VOL. CLXXV NO.42
HIGH 72 LOW 44
TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2018
HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE
AUK extends partnership with the College
Courtyard Café goes green
B y Ruben Gallardo The Dartmouth Staff
MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Green2Go containers are now available at both the Courtyard Café and Class of 1953 Commons.
B y Jacob Chalif OPINION
FREEMAN: YES MEANS YES PAGE 6
MATTIMORE: PRIVILEGE AND RESPONSIBILITY PAGE 6
ARTS
GLIMPSES OF PROMISE AMID THE MAYHEM OF ‘DEADPOOL 2’ PAGE 7
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: CLAIRE FEUILLE ’18 REIMAGINES SHAKESPEARE PAGE 8 FOLLOW US ON
TWITTER @thedartmouth COPYRIGHT © 2018 THE DARTMOUTH, INC.
The Dartmouth Staff
The College is taking its sustainability mission one step further — Green2Go, Dartmouth’s program of reusable to-go containers, arrived at the Courtyard Café last Tuesday. The new containers have been received slowly by students, according to Courtyard Café culinary operations manager C. Robert Lester. After the first week of use, only a couple dozen of the containers have been given out. T he Courtyard Café
had been going through about 1,000 non-reusable to-go containers a day, according to Dartmouth Dining Services associate director Don Reed. Class of 1953 Commons manager Jennifer Nakhla said that the goal of the new program is to reduce some of the waste produced by the Courtyard Café. “I walk by the Green every day and you see the trash cans overflowing with [Courtyard Café] to-go containers,” Nakhla said. “It’s an eyesore. That’s visually how much waste is
being produced. If we could cut down on that as much as possible, it would really help make Dartmouth more sustainable.” Nakhla said that the clearest option was to expand the existing Green2Go program from ’53 Commons to the Courtyard Café. It would be easy to expand the program because of the existing infrastructure and framework at ’53 Commons, she said, adding that students are already familiar with Green2Go. SEE GREEN PAGE 2
For at least five more years, Dartmouth students will have the opportunity to travel to and work at the American University of Kuwait. In a ceremony hosted by College President Phil Hanlon on Apr. 23, representatives from both D a r t m o u t h a n d AU K signed a memorandum of understanding that extends the 15-year partnership between the two institutions for another five years. The Dartmouth-AUK program debuted in 2003 and has since allowed both institutions to “enhance the liberal arts learning experience” on their respective campuses by o f f e r i n g c o l l a b o r at i ve opportunities to their s t u d e n t s, f a c u l t y a n d staff, according to the prog ram’s website. These opportunities
include academic and administrative advisory projects, a summer term-long fellowship at D a r t m o u t h f o r AU K faculty members and a cross-cultural internship program for students at both schools. Students at AUK can also participate in a dual-degree engineering program, where they study b o t h at AU K an d at the Thayer School of Engineering. The program currently only offers non-credit internship opportunities to Dartmouth students and AUK students who are not part of the dual-degree e n g i n e e r i n g p ro g r a m . However, starting in the fall of 2019, all students from both institutions will be able to participate in a for-credit academic exchange program that is currently under development, according SEE AUK PAGE 3
Hanover clothing store Ramblers Way closes B y Sunny Drescher The Dartmouth
American-made sustainable clothing company Ramblers Way closed its Hanover storefront earlier this month after being open for only 17 months. The closure was due to a lack of foot traffic in the Hanover store, according to Ramblers Way founder and owner Tom Chappell. “Because we spent quite a lot of money on the store and invested in salespeople and trained them, it was very
disappointing not to have more people coming in the store,” Chappell said. He added that Ramblers Way closed its Portsmouth, New Hampshire location earlier this year for the same reason. Hanover town manager Julia Griffin said that an increase in online shopping, particularly in rural areas like Hanover, is one of the primary factors contributing to local storefronts closing. Ramblers Way follows other local retailers in Hanover, including Game Set Mat and Folk, that SEE CLOSING PAGE 3
MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
The Ramblers Way Hanover storefront was located on 37 South Main Street.
