The Dartmouth 02/20/2020

VOL. CLXXVI NO. 140

MOSTLY SUNNY HIGH 20 LOW -6

OPINION

TESZLER: TIME TO UNITE PAGE 6

TOWLE: GOING GREEK, GOING GREEN PAGE 7

BLUM: BUSY KIDS PAGE 7

ARTS

REVIEW: TAME IMPALA’S ‘THE SLOW RUSH’ EXPLORES TEMPORAL THEMES PAGE 8

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2020

HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Sexual misconduct Amid event controversy, College lawsuit settlement Republicans leadership resigns unique for class size

B y LAUREN ADLER

The Dartmouth Staff

Last month, federal judge Landya McCafferty preliminarily approved a $14 million settlement in the class action sexual harassment lawsuit brought against Dartmouth regarding the conduct of three former professors in the psychological and brain sciences department. The sexual harassment class itself — which is likely to be approved at a July 9 fairness hearing — is unique in the extraordinary size, according

to discrimination and civil rights lawyer Bruce Fredrickson ’73, “This is an extraordinary case,” Frederickson said. “A lot of class actions are a lot larger than that, but when you’re talking about three individuals in particular, I’d say 90 is a large number — an appallingly large number.”

In the lawsuit, first brought in November 2018 by seven former students, the plaintiffs alleged that the for mer professors engaged in sexual SEE LAWSUIT PAGE 5

Company offers loans on earning potential B y JACOB STRIER

The Dartmouth Staff

A new finance company, Thrive Cash, is banking not on Dartmouth students’ credit history, finances or national identity, but instead on their future earnings.

Cofounded just over two years ago by Stanford graduates Siddharth Batra and Deepak Rao, Thrive Cash reaches out to students at both private and public institutions in 31 states, offering cash loans meant to

fill the void left by inadequate student aid, such as summer housing before starting a new job. The company specifically aims to provide loans to traditionally “under-funded” demographic groups such as first-generation students.

According to Rao, the “extremely transparent” financial model is simple.

With the presentation of a job or internship acceptance letter, Thrive Cash offers a student 25 SEE THRIVE CASH PAGE 3

MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

An email sent to campus sent by the College Republicans included “They’re bringing drugs...” in the subject line.

B y PETER CHARALAMBOUS The Dartmouth Senior Staff

The chairman and co-vice chairman of the Dartmouth College Republicans resigned from their positions on Tuesday night, citing “recent developments” in a statement written by the organization’s board obtained by The Dartmouth.

The resignations came on the same day that the College Republicans announced the “indefinite postponement” of a campus event featuring a U.S. Senate candidate.

The organization stated in an email to campus Tuesday after noon that “serious security concerns” led them to postpone the event — a

policy talk with Republican candidate Bryant “Corky” Messner.

However, the credibility of the threats cited by the organization is a matter of contention. The College Republicans had pointed to certain social media messages made about the event. However, the decision to postpone the event was made independently of the College, as well as the Hanover Police Department, and only came after the organization determined that it did not have the time or budget to hire security for the event, according to a member of the College Republicans leadership.

C o l l e g e Re p u b l i c a n

leadership also noted that most of the pushback to the event originated from the wording of the email sent to campus advertising the event with the subject line “They’re bringing drugs...”

Meanwhile, a number of right-wing websites reported on the postponement, characterizing the decision as a response to “violent” threats — a narrative that Messner’s campaign has endorsed in a series of posts made on Twitter. “@DartmouthRepublicans were forced to cancel my appearance due to the militant stance of the Dartmouth College Dems,” Messner’s campaign tweeted on Monday.

SEE REPUBLICANS PAGE 2

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2020

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

Postponement and resignations “separate,” board member says FROM REPUBLICANS PAGE 1

But the Dartmouth College Democrats said that they have no knowledge of threats and support the right to speech of both the event organizers and peaceful protestors.

The connection between the event and the resignations of the two individuals, former chairman Daniel Bring ’21 and co-vice-chairman Alexander Rauda ’21, still remains unclear.

Former College Republicans co-vice chair Charles Schneider ’22 — who is still serving on the organization’s board as it goes through a restructuring and rewriting of its constitution through the Council on Student Organizations — said that the resignation of Bring and Rauda originated from a leadership structure in the organization which became “bipartite.”

