The Dartmouth 10/25/2019

VOL. CLXXVI NO. 89

RAIN LIKELY HIGH 53 LOW 37

NEWS

Q&A WITH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, NJ SENATOR CORY BOOKER PAGE 2

OPINION

COLIN: SOC, TLA, QDS ...

AND FINANCIAL LITERACY? PAGE 6

VERBUM ULTIMUM: WORDS MATTER PAGE 6

ARTS

REVIEW: SEASON 5 OF ‘PEAKY BLINDERS’ A STUDY OF AMBITION, ETHICS PAGE 8

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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2019

HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE

With AG investigation “Dream big, fight hard”: Warren ongoing, judge raises holds second event at Dartmouth PBS settlement concerns

B y Coalter palmer The Dartmouth

A criminal investigation that began nearly two years ago into the alleged sexual misconduct of three former psychological and brain sciences professors is still ongoing, according to the office of New Hampshire Attorney General Gordon MacDonald ’83. Meanwhile, a federal judge recently expressed concerns about the proposed settlement of a lawsuit brought by several former

students against the College charging that Dartmouth failed for several years to act on allegations of misconduct against the former professors.

Beyond acknowledging that the investigation was still in progress, the attorney general’s communications director Kate Spinner said the office was unable to comment further on the matter.

C h a rl e s D o u g l a s, a Concord attorney who served SEE PBS PAGE 3

Tuck sees significant decrease in applications B y IOANA ANDRADA pantelimon The Dartmouth

T he Tuck School of Business received 2,032 applications in 2018-19, a 22.5-percent decrease from the previous academic year.

The decline is consistent with a national trend that has affected peer business schools over the past few years, according to Tuck’s executive director of admissions and financial aid Luke Anthony Peña. However, Peña said

the decline in applications “was entirely concentrated in this last year.” But Peña noted that, historically, “Tuck generally catches up with market application volume one or two years after the rest of the market.”

The trend of declining graduate business applications at Tuck and other peer institutions across the U.S. has occurred at the domestic and international level. One of the main reasons for domestic SEE TUCK PAGE 5

ELSA ERICKSEN/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), a leading presidential candidate, campaigned in the Bema Thursday.

B y SOLEIL GAYLORD The Dartmouth

Framed by the fall foliage of the Bema, Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren spoke to a crowd of approximately 1,100 students, professors and community members Thursday afternoon.

Warren, a U.S. senator from Massachusetts, came dressed in a bright red cardigan to signify her support for public education — and brought an air of enthusiasm to match.

When Warren last visited Dartmouth in April, she was in fourth place in New Hampshire’s crucial first-in-thenation primary, according to polls at the time. However, after a slow, steady rise in the crowded

field over the summer, she leads former vice president Joe Biden by 3.3 percentage points in the RealClearPolitics average of polls in New Hampshire, though she still trails him nationally by 5.4 points.

Warren opened the event with several personal anecdotes detailing her personal life and upbringing, a consistent theme throughout her rally. She described her formative years as a highly difficult period — her father worked multiple jobs and later suffered a major heart attack, making him unable to work for an extended period of time.

Warren then stressed the importance of the minimum wage in rescuing her family from the potential loss of their home.

The senator also described her tumultuous younger years — dropping out of college, getting married and working a minimum wage job.

War ren then related her personal story — one of struggling to achieve the American Dream — to large swathes of middle-class and minority Americans who she said suffer from the same problems. Warren attributed this inequality to a single problematic factor: leadership of the country.

“It was only years later that I came to understand that that same story is a story about government,” Warren said.

Warren repeatedly expressed her concerns regarding middleSEE WARREN PAGE 4

PAGE 2

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2019

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

Q&A with presidential candidate, NJ senator Cory Booker B y LAUREN ADLER The Dartmouth

On Sunday, Cory Booker, New Jersey senator and Democratic presidential candidate, visited Dartmouth for a campaign event at the Top of the Hop. Booker discussed issues such as criminal justice reform and gun violence, while also touching on the importance of unity and maintaining Democratic values in the 2020 election. Booker began his political career as a member of the Newark municipal council, and he rose to political prominence as mayor of that city. Since becoming a U.S. senator in 2017, Booker has been outspoken on issues such as gun control, prison reform, affirmative action and same-sex marriage. After his Sunday event, Booker spoke with The Dartmouth about issues facing young people.

What do you believe will be the largest issue facing the next generation? If elected, how would you approach it?

