The Dartmouth 05/02/2019

VOL. CLXXVI NO. 29

RAINY HIGH 49 LOW 40

OPINION

TRUONG: SUCH BAD LUCK PAGE 6

SAKLAD: THE DEVIL WE DON’T KNOW PAGE 6

OKUTAN: ARE STONES WORTH MORE THAN BLOOD? PAGE 7

ALLARD: CULTURE OF CUSTOMIZATION PAGE 7

ARTS

ALLEN: NATIVES AT THE MUSEUM PAGE 8

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THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2019

HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Dartmouth students College TDI investigation results win Mars greenhouse in demotion of prominent professor NASA competition

B y EMILY SUN

The Dartmouth Staff

When a power outage h i t Te a m D a r t m o u t h ’s g re e n h o u s e p ro j e c t fo r the NASA Breakthrough, I n n ov a t i ve a n d G a m e changing Idea Challenge, the team was alarmed. For 30 hours, their plants went without water or nutrients and wilted. Yet when the power turned back on, the plants

came back to life within three hours.

“Right after that, the plants started producing flowers and right after that, fruiting,” Alexa Escalona TH said. “And so we even learned something about how inducing stress into the system can be really helpful for getting the strawberries or whatever plants it would be SEE NASA PAGE 5

Waka Flocka Flame to co-headline Green Key concert B y THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Waka Flocka Flame, Two Friends, and MAX will be performing as co-headliners at this year’s Green Key concert on May 17, according to the College’s Programming Board.

M a x S ch n e i d e r, wh o performs under the stage name of MAX, will serve as the opener of the show.

MAX’s 2016 “Lights Down

Low” emerged as a sleeper hit, entering the Billboard To p 1 0 0 a n d e a r n i n g platinum status a year after it’s original release. He has also collaborated with Lil Uzi Vert, Ty Dolla $ign, Louis the Child, Quinn XCII and co-headliner Two Friends.

Two Fr i e n d s, a L o s Angeles-based DJ duo comprised of Eli Sones and Matthew Halper, will follow SEE CONCERT PAGE 3

MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Elliott Fisher, a professor at the Geisel School of Medicine, will remain on the Dartmouth faculty.

B y THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF A prominent Dartmouth professor and well-known health policy expert w i l l b e r e m ov e d f r o m his directorship of The Dartmouth Institute as the result of a College workplace conduct investig ation, College spokesperson Diana Law rence c onfir med in an email statement to The Dartmouth.

Elliott Fisher, who had served as TDI director since 2013, will remain on the Dartmouth faculty, but his office will be relocated to a different building. He will also lose his endowed professor ship, Lawrence

wrote. “[Fisher] will return to active Geisel faculty status to pursue research, education, and service in accordance with expectations for a tenured professor; however, he will no longer be director of TDI or hold the John E. Wenneberg Distinguished Professorship,” Lawrence wrote.

In addition, Adam Keller — TDI’s chief of strategy and operations and a former College executive vice president who was also a subject of the investigation — has resigned from his post.

The Valley News, which first reported the investigation’s conclusion, reports that Keller had been planning to

retire from his position since last October.

Lawrence wrote that the content of the investigation report was a “confidential personnel matter” and declined to speculate on what she described as “possible related legal issues.”

The Dartmouth first reported last August that the College had placed Fisher and Keller on administrative leave following a workplace conduct complaint. Lawrence told T he Dartmouth at the time that the leave was paid and that the inquiry would be conducted by an external investigator. TDI is a program associated with SEE TDI PAGE 3

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THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2019

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

Bang! Math professors prove TV show theory about the number 73 B y GRAYCE GIBBS

and in binary, 73 is a palindrome, 1001001, which backwards is 1001001.”

A p r o o f c o - a u t h o r e d by After the episode aired, Spicer, Dartmouth mathematics professor along with two Morningside College emeritus Carl Pomerance and students, Jessie Byrnes and Alyssa Morningside College mathematics Turnquist, published a 2015 article in professor Chris Spicer appeared on Math Horizons, an undergraduatean episode of the television series, focused journal, discussing the “The Big Bang Theory” on April potential of creating a proof for 18. The proof, which was featured Cooper’s claims. on a whiteboard in the background “I really was just watching an of the show, episode of ‘The r e ve a l s t h e “I really was just Big Bang Theory’ uniqueness of back in 2014 where the number watching an episode of Sheldon made his 73.

