VOL. CLXXVI NO. 93
RAINY HIGH 65 LOW 45
OPINION
GUNDERSON: ONLY FOR DEMOCRATS? WELL, THAT’S THE POINT PAGE 6
LEVY: RETHINKING TAKE-HOME ASSESSMENTS PAGE 6
ELIAS: NRO: THE NOTRELIABLE OPTION PAGE 7
RAJA: LEARNING THE SCIENCE OF EMPATHY PAGE 7
ARTS
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: NICHOLAS GUTIERREZ ’20 SHINES AS A PLAYWRIGHT PAGE 8 FOLLOW US ON
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COPYRIGHT © 2019 THE DARTMOUTH, INC.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019
HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE
An examination of Greek house blacklists operate mental health resources under secretive, informal rules for College professors
B y ARIELLE BEAK
The Dartmouth Staff
In conversations about mental health across college c a m p u s e s, s t u d e n t s a re usually the focus of what has become a national hot topic. Faculty and employees, who create the fabric of this academic backdrop, are rarely mentioned, however. According to Dean of the Faculty Elizabeth Smith, the reason for the spotlight on students lies partially in the immersive structure of student
life at residential colleges. “The students are here all the time, so you’re seeing their professional day life and their social life contained within this environment,” Smith said. “The faculty come to work and then they go home, so you might not be aware of the stressors that might exist at home or otherwise.” According to Smith, in response to events that could be perceived as traumatic SEE MENTAL HEALTH PAGE 5
Six-week fraternity and sorority ban lifted B y Aleka kroitzsh The Dartmouth
On Monday, the six-week fraternity and sorority ban, which prohibited members of the Class of 2023 from attending most events at Greek houses, was lifted. Although first-years had access to dry events hosted by Greek organizations prior to the end of the ban, most events hosted by fraternities and certain sororities will now be open. The Greek Leadership Council established the frat ban
in the spring of 2013, said GLC chair James Park ’20. He added that the creation of the frat ban was an attempt to address the “red zone,” the few weeks during which first-years are most likely to experience sexual assault in Greek spaces. “That was our way of making sure there was a better transition [and to minimize] risk,” Park said. He added that in the years following this decision, the frat SEE BAN PAGE 3
SYDNEY GILLMAN/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF
Blacklist policies for Greek houses are decided on a house-to-house basis.
B y REILLY OLINGER The Dartmouth
Greek house blacklists are designed to ban certain people from entering a Greek house, often for reasons including alleged sexual assault or any factor which makes members unsafe. However, there are no universal rules or policies governing blacklists — most policies are decided on a house-by-house basis. Title IX coordinator Kristi Clemens said she supports the creation of a universal blacklist policy in the Greek system, but she acknowledged that the goal would be difficult to achieve. “I think that having universal guidelines is a great idea, [but] having worked in
the system a long time, my expectations are low,” Clemens said. “The houses are so unique and want to keep their own individual policies and processes.” Clemens advises Greek leaders every year regarding blacklist policies. She said she shares a set of guidelines with each of the houses: a member has the right to feel safe in their own house, Greek houses are private spaces, blacklist requests should be based on first-person experience, houses should follow consistent policies and practices with their blacklists, and members cannot request other houses to blacklist an individual, since this could be considered retaliatory.