PAGE 2
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2018
Dartmouth Dining sustainability program to expand the people behind the counter — they see the new containers and D D S o rd e re d 1 , 2 0 0 n e w they love it. We’ve had students Green2Go containers for their come through here particularly expansion to because they the Courtyard “The staff, the cooks, want to use Café, but the container. the people behind the the slow student That’s a good reception so far counter — they see sign.” has posed issues the new containers T h e for the dining new containers area, according and they love it. are smaller to Lester. and deeper We’ve had students “ We had than those come through here to move the av a i l a b l e a t containers to a particularly because ’53 Commons, s t o r a g e ro o m they want to use the resembling the downstairs to-go “burrito b e c a u s e w e container. That’s a b o w l s ” t h ey weren’t going good sign.” aim to replace. through them “They fast enough,” he are the perfect said. “They were -C. ROBERT LESTER, size for a blocking an exit COURTYARD CAFÉ bu rg e r o r a door.” B o b, ” Re e d Lester added CULINARY OPERATIONS said. that the staf f MANAGER T h e and the students development who have of the new started to use Green2Go the Green2Go p r o g r a m containers have appreciated the began after ’53 Commons rolled new sustainable option. out its Green2Go containers “Everyone sees how many during the summer of 2017. This containers we go through in a day,” past winter, a group of students Lester said. “The staff, the cooks, started to imagine what the next FROM GREEN PAGE 1
step would be. Kellen Appleton ’20, Abigail Bresler ’21, Meriem Fouad ’21 and Hannah Nash ’17 began meeting with DDS in January to talk about how to debut a Green2Go program at the Courtyard Café. Appleton and Nash are waste interns in the Sustainability Office, while Bresler and Fouad are EcoReps there. “The current to-go containers are not recyclable, not compostable,” Appleton said. “They’re all landfill. Every year, we go through seven tons of brown to-go containers. And that’s just from the [Courtyard Café].” The Green2Go containers can be reused 500 times with no loss in quality, so they seemed like the most sustainable choice, Reed said. “ We h ave t h i s v i s i o n o f Dartmouth dining be[ing] a virtually zero-waste experience,” Bresler said. “We’ve been meeting with Dartmouth Dining about once a week since early winter term, sometimes twice in one week, to work things out about expanding the Green2Go program.” Appleton and Bresler both emphasized that DDS has been a driving force for Green2Go’s expansion. “We’ve been working on this project a lot, but it’s also been
spearheaded a lot by [DDS] itself,” Nakhla said that the Green2Go Appleton said. “We went in there containers are made for DDS’s with this kind of agenda, but it industrial dishwashers. was suggested by them before we Reed noted that the containers could even bring it up. They’ve are made out of a number been pushing this as hard as we 5 recyclable plastic, which is have.” heavier and more Bresler added “We have durable than the that it has been a n o n - re u s a bl e t o this vision of “team effort.” go containers The students’ Dartmouth dining ’ 5 3 C o m m o n s commitment to the be[ing] a virtually uTsheed pGrreevei on u2 sGl y.o project has not been lost on DDS zero-waste containers are either. designed for experience.” “ T h ey re a l l y repeated washing helped us with the and sanitizing, he logistics of how -ABIGAIL BRESLER said. the program would If the Courtyard ’20 work,” Nakhla Café’s Green2Go said. “They are pilot program goes actual customers w e l l , Re e d s a i d here, so they came that DDS may start to us with the ideas thinking about how and they were there to help us walk to implement the program at Collis through how the program was Café in the future. going to work from the customer’s Bresler said she is confident that perspective.” the program will be received better Bresler said there are unfortunate at the Courtyard Café next year. r u m o r s t h at t h e G re e n 2 G o “Just like the [members of containers are not sanitary. She the Class of 2021] on campus said that there may be a perception only know Green2Go at [’53 among students that the containers Commons], we’re hoping that are not sanitary because food has the [Class of 2022] won’t know been sitting in them. She noted, anything else besides Green2Go however, that this belief is false. at the [Courtyard Café],” she said.
TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2018
Storefront financially unsustainable, closes FROM CLOSING PAGE 1
also closed this year. Chappell said that the goal of opening a storefront in Hanover was “to benefit from the combination of the college community and the broader community of the Upper Valley.” He added that Hanover seemed like it would have a good number of people interested in sustainable clothing. However, even though the students and community members who shopped at Ramblers Way loved the products and the mission of the company, according to Chappell, there was not a large enough consumer population to support the store. “It’s a really challenging situation for independently-owned retail right now, given the competition from online shopping,” Griffin said. She added that store owners who are looking to come to Hanover are “really doing their homework about what the market in this community actually looks like” and what community consumers are looking for. Griffin said that this is often frustrating for store owners because it can be tough to develop products with consumer demand that is broad enough to sustain a business in the long run. Chappell said that originally it seemed like the company would be a good fit with the Hanover community, but that “there’s not much you can do if there’s no one coming in the store.” Hannah Markowitz ’18, who has shopped at Ramblers Way in the past, said that she is sad about the store closing and that she loves Ramblers Way because of its commitment to promoting the company’s mission as a sustainable clothing manufacturer. She noted that whenever she went into the store, the employees always connected with her and explained to her the importance of sustainable
PAGE 3
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
clothing. Fortunately for Markowitz and other fans of Ramblers Way, the company will continue its online presence, which Chappell said is the company’s number one source of revenue. Ramblers Way will also continue to maintain some brick and mortar stores — including its location in Portland, Maine. Chappell said that having a physical storefront is the best way to educate consumers about the company’s sustainable clothing. “[Customers] need to touch it, feel it, try it on and connect with the brand physically, so we’re continuing to open stores,” Chappell said. “What we’re learning from this experience is that we’ll tend to be opening stores in more urban areas rather than small market towns.” Markowitz said that one time, she went into the store and found employees spinning wool to show customers how the hand-spun wool that goes into their clothes gets made. “[Ramblers Way] is really committed to having their products be American-made, which is something that’s pretty unique for a clothing company,” Markowitz said. Griffin said that Hanover has had, and will likely continue to have, difficulties in attracting new stores to occupy retail spaces because of the ease of online shopping. However, she added that some types of retailers may be more successful in Hanover than others, such as large shoe stores. “Footwear is one of those things you could order from Zappos until the cows come home, but shoes are one of those things you benefit from being able to try on right there,” Griffin said. She said that the inherent challenge with maintaining retail spaces in a small town is that “nobody wants to pay a premium for local.”