CB: I think the largest issue facing the next generation is the ability to bring this country together in common cause and common purpose. Because if we don’t have more unity in this country, as opposed to having just awful partisanship — or unnecessary partisanship, I should say — and tribalism, we’re never going to be able to mobilize to deal with climate change, public education, infrastructure.

Necessary for all those things is for us to better understand that we have common cause together.

How would you strengthen social and economic mobility for young people?

CB: There’s a number of things, from making sure that we create wealth early on through our baby bonds legislation, which I hope people find out more about. We also need to make sure we have pathways to career success and that means affordable college. It means having apprenticeship programs, it

means making sure that, whatever job you have, work pays. We are a nation right now where the minimum wage hasn’t kept up with productivity — it should be $15 an hour or more. We need to make sure that we are a country that lessens barriers to a successful life — whether it’s retirement security, healthcare, making sure that people who want to have kids can afford it — all these things are necessary for young people in the next generation to thrive.

A recently passed state law may restrict voting rights for many Dartmouth students in this coming election. If elected, how would you protect the right to vote?

CB: Well, I think that this is a real big problem in a lot of the country. You see Republican legislatures doing everything that they can to roll back people’s access to the polls. That’s unacceptable to me, so we’re going to work to reestablish the Voting Rights Act, and through Congress, we’re going have a deal with the Department of Justice that’s going to actually investigate and take on a lot of these people who are undermining free and fair access to the polls. I believe there is a concerted effort for people to deny access to voting rights in order to unjustly secure electoral victories, and that’s contrary to every ideal of our democracy. And so I’ll use every lever at my behest to stop the things that are being done to undermine people’s free and fair access to polls.

What would you tell a young person who fears that their children will be worse off than they are?

CB: To fight. To not concede to that potential. Every generation of Americans has faced dire challenges.

We cannot allow it just to happen, we can’t surrender to cynicism about it happening. We have got to fight. This democracy has shown that it is very receptive to activism and engagement.

That’s why I said in my remarks, if I’m your president, I’m not going to tell

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

GRACIE GOODWIN/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Booker spoke to a crowd of students and community members at the Top of the Hop on Sunday.

you I’m going to solve the problems, I’m going to demand that we solve our problems. I’m going to ask more from every American citizen than they’ve ever been asked for by a president before, because I know we need a lot more engagement to secure our democracy and advance this nation and make sure that the next generation is better than the one before — that our tomorrows are better than our yesterdays.

Is America exceptional?

CB: I mean, that’s just way too simplistic of a question in many ways, but of course America is exceptional. I’ve traveled all around planet Earth, and I’m so excited about this country — the diversity of this nation, the extraordinary things we’ve accomplished, from beating the Nazis, to putting someone on the moon, to advancing technologies and innovations, we are an extraordinary nation. But every generation should be committed to doing things that further affirm that exceptionality, because in some very important measures, we’re falling behind. We, of the industrial nations, have some of the highest child

poverty rates. We lead in horrible health outcomes of developed nations. I can go through things from the epidemic of gun violence to the outrageously high number of people we incarcerate. These are things that are absolutely unacceptable, and so we need to do a lot more to work to make our nation be who we say we are, a nation of liberty and justice for all.

But I have faith in us. I have faith that this generation of Americans and the ones coming right behind me can do things that the rest of humanity looks at and goes, “Wow, that’s not only exceptional, but it’s inspiring us to meet the American challenge and the American example.”

This interview has been edited for clarity.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2019

PAGE 3

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

Tuck Mentors program seeks to improve student relationships B y ELIZA GALLANT The Dartmouth

While the gulf between graduate and undergraduate students at Dartmouth can sometimes appear vast, the Tuck Mentors program at the Tuck School of Business — founded as the Dartmouth Professional Insight Network three years ago by Tuck students — aims to create a better relationship between Tuck and undergraduate students.

Sydney Schuit Tu’20, a leader and mentor for the club, said that Tuck students have valuable experiences which make them excellent mentors to undergraduates.

“Tuck students have real-world business experiences and undergrads tend to be searching for what they want to be when they grow up,” Schuit said. “Tuck Mentors is a nice opportunity to bring the two campuses together.”

The program has two “pillars,” a c c o rd i n g t o S ch u i t : c a re e r exploration and a mentorship program.

The career exploration pillar aims to assist undergraduates in exploring

a wide variety of potential careers.

