The Dartmouth 03/05/19

VOL. CLXXV NO. 147

PARTLY CLOUDY HIGH 27 LOW 11

Master plan to inform campus planning B y CASSANDRA THOMAS The Dartmouth Staff

OPINION

PAK: SKIRTS AND SLACKS PAGE 4

WATERS: WHAT IS DOC FIRST-YEAR TRIPS? PAGE 4

ARTS

DARTMOUTH COMEDY NETWORK FILLS IN COMEDY GAP ON CAMPUS PAGE 7

REVIEW: ‘THIS LAND’ DOESN’T PROVIDE A COHESIVE MUSICAL IDENTITY PAGE 7

‘BLACK PANTHER’ SHOULD HAVE WON THE BEST PICTURE OSCAR PAGE 8

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HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE

TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 2019

Environmental sustainability, historical preservation, protection of green or open spaces, and improved access to the center of campus will take center stage as guiding precepts for the next two decades. On Monday, Dartmouth will embark on a nine-month process to create a master plan that will inform campus planning for the next 20 years.

Although the implementation of these plans will occur gradually over the next two decades, the process of developing the master plan allows a steering committee composed of faculty and staff to

engage with the community to better understand how the campus’s design can improve the Dartmouth experience.

Campus planning director Joanna Whitcomb said that the master plan is a vision for the physical manifestation of Dartmouth’s mission.

“We’re trying to create the best and brightest successful students to go out and be global [leaders],” Whitcomb said.

“So what do we need to have to help [them] become that? Is it the best research labs? Is it fitness centers? A residentialacademic experience? We SEE MASTER PLAN PAGE 5

The Dartmouth Staff

The U.S. State Department has named Dartmouth a top producer of Fulbright students for the 2018-19 year, along with all the other Ivy League schools save for Cornell University.

On Feb. 11, the Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs published i t s a n nu a l a n n o u n c e m e n t

famous 1819 court case

NAINA BHALLA/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

College alumni participated in a re-argument of the famous Dartmouth College case on Friday.

B y KYLE MULLINS The Dartmouth Staff

College recognized for Fulbright scholars B y EILEEN BRADY

College alumni re-enact

of the U.S. colleges and universities that produce the most participants in the program, which provides research, study and teaching opportunities in over 140 countries.

For the 2018-19 year, 13 Dartmouth students and alumni received Fulbright g rants, according to the SEE FULBRIGHT PAGE 2

History came to life on Friday during the reargument of Dartmouth College v. Woodward, the landmark 1819 Supreme Court case that preserved Dartmouth’s status as a private college and strengthened constitutional protections against state interference in contracts. Several hundred alumni and co m munity member s filled Alumni Hall for the event, which was part of the ongoing celebration of the 250th anniversary of the College’s founding.

The case began after the New Hampshire state government attempted to alter the College’s royal charter granted by King George III, ruler of the 13 American colonies before the Revolutionary War. In 1816, changes were made to the school charter that included establishing a state oversight panel, allowing the governor to appoint trustees and renaming the school Dartmouth University, effectively converting it to a public university.

In response, the College’s trustees filed suit.

Though they lost at the New Hampshire Superior

Court, the case was appealed to the Supreme Court, where Dartmouth enlisted famed lawyer and alumnus Daniel Webster, Class of 1801, to argue the school’s case. Webster delivered a passionate peroration that praised the College and defended its right to exist. The Supreme Court ended up ruling 5-1 that the state could not alter the royal charter of the College.

English professor and 250th anniversary commemorations co-chair Donald Pease, who is teaching a class this term SEE RE-ARGUMENT PAGE 3

Q&A with government professor Mia Costa B y GRACE LEE The Dartmouth

Government professor Mia Costa, one of the C o l l e g e ’s n e w f a c u l t y hires, joined Dartmouth in July 2018. Costa, who hails from Long Island, New York, obtained her undergraduate degree in

political science from the State University of New York at New Paltz and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. In the fall, she taught Gover nment 10, “ Q u a n t i t at i ve Po l i t i c a l Analysis” and Government 83.22, “Political Re p r e s e n t a t i o n , ” a n d

she will be teaching two sections of Government 3 , “A m e r i c a n Po l i t i c a l System” in the spring. In addition to teaching, Costa uses various experimental methods to investigate what people think about politics, how they evaluate their representatives and how various parts of people’s

identity — such as gender — may impact their political views.

How did you get interested in studying political science?

MC: I was interested in politics from a young age.

Both of my parents have always talked about politics

and being engaged in civic life. I grew up with an ear to current events and wanting to learn more about what was going on. When I started college, I knew I was going to be a political science major and wanted to get a Ph.D in political science. I fell in SEE Q&A PAGE 2

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TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 2019

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

Costa discusses interest in Dartmouth College is a top producer of Fulbright scholars FROM Q&A PAGE 1

love with the political theory class I took in college, and I wanted to be up in front of the class teaching.

W hat attracted you to Dartmouth?

MC: Dartmouth was one of my top choices. It is excellent in being focused on both teaching and research. Some institutions might have a focus on one or the other, but Dartmouth emphasized both. I really liked the government department and my colleagues. All in all, it’s such a great school. I was very happy to get this position and feel really lucky that Dartmouth was interested in me, because getting a tenure-track position is very precarious and difficult.

What does your day-to-day schedule look like?

MC: I get up, walk my dog and if I’m not teaching, I spend most of my day doing research. I run statistical analyses and spend a lot of time making visualizations if I am working on results for a new paper. I also work on writing up my research into an article to submit for peer review. I also do [help with] meetings, answering emails and various things around the department. If it’s a teaching term, I spend a lot of time prepping for class.

What is your favorite part

take away from your class? about Dartmouth?

