VOL. CLXXVI NO. 74 CHANCE RAIN THEN SUNNY HIGH 56 LOW 32
OPINION
VERBUM ULTIMUM: IN A RUSH TO RUSH PAGE 4
OPINION ASKS: ALUMNI RELATIONS PAGE 4
ARTS
REVIEW: ‘ONCE UPON A TIME... IN HOLLYWOOD’ AN AFFECTIONATE SATIRE PAGE 7
SPORTS
THE REDSHIRT SENIOR: THE TANKING FOR TUATM DOLPHINS AND OTHER BAD NFL TEAMS PAGE 8 FOLLOW US ON
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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2019
HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE
College reconsiders Tuck receives $25 million gift, biomass plant, proceeds largest ever, for global learning work on heating system B y maya kempf-harris The Dartmouth
Following concerns raised by a group of scientists, the College is reconsidering its plan to construct a biomass heating plant as a replacement for its current oil-powered plant. T he scientists — William Schlesinger ’72, John Sterman ’77 and George Woodwell ’50 — wrote a letter to the College this past summer in which they stated that the new heating system
should not contribute to climate change. Constructing a biomass plant on campus was one of the initial steps of the College’s Green Energy Plan, which sets out goals for improving sustainability on campus and combating climate change. The College is currently exploring alternatives to a biomass energy system, p a r t i c u l a rl y t h o s e t h at SEE BIOMASS PAGE 5
Hanlon hosts weekly “Ask Me Anything” sessions at dining hall B y Caitlin McCarthy The Dartmouth
This fall, College President Phil Hanlon is trying out a new tactic to form a closer relationship between students and the administration: lunches at the Class of 1953 Commons. At least once a week through Nov. 6, Hanlon and a senior administrator from the College will hold lunchtime “Ask Me
Anythings.” The lunches encourage students to “share questions or comments about life at Dartmouth” over a Foco meal, according to a College press release. Students are able to drop in and out as they please. This week’s guest was dean of the College Kathryn Lively, and upcoming guests include provost Joseph Helble, SEE AMA PAGE 3
NATALIE DAMERON/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF
The $25 million donation from the Bakala Foundation will benefit the TuckGO program.
B y Marco Allen The Dartmouth
The Tuck School of Business recently received a $25 million donation from the Bakala Foundation — the largest donation in the graduate school’s history. Michaela and Zdeněk Bakala Tu ’89 — who created the Bakala Foundation in 2007 to support educational causes — made the donation to benefit the TuckGO program, which facilitates international educational opportunities to satisfy Tuck’s global learning graduation requirement. The donation will also be used to create a central hub at Tuck for students, professors and TuckGO administrators called
the Bakala Global Suite. TuckGO allows students to explore different topics in business by offering courses that travel to a varying of countries to study differing topic areas. Tuck dean Matthew Slaughter said that many of the courses are team-taught by two Tuck professors and often include faculty members from other departments in the College. Past courses have covered the intersection of entrepreneurship and technology in Israel as well as technology innovation and venture capital in China. “Many of the students here at Tuck think of the TuckGO experiences as one of the most transformative parts of their MBA education,” said TuckGO faculty director and marketing
professor Peter Golder. “[Tuck GO] allows students to take some risks because they can have exposure to industries they may not have worked in before or explore countries they may be interested in working in.” David Fayngor Tu ’20, who participated in a TuckGO program in Rome and Milan last spring, said that TuckGO “felt like a capstone to my first year at Tuck, moving theory into practice in an international setting.” The donation from the Bakala Foundation will be used to fund students’ international experiences, which Slaughter believes reflects Zdeněk’s Bakala’s experiences coming SEE TUCK PAGE 3
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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2019
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
Dartmouth Dining disallows use of meal swipes at snack bars B y claire kardesch
a.m., so DDS would rather deploy additional resources during peak periods of the day. Another notable change is the Starting this term, Dartmouth Dining Services has introduced new serving of Starbucks products at hours and Starbucks products at Novack, which was renovated before Novack Café and has disallowed the the fall term. “People come from all over use of meal swipes at the College’s the country and Starbucks tends snack bars. to be known Students are worldwide,” no longer able to Plodzik said. use meal swipes “[Starbucks brought a] Plodzik said that at snack bars certain level of quality the adoption of this ter m — to the program just Starbucks products DDS director has increased Jo n P l o d z i k because of the name.” demand for coffee said that the products. He purpose of a added that Novack meal swipe is to -JON PLODZIK, DDS used to make about get a meal; while DIRECTOR five espressos a day the purpose of and is now making dining dollars is for snacks, such as those served at five espressos every 10 minutes. “[Starbucks brought a] certain the snack bars across campus. Jason Carpio ’22 said