VOL. CLXXV NO. 142
SUNNY HIGH 19 LOW 7
Air conditioning to be in dorms this summer B y CHARLES CHEN The Dartmouth Staff
OPINION
REYNALOVELACE: A HISTORY OF CONTROVERSY PAGE 4
KHAN: HACKS AT BEST, BIGOTS AT WORST PAGE 4
ARTS
THE 91ST ANNUAL OSCARS ARE YET ANOTHER SHALLOW DISAPPOINTMENT PAGE 7
MASTERPIECE: THE PORTRAIT OF BEATRICE CENCI, THE MUSE AND THE MYTH PAGE 7
A CINEMATIC REVIEW OF 2018: TEN GREAT FILMS AND FIVE FLOPS PAGE 8
FOLLOW US ON
TWITTER @thedartmouth COPYRIGHT © 2019 THE DARTMOUTH, INC.
HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2019
Students in the Class of 2021 may be happy to learn that they can sleep comfortably in their residence halls this upcoming summer term, without resorting to Dartmouth-provided cots in Sarner Underground. This past week, college officials announced that on-campus housing this summer for the Class of 2021 and other students would be located in the East Wheelock cluster, which consists of Andres, McCulloch, Morton and Zimmerman Halls. Should these residence halls be filled, Hitchcock Hall will open as overflow. All of the East Wheelock rooms are fully
air conditioned, while Hitchcock only has air conditioning in the common room. Each spring term, Rachael Class-Giguere, director of undergraduate housing, said she meets with Catherine Henault, director of residential operations, to decide which residence halls can be opened in the summer. “We are really excited this year to be able to use East Wheelock because it would allow us to have air conditioning for students, which we’ve wanted to figure out a way to make work for a long time,” Class-Giguere said. SEE AIR CONDITIONING PAGE 2
The Dartmouth Staff
Two Dartmouth students are challenging a New Hampshire state law in court that they argue restricts the rights of out-of-state college students to vote. Despite the excitement of 2020 presidential candidates coming to campus, Dartmouth students who were not previously registered to vote in N.H. may
MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIORS STAFF
The 175th directorate says goodbye after many terms at The Dartmouth.
By ELIZABETH JANOWSKI The Dartmouth Staff
Dartmouth students challenge HB 1264 B y ANDREW CULVER
The Dartmouth welcomes its 176th directorate
find themselves unable to vote in the upcoming primary due to HB 1264, a new law slated to go into effect in July 2019. The law will change the definition of a New Hampshire resident, requiring out-ofstate students, among others, to obtain state drivers licenses or in-state car registrations in order to vote. SEE LAWSUIT PAGE 5
Beginning in the spring, Debora Hyemin Han ’20 and Aidan Sheinberg ’20 will serve as The Dartmouth’s new editorin-chief and publisher, respectively. Han, a government major and philosophy minor from Syracuse, New York, became a news writer in her freshman fall. She served as an associate managing editor of the news section in the spring of 2018 and as an editor of the freshman special issue in the summer of 2018. Han will replace
outgoing editor-in-chief Zachary Benjamin ’19. Sheinberg, a quantitative social sciences major from New York City, New York, has been a member of the product development staff since the winter of his freshman year. He will take the place of Vinay Reddy ’20, who has acted as interim publisher since the resignation of former publisher Hanting Guo ’19 in November 2018. 2019 Editorial Directorate Alex Fredman ’20 will replace Amanda Zhou
’19 as news executive editor and Eliza Jane Schaeffer ’20 will replace Ioana Solomon ’19 as production executive editor. Peter Charalambous ’20, Julian Nathan ’20 and Anthony Robles ’20 will replace Alexa Green ’19 and Sonia Qin ’19 as news managing editors. Tyler Malbreaux ’20 and Matthew Magann ’21 will replace Matthew Brown ’19 and Lucy Li ’19 as opinion editors. Nikhita Hingorani ’21 and Kylee Sibilia ’20 will be the new Mirror editors, SEE DIRECTORATE PAGE 3
Last Thursday sees The Pitch in its sixth year B y GRAYCE GIBBS
The Dartmouth Staff
Dartmouth community members had the opportunity to showcase their business savvy and creativity last Thursday. Now in its sixth year, The Pitch, an entrepreneurship competition, was held on Feb. 21
in Filene Auditorium, attracting around 100 audience members. Twelve teams each delivered two-minute presentations to a panel of judges, which was comprised of two representatives each from the DALI Lab and the Magnuson Center for Entrepreneurship. Any Dartmouth-affiliated
individual — undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and staff — is eligible to participate in The Pitch. After each team presented, the judges asked one question and selected one question from audience members, who were able to electronically submit questions during
the presentation. Following the presentations, audience members used paper ballots to vote on the Best Pitch. The judges then tallied the ballots to determine the winner of the Best Pitch Prize, as well as deliberated on the winners of the Startup Prize and the Build Prize.
The Best Pitch Prize winner receives a $1,000 grant. The Startup Prize provides a $1,000 grant and mentorship from the Magnuson Center, and the Build Prize provides the team $8,000 in funding fordevelopment and design assistance from DALI for one SEE PITCH PAGE 5
PAGE 2
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2019
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
Researchers use machine learning to predict breast cancer lesions for an alternative, less invasive surveillance” Hassanpour said. Hassanpour said his lab consists A Dartmouth research team of students from the quantitative is harnessing machine learning and biomedical sciences Ph.D. technology to predict malignant and Masters program and the breast cancer lesions. Saeed computer science Ph.D., Masters Hassanpour, assistant professor and undergraduate programs. of biomedical data science and Other members include research epidemology at the Geisel School of scientists and post-doctoral fellows Medicine, and his team are focused with backgrounds in computer and on developing this technology data science. to predict the “My lab works p o s s i b i l i t y “If patients i n d e ve l o p i n g that a breast new machine l e s i o n f o u n d demonstrate they learning and during medical have a lower risk natural language examinations is processing of cancer, they can or will become methods to distill decide if they want cancerous. health-related H a s s a n p o u r to go through with insights from biosaid that breast medical data” cancer screenings the surgery or opt Hassanpour are widely used, for an alternative, explained. but can induce “This is mostly less invasive a false positive, unstructured which put women surveillance.” data like medical in danger of records or overdiagnosis and images.” -SAEED HASSANPOUR, overtreatment. R o b e r t a He explained GEISEL BIOMEDICAL D i F l o r i o t h at t y p i c a l l y, A l e x a n d e r, DATA SCIENCE AND if a lesion is a s s o c i a t e fo u n d a f t e r a EPIDEMIOLOGY professor of mammography, PROFESSOR radiolog y and doctors perform gynecology and a core needle obstetrics at the biopsy on the Geisel School of patient. If a marker for high risk Medicine, was approached by breast cancer incidences, known Hassanpour to collaborate with as atypical ductal hyperplasia, is the research team. She said she was found, surgery is performed to very excited to learn how AI might determine whether the lesion is be applied to breast imaging. malignant or benign, according to Hassanpour said he was aware Hassanpour. of DiFlorio Alexander’s research in “Seventy to 80 percent of this field and reached out to her to women didn’t need this surgery,” see if she was interested in working Hassanpour explained. “Only 20 together. to 30 percent of patients are [found In an email statement, DiFlorio to have cancerous lesions].” Alexander wrote “[Hassanpour’s] Following this discovery of extensive knowledge in this field overdiagnosis and treatment, allowed him to understand that we Hassanpour and his colleagues now have the computational ability s e a r c h e d f o r l e s s - i n v a s i v e to analyze big data and combine alternatives for women seeking computer-extracted information diagnoses. with human-extracted information “We thought it would be good to to improve our understanding and introduce a personalized decision- evaluation of breast cancer and making approach” he added. other medical conditions.” Hassanpour said that he and his DiFlorio Alexander highlighted team want to help women who do the use of artificial intelligence in not need surgery avoid the distress, radiology research. She noted that costs and potential side-effects of the use of digital imagining allows an unnecessary operation. researchers to mine vast amounts “If patients demonstrate they of data, that when combined with have a lower risk of cancer, they molecular and proteomic data could can decide if they want to go facilitate personalized medicine through with the surgery or opt and a better understanding of
