VOL. CLXXVI NO. 42
PARTLY CLOUDY HIGH 61 LOW 40
OPINION
CHIN: CAMP-ING IN THE WOODS PAGE 4
SAKLAD: ABORTION AND CLIMATE CHANGE PAGE 4
ARTS
REVIEW: NETFLIX’S SERIES ‘BONDING’ IS DERIVATIVE AND UNNUANCED PAGE 7
REVIEW: ‘FATHER OF THE BRIDE’ IS DARK DESPITE BRIGHT MELODIES PAGE 8
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TUESDAY, MAY 21, 2019
HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE
Amy Klobuchar talks Dartmouth’s tax returns show high economy, antitrust exec salaries, overseas investments regulation at Tuck B y JOEY CHONG The Dartmouth
On Sunday evening, the Tuck School of Business hosted a conversation with U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, in Cook Auditorium. Moderated by Tuck dean Matthew Slaughter, the discussion focused on economics and Klobuchar’s ideas to regulate big businesses. After discussing her
presidential campaign announcement, Klobuchar highlighted climate change as her signature issue. She noted that this issue led President Donald Trump to criticize her, especially in light of her campaign announcement, which was held outside in the snow. “ D o n a l d Tr u m p, t h e science is on my side,” Klobuchar said. “I’d like to see how your hair would fare SEE KLOBUCHAR PAGE 5
College receives $10 million gift for Hood, West end expansion B y GRAYCE GIBBS
The Dartmouth Staff
Earlier this month, the College announced a $10 million donation from Molly and Gregg Engles ’79 as part of the ongoing Call to Lead capital campaign, which aims to raise $3 billion by 2022. The three-part Engles donation will support the development of the Arts District, the West End District and faculty recruitment, according to provost Joseph
Helble. In 2011, Gregg Engles was elected to the Dartmouth Board of Trustees and will be stepping down this year after serving two terms, the term limit for board members. Helble said that the Engles met with College President Phil Hanlon as well as a variety of deans and directors to determine the focus of their donation. “I think the support of the SEE GIFT PAGE 2
MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Dartmouth’s recently released tax returns for the 2018 fiscal year reveal assets totalling $8 billion.
B y KYLE MULLINS The Dartmouth Staff
The numbers jump off the first few pages: $8 billion in assets, $344 million in operating surplus, a presidential salary of nearly $1.2 million. Dartmouth’s 2018 tax returns paint the portrait of a wealthy institution, headed by highly paid executives and officers, with financial interests spanning the country and the globe. The College reported over $1.435 billion in total revenue, including $404 million in contributions and grants, $519 million in program service revenue — meaning tuition, fees, housing, dining, ticket revenues and other education-
related transactions — and $475 million in investment income. The College’s total assets grew by nearly $393 million to total $8.275 billion including $351 million in contributions and grants, $504 million in program service revenue and $377 million in investment income. On the expense side of the ledger, the College reported $1.091 billion in costs, including $175 million in grants paid out — including financial aid — and $506 million in salaries and benefits. This is slightly down from the previous year, when the College reported $1.107 billion in costs. The highest salaries that the College pays are listed on the form. College President
Phil Hanlon’s nearly $1.2 million salary and $247,000 in additional benefits, including a retirement package and travel, are an increase from last year, when he earned $1.1 million and $245,000 in benefits. Two years ago, Hanlon earned just over $1 million and $250,000 in additional benefits. Hanlon’s salary falls within the range of other comparable schools’ presidential compensation, but some presidents make far more. In 2017, former Harvard University president Drew Faust made over $1.7 million, Princeton University president Christopher Eisgruber made just under $1 million, Duke SEE TAX RETURNS PAGE 3
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TUESDAY, MAY 21, 2019
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
Divest Dartmouth re-focuses strategy after period of low visibility B y REILLY OLINGER The Dartmouth
After a period of low visibility, Divest Dartmouth is developing a new strategy to urge the College to divest from fossil-fuel related assets. Previously, the group had advocated for divestment from the 200 highest polluting companies, but it has narrowed its call to divestment from oil and gas companies that have not made an effort to develop clean energy or reduce their carbon output. The campus advocacy group is now focusing on companies that have “egregiously mishandled information and have propagated false science,” according to Divest member Edel Galgon ’22. The new list of companies recommended for divestment was organized by the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Fossil Free Index. The campus organization’s new ask more closely resembles that of the Divest organization of Barnard College, which promised divestment in 2017, according to Galgon. Alexander Miller ’20, another Divest member, said that he thinks the administration may be more receptive to the new request since it aligns with the College’s standards on academics and honesty. Miller said that the companies they are currently advocating divestment from are “the dirtiest fossil fuel companies that have a history of promoting inaccurate science.” “Adjusting our ask to fit [the College’s] sensitivities — while that may be a little acquiescent, I think will nevertheless be effective in achieving our goal,” Miller said. Divest’s actions have intended to promote the “visibility and viability” of divestment, according to Divest