Kuwait program to continue FROM AUK PAGE 1
to anthropology professor and relationship coordinator of the Dartmouth College-AUK program Dale Eickelman. Since the establishment of the program and as of fall 2017, 34 Dartmouth students and 39 AUK students have participated in the internship program, according to the program’s website. The i n t e r n s h i p p ro g r a m a s s i g n s students to administrative jobs at the partner institution, but students also have the opportunity to assist a faculty member at the partner institution in their teaching and research. AUK was established by a decree in 2003 as an “independent, p r i v a t e, e q u a l o p p o r t u n i t y and coeducational liberal arts institution of higher learning.” The structural model of AUK is based on the American model of higher learning, and courses are taught in English. Eickelman said that the extension of the partnership between the two schools continues the legacy of Dartmouth faculty members who helped establish AUK — a liberal arts institution in an environment that is radically different from the U.S. Eickelman noted that the program requires both institutions to renew the partnership agreement every five years, which provides the opportunity for both institutions to “gracefully” abandon the program if problems arise in the future. “ We a re o n e o f t h e f e w international, global [and] diverse experiential learning [programs] where it is the institution [abroad] that is paying [Dartmouth] for the opportunity [to establish a partnership],” Eickelman said. Mary Versa Clemens-Sewall ’20, who participated in the
internship program offered by the the university.” Dartmouth-AUK program in fall During the summer term, the 2017, said that for her internship Dartmouth-AUK partnership she assisted students taking English brings AUK faculty members as a foreign language, tutored from a wide variety of academic AUK students in mathematics and disciplines to Dartmouth to engage physics and provided professional in research and collaborate with development services to students other scholars, according to working at the AUK tutoring Eickelman. center. He added that C l e m e n s - “We are one of the the DartmouthSewall noted AUK program is that she was few international, also engaged in i n c e n t i v i z e d global [and] diverse discussions with to apply to the John Sloan experiential learning the internship D i c k ey C e n t e r p r o g r a m [programs] where for International b e c a u s e s h e it is the institution Understanding plans to minor to potentially in Arabic, and [abroad] that is develop a t h e l o c at i o n paying [Dartmouth] program focused of AUK was on environmental for the opportunity convenient for studies of her after she [to establish a regions with p a r t i c i p a t e d partnership].” extreme weather in an Arabic conditions, such study abroad a s t h e Pe r s i a n p r o g r a m i n -DALE EICKELMAN, Gulf. Morocco in Dickey Center ANTHROPOLOGY summer 2017. director Daniel She added that PROFESSOR AND Benjamin said the non-credit RELATIONSHIP t h at g i ve n t h e aspect of the changing relations program also COORDINATOR OF THE between the U.S. appealed to her DARTMOUTH COLLEGEand the countries since she was i n t h e Pe r s i a n not interested AUK PROGRAM Gulf, he believes in taking it is important classes and for the College wanted to do to continue an internship collaborating abroad during with institutions her off-term. of higher learning in regions such “I think that the [Dartmouth- as Kuwait. AU K p a r t n e r s h i p ] i s re a l l y “The Gulf is an enormously important,” Clemens-Sewall said. important part of the world right “I made a lot of excellent friends now — it has been for a while and in Kuwait. It was also an awesome it will continue to be,” Benjamin location where I got to see myself said. “Having spent some time at in a professional capacity. I felt AUK in the winter … I think that prepared [to step into that role] [Dartmouth] would benefit greatly … because I was contributing to from a closer partnership.”