Schneider said the event on Tuesday is an example of the communication issues which led to the resignations. He added the resignation and events postponement are “totally separate,” and that the organization is now looking forward to improving programming and group control.

However, Schneider specifically noted that the majority of the board of the College Republicans was excluded from decision-making process for events and communications through both email and social media.

The College Republicans first announced the event on Sunday by sending an email to the Dartmouth community, with the subject line “They’re bringing drugs…” The event announcement described the event as a policy talk titled “Building a wall against drugs: the need for border security to end the opioid crisis.”

But Schneider said that most members of the organization did not know about the email and learned about the event only when the email was sent to campus.

The subject line led to concern among students and backtracking by the College Republicans.

“We’ve tried to take responsibility for the subject line by presenting the case and opening a discourse on the issue,” said College Republicans secretary Griffin Mackey ’21 when asked about the nature of the subject line.

Before the event’s cancellation, senior society Casque & Gauntlet announced that it would host an event at the same time as the College Republicans policy discussion titled “Diaspora Stories for Compassion and Healing,” which was dedicated to “holding space for Latinx students and other immigrant diasporas most affected” and “sharing the hearing the stories of affected communities.”

In both an email to campus and a Facebook post, immigration advocacy group CoFIRED’s executive board said that they “stand in solidarity with the undocumented community and reject harmful narratives that criminalize immigrants.” The email also included a variety of links to articles to “share some helpful facts and statistics about the truth of the United States’s drug epidemic and debunk harmful stereotypes about the immigrant community.”

At the same time, Mackey said that College Republicans’ leadership began to learn about and respond to the alleged “threats” made to both College Republicans members and Messner.

“I think we were all concerned for the safety of the event,” Schneider said.

Schneider said that while the group was concerned about the safety of the event, the current leadership of the group acknowledges that the cause of pushback to the event — namely the provocative subject line — does not represent the beliefs of the current leaders.

Mackey said that after meeting with Safety and Security on Monday,

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

the College Republicans determined that they neither had the budget nor time to secure adequate safety measures for the event.

“Cur rent member s in the Dartmouth College Republicans didn’t feel comfortable going knowing that there would be no security there,” Mackey said. “You know, we simply couldn’t have the event turn into a fiasco with the protesters.”

Department of Safety and Security interim director Keysi Montás declined to comment on the matter.

A representative from Hanover Police said that while the department was notified the event would be cancelled, the chief of police was not consulted in the decision-making process. The ultimate decision for postponement was made independently of the College.

“The College had no role in that decision,” College spokesperson Diana Lawrence wrote in a statement to The Dartmouth.

I n t h e a f t e r m at h o f t h e postponement, Messner’s campaign quickly attributed the cancellation to the threats allegedly made online.

“Today, the Dartmouth College Republicans had to cancel my speaking engagement because the College Democrats and the leftists were threatening violence against them and me if we had the speaking engagement,” Messner said in a video posted to his campaign’s social media.

His online fundraising also included a photoshopped image of Messner with the words “silenced by campus liberals” over his mouth. Messner was unable to be reached for comment.

The College Democrats have denied knowledge of any threats made against the event and condemned any violence.

“The Dartmouth Democrats have no knowledge of threats of violence against Mr. Messner or the Dartmouth College Republicans, and under no circumstance would we condone any,” College Democrats executive director Michael Parsons ’20 wrote in an email statement.

“We condemn the racist rhetoric propagated by the event, and support the right to free speech by all parties involved, including those who were planning peaceful protests.”

By late Tuesday night, the College Republicans issued a statement noting that Bring and Rauda resigned “due to recent developments” and that their resignations have been accepted by the organization’s board.

Schneider specifically cited lapses in communication, a lack of group control of social media and emails and the concern that the group might be further harmed under its past leadership.

In a statement to The Dartmouth, Bring said that he resigned to “focus on other opportunities and end my contribution to the divisive political atmosphere on campus.” Rauda wrote that he is “happy for the new team and wish them the best in their programming.”

As for Messner coming back to campus, Schneider said that the College Republicans are seeking to invite all New Hampshire Republican Senate hopefuls to campus to speak, including Messner.

“The College Republicans and I will figure out a way for me to speak here, and I look forward to that,” Messner said in an online video.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2020

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

Company has no official relationship with College FROM THRIVE CASH PAGE 1

percent of the internship salary or 25 percent of the first three months’ salary.