‘The Big Bang Theory’ claim,” Spicer said.

Sheldon “I was intrigued, Cooper, one back in 2014 where so I asked a couple of the main Sheldon made his students of mine characters on claim. I was intrigued, to see if they could “The Big Bang prove it.”

Theory,” first so I asked a couple Pomerance expressed his students of mine to said that he first affinity for discovered the the number see if they could prove M at h H o r i zo n s 73 during the it.” article back in 2015 show’s 73rd and sent a brief episode, “The email to Spicer.

Alien Parasite -CHRIS SPICER, However, he did Hypothesis,” MORNINGSIDE not follow-up with which aired in Spicer until last COLLEGE MATHEMATICS 2010. summer, when he “The best PROFESSOR contacted Spicer number is about working 73,” Cooper together to create explained in a proof. Spicer said that after about the episode. “Why? 73 is the 21st 130 emails exchanged between prime number. Its mirror, 37, is the the two mathematicians, they had 12th, and its mirror, 21, is the product figured out the proof. of multiplying seven and three ...

Before Pomerance and Spicer The Dartmouth Staff

CORRECTIONS Correction appended (April 29, 2019): The April 29 article, “Tuck offers business training program for retired Olympians” originally stated that the Next Step program was a direct partnership between the Tuck School of Business and the U.S. Olympic Committee. The online version of the article has been updated to clarify that Tuck alone created and operates the program, and former Olympic athletes, among others, are eligible to participate.

Correction appended (April 30, 2019): The April 24 article, “Demystifying the Dartmouth Grad Student Experience” states that Syed Rafkin Ahman’s Ph.D. program would take two years to finish, when it actually will take four years to complete. The online version of the article has been updated to reflect this change.

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

COURTESY OF CARL POMERANCE

The proof demonstrated that Sheldon Cooper’s fondness for the number 73 in “The Big Bang Theory” has some merit.

wrote the proof, it was possible to use a computer to search and not find other examples of numbers with similar unique qualities to the number 73. However, Spicer said that their proof rules out numbers even beyond the range of computers, and shows that the number 73 is finitely unique.

After Pomerance and Spicer received the news that their paper had been accepted for publication by the journal American Mathematical Monthly, they reached out to CBS, the TV network on which “The Big Bang Theory” airs, looking for permission to use a photo from the show in the upcoming paper.

While searching for the point of contact to receive the necessary copyright approval, Pomerance said he came across the science consultant for “The Big Bang Theory,” David Saltzberg, a University of California, Los Angeles physics professor.

After Pomerance sent the paper to Saltzberg and received permission to use the photo, Saltzberg said he asked permission from Pomerance and Spicer to use their proof on the whiteboards in the background of the show.

“I have this concept that [what’s on] the whiteboards are things that the characters are really thinking about and doing,” Saltzberg said.

Saltzberg said he forwarded the paper to the writers of the TV show, who said it was “amazing,” and decided to include it in the

background as part of an episode.

“I didn’t get much out of the episode on my first watching because I was constantly pausing the show and zooming in to see what I could see on the boards,” Spicer said. “My wife and I then watched it a second time the next day just for fun.”

THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2019

PAGE 3

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

Fisher’s paid leave ended Monday, he Two Friends and MAX and Keller are allowed in campus events will be other headliners FROM TDI PAGE 1

the Geisel School of Medicine that focuses on health policy research and graduate-level education.

Lawrence wrote that Fisher’s paid leave will end effective today, and that he and Keller will now be allowed to enter campus and attend Dartmouth events. TDI has been led by an interim director, Anna Tosteson, since October.

In addition to having been director of TDI, Fisher also serves as a professor of family

and community medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine — a position he has held since 1986. Fisher’s research focused on healthcare spending and the efficacy of healthcare and helped create the term “accountable care organizations.” Accountable care organizations incentivize doctors and hospitals to collaborate to reduce spending while maintaining a high standard of care. President Barack Obama’s 2010 Affordable Care Act included ACOs as a healthcare model.

Previously to his tenure at TDI, Keller was the College’s executive vice president of finance and administration and vice president for health affairs, as well as associate dean and chief operating officer at the Dartmouth Medical School (which has since renamed Geisel School of Medicine).