PAGE 4
Issues of political discourse at universities have increasingly transcended U.S. college campuses and attracted national attention. Free speech has sparked the most debate, but equally important is how politics affect personal relations and academics more broadly — and whether it has as encompassing and divisive influence as many assume. The backdrop is a national political scene defined by partisan animus, which has been shown to shape people’s lives beyond politics. Given this climate and dynamics on campuses across the country, The Dartmouth fielded a survey to shed light on how these key issues manifest themselves at the College. Politics and Social Relations In the survey, undergraduates were asked if learning that another student had political beliefs opposite from their own would affect a range of possible interactions with them. Forty-two percent of respondents said that knowing they had opposite political beliefs would make them less likely to befriend the student, while 54 percent said it would make no difference. More than two-thirds of student respondents (70 percent) said they would be less likely to consider dating someone with opposite political beliefs from themselves. About a third (30 percent) said learning someone had opposite political beliefs would make them less likely to trust the person. The influence of personal politics does not permeate academics as much; only 19 percent of respondents said they would be less likely to study with someone with opposing political views, and for “working on class projects with them” it
THE DARTMOUTH FEATURE
was 18 percent. Overall percentages like these mask sizable partisan differences — Democrats were consistently more likely to indicate conflicting politics negatively affect potential relationships. While 82 percent of respondents who identified Democrats say they would be less likely to date someone with opposing political beliefs, only 47 percent of Independents and 42 percent of Republicans said the same. Similarly, 55 percent of Democratic respondents said opposite political views would make them less likely to befriend another student, compared to 21 percent of Independents and 12 percent of Republicans. Only gender plays nearly as strong of a role in dividing responses. For example, 83 percent of women said they would be less likely to date someone with opposing political views compared to 56 percent of men. Is this influence of politics so pervasive that it determines whether friendships on campus last or end? Responses suggest it is not that damaging. When asked whether they ever lost a friend because of disagreement over politics at Dartmouth, 85 percent of respondents said no. However, the longer they have been at Dartmouth, the more likely a student is to have experienced this: 24 percent of senior respondents said they lost a friend over politics compared to 13 percent of sophomore respondents and seven percent of freshmen respondents. Beyond relations between students, politics do not seem to seep into academic decisions. Students were asked whether knowing a professor’s political background would affect their likelihood of taking classes taught by the professor. Majorities
TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2018
A survey of Dartmouth’s polit The Dartmouth examines campu
of respondents said it would make “no difference” if they knew a professor was a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian or socialist. About a quarter of respondents said that knowing a professor is a Republican (26 percent) or a socialist (23 percent) would make them more unlikely to take a class. Fewer students indicate a Libertarian (16 percent) or Democratic professor (6 percent) would dissuade them from taking a class. Democratic students express less willingness to take classes from a Republican professor (38 percent) than Republican students do to take a class taught by a Democratic professor (23 percent). Conversely, Republican respondents say they are more likely to take a class taught by a fellow Republican (51 percent) than Democrats do for a class taught by a fellow Democrat (22 percent). Perhaps distance from the out-group matters more for Democrats, while sticking with the ingroup is more important for Republicans at Dartmouth. Many of these questions lead to a general question: how much do politics factor into everyday life of students? Results show that politics are discussed a fair but not overwhelming amount. Forty-two percent of respondents say politics (current events and issues) are brought up “very often” or “often” during classes in their experience, 53 percent say the same for when they are talking with friends and 42 percent say the answer applied to clubs or organizations on campus. Compared to non-athletes, athletes at Dartmouth report politics coming up less when talking with friends and in clubs or organizations.
ALEXANDER AGADJANIAN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
B y alexander a
The Dartmouth S
TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2018
itical and free speech climate us political discourse and social life Free Speech
agadjanian
Issues of free speech are another important aspect of student relations on campus that have increasingly gained national attention. Earlier this year, the College was demoted to a “red light” status from its previous “yellow light” status by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, indicating a worsening state of free speech on campus. Vice president of policy research at FIRE Samantha Harris wrote in an email to The Dartmouth this past Feb. that the demotion was due to College’s Acceptable Use Policy, which “bans broad categories of speech, a great deal of which would be entitled to First Amendment protection at a public university.” Despite this, Dartmouth students do not think free speech is “under attack” on campus as many outside might imply it is. Fifty-two percent of all survey respondents described free speech at Dartmouth as either very or somewhat secure, as opposed to 33 percent who call it very or somewhat threatened. Here, partisan fissures emerge again, as more than three times as many Republicans (69 percent) think free speech is threatened than do Democrats (21 percent). Responses to a related question about freedom of self-expression paints
Senior Staff
PAGE 5
THE DARTMOUTH FEATURE
ALEXANDER AGADJANIAN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
ALEXANDER AGADJANIAN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
a somewhat different picture, however. When asked about whether “the climate on Dartmouth’s campus prevents some people from saying things they believe because others might find them offensive,” a large majority of respondents (81 percent) said they strongly or somewhat agree. Republicans (94 percent), white students (86 percent), men (87 percent) and students affiliated with Greek life (86 percent) are most likely to agree that such a limit exists campus speech. Despite these differences, large majorities across all subgroups — political or demographic — agree with the statement. The same question was also asked in 2016 of a nationally representative survey of U.S. college students regarding their respective college campuses: among students across the country, 54 percent agreed, far fewer than those at Dartmouth. Students were also asked what type of environment is more important for Dartmouth to create: “a positive learning environment for all students by prohibiting certain speech or expression of viewpoints that are offensive or biased against certain groups of people” or “an open learning environment where students are exposed to all types of speech and viewpoints, even if it means allowing speech that is offensive or biased against
certain groups of people.” Seventy-one percent of respondents say they prefer the open environment option. Students who are Republicans (94 percent), white (71 percent) and male (84 percent) are most likely to opt for the “open” option. A similar amount of students from across the country at 78 percent (from the 2016 survey) chose the open environment as well. Partisan Contours Dartmouth’s student body is about twothirds Democrat (67 percent) with small minorities of Republican identifiers (19 percent) and Independents (14 percent), a distribution consistent with previous survey results at the College. Significant demographic divides appear only for gender and athlete status. Surveyed women are 79 percent Democrat versus 12 percent Republican, while the divide among men is 55 percent and 27 percent, respectively. Athletes at the College are 52 percent Democrat versus 32 percent Republican, while the split is 71 percent to 16 percent for non-athletes. White Dartmouth students are not politically different from non-white students as a whole, but African-American students are more likely to be Democrats.