Clemens said that these guidelines are not binding rules, but rather, they serve as a guide to avoiding complications. The guidelines are designed to create safe environments while also giving equal treatment to all students. “What I’ve tried to do with these guidelines is to give houses and individuals the agency to decide who they want in their space, while still protecting the rights that any member of our community has on campus — which is a really delicate balance,” Clemens said. Blacklists are a highly sensitive matter, about which many people are misinformed, SEE BLACKLISTS PAGE 3
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
Prominent litigator talks 9/11 lawsuit at Dickey Center event B y LAUREN ADLER The Dartmouth
On Monday, James Kreindler ’77, a prominent New York attorney, returned to campus to give a talk in partnership with the Dickey Center for International Understanding. The talk, delivered in the Kreindler Conference Center — named after Kreindler’s father — to over 100 students and community members, was titled, “Saudi Arabia’s Role in 9/11 and Why the U.S. Government has Kept it Hidden,” in which Kreindler charged that the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks could never have occurred without the support of the Saudi government and that high-level U.S. officials engaged in a cover-up after the fact. Kreindler, a government major at Dartmouth who now specializes in aviation law and redress for victims of terror attacks, is co-chair of the plaintiffs’ committee in the 9/11 litigation against allies and sponsors of al-Qaeda, including, allegedly, the government of Saudi Arabia. “He is obviously a very d i s t i n g u i s h e d a t t o r n e y, b u t I’m pretty much in awe of Jim also because of his political shrewdness,” said Dickey Center director Daniel Benjamin while introducing Kreindler at the event, referring to Kreindler’s work to create the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act. JASTA, enacted into law in 2016 over former President Barack Obama’s veto, limits the scope of foreign states’ diplomatic and foreign sovereign immunities and allows U.S. citizens to sue foreign states for damages in cases like 9/11, even if those states are not formally designated state sponsors of terrorism. Kreindler’s litigation against Saudi Arabia is contingent upon this law. “Like many government majors,
I had an undying faith and belief in the efficacy of our government,” Kreindler began at the event. “Talking to you now, I’ll make a prediction: By the time we’re done, you will be revolted and horrified to learn what prominent members of our government, including past presidents, have done. You will be equally amazed and thrilled with the courage and determination of a few private citizens and former FBI agents who [have] beaten the gover nment and defeated the largest lobby effort in world history.” Kreindler transitioned into a discussion of alleged Saudi involvement in the 9/11 attacks. “The fact is, 9/11 was an attack on the United States with the active intent and cooperation from 11 known Saudi government officials,” he alleged. “Saudi Arabian government officials were the accomplices without whom there never could have been a 9/11 attack,” he added. Kreindler explained that in order to understand why Saudi Arabia would support the 9/11 attacks, one needs to look back to 1979, when two pivotal events occurred in the Middle East. First, the U.S.-backed Iranian Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi was deposed and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini came to power in the Iranian Revolution. Then, the Grand Mosque — the holiest mosque in Islam, located in Mecca in Saudi Arabia — was captured and held by radical Wahhabis Muslims for nearly two weeks. After these incidents, Kreindler said, Saudi government officials decided to accommodate themselves to these radical groups rather than suffer the same fate as the Shah. “The way in which you rise to prominence and power in Saudi Arabia is to seek and obtain the support of the Wahhabi ummahs,” or community groups,
CORRECTIONS We welcome corrections. If you believe there is a factual error in a story, please email editor@thedartmouth.com.
Kreindler said. He further alleged that “every prominent person in Saudi Arabia — King Salman, his predecessor — all made their pilgrimages to kiss bin Laden’s ring in Kandahar,” the mountainous region of Afghanistan where bin Laden built his headquarters. Kreindler also outlined the sequence of events that he said led up to the 9/11 attacks, beginning in the fall of 1999, when two of the future hijackers attended a convention of terrorists in Malaysia at which the plans for 9/11 were finalized. The two men then landed in Los Angeles on Jan. 15, 2000. Kreindler alleged that they were given all the help and money they needed by other al-Qaeda operatives — including $25,000 from the wife of the Saudi ambassador to the United States. He further alleged that instructions to help the hijackers were passed to a Saudi consular official in Los Angeles by a high-ranking official in the Saudi embassy, whose name Kreindler said he knows but was unable to share due to a protective order issued by the Justice Department. But according to Kreindler, the U.S. government’s true offenses came after the attacks, when former President George W. Bush was allegedly determined to pin blame on Saddam Hussein as revenge for trying to assassinate George H.W. Bush with a car bomb eight years earlier. Then-FBI director Robert Mueller was also allegedly determined to cover up America’s “colossal intelligence and law enforcement failure,” Kreindler said. “Why did the 9/11 Commission exonerate Saudi Arabia?” asked Kreindler, proceeding to answer a n s we re d h i s ow n q u e s t i o n : “Because they were lied to by Robert Mueller — under oath, in Congress — and others who did not want the Commission to know what role the Saudi government played. Because Saudi Arabia was our new ally in the war against Iraq.” However, Kreindler said that despite backlash from powerful U.S.