that snack level of quality to the program just bars not accepting meal swipes because of the name,” Plodzik said. Starbucks training for all Novack is “limiting and a little unfair to completely change the system that student managers, supervisors people were so used to,” describing it and full-time staff was successfully as worrisome because a lot of people completed last week, Plodzik noted. Along with the addition of rely on snack bars to get their meals. In addition, Plodzik added that Starbucks products, new food options students can look forward to the are being offered. In addition to addition of several more snack bars the grab-and-go options for which Novack was previously known, DDS in the upcoming years. Recently, Novack modified its now offers heated, artisan sandwiches business hours. In previous years, and gourmet desserts. Carpio added that though he Novack was open until 2 a.m. regularly — making it one of the enjoys the addition of Starbucks few DDS options open past dinner products, Novack’s current iteration hours; however, Novack now closes lacks “an authenticity” that the Dartmouth community appreciated. at 12 a.m. Plodzik attributed this change to Carpio also cited the lack of Novack attempt to use College resources more mainstays such as Moe’s Southwest wisely. Plodzik said that Novack lacks Grill burritos and iced cappuccinos enough demand from 12 a.m. to 2 as a contributing factor. The Dartmouth
CORRECTIONS Correction appended (Oct. 2, 2019): In the Sept. 24 article, “Sexual misconduct policy seeks to clarify institutional response,” the article originally stated that the Committee on Faculty debated both a “beyond a reasonable doubt” and a “preponderance of evidence” standard. The online version of the article has been updated to reflect that the committee debated a “clear and convincing” standard instead of a “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard. We welcome corrections. If you believe there is a factual error in a story, please email editor@thedartmouth.com.
BOWEN CHEN/THE DARTMOUTH
Novack Café was remodeled and now features Starbucks products.
He said that he appreciates the shift in Novack’s hours since it offers benefits to employees, who often had to work later than 2 a.m. to close the café, which he said outweighs the benefit of Novack being open for an
additional two hours. Audrey Karnan ’21 agreed that the character of Novack has changed. She said that she appreciated the grab-and-go options and late hours because it became a “kind of hub for
studying” and there was a sense of “camaraderie in Novack.” She added that she is glad DDS improved the quality of food, but admitted that the old food used to be part of Novack’s charm.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2019
PAGE 3
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
AMAs feature administration guests Tuck gift comes from Czech coal baron Bakala FROM AMA PAGE 1
executive vice president Rick Mills and athletics director Harry Sheehy. The lunches began as an initiative by Carlos Polanco ’21 and vice president for communications Justin Anderson, with planning beginning last spring. Polanco said that the AMAs are designed for the administration to “meet students where they’re at.” Anderson echoed this sentiment, saying that the goal of the lunches is to improve communication between students and senior administration officials. He added that Hanlon’s office hours have always been an option for any member of the Dartmouth community to speak with Hanlon, but that students have to make the conscious decision to go to the office. Anderson said the lunches are a way for the administration to “communicate priorities, as well as policies and process to students,” while students can also utilize the AMAs to “effectively communicate … their priorities.” In an email, Hanlon wrote that he chose to include a member of the faculty alongside him at the AMAs so that students would have the chance to communicate with the administration officials who are most directly responsible for the multitude of sectors that encompass Dartmouth’s activities. Six students, including Polanco, attended this past Wednesday’s
lunch — an increase from the week before when a few freshmen attended, according to Hanlon. The meeting lasted a little over an hour. Topics of conversation brought up by students included the inequities of the new housing access restrictions, issues of food insecurity during winter break, proposals for a multicultural center, a new way to help students transition to STEM classes and the experiences of Latinx students. Katya Pronichenko ’23, who attended the lunch because of questions she had about Dartmouth Dining Services, said that she thought it went “very well.” “I was very excited that President Hanlon and Dean Lively were taking suggestions and questions and answering students’ concerns,” Pronichenko said. Polanco said that they are testing multiple methods of advertising to see what is most effective in drawing attendees to the lunches, including signs in the dining hall, posts on Instagram and emails to the student body. Jack Traynor ’19 Th ’20, a cocaptain of the football team, said that one barrier to students attending the lunches was a conflict of time. “[The football team has] a lot of stuff going on right after lunch,” Traynor said. “Maybe if we had more time and had some more pressing questions.” Isabel Parks ’20 voiced her concerns about the project in general.