MC: Anything. One of the hardest MC: I like how engaged the things is not knowing what sticks. students are. I came from a public In my past experience, there have school background all the way been many times when I have tried from pre-kindergarten through my to teach a concept that I think is Ph.D., so I’m used to a different very valuable and interesting and kind of environment. That’s not to noble, and it doesn’t necessarily say that students from my previous resonate with students. Other experience were not excellent, but times, I am teaching a run-of-thestudents at Dartmouth are really mill concept but some students just engaged and really motivated to pick that up and that’s what they do well in classes. They wanted take away from the class. People to get to know have different me more, hear “If I were to talk per spectives more about my on what work and talk honestly: chill out, take makes them to me outside care of yourself and tick and what of class. This is important everything will be fine. was really to think about different from Talk to your instructors the world and w h a t I w a s about what you’re gover nment. used to.

As long as they interested in. We’re here a r e t a k i n g W h a t to help you navigate anything was most away from the that journey.” surprising class, who am to you about I to say what Dartmouth? -MIA COSTA, GOVERNMENT is valuable to MC: I was take away? sur prised by PROFESSOR I think if t h e l eve l at t h ey g e t t o which students think about performed and something how they are d i f f e r e n t l y, on top of everything. Even though then that’s valuable.

I knew Dartmouth was different, that’s still surprising to me. Every W hat is your advice for time students overachieve, I am Dartmouth students, whether very pleasantly surprised. or not they may be pursuing a degree in government?

What do you hope students MC: For students pur suing government, one thing I would say is that there is a lot of different things you can do with a government degree. You should feel comfortable talking to your professors about what your options might be after college. For all students, don’t worry so much about what you’re going to do after college. Students at Dartmouth are so engaged, motivated and doing their best, sometimes at the expense of their well-being.

Mental health is most important.

I found that a lot of students are very stressed and anxious about what to do after college. Everything will work out. You will find yourself on different paths in life and there’s lots of different things to do with your degree. If I were to talk honestly: chill out, take care of yourself and everything will be fine. Talk to your instructors about what you’re interested in.

We’re here to help you navigate that journey.

COURTESY OF MIA COSTA

Government professor Mia Costa conducts research on political representation.

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

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

research or for English teaching, only those in the study and research State Department’s website. This category contribute to the total is the second consecutive year number used to rank top producers that the College has been named of Fulbright students, Taylor said. a top producer of Fulbright She added that the Fellowship students, according to the College’s Advising Office has the names of Fulbright program advisor Holly only 11 study and research grant Taylor. Dartmouth also had 15 recipients, meaning that the other Fulbright students the previous four likely applied to the Fulbright program “at-large,” rather than year.

Taylor said she believes the directly through Dartmouth.

“You can apply either through C o l l e g e ’s h i g h n u m b e r s o f Fulbright students reflect the your institution or apply at-large,” efforts of the Fellowship Advising Taylor said. “Graduating seniors Office, which she said has focused have to apply through Dartmouth but alumni have on raising t h e ch o i c e o f awareness of doing either.” the fellowship “While it obviously She added i n t h e takes a lot of effort on that because Dartmouth the Bureau of c o m m u n i t y our part, and ... we Educational a n d g i v i n g hire writing advisors and Cultural feedback to to help out as well, Affairs has not applicants. ye t p u b l i s h e d “ W h i l e I think being a top the directory it obviously producer reflects the of Fulbright takes a lot of students sorted effort on our effort that we put into part, and ... we helping the Dartmouth by institution, there is currently hire writing applicants.” no way to know advisors to who Dartmouth’s help out as additional well, I think -HOLLY TAYLOR, F u l b r i g h t being a top recipients may p r o d u c e r DARTMOUTH’S be. re f l e c t s t h e FULBRIGHT PROGRAM Assistant dean effort that ADVISOR o f f acu lty fo r we put into scholarship helping the advising Jessica Dartmouth Smolin said that applicants,” she believes part Taylor said.

Charlotte Blatt ’18, a current of what draws Dartmouth students Fulbright student, echoed this to programs like Fulbright may be sentiment and added that she the College’s focus on study abroad wo u l d n o t h ave c o n s i d e re d opportunities.

“We have a very strong collection applying to the program without encouragement and support from of study abroad programs, so a lot the Dartmouth alumni community of Dartmouth students already and the Fellowship Advising have some experience abroad,” Smolin said. “Sometimes that Office. “[Taylor] is incredibly good at can be an inspiration for wanting her job,” Blatt said. “I encourage to return abroad, either where anyone who is at all interested in they studied on a [language pursuing some form of international study abroad] or [foreign study education or research after College abroad] or to go branch out and to speak with her, because there go somewhere different.”

Like Blatt, Smolin encouraged are so many opportunities through Fulbright. Dartmouth is very good all Dartmouth students to consider at connecting people with those participating in a program like Fulbright. opportunities.” “[Dartmouth students] should Dartmouth’s 2018-19 study and research grant recipients will be aware of the opportunity and be working in subjects ranging really think seriously about how it from global health in Ecuador to might apply to them, their plans linguistics in China, according to and their ideas about the future,” the Fellowship Advising Office. she said. “Fulbright offers so many Blatt, for example, is six months great opportunities and we have a into her nine-month study of student body that’s just got so many international relations in Canada. great ideas, experiences, ideas for While Fulbright students can research and talents to bring to be awarded grants for study and the Fulbright program.”

FROM FULBRIGHT PAGE 1

TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 2019

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

College case re-argued on Friday FROM RE-ARGUMENT PAGE 1

on the famous case, said that “one of the chief reasons for the opposition to the name ‘Dartmouth University’ originated with the Dartmouth College case.”

“Every one of the 50-year anniversaries of the College that took place from 1819 through to 2019 has referred back to Daniel Webster as the moment in which the College was, in essence, refounded,” Pease said. He emphasized that after the case’s conclusion, Dartmouth also began its transition from a religious institution to a liberal arts college.

The ruling in the case, in addition to bolstering Dartmouth’s status as a private college, also helped form the basis for American corporate law and the free market by limiting how the government could interfere in contracts. “[It] determined the significance of business and corporations in the United States, and, by extension, the spread of capitalism,” Pease said.