officials and millions of dollars’ worth of Saudi lobbying, several of the FBI agents taken off of the 9/11 investigations have come to him after retirement to do what they can to help his case. Although many of Kreindler’s Freedom of Information Act requests for documents from the FBI and the Justice Department have been denied, he says that these agents have been invaluable to his team because they now know exactly what they should be looking for. “I could be doing this for another 10 or 15 years, but I am hopeful that with the enthusiasm and aid and support from people in Washington, we can break through and bring Saudi Arabia to the table” to discuss compensation for the victims’ families, Kreindler said. Kreindler’s take on the 9/11 attacks is one inconsistent with
the story most Americans know, but audience members nonetheless found his perspective interesting. “It’s definitely a different theory from any that I’ve heard in the past, so it was really interesting to hear,” said Matt Gluck ’23, who hopes to study counterterrorism and inter national security at Dartmouth. “I’ve thought a lot about 9/11 and its implications in the political discourse in the United States, and I think that this really gives me something to think about that I hadn’t really thought about before.” The gover nment’s response to Kreindler’s most recent court motion is due on Friday. Although he expects another invocation of state secrets and national security, he hopes that government officials will respond more positively to his requests for documents.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019
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THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
Some first-years view frat ban as helping ease transition to college FROM BAN PAGE 1
ban evolved into having other benefits as well, including class bonding. Inter-Sorority Council president Kenya Jacobs ’20 said that she views the frat ban as beneficial. “We all think that the frat ban is a positive, mostly because of the red zone and the difficulties of adjusting to college,” Jacobs said. She added that the six-week duration of the frat ban can help cultivate friend groups that can be responsible for each other once first-years do enter Greek spaces. “Things can go very poorly super quickly when there’s no one watching to make sure you’re okay,” Jacobs said. Some first-years agree that the frat ban helped ease what can be a difficult transition into college. Joshua Freitag ’23 said that the frat ban allowed him to minimize distractions while easing himself into his college classes. “This first week’s probably going to be a little crazy,” Freitag said. “But at least this is happening later on in the term.” Jack Shire ’23 described the time in which he was able to make friends outside of Greek spaces as effective. “Now, I don’t have to rely on the frats to make friends, and I’ve made friends outside of that,” he explained. “But I also think it lasted a little too long — we
were getting pretty bored.” Although he feels content in his friendships, Shire also expressed excitement about the opportunity to branch out and meet new people now that the frat ban has ended. “Most of [my friends] are from [South Fayerweather Hall], and we all have the same experiences so far at Dartmouth,” Shire said. Sophia Gawel ’22 said she believes the frat ban fosters friendships that do not center around Greek involvement, although she worries that it pushes firstyears drinking into unregulated spaces, leading to “unhealthy habits.” Elliott Tang ’21 said he is concerned that the frat ban encourages exclusivity between underclassmen and upperclassmen. “I think there’s a paradox there, where, yes, we want to foster friendships among the new class,” Tang said. “But at the same time, we want to make them understand that Greek life is not the end-all be-all.” Some sororities are making efforts to become more open to first-years so that fraternities are not the only social space open. Sigma Delta sorority, for example, will be open to first-years on Saturday. Jacobs said that the ISC was excited about the opportunity to allow a femaledominated space to be open to not just the members of its chapter, but also the larger Dartmouth community.