member Alexander Crosby ’21. In order to promote visibility, the group has posted fliers and posters around campus and recently hung a large banner reading “divest” in front of Baker Library. Crosby characterized the banner drop as a powerful visible statement. Miller echoed the importance of visible actions like the banner drop, since he believes it encourages administration to view the movement as one with longevity. “It’s always good to place ourselves within the sight lines of the administration, so that they don’t think they can just wait us out,” he said. Group members regularly meet with College President Phil Hanlon during his office hours, are creating a mock portfolio for a post-divestment endowment and are working closely with the College’s Advisory Committee on Investor Responsibility, according to Crosby. According to Miller, divestment could happen in one of two ways, both of which require the support of Hanlon. The first way is through the Dartmouth’s investment office and the advisory committee. Divest would need to convince the committee to make a statement in support of divestment, which would then go to Hanlon’s desk, at which point he would decide whether or not to present the statement to the Board of Trustees. If they were to support divestment, the responsibility would then be passed to the College’s investment office to divest from the holdings in the proposed companies and reallocate the investments, according to Miller. Miller said that the other option for divestment sidesteps the ACIR making a statement and instead involves
CORRECTIONS Correction appended (May 19, 2019): In the May 5, 2019 article, “Q&A with Lynn Lobban: One of the First Women at Dartmouth,” the article incorrectly stated that Lobban finished school at Elmira College in New York after attending Dartmouth; however, she actually received her B.A. and M.F.A. from Goddard College in Vermont when she was in her fifties. The online version of the article has been updated to reflect this. We welcome corrections. If you believe there is a factual error in a story, please email editor@thedartmouth.com.
Hanlon directly approaching the Board with a divestment proposition. In the very near future, Galgon said she thinks that this is unlikely to happen. She said that in one of her previous conversations with Hanlon during his office hours, he was not receptive to the idea of divestment. “Hanlon seemed very set in his case as to why he personally sees fossil fuel divestment as a bad idea,” Galgon said. Miller said Hanlon holds office hours under the condition that what he says is not to be understood as a statement of the College, but a consequence of his personal thoughts and feelings. In spite of this, Crosby, Galgon and Miller acknowledge that conversations with Hanlon are important for maintaining a relationship between Divest and the administration. “In terms of dialogue with the institution, Dartmouth is in a better place than Harvard,” Crosby said.
“Although we aren’t progressing fast, we still have a good relationship with the institution.” In response to arguments against divestment, Crosby emphasized that Divest “refuses to compromise the integrity of the endowment,” pointing to the fact that only about 0.8 percent of the College’s endowment is invested in fossil fuels. He additionally supported the value of symbolic activism as a moral statement as well as a tool of visibility. Crosby pointed to historical examples of Dartmouth having divested, including from companies doing business in South Africa during apartheid. “If people can point to Dartmouth or the eight Ivy Leagues having divested, that could be a strong tool of rhetoric,” Crosby said. In terms of bringing more people into the movement, Miller said that “our worsening climate reality has done a lot of the heavy lifting for
us.” He also feels that the movement is gaining support, largely due to the enthusiasm of members of the Class of 2022. “It’s a pretty strong class in terms of activism,” Miller said. Galgon said that she and other group members feel a sense of responsibility towards divestment and climate change as a whole. “Climate change will hurt the most marginalized communities in the world, and here we are in one of the most privileged places in the world,” she said. “We have a responsibility to recognize that privilege and to work towards climate justice in the ways that we can.” Group members said their hope is to gain more support for the movement and propose their ask to Hanlon again, and that they are motivated by Middlebury College’s recent decision to divest from fossil fuels, which Crosby described as a “perfect case study for Dartmouth.”
Donation will fund faculty recruitment effort, new laboratory in West End FROM GIFT PAGE 1
Engles family is particularly exciting because it speaks directly to Dartmouth’s integrated, interdisciplinary liberal arts approach to education and scholarship,” Helble said. Hood Museum of Art director John Stomberg said he learned about the donation late last fall. Of the $10 million total, the Engles pledged $3 million to support the completion of the $50 million Hood Museum renovation. The Engles Family Gallery, which features a large 14-square-foot window overlooking the Green, was named after them in recognition of their contribution. “From both the inside and outside, that’s an incredibly visually appealing and striking way of presenting art,” Helble said. AccordingtoStomberg,therenovation of the Hood Museum was funded entirely through philanthropic donations and did not rely on the College’s endowment
so that the construction would not take away support from the daily operations of the College. “The really interesting part about somebody like Mr. Engles is he realizes that the College needs to meet its ambitions through philanthropy so that it can continue to have its annual budget to do the good work that it does,” Stomberg said. The West End district — home to the River Cluster, the Tuck School of Business and Thayer School of Engineering — is currently undergoing major renovations. In addition to the current construction of a parking garage, the College plans to build an addition to the Thayer School of Engineering that will house the computer science department and a building for the Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society by 2021. According to Helble, the Engles provided support for a laboratory that will be in the integrated engineering, computer science and entrepreneurship
center. “We have very intentionally designed the facility to bring engineers, computer scientists, faculty and students together in integrated spaces in different research neighborhoods,” Helble said. “Their gift will enable the construction of that part of the building.” The third part of the gift will go toward faculty recruitment as part of Dartmouth’s academic cluster initiative, which aims to create teams of interdisciplinary faculty that will collaborate to tackle 10 elaborate challenges facing the human race, according to Helble. The Engles’ gift will be used to recruit faculty who will research the breaking of the neural code — the neurological equivalent of the human genome. Gregg Engles is a founding partner of Capitol Peak Partners, a private equity firm based in Denver, CO, and also serves as a member of the Call the Lead’s Campaign Executive Committee.