Friday’s re-argument, which was also performed at the U.S. Supreme Court in January and presided over

by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, was re-enacted by Dartmouth alumni. Former acting U.S. Solicitor General Neal Katyal ’91 played the part of Webster and former U.S. Solicitor General Gregory Garre ’87 played the part of William Wirt, the lawyer representing the state of New Hampshire. The six justices were also represented by Dartmouth alumni: New Hampshire Supreme Court justice James Bassett ’78, former Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court justice Robert Cordy ’71, U.S. Court of Appeals judge Gregg Costa ’94, U.S. District Court judge Abdul Kallon ’90, New Jersey Supreme Court justice Anne Patterson ’80 and Vermont Supreme Court justice Beth Robinson ’86.

College President Phil Hanlon opened the event, noting that the result of the Dartmouth College case “not only preserved our beloved college on the hill, but came to have a profound and lasting impact on American business and society.”

Yale Law School professor Kate Stith-Cabranes ’73 followed Hanlon and said that the events preceding the case “threatened the College’s survival.” She also pointed out that a plaque in Webster Hall — which houses the Rauner Special Collections Library — reads “Founded by Eleazar Wheelock.

Refounded by Daniel Webster.”

Stith-Cabranes also told the audience that the format of the reargument would be more similar to a modern-day Supreme Court case than to the one argued in 1819. The original case was argued for nine

hours over the course of three days, she said, adding that at the time, the justices did not ask questions to the advocates.

“This afternoon, however, we will have the modern rules of engagement: a ‘hot bench,’” Stith said.

Katyal, representing Webster, spoke first, arguing that Dartmouth University and Dartmouth College are “not the same in anything.”

“They have different names, different rights, powers and duties — their organization is wholly different,” Katyal said. “If the gover nment can make these alterations [to the charter], then it can abolish these rights and privileges altogether.”

Katyal then fielded questions from the judges. Bassett asked whether the Supreme Court owes the New Hampshire Supreme Court deference with regard to whether Dartmouth is a public or private corporation.

Katyal replied that Dartmouth’s charter designates it as an eleemosynary corporation — one created for charitable purposes — and that the government has “no right to come in and re-purpose it.”

He added that while the College serves a public function, that does not invalidate its rights.

Patterson questioned whether the state’s proposed changes truly disrupted the royal charter at all.

Katyal answered that the acts change “both the process and the substance of the College.” He called the new name, Dartmouth University, “odious,” and pointed out that the trustees would have their voting power diminished, that the oversight board would have new powers and that the government “can’t change the eleemosynary corporation to make it better” under then-current law.

After Katyal yielded his time, Garre told the justices that the state was acting within the law when it altered Dartmouth’s charter. The royal charter is not covered by the contract clause of the Constitution, he said, because “it lacks the fundamental requirement of every contract: a mutual exchange.”

Garre further argued that even if it were a contract, the College’s purpose is education, giving New Hampshire the right to make changes, and that because the British Parliament could have made changes to the charter under a royal government, the New Hampshire legislature should be able to as well.

Bassett asked whether the state really had the power to seize “private property,” but Garre disputed the claim that the College was private, suggesting instead that “the property of Dartmouth College belongs to the people of New Hampshire, the very people

for whom King George [granted] this royal charter to educate.”

Cordy pointed out that the King received a “commitment” from the trustees, and asked whether that qualified the charter as a contract.

Garre replied that “King George walked away with nothing from this as his own private property.

He simply granted the privilege to the people of New Hampshire and Dartmouth College of education.”

Katyal was granted the rest of his time to issue a rebuttal. He took issue with Garre’s claim that the College belongs to the people of New Hampshire, arguing that it belongs to the school trustees because “that’s what the contract says.”

Katyal then delivered Webster’s famous peroration, concluding the performance and receiving applause from the audience and justices alike.

A c c o r d i n g t o We b s t e r ’s peroration, the Dartmouth College case has broader implications than for simply one school or eleemosynary corporation.

“It is, in some sense, the case of every man among us who has property of which he may be stripped, for the question is simply this: ‘Shall our state legislatures be allowed to take that which is not their own, to turn it from its original use, and apply it to such ends and purposes as they in their discretion shall see fit?’” Katyal, quoting Webster, asked rhetorically. “It is, sir, as I have said, a small college. And yet there are those who love it.”

In an interview with The Dartmouth after the event, Bassett said that he appreciated the modernized format of the reargument.

“I don’t think I’d want to be a judge back in the 1800s,” he said.

“The fun of it is asking questions.”

Arizona State University political science professor Paul Carrese P’19, whose son is currently taking the Daniel Webster College Case class, said he attended the event out of professional interest and to see how historical reenactment is performed.

“It was very special … because so many Dartmouth College graduates are in the elite bar in the United States and in the Supreme Court,” Carrese said, adding that he thought it was a wonderful opportunity for the students taking the class to view the reenactment in Washington D.C. with Roberts.

In an interview with The Dartmouth, Hanlon also commented on the distinguished nature of the alumni who took part in the event.

“The sense of history is awesome, that Dartmouth played such an influential role in the development of our nation,” he said.

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THE DARTMOUTH OPINION

STAFF COLUMNIST EOWYN PAK ‘21

GUEST COLUMNIST MADELEINE WATERS ‘19

Skirts and Slacks

What is DOC First-Year-Trips?

Fashion is a driver for body diversity acceptance and respect.

At the 91st Academy Awards on Feb. 24, stage performer and singer Billy Porter waltzed onto the red carpet donning a resplendent, head-turning black velvet gown skirt with a tuxedo-like top half and a black bowtie to match. News headlines raved about the celebrity, praising him as an “icon” and his outfit as “remarkable.” Oscar viewers fired up Twitter in energetic support. Vogue called the dress a “play on masculinity and femininity” that “challenged the rigid Hollywood dress code and was boundary-pushing in all the right ways.”