“I feel like they have all these events, but they’re not really listening to the student body,” Parks said. “I think it’s more for show than anything else.” However, she expressed interest in attending a future meeting. Anthony Ball ’23 said that he views the initiative positively, because it means that the administration is being more accessible. Anderson asked students to come with suggestions of their own as to how communication can improve. “If students think there are other ways that they’d like to hear from the president or from the administration, tell us; come to the lunch and tell us how we can do better,” Anderson said. Polanco maintains that forming a relationship between students and administration will take time. “We’re trying to change a culture that’s 250 years old, which is very, very difficult,” he said. Polanco added that he believes students should recognize both what the College is doing right and what it could do better. To students who may be on the fence about attending the meetings, Polanco said, “There’s no harm in coming in and voicing your concerns.” He predicted that, over time, students will “see [the lunches] as more commonplace,” which he said will help increase participation. The next AMA will be held on Oct. 7 and will feature Anderson as the guest.
FROM TUCK PAGE 1
to Tuck after fleeing communist Czechoslovakia. “[Zdeněk] sees the TuckGO program as an essential dimension of learning, reflecting his life experiences,” Slaughter said. After graduating Tuck, Zdeněk Bakala worked in investment banking in both New York and London before returning to the Czech Republic to form Credit Suisse First Boston’s subsidiary in Prague. Labeled one of the “capitalist pioneers of Prague” by the New York Times in 1995, Bakala helped privatize and restructure companies such as Czech automobile company Škoda Auto, forged financial standards for the developing country and helped establish the Prague Stock Exchange. In 2004, Zdeněk Bakala co-founded BXR Group, a global investment group that soon acquired Karbon Invest, owner of OKD, the Czech Republic’s largest coal mining corporation. His company, which was valued once at over two billion dollars, struggled after the global decline of coal prices. The insolvency of BXR’s holding company OKD and its impact on the company’s workers became the subject of political attacks in the Czech Republic in 2016. Michaela Bakala serves as the chairwoman of the Bakala Foundation and previously worked as the press
department head for the Czech Republic’s Civil Democratic Party. Bakala formed the then-named Zdeněk Bakala Foundation in 2007. The foundation’s philanthropy, inspired by Zdeněk and Michaela’s own personal journeys, has been focused on “supporting freedom, education and connectivity to the world … which resonates with the goals of the TuckGO program,” Slaughter said. Golder said that the donation will help Tuck continue to offer courses, expand their capacity to meet increasing student demand and create more formalized opportunities for students to share their experiences. Linda Horner Tu ’20, who visited Ireland and the United Kingdom on a TuckGO trip to study Brexit, said that, the program helps people “recognize where you might be wrong about other cultures, helps you become more open minded, which, in turn, can make you a better leader.” Golder said that they are hoping to expand TuckGO to offer more courses in Africa, possibly Ethiopia, in addition to growing their current offerings in Ghana, Morocco and South Africa. He also hopes the donation will help meet student demand to pursue non-profit work. Slaughter said that perhaps most importantly, the donation “will allow the creativity and innovation of the program to continue and evolve.”
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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2019
THE DARTMOUTH OPINION
THE DARTMOUTH EDITORIAL BOARD
THE DARTMOUTH OPINION STAFF
Verbum Ultimum: In a Rush to Rush
Opinion Asks: Alumni Relations
The rush process lacks female agency and needs transparency and planning. Rush is coming to a close and for yet another year, glaring issues with women’s rush remain. Women’s rush has long entailed a condensed speed datinglike process in which “potential new members” talk to multiple sisters of the house for all houses inthe first round. Though the rush process has long needed improvements, recent events have made this conversation even more relevant — namely, the loss of shakeout for Epsilon Kappa Theta sorority and the “drop” policy changes mid-process. As recent as the fall of last year, EKT was forced to join the formal recruitment process after the Intersorority Council twice rejected their petition to host an individual “shake out” process. The ISC noted that this push was in an effort to make the process more “inclusive,” they said, but some EKT sisters instead found the process hard to adjust to and draining. As opposed to the ISC rush process, “shake out” events did not require registration and were therefore more economically accessible. Shakeout also entailed food, drinks and longer hours that fostered a more intimate and casual environment. By getting rid of shakeout, the ISC removed a form of rush that might have been more intimate and comfortable for both sisters and PNMs and also eliminated the sorority’s ability to choose their members in the way they see fit. In this and other ways, the ISC is prescribing rules that do not reflect the culture of the student body. Additionally, the ISC recently announced a new policy that they later retracted less than two weeks after the policy was announced. The policy originally barred PNMs who had dropped the rush process during the fall from rushing again in the winter. Instead, PNMs who had dropped would now have to wait a full year before being able to rush again. This caused frustrations for the PNMs