TUESDAY, MAY 21, 2019
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THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
College spent $34,000 on lobbying activities during FY2018 employees,” meaning employees with salaries greater than $150,000 and University president Richard whose responsibilities are “similar Brodhead made over $1.4 million, to those of an officer,” according to University of Pennsylvania president Wagner. Amy Gutmann made $3.9 million and In addition to high salaries, Columbia University president Lee Dartmouth also gives “incentive Bolinger made nearly $4 million. compensation” to a few employees, Wagner said that paying high mostly in the investment office, who salaries is necessary to keep Dartmouth hit targets given to them by the competitive in the world of higher compensation committee. education administrators. Dartmouth’s fundraising also “Part of what [the compensation appears in the tax documents. Wagner committee] looks at is what that noted that the “quiet phase” of the individual would be making if they Call to Lead capital campaign, which were at another Ivy-plus institution,” allowed the College to officially launch Wagner said. the campaign in April 2018 already Former provost Carolyn Dever halfway to its target of $3 billion, made $747,395, Geisel School of would have showed up in previous Medicine dean Duane Compton years’ filings. made $772,290, Tuck School of “All the contributions in fiscal Business dean Matthew Slaughter [year] 2018 would be counted toward made $833,988 and deputy chief the Call to Lead,” Wagner said. investment officer Kelsey Morgan He also cautioned that while the made $873,824. Trustees receive no campaign counts pledges of support, salary for their positions. those pledges would not be listed The College’s 2018 fiscal year on tax forms until after the College stretches from July 1, 2017 to actually received the money. June 30, 2018. Dartmouth spent Listed salaries just under $34,000 “Where offshore represent total on lobbying p a y m e n t i n investments have activities during calendar year gotten bad press is the 2018 fiscal year, 2017, not fiscal far less than several y e a r 2 0 1 7 , where people are peer institutions. i n o rd e r t o hiding money in those In 2017, Harvard line up with spent nearly offshore investment individual tax $500,000, Duke return filings, vehicles. That’s very spent nearly according to different than what $250,000, the chief financial University of officer Mike you see here.” Pennsylvania spent Wagner. This nearly $900,000 distinction and Columbia -MIKE WAGNER, CHIEF is why chief spent just over i n v e s t m e n t FINANCIAL OFFICER $500,000. officer Alice Dartmouth’s Ru t h , w h o spending primarily joined in April 2017, appears to have focused on the Trump administration’s made less than her deputy despite attempts to repeal the Deferred Action her higher ranking: her listed salary for Childhood Arrivals program of $668,139 only represented eight that allowed certain classes of months of work. undocumented immigrants brought The upper echelons of the to the United States as children to investment office, along with Geisel remain in the country. School of Medicine psychiatry “Our students and faculty can department chair Alan Green, are be affected by what’s going on with listed as the highest-paid employees immigration policy,” Wagner said. after the president, officers, and “key “This can be that we hire individual FROM TAX RETURNS PAGE 1
lobbyists, but it’s more likely that we are participating with other universities … to share the cost of a lobbyist,” he added. Wagner also noted that, in the past, Dartmouth has had to lobby against efforts by the New Hampshire legislature to tax nonprofit institutions. “If there are proposals in Concord about putting a tax on tax-exempt organizations, we might have a lobbyist who would go talk to people in the statehouse,” Wagner said. Dartmouth did not pay for lobbying against the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the federal tax overhaul that included a excise tax on endowment returns for private universities with endowment per student over $500,000 — affecting about 30 colleges around the country, including Dartmouth. That tax will appear on Dartmouth’s returns next year. Wagner said that while he understands why the endowment would be seen as a “pocket of money” to raise revenue, the total amount raised would be minimal in the overall federal budget. Dartmouth, he estimated, would be paying roughly $5 million. “There’s a lot of questions about whether or not it will achieve its intended purpose, because it’s not going to generate that much income,” Wagner said. “It’s been U.S. policy to allow not-for-profits, including universities, to not be taxed except for certain kinds of activities that should be taxed,” he added. The College does currently have a small amount of income taxable under federal law, which Wagner said was mostly because the College has some earnings on “debt-financed activity.” “It’s just a core principle of nonprofits that you can’t borrow and generate income on it,” Wagner said. The TCJA lowered the rate on corporate taxes from 35 percent to 21 percent, so Dartmouth actually benefited from the corporate tax cut because all income earned after January 1, 2018 was taxed at the new, lower rate. All in all, Dartmouth paid just under $3 million in corporate taxes this year, the majority of which
was covered by a carried-over loss from the previous year. In a section titled “Statement of Activities Outside the United States,” Dartmouth reports $1.5 billion in investments located in “Central America and the Caribbean,” roughly 96 percent of the budget for all activities listed. Wagner said that this is because Dartmouth’s endowment has investment partners, such as hedge funds and venture capital firms, that are domiciled in zero-tax countries in order to gain “favorable tax treatment.” “We invest in them, and because they’re located there, we have to disclose them as being activity based outside the United States even though their investments may very well be in the U.S or in Europe,” Wagner explained. Tuck accounting professor Richard Sansing explained that this arrangement is helpful for companies that invest the money of investors from