Google defines the avant-garde as “new and unusual or experimental ideas.” The term has French origins that mean “vanguard” or “advance guard” to signify people and ideas that reject cultural conventions and are willing to go to the front lines. The avant-garde manifests itself in architecture, literature, theatre, film and most conspicuously in fashion. Avant-garde fashion can trace its roots to the 1960s with Japanese designers like Yohji Yamamoto, Rei Kawakubo and Junja Watanabe leading the movement during its beginnings.

Given its long history and pervasiveness in the industry, avant-garde fashion makes certain types of wear perfectly acceptable even though some others might consider them outrageous in any other context. Just think about some of the wearable art and odd forms models wear on the runway — would you be as comfortable seeing that in the street or at the workplace? And yet viewers don’t bat an eye. If anything, the more daring, the more praise the piece warrants. Because of this peculiar widespread acceptance for the eccentric and unique, avant-garde fashion is the perfect medium to challenge and question existing societal norms like standards and stigmas surrounding masculinity, femininity and nonbinary genders. It introduces a controversial concept through clothing in a space that is first most willing to accept it and as it becomes increasingly more exposed to the general public, the idea takes root and becomes the norm. Fashion can put an idea into perspective through a different outlet that can make people more self-aware in the same way a movie with fictional characters

and made-up exposition can parallel world issues and foster the critical questions needed to help solve the real-world issues at hand.

And while fashion admires all kinds of forms, ironically, it only includes an extremely small subset of the population. Female models are usually between 5-foot-8 and 5-foot-11 while men are 5-foot-11 and taller.

Females typically weigh 90 to 120 pounds with men weighing 120 to 160 pounds.

Models all share more or less the same body type, notably excluding those who are “too” tall, short, curvy and heavy. These standards can be incredibly damaging to not only adults but impressionable teenagers who feel they must have the body of a super model to look beautiful, encouraging unhealthy eating disorders and low self-esteem. It strikes me as odd — hypocritical, really — that an industry with the most tolerance for different ideas to pass as beauty has such little tolerance for the types of people that showcase them.

However, there has been a growing awareness of this issue, and body positive movements have been on the rise. Common clothing brands like American Eagle have released inclusivity campaigns like #AerieREAL clothing lines with un-touched women proudly showing off their scars, birthmarks, cellulite and stretchmarks, while pushing the boundary farther with models who have disabilities and illnesses. Many American Eagle ads feature real people smiling as they lean on their crutches, sit in their wheel chairs and wear insulin pumps and colostomy bags on their belt loops. Society needs more Billy Porters and American Eagles.

With his statement gown, Billy Porter hoped “to challenge expectations. What is masculinity? What does that mean? Women show up every day in pants, but the minute a man wears a dress, the seas part.” Porter says it made him feel alive, free, open, radiant and beautiful. So wear what you want! If there’s any way to break societal taboos and feel unapologetically yourself, it would be fashion. I can’t say you won’t get any stares, but you are guaranteed to have people who support you vocally or otherwise.

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ISSUE

TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 2019

ALEXA GREEN & SONIA QIN

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.

Trips 2019 matters to the Dartmouth community.

What is Trips? That’s a big question. Trips false welcome, a veneer of community and is, among other things, an entirely student- kooky friendliness that will evaporate by the run program, a chance to welcome first-years second week of fall term. to Dartmouth, a challenge, a community, an So let’s ask the hard question: what can unrealized dream, the reason I personally an orientation program accomplish if its chose Dartmouth and a logistical endeavor job is to welcome people into spaces where requiring over 3,214 eggs. they do not see lasting evidence that they So let’s break it down, beginning with its are welcome? fundamental identity as a first-year outdoor Here’s the thing. As students, hundreds of orientation program. In the broadest years of history and institutionalized systems sense, the purpose of the Trips program of prejudice are not under our immediate, is to introduce and welcome new students, direct control — but the mechanisms of firstly to Dartmouth, and secondly to New Trips itself are. The Trips program is a place Hampshire’s woods, mountains and rivers. where students can impact and shape, not Throughout my college career, each just the experiences of the incoming class, of these spaces and the people who build but their relationship to Dartmouth and communities around them have variously the outdoors. As with the new waste-sorting challenged, accepted, hurt and empowered sustainability curriculum implemented for me. I have been driven to anxiety attacks Trips 2018 (the brainchild of Kate Salamido from missing answers in drill for Spanish II, ’19), Trips provides a chance for students to had asthma attacks hiking take charge and be mindful up Franc Ridge for the first of the effect they have on the time and taken classes that “It’s big, it takes world around them, whether leave me feeling confident work and it has the matter of consideration in my career choice with is environmental or social. so much potential professors who make me Trips is an opportunity feel confident in myself. I because Trips is to make changes that have felt unspeakably lonely, fully the sum of its proactively ease the way and I have made friends I into Dartmouth for students will hold dear for the rest parts.” of all backgrounds, as of my life. d e m o n s t r a t e d by t h e My experiences have not initiative this year to provide been particularly straightforward or easy, registration information to the families of but nevertheless I would describe myself incoming students in multiple languages, as one of the “success stories.” I will be spearheaded by Cris Cano ’20. Trips has able to stand up at the Lodj and give a talk existed for 89 years in 89 different iterations, about how I started my freshman fall having growing and changing and falling short been rejected from every club I tried out and striving to be better — all under the for, which is also how I wound up regularly direction of students like me, like you and attending Ledyard councils and social like the thousand-plus ’23s who will go on events, ultimately entering Trips this year. one of the communities that “Trips is not Trips is not perfect. It’s has been most impactful not instant-magic-just-addperfect.

It’s not for me. I could talk about trippees community. It’s how even in Ledyard, I instant-magicbig, it takes work and it has was self-conscious about just-add-trippees so much potential because my lack of whitewater Trips is fully the sum of kayaking abilities, but how community.” its parts. Every volunteer this pushed me to pursue who brings their personal canoeing and even plan my experience, their ideas, their own expeditions. Not everyone can say the abilities and their goals makes Trips better. same.