Schuit said that although the Center for Professional Development offers assistance for career options such as consulting and finance, Tuck students can offer a larger variety of career expertise.

Schuit said that the program is organizing a career-exploration fair that will occur on Nov. 6. At the fair, there will be different booths for a variety of industries, including finance, marketing, media and social impact.

“Undergraduates can come and go as they please and ask direct questions to Tuck students,” Schuit said.

The program is also planning smaller-scale, themed dinners at Molly’s Restaurant, where undergraduates can talk to Tuck students about their experiences.

At an upcoming marketing-themed dinner, for example, Schuit said that there will be a Tuck mentor for every five or six students.

The prog ram’s mentorship program pairs each participating undergraduate student with a secondyear Tuck student for a year, starting in the spring. This year, there are

50 pairings, according to Schuit.

She added that this one-on-one mentorship provides guidance for undergraduates throughout their “career discovery journey.”

“Tuck student mentors act as a resource for their undergraduate mentee as he or she goes through the entire process of what should my resume look like, interview prep and any questions that that person has,” Schuit said.

The Tuck Mentors program benefits both mentors and mentees, Schuit said.

“We hope undergraduates gain access to a bigger network and mentorship throughout the entire career processes,” Schuit said. “I think those of us at Tuck either benefited from a mentor or wish we had had a strong mentor.”

Schuit expressed concern over the awareness of the club and indicated that improving outreach for the program is a main priority. Last year, the program began working with the Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the CPD, Schuit said.

“We are trying to get the word out more this year to the undergraduate

campus and expand the amount of people engaging with the club,” Schuit said.

T h e Ro c k e f e l l e r C e n t e r ’s Management and Leadership Development Program director Robin Frye said that MLDP hopes to co-sponsor dinners with the Tuck Mentors program and help encourage students to join because the two programs complement each other.

“MLDP prepares students to prepare for a workplace culture within an academic setting,” Frye said. “Then, through the Tuck Mentors program, dinners and the career fair, students are tapping into real, practical advice from people who have been in the workforce and also furthering themselves towards getting a job after graduation.”

Coco Chu ’21, a pre-med student, joined the Tuck Mentors program last spring. She said that wanted to learn more about business to learn whether she wanted to combine her interests in business and medicine.

Chu said that she has had a positive experience with her mentor, Linda Horner Tu’20, adding that Horner

advised her on club leadership and that they worked together on interview preparation.

“I am always so amazed by how much experience that my mentor has had and the professional situations she has dealt with,” Chu said.

“Whenever I ask her how to approach a certain situation, she always has really great solutions that I would never think about.”

Horner said she became a mentor in order to give back to the community and provide help similar to what she was provided in her undergraduate years.

“Thinking back to how I got here, I realize I would not have gotten here if it were not for the mentors in my life,” Horner said. “I didn’t have the opportunity to have this set-up, structured program in my undergraduate [years], and so I had to look outside of my school to find that person who pushed me to explore things.”

She added that she sees herself as a “sounding board” and as someone who can help Chu through things like interview preparation and success at internships.

Judge stated that settlement class in PBS lawsuit may be “too broad” FROM PBS PAGE 1

as local counsel for the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, cited the large scope of the case as the likely reason the investigation has lasted as long as it has.

“Because [the investigation] involves multiple women and multiple professors, it probably is a much more time-consuming project than would otherwise be the case,” Douglas said.

“I don’t know long [the investigation] will continue, but if it went another year that wouldn’t surprise me.”

According to Douglas, who also served as local counsel for the sexual misconduct case against St. Paul’s School that made national headlines in 2015, the attorney general had two precedents to go by involving institutions: the St. Paul’s case, in

which the New Hampshire attorney general found evidence of child endangerment against the school, and the 2002 Manchester Diocese sexual misconduct scandal, in which 60 priests were accused of sexual abuse of minors over a span of 40 years.

The attorney general similarly found evidence of child endangerment in its investigation of the diocese’s handling of these accusations.

Investigations into St. Paul’s School and the Manchester Diocese lasted 10 months and six months, respectively, at which point the terms of a settlement were agreed upon. The attorney general investigation into misconduct at Dartmouth, which was announced on Oct. 31, 2017, will be entering its 25th month next week.

In the attorney general’s settlement with St. Paul’s, the school was not

required to pay monetary fines, but MacDonald announced that, among other terms, the school would be required to have an independent compliance overseer “on campus to monitor how they are handling cases of sexual assault” for five years, according to Douglas. The diocese’s settlement similarly stipulated that the church would be subject to yearly compliance audits by the attorney general’s office. Douglas said the case of the Manchester diocese was “unprecedented” at the time.