SYDNEY GILLMAN/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF
First-year students can now frequent Greek houses on Webster Avenue and around campus with the lifting of the frat ban.
“This was something that in our presidents meeting, [Sigma Delt] brought to the table and everyone was super excited about,” Jacobs said. “[We’ve been] figuring out the capacities in which every house can help, even houses that are prohibited by certain restrictions.” Jacobs added that it is particularly important to promote the understanding that sororities also make up a large presence on this campus. She said that many people do not realize this until the
rush process, which typically takes place during the fall and winter of sophomore year. Jacobs said she hopes that this conversation about collaborative sorority spaces will continue in the terms to follow. However, she did worry about limiting accessibility to sororities, as opening the spaces could increase sorority dues. Sigma Delt vice president Breanna Sheehan ’20 said that though Sigma Delt does have an open basement, difficulties lie in the fact that sororities generally do
not operate in the same way fraternities do — for instance, sororities do not have students on duty and managing the doors. Sheehan added that it is no coincidence this is happening so soon after lifting the frat ban, since first-years are potentially at risk. “Both as a symbolic gesture and as a functional one, we thought it would be cool to give students a space that we can control as self-identifying women,” Sheehan said.
Title IX coordinator sees blacklists as tool for ensuring safety at houses FROM BLACKLIST PAGE 1
according to Clemens. She said many Greek leaders believe that they are not even allowed to have blacklists. “Some houses still think, falsely, that we tell them not to have a blacklist, ” Clemens said. “Students trust each other a lot more than they trust me. So I think information gets passed down from leadership to leadership, and some things get lost in translation or don’t get passed down at all. All I can do is every year say, ‘It’s okay, you can do this, but here are some things you should keep in mind.’”
Maggie Flaherty ’21, who is involved in sexual violence prevention efforts on campus, said she attributes some of the misinformation regarding blacklists to the secrecy of Greek policies. “I think frequently Greek houses are in the headspace of trying not to break any rules and [staying] on the good side of [the] administration,” Flaherty said. “So, if someone is even concerned that something they are doing is not allowed, then they will perpetuate the narrative that, ‘This isn’t allowed — you have to keep it a secret.’ There is a lack of transparency in Greek policies, in-
house Greek policies, just because houses are trying to not break any rules.” Flaherty added that blacklist policies’ occasional intersection with sexual violence also makes it a sensitive topic, although sexual violence is only one of the many reasons why someone could be blacklisted. Any concern for the safety of a house’s members is a valid reason to put someone on a blacklist, according to Flaherty. Clemens also said that blacklists are only one piece of ensuring safety in Greek houses. “Blacklists are a great tool,”
Clemens said. “But [they are] not a substitute for any formal adjudication through the College. I think the tendency is often for students to say, ‘We’re going to take care of this ourselves,’ and then end up in my office a few weeks later and say, ‘We made a mess of this. How can you help us?’” Flaherty expressed the importance of communicating with staff and administrators. She said that a lot of the misinformation about blacklist policies could be ameliorated through asking questions rather than making assumptions surrounding the Greek system.
“I think a lot of times we, just as students, assume that we know how things work and the way the Greek system works,” Flaherty said. “If you actually talk to staff, they’re quite willing to explain actual policies to you. I think that could help get rid of some of this misinformation and create a better environment within the Greek system, or [serve] as a step towards doing so.” Director of Greek Life Brian Joyce declined to comment, and the leadership of multiple Greek houses were unable to be reached for comment.
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DARTMOUTHEVENTS
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019
THE DARTMOUTH EVENTS
THIS WILL HAVE TO MAKE DO
CHARLIE PIKE ’22
TODAY 3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Lecture and Discussion: “What Does Aloha Actually Mean?” sponsored by the Native American Program and Hokupa’a, Native American House.