DEBORA HYEMIN HAN, Editor-in-Chief
in the middle of the rush process. Additionally, these types of protocols may influence a PNM’s decision to rush at all so they should not be changed without notice. Control is not in the hands of the PNMs. First-round rush parties are only 55 minutes and PNMs must talk to as many sisters as possible to receive a thorough evaluation. Female-identifying PNMs are on a rotating display for sisters to make snap judgements based on how they present themselves, which is most likely influenced by how well a student might handle pressure in those situations. This process is therefore not an entirely accurate reflection of who the PNM is as an individual. Perhaps there are instances where a PNM and a sister connect instantly, but given that each sister spends 5-10 minutes to interview each PNM, these cases would be the minority. What should be done? No system for acquiring new members will ever truly break the cycle of a self-selecting organization. The ISC ought to have more transparency for the policies they enact in order for PNMs to understand how much weight is being given to their own preferences. This trend is not new; last year, AXiD president Lara Balick ’19 told The Dartmouth that PNMs felt frustrated from a lack of autonomy in their choices and callbacks and cited a lack of tranparency in the process as the source. A clear understanding of the process will also position students to give their recommendations for policy changes. Should a house want to use shakeout, it should be free to do so. Processes like shakeout may be more effective for PNMs and sisters to get to know each other in a less pressurized environment and the type of community the house offers. The SEE VERBUM ULTIMUM PAGE 6
AIDAN SHEINBERG, Publisher
ALEX FREDMAN, Executive Editor PETER CHARALAMBOUS, Managing Editor
ANTHONY ROBLES, Managing Editor
PRODUCTION EDITORS CAROLINE COOK & EOWYN PAK, Opinion Editors
BUSINESS DIRECTORS JONNY FRIED, JASMINE FU, RAIDEN MEYER,
KYLEE SIBILIA, Mirror Editor LILI STERN & BAILY DEETER, Sports Editors LEX KANG & LAUREN SEGAL, Arts Editors DIVYA KOPALLE, Photo Editor SAMANTHA BURACK & BELLA JACOBY, Design Editors HATTIE NEWTON, Templating Editor JESS CAMPANILE, Multimedia Editor
Advertising & Finance Directors HIMADRI NARASIMHAMURTHY & KAI SHERWIN, Business Development Directors ALBERT CHEN & ELEANOR NIEDERMAYER, Strategy Directors VINAY REDDY & ERIC ZHANG, Marketing, Analytics and Technology Directors
ELIZA JANE SCHAEFFER, Engagement Editor WILLIAM CHEN & AARON LEE, Data Visualization Editors
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.
Are some students better poised than others to connect to alumni? Campus was abuzz the last week of September with reunions for the Classes of 1944, 1949 and 1954. Dartmouth’s Homecoming is on Oct. 11, a part of the 250th anniversary celebrations. Alumni will be out in full force, connecting with current students and returning to their old stomping grounds. How have the gaps between alumni and cur rent students changed or remained the same? The incredibly diverse student body is less and less like the alumni classes of the early 1970s and before — how can students connect with alumni? Are some student groups better poised than others to forge meaningful bonds between alumni and students? The Dartmouth Opinion Staff responded. Every year, alumni return to a college that is progressively more different than the college they remember graduating from. Intuitively, legacy students are better poised for establishing meaningful contact with, say, graduates from ’70s, as they already carry, either actively or subconsciously, the values and ideas of the students produced in older campus models. It’s a general rule that humans can’t help gravitating towards familiarity, and in turn, alumni will connect better with students who remind them of themselves. - Zachary Couvillion ’22 While your average student may not be able to relate to alums, the most opportunities for connection exist within campus organizations, where alumni are incredibly interested in connecting with the present members of their old clubs. Whether it is a sports team (as the newly renovated Friends of Dartmouth Rowing Boathouse clearly indicates), a Greek house (see alumni board fundraising efforts for evidence of this) or an affinity or activist group, alumni seem to be very invested in learning about the state of the organizations they once called their own and are consistently eager to hear from and pass wisdom to those who have followed in their footsteps. So even if students are unable to relate to the experiences that alumni had in their time at Dartmouth, the alums are more than ready to hear about what has changed and what has stayed the same. - Teddy Hill-Weld ’20
I live in the Boston area, and when I was accepted, an alum stopped by my house to drop off a Dartmouth t-shirt. Alumni connection varies widely by geographic area, unfairly advantaging some students and harming others. After graduation, there’s a lot more than a free shirt on the line — alumni connections can mean jobs and pathways to future success. This limits student choice when it comes to future plans. Where you live ranks among the most basic freedoms, one weighed upon by the desire to follow an optimal career path. Geography is just a fact of life, but the College can take steps to minimize such disadvantages — one day, every accepted student will be gifted a green shirt to welcome them home. - Maxwell Teszler ’23 Over the last year, I have relied extensively on Dartmouth’s alumni network to find and understand potential career options for after