The outcome of the attorney general’s investigation into the diocese was similarly unprecedented, as, according to the New York Times, the New Hampshire church was the “first diocese to settle a criminal case.”

In August, Dartmouth reached a $14 million settlement with plaintiffs

in the federal class action lawsuit, which was filed in November 2018, but the attorney general’s office can still pursue criminal charges in response to the allegations of misconduct and institutional negligence.

Federal district court Judge Landya McCafferty, who has presided over the lawsuit, recently stated in a preliminary hearing for the proposed settlement that she sees “positive” momentum behind the settlement. However, she also expressed concern that the class outlined in the settlement, which includes financial compensation for all female students who worked under the professors involved in the scandal, is “too broad,” according to a report of court proceedings by the Valley News.

Diana Whitney ’95, co-founder of the Dartmouth Community Against

Gender Harassment and Sexual Violence advocacy group, said that it is important that the plaintiffs in the lawsuit brought forward their stories, and she expressed displeasure with the judge’s statements on the settlement.

“Speaking as an advocate, I was disappointed to read that update ... and I very much hope that this doesn’t stop the settlement moving forward,” Whitney said.

Of the ongoing investigation, Whitney said she believes the that the three professors must be held accountable.

“My hope absolutely would be that the perpetrators of these abuses in [the psychological and brain sciences department] would be found guilty and held accountable for repeated sexual assaults of up to nine students in their departments,” Whitney said.

PAGE 4

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2019

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

Warren pledges to break up big corporations, institute wealth tax FROM WARREN PAGE 1

class American families.

“I don’t want a government that works for multinational corporations — I want a government that works for families,” she added.

On numerous occasions, Warren expressed her discontent with monetary influence in Washington, commitment to breaking up big multinational corporations, and her desire to enforce antitrust laws and end the revolving door between lobbyists and politicians.

Warren described several methods that she would utilize to combat the power of big business. First, she emphasized promoting union membership and giving employees and customers more influence. Warren focused next on one of the focal points of her campaign: a wealth tax that would tax two cents on each dollar of incomes over $50 million.

Warren claimed that with this tax on the richest one percent of Americans, the government could fund universal childcare and universal pre-K, raise the wages of childcare workers, fund education for children with disabilities and pay for college and student debt.

She described her tax plan as “pitching in two cents so everyone else can make it.”

Warrenthenspokeontheimportance of protecting American democracy.

“We need a constitutional

amendment to protect the right of every American citizen to vote,” she said, making a point to denounce partisan gerrymandering and laws that she said suppress voter turnout and expressing a desire to end both.

She added that she would also work to repeal the controversial 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission Supreme Court decision as president.

In a question-and-answer session following her speech, Warren addressed issues of gun violence, climate change and rule of law. The senator detailed her plan to reduce gun violence by 80 percent as well as her multi-pronged plan to reduce U.S. carbon emissions by 70 percent by the year 2035.

Warren also expressed discontent with what she described as the Trump administration’s lack of adherence to “rule of law.”

“Dream big, fight hard, let’s win,” Warren appealed to the audience in her closing statement.

Following the event, Kenna Vansteyn ’21 expressed positive sentiments regarding Warren’s demeanor.

“I like how personable she is, but she is also brilliant,” Vansteyn said.

Latin American, Latino and Caribbean studies professor Andre Pagliarini also viewed the town hall positively, although he expressed concern about Warren’s lack of discussion of foreign policy.

“I’m pretty much on board with

ELSA ERICKSEN/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Over 1,000 people attended Warren’s event on Thursday, according to her campaign.

supporting her,” Pagliarini said. “The only thing I had hoped for is a little more discussion of foreign policy, particularly regarding Latin America, which is what I work on.”

Just the latest of recent 2020 candidate visits to Dartmouth, Warren’s

event comes within weeks of speeches, rallies and town halls from candidates including U.S. senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Michael Bennet (D-CO) and former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld, running in the Republican primary.

Afterward, Warren greeted a line of students and community members to take selfies.

“I’ll stay with you as long as you want and take selfies,” Warren said. “We will have some fun. Because that’s how it should be.”