B y BLAKE MCGILL The Dartmouth
individual disease processes. “This would open up the possibility of targeted, personalized treatment for each patient’s unique cancer,” DiFlorio Alexander wrote. Hassanpour’s project is an off-shoot of research started at the College by computer science professor Lorenzo Toressani. Arief Suriawinata, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at Geisel, said he approached Toressani and the two began collaborating. Suriawinata said soon after Hassanpour began working at the College and he joined their research team. Hassanpour’s ex p e r t i s e a n d h i s t e a m o f undergraduate and post-graduate researchers helped accelerate the project in the past few years, according to Suriawinata. “ C o l o - re c t a l s c re e n i n g i s universal these days,” Suriawinata explained. Often, clinicians identify premalignant colo-rectal polyps that, if not removed, are likely to become cancerous in a few years, according to Suriawinata. The identification of these colo-rectal polyps is similar to the identification of ADH in Hassanpour’s study. “Studies have shown each patho lo gist m ay h ave so me variability in making the diagnosis” Suriawinata said. Instead of using slides alone to identify colorectal polyps, Suriawinata said that machine learning and a standard algorithm could make diagnoses more consistent in the future. “Roberta and I are working on exchanging this model and developing machine lear ning models which can include genetic bio-markers [and clinical factors],” Hassanpour said, adding that their team collected data from medical records of all the patients identified as positive for ADH by a core needle biopsy at DHMC, dating back to 2011. T he team wants to build comprehensive risk assessment for breast cancer patients and eventually extend the machine learning model for the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of other types of cancer. “We want to extend this work in multiple directions,” Hassanpour said. “We want to expand the work to include other [noncancerous but] high risk breast lesions … and hopefully deploying the model in the clinical practice.”
CORRECTIONS We welcome corrections. If you believe there is a factual error in a story, please email editor@thedartmouth.com.
Students on campus this summer will reside in East Wheelock FROM AIR CONDITIONING PAGE 1
Although some residence halls, like Topliff Hall, have been consistently open each summer for the past several years, the decision of what dorms to open for the summer can be based on a variety of factors, including ongoing repairs and renovations on campus, according to Class-Giguere and Henault. Henault said that the only reason East Wheelock was chosen to be open to sophomores this summer is because it is air conditioned. “The last couple of summers have been so hot and we decided to make it better where we possibly could,” said Henault. “It was strictly just the air conditioning factor.” The College usually reserves the newer, fully air conditioned buildings in the McLaughlin and East Wheelock clusters for various summer camps and programs during the summer. However, this meant that there were periods of time in which East Wheelock — one of the only set of dorms with air conditioning — was sometimes uninhabited. This year, the decision was made to instead reschedule some of the summer events that would have had campers living in East Wheelock to allow for student use of the dormitories. “They do have summer programs, but there were blocks of time where buildings weren’t being used,” Henault said. “So we had buildings that were being air conditioned but were empty.” Though they couldn’t say with certainty, both Henault and ClassGiguere said that they hoped that using the East Wheelock cluster for summer housing would be a permanent one, barring any necessary construction on the residence halls. “As far as I’m concerned, from the operation view [the students] can stay [in East Wheelock],” Henault said. “The only thing that might make a difference would be if we need to close a building down for renovation.” Both Class-Giguere and Henault also mentioned that student feedback will be taken into account when making the decision regarding future summer use of East Wheelock dorms after this upcoming summer term. According to Class-Giguere, the East Wheelock cluster has enough beds to cover the average summer population on campus, but she is unsure whether Hitchcock will have to be opened as overflow. “This sophomore class is the big class, and we weren’t sure how the availability of air conditioning might affect students’ decisions to sublet,” Class-Giguere said. They also dispelled the rumor that
in the name of equity, the College would only turn on air conditioning for residence halls if all students were in residence halls with air conditioning. “None of the buildings we’ve used previously for the summer have had air conditioning,” Class-Giguere said. She also mentioned a common misconception that both Hitchcock and New Hampshire Halls have air conditioning because of their recent renovations. Akosua Twum-Antwi ’21 is the undergraduate advisor for Andres Hall, and is deciding between staying at her sorority house, Kappa Delta, and staying in East Wheelock. She said she stayed at the East Wheelock cluster during her UGA training, and said it was comfortable to live there when the air-conditioning was running. “I don’t think last year’s situation with Sarner Underground was really good,” she said. “You want to be in your own room and you want privacy, so it will be nice for that to be somewhere with air conditioning.” Twum said that she had never had any issue with East Wheelock’s location in her day to day life, and she suspected some complaints about the cluster’s location was primarily due to its distance from frat row. The decision to use the East Wheelock cluster will also impact the early move-in of freshmen during FirstYear Trips. While the usual selection of summer dorms avoids any buildings that will be used for freshman housing the following fall, several floors in the East Wheelock cluster will be home to members of the Class of 2023, who usually move in their belongings after their trip sections beginning at the end of the summer term. According to Class-Giguere and Henault, this issue of overlapping housing will likely be avoided through early cleaning of the rooms as they empty, and keeping some freshmen belongings in storage during the transition. Energy use is another concern for the College. Last summer, Alumni Gym air conditioning shut down during some peak temperatures. Both Henault and Class-Giguere expect similar cutbacks to happen this summer, as they typically do every summer. “East Wheelock was being air conditioned anyways, so now we can have our students in it enjoying the air conditioning,” Class-Giguere said. “It’s a better use of the energy.” Though all students in residence halls will be in the East Wheelock cluster, according to Class-Giguere housing community events will still be run by the individual housing communities.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2019
SB 142 passes in committe B y ANNE GEORGE The Dartmouth
Spaulding High School senior Caroline Dillon is working to make New Hampshire schools a little more female friendly. Dillon helped craft Senate Bill 142, which was recommended to pass unanimously on Feb. 14 within the Senate’s Committee for Education and Workforce Development. It requires feminine hygiene products to be provided in the restrooms of public middle and high schools. Endorsed by state senator Martha Hennessey ’76 (D-Hanover), the bill sought to alleviate “period poverty,” a term coined to describe the lack of access to feminine hygiene products that causes women around the world to be unable to attend work and school during menstruation. SB 142 will move on to being deliberated by the House because the bill has no financing provision, said state senator and vice chair of the Committee Jeanne Dietsch (D-Peterborough). Government professor Deborah Brooks was asked by Hennessey to testify in favor of the bill due to her work with undergraduate students and the Dickey Center’s Young African Leaders Initiative Mandela Scholars. Brooks created a website to consolidate information about menstrual hygiene around the world, which is expected to launch in March 2019. “The issues are a little different in New Hampshire than they are globally,” Brooks said. “Yet the root of the problem is shared. It resides in poverty and the challenges of managing menstruation for young girls, so I was able to leverage some of my learning from this project to speak to the issues that exist here. I also have a 12-year-old and 14-year-old, so these issues are literally very close to home.” Political director of ACLU New Hampshire Jeanne Hruska, who also testified in favor of the bill, explained SB 142 has to be categorized as a law concerning both gender equity and economic justice.