more than one country. If the firm is domiciled in a country with high taxes, investors may be concerned that they will be taxed in both their home countries and abroad, wherever the company is based. By basing the company in a low-tax jurisdiction — for example, the Cayman Islands — investors can avoid hassle, according to Sansing. “If I’m [a U.S. investor], I’m still fully taxable in the U.S. on the earnings from my Cayman Islands business,” Sansing said. “The reason these things are organized in Caribbean islands like the Cayman Islands is that it is an investment vehicle that tries to attract international investors, and none of the international investors want to have any tax headaches.” “Where offshore investments have gotten bad press is where people are hiding money in those offshore investment vehicles,” Wagner said. “That’s very different than what you see here.”
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TUESDAY, MAY 21, 2019
THE DARTMOUTH OPINION
STAFF COLUMNIST CLARA CHIN ’19
STAFF COLUMNIST AVERY SAKLAD ’21
Camp-ing in the Woods
Abortion and Climate Change
Green Key reveals the double-edged sword of Dartmouth camp. This year’s Met Gala opened with the theme of “camp,” and the Gala’s attendants made attempts at capturing this aesthetic, some more successfully than others. Sontag, a pop culture theorist known for defining the term, explains the eponymous theme as a love of “artifice and exaggeration.”As it were, an object or event is more likely to be campy when it is unaware of its exaggerated, “so bad that it’s good” quality. An event perhaps more emblematic of camp than the Met Gala was Dartmouth’s Green Key. While I am not pro-Green Key or anti-Green Key, I see this spring weekend as an opportunity to see the aesthetics of Dartmouth in a condensed way. Using the theory of camp to consider the excess of Green Key reveals the irony of Dartmouth culture — a genuine desire to dethrone elitism while simultaneously perpetuating it. With one step onto Webster Avenue, the Gold Coast Lawn or Collis Patio, the three primary locations of Green Key events, one’s vision is overwhelmed with brightly colored bandanas, tie-dye shirts and a high concentration of Nantucket red and salmon pink shorts — even more than normal. Overalls are another popular Green Key clothing choice, often with one strap unbuckled and a fanny pack slung over the shoulder. Dartmouth’s general fashion aesthetic is often described as New England preppy and traditional, largely unconcerned with trends of urbanity popularized in various cities’ Fashion Weeks (with the exception of fraternity and sorority apparel parodying brands like Opening Ceremony and Supreme). Sontag notes that the camp aesthetic either undertakes an ironic quality or has a “serenity — or a naiveté — which is the equivalent of pastoral.” The common apparel
during Green Key exaggerates a sense of the pastoral and heightens the sometimes willful, sometimes unintentional rejection of city fashion trends. The exaggeration of the pastoral during Green Key and the pervasiveness of “flair” is not only a parody of “cooler,” more contemporary trends, but is also a self-aware dig at our own overall aesthetic. Green Key, then, suggests a sense of lightheartedness. The abundance of happiness resists the stereotype of intellectual stuffiness. Anotherkeyelementof campis“extravagance,” which occurs not only in the number of events that take place over the weekend but also in the intensely happy energy pervading the campus. Sontag’s examples of camp in culture include performance, especially performances of positive affect. A need to perform happiness takes the form of campy photography on Instagram; one’s feed during Green Key is flooded with people standing in the same poses, with the same smiles, in front of the same American flag-donning buildings. These photographs evoke memories of the loud cheering and fist-pumping of the concerts. On the outside, Green Key evokes a sense of lightheartedness and fun — which, to an extent, is true. The intensity of Green Key weekend can form the basis of happy memories lounging at the Organic Farm during Brewhaha; running into old friends in the middle of a large crowd; or simply the pastoral sense of togetherness while nodding along to a song at Kappa Delta Epsilon. But on the other hand, “excess” translates to obnoxious messes left for janitors to clean, SEE CHIN PAGE 6
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Restrictive abortion laws could increase our ecological footprint. Humans are the greatest threat to passed the Mexico City Policy, which prohibits conservation and biodiversity today. The U.S. funding of international programs that greenhouse gases that we generate alter the offer or support abortion practices. And climate, and, barring any major changes, critically, the administration’s conservative continued growth of the human population appointments to the Supreme Court may will increase the carbon footprint of our weaken judicial support for women’s right to species. Better technology and decreased choose. consumption can ameliorate this situation, but The potential ecological footprint of the they cannot currently stop it. In order to curb pregnancies that mothers are forced to carry our carbon footprint, people must begin to to term is not the main issue here — the main monitor their growth as a species, particularly issue is the violation of women’s reproductive in the United States, where overconsumption rights by lawmakers. Still, it’s certainly is the norm. Unfortunately, something to worry about. legislators are removing According to the Center w o m e n ’ s r i g h t s t o “One person’s carbon for Biological diversity, a make that decision, as footprint is especially child’s contribution to an government officials in average parent’s carbon exacerbated in the some conservative states legacy of a single child are pushing bills to severely United States, where is 9,441 metric tons of restrict abortion. Not only people have become carbon dioxide emissions. does this unfairly govern O n e p e r s o n’s c ar b o n women’s bodies; it also used to lifestyles of footprint is especially diminishes their control overconsumption.” exacerbated in the United ove r t h e i r e c o l o g i c a l States, where people have legacies. An increasing become used to lifestyles human population presents of overconsumption. Per a serious threat to the planet’s future. And capita, the U.S. produces 10 