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2019

PAGE 5

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

Despite drop in applications, Tuck sees highest-ever exam scores FROM TUCK PAGE 1

declines in application numbers is the strong economy in the U.S., which creates a high opportunity cost for leaving the workforce and pursuing an MBA, Peña said. Thus, many potential candidates opt to keep their jobs instead of going to business school. In the case of international candidates, he said, uncertainty about the hiring market in the U.S. and the current visa landscape have deterred candidates from pursuing a degree. Instead, international candidates are applying to schools in Canada, Europe, Australia, Singapore or China, Peña said.

Hoping to influence change in these areas, Tuck dean Matthew Slaughter and several other business school deans recently advocated for policy reform, according to Peña.

Although the overall volume of domestic and international applications has decreased, Tuck managed to enroll the highest percentage of minority students — 24 percent of the class — and international students — 38 percent of the class — in its history, receiving candidates from 45 countries, “the greatest number of countries represented by a single class in the school’s history,” Peña said.

Tuck has launched ef forts to increase MBA applications, including a fundraising campaign

for student scholarships, heightened inter national recruitment and adjustments to the program’s firstyear core curriculum.

Beyond the fundraising campaign, Tuck has addressed the affordability of its MBA program by increasing the number and size of scholarships awarded in the past couple years, according to Peña.

To recruit international students, Tuck reached out to prospective inter national applicants and provided them with a clearer “value proposition” of a Tuck MBA, Peña said. Additionally, Peña said he spent part of his summer recruiting in Asia, Latin America and Europe.

Additionally, the first-year core curriculum was revamped this year to include greater emphasis on analytics and leadership skills, according to Tuck’s senior associate dean for teaching and learning Joe Hall. He added that Tuck adjusted its course load to allow first-year students to focus on obtaining an internship for the summer between their first and second years.

The decline in applications appears to not coincide with a decrease in the qualifications of students. In fact, the Class of 2021 surpassed previous records, achieving an average GMAT — the graduate school entrance exam — score of 723, the highest in the school’s history.

SYDNEY GILLMAN/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Tuck’s drop in applications is consistent with a nationwide trend for MBA programs.

“[The Class of 2021 is] totally on par with what I would expect from any Tuck class after teaching here for 20 years, so [there is] no noticeable difference in quality at all,” Hall said.

When deciding whether to apply to Tuck, Hall said he believes that Tuck fosters a close-knit community.

SYDNEY GILLMAN/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Thirty-eight percent of the Tuck Class of 2021 are international students.

T r a n g L e Tu ’ 2 0 s a i d she appreciates Tuck’s strong collaborative community, the core curriculum and the great academic opportunities.

Le said her degree will set her “on a different leadership trajectory to be able to move up the corporate

ladder more quickly.”

Hall said that despite questions about the value of an MBA degree, he believes “coming back and getting and MBA is a great way to restart [one’s] career by getting exposed to new areas, even in a very strong economy.”

PAGE 6

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2019

THE DARTMOUTH OPINION

CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST SARAH COLIN ’23

THE DARTMOUTH EDITORIAL BOARD

SOC,TLA, QDS ... and Financial Literacy?

Verbum Ultimum: Words Matter

Dartmouth should consider adding a personal finance course requirement.

How policies are communicated impacts students’ perception of them.

$1.5 trillion. This stark number represents to dealing with money in high school. the current student loan debt falling on the Currently, only 17 states have incorporated shoulders of over 45 million borrowers, a personal finance course into their schools’ from current college students to adults who core curricula, and studies show that even graduated decades ago. this basic course is highly beneficial. A Given the drastic financial challenges that 2014 Federal Reserve report shows that are evidently present in students’ lives from the students with a background education in day they put down their college deposits, it is personal finance went on to have credit now more imperative than ever that America’s scores that were seven to 29 points higher young adults increase than students who did not their financial literacy. In take a personal finance “This course should particular at Dartmouth, a course in high school. school known for feeding focus on skills that are Given the profound effect the incoming classes of that financial literacy immediately relevant courses have on high prestigious business schools with alums scattered up school students, imagine in students’ lives, or and down Wall Street, the ways such a course will be soon.” it is important that the could benefit college College make the most undergraduates who have of its strong economics had more experience department by making a personal finance with money and are closer to applying these course requirement for all students. lessons in the real world, most imminently The College deems a variety of course with student debt. areas indispensably valuable, to the extent If Dartmouth were to require a course that they are distributive requirements on personal finance, what would it entail? that every student must fulfill to graduate. This course should focus on skills that are While Dartmouth graduates emerge well- immediately relevant in students’ lives, or versed in a foreign language, exposed to at will be soon. For instance, with investment least three world cultures and capable of and stock market basics, students could swimming 50 yards across a swimming pool, make smart investments to compound their there is no requirement that acknowledges earnings even in their first few years out of the importance of personal finance, basic college. Also, as simple as it seems, it is critical knowledge of how the stock market works that students understand what is actually or even how to pay taxes. happening when they use their credit card: The lack of financial education in The money is not just taken from your bank institutions of higher education can be traced back even further to the lack of exposure SEE COLIN PAGE 7