Methodology Notes From Monday, Apr. 23 to Sunday, Apr. 29, The Dartmouth fielded an online survey of Dartmouth undergraduates about the role of politics in social life on campus. The survey was sent out to 4,412 students through their College email addresses. Four hundred ninety-eight responses were recorded, making for an 11.3 percent response rate. Using administrative data from the College’s Office of Institutional Research and other sources, responses were first weighted by Greek affiliation for all eligible (non-freshmen) students, then weighted by class year, gender, race/ethnicity, international student status and varsity athlete status for all students. Iterative post-stratification (raking) was the method used for weighting, done with the “survey” package in R. Survey results for the entire sample have a margin of error +/- 4.4. Subgroup differences are statistically significantly different from one another unless otherwise noted, and all reported differences hold in multivariate models.
ALEXANDER AGADJANIAN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
PAGE 6
THE DARTMOUTH OPINION
CONTIRBUTING COLUMNIST JILLIAN FREEMAN ’21
GUEST COLUMNIST PATRICK MATTIMORE ’72
Yes Means Yes
Privilege and Responsibility
Unenthusiastic consent is, in fact, consent. I have recently seen signs around campus proclaiming the phrase, “Unenthusiastic consent is not consent.” It is imperative, and in the best interest of all students on this campus, to demonstrate why this saying is extremely problematic. Although catchy, this contradictory statement creates subjectivity around what actually constitutes “consent,” since the expression of enthusiasm is not objective. Consequently, cases could arise in which one accuses another of a crime as serious as sexual assault simply because although the first person said “yes,” and the second person took that as their word, the first person wasn’t genuinely enthusiastic about it. This statement is dangerous because humans are fallible. Since there is no objective definition of what composes enthusiasm, each person has to decide for themselves whether or not they regard anything as enthusiastic. This subjectivity, paired with human fallibility, makes it incredibly easy for people to misinterpret others as showing or not showing enthusiasm. The word “yes,” on the other hand, always demonstrates consent in any situation, not just that of sexual encounters. This can result in two very troublesome situations. In one, someone asking for consent misinterprets the tone of the other. Since the inquirer knows that the word “yes” universally affirms consent, they may believe they know the responder’s affirmative answer. However, the unenthusiastic responder can then easily accuse the inquirer of trying to take advantage of them, whether they feel genuinely or out of malicious intent. In this scenario, false claims of sexual assault or harassment may ensue. How was the inquirer supposed to avoid this? All they knew was that their person of interest said yes, which, by definition, declares consent. Another situation can arise when one person asks another for consent. If the response is a consenting “yes,” a sexual act may ensue. Following this encounter, the consenter may possibly feel regret or other emotions that would cause them to want to take back their action. The phrase “unenthusiastic consent is not consent” implies that the remorseful individual can simply claim their initial response was “unenthusiastic” and therefore nonconsensual, which would constitute an
accusation of sexual assault. This claim of unenthusiasm could be asserted at any time after the encounter occurs, making it an easy way out for displeased consenters who do not take responsibility for their words. In these ways and more, this statement could give way to many false accusations of sexual assault — an extremely serious situation with lasting consequences for anyone involved. The statement is also, in general, completely incorrect. If someone says “yes,” or any of its counterparts such as “yeah,” “sure” or “okay,” they are choosing words that universally signify consent. Instead, it is important and beneficial to spread the idea that other responses, such as “maybe” or “I don’t know,” do not declare consent. Furthermore, it is just as important to remember that after consent is given, one may choose to take it back at any time before or during the sexual encounter. It is their right — as human beings — to always retain control over their body. In turn, this necessitates respect by the other party in the encounter. A better way to fight sexual harassment and assault would be to further the awareness of phrases that never signify consent, like those previously mentioned. This will give more options to those who must defend themselves if they ever feel pressure to say yes. Declaring that “yes” does not actually mean “yes” brings no true benefit or help to those who feel threatened. Neither does declaring that it only means “yes” when one wants it to — making it subject to however they are feeling at the time. In fact, this does the opposite, by allowing people to take back their words of consent days, weeks or even months following the encounter. The most important point to take away from this is very simple: if you don’t want something, don’t say yes. Changing the meaning of that word, even for such a respectable cause as increasing awareness of sexual harassment, has innumerable and unnecessary consequences. Even if it is said with an annoyed tone of voice, in a sad manner or unenthusiastically, it is still “yes.” Society cannot normalize exceptions — in this case, the ability to claim unenthusiasm — for people who don’t want to be held accountable for their words. If you want to say no, do not say yes.
