VOL. CLXXVII NO. 10
FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2021
HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE
COVID-19 cases near 150 as outbreak shows signs of slowing
Twice-weekly testing for students and faculty at Thompson Arena has seen long lines amid the outbreak.
BY The Dartmouth Senior Staff Last Wednesday, after hovering at relatively low case counts throughout the term, COVID-19 numbers shot up from just a few active cases to 25. In the following days, cases surged. As of Thursday, campus now has 146 active cases and 307 students, faculty and staff in quarantine and isolation. As a result of the increase in cases, Dean of the College Kathryn Lively announced on Saturday that the College would transition immediately to phase two quarantine restrictions, closing all indoor gathering spaces, including Baker-Berry Library, Collis Center and Robinson Hall,
PARTLY CLOUDY HIGH 23 LOW
and switching to takeout-only dining options. On Monday, as the student case count climbed to 122, Provost Joseph Helble announced that the quarantine would extend through at least Friday. Additionally, all sports practices have been suspended until further notice. The spread of COVID-19 appears to have slowed in recent days, with Wednesday seeing just one additional active student case and one faculty or staff case and Thursday adding just four more. Helble cited “noncompliant social interactions — particularly those where people are not wearing masks or observing adequate physical distancing” as the probable cause
The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published on March 4, 2021.
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linked COVID-19 cases. Faculty and staff cases have remained relatively low, climbing from two to three on Tuesday. As of Thursday, 13 faculty and staff are in quarantine and isolation housing. There are currently three main strains of COVID-19 circulating globally and in the United States, and the faster-spreading U.K. variant has been found in New Hampshire. Data regarding which strains students may have contracted is not reported at an individual level, College spokesperson Diana Lawrence wrote to The Dartmouth on Saturday. COVID-19 task force co-chair Dr. Lisa Adams said in Wednesday’s “Community Conversations” livestream that the
B117 strain, originally found in the U.K., has likely infiltrated the community. She noted that the College is in touch with the New Hampshire state lab and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center about possible testing to sequence virus samples which would allow doctors to confirm which variants are present in the Dartmouth community. After temporarily suspending latenight meal service amid the outbreak, the College will reopen the Class of 1953 Commons for late night dining on Friday. Novack Cafe, which has indefinitely replaced its student workers with Dartmouth Dining staff, will continue operating under reduced hours until further notice.
Dirt Cowboy to reopen mid-March
BY Hannah Jinks & Ben Fagell
OPINION
for the outbreak. He implored community members to continue to follow College COVID-19 guidelines as the pandemic continues. As of Thursday, Dartmouth’s total active cases comprise roughly 7% of all identified active COVID-19 cases in New Hampshire. On Tuesday, the College identified “a number of small clusters” of COVID-19 cases that are “likely epidemiologically linked.” Initially, Dartmouth identified two clusters on Feb. 23 and 24 that it believed to be unrelated. The College later reported an additional cluster and began investigating potential links among them. The state of New Hampshire defines a cluster as a group of at least three people with
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Upper Valley coffee enthusiasts, the wait is almost over. Renovations to Dirt Cowboy Cafe are slated to conclude sometime between March 15 and March 23 — just prior to the arrival of students for the start of spring term. Dirt Cowboy has been closed for food service since Nov. 15, though it has continued to sell coffee by the pound in store. When it reopens, the cafe will shift entirely to takeout, according to owner Tom Guerra. It will relocate its bakery, previously in its basement, to the main floor, replacing the indoor seating space. Guerra said that there will be seasonal seating located directly outside the cafe f ro m ro u g h l y M a rch t h ro u g h
November every year. Guerra explained that, following the suspension of Dirt Cowboy’s dine-in option due to COVID-19, he and his staff noticed they did “much more focused work” when they exclusively served takeout customers. Takeout has historically comprised the majority of Dirt Cowboy’s business, while dining in has accounted for roughly 25% of the cafe’s operations. “In essence, the dine-in was distracting us from our main business, and now, with no more dine-in, we really focused in on what the demand is really for — the demand for this place is mostly takeout,” he said. Guerra noted the difficulty of coordinating between two teams of employees, one upstairs and another downstairs. Whenever a crowd entered Dirt Cowboy, employees on the main f loor rang a bell to notify bakers in
the downstairs kitchen to hurry upstairs and help manage the rush, Guerra added. Dirt Cowboy manager Maura Jenks said she is excited to have a more fluid operation, with a singular team of customer service employees and bakers on the main floor. This workflow will be “less stressful for the crew,” she said. Since the kitchen has always been hidden in the basement, customers often do not realize Dirt Cowboy makes all of its baked goods from scratch, Guerra said. “We’ve been in business for 27 years, so, believe it or not, some of my steady customers would ask me six or seven years in, ‘Who does your baked goods?’” Guerra said. “… Now that’s not going to be a question anymore because they’re going to see that we’re baking this stuff.” Dirt Cowboy will split up its operation into different stations,
occupying distinct sections of the main floor, Guerra said. The cafe revamped its point-of-sale system — the touch-screen register that employees use to take orders — to “communicate with the stations,” according to Guerra. The POS system now connects to label printers and video screens displaying orders at each station. Guerra emphasized that the updated system’s “robust” software will help to streamline orders. The bakery’s new layout also has increased capacity for equipment and technology. Prior to the renovations, staff had limited space to pre pare beverages, but with the spacious new barista station, the cafe has been able to install a second espresso machine. The old menu will be replaced with a digital menu as well. Dirt Cowboy was operating at a SEE DIRT PAGE 2
First-Year Trips to be led by non-student director BY SYDNEY WUU
The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published on March 2, 2021. Though a senior undergraduate student has traditionally served as the director of the student-run First-Year Trips program, this year, the Outdoor Programs Office plans to hire a full-time non-student Trips program coordinator to fulfill the program’s “intensive” demands amid the uncertainty of the pandemic, according to acting OPO director Coz Teplitz. Typically, the student director hires a fellow student to serve as an associate director and then selects a directorate of approximately 15 to 20 students to lead various parts of the Trips program. Though in recent years this group has been selected by mid-winter term, the selection of this year’s directorate will not begin until after the new non-student program coordinator has been hired. In an email to members of the 2020
Trips directorate, Teplitz wrote that “while [he] can’t commit to a specific timeline,” he hopes to fill the position “expediently.” A pplicants to the program coordinator position will be interviewed by a search committee that will include Dartmouth Outing Club student leaders and New Student Orientation director Kathleen Cunneen. Teplitz noted that the position is temporary and that OPO is not currently in a position to make decisions that extend past this year. He said that given the amount of uncertainty about what OPO will be able to do this year with the Trips program, he did not feel it was fair to ask a student to serve as Trips program coordinator. Kellen Appleton ’20, who served as last year’s Trips director, said that although Trips derives much of its value from its many opportunities for student leadership, introducing a closely tied on-staff partner will give more power to students overall. “Honestly, it is an intensive job, and it