Last week, the College partially reversed just before enactment sends a signal that the the new card access policy, reopening House policy change was not well thought-out. Why centers and other social spaces to all students. wasn’t the announcement made earlier?

This came after the College received almost However, the College made a bigger universally negative input from students and mistake in the announcement of the partial worked with Student Assembly to ameliorate reversal last week. While the Office of discontent. This Editorial Board has already Residential Life was officially responsible criticized the policy changes at the beginning for the policy change, it was not the one to of this term, and we are pleased that the make the announcement that social spaces College has taken steps to undo what was would be reopened to all students. Instead, clearly a misguided tactic.

Student Assembly sent out an email to We commend the College for taking students informing them of the change, while action in the face of backlash against an no subsequent announcement was sent by unpopular and ineffective policy. The College ORL or any college official. has worked in a constructive manner with Why does this matter? The email, sent and students to make this partial policy reversal signed by Student Assembly, was written “on swift and immediate. Significant credit is also behalf of ” ORL. While Student Assembly has due to Student Assembly, which has been every right to take some credit for the policy responsive to student concerns and is working reversal, it is very strange that they made the to uphold its mission as representatives of the announcement on behalf of College officials. student body during its negotiations with the The policy reversal, although undertaken College on the new policies. during negotiations with Student Assembly, However, while we believe both sides is ultimately a decision that must be made are doing their best in the interest of by the College, and the College must be the students, the manner in which the College one to make announcements on official policy has communicated policy changes — both changes that affect all of campus. the initial announcement By allowing a n d t h e m o re re c e n t Student Assembly to make “When the College partial-reversal — the announcement, the communicates with implies an unwillingness College has potentially by the College to take students, especially on set a bad precedent. In full responsibility for a universally significant partially reversing the mistaken decision. policy, the College clearly matters, the methods recognized that its initial The College announced its new card access policy decision to restrict access it chooses to do so on Sept. 13, the Friday

by House communities signals its larger before the beginning of was mistaken. The motives.” fall term classes, and did email from Student not communicate any such Assembly, however, gives change would come before the appearance that the that weekend. To announce such a policy College was shirking its ownership of an at such a busy time made it seem, whether unpopular policy and allows the College intentional or not, like the College was trying to distance itself from its responsibility to to sneak in a policy they knew might be actively and clearly communicate to students unpopular among students, at a time that is how the College is being administered. already difficult and stressful for many.

Should students expect that other students, The manner in which the College not the College, will be notifying campus communicated the card access policy sends about new policies in the future as well? an implicit message of disorganization and A clear email from ORL or another poor planning, which may correlate to a lack College official explaining the policy update of care for the impact on student life. For would have demonstrated the College’s issues like the card access policy that affects earnestness on responding to students. every student on campus, earlier and constant In the past, the College has had no issue communication is essential. While the policy communicating changes that have benefited was likely planned extensively, the fact that students were only informed of the change SEE VERBUM ULTIMUM PAGE 7

DEBORA HYEMIN HAN, Editor-in-Chief

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.

PAGE 7

DARTMOUTHEVENTS TODAY 3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Lecture: “Riding Data Waves: From Ripples to Tsunamis,” with Cornell University professor Brenda Dietrich, sponsored by the Thayer School of Engineering, Cummings Hall, Spanos Auditorium.

5:00 p.m. – 6:45 p.m.

Symposium: “The New Now: Art, Museums and the Future,” sponsored by the Hood Museum of Art, Hood Museum of Art.

8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.

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

TOMORROW 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Lecture: “My Free Speech in My Front Yard but Your Church in My Back Yard?” with David Bisno, sponsored by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Dartmouth, Moore Hall, Filene Auditorium.

4:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Worship: “Diwali: Hindu Festival of Lights Celebration,” sponsored by the Tucker Center, Rollins Chapel.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2019

THE DARTMOUTH EVENTS

FROM VERBUM ULTIMUM PAGE 6

the student body. But if the College is to take responsibility for the good, it must also be willing to take responsibility for the bad.

Students will be more inclined to respect policy changes that they disagree with if they are communicated effectively. In the fall of 2018, the College changed longstanding Homecoming traditions by shortening the bonfire, having students walk one lap instead of running multiple laps and strictly enforcing the “don’t touch the fire” policy. The College sent out multiple statements about the changes as early as spring of 2018 and maintained constant communication with the student body. The College prioritized thoroughly explaining the safety motives behind these changes. Though some students were discontent, they respected the decision: No attempts to touch the fire have been made in the past two years, though the large fencing around the fire may have been a deterrent.

When the College communicates w i t h s t u d e n t s, e s p e c i a l l y o n

FROM COLIN PAGE 6

account. Basic lessons about accounting for risk, building credit and accounting for interest will serve everyone well down the road.

Despite all of these benefits, there are still many who view personal finance courses as a waste of time. Dartmouth already has distributive requirements which can be satisfied by economics classes, raising questions as to whether it is worth the struggle to add another graduation requirement and take away from the classes students have left to explore outside their majors. As a liberal arts college, it is Dartmouth’s mission not just to transfer knowledge to the next generation, but also to cultivate a skill set in graduates that will make them successful in the real world.

These skills include strong written and oral communication, analytical

significant matters, the methods it uses to do so signal its larger priorities, which should be the student body’s ability to participate in policies that will affect them.

Sometimes the College will make a popular announcement, and sometimes it will make a decision widely unpopular with students.

Either way, the College must be forthright and transparent in order to maintain students’ trust.

Inevitably, the College will make mistakes, and it has lost some student trust due to the new card access policies. But when the College admits it was wrong, we can at least respect its honesty and desire to move forward.

The email from Student Assembly implied that a decision is forthcoming on whether the dorm access restrictions will remain in place. Whatever that ultimate decision may be, it is essential that the College itself make the announcement. If the College wants to regain trust with students on this issue, it must own up to its decisions.

The editorial board consists of the opinion editors, the executive editor and the editor-in-chief.

and creative thinking, and readiness to learn new concepts. These are valued for their versatility and wideranging applications no matter what field graduates choose.

Along the same line of reasoning, money is central in every adult’s life, no matter what field one chooses.

While money does not equate to happiness, it certainly creates a nice sense of security, and learning how to handle money in college is an invaluable long-term commodity that is worth the addition of another distributive requirement.

This personal finance requirement shouldn’t come at the cost of one of the pre-existing requirements.

However, the myriad of real-life applications of economics sets it apart from other subject areas, making it as critical as writing, quantitative reasoning and other “life skills” necessary to graduate.

With the wealth of the mean

Dartmouth student being far above the national average, their financial literacy is perhaps even more crucial than at other schools.

It is about time we welcome an 11th distributive requirement: financial literacy.

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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2019

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THE DARTMOUTH ARTS

Review: Season 5 of ‘Peaky Blinders’ a study of ambition, ethics B y emma guo

The Dartmouth Staff

Set after World War I, “Peaky Blinders,” the fifth season of which came out this month, is centered around the Shelbys, a Romani family who have made their name as gangsters in the streets of Birmingham, England.

At the head of the family is Thomas (Tommy) Shelby, played by Cillian Murphy, a ruthless and overly logical patriarch who, at the end of season four, becomes a newly minted member of Parliament to fulfill his longtime goal of becoming a legitimate business owner and politician who speaks for the people. While the show maintains its focus on the Shelbys’ endeavors to cultivate power and protect their own, the fifth season adds depth to the show in its discussion of mental health and morality.

The fifth season of “Peaky Blinders” begins on Black Tuesday, the major stock market crash of 1929 that signaled the beginning of the Great Depression. As the Shelbys lose most of their legitimate assets in America due to the crash, they must scramble to regain the money they lost. Following Tommy’s lead, the family returns to the illegitimate enterprises it attempted to abandon — fixing horse races, football matches and shipping illegal goods. At one point, Tommy is presented with the opportunity to gain back all of the money his family lost in the United States when he is given the chance to ship seven tons of opium out of the country.

As Tommy becomes a drug kingpin, much to the chagrin of his family, he is also attempting to solidify his role as a reputable member of Parliament.