6175 ROBINSON HALL, HANOVER N.H. 03755 • (603) 646-2600
ZACHARY BENJAMIN, Editor-in-Chief IOANA SOLOMON, Executive Editor ALEXA GREEN, Managing Editor PRODUCTION EDITORS MATTHEW BROWN & LUCY LI, Opinion Editors MARIE-CAPUCINE PINEAU-VALENCIENNE & CAROLYN ZHOU Mirror Editors MARK CUI & SAMANTHA HUSSEY, Sports Editors BETTY KIM & EVAN MORGAN, Arts Editors MARGUERITE IREFIN & ALEXA TUCKER, Dartbeat Editors DIVYA KOPALLE & MICHAEL LIN, Photo Editors
HANTING GUO, Publisher AMANDA ZHOU, Executive Editor SONIA QIN, Managing Editor BUSINESS DIRECTORS BRIAN SCHOENFELD & HEEJU KIM, Advertising Directors SARAH KOVAN, Marketing & Communications Director CHRISTINA WULFF, Marketing & Communications Director VINAY REDDY, Assistant Marketing & Communications Director BRIAN CHEKAL & CAYLA PLOTCH, Product Development Directors BHARATH KATRAGADDA, Strategy Director YEONJAE PARK, Technology Director
JESSICA CAMPANILE, Multimedia Editor SAMANTHA BURACK & JEE SEOB JUNG, Design Editors JACLYN EAGLE & HATTIE NEWTON, Templating Editors
ISSUE
TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2018
NEWS LAYOUT: Sunny Drescher
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.
Don’t open the playground — teach Dartmouth students how to play fair. I am writing this commentary as a applicants have accomplished. The idea is reaction to The Dartmouth’s editorial that Dartmouth admissions should gauge piece, “Verbum Ultimum: Open The “students’ willingness and potential to grow Playground,” published on May 11, 2018. as human beings.” While that is possibly I was particularly intrigued by the an okay sentiment in the abstract, unless editorial since the Board referred twice Hogwarts is willing to donate its Sorting to what Dartmouth was Hat, it’s a dangerous like fifty years ago. Since slope in a treacherous “I agree that in 1968, it was fifty years ago this playground. fall that I headed off to Dartmouth was a Over ten years ago, join the Class of 1972, playground for the Malcolm Gladwell wrote I wanted to add my two about the problem of privileged.” cents. selecting quarterbacks I agree that in for the NFL based on 1968, Dartmouth potential rather than was a playground for accomplishment. the privileged. My all-male class was Gladwell pointed out that even though geographically diverse but largely white. a great deal of money was invested in If that same privilege is perpetuated the process and the best football minds today, and if it is a problem, it’s one that were appointed to the task of selecting afflicts all highly selective U.S. colleges and the recruits, the experts still misfired on universities. Dartmouth’s selections about half the privileged playground is time because the skills shared by Harvard and “The best gauge of required to succeed at Stanford, and at least fifty future performance the professional level are other schools. Indeed, is past performance.” so different from those allowing for a few nonneeded at the college substantive changes, the level. Subsequent great May 11 editorial could quarterbacks were have been written about the Dartmouth I overlooked and prototypes that fit the attended a half century ago or any of those perfect model turned out to be busts. As other institutions, both then and now. Gladwell wrote about the latter group, they But here’s the rub. As the editorial entered the NFL with great potential and suggests regarding Dartmouth, all the left the same way. elite colleges are trying to diversify The best gauge of future performance socioeconomically and have been trying is past performance. to do that for many years, albeit largely I’ve learned from having had plenty unsuccessfully. Why? Because the most of rejected op-eds that if one criticizes accomplished high school students, who are an editorial, one should be prepared coincidentally the most to offer an alternative. motivated to attend elite “From day one, it Here is mine. Dartmouth universities, generally shouldn’t make anything should be drilled into h a i l f ro m a n a r ro w other than incremental socioeconomic range. Dartmouth students changes in admissions As a long-time public that while they have policy. Hanover should high school teacher in a remain a privileged the privilege and blue-collar city, I rarely playg round for many encountered students who security of playing years. But as benefactors had academic credentials of that privilege, students in a gilded cage that would qualify them might remember some to attend Dartmouth. On for four years, that important words from the other hand, many of privilege entails a Bill Gates’s 2007 Harvard the upper-middle class Commencement address. students I taught at a responsibility after Gates’s mother exhorted parochial high school did leaving the cage.” him as she was dying of have the qualifications to cancer: “From those to attend Dartmouth. whom much is given, I don’t believe two of much is expected.” From the editorial’s proposed day one, it should be solutions to change Dartmouth are realistic. drilled into Dartmouth students that Asking students to think critically about while they have the privilege and security how their actions perpetuate segregation of playing in a gilded cage for four years, may cause students to be more aware of that privilege entails a responsibility after their behavior, but is unlikely to change it. leaving the cage. As the Board writes, it is natural for people of similar backgrounds and identities to Mattimore is a member of the Class of 1972. gravitate toward each other. The Dartmouth welcomes guest columns. We request Another suggestion from the editorial that guest columns be the original work of the submitter. is that there should be greater effort by Submissions may be sent to both opinion@thedartmouth. the Dartmouth administration to admit com and editor@thedartmouth.com. Submissions will students on criteria other than what receive a response within three business days.
TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2018
PAGE 7
THE DARTMOUTH ARTS
Glimpses of promise amid the mayhem of ‘Deadpool 2’ By SEBASTIAN WURZRAINER The Dartmouth Staff
A little over a year ago, I used a review for the then newly-released “Logan” as the jumping off point for a larger discussion about the proliferation of R-rated superhero films that began with the first “Deadpool” film. While neither “Logan” nor “Deadpool” was the first superhero movie to garner the R rating, they did embody a potentially game-changing triple threat: both were entries in a popular franchise produced by a major studio, both were critically acclaimed and they both cracked the list of the top 10 highest grossing R-rated films of all time. When “Logan” was released, I argued that neither it nor “Deadpool” were genuine gamechangers in our current golden age of superhero cinema. Their ratings, I contended, were instead a sign of their stylistic excess. Neither film felt substantially more “adult” than anything that had come before, but the rating and the resultant gory violence and crude humor created the illusion that they were. Despite its imperfections, I thought “Logan” was a well-crafted and compelling film. “Deadpool,”
on the other hand, rubbed me the wrong way. While I didn’t loathe the film, I had trouble understanding why people fell so easily under its cynical spell. Don’t get me wrong — it had its moments. Some of the jokes were legitimately clever, the performances were adequate and there were even a couple of surprisingly effective and dramatic scenes. But for the most part, the film felt paper-thin and gratingly smarmy. Crude scatological jokes were piled on top of gory violence piled on top of meta-humor, all to disguise a decidedly clichéd storyline. There are literally moments in the film where the character Deadpool comments on the laziness of the screenwriting, and for half a second the laughter elicited by the joke allows the audience to forget that he’s hit the nail on the head. Often the storytelling is quite lazy precisely because the writers know they can get away with it. It’s as if the emperor from “The Emperor’s New Clothes” were self-aware enough to make a quip about his own nudity but not self-aware enough to actually put on some real clothing. At the end of the day, he’s still naked. And that’s largely the case with “Deadpool 2.” The film is more of
Flashes of Green Key PHOTO
By Michael Lin and Tiffany Zhai
the same crude, violent and in-jokeladen material of the original — but it also has occasional glimpses of potential. The filmmakers have clearly never heard the maxim “less is more.” “Deadpool 2” often plays out like an extended “best-of ” compilation of everything fans loved about the first film. In a perfect piece of casting, Ryan Reynolds returns as Deadpool (alter ego of Wade Wilson), a former mercenary turned wisecracking superhero who knows that he’s a fictional character. After a stunning loss that I dare not spoil here, Wilson attempts to integrate with the X-Men, but his violent proclivities prove to be too much for his straight-laced teammates. On his first mission, he forms a bond with a young mutant named Russell who has the ability to summon fire with his fists. The problem is that Cable, a time-traveling, ultra-cranky cyborg, wants the boy dead so he can save his family from dying at the blazing hands of Russell in the future. To protect the boy, Wilson forms the X-Force, a team of variously impressive mutants that includes a superlucky mercenary named Domino. The film’s plot, and Cable in particular, shares some eerie similarities to Rian Johnson’s
excellent 2012 science fiction film “Looper.” And that’s just the beginning! “Deadpool 2” contains wall-to-wall references to other films. A few are subtle, but most are not. The problem with all these in-jokes is much the same as the problem with the glut of nostalgia on display in “Ready Player One.” At first, you get to channel Captain America from “The Avengers” and shout, “I understood that reference!” But then what? All that really means is that you and the film’s creators understand some of the same media. The end result is little more than a postmodern orgy of hollow meta-humor. Yet the film is not entirely without substance. Deadpool declares in the opening sequence that his own sequel is a “family film,” and the screenplay is none too subtle about hammering this point home. It’s certainly not a film for your toddler, or even your 10-year-old, but “Deadpool 2” is undeniably about families and how they can help us cope with past traumas. The story is at its best when it actually takes the time to explore the ramifications of the abuse that so many mutants seems to experience in this fictional universe. Thematically, this might be a first for
an X-Men film, and it demonstrates the untapped potential of R-rated superhero fare. I doubt that the studio would have permitted any of its other big-budget genre films to so thoroughly explore these uncomfortable topics, but for once, the R rating of “Deadpool 2” helps the film do something meaningful. Add onto that a few memorable supporting characters and some supremely stylish action scenes and you’ve got a film that is decidedly more tolerable than its predecessor. While newcomers Cable and Domino are criminally underutilized, Josh Brolin and Zazie Beetz make for wonderfully exciting additions to this universe. Much of the humor is far wittier than it was the first time around, though some of the jokes, particularly those about race and ethnicity, are decidedly ill-conceived. I can vividly remember how excited I was for the release of the first “Deadpool.” At the time, I saw immense potential in its purported combination of metahumor and pathos. It didn’t take long for the disillusionment to set in. While “Deadpool 2” is far from the film I had always hoped for, it’s marginally closer — a shaky but promising step in the right direction.