does often ask a lot of people — enough that they rearrange their D-Plans,” Appleton said. For instance, Appleton chose not to take classes during his senior spring, instead pushing his last Dartmouth term to the fall in order to devote time to the Trips program. Although most seniors who write a thesis work on them continuously throughout the winter and spring of their senior year, Appleton was forced to break his thesis up between the winter and fall. He described the process as “challenging.” “It’s kind of a big ask to say, ‘Hey, we want to give you a lot of control, power and influence, and that’s a really cool position that you can have, but it comes at the cost of having to rearrange your post-graduate plan, having a non-traditional D-Plan, graduating at a different time than the rest of your friends and taking time from your studies,” Appleton said. Teplitz hopes that whoever steps into the position of Trips program coordinator will ultimately help OPO
work closely with students to ensure that the incoming freshman class receives the best small group, peer-led orientation experience possible in the fall. “Exactly what that looks like, we don’t know,” Teplitz said. “There is still so much uncertainty about what we will be able to do in August.” He added that the Trips program may run in a way similar to its prepandemic format or take on a virtual format similar to last year’s Orientation Peer Leader program. DOC president Mary Joy ’21 said that the hiring team is looking for the same qualities in a Trips director as they always would — flexibility, passion, diligence, organization and collaboration. Joy especially emphasized flexibility, given the uncertainty created by COVID-19. “One of the things that is especially important this year is that this individual has a strong understanding of the fact that a lot of what they know about Trips SEE TRIPS PAGE 2
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FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2021
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
David Millman ’23 announces campaign for Hanover Selectboard BY Jacob Strier
The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published on March 4, 2021. On Feb. 22, David Millman ’23 announced his campaign for Hanover Selectboard. If elected in May, Millman would be the first student ever to sit on the five-person governing body, which is the executive branch of Hanover’s government and serves the town’s more than 11,000 residents. Millman, a Student Assembly senator, said the idea for the campaign came as a response to the town’s “reaction” to students’ return to campus in early fall. In particular, he noted Hanover town manager Julia Griffin’s July 24 op-ed “Selfish Students” as an example of the growing divide between the student body and the town. “I saw a fundamental disconnect of communication,” he said. “There is a way for the student body to communicate with the College administration and a way for the College administration to communicate with the town.” Missing, Millman said, is a way for the student body to communicate directly with the town. Millman said he hopes to spread the word about this issue before the May 11 vote at the Hanover Town Meeting. Two of the five current Selectboard members — Joanna Whitcomb and Nancy Carter — are up for election this spring. Athos Rassias will face reelection in 2022, while Peter Christie and William Geraghty’s terms will run through 2023. As the filing period to run for the positions does not begin until March 24, Millman said he was not aware of who else may be running. Powered by a team of around 30 volunteers, several students have shared Millman’s campaign announcement video on social media, which has amassed over 5,000 views on Instagram and nearly 200 on YouTube. The video addresses the alleged division between Dartmouth students and other Hanover residents.
If elected to the Hanover Selectboard, Millman will serve as a voting member of the body that passes local ordinances. He noted that if he were to ever feel unqualified weighing in on certain ordinances as a newcomer to local government, he would abstain. Millman added that he has several concrete goals to accomplish if elected. Primarily, he hopes to expand communication between the Selectboard and Hanover residents and increase “accessibility of local government.” “I want to fix the town website; it is antiquated and hard to access,” he said. “There’s not an effective newsletter.” Millman also said that municipalities in New Hampshire produce an annual report documenting the town budget and other information. He said he hopes to better publicize this information to the Dartmouth student body. “Zoom has proven that all of this can happen online,” he said. In addition to better communication, Millman said he wants to increase access to local transportation like Advance Transit, explore the possibility of using DASH at local businesses and advocate for student COVID-19 vaccination. Griffin wrote in an email statement that no student has ever served on the Selectboard. She noted that over the years, a “small handful” have filed to run for the Selectboard, but none have been elected. “Obviously, big challenges include the need for any student to live here year round to serve on the Board and to make a three-year commitment to serving on the Board once elected,” she wrote. “Members need to be prepared to tackle any number of issues, interesting and mundane.” Millman said that the three-year commitment to the Selectboard functions like a “barrier to entry.” He noted that the three-year commitment is “an issue” and added that he has not made a final decision about remaining in Hanover after graduation to serve out the rest of his term, which would run through 2024. Were he to resign prematurely, he said that he would do
COURTESY OF DAVID MILLMAN
In his campaign, Millman has prioritized communication and unity between Dartmouth students and the Hanover community.
his best to facilitate another student assuming the role. “There is a statute in the New Hampshire law that there has to be a three-year term,” Millman said. He added that after contacting the town clerk, he has come to the understanding that there is no “legal precedent” for elected officials to remain in office for the entire three years. While Griffin acknowledged that the absence of a legal precedent, she wrote that it would be “irresponsible” for a candidate to run without the intention to serve a complete term. “The role of a Selectboard member is critical for the governance of a community,” Griffin wrote. “The learning curve is steep given the range of our operations and the large array of state statutes and regulations we must abide by, and, as such, the position deserves full dedication, year round for an entire term.” Millman noted that, if elected, he would pursue a change to these regulations making service on the Selectboard more accessible to students. He said that the threeyear ter m discourages student representatives, arguing that that
“no one” will arrive as a freshman equipped to serve on the Selectboard, while upperclassmen will not have enough time to be in office long enough to “learn the ropes.” “I would pursue, once elected, state advocacy to allow for localities to have a two- or three-year term and thus allow for a student seat,” he said. Griffin wrote that the Selectboard acts as the legislative body for the town on some issues, while the annual budget, bond issues, amendments to the zoning ordinances and other town initiatives require approval by the voters at town meetings. Campaign manager Nicolás Macri ’24 said that when he first reviewed Millman’s early campaign materials, he realized the prospect of the campaign was “totally possible.” Macri said student representation is important both because students care about the town’s resources and because direct representation will encourage respect for local ordinances. “While we are here, we still live in this community and care about the roads, the parks, the businesses and everything that goes on in the town,” he said. “When you tell people that
Hanover moms cook meals for students in isolation By Mike Hanrahan The Dartmouth
While students in isolation and quarantine may be feeling lonely, a group of Hanover moms has stepped up to ensure they do not go hungry. In the wake of the College’s recent COVID-19 outbreak, a group of Hanover residents, primarily mothers of Dresden County School District students, have banded together to provide meals and other essentials to Dartmouth students in isolation and quarantine locally off campus. Despite amassing the support of 30 individuals ready to deliver care packages or run errands, the group has so far received few requests. While the group was originally hoping to make deliveries to students on or off campus, the College has prohibited deliveries to impacted on-campus students, according to College spokesperson Diana Lawrence. Uschi Kauffman, a Hanover community member and organizer of the group, said that the idea of