Tommy is portrayed as a representative of the people, voicing the concerns of the working class of Birmingham and ensuring they are not subject to the will

of the wealthy.

Throughout the season, Tommy is seen constantly moving from one project to the next, always on the move, putting out fires left and right. It is a season of motion for Tommy and for those around him as we see people enter and exit the family and attempt to take charge of their lives separate from their public roles as members of the Shelby family.

Tommy, like the rest of his family, is restless as he occupies his time with many ventures. The viewer sees his ambition take control, as he goes to great lengths to gain money and power at the expense of his mental health and those around him.

In previous seasons, we see the ruthlessness of Tommy, who refuses to be vulnerable and feels pressure to present a confident, steadfast figure in the midst of the chaos his family attracts.

This season, however, the writers depict the toll Tommy’s ventures have taken on him, introducing a new layer that not only cements his character development, but also enhances the strength of the show.

This change in direction gave me an avenue through which to connect with the characters on a deeper level, as viewers can associate with the stress Tommy is under. What makes this season stronger and different than past ones is how the writers finally humanize Tommy — no longer is he a violent, senseless leader but a human being who feels desperately the crushing weight of family responsibility and personal ambition.

To me, one of the most troubling features of his endeavors is that there does not seem to be a concrete end goal or motivation to most of his pursuits — other than the acquisition of power.

Tommy begins the season with the goal of making back the money his family lost due to the crash, but by mid-season,

the Shelbys are already well on their way to doing so. But viewers still see Tommy putting more and more on his plate, and it seems as if he is only doing so to take up time. While his family accepts his actions, they do not know his motivations, and neither does the viewer. He remains an enigma to us, his motivations inaccessible even to those closest to him.

Even though many of Tommy’s motivations remain hidden from the viewers as we watch him take on more than he can handle, the writers of the show also take time to explore his more human side. For the first time, we see Tommy’s morality come into play as he takes time to personally oversee the orphanages that the Shelby company funds in the name of his late wife.

Additionally, he is seen attempting to do a self-proclaimed “good thing” as he plans to take down Oswald Mosley, a rising fascist. Initially thought to be undermining Mosley as a ploy to gain power, the viewer comes to learn that Tommy’s mission is, in actuality, a noble plan — he finds Mosley reprehensible and morally corrupt, and wants to see him stopped before his dangerous rhetoric spreads across the country.

While there remain plenty of conflicts throughout the season, including but not limited to run-ins with a rival gang called the Billy Boys and Chinese gangsters, one of the most pressing conflicts throughout the season is Tommy’s struggle for control over those around him and the consequences of those actions.

As the people around him start to act autonomously and without his consent, Tommy’s control over his family begins to slip through his fingers. As his original goal to become a legitimate business owner and member of Parliament retreats farther into the distance, Tommy’s avenues through which he can gain control seem

increasingly useless. He is lost as he tries to temper his ambitions, his morality and his lack of control.

The only time Tommy takes a break from dealing with family matters, business and Mosley is when he takes opium and hallucinates about his late wife, for whom he is still grieving.

The opium makes Tommy numb, temporarily oblivious to the outside world around him that is causing his internal strife as he attempts to juggle his public image, family matters and business ventures. It is in these moments that the audience begins to see that Tommy’s mental health is on the decline as he comes to grips with his own ambitions — a refreshing change in direction after we see the stress Tommy is under.

Tommy’s struggle resonates with many viewers as he attempts to balance his ambitions with the stark reality that his goals may not come to fruition. It is the ultimate futility of his attempts to do a good deed that seals his fate.

The fifth season of “Peaky Blinders”

explores themes of mental health, ambition and morality — in ways the series has never done before — through Tommy’s character. This season raises the question of how one could ever be able to strike a balance between sanity, ethics and aspiration in a world where it is increasingly hard to take control of your own life. The writers’ decision to take a deep dive into Tommy’s mental health represents a pivotal moment in the show’s trajectory; what was once a tale of family conflict and ambition begins to discuss the effect of four prior seasons of violence and immorality on the characters’ mental health.

The final scene of the season is a shot of Tommy screaming with a gun to his head after his late wife calls for him to “join me” in the afterlife. The writers let the audience reflect on how exactly Tommy’s mental health has deteriorated to this point, successfully ending the show with a cliffhanger that tantalizes viewers to further uncover the complex character that is Thomas Shelby.

A STARRY NIGHT

MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Tree tops pierce a clear, starry autumn sky.