Every person who recalls the name of Incredible logistical undertaking someone they just met and continues to wave notwithstanding, the hardest thing about “hi” around campus makes this community First-Year Trips as an outdoor orientation stronger. Every first-year who remembers program is that both Dartmouth and the the efforts and testimonials of their Trips wider outdoors are spaces that historically volunteers, who enters Dartmouth feeling have not been welcoming or even accessible connected and empowered to pay it forward to most individuals who are not wealthy, and keep working toward positive change able-bodied white cisgender men. While makes the future brighter. This is what Trips I do think that Dartmouth and other is. This is what we can do. communities centered on exploring the outdoors are improving in this regard, Waters is the 2019 Trips Director. Cano is a there are individuals in the Class of 2019, member of The Dartmouth staff. and there will be individuals in the Class of 2023, who will not be able to say they The Dartmouth welcomes guest columns. We have found their space at Dartmouth, who request that guest columns be the original work of the will never discover a new appreciation for submitter. Submissions may be sent to both opinion@ the outdoors, or maybe even both. That thedartmouth.com and editor@thedartmouth.com. is the unfortunate reality, and it leads to Submissions will receive a response within three criticisms that the Trips program offers a business days.

TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 2019

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

College will develop master plan Green and [Baker-Berry] Library ... [so] I would like us to end up with need to figure out how we can something that better connects the help students, faculty and staff be north end of campus to that center successful.” point as well as the arts and the In the first stages of creating a athletic district,” Whitcomb said. master plan, the steering committee According to Helble, there is a and an executive board led by potential for repurposing the space College President Phil Hanlon will currently occupied by the River rely on community engagement and dormitory cluster and make that feedback in order to set goals that are area of campus more “accessible.” in accordance with students, staff, Dartmouth’s last master plan alumni and faculty. Provost Joseph was completed in 1998. Since then, Helble emphasized the importance a smaller master plan in 2012 laid of public conversations that involve out guidelines for the west end the broader Dartmouth community. renovations that are still underway, “The work according to of the steering “There are some Whitcomb. committee is here Helble said to ask questions, buildings in tough that the master c h a l l e n g e shape, but we have to plan from 1998 assumptions, cemented renew those buildings offer directions, the idea and get input and so that you, as a that campus feedback,” Helble student taking a class planners said. s h o u l d in Dartmouth Hall, can Whitcomb consider sense noted that the hear your professor, of scale in any committee is designing or can engage with your considering renovation renovating older fellow students and efforts. b u i l d i n g s o n can learn.” campus in the “ T h at p l a n next 20 years. spoke to the “ T h e r e a r e -JOANNA WHITCOMB, importance some buildings of preserving CAMPUS PLANNING in tough shape, o p e n but we have to DIRECTOR spaces and renew those architectural buildings so that h a r m o n y, ” you, as a student Helble said. taking a class in “The sense of Dartmouth Hall, can hear your scale comes from a desire to be in professor, can engage with your proportion to and in harmony with fellow students and can learn,” she the New Hampshire wilderness said. “It’s our job to help figure out that surrounds us. We don’t want how to renew those buildings and something that looks out of place be respectful of their past.” in Hanover, and we don’t want She added that she also wants the something to feel out of place on campus community to have better campus.” access to the Green and Baker-Berry With Dartmouth’s 250 years of Library. history comes inherent challenges “The heart of our campus is the for the campus planners in terms FROM MASTER PLAN PAGE 1

of sustainability issues, historic preservation and size limitations.

Advances in technology will also be a consideration for campus planners as they consider how to most efficiently use space on campus. Executive vice president Richard Mills said campus planning is complicated by Dartmouth’s farreaching goals.

“There is a totally legitimate line of thinking that says we’ve reached peak physical space,” Mills said. “Given the Internet, given technology, the notion that we’re going to build more physical spaces seems silly. … Since Dartmouth is a base camp to the world, do we want to build more physical space here?”

Another idiosyncrasy that the steering committee will confront is Dartmouth’s unique relationship with the town of Hanover. Often, decisions to change campus will have implications for the town as well.

“What’s really unique about Dartmouth — and I’ve been to a lot of universities in my tenure here — [is that] Dartmouth is entwined with the community,” Whitcomb said. “A lot of our Ivy [League] peers have gates and they do not have roads and sidewalks running through their campus. What makes planning difficult is that Dartmouth is so intertwined with the town.”

Helble, Mills and Whitcomb all noted their desire to maintain the “intangible” quality that sets Dartmouth apart from other schools.

“I’m willing to bet that the first time you set foot on this campus, Dartmouth just had a certain feel to it,” Helble said. “Certainly, I was affected in that way the first time I came here. So, looking 20 years into the future, we will strive to provide space for all of our activities in addition to preserving the characteristics that make this campus what it is.”

TURN THAT FROWN UPSIDE DOWN

MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

As finals draw near, students have received messages of positivity written by their peers.

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DARTMOUTHEVENTS

THE DARTMOUTH EVENTS

WEEK 10

TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 2019

CASEY SMERCZYNSKI ‘20

TODAY 12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Lunch & Lecture: “The Crime of Rebellion in Nineteenth-Century Colombia,” with professor Joshua Rosenthal, Raven House 104

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

Men’s Lacrosse: Big Green v. UMass Lowell River Hawks, ScullyFahey Field

8:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Art Exhibit: Explore the White Line Woodcut Print with Marilyn Syme, artist-printmaker, OSHER@Dartmouth

TOMORROW 7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.

Ash Wednesday Service, sponsored by the Tucker Center, Rollins Chapel

12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Discussion: “Conversations and Connections: Assyrian reliefs from the Palace of Ashurnasirpal II,” sponsored by the Hood Museum of Art

6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Demo Exhibit: “Technigala,” sponsored by the DALI Lab and the computer science department, First Floor Berry Library

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, MARCH 5, 2019

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THE DARTMOUTH ARTS

Dartmouth Comedy Network fills in comedy gap on campus

By MIA NELSON

of a lost jacket at a fraternity, and “The Environmentalist,” which highlights an overzealous eco-warrior Dartmouth Comedy Network is student.