4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Lecture: “George Ticknor and the Start of America’s Spanish Craze,” sponsored by the Spanish and Portuguese Department, Haldeman Hall, Kreindler Conference Hall.
TOMORROW 2:00 p.m. – 6:15 p.m.
Conference: “George Ticknor (‘1807) and His Legacy in the 21st Century,” sponsored by the Spanish and Portuguese Department, the Leslie Center for the Humanities, the 250th Anniversary Initiative, and DCAL, Baker Library, Room 102.
4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Workshop: “Spam Musubi Workshop,” sponsored by the Native American Program and Hokupa’a, Native American House.
8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Viewing: “Public Astronomical Observing,” sponsored by the Physics and Astronomy Department, Shattuck Observatory.
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FROM GUNDERSON PAGE 6
Hanover town office from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. If you have more questions, any member of the College Democrats would be happy to answer them. We’ll tell you why to vote Democratic, and yes, we might try to convince you to vote Democratic, too. However, if you disagree with us, we won’t criticize you for having different views, and we’ll help you to register to vote all the same. Because a thriving political climate doesn’t damage Dartmouth — it enhances it.
Gigi Gunderson ’21 is the former president of the Dartmouth College Democrats and a former campus organizer for the New Hampshire Democratic Party. Katie Smith ’22, who contrubted to the writing of this column, is currently the communications director for the College Democrats. The Dartmouth welcomes guest columns. We request that guest columns be the original work of the submitter. Submissions may be sent to both opinion@thedartmouth.com and editor@ thedartmouth.com. Submissions will receive a response within three business days.
For advertising infor mation, please call (603) 646-2600 or email info@ thedartmouth.com. The advertising deadline is noon, two days before publication. We reserve the right to refuse any advertisement. Opinions expressed in advertisements do not necessarily reflect those of The Dartmouth, Inc. or its officers, employees and agents. The Dartmouth, Inc. is a nonprofit corporation chartered in the state of New Hampshire. USPS 148-540 ISSN 0199-9931
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019
PAGE 5
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
College offers services through Faculty/Employee Assistance Program FROM MENTAL HEALTH PAGE 1
for community members, extra information is added to faculty-wide announcements about available counseling services. Support services for Dartmouth faculty are available through the Office of Counseling and Human Development, the College chaplain’s office, deans, as well as the Faculty/Employee Assistance Program. All faculty have access to mental health benefits, although faculty can also seek providers through their healthcare plan rather than the F/EAP. The College’s F/EAP, located in the United Church of Christ building, partners with onlineprovided GuidanceResources to support faculty and employees as well as their family members. F/ EAP has been available for years at the College, but around two years ago, the system moved from an internal program to a hybrid format in which faculty can be referred to third parties, according to F/EAP counselor Sharon Morisi. “It gives people a wider variety ... If you want to see somebody that’s closer to where you live, that’s an option ... Others will want to see somebody that really knows Dartmouth,” Morisi said. “It gives people a little more choice and flexibility.” Compared to other higher education institutions, Dartmouth’s faculty mental health services are “fairly comparable,” according to Morisi. She added that there has been a significant trend across universities to contract larger companies and move away from internal systems, as the College has done with GuidanceResources. The dean of the faculty maintains an awareness of the general wellbeing of the faculty through the Office of Institutional Research. The office is tasked with providing objective data to support institutional improvements, mainly by conducting surveys that cover a wide variety of campus topics. In addition, Dartmouth offers accommodations and flexibility to support its faculty members. The
