, from the 1% positivity rate threshold for reconsidering campus operations to the switch to twiceweekly testing.

However, an equally important, oft-overlooked piece of the equation is the on-the-ground testing apparatus.

Who are the people welcoming students and staff into the building?

What happens to your test tube once you finish your test? How do results come back so quickly?

The testing operation at Dartmouth runs through Axiom Medical, a medical consulting firm based out of Texas. To meet the demand of Dartmouth’s testing requirements, Axiom has hired a full-time 15-person team to work at the College, led by Lars Barr, the on-site manager of the Dartmouth operation. Barr, a health care professional with a background as an EMT in a children’s emergency room who is also currently enrolled in an LGBT Health Policy and Practice graduate program at George Washington University, says that they were contacted by Axiom last year.

“I moved home to Ver mont [from New Orleans] last year and was looking for jobs in health care,” Barr said. “Axiom Medical actually reached out to me on LinkedIn and offered me an opportunity.”

With a nationwide shortage of health care workers, Barr says that their 15-person staff of health safety assistants is split in half between local Upper Valley residents and travelers from states like Texas, California, Georgia and New York.

One such HSA is Laura Plasencia, who was a film director and animation

producer for documentaries, TV shows and media productions both in her former home of Argentina and across the U.S. “There are a lot of people here that are travelers because it is really hard to find nurses,” Plasencia said, citing the shortage of medically qualified personnel across the country.

Despite their diverse professional and geographic backgrounds, the staff focus on a single goal. Barr, Plasencia and the rest of the team work every day to ensure that the COVID-19 testing operation runs smoothly.

Their responsibilities include registering students, supervising and collecting tests, taking inventory, counting and packaging samples and answering student and staff questions. As the on-site manager, Barr also orders new supplies, attends weekly meetings with the Dartmouth COVID-19 task force and Dick’s House and runs twice-weekly popup testing clinics at the Williamson Translational Research Building at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, as well as the Dartmouth Skiway.

“Axiom is really like, ‘OK, if you want to get tested, we’ll do it,’” Barr said. “It could be on a mountain, or

it could be in this lovely fieldhouse.”

Although it is the most visible part of the operation, Axiom’s team is only one part of the well-oiled machine that delivers quick, accurate results to Dartmouth students and staff.

After Barr’s team packages and counts the tests — 1,000 to 2,000 per day in total — a STAT Courier driver takes the completed tests from Hanover to the Broad Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, making the trip twice a day. The Broad Institute, which runs 24/7 COVID-19 test processing, uploads the results to a secure portal and delivers them to the emails of all Dartmouth students and staff, usually within 24 hours of taking the test.

This massive operation is no easy feat, but running testing at Dartmouth has inherent advantages when compared to Axiom’s other productions. Barr noted that the demand for testing at the College is far more stable than at Axiom’s other posts, which have included factories and film set woodshops.

“Having a set schedule here and [having] the same place we can come to is really nice,” Barr said.

The stability of Dartmouth’s operation also allows Axiom to pay the on-the-ground staff full-time wages, along with additional benefits for those working at the College from out of state.

Despite working in a job that didn’t exist a year ago, both Barr and Plasencia said that they enjoyed their work at the College, noting that the teamwork and mutual accountability across the team have been a boon to their working environment.

“We are always rotating and helping each other,” Plasencia said.

“If we need people on the registration for a while because we have a lot of students or staff [waiting] ... a coworker immediately jumps to the side and helps.”

Along with the stability and safety in their working environment, the on-the-ground team is also grateful for the Dartmouth community’s compliance with testing protocols.

“Sometimes they have really long lines, [but] people are always really patient,” Plasencia said. “I’ve never had any bad interactions with somebody here.”

Barr also said that members of the community could talk to anybody working in the testing site, which is located at Thompson Arena as of

Monday, about any questions they may have.

“A big part of what we do is answer questions for people, so I do want people to feel like they can come and talk to us anytime,” Barr said. “If they’re in the line, we will sit down and have a chat if they’re having issues with anything.”

The multi-faceted operation has received praise from students and staff, who cite the ease, speed and reliability of getting a test at Dartmouth.

For Daniel Lin ’23, who is on campus for the first time since last winter, the testing experience has exceeded his expectations.

“I came in with pretty low expectations, just given how the country as a whole has handled the virus,” Lin said. “But there were clear lines, there were people walking around telling you where to go. …

It’s a very streamlined, organized process.”