Rao also said that high repayment rates — around 99.8 percent — on the loans, which averaged 10 percent interest last year, demonstrate the security of the model.

Representatives of Thrive Cash have been messaging Dartmouth students over LinkedIn and email. However, some of the practices of the company — such as including a Dartmouth logo on its website — are not endorsed by the College.

College spokesperson Diana Lawrence wrote in an email that Dartmouth does not endorse Thrive Cash. She noted she is not aware of any relationship between Dartmouth and the company, and that the College is getting in touch with the company to confirm that it will remove the Dartmouth logo from their web page.

Rao said that outreach methods vary from campus to campus, while certain strategies are used at all institutions. It begins, he said, with finding marketing personnel.

“It is a simple start,” Rao said.

“You hire people who are looking for marketing experience.”

Rao said the company then reaches out to certain groups which might find Thrive Cash more appealing, namely groups such as international student associations or Questbridge scholars.

These are the students, according to Rao, who might benefit most from the easy-access cash which the Thrive Cash model provides.

According to Rao, students who would otherwise locate interim funding between university studies and a new job from parents or other connections would not use Thrive Cash’s services. Instead, Rao said the pool is self-selecting, largely by students with less financial means.

Rao said his inspiration for Thrive Cash came from his own experiences as a low-income international student in the United States from India. He noted that applying for credit cards or small loans was difficult or even impossible.

For this reason,Thrive Cash does not consider credit scores, citizenship or other financial information — instead banking on the “future” earnings of loan applicants.

Gordon Phillips, a professor at the Tuck School of Business who specializes in finance, wrote in an email that Thrive Cash falls in the growing category of online consumer credit.

“This one could be appealing in its speed of execution and simplicity,” Gordon wrote. “Based on $7 per month for $1000 which is stated in their website, this works out to $84 per year total interest. At this rate it works out to 8.4 percent simple annual interest if there are no additional fees.”

Gordon wrote that the Thrive Cash model could be attractive for those who face higher rates of interest in credit cards. But, he cautioned students to be careful about overextending themselves with “too much additional debt,” given they may also have student loans to pay.

Batra and Rao found much of their seed funding from the support of their former bosses at Twitter, according to Rao. He said other investors took a bet on the founders’ compelling stories and the fact that problems faced by underfunded students like Rao are widespread.

Rao said that it would be a misconception to assume Thrive Cash targets students only at schools like Dartmouth, Stanford University or New York University, where services were first rolled out. He noted the repayment rates between private and public university students are the same, and that top employers like Amazon or Apple recruit the bulk of their students not from Ivy League institutions, but from schools like the University of Washington.

Rao said that student borrowers do not need to use all of the money allocated in the loan. Instead, students “unlock” a certain amount, which they can then access either as a lump sum or in a dispersed set of withdrawals.

He said no payments are due until a student starts their job or internship — another reason he attributed to the high repayment rate.

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THE DARTMOUTH EVENTS

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2020

DARTMOUTHEVENTS TODAY 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Exhibit: “The Ties that Bind: Slavery and Dartmouth.” Sponsored by the Library, Rauner Special Collections Library.

12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Discussion: “Ethics Institute Student Lunch Discussion: Virtue Signaling, Cancel Culture, and the Morality of Grace,” with Zia Rahman. Sponsored by the Ethics Institute, Blunt Alumni Center, Suite 204.

TOMORROW 7:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.

Music: “Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra with Guests Coast Jazz Orchestra.” Sponsored by the Hopkins Center for the Arts, Spaulding Auditorium, Hopkins Center.

8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.