graduation. I have spoken on the phone with at least 20 alums from many different backgrounds and life paths after reaching out via email or LinkedIn to learn more about their stories. I have found that alumni are incredibly responsive and supportive to curious Dartmouth students who are in the process of building their futures would like to learn more about their options. While most of the alumni I have spoken to only graduated Dartmouth within the last five years, I have spoken to alumni from classes as far back as the Class of ’74 — these alumni are frequently the most eager to support the Dartmouth community. I think that my success so far in accessing Dartmouth’s broad alumni network is due to deep shared interests rather than shared backgrounds. The Dartmouth alumni community of Jews from Arizona is not very large — I have spoken to a group of individuals that is highly diverse across racial, gender, religious and regional lines. The shared link between me and the alumni network is not our demographics but our shared passion for the power of business to make the world a better place. On the basis of this experience, I would advise Dartmouth students who would like to access our alumni network to try to do so on the basis of the shared passions and life paths that shape our future than the backgrounds and demographics that shape our past. - Steven Adelberg ’21
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2019
PAGE 5
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
College installing new water-heating system, replacing steam FROM BIOMASS PAGE 1
do not involve combustion in their processes, according to vice president for institutional projects Josh Keniston. The ongoing debate about the biomass system centers on how much carbon will be recaptured by newly planted trees after trees are cut down for use in the system, as well as how to best account for greenhouse gas emissions. Some Hanover residents have expressed concer n about the project, particularly whether or not burning biomass is truly preferable to burning fossil fuels, according to Hanover town manager Julia Griffin. Other energy sources, such as solar technology, were mentioned in a public forum that took place on July 31 as possible non combustionbased energy alternatives. The choice to delay the biomass plant project was the result of the feedback phase of planning, Keniston said. He added that after hearing from alums, community members and members of the climate research community, the College decided it would first conduct an analysis of the energy plant’s future and verify that a biomass plant was the correct decision for the College’s future energy generation center. T he potential location for the biomass plant was never decided on before the project was reconsidered, according to Keniston. Community engagement sessions were conducted about tentative locations earlier this summer before the plan was
delayed, but the College will not announce a preferred site until they have decided whether or not biomass is the best option. The sustainability project as a whole focuses on three main components: efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions and renewability, a c c o rd i n g t o Ke n i s t o n . T h e College’s Green Energ y Plan website states that the College aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2025, improve energy efficiency by 20 percent by 2030 and utilize 100 percent renewable energy by 2050. Keniston noted that a fourth component of the plan — not directly related to the Green Energy Plan — is to upgrade the campus’ aging infrastructure. “A large portion of our current energy system is over 50 years old and needs to be replaced,” Keniston said. The other main project announced as part of the Green Energy Plan — replacing the steam-based heating system on campus with a more efficient waterheating system — is proceeding as planned, with construction currently underway. This system, according to the College’s website, will replace almost 26,000 feet of steam pipes, and 119 buildings on campus will convert their energy sources from steam to hot water. This shift will provide an approximately 20 percent increase in efficiency. Griffin emphasized the importance of the hot water system currently being constructed. She
added that Dartmouth students and city officials spent a week in Denmark in early September to research Scandinavia’s innovations in central hot water heating. “We wanted to just get a feel for what’s the state of the art in a part of the world that is light years ahead of the U.S. on this front,” Griffin said. The trip gave them an opportunity to observe the cutting-edge fuel source technology as renewable energy plants are just beginning operation. Griffin said that the trip to Denmark led the College to commit to moving forward with replacing its steam pipes with insulated hot water pipes. “I think that that decision to take that trip together really reflects our commitment to all be students of this type of heating and grappling with technology and what the future might look like for heating sources for a hot water heating system,” Griffin said. Hot water systems are more consistent than steam systems, according to Keniston. He added that because steam systems have a very intense heat, the system can be heard audibly coming on and shutting off to cool down in a way hot water systems do not. Currently, adding heat to the system can only originate in the central plant because it is a highpressure system. With a hot water system, it is possible to use solar panels on the roofs of a building to heat water within the individual building.
DIVYA KOPALLE/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
The College’s current heating plant burns No. 6 fuel oil.