times more without access to abortion, legislators are greenhouse gas emissions than the average stealing women’s right to control their own of developing nations. That’s especially personal ecological legacies. concerning given that the U.S. is the only On May 15, Governor Kay Ivey of developed nation experiencing significant Alabama signed into law the Alabama Human population growth . According to some Life Protection Act, making it a felony for estimates, the U.S. population could double doctors to perform an abortion at any stage by the end of the century. of pregnancy, with the only exception being This will mean less space to fit more when the mother’s life is at risk. Notably, no people and a poorer quality Earth to share. exception is made in the case of rape or incest. Carbon pollution, deforestation, sea level Georgia’s fetal heartbeat abortion law, passed rising and natural disasters will swell with May 7, bans abortion after the detection the population, and may someday make the of a fetal heartbeat. Using a transvaginal world uninhabitable altogether. As a woman ultrasound, this can be as early as six weeks who cares about the planet’s future, these — often before a woman even knows that she restrictive abortion laws may hinder my ability is pregnant. Under the Living Infant Fairness to control my impact on the planet’s future. and Equality Act, exceptions may be made, Since I understand the consequences a child such as in the case of rape or incest, or if the has on my ecological legacy, I may choose to mother’s life is in danger or the pregnancy abstain from having kids — and that is my is expected to be unsuccessful . Similar right. Having kids is one of the most impactful fetal heartbeat laws were signed into law in things a person can do to our environment, and Kentucky, Mississippi and Ohio, among other I should be able to weigh the pros and cons of states. As in Alabama, there are no exceptions reproduction and determine my own carbon under the Kentucky, Mississippi or Ohio legacy. In other words, I and other potential laws for rape or incest. Florida, Louisiana, parents should have the right to choose. Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas By passing restrictive abortion rights, state and West Virginia are also considering passing legislatures rob women not only of the right fetal heartbeat laws. Federally, the tides are also to control their own bodies but of the right turning against abortion. President Trump to make a tremendous ecological decision.
TUESDAY, MAY 21, 2019
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THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
Klobuchar criticizes “digital disruption,” Trump’s foreign policy FROM KLOBUCHAR PAGE 1
in a blizzard.” Klobuchar then transitioned to telling her personal story, which focused on the root of her interest in economics. She cited her grandfather’s life as an iron-ore miner and her father’s education at a two-year community college as examples of the American Dream. “If you work hard in this country, you are supposed to be able to succeed,” Klobuchar declared. “You are supposed to be able to make it.” Following what she described as the economic improvements made since the 2008 recession, Klobuchar called the global economic climate a “new gilded age.” Klobuchar a ls o o u tl i n ed th e challenges faced by the changing economy, particularly “digital disruption” and the redefinition of work. One of the main areas that Klobuchar focused on was antitrust policy. As a member of the Senate Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights Subcommittee, Klobuchar said she advocates for more competition to support the capitalist system. She described the “collusion” between pharmaceutical companies and generic medicine brands to raise drug prices as an example of the need for antitrust legislation. Klobuchar also said that collusion was a “good word to describe Washington right now.” To encourage competition, Klobuchar said she wants to change the legal system to clarify that mergers “reduce choice for competition through vertical consolidation.” She proposed creating a “stringent, legal standard” that requires mergers to prove that they will not harm other businesses. Klobuchar said that she also wants a “strong policy to protect consumers” in the new economy, citing her co-sponsorship of the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act of 2007 as an example of her work to protect the physical safety of consumers. Klobuchar added that she also
wants to “bridge the digital divide” by opening access to technology. She outlined an infrastructure plan, which includes the expansion of broadband networks, after telling stories about people traveling to locations like McDonald’s for internet access. “I figure if you can hook up the entire country of Iceland, I should be able to send out a tweet as I’m driving into Hanover,” Klobuchar said. Following her speech, Klobuchar answered questions from Slaughter and the audience. Slaughter asked about economic improvements during the Trump administration, which Klobuchar answered by attributing the success to the resilience of the American populace and businesses practices. After Klobuchar challenged the President to focus on expanding the economy rather than anticipating another recession, a baby started to cry in the crowd. Klobuchar used this opportunity to describe her shared sentiment. “That makes me cry too,” Klobuchar said. “See, not everyone is happy with the Trump economy.” Slaughter then asked what the United States’ place in the global economy should be. Klobuchar responded by criticizing the President’s approach to foreign policy. She advocated for increased U.S. involvement in foreign affairs while attacking the President’s inaction and antagonization of the world, claiming that it is difficult to “make Canada mad” but Trump has. “I don’t believe in dealing with the rest of the world by tweet,” Klobuchar said. “I don’t think that’s how you engage in diplomacy.” One audience member, Laura Marrin Tu ’19, asked Klobuchar about her plan to “realistically gain bipartisan support” for enacting climate change policy. In response, Klobuchar cited unusual weather phenomena nationwide as a way to facilitate mobilization in regards to climate change policy. She also said that it was a necessity for the U.S. to ratify the Paris Agreement.