Neither Fisher nor Keller could be reached for comment as of press time.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS

MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Construction outside of Silsby Hall is causing inconveniences for pedestrians on campus.

FROM CONCERT PAGE 1

MAX’s performance. Well-known for their popular “Big Bootie Mixes” on Soundcloud, Two Friends has remixed artists including Steve Aoki, The Killers, Blink-182 and Dua Lipa.

Waka Flocka Flame will be the final act of the concert. Known for his early hits “Hard in Da Paint” and “No Hands,” Juaquin James Malphurs — who performs under the name Waka Flocka Flame — has continued to produce albums regularly. He has collaborated with Nicki Minaj, Drake, A$AP Rocky, 2 Chainz and Chief Keef.

The organization of the concert

was led by concert director Monica Lee ’19 and executive director Carlos Tifa ’19. In a press release, Programming Board stated that the process to select the artists was “a year-long deliberation process that factored in artist popularity, campus interest, Green Key compatibility and artist availability.” The release stated that the every aspect of the event is organized and managed by students.

Attendance of the Green Key concert is limited to Dartmouth students and their guests, who must be registered with the College.

Another story with more information will be published in the near future.

PAGE 4

DARTMOUTHEVENTS

THE DARTMOUTH EVENTS

DUOVANGELISM

THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2019

Winston Chen ’22

TODAY 5:00 p.m. - 6:15 p.m.

Lecture: “Law Day Celebration: The Stephen R. Volk ’57 Lecture: Nadine Strossen,” sponsored by the Rockefeller Center for Public Policy, Rockefeller Center, Room 003.

7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Film: “Who Will Write our History?,” sponsored by the Hopkins Center for the Arts, Loew Auditorium, Black Family Visual Arts Center.

7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Performance: “Les Septs Doigts de la Main, ‘Patinoire,’” sponsored by the Hopkins Center for the Arts, Spaulding Auditorium, Hopkins Center for the Arts.

TOMORROW 8:45 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Symposium: “Art, Artists and the Museum,” sponsored by the Hood Museum of Art, Hood Museum of Art.

7:00 p.m. - 9:15 p.m.

Film: “Museo,” sponsored by the Hopkins Center for the Arts, Loew Auditorium, Black Family Visual Arts Center.

9:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.

Viewing: “Public Astronomical Observing,” sponsored by the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Shattuck Observatory.

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THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2019

PAGE 5

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

Greenhouse design based on an automated hydroponic system The team’s greenhouse design is based on an automated hydroponic to fruit earlier and start producing system that uses a cylinder inside edible food quickly. “ a torus. The cylinder’s purpose is The power outage mishap did to house the system that dispenses not prevent this team of Dartmouth and recycles the water and nutrients students from winning first place needed for the plants. Not only can i n N A S A’ s the four-person crew 2 0 1 9 B I G “It validated so much ch o o s e b e t we e n Idea Forum eight selected crops, hard work and late this past week. but they can also T h i s year’s nights, which was personalize their iteration of amazing. In general, diets with optional the BIG Idea herbs and spices to C h a l l e n g e the team worked so grow. Other features was a national hard and I think we of the greenhouse competition nclude a track were all really relieved ifor that sought exercise and a i n n o v a t i v e when we made it to viable living space ideas for the the top five.” and area for daily design and engagement. operation The competition o f a M a r s -ALEXA ESCALONA was divided into g reenhouse. two phases, the first Their project, of which led to dubbed DEMETER, stands for the selection of five finalists by a “Deployable Enclosed Martian panel of judges. The five finalists, Environment for Technolog y, which included Team Dartmouth, Eating and Recreation.” According advanced to the second round, to the team’s technical paper, where they were able to present DEMETER’s main purpose was their research to another panel of to provide sufficient quantities of judges to determine final rankings. nutritious food for a four-person Other teams that made it to the crew of astronauts. second round in this year’s challenge FROM NASA PAGE 1

EMILY SUN/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Team Dartmouth’s winning project was a unique greenhouse design that would theoretically support a four-person crew.

included the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which took second place overall, and the University of California, Davis.

MAKING MUD PIES

MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Despite scoring four runs in the eighth inning against Maine yesterday, Big Green baseball lost the game, 8-7.