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PAGE 5

Class action lawsuits on sexual misconduct allegations are rare plaintiffs] were able to come to a settlement that was positive for them misconduct over several years and that and actually move on with their lives the College was aware of allegations after everything — you know, years but did not act on them. of trauma and the aftermath that While class action lawsuits regarding they’d been through,” Whitney said. discrimination or a hostile work “There was a small part of me that was environment can be quite large, sexual disappointed because the opportunities harassment class action lawsuits tend to to really shine light on these issues be smaller because of the number of through a very public trial would have people who cross paths with a certain been pretty striking, and yet I absolutely perpetrator or rules surrounding the wanted what was best for the plaintiffs statute of limitations on harassment and completely understood as a survivor incidents, according to Fredrickson. myself why coming to settlement and Fredrickson said that while class not going through a public trial was a action discrimination lawsuits are really good decision.” relatively common, class action Whitney and several other alumni lawsuits specifically regarding sexual founded DCGHSV after the lawsuit harassment are rare, because sexual was filed in 2018. The organization misconduct can be individualized sent a letter supporting the plaintiffs and difficult to demonstrate — and that was signed by over 800 current usually one individual’s actions do not and former Dartmouth students to demonstrably affect enough people to College President Phil Hanlon and form a class. He said that although 90 the Board of Trustees. DCGHSV also people is small for class action lawsuits sent Hanlon and the Trustees a list of generally, the fact that this is a class demands aimed at cutting down on action suit at all is indicative of an sexual violence and gender harassment extreme case. and has since continued to advocate for “The fact that they got a class institutional changes. certified and settled with 90 plaintiffs Although Whitney said she is in a psychology happy with the department probable outcome that’s not even “The fact that of the lawsuit and that large … they got a class encouraged that that’s what really plaintiffs will work certified and settled shocked me,” with the College Fr e d r i c k s o n with 90 plaintiffs on new sexual said. “Think and a psychology misconduct policies, about the she is concerned n u m b e r o f department that’s that the College women affected not even that large is attempting to over a five-year “quickly sweep this ... that’s what really period, and under the rug and D a r t m o u t h shocked me.” move forward rather didn’t effectively than looking back.” shut it down.

She said that the Just appalling.” -BRUCE FREDERICKSON ’73 plaintiffs had to sign a While the non-disparagement case itself is agreement with the unique, many in the community College, which will prevent plaintiffs are glad to see the settlement nearly from criticizing or discrediting the finalized.

College on this issue in the future.

Diana Whitney ’95, a founding “All class members who do not member of the organization opt out of the settlement will release Dartmouth Community against Dartmouth from any and all claims Gender Harassment and Sexual against it arising out of the same factual Violence, expressed her support for the circumstances that were or could have preliminary approval. been asserted in this lawsuit,” the “I’m really heartened that [the preliminary settlement notes.

FROM LAWSUIT PAGE 1

MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Moore Hall houses the psychological and brain sciences department.

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2020

THE DARTMOUTH OPINION

CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST MAX TESZLER ’23

Time to Unite

Progressives should throw their support behind Bernie Sanders.

DEBORA HYEMIN HAN, Editor-in-Chief

AIDAN SHEINBERG, Publisher

ALEX FREDMAN, Executive Editor PETER CHARALAMBOUS, Managing Editor

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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.

Before the New Hampshire Primary, I enthusiastically supported Elizabeth Warren for president. But Warren finished a dismal fourth, even worse than her third-place finish in Iowa. It’s time for her to exit the race and unite progressives in support of Bernie Sanders.

Warren has a unique opportunity to deliver on progressive goals; her endorsement could be the final boost of momentum Sanders needs to win the nomination. While the two differ on the details of their plans and their stylistic approaches, their overall ideologies — health care for all, a Green New Deal and attacking the power of wealthy interests — align strongly.

As it stands, Warren is running far behind.

Sanders narrowly missed a first-place finish in Iowa and won New Hampshire, while Warren finished third and fourth, respectively. Her distant fourth in New Hampshire is the most concerning — she received under 10 percent of the vote and failed to qualify for any delegates.

Watching Warren trail at the ballot box was tough. I supported Warren from the beginning, and I volunteered dozens of hours for the Senator over the last two terms; collectively, our campaign collected over 1,000 pledge-to-vote cards in Hanover alone. Even in Hanover, though, Warren finished fourth. I just don’t know where Warren can regain the momentum; Sanders is climbing in recent polls and is widely regarded as having a far better chance of winning the primary.

From the very beginning of their campaigns, both Sanders and Warren have centered their candidacies around broadly similar progressive agendas. Warren caught fire with her “I have a plan for that” slogan, publishing a detailed agenda that includes a wealth tax, ambitious climate action and campaign finance reform. I supported Warren because of the strength of her agenda and the belief that her carefully developed policies stood a better chance of being successfully implemented.