PAGE 3
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
“Tampons and pads are really expensive,” Hruska said. “Too often, families can’t afford them when they rightfully prioritize rent, food and health insurance, which forces young students into a really hard situation where they are staying home during that time of the month or going to school [under] unhygienic circumstances.” She added that other states have already received positive feedback after passing similar legislation. “There are a number of schools across the country that have implemented this, including pilot projects in New York, and these schools have seen increased attendance rates,” Hruska said. “In a state like New Hampshire, where we have a constitutional right to adequate education, this should absolutely be at the forefront of that right.” All too often, Hruska said that people wrongly approach access to feminine hygiene products as a privilege and that this mentality exists because of the archaic taboos surrounding menstruation. She hopes that the implementation of this bill will be a step toward normalizing the female body. “It’s sad that women feel ashamed of their period,” Hruska said. “We even call it ‘that time of the month’ because people don’t like saying ‘period,’ or we say, ‘feminine hygiene products’ because people don’t like to say, ‘pads and tampons,’ so even the lingo associated with it is used to avoid the more humiliating terms. Both Brooks and Hruska urged people who argue that stocking nurses’ offices with feminine hygiene products is enough should start viewing pads and tampons in the same way they do toilet paper. Brooks added that drawing this comparison helps men connect more with the issue rather than simply talking about menstruation. “How would other people feel if they had to go to the nurse’s office to get toilet paper every time they wanted to use the restroom in school?” Hruska said. “People would unanimously
agree that [it] would be embarrassing, inconvenient, and would make zero sense.” Because New Hampshire doesn’t have an income tax and schools are locally funded, Brooks recognizes that the schools where students will make the most use of these free menstrual products tend to be the ones that are underfunded. She said that this program should be supported by the state, but that even if it isn’t, schools will simply have to expand and improve upon an already existing practice of providing menstrual products. “They are doing it through the school nurse, where the embarrassment factor kicks in,” Brooks added. “The higher income students already have their own product preferences, which will cause them to only draw on the available supplies if they need them for emergency reasons. There will be some increase in supply, but it will probably not be a dramatic difference that kills school budgets.” For Hruska, advocating for this bill was personally important. At her Wyoming high school, when female students needed feminine hygiene products, Hruska explained that they would have to leave the main building to go to the gym annex. “The only place we could get free products was from the gym teacher,” she said. “It was kind and generous of her, but it was an awkward situation for students who had to take advantage of it.” Brooks explained that recently countries with much greater need and poverty issues than New Hampshire have passed legislation to support menstruation needs in schools. She said this comes with greater awareness and acknowledgment of menstruation globally and believes that New Hampshire schools will eventually provide feminine hygiene products in the manner proposed. “The question New Hampshire has to answer is whether it wants to be a leader or a follower on this issue,” she said. “I think this is a neat opportunity for New Hampshire to be a leader among smaller states.”
Newspaper announces new leadership FROM DIRECTORATE PAGE 1
with Carolyn Zhou ’19 ending her tenure. Hingorani is currently a Mirror editor, having taken over from Marie-Capuche PineauValencienne at the start of the winter, and Sibilia was an associate Mirror editor last spring. Current arts editor Lex Kang ’21 will continue her position and will be joined by Jordan McDonald ’21. Joyce Lee ’19 will be ending her tenure as arts editor. Luke Gitter ’21, Justin Kramer ’21 and Lili Stern ’22 will replace Mark Cui ’19, Alex Fredman ’20 and Evan Morgan ’19 as sports editors. Lily Johnson ’21, who was Dartbeat editor in the fall, will be continuing the position for a full tenure, while current Dartbeat editor Carolyn Silverstein ’21 will step down from her position. Divya Kopalle ’21 and Michael Lin ’21 will retain their positions as photography editors. Multimedia editor Jessica Campanile ’20 will keep her position as multimedia editor, which she has held since 2017. Bella Jacoby ’20 will continue her position as
design editor and will be joined by Samantha Burack ’20, who was design editor in the spring. Current design editor Sunny Tang ’21 will be stepping down from her position. Hattie Newton ’21 will continue to serve as templating editor. 2019 Business Directorate Albert Chen ’20 and Eleanor Nieder mayer ’20 will replace Bharath Katragadda ’19 and Jay Zhou ’19 as strategy directors. Jonathan Fried ’20 and Raiden Meyer ’20 will replace Brian Schoenfeld ’19 and Heeju Kim ’19 as advertising directors. Himadri Narasimhamurthy ’20 and Kai Sherwin ’21 will replace Brian Chekal ’19 and Cayla Plotch ’19 as product development directors. Eric Zhang ’20 will continue to serve as technology director. Vinay Reddy ’20 will become the communications and marketing director, replacing Sarah Kovan ’19 and Christina Wulff ’19. Franklin Goldszer ’20 will become the assistant communications and marketing director.
HANGING OUT AT THE HOOD
MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Sculptures hang from the ceiling outside the entrance to the Hood Musuem, giving students a fright from below.
PAGE 4
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2019
THE DARTMOUTH OPINION
GUEST COLUMNIST OSMAN KHAN ‘21
GUEST COLUMNIST OLIVIA REYNA-LOVELACE ‘21
Hacks at Best, Bigots at Worst
A History of Controversy
A review of the Dartmouth College Republicans’ guest speakers.