helping students in a time of need came to her during a conversation with some other Dresden County School District moms about how grateful they were that their children were in school. Kauffman felt that the combined efforts of the College and its students to prevent and contain the spread of the virus have helped to keep the Hanover community safe. She said that offering meals, games, puzzles and other comforts to those in isolation and quarantine seemed like a way to repay Dartmouth students. “Our kids are in school because [of what students] are doing,” she said. “We don’t have to go out and take [two] COVID tests a week. You do, and you have all these rules and all these things that you have to follow [with] scrutiny on you. Frankly, you’re just kids, and to ask all this of you is a lot. You should be acknowledged for that.” Kauffman posted a message in the SAU 70 Facebook group, a page for parents, supporters and guardians of Dresden County School District
students, asking if anyone else would be interested in helping out. Immediately, she said, community members began expressing support. Mary Beth Stocken, another Hanover resident, said that when she saw Kauffman’s Facebook post, the decision to get involved was an easy one. Earlier in the pandemic, Stocken had been the administrator for an Upper Valley organization that made and donated 60,000 masks, and she said helping with this movement is a perfect way to continue aiding those in need. When Stocken joined the team, Kauffman contacted her right away with a request from a group of students in off-campus isolation. Stocken prepared two meals, one of which was gluten-free, and drove them to where the students were living. Gabe Kotsonis ’22, though not the recipient of Stocken’s meals, received a meal from another local mom. He is currently in quarantine off campus after two of his housemates tested positive for COVID-19, and he
Dirt Cowboy switches to takeout only an electrician. However, he said he was ultimately happy that he was loss in the three years leading up to forced to bear the losses of staying COVID-19, according to Guerra, closed because he was “able to get but it has since become profitable. at issues that [he] would have just As students’ absence from the let go,” like cleaning scuff marks and scratches H a n ov e r a r e a off of the glass t h r e a t e n e d t o “In essence, the dinepastry case. shutter several “What local businesses in was distracting we’ve been doing l a s t s p r i n g , us from our main for the past three students and business, and now, months is just alumni rallied really going in to support Dirt with no more dine-in, C o w b o y b y we really focused in on and doing some really nice, ordering coffee detailed work,” beans online, a what the demand is he said. critical turning really for — takeout.” Guerra point in the said around cafe’s reversal of 90% of the past losses. The -TOM GUERRA, OWNER remodeling has cafe was able to OF DIRT COWBOY been completed. build up reserves Now, the cafe is from takeout and working on final online coffee touches. Since orders over the course of the pandemic, Guerra the kitchen will now be on full display for customers, Guerra said. G u e r r a e x p l a i n e d t h a t h e said one of these final projects originally planned to reopen the is re placing the food storage cafe as early as December but ran containers. Since its opening in 1993, Dirt into unforeseen issues with hiring FROM DIRT PAGE 1
Cowboy has undergone three renovation projects — once soon after it opened, again in 1998 and this year. Compared to the cafe’s first two renovations, Guerra said the 2021 renovation has gone “really smoothly.” He noted that he was on a “shoestring budget” for the fir st two projects. In particular, he said the renovation in 1998 was a “panic,” as there was “immense financial pressure” to reopen the cafe’s doors. Hanover town manager Julia Griffin — whose office provides per mits for building modifications and performs inspections throughout the renovation process — said that many local businesses took the reduced foot traffic following Thanksgiving as an opportunity to spruce up their interiors. “Having our local cof fee purveyors in town really adds, I think, to our sense of community,” Griffin said. “We know that lots of folks love Dirt Cowboy, so I think anything that they can do that makes it easier for them to operate their business while also continuing to do what they do with the coffee roasting, is great.”
noted that fears of getting each other sick have kept them from using their kitchen. The delivered meal, he said, was a welcome break from a difficult situation. “One of the moms just dropped off a bag with a tray of lasagna for us to cook ourselves and then some banana pudding and salad,” Kotsonis said. “We [were able to have] a nice homecooked dinner, [which] we hadn’t had in a while.” In an email to The Dartmouth, Lawrence wrote that food delivery to on-campus students would not be allowed given the “extra precautions” the College is taking with allowing access to buildings that house potentially infectious students. Lawrence added that while the College has not received requests from the group of community members to deliver non-food items to students on campus, the College is “open to exploring the idea if we can establish a safe and efficient delivery mechanism.” Claire Macedonia ’24 spent five days in on-campus quarantine in the
they “only” live here for four years, like some nomad who is not entitled to a voice in government, how are people supposed to think about the town?” Macri said that one does not need to be within the “confines” of Hanover to care about its affairs and its future. “It needs to be your primary [residence], though, and for nearly all Dartmouth students it is,” he said. Adam Van Uden ’23, who is eligible to vote in the May Selectboard election, said that he respects Millman’s efforts to stand up for what he believes in. Based on his experience with Millman during the application process for First-Year Fellows, Van Uden said he has faith in Millman’s morals. He also noted the importance of student representation in government. “It’s super important that we have representation in the town board so that the people of Hanover know what we think and feel,” he said. “It doesn’t mean we are trying to strong-arm our way into gaining more power or influence, but it could lead to better communication so we understand each other and there are fewer disputes, more understanding.”
fall, and while she believes the College did everything they could to support her, she said “getting a [care] package would have been a game-changer.” “It was so lonely and isolating for the time I was there, so if I had [received] a little piece of humanity, it would have really brightened my day,” she said. Even after Kauffman’s contact information was distributed through various student group chats last week and in the daily “Vox Daily” email on Tuesday, the group had only received five requests as of Thursday. “Some people are too prideful to ask for help,” Stocken said, noting that she and the other moms remain “more than happy” to assist any students in isolation or quarantine off campus with whatever they may need. In addition to offering meals and other items, members of the group are also able to make grocery runs for students and accept Venmo as a form of payment — but if all students need is a home-cooked meal, they would be delighted to offer it free of charge.
OPO creates nonstudent Trips director FROM TRIPS PAGE 1
best way it possibly can.” Joy said that she hopes this year’s Trips and Dartmouth is going to be up in the program will allow students to appreciate air,” Joy said. “Just being flexible with the Dartmouth outdoors and general surrounding that is something I area, describing think is required in a the outdoors as leader at this time.” “It is my hope that “really grounding” A p p l e t o n [next year’s team] for freshmen. acknowledged can recreate at least However, she noted that the outdoors that she believes a re “ a re a l l y some of the sense of many good parts important part” community that Trips of the Dartmouth of Trips but added community will that the program normally creates.” s h in e th rou gh uses the outdoors regardless of as one “tool” for -MARY JOY ’21, DOC whether or not next creating spaces year’s Trips can where people can PRESIDENT occur in person. be vulnerable and “ I t ’ s engage in mutual just unfortunate for us that Trips is support before arriving at Dartmouth. “Trips represent what I think the predicated on getting people into huge best parts of Dartmouth are,” Appleton groups together, which is obviously not said. “It is at the core a student-directed in line with public health protocol,” she program that is all about providing an said, “but it is my hope that [next year’s inclusive, loving, supportive welcome for team] can recreate at least some of the new members of our community and sense of community that Trips normally making sure that it can happen in the creates.”
FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2021
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THE DARTMOUTH OPINION
CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST KATHERINE ARRINGTON ’24
Arrington: The American Dream
Increasing people of color’s access to capital is necessary to counteract staggeringly low rates of social mobility. This column was originally published on March 2, 2021. As Americans we like to pride ourselves on the ideal of the American Dream. The reality, as recent decades have made clear, is much harsher. Parental income and geography have a huge impact on success. The middle class is shrinking. Upward mobility in the United States has steadily declined with each new generation. Income inequality and stagnating wages make it increasingly difficult for those from less privileged backgrounds to attain success. The World Economic Forum’s 2020 Global Social Mobility Index ranked the U.S. in 27th place, behind many other developed nations. One of the biggest impediments to increased social mobility is access to capital. Historically, processes such as redlining and lending discrimination have barred people of color from having access to the same financial institutions as white people. Without sufficient financial assets, starting and growing a small business is almost impossible, homeownership is far more difficult and even acquiring the loans necessary to fund a college education can be much harder. All of the hallmarks of the American Dream are far more difficult to attain. The discriminatory practices that bar access to capital haven’t gone away: Black small business owners have not received the same support in loans and lines of credit compared to white small business owners; banks prioritize funding for those with whom they have longstanding relationships, which are predominantly white people. The home ownership gap between white and Black Americans is wider than it was 50 years ago, due to the persisting legacy of redlining and gentrification and the continued discrimination of real estate agents against Black and Hispanic families. In addition, these families are disproportionately granted loans with adjustable rate mortgages, which cause rates to increase after just a few years. The Student Borrower Protection Center, a nonprofit seeking to combat student loan abuses, recently found that Black and Hispanic students may
face higher rates on student loans due to the use of educational data by private companies in determining creditworthiness. In light of these findings, President Joe Biden’s administration needs to prioritize not merely rebuilding the middle class, as Biden has often referenced, but taking action against discriminatory practices that make capital, and by extension the middle class itself, inaccessible. Biden should enact laws that help Black business owners receive loans at the same level of access as their white counterparts do, by requiring more transparency and accountability from banks and by standardizing what can and cannot be considered in determining whether or not a loan is granted. Without these added requirements, it will be too easy for the legacy of racism to persist. In terms of the accessibility of home ownership, the Biden administration should take steps to strengthen the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and the Fair Housing Act, continuing their work to keep race-based discrimination out of real estate practices. Further, the Biden administration should reform government housing lenders to reach out to underserved Black communities. According to the 2019 Census, 58% of Black American households are rented. Providing monetary assistance and incentives would be one major step to increase the accessibility of homeownership. To improve accessibility to the capital required to obtain higher education, the way in which private companies look at credit needs to be regulated by the federal government. At present, the practices of these companies have led to students of color paying more in loans than their white classmates. A way that does not allow these companies to charge students of color at a higher rate is needed. The Biden administration needs to investigate the current practices of banks and other financial institutions and eliminate this systemic racism. Otherwise, banks will continue to enhance privilege by lending only to those who already have substantial assets. If we take steps to fix our country’s systems, we can restore the American Dream; if we do not, it will only slip further away.
THE DARTMOUTH OPINION STAFF
Opinion Asks: ‘Noncompliant Social Interactions’ This article was originally published on March 4, 2021. Amid an ongoing COVID-19 outbreak on campus, cases have risen to more than 140 and students have been thrown back into quarantine. On Wednesday, Provost Joseph Helble stated that “trends continue to suggest that noncompliant social interactions — particularly those where people are not wearing masks or observing adequate physical distancing — are the primary cause of this increase in virus transmission.” Should the College hold accountable these people responsible for “noncompliant social interactions?” If so, how? In the beginning of the winter term, I was glad to see that the College had implemented a warning for those who are caught in violation of social distancing or mask wearing policies. Despite this outbreak, I don’t think that the administration should return to the “zero-tolerance” policy that it had in the fall. That being said, for more serious offenses — attending a superspreader event, for instance — the College should continue to hold its students accountable. Every now and then students may forget to wear their masks when they hang out with a few friends, but choosing to attend a superspreader event is a deliberate decision that cannot be dismissed in the same way. For this reason, the College should take the magnitude of each violation into account on a case-by-case basis. — Kami Arabian ’24 Spending time and resources on punishing students for allegedly spreading the virus is futile. It is ridiculous to expect this retributive method to bear much fruit without a Soviet-style system of informing on one’s peers in place. Students would not cooperate with contact tracing efforts if their honesty could lead to their friends being harshly disciplined. The College is much better served by continuing its effective current strategy for containing this current
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outbreak: testing, tracing and quarantining infected students. Working on term papers and studying for finals while holed up in one’s room is punishment enough. — Thomas de Wolff ’24 I’m afraid that recent statements put out by the College are “all bark and no bite.” Realistically, there is nothing that the College can do to stop students who live locally off campus from participating in large gatherings. The reinstatement of strict COVID-19 containment measures on campus does not address the main source of the problem, nor does it “hold accountable” the select groups of students whose reckless actions contributed to the current outbreak. Students will continue to violate COVID-19 guidelines where they are able to do so: off campus. Plus, attempts to “punish” students — in the short term — for large gatherings would likely decrease the effectiveness of contact-tracing efforts and generate greater paranoia among rule followers. It’s a lose-lose situation. — Michael Harrison ’24 The College should be holding people responsible for breaking social distancing rules — but not when the consequences to breaking such rules are so ambiguously communicated, or when there is so much distrust coming from both the administration and the student body. This term, it is clear that the students testing positive are not willing to give up all the names of the people they could have been in contact with for proper and necessary contact tracing, as they are worried about the consequences they might face. While the College has communicated through emails that information regarding contact tracing won’t be released, the student body has reason to not trust this sentiment. I do believe students should be held responsible for unsafe interactions, but it is hard to justify it when the rules regarding consequences have been ambiguous from the start. — Gemma Tung ’23
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SUBMISSIONS: We welcome letters and guest columns. All submissions must include the author’s name and affiliation with Dartmouth College, and should not exceed 250 words for letters or 700 words for columns. The Dartmouth reserves the right to edit all material before publication. All material submitted becomes property of The Dartmouth. Please email submissions to editor@thedartmouth.com.
CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST HANNAH DUNLEAVY ’24
Dunleavy: Deals With Saudi Arabia
In the Yemeni civil war, the U.S. has shown a concerning willingness to overlook allies’ atrocities. This column was originally published on March 4, 2021. Only a month after taking office, President Joe Biden’s administration has already shown that its policy approach to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia marks a distinct shift from the previous administration’s policies. But that is not enough. Biden has committed to pushing for an end to human rights violations and to decrease the U.S.’s entanglement with Saudi Arabia’s abuses, telling the American people and the world that “We are going to hold [Saudi Arabia] accountable for human rights abuses.” To fulfill Biden’s ethical obligations and campaign promises to end the U.S.’s role in the Yemeni civil war’s tragedies, he must immediately terminate American arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Despite a stated commitment to human rights, the U.S. often struggles to fully realize that mission. Abroad, the consequences of the U.S.’s inadequacies can be devastating. When the U.S. hesitates to react to atrocities, especially those committed by our allies, the lack of action comes across as apathetic tolerance. In Saudi Arabia, human rights violations run rampant. On top of the U.S.’s reluctance to condemn Saudi Arabia, the U.S. has supplied Saudi Arabia with the tools to cause tragedy. In 2019, the U.S. exported $3.14 billion of arms to Saudi Arabia. The resulting Saudi airstrikes and violence in Yemen have significantly contributed to the widespread starvation, death and disease by disrupting the supply chain and forcing internal displacement. During former President Donald Trump’s term, the president granted Saudi Arabia flexibility for its transgressions, sometimes contradicting his own administration and vetoing Congress’s attempts to end the arms deals and to confront Saudi Arabia’s human rights violations. Trump supported the crown prince’s mass arrests of political opponents and dissenters, authorized $110 billion worth of arms sales to Saudi Arabia and dismissed credible allegations of Saudi Arabia’s transgressions as speculative. Biden now faces the pressure of making up for the lost time. His administration has temporarily frozen Trump-approved U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia to review whether Saudi Arabia would use the weapons in the Yemeni civil war. The State Department has also enacted the “Khashoggi Ban” — visa restrictions on 76 Saudis suspected of human rights violations. Yet, Biden still hesitates and is reluctant to directly
confront the crown prince out of fear of pushing the Saudi government to become unwilling to cooperate with other U.S. interests in the Middle East, such as in the Syrian civil war, counterterrorism efforts and intelligence sharing about Iran. Realistically, the crown prince will go directly unpunished; but that is no reason for the U.S. to look the other away. While the U.S. cannot change the actions of the Saudi government, it can end the U.S.’s role in the violence. If the objective is preserving and growing a relationship with Saudi Arabia as a geostrategically critical ally, the current methods are unsuccessful. On top of weapons, the U.S. provides Saudi Arabia with engineers, education, trade and economic development, while Saudi Arabia offers false promises of stability and prosperity in the Gulf region. Not only does the U.S. not hold Saudi Arabia accountable for its human rights abuses, the U.S. also does not hold Saudi Arabia to its commitments to the U.S. Despite the empirical evidence that states that receive U.S. military aid are less cooperative than states that do not, the U.S. continues to attempt this strategy to earn a partnership with Saudi Arabia. The U.S. has lost control of the relationship. Supplying Saudi Arabia with arms is a failing strategy that will only allow Saudi Arabia to continue to exploit its alliance with the U.S. Reevaluating the alliance by ending arms deals and holding Saudi Arabia responsible for its wrongdoings is the only way to create a meaningful alliance between the two countries. Justifications for continuing arms sales primarily cite maintaining regional peace by balancing Iranian military power. The United Arab Emirates’ Washington, D.C. embassy emphasized the vital role of weapons as deterrents of violence and reassurance to allies. However, the use of American weapons by Saudi Arabia has not effectively deterred Iran. Instead, American weapons have perpetuated regional violence by dispersing throughout the Middle East, falling into the hands of al-Qaida, Salafi militias, Iranian-backed rebels and other factions fighting in Yemen, fueling Middle Eastern violence. If handled correctly, the Biden administration has the potential to redirect the U.S.’s path toward upholding human rights and dignity. But, if his administration condones Saudi Arabia’s abuses as the previous administration did, the U.S. will not be just Saudi Arabia’s ally. The U.S. will become its accomplice.
THE DARTMOUTH EDITORIAL BOARD
Verbum Ultimum: Bursting the Dartmouth Bubble The recent COVID-19 outbreak on campus demonstrates the price of Dartmouth letting its guard down. After a term of low COVID-19 case numbers public spaces to focus must now prepare for and relatively loose restrictions, Dartmouth’s finals — alone — from their dorm rooms, all bubble abruptly burst last week with the the while grappling with the mental health emergence of its first major COVID-19 consequences of being stripped of social outbreak. As of Thursday, Dartmouth’s total interaction. active student COVID-19 case count sits at In the fall, many voices, including that of 143 — roughly 4% of undergraduates living on this editorial board, were critical of the College campus and locally off campus. Students, who for its harsh and opaque COVID-19 policies. just weeks ago were ice skating on the Green This term, the College has adopted a far more and eating indoors at Collis, have now been reasonable stance, allowing more flexibility forced back to the confines of their rooms. and opportunities for in-person interaction. The unfortunate reality Unfortunately, some chose is that this outbreak and “The selfish actions of to abuse that. return to lockdown could a few have led directly a r g u e d We— par ne vdi o us tsillyl have been prevented. It’s an open secret that off-campus to a locked-down believe — that respect gatherings, Greek house campus for everyone.” and tolerance will succeed parties and senior society where condescension and meet-ups have been held repression fail. However, all against the College’s COVID-19 guidelines sides must act in good faith. As a student body, this term. In an email to campus last week, we must remember that our personal actions Provost Joseph Helble confirmed that the rise have ramifications beyond ourselves. If this in transmission could most likely be attributed fractured and factionalized College hopes to to maskless “noncompliant social interactions.” one day function again as a community, each In other words, the selfish actions of a few one of us needs to start caring about more have led directly to a locked-down campus than just ourselves. for everyone. Going forward, Dartmouth must also The privileged nature of those actions, enforce clear, fair COVID-19 guidelines. Few at whether it be coming to campus without being Dartmouth want a fall term-style surveillance tested, or holding gatherings with dozens of state, and few want the College to turn a people, reflects the values and priorities of blind eye to potential superspreader events. certain Dartmouth students. Embedded in the Large parties are not hard to go without, and actions that led to this outbreak is the innate those who hosted them deserve censure. The belief that those students’ fun night out is College must look into the events that caused more important than the entire Dartmouth this outbreak and hold accountable the people community’s health and safety. and organizations responsible. The repercussions thus far have been immense. Students who held in-person jobs The editorial board consists of opinion staff on campus can no longer work their planned columnists, the opinion editors, the executive editors shifts. People who rely on the library or other and the editor-in-chief.
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FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2021
THE DARTMOUTH ARTS
Q&A: Eric Dezenhall ’84 on his most recent book, ‘False Light’ BY EVA LEGGE The Dartmouth
This article was originally published on March 1, 2021. Eric Dezenhall ’84 is a crisis management consultant and the author of seven novels, which draw inspiration from his experiences and transform them into fast-paced tales of gangsters, terrorists, dirty politics and, most recently, revenge. Dubbed “a dog with a bone when it comes to attacks” by Doug Elmets — his former boss at the White House Office of Communications under the Reagan administration — Dezenhall runs a firm that has taken on work in a number of controversial cases, including one involving ExxonMobil and Greenpeace. During his time at Dartmouth, Dezenhall studied political science and media in the government department — subjects that influenced his work as both an investigative journalist and writer. His broad professional background has given him inspiration for his side gig as a writer, exploring topics ranging from nonfiction Cold War spy thrillers to fictional stories of terrorism, gangsters and political propaganda. Dezenhall’s newest novel, “False Light,” which was released on Tuesday, features an old-school investigative journalist named Sanford “Fuse” Petty who is suspended from his paper pending a disciplinary investigation. “False Light” follows Fuse’s crusade against a sensationalist media personality who assaulted his friend’s daughter. I n an interview with The Dartmouth, Dezenhall spoke about his novel “False Light,” his consulting work and his thoughts on the #MeToo movement. Where did the title, “False Light” come from? ED: In defamation law, the difference between false light and defamation is if I said “You’re a mass murderer,” and then I wrote a story saying that — and I knew it wasn’t true — that’s defamation. If I
wrote an article about mass murderers and had pictures of Ted Bundy and Charles Manson, then in the lower corner had a picture of you and it said, “You’re a Dartmouth student,” you could make a false light claim. What I’m seeing happening in journalism is people can be made to look bad without necessarily defaming. When you read the book, you’ll see it deals with ways to hurt people without crossing into provable defamation.