Sanders, meanwhile, has called for a “political revolution” — a noble yet vague aspiration — and his 2016 campaign was marked by a pronounced lack of detail in his agenda. Yet four years have made a considerable difference; Sanders recently published his own plan for a wealth tax and has strengthened his approach on Medicare for All by releasing a concrete financing plan. Sanders also sells his plan with more honesty than Warren — yes, middle-class taxes would have to increase slightly in order to implement Medicare for All. It was differences in health care plans that started to swing the race from Warren to Sanders, after a dominant summer for the Massachusetts senator. Even while volunteering for Warren, I was

frustrated by her campaign’s seeming unwillingness to fully sell the benefits of Medicare for All and the ways her campaign seemed to back away from the plan; she suggested waiting up to three years before introducing a universal health care bill. Yet I stuck with her, because on balance I found her approach to be more realistic. Sanders can be needlessly combative, and I think Warren would have a far better chance of convincing an establishment Congress to implement her ideas. Behind the scenes, Warren extended olive branches to more moderate Democrats like Hillary Clinton — an action that enraged many Sanders supporters. In my opinion, that’s just how you build a successful coalition in a diverse democracy.

Yet the voters have spoken — and they opted for the Sanders’ “revolution” instead of Warren’s “big structural change.” Compared to the other candidates in the race, though, either of the two stand out as the clear choice for progressives.

Warren’s voters recognize as much — recent polling show Sanders as the second-choice candidate for a plurality of Warren supporters, with over twice as much support as the next alternative.

In recent polls, Sanders has been surging; he opened up a 10-point lead in the first nationwide poll post-New Hampshire, has a 14-point lead in Nevada and is even narrowly leading Joe Biden by two percent in Texas, according to a recent poll. But one other candidate has been surging in these polls — Michael Bloomberg. His support has risen by 8.9 percentage points in a month in the RealClear Politics national polling average.

I’ve been mystified by this surge — a former Republican mayor who championed racist stopand-frisk policies should not be the Democratic nominee.

By exiting the race, Warren avoids losing face in a quixotic quest. Her supporters will naturally move to Sanders, based on current polling. And she could easily become the most effective surrogate Sanders has in store, campaigning enthusiastically for their shared progressive agenda. There’s even been speculation Sanders may name Warren as his running mate. I certainly hope that will be the case. Progressives have their best chance in a generation to make real change; or we could remain divided and let another moderate win.

It’s time for progressives to coalesce behind Sanders and nominate a candidate who views health care as a human right, recognizes the existential threat of climate change and will finally free the country from wealthy interests. By throwing her enthusiastic support to the progressive frontrunner, Warren can make a powerful step toward a kinder, fairer and more just country.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2020

CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST SYDNEY TOWLE ’22

Going Greek, Going Green Greek spaces need to become more sustainable.

As both an affiliated student at Dartmouth and as a waste diversion intern with the Sustainability Office, I have experienced first-hand the divide that exists between sustainability and Greek life. It is nearly impossible to disregard the staggering amount of plastic cups and Keystone Light cans littered among Greek house basements — yet many students don’t blink an eye before tossing another can onto the pile. In the 2018-19 academic year, 65 percent of Dartmouth’s student population was affiliated with the Greek system. Greek life can no longer keep secluded from the environmental issues that affect every student on campus.

This term, Sustainability Office interns have carried out a recycling competition among Greek houses to reduce waste. An article published last week by The Dartmouth reported that the average Greek house at Dartmouth goes through approximately 114,000 cups and 22,000 beer cans per term.

And things aren’t looking good. In 2018, Casella Waste Management, the company responsible for distributing Dartmouth’s waste, switched to a zero-sort recycling system — which is much more sensitive to contamination by nonrecyclable material. China, a major recycling center, has also reduced its contamination threshold. A Greek house basement isn’t exactly conducive to meticulous sorting, so a lot of recyclable materials are now being diverted to the landfill from Dartmouth’s campus.

To adapt to these changing conditions, Greek houses must prioritize sustainability over convenience. While a term-long competition provides a temporary solution, it is not feasible for Greek spaces to sort through thousands of contaminated cups and cans every week.

Colleges across the United States have begun developing innovative solutions to combat campus-specific issues such as Greek waste diversion. In 2018, Bowdoin College implemented a reusable cup system in its social spaces. After recognizing the significant amount of waste generated by plastic cups, several sustainability interns proposed the switch to a reusable cup system, in which each house is responsible for washing the cups every week prior to reuse. While there was some minor student backlash, the houses ultimately implemented the new system.