Dartmouth’s newest comedy group, Dominique Mobley ’22 wrote joining other comedy groups on “The Environmentalist” after a campus including Dog Day Players, fellow Dartmouth student turned Casual Thursday and Jack-O- the sink water off while Mobley was Lantern. Created by Samantha grabbing a paper towel after washing Locke ’22, the group represents her hands.

D a r t m o u t h ’s “My friend only scripted “The thing is, I don’t and I were comedy group. talking about it think I’m good at Similar and were like, t o S a t u r d a y improv because I this would be Night Live, the like film more than funny,” Mobley group performs said. sketches and I like theater. I just Mobley met uploads them like seeing facial Locke in a to its YouTube expressions, and from screenwriting channel. Recent course during videos include the stage, you can’t the fall term. In a sketch called see what people look class, Mobley “State of the stated that she Union Prep,” like.” “really wanted written by Locke to create roles for and Matthew black characters, EDUARDO HERNANDEZ Evans ’22 and for women, just edited by Josh ’22 unrepresented Ocampo ’22. groups.” Locke The sketch approached portrays an Mobley because intern encouraging Donald Trump of her statement and asked her if to practice his speeches. More she would like to get involved with Dartmouth -specific sketches include Dartmouth Comedy Network.

“Fracket Noir,” which tells the story Locke first became interested in The Dartmouth Staff

forming the organization fall term, and from the stage you can’t see what after she realized that the comedy people look like.” groups already on campus did not Locke was excited about focus on sketch comedy before comedy or standcollege, eagerly “I realized I wanted up. She said the anticipating group is looking to do scripted video joining the to fill a void in comedy, and I want groups on the Dartmouth campus. comedy scene there to be stand-up “I saw a n d p r ov i d e comedy, and those the ‘Good Cop a more open Bad Cop Ugly r e c r u i t m e n t did not exist in that Cop’ sketch process than moment in time.” o n Yo u Tu b e auditions, which

by Dartmouth is how Dog Sketch Comedy,” D a y P l a ye r s - SAMANTHA LOCKE she said. Locke a n d C a s u a l ’22, FOUNDER OF anticipated Thursday recruit joining the group DARTMOUTH COMEDY new members. her freshman “We are an NETWORK year, but found inclusive group. that it no longer It’s not audition. existed when It’s not try out, and [anyone] can be she arrived. With only the improv a part of it,” Locke said. groups and the satire publication Eduardo Hernandez ’22 was The Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern, she interested in comedy in high school realized she wanted more. but missed auditions for both groups.

“I realized I wanted to do scripted However, he was more excited about video comedy, and I want there to be Dartmouth Comedy Network’s focus stand-up comedy, and those did not on sketch comedy and stand-up than exist in that moment in time” Locke improv. said.

“The thing is, I don’t think I’m Locke said she first approached her good at improv because I like film friends Evans and Katie Orenstein more than I like theater,” he said. ’22 as well as other students in the “I just like seeing facial expressions, screenwriting class. While the group

unofficially formed during the fall term, the group was not officially registered until the winter.

“The paperwork and working through getting recognized is new and a challenge,” Locke said.

However, the group has been filming since the end of fall term.

For now, the group releases new sketches every Thursday at 8 p.m. on their YouTube channel, Dartmouth Comedy Network. As for the future, Locke has big plans. She is already dreaming up a sitcom set in high school that would potentially involve the Class of 2023. More immediately, Locke intends to co-sponsor stand-up open mic nights in One Wheelock next term.

Her enthusiasm for comedy pushed her to create the group, while her motivation and leadership has created a valuable new space for comics at the college.

“It’s a good way to spend time,” said Hernandez of the group’s meetings.

As for the future, Locke can see herself doing comedy after college.

“There are moments on stage or moments just with a pencil and a notebook where you learn things or you feel like you’re learning things about yourself in the world that you wouldn’t have found otherwise,” she said. “And for that reason, I can’t imagine myself doing anything else.”

Review: ‘This Land’ doesn’t provide a cohesive musical identity

By Willem gerrish The Dartmouth Staff

Gary Clark Jr. seems to be in the midst of an identity crisis. After bursting out of the Austin music scene as an heir to greats like Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan, he settled into a comfortable role as a jam-and-solo blues guitarist.

Yet somewhere along the line grew tired of the redundancy. Starting with his 2015 album “The Story of Sonny Boy Slim,” Clark began experimenting with sounds that veered into R&B and funk, and his latest release, “This Land,” is even more of a departure from the traditional blues image he once presented. I would even go so far as to say that “This Land” is not a blues album at all. Rather, it is a sampler of Clark’s genre-bending experimentations, which hover somewhere between rock, R&B and hip hop. Unfortunately, the result is a messy record that has intriguing moments but lacks a coherent identity, sounding like the product of an artist who is still unsure of his own place in the world of modern music.