PAGE 6
DARTMOUTHEVENTS
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2019
THE DARTMOUTH EVENTS
A LAYERED QUESTION
LAUREN PINCHUK ’21
TODAY 12:15 p.m. – 1:00pm
Exhibition: “Mindfulness in the Museum,” sponsored by the Hood Museum of Art, Hood Museum of Art.
4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Seminar: “Collective Sensing and Decision-Making: From Fish Schools to Primate Societies,” by Mark Laidre, sponsored by the Department of Biological Sciences, 201 Life Sciences Center.
5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Exhibition: “Hood After 5,” sponsored by the Hood Museum of Art, Hood Museum of Art.
TOMORROW 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Performance: “Fiddler Patrick Ross HopStop,” sponsored by the Hopkins Center for the Arts, Hopkins Center 204 Alumni Hall.
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Exhibition: “Responding through Movement,” sponsored by the Hood Museum of Art, Hood Museum of Art.
FROM VERBUM ULTIMUM PAGE 4
ISC should thoroughly reexamine rush and consider changes that grant such agency to both sides. A critique of the rush process should not be misconstrued as a critique of the Greek system. The strongest argument for involvement in the Greek system is the sense of community that a participant may find. This is especially true with the D-Plan, which creates stress on long-distance friendships and frequently changing dorms; if one is involved in a Greek house, they have a “home base” that otherwise is difficult to find in Hanover. Yet the process to become a member of these communities doesn’t reflect the welcoming space that
they claim to occupy. The Intersorority Council’s policies should reflect its mission. Currently, they do not. These issues have persisted year after year and improvements have not been made. Last year, this Editorial Board advocated for changes in measures that return choice to female PNMs. Unfortunately, it still remains the case that the rush process lacks transparency and fair, consistent rules that centers PNMs. The rush process needs transparency and fair, consistent rules that give the control to the PNMs. The editorial board consists of the opinion editors, the executive editor and the editor-in-chief.
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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2019
THE DARTMOUTH ARTS
PAGE 7
Review: ‘Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood’ an affectionate satire B y SHERA BHALA
allusions throughout the film and intertwines the stories of the Manson The Dartmouth children, led by cult figure Charles Welcome to 1969 Hollywood. Manson, with the lives of the celebrity Retro buildings, vintage cars and neon leads. Dalton and Booth meet with signs line Hollywood Boulevard. Men a director who suggests acting in dress in bell bottoms, patterned shirts “Spaghetti Westerns” over drinks at and turtlenecks with blazers. Women Hollywood’s oldest restaurant, Musso wear miniskirts and vinyl, knee-high & Frank Grill. As the pair drives away boots. Flower children don bohemian from the establishment that F. Scott Fitzgerald and outfits of the Marilyn Monroe counterculture “[The film] captures were known m o v e m e n t . the spirit of the ’60s to frequent, The Quentin news about T a r a n t i n o - film industry in a the sentencing directed movie polaroid of vintage o f Ro b e r t F. “Once Upon Kennedy’s a T i m e. . . i n glamour and liberating assassin, Sirhan H o l l y w o o d ” freedom. Glittering irhan, is pictures these and exciting, Tarantino Sreported on the vintage scenes through rose- shares his nostalgia for radio. Later that evening, Tate and colored glasses. the Hollywood of the Polanski attend The allan exclusive party s t a r c a s t f o r past.” at the Playboy this comedyMansion in its drama includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Al golden days. As Dalton worries about his fading Pacino and Margot Robbie. DiCaprio plays Rick Dalton, an amusing, fame, a young girl from the Manson self-deprecating “has-been” actor, Family, who goes by “Pussycat,” typecast as a villain for Westerns. Rick momentarily entices Booth. The Dalton’s stunt double, Cliff Booth, hippie, played by Margaret Qualley, played by Pitt, offers him company hitchhikes in Dalton’s 1966 Cadillac and friendship. In return, Booth is DeVille. Booth is the de-facto driver able to glimpse into the glamorous of the car, due to Dalton’s troubles houses of Beverly Hills. Robbie plays with driving under the influence. an innocent, beautiful Sharon Tate, a Pussycat proceeds to openly propose rising actress married to director — sex to Booth — who declines — and and later, fugitive — Roman Polanski. places her dirty feet on the vehicle’s United again after acting together in dash. A scene involving feet is “The Wolf of Wall Street,” DiCaprio expected from Tarantino, whose and Robbie are cast as neighbors movies often include scenes with the living in sprawling houses on Cielo characters of pretty women’s feet, Drive. Elsewhere in Los Angeles, the observed by male leads. Booth lives hippies of the Manson Family have in a trailer behind Van Nuys Drive-In taken up residence in the abandoned Theater, with his loyal pit bull. He is rumored to have murdered his wife Western set of Spahn Ranch. Tarantino embeds historical aboard a boat, has anger issues that