There’s another simple solution to reduce waste in the Greek system: kegs. Kegs are allowed on Dartmouth’s campus, but must be registered by 3:00 p.m. on the day of an

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THE DARTMOUTH OPINION

event, per Dartmouth’s Alcohol Management Program Policy. Even if a reusable cup system isn’t feasible on our campus, kegs would significantly reduce the number of Keystone cans sent to the landfill. One keg holds around 165 12-ounce cans of beer. And they are cheaper. One keg of Keystone Light costs about $70 — to buy that beer in $17 30-packs would cost $93.50. Given the sheer volume of beer consumed by the Greek system, the savings quickly add up.

Keystone cans are not the only unsustainable aspect of Greek houses. While certain problems are more salient than others, a variety of smaller — but still important — issues are often overlooked. Greeks Going Green, a nonprofit organization dedicated to mobilizing Greek members around sustainable initiatives, has taken root at several college campuses around the country and focuses on incremental improvements. The University of Pennsylvania has implemented principles of Greeks Going Green and established an extensive howto guide for Greek spaces to reduce their environmental impact. Centered around the topics of waste, energy, water and community engagement, the program provides resources and materials for use within all Greek houses.

One major inhibitor to environmental progress is accountability. It is easy for Greek houses to make vague commitments to more sustainable operations, but without enforcement, these commitments are just empty promises. A few Greek houses on campus have created the position of Sustainability Chair to promote eco-friendly practices within the house and encourage Greek members to think critically about the impacts of their actions. By designating a position for sustainability, Greek spaces ensure that environmental well-being at least has a voice at the table when planning house and social events. But sustainability chairs still aren’t the norm, and more houses need to acknowledge the importance of dedicating a position to reducing the house’s environmental impact.

Greek life can’t remain exempt from sustainable practices. If other colleges can develop innovative solutions for their campuses, then Dartmouth, with its copious financial resources and knowledgeable student body, should be no exception. Whether it be kegs, sustainability chairs or recycling an empty can of Keystone, any effort to reduce our environmental impact is a step in the right direction.

CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST MAXWELL BLUM ’23

Busy Kids

Staying busy might actually be a good thing.

Imagine it’s 1:55 p.m. on a Wednesday; you just passion and perseverance for very long-term finished your 12 and you have exactly one hour goals. Grit is having stamina. Grit is living life and 50 minutes before your 3:45 p.m. practice. like it’s a marathon, not a sprint.”

Considering how you always get to practice 15 So when I think about where my peers and minutes early to warm up and it always takes 13 I source our motivation to succeed, I believe it’s minutes to walk from the green to your practice, from a unique direct correlation between our that healthy amount of time is now running a busyness and our grit. As a determined “less is little thin. more” advocate, I find that my favorite axiom Your journey from class leads you to the Green, can speak volumes about how college students, and you have an important particularly Dartmouth decision to make. Choose students, choose to manage “We try to make the this quest for grit: Less time one: eat, nap or study. Eat? Eat. leads to more grit, since we best of what little “Good choice, but it’ll don’t have time to cower flexible time we have to cost you!” the voice away from challenges. And in your head cries out. Your while I can’t speak for have in a schedule mind instantly races to the much considering it’s my packed with fixed chemistry problem set you freshman winter and I still commitments. But is have much to learn, I do feel have yet to tackle, the first draft you have to pump this human tendency a as though having less time on out, the new season of my hands has led to more necessarily bad thing? productivity and less stress in Bojack Horseman you’ve been meaning to watch and my academic life. Here’s how Not quite.” oh, the job interview you I see it — want to succeed at have tomorrow. Your mind Dartmouth? Get busy. wanders thinking of all the work you have ahead Of course, there’s a fine line between the of you tonight, but then, it’s gone. Time to decide gritty, awesome, productive type of busyness what you want on your sandwich. and the unsustainable, unhappy, unhealthy You see, these snap life decisions are made by type — oftentimes college students run into Dartmouth students every day. We’re human, issues with overcommitment. A healthy load we procrastinate and we try to make the best of of good busyness can quickly turn sour with what little flexible time we the addition of just a few have in a schedule packed too many commitments.