As winter term comes to an end, it’s as good a time as any to review the speakers the Dartmouth College Republicans have exposed our school to over the past two quarters: David Horowitz, Tawfik Hamid and Dinesh D’Souza ’83. The Dartmouth College Republicans speaker line-up responds to the age of post-truth unprincipled politics and amoral Republicanism with, “Yes, let’s do that.” Instead of inviting respected Republicans or policy analysts, the College Republicans have scraped the very bottom of the modern media landscape’s fringe punditry to produce a remarkable lineup of bigots and hacks. But let me back up my argument with facts — a novel idea to the men on the above list. David Horowitz is a hard-right pundit with whom I disagree on a plethora of issues, including whether he should have hired famous Islamophobe Robert Spencer, who was banned from the United Kingdom for behaviors that may “foster hatred” and lead to “inter-community violence” in the country, as stated in letters from the Home Office. But that isn’t why I think Horowitz should have never come within a hundred miles of this campus. He shouldn’t be invited here because, a day after his speech, he tweeted out the email address of a professor who disagreed with the College Republicans’ decision to invite him to his less-than civil Twitter followers, a number of whom can be found making aggressive comments under any given tweet. Now, it’s not fair to blame David Horowitz for his followers’ toxicity, but tweeting out someone’s email address to Twitter trolls is morally repugnant. This isn’t out of character for Horowitz; he has been combative, controversial and uncommitted to civil discourse throughout his career. And yet he spoke at Dartmouth, and the College Republicans didn’t even hint at retroactively regretting inviting a man who called out a faculty member to his mob of followers. Tawfik Hamid is, impressively, even more odious than Horowitz. His College Republicanssponsored talk, ostensibly on preventing the spread of radical Islam, contained enlightening slides about how tolerance can be evil since tolerance of slavery in the 1800s was bad. Mr. Hamid also showcased the “ABC’s” of an interpretation of Sharia Law that he says all devout Muslims (according to “mainstream” Islamic theology’s standards) follow, which I have reprinted exactly
from his slide below: “Sharia law Are You With or Against Sharia Law? A – Apostates killing B – Beating women and stoning them to death for extramarital sexual relations C – Calling Jews pigs and monkeys D – Declaring wars on Non-Muslims to spread Islam E – Enslavements and raping female war prisoners (Ma Malakat Aymnikum) F – Fighting and killing Jews before the “End of Days” G – Gay killing” Hamid even emphatically stated that the only debate in Islamic theology about stoning women is “the type of the stones” used. In case it must be said, that’s not true. If you look up Dr. Ziauddin Sardar, the laws of several Islamic countries that follow their own interpretations of Sharia but somehow neglect to stone women, and the Prophet Muhammad, you will find them all excellent sources of ideas that conflict with Hamid’s arguments. But Hamid proved he wasn’t just spreading bigoted nonsense; he was also spreading rubbish explanations to back his arguments up. He showed a graph of male testosterone levels to explain global terror outfits. He neglected to mention the Iraq War, the Kuwait War, colonialism or Wahhabism’s spread and dismissed the possibility of the Israel-Palestine conflict as an important source of terrorist motivation. He also all but explicitly said that any devout Muslim who pays close attention to the current scripture and “mainstream” Islamic theology is a bigot — and that the most devout ones are terrorists — and presented extremist interpretations of cherry-picked lines from the Qur’an as mainstream theological canon. There are Muslims who believe in what Hamid presented. By his own admission, he himself was stupid enough to buy into it as a young man. But to present this as mainstream ideology is dangerous and deliberately misleading. Serious counter-terror analysts know that his explanations for global terror are harmful garbage. Dartmouth professors know that. My 12-year-old cousin knows that. But the College Republicans’ decision makers either believed SEE KHAN PAGE 6
6175 ROBINSON HALL, HANOVER N.H. 03755 • (603) 646-2600
ZACHARY BENJAMIN, Editor-in-Chief IOANA SOLOMON, Executive Editor ALEXA GREEN, Managing Editor PRODUCTION EDITORS MATTHEW BROWN & LUCY LI, Opinion Editors NIKHITA HINGORANI & CAROLYN ZHOU Mirror Editors MARK CUI, ALEX FREDMAN & EVAN MORGAN, Sports Editors JOYCE LEE & LEX KANG, Arts Editors CAROLYN SILVERSTEIN, Dartbeat Editor DIVYA KOPALLE & MICHAEL LIN, Photo Editors
VINAY REDDY, Interim Publisher AMANDA ZHOU, Executive Editor SONIA QIN, Managing Editor BUSINESS DIRECTORS BRIAN SCHOENFELD & HEEJU KIM, Advertising Directors SARAH KOVAN & CHRISTINA WULFF, Marketing & Communications Directors CAYLA PLOTCH, Product Development Director BHARATH KATRAGADDA & JAY ZHOU, Strategy Directors ERIC ZHANG, Technology Director
BELLA JACOBY & SUNNY TANG, Design Editors HATTIE NEWTON, Templating Editor
ISSUE
CHARLES CHEN
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.
Dinesh D’Souza ’83 has a long history of controversial stances. The offensive remarks and actions made by Dinesh D’Souza ’83 are so numerous that I can only begin to break down a few of his most egregious ones. I feel it is important to do so because many of D’Souza’s supporters seemed baffled that anyone would dare to claim he is a racist or a homophobe, even though his ideology is deeply rooted in provoking outrage with his offensive remarks. D’Souza proudly makes his shocking comments on his social media platforms and in his books, such as “Letters to a Young Conservative,” which I will be referencing throughout this piece. It appears that D’Souza is thrilled to capitalize off of controversial and hateful stances in order to gain more attention and followers. Perhaps I am feeding into his desires by putting the spotlight on him in this piece, but nonetheless I find it important not to let his dark past fade away from the public eye. First, let’s break down D’Souza’s racist history. His anti-Blackness can be traced all the way back to his days as a Dartmouth student and editor for The Dartmouth Review, when he allowed racist articles such as a casual interview with a Ku Klux Klan leader and an article against affirmative action, which inappropriately used a bad impression of African-American Vernacular English, to be published. More recently, in his book “Letters to a Young Conservative,” D’Souza claimed that the civil rights movement and other progressive movements have destroyed the Black community, that there is a “widespread suspicion” that Black people are intellectually inferior and that affirmative action is like “Special Olympics for African Americans” — which again supports the idea that Black people are intellectually inferior. This is a disturbing way to look at the Black community and the need for affirmative action — is it not possible that the fact that Black people have been discriminated against in practice and in law for hundreds of years has prevented many Black people from having easy access to good schools and higher education? Even more recently, D’Souza has claimed that Rosa Parks’ work is “absurdly inflated,” and he has referred to President Barack Obama as “ghetto,” an “African socialist” (implying he was not born in America) and a “grown-up Trayvon [Martin].” All of these statements were made no doubt because D’Souza understood the nasty racial connotations behind these words and wanted to stir up anti-Black feelings. While D’Souza mainly sticks to attacking the Black community, his racist comments don’t stop there. In his book he also discusses an “escapade” he pulled at Dartmouth, in which he went to great lengths to support the “Dartmouth Indian” mascot, an offensive caricature of a Native American man that has been widely denounced by activists and many in the Native American community at Dartmouth. In order to pull off these so-called stunts and make these offensive claims, D’Souza hides behind what he refers to as “ethnic immunity” when it comes to talking about race. Because he is a person of color born in India, he feels he can boldly state anything he wants about Black people, Native Americans and others. In fact, in a recent Tweet, he implied that he is not a racist simply because he is a person of color. I hate to