Even after the delay in test results this weekend, the testing operation has generally been clear, efficient and effective. The outward simplicity of the operation can overshadow another story: all the hard work and collaboration that goes on behind the scenes.

ANGELINA SCARLOTTA/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

During the arrival quarantine period, students took their COVID-19 tests at Leverone Field House.

A New Day in Washington: Reflections on Biden’s Inauguration B y Caris white

The Dartmouth Staff

This article was originally published on Jan. 27, 2021.

Over the past week I’ve had the fortune (misfortune?) of being T he Dartmouth’s Washington correspondent for the presidential inauguration. Normally, the start of midterm season is a strange time to find oneself in a city 500 miles south of Hanover. However, after unexpectedly testing positive for COVID-19, I found myself spending the second and third weeks of classes in isolation at my uncle’s house in northwest Washington,

D.C. So, for better or worse, I was unintentionally sitting right at the epicenter of American politics when the inauguration rolled around last week.

Even from the vantage point of someone mostly stuck inside, the city felt like a ghost town. I didn’t get outside much during my 10 days, but on the few walks I did take, what I saw was nothing like the capital I have grown to love over family Christmases and Thanksgivings. The streets were barricaded to through traffic once you got within four blocks of the National Mall, leaving a mere trickle of masked pedestrians weaving their way through fence lines in the normally bustling heart

of Washington. Instead of tourists loitering on streetcorners, squads of uniformed and armed National Guard members stood watching, stationed at major intersections to prevent a repeat of the violent insurrection on Jan. 6.

A few days before the inauguration, it was just about noon as I made my way home from my morning walk. As I crossed another empty boulevard, I heard the not-too-distant sound of church bells marking the midday. It took me a few seconds, but when the bells didn’t stop ringing I realized they were playing a rendition of “America the Beautiful.”

Stopped dead in my tracks in the middle of an empty thoroughfare

LUCY HANDY/THE DARTMOUTH

in downtown Washington, I listened as the usually uplifting melody rebounded off of the empty buildings and throughout the lifeless streets.

As if on cue, a line of 25 National Guard members fell into step as they marched toward their next station just around the corner.

It was one of the most surreal moments I’ve ever witnessed.

“America the Beautiful,” echoing through the streets of an American landscape that felt anything but.

However grim the streets of the district looked on the days leading up to inauguration, the day itself went by peacefully. I was stuck inside attending Zoom classes and studying for my midterm the next morning, but on the moments I did take to appreciate the momentous occasion, it felt almost serene. Sunlight drifted lazily through the windows of my uncle’s house as I chatted in office hours, and despite all of our worries, the day slipped by without violence.

Inauguration midday turned into night, and before I knew it, the day had gone by. It felt strange that the day that marked the end of such a traumatic, historic and deadly four years should so drift by so easily. In the end, my status as both a COVID-19 patient and not a government official meant that I experienced inauguration the same way as most people: looking at the news articles, TikToks and countless Bernie Sanders memes proliferating on the screen of my phone.

Thursday morning dawned, and with it a new day in Washington. We had a new president, the four years that felt like they would never end had actually ended and hope glimmered on the horizon. It felt good to ask Siri

“Who is the president of the United States?” and hear a comforting robotic voice reassure me that it is, in fact, Joe Biden.

I went for another walk later that week, and it weirdly didn’t feel much different. In some ways, everything was different: We had a new president, the National Guard was packing up and the district was letting go of the breath it had been holding since Jan. 6. However, the mark of the past four years was still there in the city, in the boarded up windows and the fading Black Lives Matter slogans and the masked faces staring down at the sidewalk.

The past four years are still here, in the obituaries of every newspaper and the hospital reports of every state and the persistent ache in my mind that tells me the world is not OK. T h i s ye a r ’s p re s i d e n t i a l inauguration was memorable for a number of reasons, and I am glad I was able to be in Washington to experience it, even if it was from the confines of my bedroom. That being said, the fact that we have a new president doesn’t erase the tragedies from the tenure of our last one, and there is a lot of ground to make up.

Although I’ve since left the capital to return to campus for the winter, I know that it’s what happens now that really matters in Washington and the rest of the world. Even during a winter that feels dark and cold not just in a metaphorical sense, I’ve found myself looking forward to the future again. That feeling of hope, more than anything else, was the best part of inauguration.

It’s a new day in Washington, and I’m ready to see the sun.