Although Klobuchar’s visit was not an official campaign event, Kelly Zeilman ’22, who attended the event, said that she appreciated learning about Klobuchar’s policy initiatives. “It’s awesome to have these candidates,” College President Phil Hanlon said in an interview after the event. “Each one has real impressive mastery of the issues.” In a press event after the program, Klobuchar outlined her political experiences. She explained how she passed 34 bills during under the Trump administration, adding that she hopes to build on her experience to gain momentum for her campaign. “I don’t just run on bipartisanship,” Klobuchar said. “I run on getting things done, and I’m making progress.” When asked about House Bill 1264 — a bill that could make voting for college students in New Hampshire more difficult because of changes in the residency requirement — Klobuchar jokingly responded that her “first bill to
JOEY CHONG/THE DARTMOUTH
Klobuchar spoke in an event with Tuck dean Matthew Slaughter.
pass would be to allow Dartmouth students to vote.” She also proposed a potential bill to register every American to vote when they turn 18 years old to help protect voting rights. Klobuchar’s visit coincided with the series finale of the HBO series
“Game of Thrones.” She described the presidential election as her “personal ‘Game of Thrones.’” “I am running for president,” Klobuchar said. “I announced it in a fashion that New Hampshire would love –– in a middle of a blizzard with snow mounting on my head.”
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TUESDAY, MAY 21, 2019
THE DARTMOUTH EVENTS
DARTMOUTHEVENTS
DEFIANCE
RACHEL LINCOLN ’20
TODAY
12:45 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Talk: “What happens behind the scenes on Election Night,” by Stephen Pettigrew, sponsored by the Program in Quantitative Social Science, Baker Library, Room 158.
4:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Lecture: “Preserving Democracy in the (Dis)information Age,” by Asha Rangappa, sponsored by the Institute of Ethics, Kemeny Hall, Room 008.
5:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Screening: “Paris to Pittsburgh,” sponsored by the Revers Center for Energy, Visual Arts Center, Loew Auditorium.
5:45 p.m. - 6:45 p.m.
Panel: “Indigenous Dartmouth Students and Alumni panel on foodways in their communities,” sponsored by the Native American Program, Carpenter Hall, Room 013.
TOMORROW 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Seminar: “Cosmological Probes of Light Relics,” by Benjamin Wallisch, sponsored by the Department of Physics, Wilder Hall, Room 202.
3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Lecture: “Sublinear Algorithms for Graph Coloring,” by Sanjeev Khanna, sponsored by the Department of Computer Science, Sudikoff Lab, Room 213.
3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Pets: “Visit from Winston, VT Therapy Dog,” sponsored by the Student Wellness Center, House Center B. FROM CHIN PAGE 4
extreme drinking and frequent outfit changes that are only feasible to the economically privileged. It also translates to a way to ignore more uncomfortable emotions by projecting an image of happiness. After all, another key component to camp is style over substance. This repression of negative affect during Green Key weekend is one example of the bigger conversation about mental health at Dartmouth and a growing consensus that many students pretend to be okay when they are in fact struggling with depression, anxiety or stress. As an Ivy League institution with a hardworking ethic and a wealth of academic resources, it would be easy for Dartmouth to be seen as elitist. It is the lightheartedness of the student body as evident in events like Green Key and First-Year Trips that demonstrate a laudable effort to be down-to-earth. Nevertheless, it also reveals the inescapable need to perform happiness and exhibit privilege.