be the one to have to break it to anyone who thinks being a person of color is a pass to be a racist — but it’s not. D’Souza also has a long-standing history of attacking the LGBT community. In “Letters to a Young Conservative,” he dedicates a chapter against gay marriage, stating, “It does not appear that very many gays want to marry. The reason for this seems fairly obvious: marriage could put a serious crimp in the promiscuous lifestyle of many male homosexuals.” In the same chapter, D’Souza implies that there is a comparison between homosexuality and bestiality. He recalls how while at Dartmouth, he attempted to create a college-sponsored club for bestiality. When Dartmouth administrators rejected his proposal, he gave a spiel about how his bestiality club was similar to the Gay Students Association, claiming that “people of our particular sexual orientation [who practice bestiality]” have experienced “centuries of discrimination.” The fact that D’Souza draws this comparison between homosexuality and bestiality is, to say the least, disgusting. There really is no comparison to be made between adults having consensual and romantic relationships and the heinous act of a human violating an animal. It is interesting to see someone who claims to be tolerant, loving and Christian bash gay people for who they are and advocate for them to be oppressed. As a Christian myself, you are supposed to love your neighbor — not judge them or punish them as if you are God. It seems that D’Souza disagrees. But of course, doing something as outrageous as comparing homosexuality to bestiality plays perfectly into D’Souza’s pattern of purposefully attacking marginalized communities in order to draw attention to himself. D’Souza is reminiscent of students in class who are so eager to be heard that they will always play the devil’s advocate, even if what they are saying is absurd or hateful. However, unlike a student making a comment in a classroom, D’Souza has hundreds of thousands of people following him on social media and buying his books. D’Souza throws out his outrageous comments with no regard for the fact that they can actually hurt people. One example of this is when in 1981 he decided to include the names of members of the Gay Student Association in a public article without their permission. Such an act is not one of a “tolerant” person or something a Christian would be proud of. But D’Souza did it anyway, effectively outing the students to the Dartmouth community and even to their family members who did not know about their sexuality before the article was published. This resulted in one of the students contemplating suicide from the shame and harassment in the aftermath of this event. While outing gay students in the ’80s was already horrifying at the time, D’Souza’s audience has only grown larger since his ability to harm people with his hateful actions has only grown stronger. Back in the 80’s, the only people reading his work were a handful of conservative Dartmouth students, but now he influences millions of people through his massive Twitter following, his Fox News viewers and his book purchasers. I shudder at the thought that if he pulled this kind of a stunt today, the pain he SEE LOVELACE PAGE 6
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2019
PAGE 5
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
Three teams win awards at The Pitch ACLU files lawsuit on behalf of two students FROM PITCH PAGE 1
most likely to interest an employer. Finally, Anders Bando-Hess ’19, term. Chris Bertasi ’19, Isaac Gluck ‘19, “The spirit of The Pitch is less Emma Kennelly ’19 and Robert about, ‘Is it a good business idea?’ Livaudais ’19 won the Best Pitch and more about, ‘Is it unique, is Prize for Tassel, an online platform it innovative, does it solve a real that will allow professors to refer problem?’” said DALI faculty director their best students to recruiters. The and co-founder Lorie Loeb. team explained in their pitch that Chloe Baker ’21 and Maggie “professors know great students [and] Deppe-Walker ’21 won the Startup now recruiters will too.” Prize for SanStraw, a reusable straw In their pitch, the team added that is fully sealable but can be unrolled that “tech recruiting is a pain,” in for washing and part because drying. The goal “We’re very career“ re c r u i t i n g of SanStraw is to platforms put solve the problem focused at Dartmouth. quantity [of of reusable straws Hopefully The Pitch submitted being hard to clean brings some fun and applications] and dry, according over quality.” to Baker and Deppe- innovation to the Re c r u i t e r s Walker’s pitch. who find campus and shows “I’m really students on people that being your excited,” Baker said. “Tassel” can “With the award, own boss could be an be sure that I think that we are option.” each student going to be looking on the at making a final website is of prototype so we -TIM TREGUBOV, DALI guaranteed can move Sanstraw quality. DIRECTOR AND COtowards the final “ W e m a n u f a c t u r i n g FOUNDER really came stage.” here as a step Taggart Bonham in our growth ’20 and Eitan towards Darwish ’21 won the Build Prize actually building a product,” Gluck for “Relm,” an app that aims to said. “We have already built the redesign the Center for Professional platform and are really hoping to Development’s online platform. use this funding to continue growing During their pitch, Bonham and and expanding and hopefully go Darwish explained how the CPD’s somewhere.” current website is difficult to navigate. All three teams will have the Relm will improve the website’s user opportunity to meet with Annie Ren, interface and functionality through the Magnuson Center, program features such as reminders of when manager for startup support. Ren to send a follow-up email to recruiters. said that she works with startups at all The app will also use data-driven different stages of the journey, from software and artificial intelligence to people with just an initial idea to those help users decide, for example, what with a final product that needs to be words in an email’s subject-line are marketed.
“We assess their needs and then work from there,” Ren said. According to DALI developer and The Pitch student coordinator Adam Rinehouse ’19, the 12 teams that got to pitch their ideas were selected from a larger group of applicants. The initial application to participate in the event included a description of the project and how the team would use each prize if they received it. Based on the teams’ answers, the four judges and The Pitch coordinators from DALI and the Magnuson Center decided which teams would get the opportunity to present. “Sometimes you get similar ideas, but with the particular 12 that we took, there’s a pretty good amount of diversity within the ideas,” Rinehouse said. “It’s really cool to see all the different ideas that people on campus have.” According to Loeb, the Pitch began in 2014 to help “jump start innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship.” The first Pitch event included 32 teams in which there were three winners who received help from DALI to build their projects. Over the years, the Magnuson Center became a cosponsor and a selection process was instated to narrow down the candidate pool. “It’s been fun watching how every year the pitches get a little bit better,” DALI director and co-founder Tim Tregubov said. “People are thinking more outside the box, coming up with pretty cool stuff.” Since 2014, The Pitch has become more interactive and engaging for attendees, with components such as soliciting questions from the audience. “We’re very career-focused at Dartmouth,” Tregubov said. “Hopefully The Pitch brings some fun and innovation to the campus and shows people that being your own boss could be an option.”
STUDENTS PLAY IN THE WARM WINTER DAY
MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Students and Hanover community members played pick-up games of ice hockey on Occom Pond.