PAGE 8
TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2018
THE DARTMOUTH ARTS
Student Spotlight: Claire Feuille ’18 reimagines Shakespeare By MADISON WILSON The Dartmouth
Theater and philosophy double major Claire Feuille ’18 is “The SheWolf of France.” Or more accurately, she played the title character, Margaret of Anjou, in her own senior thesis, which debuted this past weekend at the Bentley Theater. “The She-Wolf of France” is the culmination of Feuille's long-term romance with Shakespeare’s work. Her thesis project combines Shakespeare’s historical plays depicting the Wars of the Roses, the "Henry VI" trilogy and “Richard III.” Feuille chose to center the drama around the character Margaret of Anjou, Henry VI’s wife. According to Feuille, Margaret is the best-developed character in the four plays but rarely receives much dramatic recognition; her thesis sheds light on a powerful female character who would have had her own play had she been a man. “The She-Wolf of France” provides an exciting opportunity to chart Margaret’s growth throughout her life, since Margaret is also the only character to survive through all four plays. Feuille and her thesis advisor Robynn Rodriguez, a local actor with experience in classical theatre, started the script-cutting process in the summer of 2017 and did not finish until the end of the 2018 winter term. The two worked closely on cutting down the four plays while keeping Margaret at the center of the action. Both Feuille and
Rodriguez said that keeping Margaret at the center of She-Wolf was the most difficult part of the writing process. Rodriguez said the process was grueling but rewarding. “One Skype call was over four hours long,” Rodriguez said. After finishing the script-cutting process, Feuille held auditions for “The She-Wolf of France” and began rehearsing at the beginning of spring term. The play features Feuille herself as Margaret, with an ensemble cast supporting her through different roles. Feuille said that she had a difficult time pulling herself out of the intellectual role of writer and putting herself into the more emotional role of an actor. The character is particularly difficult because Margaret changes so much over the course of the show — Feuille’s play follows Margaret from the age of 17 until the age of 52 and covers the death of both Margaret’s son and husband. Feuille said that portraying a character that develops and changes so much over the course of the play was extremely difficult, but she appreciated the challenge and is glad to be surrounded by a talented and supportive cast. Though Feuille knew she wanted to pursue philosophy in college as soon as she took a class on Nietzsche her junior year of high school, she did not arrive at Dartmouth expecting to participate in theater events at all — in fact, after a brief stint in “A Christmas Carol” in the second grade, she gave up theater to pursue sports. She rediscovered her
DIVYA KOPALLE/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Claire Feuille ’18 is a theater and philosophy double major, and worked on two thesis projects during her senior year.
passion for acting after auditioning and obtaining a role in “Romeo and Juliet” her freshman fall at Dartmouth. After acting in “Romeo and Juliet,” Feuille discovered her passion for Shakespeare and auditioned for the Rude Mechanicals, a student-led Shakespeare performance group on campus. With fellow Rude Mechanicals Tess McGuinness ’18 and Pete Skow ’18, Feuille helped transform the group, increasing the quality of their productions and
DIVYA KOPALLE/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Feuille plans to pursue an acting career after graduating and is considering getting a master’s degree in philosophy in the future.
improving their relationship with the theater department, according to McGuiness. McGuinness said she has seen the group completely transform over the last four years. The Rude Mechanicals won the Council on Student Organizations award for “outstanding group achievement” last winter for their efforts, said McGuinness. According to Feuille, the Rude Mechanicals helped her realize how rich, intricate and humorous Shakespeare’s writing is, and launched her into a deep love for classical theater. After these initial ventures into theater at Dartmouth, Feuille eventually decided to double major in philosophy and theater and began working intensively in the theater department, both producing shows and acting in them. Feuille cultivated a close relationship with theater department professor and director Carol Dunne, working with Dunne at Northern Stage in White River Junction, where Dunne serves as the producing artistic director. Feuille even traveled to New York with Dunne and the Northern Stage theater company to work as the wardrobe head on a show. Feuille also worked alongside Dunne on "Cabaret" last fall, assistant directing alongside Dunne and acting as an ensemble member. "The first word that comes to mind is ‘focus,’” Dunne said. “She's an unbelievably passionate theater person. I will quote Shakespeare and she will
finish the sentences." According to Feuille, the rehearsal process was grueling but rewarding. Feuille and Rodriguez had to cut down the play significantly, even after all the cuts made during the winter and spring term. “The script is a work in progress as the show progresses,” Feuille said. “Having actors there to bring life into the text is essential." After graduating in June, Feuille will work at Powerhouse Training Company, a theatre intensive training program at Vassar College, over the summer. She plans to move to New York to pursue acting after participating in the program. Dunne said that while going to New York is one of the hardest leaps an Ivy League student can make, there is a strong network of Dartmouth alumnae in New York who can support Feuille through the process. Feuille’s mentors are excited about her future in theater. Dunne hopes that Feuille will pursue a career not only in acting, but also in writing and directing. Rodriguez is also excited about Feuille’s future in the business. “I’m curious and interested in what she ends up pursuing,” Rodriguez said. Feuille hopes to break into the acting world in New York, but also wants to maintain her roots to writing and dramaturgy, the theory and practice of dramatic acting. She is also considering a master’s degree in philosophy later in life.