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TUESDAY, MAY 21, 2019
THE DARTMOUTH ARTS
PAGE 7
Review: Netflix’s series ‘Bonding’ is derivative and unnuanced
to make it a compelling series, and someone who is basically now a the initial appeal of the topic dies stranger to her — even though Pete The Dartmouth Senior Staff within the first few episodes. seems entirely reluctant to take the BDSM is a topic of fascination First, “Bonding” represents job because he knows nothing about that has been rising bit by bit outside BDSM in an unnuanced, one- the world of BDSM and frankly of the shadow of stigma in recent dimensional way that puts sex work seems terrified or disgusted by it. years. With videos like Buzzfeed’s in a questionable, if not downright He takes the job out of desperation “Couples Try Bondage For The First negative, light. to make ends Time,” released two years ago, and O n e o f t h e meet, and just “Not only does “I Became A Dominatrix To Control p r o t a g o n i s t s , like that, with My Anxiety,” released just a year Tiff (portrayed ‘Bonding’ not do the no experience and a half after — with plenty of by Zoe Levin), world of professional or qualifications, other tangentially related videos in is a grad student Tiff offers him between — it’s clear that BDSM by day and one BDSM justice, but the 20 percent of is no longer something people of Manhattan’s plot itself is also fairly her earnings are ashamed of talking about. If most successful for his “help.” lackluster.” anything, kinky has become cool, d o m i n a t r i x e s This plotline and there’s a large market of people by night. She completely who want to know more. enlists her high skimps on the This budding interest in an school best friend Pete (portrayed trust and professionalism that sex alter native sexual lifestyle is by Brendan Scannell), whom it workers build in the world of BDSM where the Netflix original series is implied she has not kept in and makes BDSM seem like a joke “Bonding,” written and directed by contact with after high school, as or some sort of wild, unsavory Rightor Doyle, tries and fails to find her assistant to help her with her and perverse sexual deviancy — a its niche. Considering that the target taxing job. The show does well in stereotype that not only should audience seems to be people who portraying what being a dominatrix be eradicated but also makes the are eager newcomers to the concept could look like and introduces characters unlikeable. of BDSM — the audiences new to Furthermore, Tiff and Pete, kitschy, overlyt h e s u b j e c t despite having a safe, clean e x p l a n a t o r y “In turn, since t o a m o d e s t office with bodyguards and other d i a l o g u e the work seems breadth of kinks dominatrixes, take clients at home, between the t h a t a c l i e n t something unsafe and uncommon undignified and dominatrix might request in the industry. In the final episode, character and illegitimate, Tiff, as satisfaction for. they even accept a client without her comically a dominatrix, seems However, it fails screening them for safety just s e x u a l l y to dignify the because they were offering more i n ex p e r i e n c e d equally unprofessional tasks as actual money. The show also never shows f r i e n d m a k e s and unimportant, work t h a t Tiff working with her clients to get it clear — deserves respect, full informed consent and establish making it difficult for “Bonding” i s w o r t h t h e boundaries. This is unrealistic and doesn’t answer audiences to connect money and is a can give people who may potentially any questions with her and see her legitimate need want to try amateur BDSM in their someone new for many clients. personal lives the wrong idea about to B D S M as a real figure with In tur n, since what behavior is acceptable. None of might have. In compelling problems.” the work seems these actions make BDSM look safe, fact, you could undignified and professional and systematic, and argue it simply illegitimate, Tiff, since the entire premise of the story produces more as a dominatrix, is treated with such lightheartedness questionable moments without seems equally unprofessional and and lack of attention-to-detail, the any satisfying resolution. The unimportant, making it difficult characters and their story, too, seem show unapologetically breezes past for audiences to connect with her inauthentic and unimportant. opportunities to stage a teaching and see her as a real figure with Not only does “Bonding” not do moment and destigmatize sex work. compelling problems. the world of professional BDSM It sometimes does the opposite, For example, the show begins justice, but the plot itself is also failing to provide sympathetic when Tiff hires Pete to help fairly lackluster. Tiff and Pete characters or a believable and her with her work. Without any both fit neatly into some tired old compelling plot. In essence, formal screening or interviewing tropes: Tiff is guarded, cold and “Bonding” doesn’t have much else process, Tiff, a supposedly successful pushes people away because she’s other than its risqué subject matter and respected dominatrix, hires been hurt before, and Pete is an
B y lex kang
invisible outcast who is trying to learn to love himself and be more confident. Sound familiar? It’s in every John Hughes movie ever. Additionally, even though their relationship, rather than BDSM, is the secret main focus of the show, their dynamic as best friendsturned-strangers feels awkward due to choppy dialogue and lack of chemistry. The show’s failure to build a believable rapport and history between the two protagonists is likely because the show was simply
too short to have the space to develop and demonstrate their connection. Regardless of the reason, in the end, “Bonding” turns out as some wonky high-teen movie that tried to be edgy by adding in sex work. The show doesn’t lack potential; perhaps if it weren’t a laughably short mini-series consisting of seven episodes ranging from 13 to 17 minutes that tried to fit in too many subplots and be deep and fail to accomplish either goal, it might have been more light hearted and entertaining.