FROM LAWSUIT PAGE 1
to the payment of large fees to the [Department of Motor Vehicles].” F laherty emphasized the The lawsuit has been filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on importance of college students’ behalf of two Dartmouth students, right to participate in local Caroline Casey ’21 and Maggie elections. “New Hampshire politics effect Flaherty ’21, and names the New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill our health care, the environment Gardner, whose agency is in charge and the air we breathe, and so I of administering elections, and feel it’s really important to vote New Hampshire Attorney General where we live,” she said. HB 1264 will not be the first Gordon MacDonald as defendants. Both plaintiffs were eligible to vote time Republican New Hampshire in New Hampshire in 2018 but legislator s have brought up would now be required to update legislation surrounding voting their drivers licenses in order to registration requirements for participate in the 2020 elections temporary state residents such as college students. at a Hanover polling place. “New Hampshire has a history “I always knew growing up that I would have the right to vote in of changes to voting laws that can the state where I went to college,” make it more difficult or more expensive to vote, especially for Flaherty said. Concerned how HB 1264 would college students,” Klementowicz infringe upon this right, Flaherty said. I n t h e e a rl y 1 9 7 0 s, N e w said she began talking to lawyers Hampshire passed a law prohibiting from the ACLU in the fall. individuals from The ACLU voting in a town opposed HB 1264 that they had a while the bill was “New Hampshire “firm intention” of moving through has a history of leaving in the near the legislature and changes to voting future, according to now is continuing the ACLU website. that fight in court, laws that can The case against according to Henry make it more HB 1264 is a Klementowicz, “continuation” of an ACLU lawyer difficult or more arguing the case. expensive to vote, the ACLU’s work ensuring that the Klementowicz said especially for constitutional right that voting rights to vote is protected, are a major priority college students.” Klementowicz said, for ACLU New in reference to the Hampshire. -HENRY ACLU’s successful The complaint challenge of a challenges HB 1264 KLEMENTOWICZ, 2012 law which on three different ACLU LAWYER the ACLU argued constitutional falsely suggested arguments. First, that voters would the complaint states that the law violates the First be obligated to apply for a New and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Hampshire drivers license in order Constitution in that it imposes a to vote in the state. “We have received the complaint severe burden on the right to vote while not advancing a compelling filed and are reviewing it,” state interest, according to the senior assistant attorney general complaint. Second, the law is being Anthony Galdieri wrote in an challenged on the grounds that email statement. “It is the Attorney it violates the 26th Amendment, General’s duty to vigorously which lowered the voting age to 18, defend the laws of our state and in that the law has the “purpose our office will do so in this case.” and effect” of restricting the right Galdieri is also the chief of civil to vote to New Hampshire voters litigation on behalf of the attorney on account of their age. Finally, general’s office and the secretary the complaint argues that the law of state. Due to its status as pending violates the 24th Amendment, which prohibits imposing poll taxes litigation, the attorney general on the basis that the fees required declined to comment further on to obtain an in-state drivers license the lawsuit. Flaherty said that Dartmouth constitute a poll tax. “College students have a students should care about the case statutory right to vote in New because they have the right to vote Hampshire, and where people where they go to school — and HB choose to register to vote is a 1264 threatens that right — and personal choice,” Klementowicz that they should want to vote in said. “That shouldn’t be subject New Hampshire.
PAGE 6
DARTMOUTHEVENTS
THE DARTMOUTH EVENTS
THE FINAL CHALLENGE
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2019
CECILIA MORIN ‘21
TODAY 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Seminar: “What Do The X-Ray Properties Of Supernova Remnants Reveal About Their Progenitors?” with Dan Patnaude, Center for Astrophysics, Room 202, Wilder Hall
TOMORROW 3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Charles C. Jones Seminar: “Glacier sliding: creeping toward better constitutive rules,” with Iowa State University professor of geological sciences, Neal Iverson, Spanos Auditorium, Cummings Hall
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Performance: “Upstaging Stereotypes,” sponsored by the Office of Pluralism and Leadership, Common Ground, Collis Center
FROM KHAN PAGE 4
what he said or just didn’t care enough to vet him. And make no mistake, these toxic ideas do cause real harm: Hamid has also spoken before ultra-hawkish, Islamophobic policy think-tanks and openly advocated for violent regime change in Iran. If these lectures influence actual policy-makers, then they certainly influence college students. Finally, we come to the crown jewel of the College Republicans’ line-up: Dinesh D’Souza. In his illustrious career, he has committed a felony, mocked the classmates of Parkland school-shooting victims for losing a legislative battle, outed gay students at Dartmouth and produced critically panned, falsehood-spreading films that would have viewers believe Confederates and Clintons are two sides of the same coin. I’ll save some time and waste no more words on why a man who seriously compares Bernie Sanders’ ideology to Hitler’s shouldn’t be invited to campus. These men are hacks. They are the naturally occurring cancerous growths on the underbelly of a divided country rife with inept gatekeepers who failed to keep garbage-hawkers out of the public eye. They have earned the audience of racists,
misogynists and leftist-bashers they receive in the darker corners of the Internet, as well as a strain of conservative voters fearful enough of Mexicans, Muslims and leftists to ignore facts in favor of polemics and lies peddled by con men. They certainly have not earned the audience of intelligent, ambitious and soon-to-be-powerful young people the College Republicans have granted them. I come from a conservative background. Unfortunately, like many conservatives at Dartmouth, I have the requisite shred of self-respect that prevents me from associating with a group that celebrates these bigots and hacks. It’s unfortunate, but it’s true: just as their guests have proven themselves time and time again to be deeply unworthy of this student body’s attention, the College Republicans have, in venerating them, lost their right to any politically-minded Dartmouth student’s respect or membership. It’s a dismal time for the school that produced Amos Tuck and Nelson Rockefeller. I can’t wait to see if the College Republicans bring back Milo Yiannopolous to speak in buildings named after them. Khan is a member of the Class of 2021.
FROM REYNA-LOVELACE PAGE 4
would cause would be magnified simply due to the sheer number of people who follow him. While D’Souza may get a nice laugh out of the outrage that his words and actions cause, there is nothing to laugh about. There is nothing funny about provoking racial tension or homophobia to make yourself famous or sign book deals. It says a lot about the Dartmouth College Republicans that this is the man they chose to come speak about their ideals
and values. Perhaps next time they should stop beating around the bush and just invite David Duke. Lovelace is a member of the Class of 2021. The Dartmouth welcomes guest columns. We request that guest columns be the original work of the submitter. Submissions may be sent to both opinion@thedartmouth.com and editor@thedartmouth.com. Submissions will receive a response within three business days.