How did your practical experience inspire and inform the plot of “False Light”? ED: I’ve had a crisis management firm since 1987. I deal with businesses and large institutions that are under fire: product recalls, institutionalized sexual assault and environmental controversies. My clients are on the receiving end of intense criticisms that range from things they deserve to be criticized to things they don’t. I’ve written nonfiction books that deal with crisis management, but what’s much more fun to do is to take what I see happening that is unfair and make the book about that. “False Light” explores the tension between “gotcha” journalism and investigative journalism. What do you think the role of the media should be? ED: I do think there is a role for investigative journalists to figure out what harm may be coming to the public. But as you’ll see in the book, what Fuse objects to is a younger generation of reporters who just want to ruin somebody by deadline time, get on TV, get a book deal and have Charlize Theron play her in the movie. That’s what I think is happening with journalism. One of the reasons Fuse is disliked by younger journalists is he’s telling them, “Go, do your work! Stop worrying about getting on TV.” That’s what journalism has become about, and that’s very troubling. There’s nothing wrong with being on TV — it’s just that if the desire
to be on TV replaces hard work, that’s the problem. And you’ll see, the way we get the bad guy is his great weakness — his fatal flaw — is he can’t stay away from the camera. One of the things that’s interesting to me is I think people fabricate this perfect life on social media, including my bad guy in the book. To me, the worst thing you can do to somebody who has fabricated their image is expose them. That is what I do in the book. We all have a success fantasy. There’s nothing wrong with that. There’s nothing wrong with ambition. The question is, do you recognize at some point that you’re living in a fantasy as opposed to having a fantasy? How did you address the #MeToo movement in your novel? ED: I’m a white, middle-aged man in a position of relative authority. It’s my demographic that has been, generally speaking, the problem. I was very anxious about how I would write about this. A friend of mine, a rape survivor and an activist, gave me really good advice: “Don’t try to be the guy who gets it. You can’t possibly, unless you’ve been sexually assaulted. Don’t claim for a minute that of all the guys in the world, I’m the one who totally gets what women go through.” One of the thoughts I had was, “I have to do something in the book to make people doubt the young woman who was assaulted,” because that’s part of the whole #MeToo issue. I talked to an FBI guy who said to me, “Make the assault happen during finals week, because that’s when we get the uptick and false reports.” And I said, “That’s absolutely vicious. And I’m going to use it.” Because the story would have no credibility if everybody from minute one believed this young woman.
As a consultant, you have to constantly censor yourself. Do you find writing novels to be a place where you are free to express your opinions? ED: Yes. One of the reasons why I write is to cope with the stress associated with my own
COURTESY OF AMY RAAB
In addition to founding crisis management firm Dezenhall Resources, Eric Dezenhall ‘84 is the author of 11 books, the latest of which, “False Light,” was released last Tuesday.
business. While I can’t name the names, I can tell you that some of the monsters called out by the #MeToo movement did contact me, and I declined them because I just don’t want to work with them. I have worked on ugly things before, and what I’m trying to do as I get older is work on things I want to. You’ll see in the book: Fuse breaks laws left and right. I can’t do that in real life, nor can I go in front of General Motors, their board of directors and say, “Ladies and gentlemen of the board, I have an idea. Let’s get revenge.” One of the things I see in my field and in my life is bad people get away with things. The way this book came about was a simple one-line premise: What would happen if a guy who’s gotten
away with everything his whole life found himself on the receiving end of somebody just like him? I am bothered by people who get away with things because I see it all the time, and there’s not a lot I can do about it. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length. Correction appended (March 1, 2021): A previous version of this article stated that Dezenhall received criticism for supporting ExxonMobil in its disputes with the environmental group Greenpeace. The article has been updated to more accurately reflect Dezenhall’s firm’s involvement in the ExxonMobil case.
78th Golden Globes kicks off awards season with socially distanced audience, technical difficulties BY Jack Hargrove The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published on March 4, 2021. On Sunday, the 78th Golden Globe Awards began the strangest awards season in recent memory. The ceremony was held mostly virtually, with half taking place in New York and half in Los Angeles. Instead of the usual array of celebrities, the inperson audience was made up entirely of socially distanced first responders and essential workers, while the nominees all teleconferenced in. The ceremony was simultaneously hosted by Golden Globe regulars Tina Fey in New York and Amy Poehler in Los Angeles, who returned as hosts for the first time since their three-year-ina-row hosting stint from 2013 to 2015. Their style was markedly different from Ricky Gervais’ at last year’s ceremony, whose acerbic and confrontational style made headlines. While Fey and Poehler did criticize the Hollywood Foreign Press Association — the non-profit organization whose members cast ballots for the awards — for their overall lack of diversity, the duo were much more amicable in general. The virtual aspects of the ceremony naturally resulted in some technical difficulties and awkward moments. The most notable occurred early on, when Daniel Kaluuya gave the first half of his acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture on mute. Every acceptance speech was given virtually, and while no other had a technical issue as serious, it still resulted in an uncomfortable atmosphere. However, the Golden Globes did the best they could have given the circumstances. Moving on to the actual awards, the biggest winner of the night was “The Crown,” winning Best Television Series – Drama, as well as three other awards. “The Queen’s Gambit” and “Schitt’s Creek” came in with the second-most awards for television series, winning two
apiece. For films, “Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm,” “Soul” and “Nomadland’’ each won two awards, with “Nomadland” winning Best Motion Picture – Drama. Overall, though, no one film or show clearly dominated. Here are some of the winners of the night’s major awards: Television Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy: “Schitt’s Creek” After receiving a whopping 15 nominations and sweeping all four major acting categories in last year’s Primetime Emmy Awards, “Schitt’s Creek” entered one of the final awards shows of its run in top form. While the other shows nominated in the category were also strong contenders, particularly Apple TV’s “Ted Lasso” and HBO Max’s “The Flight Attendant,” “Schitt’s Creek” was certainly the favorite to win given its performance at the Emmys, as well as the fact that it just aired its final season. Best Television Series – Drama: “The Crown” This year’s category for best television drama had an impressive selection of nominees. These included Netflix’s “Ozark,” led by Jason Bateman, Disney+’s Star Wars spin-off “The Mandalorian” and Netflix’s “Ratched,” a prequel to “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” Ultimately, however, it was unsurprisingly the fourth season of Netflix’s powerhouse royal drama “The Crown” that took the award. Despite receiving some criticism for historical inaccuracies, impressive acting performances propelled “The Crown” to victory. Best Actor in a Television Series – Drama: Josh O’Connor in “The Crown” The field for best actor in a television drama was packed with talent, including Jason Bateman in “Ozark,” Bob Odenkirk in “Better Call Saul” and the legendary Al Pacino in “Hunters.” However, it was Josh O’Connor’s turn as Charles, Prince of Wales in “The Crown” that took the
award. The acting in “The Crown” is its greatest asset, and O’Connor’s performance was among the best in the latest season.
Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama: Emma Corrin in “The Crown” Speaking of the stellar acting in “The Crown,” two of the five nominees for the category of best actress in a television drama were from the show: Olivia Colman for her role as Queen Elizabeth II and Emma Corrin for her role as Diana, Princess of Wales. Corrin ultimately won the award, beating out Jodie Comer of “Killing Eve,” Laura Linney of “Ozark” and Sarah Paulson of “Ratched.” Film Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy: “Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm” One of the most heavily publicized movies of 2020, “Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm,” won the award for best comedy or musical film. As the longawaited sequel to the 2006 film “Borat,” complete with the appearance of Rudy Giuliani in one of its gags, it makes sense that this film was a favorite heading into the awards. The rest of the field was relatively weak; its closest competitor was “Palm Springs,” a great comedy starring Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti. However, the other three nominated films — including Disney+’s live stage recording of the Broadway musical “Hamilton” and “Music,” the controversial film produced by singersongwriter Sia — were weaker, giving the win handily to “Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm.” Best Motion Picture – Drama: “Nomadland” “Nomadland,” directed by Chloé Zhao, took home the most prestigious award of the night. While not a box office success, “Nomadland” received critical acclaim and has been most frequently listed on film critics’ top movie lists for
ELIZABETH JANOWSKI/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
At Sunday’s ceremony, Netflix’s powerhouse royal drama “The Crown” emerged as the biggest winner of the night.
2020. Frances McDormand’s beautiful performance as Fern, a woman who travels the American west, as well as Zhao’s expert direction made this win well-deserved, beating out other great films like “Mank,” “The Trial of the Chicago 7” and “The Father.” Zhao also won the award for Best Director. Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy: Sacha Baron Cohen in “Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm” In addition to winning the best comedy film section above, Sacha Baron Cohen won the award for best actor in a comedy film for his role of the titular Borat Sagdiyev in “Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm.” Given the format of the film, Cohen’s acting performance was quite different from the other actors nominated in the category; while he was playing a character, most of the other people in the film were unwitting nonactors. Other notable nominees in the category were Andy Samberg for his performance as Nyles in “Palm Springs” and Lin Manuel-Miranda as Alexander Hamilton in “Hamilton.” Best Actor in a Motion Picture –
Drama: Chadwick Boseman in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” To no one’s surprise, Chadwick Boseman posthumously won the award for best actor in a dramatic film for his role as Levee Green in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” While there were other great performances in contention, including Gary Oldman as Herman Mankiewicz in “Mank” and Anthony Hopkins as Anthony in “The Father,” Boseman’s sudden death from cancer at just 43 in August, combined with his incredible performance, made his victory in the category all but guaranteed. Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama: Andra Day in “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” Andra Day won the award for best actress in a dramatic film for her role as singer Billie Holiday in the biopic “The United States vs. Billie Holiday.” While the film received mixed reviews for its writing and direction, Day’s performance was near-universally acclaimed. Day faced fierce competition from Frances McDormand’s role as Fern in “Nomadland” and Viola Davis as Ma Rainey in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” but ultimately Day came out on top.
FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2021
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THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS
SPORTS
In-person athletics on hold following COVID-19 spike BY Will Ennis & Katherine Shannon The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published on March 2, 2021. On Wednesday, the College notified student-athletes that it had canceled all in-person athletic activities due to a spike in COVID-19 cases on campus. As of Monday’s COVID-19 dashboard update, there were 122 active cases among students — over quadruple the number of cases reported as the surge was first recorded on Wednesday. Interim athletics director Peter Roby notified the athletic community of the decision to indefinitely postpone in-person athletic activities in a Wednesday email. “This is being done to facilitate any campus-wide contact tracing efforts and to ensure that we cast a wide enough net to properly safeguard student-athletes, coaches and staff from potential exposure,” Roby wrote. According to head athletic trainer Ben Schuler, the decision to pause sports practices was made in consultation with the College’s COVID-19 task force. “We got together and thought about if we’re closing some indoor spaces and only having grab-and-go lunches or meals from [the Class of 1953 Commons], it may not be the best idea to continue with athletic activity until we really have a good sense of what’s going on,” Schuler said. This news came as a disappointment for many studentathletes. Following the mandatory quarantine for students on campus, athletic practices resumed on Jan. 26. Since then, teams have been practicing under the athletic department’s COVID-19 guidelines, moving from small training pods to small group practice sessions. Despite the restrictions, studentathletes were glad to be back training with their teammates. Men’s basketball player Taurus Samuels ’22 said he enjoyed the normalcy of team practices but expressed doubt over the resumption of in-person practices for the
COURTESY OF THE DARTMOUTH ATHLETICS DEPARTMENT
In-person athletic activity has been suspended indefinitely due to the increase in COVID-19 cases on campus.
remainder of the winter term. “Once I saw [the emails], I [was] like, ‘We’re definitely done,’” Samuels said. “It’s already in week eight; I wouldn’t be surprised if they just canceled everything for the rest of the term.” The pause in athletic practices has been especially difficult for studentathletes whose teams were reinstated last month. Men’s lightweight rowing, men’s and women’s golf and men’s and women’s swimming and diving had been unable to hold official practices since they were cut in July and had only just returned to team activities last week. Although competition was canceled for the winter and spring seasons in the Ivy League, team training was a step toward an eventual return.
“We were looking forward to enjoying our reinstatement and finally getting together as a team for the first time in seven months,” said men’s diver Kyle Schubert ’23. “It’s unfortunate that we’re not able to enjoy it together, but of course we’re still happy that we now exist. And we all understand why everything shut down given the circumstances, but it is a little disappointing.” While athletic practices remain on pause, teams have found other ways to work out and spend time together. With no projected date to resume practices, many studentathletes have focused on at-home workouts provided by the strength and conditioning staff. Other teams looked to outdoor activities to spend time as a team
prior to the return to phase two of quarantine on Saturday. Samuels said that the basketball team went ice skating together over the weekend. As student-athletes enter week nine of winter ter m amid the ongoing outbreak, the prospect of a return to in-person practices before the end of the term appears unlikely. “If Dartmouth says, ‘Yeah, we can go back and get access to certain facilities with these restrictions,’ then great. If we’re not allowed, then we’ll support our guys the best we can without being in the gym with them,” said men’s basketball coach David McLaughlin. The College has not yet announced additional changes to spring term athletic procedures. The Ivy League had previously canceled all league
competition during spring, with local competition possibly allowed if public health conditions permit. “We’re still planning on resuming athletic activity in the spring, the same way we’ve been able to resume athletic activity in the fall and winter,” Schuler said. “We’re just going to have to assess where we are when students arrive for spring term, go through any sort of campus mandated quarantine procedures and then see what is our best path forward to athletic activity.” For now, athletes and coaches will continue to adapt to practice restrictions as best as they can. “You just don’t know what it’s going to bring, so you have to take it really day by day,” McLaughlin said.