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THE DARTMOUTH ARTS
TUESDAY, MAY 21, 2019
Review: ‘Father of the Bride’ is dark despite bright melodies B y zachary benjamin
The Dartmouth Senior Staff
I t ’s a re c u r r i n g t h e m e i n discussions amongst Vampire Weekend fans that the band’s albums correspond to seasons. Their self-titled debut album, full of perky strings and New England imagery, is reminiscent of a collegiate fall. Their sophomore effort, “Contra,” with its bright synths and upbeat tempos, brings to mind a sunny summer day. And “Modern Vampires of the City,” their third album, is the definition of wintry, with its black and white cover and its existential, morbid themes. “Father of the Bride,” Vampire Weekend’s latest album and their first new music in six years, continues this theme, calling to mind a new spring bloom with its plant imagery and laid-back atmosphere. More than that, spring is a season of rebirth, and “Father of the Bride” is Vampire Weekend’s most dramatic reimagining of themselves yet. Gone are most of the literary allusions and opacity that defined their early lyrics, replaced with an earnest straightforwardness and simplicity that nevertheless mask surprising depth. Vampire Weekend’s sound, meanwhile, pulls from a new set of influences. If early Vampire Weekend’s vibe drew on the semiironic appropriation of Lacoste polos, Sperry boat shoes and summers at the Hamptons, then “Father of the Bride” has a vibe that calls to mind jam bands like the Grateful Dead and Phish, the old-fashioned twang and sincerity of country duets and the environmental consciousness and kitsch of the ’90s. It’s a sprawling, majestic album of greater scope
than their previous works, and in spite of its ostensible lightness represents Vampire Weekend’s most mature music yet. Actually, perhaps that sentence merits a clarification — while this is ostensibly a Vampire Weekend album, it would be more accurate to describe “Father of the Bride” as the product of lead singer, guitarist and frontman Ezra Koenig. Following the departure in 2016 of founding member Rostam Batmanglij, who was responsible for defining much of early Vampire Weekend’s sound, the band has become Koenig’s brainchild, both lyrically and melodically — bassist Chris Baio and drummer Chris Tomson have been relegated to the rear. More than ever, Vampire Weekend’s music seems to reflect Koenig’s thematic concerns: fatherhood (Koenig’s partner, the actress Rashida Jones, recently gave birth to the couple’s son), love and loss, and acceptance of life’s trials and tribulations. Some reviews of the album have characterized “Father of the Bride” as embracing a newfound sense of happiness, especially compared to the gloom of “Modern Vampires of the City.” Lyrically, some parts of some songs do support this view. “When I was young, I was told I’d find / One rich man in ten has a satisfied mind / And I’m the one,” Koenig sings on the palmwine inspired “Rich Man,” which sounds like it could be featured in a Wes Anderson film. On the energetic “Bambina,” the track most reminiscent of their previous works, he declares, “Life felt like heaven today / Like a foreign car, though, we are American-made.” In addition to the lyrics, the livelier sounds and carefree tones go a long way toward making “Father of the
Bride” seem like a happy collection of music. But while the melodies are brighter, the lyrics as a whole are darker than ever. The album’s first single, “Harmony Hall,” features in its chorus the line, “I don’t wanna live like this, but I don’t wanna die” — a callback to the same line from their earlier track “Finger Back.” The Van Morrison-esque “This Life” declares, “Baby, I know pain is as natural as the rain / I just thought it didn’t rain in California.” And in “How Long?” another deceptively upbeat song, Koenig sings, “How long ’til we sink to the bottom of the sea? / How long, how long?” Dark stuff. But what sets “Father of the Bride” apart from “Modern
Vampires of the City” is a sense that, while tragedy in life is inevitable, it need not be overwhelming. Darkness exists, but so does the light, and every night brings a new day — just as every day brings a new night. “After wrestling with what I want to do with my life, and meaning, and death and all these things, life just goes on, and you still deal with anxiety and depression, but it can almost feel mundane,” Koenig said in an interview with the publication Highsnobiety about the album. “You still wrestle with weighty themes, but you also have to have a laugh about it, too.” One of my favorite lyrics from the album might sum up this theme best. In the opening track, “Hold You
Now,” a duet with Danielle Haim of HAIM, Koenig and Haim declare, “I can’t carry you forever, but I can hold you now.” It’s a reminder that while the good times won’t last, they do exist, and it’s our job to cherish them while we can. “Father of the Bride” is not a perfect album. Its kitsch can sometimes translate into cheesiness, and it lacks the coherence of vision that defined Vampire Weekend’s earlier works. But it’s new and it’s lively and it’s fun, and even its grimmest moments are refreshing. “Things have never been stranger / Things are gonna stay strange,” Koenig sings on the track “Stranger.” I, for one, am here for this newfound strangeness.
SPRING ARRIVES AT PARKHURST HALL
MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Parkhurst Hall is surrounded with greenery, signaling warmer weather in Hanover.