ADVERTISING
For advertising information, please call (603) 646-2600 or email info@ thedartmouth.com. The advertising deadline is noon, two days before publication. We reserve the right to refuse any advertisement. Opinions expressed in advertisements do not necessarily reflect those of The Dartmouth, Inc. or its officers, employees and agents. The Dartmouth, Inc. is a nonprofit corporation chartered in the state of New Hampshire. USPS 148-540 ISSN 0199-9931
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2019
PAGE 7
THE DARTMOUTH ARTS
The 91st annual Oscars are another shallow disappointment B y JOYCE LEE
The Dartmouth Senior Staff
The Oscars held its 91st annual ceremony on Sunday, awarding Hollywood’s most prestigious filmmaking awards to the best films of the year ... or that’s the idea, anyways. It seems that I make the same conclusion every year: the Oscars, for all of its prestige, is no longer as relevant to what makes a good film. A nomination is no longer a guarantee that a film is the most groundbreaking or the most innovative; it speaks more to the film’s general appeal and the tastes of the voting members of the Academy. At a time when filmmaking has become a craft that both shapes and is shaped by larger discussions about systemic injustices and representation, it seems clear that a film can no longer be judged in isolation. It’s relevant to keep this in mind when considering the surprising win of the night, “Green Book,” which won Best Picture over films like “Roma,” “BlackKklansman” and “Black Panther.” Spike Lee, who directed “BlackKklansman,” allegedly attempted to storm out of the building when the winner was announced, and at a post-show press junket, he held a glass of champagne and said, “This is my sixth glass — and you know why.” In many ways, Sunday was a historic evening. It was the first time that a black woman won an Oscar for either Best Production Design and Best Costume Design, as Hannah Beachler and Ruth E. Carter did respectively for their work in “Black
Panther.” Spike Lee finally won an about what film should win Best Oscar in a competitive category Picture has shifted in recent years; it’s with Best Adapted Screenplay for gone from arguing over the artistic “BlackKklansman.” Alfonso Cuarón merits of a film to examining how a won Best Director for “Roma,” making film pushes boundaries in a culture that it not only the fifth time in six years is becoming increasingly polarized. In that a Mexican film director won in the 2018, films like “BlackKklansman,” category, but also a significant moment “Sorry to Bother You,” “If Beale of representation for indigenous Street Could Talk,” “Black Panther,” people in film. Mahershala Ali became “Roma” and “Crazy Rich Asians” only the second black person to win regularly led the cultural conversations multiple Oscars with his Supporting of the importance of racial inclusion Actor win, after Denzel Washington. and the need for these stories to be The list goes on. told by creators who identify as people But “Green Book” has made of color, as part of a marginalized this night into a puzzle, with the minority. “Green Book” fails to film’s incessant d o a ny t h i n g c o n t rove r s i e s “It seems that I make groundbreaking and middling in light of these critical reviews. the same conclusion films; it pushes a At a time when every year: the Oscars, message of racial the discussion har mony and for all of its prestige, is about race and understanding representation no longer a guarantee when the past in Hollywood that a film is the most few years have is becoming shown the groundbreaking or increasingly bigotry and hate complex and the most innovative; that lies beneath films like “Black this false message it speaks more to the Panther” and — this message “Crazy Rich film’s general appeal is not enough. A s i a n s ” a r e and the tastes of the The problem becoming both with the film lies c r i t i c a l a n d voting members of the in how it seeks commercial hits, Academy.” to make people “Green Book” feel comfortable, seems like the that they can be odd egg out, as a the example of somewhat antiquated story that looks a “good non-racist.” For being able at race relations as a problem that can to empathize with and understand a be solved with a little bit of empathy black person in moments of horrific and good will. violence and racism, viewers can walk The heart of the disagreements away with a sense of moral superiority
that doesn’t address the aftermath. 2018, when many other excellent films Justin Chang of the L.A. Times sought to portray truly complex, vivid points out that the problem inherent portraits of minority experiences in to “Green Book” is how it seeks to tell the midst of marginalization, it seems a black man’s story from a white man’s disheartening and simply puzzling that perspective. Viewers empathize with the Academy thought “Green Book” Tony Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen), was the best picture of the year. an Italian-American bouncer who Yet, in another way, is it really drives pianist Don Shirley (Ali), a so surprising that the notoriously gay, black man who’s characterized conservative Academy didn’t have it by his intelligence and eloquent in them to give the award to films that speech. These two characteristics have made history as both cultural mark Shirley as different from both a and commercial landmarks? For stereotypical black man of the era and all the chatter about diversity and from Vallelonga’s representation, working-class there is a clear m a n n e r i s m s . “Yet, in another way, discomfort in As C h a n g is it really so surprising r e c o g n i z i n g points out, these films that qualities are only that the notoriously openly critique used in relation conservative Academy systematic to Vallelonga’s injustice without didn’t have it in them perspective; giving an they function as to give the award to audience a clear ways to make films that have made exception that Vallelonga — they can hold history as both cultural and by extension, onto to reduce the audience — and commercial their complicity. think better of As an institution, landmarks?” Shirley, rather the Academy than as a way Awards is losing to understand its relevance Shirley’s artistry or identity. because it refuses to recognize that Defenders of the film might filmmaking is moving beyond its disagree, because “Green Book” is standards of excellence, because not objectively a terrible film. Ali and its standards of excellence were Mortensen do commendable jobs in never very inclusive or progressive. their roles, and the film is both slick With an entire roster of movies and competent. It recognizes acts that were created in recognition of of racism for what they are, and it this movement towards diversity, it attempts to portray a relationship can’t be denied that 2018 was still that overcame societal norms to be a monumental year in film — the truly warm and empathetic. But in Oscars just wasn’t part of it.
Masterpiece: The portrait of Beatrice Cenci, the muse and the myth B y ISABELLE BLANK The Dartmouth Staff
Just as contemporary crowds flock to the Louvre today to catch a glimpse of DaVinci’s “Mona Lisa,” during the 19th century, there was one painting that stood out amidst all the rest as the most captivating work of the “Grand Tour.” The artwork, falsely identified as Guido Reni’s 1599 portrait of Beatrice Cenci attracted visitors from all around the globe and spawned numerous copies. Writers such as Charles Dickens, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville all documented their journey to Rome to see the painting. Hawthorne wrote in his travel journal that the painting’s “spell is indefinable, and the painter has wrought it in a way more like magic than anything else I have known.” The work appears in two of Edith Wharton’s novels and provided the inspiration for Percy Shelley’s 1819 drama “The Cenci.” The haunting portrait of a young girl, which was later rejected by
scholars both as the work of Reni and as a portrait of Cenci, still hangs in Rome’s Barberini Gallery. Though scholars postulate that the subject is in fact a sibyl, the Barberini label remains unchanged. Many of today’s tourists bypass the portrait in order to see better-known pieces in the collection, ignorant of the ghost story that captured the imaginations of canonical writers and artists over a century ago. Though the true subject and painter remain unknown, the mythology and history surrounding this painting eclipses the art object itself. The girl in the portrait is the image of purity. She looks over her left shoulder with wide brown eyes. Her body is wrapped in a white robe and dark tresses fall from beneath a white turban. Her skin is pale and soft, her cheeks rosy with youth. She parts her lips as though the painter has captured her in a moment of exhalation. This girl is unthreatening, modeled without hard angles or stark lighting. This is the portrait identified as Beatrice
Cenci: a historical murderess whom a damsel in distress whose father folklore renders more victim than locked her away in a castle, a villain villain. who took bloody revenge against Cenci is figured in popular her own father and a heroine who imagination as the Barberini remained composed in the face of portrait’s execution. T h e i n n o c e n t legend goes apple-cheeked “The mythology that Reni, who girl. T hough projected onto scholars now Cenci’s father Beatrice Cenci eclipses assert was not allegedly raped even in Rome her before she both the historical at the time murdered him, figure’s autonomy of Beatrice’s she is referred to execution, as the “Roman and the Barberini painted the V i r g i n . ” A t portrait’s true origin portrait in papal decree, the and representation.” Beatrice’s jail historical Cenci cell the night w a s p u bl i c l y before her beheaded outside Rome’s Castel Sant’Angelo death. The Italian painter Achille on the morning of September 11, Leonardi cemented this fictitious 1599. Legend claims that every scene in his 1866 painting “Guido year on the evening of Sep. 10, Reni painting the portrait of Cenci’s headless ghost appears Beatrice Cenci in jail.” Dickens on the Sant’Angelo Bridge. The gives an imagined account of Reni mythologized figure of the martyred witnessing the execution of Cenci. Cenci inhabits all roles of the In an essay on the portrait, Dickens Madonna-whore complex. She is writes “as you see her on his canvas,
so she turned towards [Reni] … from the first sight of the axe, and stamped upon [Reni’s] mind a look which he has stamped on mine as though I had stood beside him in the concourse.” The painting’s false creation myth arises from an accumulated cultural imaginary solidified and rendered traceable by such mythic account. The Barberini portrait of an unknown girl became famous due to an externally ascribed narrative. The work became an empty vessel into which the story of a wronged woman could be placed. Myth operates not to conceal, but to distort and to simplify. The mythology projected onto Beatrice Cenci eclipses both the historical figure’s autonomy and the Barberini portrait’s true origin and representation. Cenci was a woman who was punished for asserting her own power in the wake of trauma. The Barberini portrait lent Cenci an imagined face and masked a real woman’s experience of paternal rape and papal punishment with a romanticized story.