“It validated so much hard work and late nights, which was amazing,” Escalona said. “In general, the team worked so hard and I think we were all really relieved when we made it to the top five ... I would have been happy if we took fifth place, you know, and then getting first was just amazing.”

Team Dartmouth was comprised of David Dick TH, Escalona, Grace Genszler TH, Thomas Hodsden ’18, TH, Peter Mahoney ’19, Morgan McGonagle ’18, TH, Zoe Rivas TH and Christopher Yu ’19.

“These were fantastic students,” engineering professor and Team Dartmouth advisor Benoit Cushman-Roisin said. “We do get great students at Dartmouth College, but then once in a while, you still have some sort of students who shine among all the others.

We had a remarkable group and it was so exciting to work with them all around. They had so much enthusiasm, so much organization, so much creativity, so much expertise in their analysis — shining in all

respects.”

G e n s z l e r s a i d t h a t Te a m D a r t m o u t h ’s p ro j e c t h a d a good variety of mechanical, environmental, electrical and computational aspects, which fit in well with the project. He added that the Thayer School of Engineering’s interdisciplinary approach to education came in handy when combining these components.

According to Escalona, the team could not have won without the help they received from Dartmouth professors and staff, as well as members from the Black Family Visual Arts Center and friends at Thayer. Escalona was also awarded one of five summer internship spots NASA offered to select members from the five finalist teams. “[It’s] my hope that we’re going to have some other students working on some other projects for NASA to participate in the theme of the next BIG Idea Challenge,” CushmanRoisin said. “I hope that Dartmouth College continues to participate in that competition.”

PAGE 6

THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2019

THE DARTMOUTH OPINION

STAFF COLUMNIST VALERIE TRUONG ‘21

STAFF COLUMNIST AVERY SAKLAD ‘21

Such Bad Luck

The Devil We Don’t Know

Let’s reconsider our preconceived notions of Asian food.

Recently, a couple of new restaurants were accused of culturally appropriating Asian food. First, there was Lucky Lee’s, founded by two white restaurateurs: Arielle Haspel, a Manhattan-based health coach and her husband Lee. The concept is Panda Express meets Lilly Pulitzer — over the counter service coupled with blue-jade decor and a logo with chopstick-like font. Lucky Lee’s was branded as “clean” Chinese food that wouldn’t make customers feel “bloated and icky.” Social media backlash was swift and for good reason — Haspel’s choice of promotional words implied that Chinese food is inherently unhealthy and that her restaurant is a solution to this problem. The restaurant and Haspel have since apologized, stating that they now realize that their marketing perpetuated negative stereotypes about the Chinese American community. But the underlying stereotypes about Chinese food — that it is too oily, salty and MSG-laden — remain rooted in the very essence of the restaurant. Despite the apology and modified online advertising, “Feel Great” still appears in large flowy letters over “Chinese Food” on the restaurant’s teal awning. It screams at entering customers that what makes this food special is its objective healthiness compared to regular Chinese food.

The other restaurant that’s received criticism in the press is Gordon Ramsay’s Lucky Cat, which is set to open in London this summer. Ramsay originally advertised the venue as an “authentic Asian” restaurant based on the fact that Lucky Cat’s head chef — who is white — has extensive experience cooking and studying Asian cuisine. But there

doesn’t appear to be a single Asian chef at the restaurant.

Both of these new restaurants bring to light the various issues, nuances and complications of appropriating another culture. While I do believe that Haspel and Ramsay appreciate the foods that served as the source of their inspiration, they were culturally insensitive in the way that they advertised their restaurants.

I have no qualms about a chef incorporating another culture’s foods into their repertoire, but it cannot be labeled “authentic” if it is in fact a new creation divorced from its original context.

On the flip side, strides have been made in the fine-dining world in terms of Chinese fusion cuisine. Mei Lin’s Nightshade in Los Angeles and Corey Lee’s 3-star Michelin rated Benu in San Francisco have carved out spaces for themselves in the upper echelons. There are no claims of authenticity or claims of Asian ingredients; neither of their websites scream, or even mention, that Asian food is integral to the dishes served. And yet, both are successful.

But it’s evident from the menu items that Asian food was the source of their inspiration.