“This Land” is replete with songs that call forth genres and styles outside of Clark’s norm. The title track sounds like an attempt at hip

hop, “Feelin’ Like a Million” has the beats and synthesizers. Many of the rhythm and vibes of reggae, and songs are built on canned drum loops “Gotta Get Into Something” is an that give the music a synthetic quality amalgam of Green Day and Chuck that seeps through into the “real” Berry. Yet none of these is entirely instruments played simultaneously, successful, with each coming across often making Clark’s guitar work as a concerted effort to try a new seem less raw and powerful than it style rather than might otherwise a genuine artistic sound. And it expression. It’s as “As for lyrical content, doesn’t help that if Clark made a lark comes roaring C l a rk m a k e s list of the genres heavy use of his out of the gate with he wanted to wah-wah pedal e mu l at e a n d a song — the titular throughout the t h e n f o r c e d ‘This Land’ — that record, imbuing himself to write his tone with a song for each, spews vitriol at racism artifice on b u i l d i n g a n in America.” songs that are album based on already layered variety rather with computerthan quality. It’s generated no surprise, then, that the best song music. His soloing style is notably on the album — “Dirty Dishes distinctive, though, and this allows Blues” — is the one track on which the reality of his guitar playing Clark allows himself to trod familiar to shine through at important territory: the blues. That song has moments. But these moments are not some of Clark’s best guitar and vocal enough to sustain a record that, at work on the whole record, played an hour and 13 minutes, is already fingerstyle with Clark’s full-bodied bloated and over-long, and they left growl on top. It’s a song that reminds me wanting more out of Clark as a me of Clark’s immense talent at the guitarist. end of a record that lulled me into As for lyrical content, Clark comes forgetting that same talent. roaring out of the gate with a song Another unwelcome symptom of — the titular “This Land” — that the genre experimentation on “This spews vitriol at racism in America.

Land” is the heavy use of electronic Clark himself says that the song was

brought about by comments from a barn-burning cover of the Beatles white neighbor who was appalled classic “Come Together.” Yet the that Clark, an African American, link between that performance and could own a sprawling ranch outside this record is almost nonexistent of Austin, Texas. Clark turned his — neither the music nor the heart anger over that incident into the beneath it approaches that bravura most lyrically significant song of level. “This Land” simply falls not just this record, but of his entire flat, failing to give me a sense of career. “F— you, I’m America’s Clark as a complete musician and son,” he sings songwriter at a with striking time in his career intensity, making “Yet the link between when those a welcome move [Clark’s former] things should into music that be coalescing performance and is not only into a distinct instrumentally this record is almost identity. It’s as powerful but also nonexistent — neither if Clark began has the words his career with the music nor the to back it up. a tight image Unfortunately, heart beneath it — that of the the lyrical guitar-slinging approaches that quality drops Texas bluesman off significantly bravura level.”

— and now it after that is disintegrating affecting opener, as he feels and Clark compelled to descends back into unremarkable move outside that limiting structure. songwriting.

And that’s a sentiment I understand, What frustrates me about “This as it must get boring playing the same Land” is that I know Clark has the old blues riffs for years, but I only chops to make and play fantastic wish Clark’s new musical pathway music. I saw him live last summer weren’t so incoherent. Perhaps this in Hampton, New Hampshire, and is just a time of flux, and Clark is his set was phenomenal — full of working things out on his way to passion, intensity and lots of roaring something truly incredible. I can blues numbers that culminated in his only hope that’s the case.

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TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 2019

THE DARTMOUTH ARTS

‘Black Panther’ should have won Best Picture at the Oscars By sebastian wurzrainer The Dartmouth Staff

You may have heard that the 91st Academy Awards ceremony took place a little over a week ago, and you may have also heard that the results were … controversial. But as much as I disapprove of “Green Book” as the Best Picture winner, I don’t really have the desire to explore that any further in this article. Instead, I’d like to discuss “Black Panther,” another Best Picture nominee and one whose failure to win the top prize reflects a series of ongoing problems with the Academy Awards.

Going into the ceremony on Sunday night, I felt certain that Spike Lee’s unnerving and thoughtful “BlacKkKlansman” was the most deserving of the Best Picture contenders.

Yet as the ceremony proceeded, and as “Black Panther” began to rack up wins in some of the less-publicized categories (Costume Design, Production Design and Original Score), I began to wonder if it actually had a shot at Best Picture — something, incidentally, that I never thought “BlacKkKlansman” had. My girlfriend wisely tempered my enthusiasm by insisting that these were probably “pity wins.” Rather than predicting a future home run for “Black Panther,” they were a means of softening the loss.

Nevertheless, as the ceremony drew to a close, I was genuinely convinced that

a film about a fictional African monarch who moonlights as a feline-themed superhero had a solid chance of walking away with (arguably) the American film industry’s most prestigious award.

As you can imagine, those “pity wins” didn’t really do much to mitigate my inevitable disappointment.

So why is it that I started to pin all my hopes on a film that I was initially convinced couldn’t win? Why didn’t “Black Panther” win? More importantly, why does it matter?

Throughout the ceremony, as we were treated to clips of the film, I was again reminded of its quality, its impact and its immense cultural importance, and a subsequent rewatch proved that it holds up phenomenally well. In this synergy of frustration at the Oscars and elation at revisiting the film, I realized something crucial: This is never going to happen again.

I know that sounds a little extreme, but what do film critics exist for if not for hyperbole? Moreover, that’s an assertion that I will fiercely defend. As a director, Ryan Coogler was faced with seemingly insurmountable pressures. The film’s cultural importance to black history is obvious, but the expectations from this significance cannot be lightly dismissed.

That Coogler managed to craft a film that exceeded these expectations is a minor miracle. “Black Panther” has frequently been commended for its craft and for its political ambitions, but

rarely for both in relation to each other.

Yet what struck me most is how these two qualities are inextricably linked.

Coogler and co-writer Joe Robert Cole attempt to tackle a lot in their screenplay, yet none of the various themes ever feels short-changed because each is so fluidly integrated into the narrative.

Concerns about the damage wrought by colonialism, for instance, aren’t just in the background; they are integral to the motivations of the protagonist and antagonist. Again, this is why it’s surprising that the film’s craft and the film’s politics are addressed separately; they are dependent on each other.

Of course, “Black Panther” was never without its detractors, like the alt-right. Yet other critics and scholars managed to make more valuable critiques, with some saying that the film was not radical enough and others scrutinizing the film’s approach to representation. The New York Times film critic A.O. Scott reflected that “Black Panther” would have been better served by Senegalese artfilm director Ousmane Sembène.Yet Scott’s assertion strikes me as deeply insulting to Coogler and aims to limit black filmmakers. Insisting that these filmmakers ought to be political but only in small art films seems more myopic than inclusive.