PAGE 8
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2019
THE DARTMOUTH ARTS
A Cinematic Review of 2018: Ten great films and five flops two phenomenal lead performances by John David Washington and Adam Driver. Yet the film isn’t The Oscars may have come and without its little artistic flourishes, gone, but I’m still not quite ready to imbuing the final product with embrace the new cinematic year. So, a distinct energy that challenges as a final send-off, it seems fitting to the audience to appreciate how reflect on the best and worst films the horrors of the past inform the that 2018 had to offer. A couple continuing horrors of the present. of caveats before I begin, though: “Black Panther” — Undoubtedly 1) Rather than organizing these this is “the film” of 2018, and films into a meaningless ranking, for good reason. The film had I’ve arranged them alphabetically. gargantuan expectations to live up to, However, I have bolded the titles yet somehow director Ryan Coogler of the best film managed to and the worst deliver, crafting film of 2018 [“Black Panther”] a thoughtful, (in my humble has gargantuan politically opinion). 2) c h a r g e d T h e r e a r e expectations to live superhero plenty of films up to, yet somehow film that also from 2018 that director Ryan Coogler happens to I would have be just plain loved to see but managed to deliver, fun. Alongside haven’t gotten crafting a thoughtful, 2017’s “Thor: a chance to, Ragnarok,” politically charged largely due to “Black Panther” a c c e s s i b i l i t y superhero film that is not just the issues. If you film in also happens to be just bt he es t M don’t see one arvel of your favorite plain fun. Cinematic films from last Universe but year on this list, one of the very assume that I best superhero wanted to see it, didn’t get the films. Ever. chance to and would have included “Crazy Rich Asians” — I would it on this list if I had. That last part call this film “pure fun,” but that is total wishful thinking, but it will would be doing it a disservice. This keep everyone marginally happy. As classic tale of romance sparkles and a disclaimer, I did see all the Best glitters like a diamond, yet it also Picture nominees. isn’t shy about addressing issues related to class, ethnicity and family Ten Great Films: loyalty. It sweeps you up with its “Annihilation” — At first glance, lavish production, and leaves you Alex Garland’s sci-fi-horror-thriller wanting more thanks to endearing is about a group of five scientists who characters and performances. explore a mysterious alien presence “Eighth Grade” — Bo Burnham’s known as the Shimmer. But dig a beautiful little film about a shy little deeper and it becomes the eighth grader seeking friendship is best film in recent years about loss, technically about the impact of social depression, loneliness, alienation, media, social anxiety, burgeoning substance abuse, self-destruction sexuality amongst adolescents and and the existential horror of so on. Yet this is not an “issue film” interpersonal relationships. One seeking to address these topics character describes the Shimmer with a heavy hand. Indeed, few as “nightmarish,” to which the films are so non-judgmental to protagonist responds, “Not always. their characters, observing them Sometimes it was beautiful.” Much always with remarkable love and the same could be said of the film compassion. Plus, Elsie Fisher in itself. the lead role proves to be one of “BlackKklansman” — Simply the best performances from a child put, the film that should have won actor that I’ve ever seen. Best Picture at this year’s Oscars. “The Hate U Give” — Spike Lee directs this intensely Somehow the best film of 2018 charged and often absurd story with appeared to be largely forgotten by a deft hand, helped along the way by the year’s end. I can only speculate
By sebastian wurzrainer The Dartmouth Staff
as to why, but I suspect “The Hate U Give” was just a little too raw and a little too on-the-nose for general audiences. This is a taut, beautiful, heartbreaking, funny and deeply thoughtful film and it would be a crime if it gets buried in the landfill of forgotten cinema. See it if you haven’t already. “If Beale Street Could Talk” — Barry Jenkins continues to produce poetic work that resonates on both an emotional and intellectual level. “If Beale Street Could Talk” is a worthy follow-up to “Moonlight,” a stunning exploration of both cinematic form and content. “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” — I never cry during movies. This one made me cry twice. “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” is silly, contrived, unspeakably nonsensical and absolutely everything that cinema should be. I don’t care how dumb it is; all I know is that when I watch it, my heart soars. “A Quiet Place” — Possibly the most well-crafted film on this list, “A Quiet Place” takes an intriguing B-movie premise and elevates it immensely with top-notch performances and tight, exacting filmmaking. No film this year kept
me on the edge of my seat as much as this one. “Spider-Man: Into the SpiderVerse” — 2018’s best animated film also happened to be the best Spiderman film … ever. The animation is spectacular, but the film’s real home run is its engaging characters and emotionally-resonant storyline. Also, John Mulaney as the voice of Spider-Pig doesn’t hurt.
Five Not-So-Great Films “Fifty Shades Freed” — I initially felt kind of badly including this film considering how the “Fifty Shades” franchise has become less of a film series and more of a cheap punchline. But then I remembered how bored I was by the final entry in this narrative about petty arguments, abusive relationships and “kink.” I no longer feel badly. “Mute” — This is what happens when your potentially intriguing, deeply personal passion project lingers in development hell for years. The script for “Mute” might have once been good, but the final product is so misguided that it’s hard to imagine the sort of artistic crash and burn that must have occurred in the interim. “The Nutcracker and the Four
Realms” — This is neither the most offensive or most boring film on this list. But it might be the one that fascinates me the most. Like, who asked for this? Who thought that a garish, Tim Burton-inspired adaption of “The Nutcracker” released in November was a sure-fire family-friendly hit? Not me and not anyone who saw it, apparently. “The Predator” — Shane Black’s fourth entry in this hit-ormiss sci-fi-thriller franchise is ugly to its very core, managing to somehow be sexist, racist and homophobic all in equal measure. Often films bore me. Sometimes films annoy me. But it’s incredibly rare for a film to anger me. But “The Predator” wriggled its way under my skin, poisoning my soul with a wrath that I reserve for the very worst of the worst. “Ready Player One” — 2018’s prize for the most wasted potential goes to Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Ernest Cline’s popular book about a dystopic Easter Egg hunt inside a virtual reality world called the Oasis. Spielberg remains one of our most adept filmmakers and the design of the Oasis itself is great, but the story remains a parade of hollow, aimless nostalgia, valuing meaningless trivia over lessons, morals or themes.
THE ART OF WORKING
MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Students use the Hood Museum as a place to do work.