lead to a fight on “The Green Hornet” his followers to kill them. Tarantino set with Bruce Lee and struggles to offers the narrative that everyone find work as a stuntman. Despite wishes was real: the hippies do not his violent tendencies, which later attack Tate and Polanski and instead contribute to the climactic scene of set their homicidal sights on Dalton the movie, he finds a best friend in and Booth. Booth’s aggressively loyal Dalton. pit bull proceeds to kill and maim the A chain smoker and professed Manson followers and the residents alcoholic, Dalton spends his nights of Cielo Drive live happily ever after. drinking cocktails and memorizing Tarantino’s affection for Hollywood lines while floating in his luxurious and its celebrities is evident as he gently pool. He aspires to befriend Tate and satirizes their lives. He softly mocks Polanski in hopes of revitalizing his Dalton’s obsession with celebrity career and image. Tate is depicted status in an ageist film industry. After as the youthful paragon of sweet Dalton forgets his lines while filming innocence. In a sadly morbid meta- a scene for a Western, he returns to take on Tate’s acting career, her his trailer angrily scolding himself character proudly watches a matinee for his forgetfulness, stutter and showing Tate’s real performance in alcoholism. His character is pathetic, “The Wrecking yet entirely Crew” with Dean “The singular violent sympathetic Martin. The and endearing. sweet angelic aura scene in ‘Once Upon His redemption of Tate’s persona, a Time in Hollywood’ comes in in addition to improvising a seems a bit forced and line while filming, h e r p re g n a n t state, g ar ner s idealized, but it is also which earns him a p r o t e c t i v e the result of charm, praise and causes s y m p at hy fo r his confidence her character. humor and a desire for to return. The Her depiction, a different ending.” fame of these like other female characters seems ch a r a c t e r s i n utterly fleeting, Tarantino movies, could be criticized which makes their portrayal all the for its sexism, seeing that in most more dazzling. of her scenes she is barefoot and “Once Upon a Time... in pregnant. However, her depiction also Hollywood” captures the spirit of deserves praise for its intentionally the ’60s film industry in a polaroid innocent portrayal of Tate that feeds of vintage glamour and liberating into her posthumous adoration. freedom. Glittering and exciting, Regardless, one hopes that her real- Tarantino shares his nostalgia for the life brutal murder does not come to Hollywood of the past. This nostalgia fruition in the movie. is coupled with a wishful desire for The hope that Tate escapes a a fairytale ending to match the title murderous fate is appeased through of the movie. Sliding on a pair of the ending of “Once Upon a Time... Tarantino’s rose-colored glasses, in Hollywood.” Manson, having once upon a time in Hollywood the made a previous visit to the home Manson Family did not kill a pregnant of Tate and Polanski, orders some of actress and her friends in a glamorous
Beverly Hills house. Instead, the heroes of Hollywood defend themselves in a gory, yet humorous battle reminiscent of “Pulp Fiction.” Tarantino’s 1994 crime drama, his pièce de résistance, while far more violent and complex in its non-linear style, has a presence in the new film. Booth sics his pit bull on the invaders, a scene accompanied by bloody graphics comparable to the killings by hitmen Vincent Vega, played by John Travolta, and Jules Winnfield, portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson, to secure a mysterious, glowing briefcase for their gangster boss. The singular violent scene in “Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood” seems a bit forced and idealized, but it is also the result of charm, humor and a desire for a different ending. Dalton’s use of a flamethrower to torch a Manson member in his pool is crazy, horrifying and hilarious all at once. Tarantino masterfully weaves history and fiction into a humorous, affectionate story of Hollywood. While a fairytale about Hollywood seems vacuous upon first glance, each character is utterly endearing, and their lives engrossing. The brilliance of Tarantino’s portrayal of 1969 Hollywood is in its dreamy, wild surface and its heartfelt melancholic depths. There is a world to be adored, yet sadly yearned for in his portrayal. To compare the nostalgic polaroid of “Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood” with a song, Post Malone’s newlyreleased song “Hollywood’s Bleeding” contains similar elements in a more negative, tragic way. He views life in Hollywood as a vapid, painful existence. This Hollywood is the very world Tarantino escapes from in “Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood,” while in search of a golden, or rose-colored, past.