My point is not that “Black Panther” shouldn’t be criticized. In fact, I’m thrilled about the lively, productive

debates because it indicates that Coogler and his collaborators have already won.

They managed to create a commercially and critically successful film that is also a cultural monument and an entry point for some decidedly nuanced arguments.

You may not agree with every political and philosophical stance, but the point is that a Marvel film managed to get you to consider those stances. And this is largely why I find Scott’s “Sembène argument” so exhausting. Sembène would have certainly made a great film, but not a commercially successful one, which is part of what makes “Black Panther” so special. This means that not only does Hollywood have no excuse but to make more films like this, but infinitely more people were exposed to these political debates.

It’s also important to contextualize the position that “Black Panther” was in during the Oscars. As I’ve discussed in an article I wrote for the Hop Backstage, the Oscars exhibits two enduring vices: an embarrassing lack of diversity and a refusal to recognize popular films. “Black Panther” was the perfect solution to these problems, and that the Academy even gave it a Best Picture nomination indicates some effort to address these problems. Yet in retrospect, the reality of the situation appears all too obvious. In August of last year, the Academy announced their proposed “Best Popular Film” category; everyone saw through their

ploy immediately. The Academy knew it needed to recognize “Black Panther” or risk a further dive in ratings, but thanks to a host of ingrained prejudices, they clearly wouldn’t have felt comfortable awarding Coogler’s film. Rather than dealing with those prejudices, creating a new category probably seemed easier. While the idea was shot down long before the nominees were even announced, the “Best Popular Film” category feels like an augury for the results of Feb. 24.

Yet if “Black Panther” never really had a chance of winning, why am I still so disappointed? The answer: “Black Panther” was a once-in-a-generation film, and the fact that it did not win Best Picture is both unsurprising and a shocking indictment of the Academy Awards. I’m not even trying to contend that it was the very best film of 2018 or that there won’t be other great films coming our way soon. But “Black Panther” was the product of an impossibly rare, magical alchemic mixture. Any number of things could have gone wrong in the creation of this film, and they didn’t. It’s telling that the Academy had the wisdom to nominate it, but it’s even more telling that the Academy didn’t properly recognize it. Nevertheless, I’m entirely confident that “Black Panther” will manage to withstand the test of time, to its benefit and to the Academy’s inevitable detriment.

Review: Hozier’s ‘Wasteland, Baby!’ is a pleasant musical surprise By courtney mckee The Dartmouth Staff

This past Friday, Hozier released his second studio album, closing a five year gap between his debut album from 2014 and his latest. Given the massive success of the Irish singer’s first album, “Hozier” and five years’ worth of expectation, Hozier’s second album was released upon high anticipation.

So does “Wasteland, Baby!” rise to the challenge?

In short, yes. The album does what good second albums are supposed to do for an artist: act as both a continuation and an evolution, establishing a sense of artistic unity while remaining relevant to the social, political and cultural context in which it finds itself.

“Wasteland, Baby!” as evident in the title, explores themes of decay, an idea that was introduced in his

first album in songs like “In a Week” and “Run.” In an interview with NPR, Hozier said the album was “informed quite a bit by the political climate of the last 12 months,” and as such, it is rife with images of tumult and degeneration, the stripping of assumptions. The song “Be” speaks of Atlas shaking the earth and sea levels rising, but then asks that we be “bold in a battered and desolate land,” a Byronic hero who finds strength in chaos. This same idea is taken in a different direction in songs like “No Plan” where we are encouraged to rejoice in the freedom allowed by the overturned rules of a new world order. This idea is taken still further in “Sunlight,” where, like Icarus, he enjoys the burn of his lover’s sunlight.

Hozier more than delivers on the bluesy, gospel-type sound that made “Take Me to Church” an international hit and placed him on

the world stage. “Movement,” the third track on the album, is exemplary of Hozier’s vocal range and power, his effortless co-mingling of soft and loud tones, gentle and harsh vocalization.

“Movement” is an exercise in allusion, each reference like a picture in a collage until an atmosphere is built. One line references the biblical Jonah swallowed by the whale, another the famous dancer Fred Astaire. The Ukrainian ballet dancer Sergei Polunin, who is mentioned in the lyrics, featured in the music video released in November.

Despite the song’s many achievements, however, “Almost (Sweet Music)” is for me the standout song of the album. The lyrics reference titles of jazz songs by famous artists like Duke Ellington, Chet Baker and Billie Holiday to tell a story of someone who is almost happy in their new relationship but can’t stop thinking about their past love. The music is

upbeat without being poppy, the lyrics are poetic without being obscure, but most importantly, the song is catchy.

It is what Hozier does so well, giving mind and substance to what could be mindless and substanceless bops.

However, the album does stray somewhat from what might be expected from the singer largely known for guitar picking and lilting harmonies. You might wonder, where is the folk? Many of the songs on “Wasteland, Baby!” feel more anthemic with prominent percussion and belting vocals, no more so than the opening track, “Nina Cried Power” featuring Mavis Staples, which pays tribute to protest songs from the civil rights era. It employs a sort of call and response motif between Hozier and Staples to build energy and intensity, echoing the Nina Simone classic “Sinnerman” where she repeats the word “power” for the majority of the

10-minute long song. The folksiest song on the album is “Shrike” which utilizes chord progressions familiar to listeners of traditional Irish music.

It’s a graceful song, evocative of silent woods and green meadows. It’s also a love song mourning lost opportunities.

The majority of the songs on the album are indeed love songs, in some form or another, which contemplate various aspects of relationships past and present.

So how are we to understand the “wasteland” the album explores? Does it contain the wrecks of relationships?

Does it represent the sociopolitical degeneration we are experiencing circa 2019 A.D.? Or, like any good poem, is it everything you see it as at once? Hozier’s second album proves him to be one of the most talented artists currently active and if you haven’t listened to it yet, I would strongly recommend it.