“There’s a fine line with fixed commitments.

Throw a brick in a washing But is this human tendency machine and start a spin between the gritty, a necessarily bad thing? Not cycle — initially, it spins just awesome, productive fine (and pretty powerfully, quite.

One study carried out type of busyness and too!), but slowly over time,

by Columbia University it reaches a point where it the unsustainable, psychology researchers can’t handle the weight of unhappy, unhealthy found that “individuals can the load and the machine benefit in both their personal tumbles out of control. It’s type.” and work lives from being the classic dichotomy of busy ... as being busy helps work and leisure. them increase their productivity.” And although Balancing those two is one of the greatest, most this study can only speak in the “in the all-too- demanding challenges about attending a school common context of missed deadlines,” from like Dartmouth — finding a unique stride that personal and relational experience, I firmly provides a balance between busyness, grittiness believe that it represents a much grander idea — and doing-nothingness. Everyone has one, and that being busy should actually be a sought-after it’s only a matter of time until they find it. experience.

So, when that “eat, nap, or study” fork in the When we live life with limited amounts of time road next appears, embrace it; it’s a testament to to complete tasks, we harness a new perseverance, busyness, and an even greater testament to grit. a new passion and a new grit. In a game-changing No matter the decision, choose it with ferocity TED talk, University of Pennsylvania psychology — keep working hard, and remember to stay professor Angela Duckworth notes how “grit is busy.

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2020

THE DARTMOUTH ARTS

Review:Tame Impala’s ‘The Slow Rush’ explores temporal themes B y Jack Hargrove The Dartmouth Staff

Over the last decade, Kevin Parker has used his solo project Tame Impala to create incredible anthems of loneliness and isolation. Ever since his 2010 single “Solitude is Bliss,” Parker has pushed himself further and further away from society, using his lyrics to present himself as an outsider looking in. Even the album cover of Tame Impala’s 2012 album “Lonerism” depicts people picnicking on the other side of a fence, just out of reach. During the production of his next album “Currents” in 2015, Parker withdrew even further, working meticulously on each track.

And while these songs dealt more with interpersonal relationships than any of his previous works, the lyrics made it clear that Parker felt more alone than ever.

Now, nearly five years later, Parker has released his fourth album under the Tame Impala moniker, “The Slow Rush.” In the time between album releases, Parker’s life has undergone a significant change: In 2019, he got married. This milestone has manifested itself into the lyrics, which have moved into unfamiliar territory for Tame Impala. On “The Slow Rush,” Parker’s lyrics focus on topics relating to the passage of time, including nostalgia, death and the prospect of spending the rest of his life with one person. Musically, the album combines Tame Impala’s psychedelic roots with fresh takes on pop, soft rock and even disco.

Parker establishes the album’s central lyrical theme right out of the gate with the opening track “One More Year.” Throughout the song, he sings about living life without worrying about the constraints that time puts on everyone. Parker

also expresses his apprehension for married life, saying, “I never wanted any other way to spend our lives/I know we promised we’d be doing this ’til we die/And now I fear we might.” Despite his excitement with being married to the love of his life, Parker has yet to come to grips with the fact that the rest of his life is now mapped out for him.

Parker’s anxiety about married life is echoed later in the album’s ninth track “Is It True,” where he questions his ability to love one person forever. In the first verse, he sings, “We started talkin’ ’bout devotion/ The kind that goes on eternally/And I tell her I’m in love with her/But how can I know that I’ll always be?”

The fear of commitment that Parker expresses feels very personal and this vulnerability helps the listener connect with the lyrics. Sadly, the instrumental in the song is the most forgettable on the album. While the disco bassline itself is enjoyable to listen to, the repetition of the same basic melody over and over makes it feel more suited to a Target commercial than a Tame Impala album.

Different facets of the passage of time are explored from track to track. In the eighth song “Lost in Yesterday,” Parker discusses the effect that nostalgia has on him.

After looking back on his days before fame fondly, he asks whether it is healthy to constantly live in the past, especially how more difficult times in his life ended up becoming good memories. In reference to memories, Parker comes to the conclusion that “if they call you, embrace them/If they stall you, erase them.” He again sings about living in the past on the sixth track, “Tomorrow’s Dust.”