Athletes, coaches ‘heartbroken’ by loss of spring season BY Benjamin Ashley The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published on March 2, 2021. On Feb. 18, The Ivy League announced the cancellation of all conference athletic competition this spring, marking the second consecutive canceled spring season and the fourth straight season without athletic competition. Both student-athletes and coaches said the announcement did not come as a surprise. “We expected it deep down,” baseball player Ubaldo Lopez ’21 said. “But when they told us, it was still kind of shocking.” Softball player Billie McFadyen ’22 said she and her teammates similarly tempered their expectations ahead of the decision so that a spring cancellation would not “completely destroy” them. Men’s tennis head coach Xander Centenari and women’s lacrosse head coach Alex Frank said it has been difficult for their teams to watch other schools across the country continue to compete while Ivy League competition remains on hold. The Ivy League contains eight of the 10 Division I men’s basketball teams not competing this season, while the other 347 play. Frank empathized with her players, calling the absence of competition a “very hard situation,” though she added that she respects the Ivy League’s decision. Her team had been ranked No. 16 and No. 19 in the nation in preseason polls earlier this year after finishing last season at No. 7 in an Inside Lacrosse poll. “While I am heartbroken for our student-athletes, we understand that the Ivy League makes decisions based on providing a safe and healthy
COURTESY OF THE DARTMOUTH ATHLETICS DEPARTMENT
The Dartmouth softball team, which has not played a game in over a year, will not play any Ivy League opponents this spring.
experience for all students,” Frank said. “We as a program and as a staff just have to understand we have to find new ways to get better that may not necessarily involve being able to compete.” Despite the disappointment of missing Ivy League competition, some student-athletes have taken advantage of the extra time. For instance, Frank noted that the team has had extra time to concentrate on individual skills and focus on each player’s areas of development. Centenari added that his student-athletes have had more time to focus on academics, resulting in better grades. “We do what we can to make [ p r a c t i c e s ] c o m p e t i t i o n - l i k e, ” McFadyen said. “We’ll have little
hitting games [and] little fielding games to make it feel like we’re competing not only with ourselves, but with our teammates.” T h o u g h t h e I v y L e a g u e ’s announcement canceled competition within the conference, the plan left open the option of local competition if schools eventually reach “phase four,” which permits full practice and competition. After starting the quarter in “phase one,” which allows for small group in-person activity, the school reverted back to “phase zero” — a total suspension of in-person practice — on Saturday amid a spike in COVID-19 cases on campus. Although many student-athletes and coaches believe reaching phase four and competing locally is unlikely, teams are staying ready
for competition while awaiting more information. The limited number of Division I schools within the permitted 100-mile radius further complicates the timeline. Athletics director Peter Roby previously cited the University of New Hampshire, the University of Vermont, the University of Massachusetts Lowell and Merrimack College as potential local competitors if the College reaches phase four. “It’s still too early to really comment on what our decision will be, but certainly we’re excited for the possibility that we could compete,” Centenari said. “If the opportunity does arise, and we feel like it’s a great opportunity for our players, then we’ll do it.” Student-athletes have shifted
their priorities to ensuring their teams are ready to succeed when competition resumes. Lopez said that he and his senior teammates have focused more on mentoring the freshmen and instilling a team-first mentality. McFadyen further emphasized the hard work her team has put in to stay prepared for next season. We have worked really hard on understanding that our motivation is more based on being together and growing our relationships, and that eventually in the future, we will have a team with a season,” McFadyen said. “We’re all pretty selfless in the fact that we’re going to make sure that our team is in the best spot possible to go out and compete with whatever girls that we have.”
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MIRROR THE DARTMOUTH MIRROR
FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2021
Lest the Old Traditions Fail: COVID-19 and the Future of Pong BY CARIS WHITE
The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published on March 3, 2021. Up until a year ago, the sound of ping pong balls and music could be heard echoing through Webster Avenue almost every night, weekend or not. Although there are a variety of social spaces at Dartmouth, you can find pong being played in almost all of them. Pong, whether you call it a drinking game, a ritual or even a sport, is an iconically Dartmouth phenomenon. In Greek houses, off-campus apartments and alumni homes alike there are huge tables — sometimes even made from specially ordered lumber — painted with colorful designs and occupied by four paddle-wielding players. Teaching the younger generation to play pong is a time-honored tradition. I still remember being shepherded into my club soccer teammate’s sorority basement the night our frat ban lifted during my freshman fall, being handed a sawedoff paddle and clumsily playing my first game. Then the pandemic hit. For almost a year now, Dartmouth students have been stripped of our access to many of the places, communities and traditions that make school feel like home. As our year-long hiatus from “normal life” stretches on indeterminately into the future, I find myself missing the casual camaraderie and quintessential Dartmouth feeling of playing pong. I also find myself wondering if pong will be one more casualty of a pandemic that has already taken so much. To get a sense of where we go
from here, I talked to a cross-section of Dartmouth students, both older and younger than myself, about what COVID-19 means for the future of pong. Leah Zamansky ’24, who is living on campus this winter and also lived on campus in the fall, shared some of the ways new students have struggled to become familiar with both pong and the broader Dartmouth social scene. “In the winter, some people pushed their desks together to make a pong table,” Zamansky said. “One friend wanted to use cardboard, and people were trying to take tables from the basement. It’s not super ideal, and I’m not sure how many people actually know how to play Dartmouth pong because there are not upperclassmen on campus teaching us.” Between the restrictions on group gatherings, the lack of connections to upperclassmen and the scarcity of materials, opportunities for ’24s to learn and play pong have been slim to none. Yet, the desire to join in is still strong. “We all wish that we were able to do all the things that people do in normal years. It’s really sad — we only go into each others’ dorm rooms and not anything else ever.” Zamansky said. Furthermore, access to social spaces at Dartmouth — spaces where pong is often taught and played — has never been equal, even in normal years. “I definitely had more exposure to pong than my non-athlete friends because I had more access to frat basements where I knew guys on my team,” said Connor Luck ’23, a track and field athlete and member of the Gamma Delta Chi fraternity. “I had
this connection with upperclassmen that I wouldn’t have had if I wasn’t on the team.” Lauren Douglas ’21, a member of the women’s volleyball team and Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority, shared her thoughts on the exclusive social dynamics that have been exacerbated by a year of COVID-19 restrictions. “The issue with this year has been that if you are playing any pong, you have to have your own table and a place to play — which mostly lies in upperclassmen houses — creating a dynamic where you have to know upperclassmen in order to play. It’s not like you walk into a frat and there are six tables no matter what,” Douglas said. However, despite the challenges of the past year, Douglas expressed her faith in the social value and staying power of pong. “The thing that gives me hope is that pong is literally sacred to Dartmouth kids — I know alumni are playing pong in bars in New York, and there are tables in alums’ Boston apartments,” Douglas said. As Douglas pointed out, the COVID-19 pandemic is not the first time Dartmouth has weathered a crisis, and yet pong has continued to stick around. “Pong could have died a million different ways already, but the spirit of Dartmouth has kept it alive. It’s not like people just forget about it,” Douglas said. From quarantined students painting tables at home during the long pandemic spring to the efforts of ’24s to join in on makeshift tables, it appears likely that pong will survive the pandemic. As Luck said, “Once you learn it, you kind of bring it everywhere.”
MIA NELSON/THE DARTMOUTH
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