SPORTS SPORTS The Redshirt Senior
with Evan Griffith ’18 Th’20 The Redshirt Senior: The Tanking for Tua™ Dolphins and Other Bad NFL Teams We’re four weeks into the 2019 National Football League season and the narratives are already popping up around the media. After all, four data points is more than enough to make definitive statements regarding the state of a team this year, right? Nothing is ever set in stone. For example, the Los Angeles Rams were undefeated going into Sunday with a win against the 2018 NFC runner-up New Orleans Saints; the Rams would lose 55-40 at home against the 1-2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Kansas City Chiefs were undefeated and putting up massive points going into Sunday. They would barely beat the often-overlooked Detroit Lions (now 2-1-1) in a game where Pat Mahomes threw zero touchdown passes. The Miami Dolphins even had the lead at one point against the Los Angeles Chargers. Anything can happen! Going over the major story-lines this season and keeping the topic on bad teams, the Dolphins are bad. I already talked about that last week. But there are some equally bad teams that are being overlooked by
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the Dolphins’ apparent attempts at Tanking for Tua™. In addition to the Dolphins, there are five other winless teams in the NFL at the moment: the New York Jets, the Cincinnati Bengals, the Denver Broncos, the Washington Football Team and the Arizona Cardinals (at 0-3-1). Let’s start with the Broncos, since it gives me the most schadenfreude to write about them as a Raiders fan. The Broncos have been in a perpetual state of rebuilding ever since Peyton Manning retired after Super Bowl 50. After Manning retired, general manager and overrated quarterback John Elway selected Manning’s replacement, 2016 first-round draft pick and quarterback-of-the-future Paxton Lynch. Lynch was everything Elway wanted in a quarterback, meaning he was tall. Nevertheless, Lynch failed to beat out former seventh-round pick Trevor Siemian for the starting job. The Broncos missed the playoffs that year for the first time since 2010 and head coach Gary Kubiak retired and was replaced by the underqualified Vance Joseph. Joseph never did anything of note as the defensive coordinator for the Dolphins, and he sure as heck didn’t translate well to head coaching. The fabled No Fly Zone defense that helped Denver win the Super Bowl regressed that year with the departure of Aqib Talib to the Rams and with an anemic offense that was not led by Lynch after he couldn’t get the starting job again, the Broncos finished 5-11 in 2017. The next year, nothing else changed except for the signing of Case Keenum at quarterback, and after Lynch didn’t win the starting job AGAIN, the Broncos went 6-10 for the team’s first back-to-back losing seasons since 1971-72 and Lynch was released. Now, the Broncos have signed the elite Joe Flacco to serve as a stopgap for the season while second-round pick Drew Lock learns
the offense (on IR). Elway has served as a poor GM during this time for his questionable handling regarding Denver’s quarterback situation, and I hope as a Raiders fan that he never leaves. I want to pivot to Arizona for a moment since a few of the teams’ struggles are due to bad luck: The Jets have a first-year head coach and the team’s second-year quarterback Sam Darnold was out for a few games with mono, and the Bengals’ offensive line and AJ Green have been injured in addition to the team having a first-year head coach. The Cardinals also have a first-year head coach in Kliff Kingsbury, who had an interesting journey to reach this position. He spent the 2013 through 2018 seasons at Texas Tech University as the school’s head football coach, compiling a 35-40 overall record and a 19-35 record in Big 12 play. He was then fired from the position and was hired by the University of Southern California as the team’s offensive coordinator. He was then contacted by a few NFL teams for head coaching positions, which caused USC athletic director and most overrated player in the NFL Hall of Fame Lynn Swann to block those teams’ calls. Kingsbury then resigned from USC and accepted the head coaching gig with Arizona. I don’t think I’ve heard of anyone falling backward into an NFL coaching gig like Kingsbury has. Then taking a look at how the Cardinals ended up with the team’s current quarterback, it’s interesting to think about their approach. The Cardinals traded up in last year’s draft to get Josh Rosen. The team then floundered to the first overall pick with Rosen and a first-year head coach in Steve Wilks. Then the team fired the coach after only one year and picked quarterback Kyler Murray with the first overall pick while Rosen was still on the
team. The Cardinals then shipped Rosen off for a second-round draft pick to the Miami Dolphins, basically without giving him a chance to succeed in an offense with continuity. The Cardinals’ experiment with a college offense looked promising for about the last half of the team’s opening weekend matchup with the Detroit Lions that ended in a tie, but the struggling defense has yet to help put wins on the board. Who knows, maybe
they’ll try again with a new coach next year. Washington’s problem is its ownership, which can be a whole separate column from this, but their on-the-field talent is not terrible by any means. If it seems like I’m being crass with my assessments that may be true, I’m writing this after I got out of an interview and I need to let things out. Tune in next week after I’ll have done some yoga for a more positive outlook on things.