Here, Parker says, “I was blinded by a memory/Like it’s someone else,

like it wasn’t me/And there’s every chance I’ll be learning fast/And the day will come and then it will pass,” referencing how fleeting the past is and the importance of moving on.

In the seventh song, “On Track,” Parker relates the pressure that time can constraints the public’s demand for new music can put on artists. Five years separate “The Slow Rush” from the last Tame Impala album, and this delay stems from Parker’s reputation as a perfectionist and an auteur. In fact, this album was originally supposed to be released in the summer of 2019, referenced in the lyric, “I know it’s unrealistic, overoptimistic/I know I tried before this, I know it’s nearly August.” Despite the delay, Parker still considered himself to be “on track,” as he says in the song’s chorus, as he works at his own pace. It is fitting that “On Track” is by far the slowest song on the album.

The most terrifying effect of time, death, is the focus of the fourth track, “Posthumous Forgiveness,” in which Parker attempts to make sense of his feelings about his late, estranged father. The song is split into two parts, with the first delving into the issues Parker had with his father while he was alive. Parker, it seems, has pent up his anger with his father since he was a child. In the bridge, he sings, “And you could store an ocean in the holes/In any of the explanations that you gave/And while you still had time, you had a chance/But you decided to take all your sorrys to the grave.”

However, the second part betrays Parker’s anger and reveals a different side to their relationship. The lyric “I wanna tell you ’bout the time/Wanna tell you ’bout my life/Wanna play you all my songs/Learn the words, sing along” is a heartbreaking insight into the pain Parker feels about no longer having a father. The instrumental

also fits perfectly with the lyrics, as the hazy and bass-heavy first section is replaced by a much brighter and upbeat sound in the second half.

Lyrically, “The Slow Rush” is the most cohesive and mature album that Tame Impala has released to date. Sadly, the quality of the music itself is much more variable. The instrumentals sound highly similar from one song to the next, resulting in a bland and homogeneous product.

While certain individual tracks stand out above the rest, many others blend together. None of the songs on the album are necessarily bad, but quite a few of them did not need to be on the album, especially with its above average runtime of nearly an hour.

“Instant Destiny” is the most egregious example of filler on the album. The chorus sounds like a generic parody of a Tame Impala melody and the production during the verses is bland and static. For such an eclectic and innovative producer, Parker sounds a lot like any other boring indie rock artist out there on this track.

“Tomorrow’s Dust” is another track that adds little to the musical diversity on the album. The song is a forgettable soft-rock affair that is built around an acoustic arpeggiated guitar riff reminiscent of Radiohead’s “Weird Fishes/ Arpeggi.” The repeated guitar line gets boring quickly, and the vocal melody in the chorus is woefully uninspired. This track is more muzak than anything else and may ultimately find a home playing in elevators. The same can be said for the instrumental in “Is It True,” which consists of a static bassline repeated again and again without much else.

The penultimate track, “Glimmer,” may be the most pointless on the album. At just over two minutes in

length, “Glimmer” is little more than a forgettable interlude. While interludes certainly can benefit an album, its placement right near the end of the album is a poor choice. There is little point in hearing an interlude when the album is almost over. The issue is compounded by the fact that the track provides the album with almost no musical value, as the synths and guitar lines on the track are repetitive and insubstantial.

In spite of a few musical missteps, there are still many high points of the album. Lead single “Borderline” provides an easy listening experience, while still having dynamic synth lines and an off-kilter melody. The fifth track, “Breathe Deeper,” is bright and upbeat, with an infectious melody that will get stuck in any listener’s head. The ballad “On Track” may be slow, but the heavy synths and drum beat make it as exciting as any Tame Impala song. “Posthumous Forgiveness” is perfectly split into two parts, with the hazy and dystopian sound of the first instrumental contrasting with the radiant drum beat and melody of the second part.

“Lost in Yesterday” would fit well on the last Tame Impala album, “Currents,” with its bouncy beat and buoyant bassline.

“The Slow Rush” is, at its core, an album with stellar standout tracks that are ultimately held back by boring filler. The album is also plagued by a lack of experimentation, a quality that has been ubiquitous on every other Tame Impala album.

When compared to “Currents” or “Lonerism,” there are similar high points, but “The Slow Rush” takes far fewer risks and has much less variety.

After a five-year wait, Tame Impala does not give longtime listeners anything that they haven’t already heard.