Food can be authentic regardless of who makes it, but chefs and their marketing teams need to be very careful with how they publicly present their restaurants. As recent controversies have shown, “authenticity” itself is a contested term and one that chefs should refuse to employ when it doesn’t apply. Beyond that, we all need to change our perceptions of how we value and perceive different foods as they increase their foothold in the crowded landscape of American cuisine.

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ISSUE ANTHONY ROBLES 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.

Exploring the costs of eliminating Greek life at Dartmouth.

If you have read any of my articles, then you know that I’m no fan of the Greek system.

The toxic masculinity, the sexual misconduct, the omnipresent stench of Keystone Lite … I could go on, but I will refrain. Instead, I will look past my feelings about the Greek system and its validity as a space on campus into a future scenario where the College listens to the voices of bleeding-heart feminists who criticize the Greek System. What happens then?

Imagine this: Dartmouth, shrouded in its isolated haven, abolishes the Greek system.

Students mull around Webster Avenue late into the nights. They go to Collis events and Friday Night Rock. The empty shell of Domino’s Pizza haunts the gas station corner like a forlorn alumnus. Male enrollment in fall term’s more difficult classes rises. Janitors all over campus rejoice as their days become more vomit-free. In the small hours, rising numbers of students scroll through Tinder lying sideways on their twin extra-long mattresses, missing their basement hookups and date-parties. Where have the old times gone?

They have gone in the direction of the administration, in the direction we have travelled since the College derecognized Alpha Delta in 2015. How far, in this imagined scenario, we have come! Sexual misconduct reported on campus has dropped. Women feel safer, more respected and empowered on a campus which has transformed into a place of boundless potential for all genders. Dick’s House sees fewer cases of alcohol poisoning than ever before, and the Brief Alcohol Screening & Intervention for College Students program has become basically defunct.

But our victories come at a price. Truthfully, people are bored, stressed and restless. The places students used to go to blow off steam do not exist anymore, and no campus venue functions to replace them. The class hours remain long, and homework does not get any easier. What’s more, the College does not rake in money like it used to. Alumni, outraged by the administration’s defunding of Greek communities, donate less in disapproval or refuse to donate entirely. The newer ones, the ones who came to Dartmouth and never knew the Greek system had existed, donate less simply because they did not form the same kinds of close communities it facilitated. They feel less connected to Dartmouth and less compelled to see it thrive. Yet the College spends more and more to put on campus events, concerts and anything else that can fill the social void left

by Greek life. Oddly enough, attendance at campus-run events never spikes to the degree the College expected.

What does spike in a post-Greek Dartmouth?

Off-campus housing. The apartments above Main Street, the School Street homes, even housing options as far off as White River Junction overflow with students. The Hanover police department handles more noise complaints than before from community residents whose homes have suddenly become the neighbors to Dartmouth’s central night life scene. Hordes of students overflow the streets on Saturday nights, drunk off their hard alcohol and unafraid of Safety and Security walk-throughs or the College’s reprimands.

Greek life may have been abolished in name, but it has only sunken its claws deeper into the student population. Now the communities that were defunded and driven from their on-campus homes have found freer, even less supervised locations to host parties. Nobody monitors their hazing practices. Nobody can threaten them with suspension for consuming and distributing hard alcohol. The same women who were preyed upon in fraternity basements yesteryear find themselves alone and afraid in these new unregulated spaces. When trouble comes, they do not know where to turn. How will the College support victims harmed at illicit parties in off-campus locales? Will it have to alter its resources to reflect a rise in off-campus sexual assault and harassment?

This is all speculation, I’ll admit. But even if it’s just a bit true, it still casts doubt on whether the Greek system itself is really Dartmouth’s biggest issue. I want the College to fix the Greek system. And while the simplest way to do so may mean abolishing it altogether, students would suffer from the unintended consequences. If the College continues to derecognize the Greek spaces on campus, it needs to answer to concerns about what this will mean for the campus community. It will need viable substitutes to fraternity-hopping on the weekends — students have few other source of entertainment in rural Hanover.

The Greek system cannot simply be allowed to relocate to covert, off-campus spaces. An “out of sight, out of mind” policy will not work because unsupervised, unregulated Greeklike communities would pose a graver threat to students — women, in particular — than current Greek life does. As the College moves towards eradicating the devil we know, it must also take into consideration the devil we do not.

THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2019

PAGE 7

THE DARTMOUTH OPINION

CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST EZGI OKUTAN ‘22

STAFF COLUMNIST SYDNEY ALLARD ‘21

Are Stones Worth More than Blood?

Culture of Customization

Enter Google Trends, then compare Sri have to talk about it, and we shouldn’t divert Lanka and Notre-Dame over the past 30 days. from the issue by listing all the other problems The data shows that interest in the term “Notre- that exist in the world. Notre-Dame received Dame” reached its peak popularity 24 hours after the coverage it should’ve received. My point is a that cathedral’s fire. The term “Sri Lanka” also different one: I ask where the same considerate, peaked 24 hours after the lethal bombings in global-minded people who responded to Notrethat country. But that peak was just a third the Dame were when a massive tragedy happened size of Notre-Dame’s. How should we interpret in a more distant country. these results? Should I ask my statistics professor To be frank, many of us are globally aware if cultural proximity is a confounding variable only when a tragedy is prominently featured on the news and on our in people’s interest and sympathy? social media. Complacency “If we fail to talk Back in Turkey, my home and a lack of interest in country, we have an ancient about Sri Lanka and culturally distant tragedies proverb: The fire only burns other global tragedies, can be an unfortunate the place it falls on. In trend at Dartmouth — we fail to fulfill our other words, we only care something I feel strongly about tragedies if they’re responsibilities both as as an international student. close to us or if they affect global citizens and as I asked a member of the us in some way. Some may Class of 2022 from Sri say it’s human nature to be Dartmouth students.”

Lanka about the attacks. He uninterested in things that asserted that the coverage of don’t affect us or things Sri Lanka spiked only when that we can’t relate to. But at Dartmouth, an the death toll rose sharply. He said that an attack institution whose mission statement espouses on a Western country would receive the same “responsible leadership,” a lack of interest in amount of attention for a far smaller attack. The global issues can’t be justified as mere human difference, he said, was that Sri-Lanka wasn’t behavior — certainly not if we are the leaders one of the handful of countries on which the who are supposed to make a difference. If we Western media focuses . fail to talk about Sri Lanka and other global Yet I don’t believe that it has to be this tragedies, we fail to fulfill way. The protection of the our responsibilities both United States’ safe borders, as global citizens and as “If there is a tragedy, and Dartmouth’s infamous Dartmouth students. bubble are no justification like the Notre-Dame Believe me, I also felt for a lack of interest, at least extremely heartbroken fire, we have to talk not if we claim to be the when Notre-Dame was about it, and we globally aware citizens that burning, and I had felt a Dartmouth takes pride in shouldn’t divert from sense of solidarity looking producing. If people openly at all the social media the issue by listing all state that they never claimed posts and talking to people the other problems to be globally aware, that’s about it. But when terrorists a stance and I respect it. murdered over 200 people in that exist in the However, if they claim that Sri Lanka, I saw just a couple world.” they do care about the wider of posts, a stark contrast to world, then they have to talk the overwhelming public about Sri Lanka at least as attention Notre-Dame much as they talk about received from my close Notre-Dame. social media circle. Some of my friends didn’t A basic understanding of global affairs goes know what happened, and we didn’t really talk a long way. It carries practical utility in fields like about it. The disparity disturbed me: Is stone public policy, international relations, economics, more important than blood? business and many others. But it also lets us put Don’t get me wrong: I am not trying to things in perspective and value human lives and undermine Notre-Dame or deny that it should human rights, regardless of geography. Sri Lanka receive massive amounts of public attention. If might seem farther away than Notre-Dame, but there is a tragedy, like the Notre-Dame fire, we it deserves at least as much attention.

The AUX cord in my car is broken. I know meaningful to the larger population. Taking it’s a not a big deal. I could just listen to the courses in fields that we aren’t necessarily radio. But the thing is, I’ve gotten pretty interested in forces us see things from different accustomed to listening to exactly what I want perspectives, and that’s a good thing. whenever I want. If I am bored with a song by The more we personalize, the less common the second verse, then I skip the next one. Or, if ground we have with others. Our culture I want to discover something new, the geniuses of customization manifests itself in big and at Spotify have a trusty algorithm for that: They small ways. It might look like seeking out only deliver new custom playlists to my account American-style restaurants while studying every week. Spotify has created a musical abroad — restaurants that have the foods universe that revolves we like and are used to around me, the consumer. “Customization means eating but don’t expose And in doing so, Spotify us to important parts of has managed to construct that we can get local culture. It might the feeling that the broader everything we like just look like a world where universe, beyond just music, political differences as we like it. But it also minor sometimes revolves around can make or break our means that we can me too. friendships.

When my parents were become unaccustomed Around the time young, they listened to of the presidential election, albums on record players, to compromise.” customization culture straight through, from start lets echo chambers run to finish. Everyone heard, rampant. If you didn’t for the most part, the same like the way that CNN songs in the same order. Now, even when my presented the news, you could change the friends are sitting right next to me, we each narrative by switching to Fox News with the plug in to listen to different songs tailored to click of a button. The news was, effectively, our different tastes. I don’t have to listen to customizable. You didn’t have to listen to any anything I don’t want to. Today’s world is commentators with whom you disagreed, read more customized and customizable than ever articles by anyone who challenged your beliefs before. or even see Facebook posts Customization means “If you didn’t like by friends whose political that we can get everything affiliations differed from we like just as we like it. But the way that CNN yours. it also means that we can presented the news, When the become unaccustomed to infor mation that you you could change the compromise. When you’re believe has little overlap used to getting your lunch narrative by switching with the information that from Chipotle, where you to Fox News with the your political adversaries can make your own meals b e l i e ve, c o n s t r u c t i ve exactly as you like them, click of a button. The dialogue becomes then just eating whatever news was, effectively, impossible. shows up on the menu Compromising customizable.” elsewhere sounds a lot less might not feel as good as appealing. getting exactly what you While per sonalized want when you want it, but music and food choices are relatively only compromise can solve the great challenges benign, our culture of customization has of our times. Healthcare reform, gun laws and more profound consequences in other areas. free speech are complicated issues: Some give Universities are forgoing course requirements and some take is necessary for anything to get in favor or allowing students to take only the done. So try a new food, read an article from a classes that interest them. While never having news sources you would normal stick up your to take a lab science is certainly an appealing nose at, text a friend you lost after the 2016 prospect to me, I also recognize that I need election and ditch your AUX cord for a radio an interdisciplinary education — without it, I station full of surprises: Try to see things from won’t know how to make findings in my field a perspective that challenges you.

A message to those who don’t talk About Sri Lanka.

Customization isn’t always such a good thing.

PAGE 8

Natives at the Museum with Sabena Allen ’20

Natives at the Museum: Past Imaginaries and Contemporary Realities Museums originated from Western collectors displaying “artifacts” from other cultures. Indeed, many items in museum collections are there because they were donated by collectors of such “ethnic” artifacts.

So, given this early practice of showcasing travels, conquest and wealth, what is the responsibility of the museum today? Do museums have an obligation to educate the public about other cultures and their history? Even if that position were the consensus, which it is far from being, there is still more discourse about whether or not an institution should be the final proprietor of knowledge that originates from indigenous communities and how a museum should fulfill its purpose if it should not be. For example, some are pushing museums to consult with indigenous communities to make curatorial decisions.

For now, despite the unsettled debate, I will write under the framework that museums do have this obligation to educate and focus on how this might be accomplished in a way that is respectful to

THE DARTMOUTH ARTS

indigenous communities. In terms of Native American culture, the idea of museums functioning as public educators brings with it a whole host of connected questions.

First of all, though the public should be educated on Native cultures and histories, there is a limit to what it is appropriate for nonNative people to know. Of course, this varies greatly by tribe; different cultures have different relationships to knowledge, which might push them to share more or less of their culture with non-tribal individuals. The discourse on the degree of cultural exposure is an excellent opportunity for communities to have input so that only what they are comfortable with is made available at museums.

Another aspect to consider is how the public views Native people and how museums contribute to reinforcing that stereotype. There is a constant issue of indigenous people being framed as the “Noble Savage” due to imperialism, the hegemonic retelling of Native history and its continuous impacts. Certain aspects of the narrative are wiped away, while others are exaggerated, romanticized or “cleaned up.” One need only look to films like “Pocahontas” and “Dances With Wolves” to see this kind of rewritten, idealized history.

If a museum were to focus extensively on the history of Native Americans through the lens of encounters with Europeans, it is likely that the Native American narrative would morph into a victim story. Thus, it might be necessary to provide a tribe-specific narrative of colonialism that does not leave out the brutal details, but also includes indigenous strength in the face of this oppression. In the process of incorporating Native communities in curating museums in order to represent them appropriately, both community members and museum staff would need to juggle all of the aforementioned issues.

A n a d d i t i o n a l p o i n t o f Native history is both damaging in consideration museums must make terms of indigenous presentation and is that Western history museums to the accurate depiction of many often employ a linear “progress” indigenous world views. narrative about their own history.

In correcting this habit of This is possible because the Western portraying Native peoples in the same narrative is generally the dominant linear progression format as Western one. It is assumed there is no need cultures we must be careful to avoid to question Western progress; it is focusing too much on modern the standard by which all “others” Native life without a historical are judged. Furthermore, Western context, as it might also erase society sees itself in the current important cultural values inherent moment as being the epitome of ever- to a group’s contemporary identity. advancing progress. On the other The challenge museum curators hand, when Europeans encountered face is creating a balance between a Native people, they saw our way contemporary focus and too much of life as lesser than the Western tribal representation derived from standard of what may be considered the past, trapping Native people “civilized.” This in a “primitive” is embedded state and erasing in the history, “Using contemporary the narratives culture and even art to replace older, of indigenous the legal system people today. stolen objects is an of the United So, with States. Thus, a imperfect but likely all of that in mind, linear portrayal the least inaccurate how do these of indigenous lessons tie back h i s t o r y p l a y s portrayal of Native to Dartmouth’s into the binary of cultures because it Hood Museum? “savages” versus According to the transcends Western the “civilized.”

Hood’s curator of M o r e o v e r, ideas of linear time Native American many indigenous and progress to fully art Jami Powell, communities do Hood has focused not adhere to a exemplify indigenous on contemporary linear idea of world views.”

Native art. This is t i m e. Au t h o r a valid approach Leslie Marmon b e c a u s e Silko said in an contemporary interview that for her and her Native art is often a great way to Laguna Pueblo community, things portray the modern issues faced by that happened 500 years ago and indigenous people and incorporates things that happen today are equally a continuum of traditions with new immediate . In this instance, Silko materials and those that have been is referring to colonial violence, but used for generations. For example, this fluid conception of time that is a digital print displayed in the focused on experience rather than Hood called “Fringe” by Rebecca hard dates is also true in many other Belmore, a member of the Lac Seul Native communities, and relates First Nation, portrays a woman directly to oral tradition and ancestral laying on her side with a huge gash experience. Therefore, a museum’s through her back. The wound is portrayal of “linear progress” for sewed up and interlaced with fringe.

THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2019

This work is meant to comment on violence against women, specifically indigenous women. It is a very emotional piece, and is meant to symbolize the strength of indigenous communities and women, even through the painful healing process.

The woman portrayed is very much alive and is dealing with her wounds through her culture.

Regarding maintaining traditional artistic methods, the Tlingit clan hat

by Preston Singletary discussed in my previous article is an excellent example. Singletary incorporated designs of “at.óox” or sacred objects, “kootéeyaa” (totem poles) and woven baskets into glass works.

These designs draw heavily from generations of traditional knowledge but use a new medium to convey that knowledge. Nicholas Galanin, another Tlingit artist with work featured at the Hood, carved a full kootéeyaa that was erected in 2018 in Juneau at Sealaska’s Celebration.

The forms and work on this pole look very similar to kootéeyaa from over a century ago, showing how Galanin deliberately called upon traditional techniques through his contemporary art.

Using contemporary art to replace older, stolen objects is an imperfect, but likely the least inaccurate portrayal of Native cultures because it transcends western ideas of linear time and progress to more fully exemplify indigenous world views.

Indigenous culture is alive. There are traditions from hundreds of years ago that are still in practice and the adoption of new media and art forms simply adds to these traditions.

These are all representations of indigenous culture that are able to span thousands of years through depictions of ancient designs and oral tradition, but simultaneously be art objects produced in an ever-changing world filled with ever-changing people.