College’s faculty exercises a certain [because] the best tool is their mind amount of freedom in what time and I think there’s a lot of stigma of day and quarter that they teach, around disclosing that ‘I might be according to Smith. If faculty need struggling with something related to work with accommodations or to my mental health,’” Shekarabi mental disabilities, they have the said. “That creates an implication flexibility to cater needs to their about me to others that ‘I somehow schedule. can’t do the work that I’m here to T h e c h a i r s o f a c a d e m i c do, that I’m not as good as people departments can serve as a guide think that I am.’ I think that’s a lot for faculty to navigate available of the threat around the perceptual resources. Faculty are divided into worries that staff might have.” four departments that are each Faculty who are early on in their headed by an associate dean who can careers are particularly susceptible act as another to the pressures point of contact, associated with a c c o rd i n g t o “Dartmouth is a publishing Smith. research and very supportive Most colleges working toward o f f e r m e n t a l environment in almost tenure, according health services all respects, and so to Shekarabi. through their “ T h o s e ye a r s I think if a professor respective in particular are insurance plans, disclosed to their just inherently but few have colleagues ... [they] ve r y s t re s s f u l , a d e s i g n at e d and if they p o s i t i o n would try to be as happen to have s p e c i f i c a l l y supportive as they some underlying meant to mental health could.” assist faculty concerns that are in navigating predated to their the resources -DAVID PETERSON, time as a faculty available to member, that’s t h e m . I n a n LINGUISTICS PROFESSOR the time we tend effort to make to see things flare resources more up for folks when readily accessible for faculty, the they’re going through that process,” University of California, Irvine Shekarabi said. created a position — coordinator of According to Smith, the high faculty and staff mental health care pressure surrounding tenure is a and respondent services — in July by-product of sustaining a level of 2016 to specifically help employees excellence. in need of immediate help and to “The question is, ‘How do you serve as a guide to external resources. guide faculty and allay their concerns Negar Shekarabi, who has served as much as you can, while still in this position for the past three years, maintaining high standards?’” she assists with increasing collaboration said. between faculty members and her Linguistics professor David office on mental health training and Peter son commented on the stigmatization efforts. difficulties of establishing a workAccording to Shekarabi, the life balance. stigma surrounding mental health “There are the professional proliferates through academic stressors — teaching stress, research settings.. Because people’s careers are stress ... we have additional jobs built around their minds, there are besides being professors and high stakes associated with disclosing researchers ... so the time balance mental illness. between all of those things are the “Faculty often view themselves in overarching issue,” Peterson said. terms of the value that they bring … While raising awareness of mental
health is a continual process, students and professors have commented on the supportive environment that the College fosters. “Dartmouth is so undergraduatefocused and it really shows in the way that professors address their students,” said Amanda Chen ’21, founder of the campus group Dartmouth Mental Health Student Union. Peterson said he sees little issue with disclosing mental illness amongst Dartmouth colleagues. “Dartmouth is a very supportive environment in almost all respects, and so I think if a professor disclosed to their colleagues … [they] would try to be as supportive as they could,” Peterson said. In regards to suicide prevention, training can go a long way, according to Shekarabi. “I’m always surprised when we’re presenting to staff how they don’t necessarily feel very confident to have
those conversations with people,” Shekarabi said. “I’ve found that even just the simplest level of training and giving people an opportunity to practice how they would ask someone if they were worried about them ... makes them much more likely to actually do it when it happens in real life.” According to Smith, mental health awareness relies on creating and maintaining a culture of empathy between all members of the community. “I think it would be great to, from the student side of things, recognize the humanity of the faculty,” Smith said. “They’re people who are not only really amazing scholars who are doing everything they can because they love to teach their students, but they also go home and many of them are raising children, taking care of aging parents, and just have all kinds of stressors outside of their academic life.”
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019
THE DARTMOUTH OPINION
GUEST COLUMNIST GIGI GUNDERSON ’21
STAFF COLUMNIST GABRIELLE LEVY ’22
Only for Democrats? Well,That’s the Point.
Rethinking Take-Home Assessments
Campaign strategies shouldn’t be conflated with civic duty.
Going to school in New Hampshire is a dream come true for any political junkie. As one of the last truly “purple” states, razor-thin margins decide our elections: Maggie Hassan, New Hampshire’s most recently elected senator, won by 1,017 votes, or about one class at Dartmouth. Our status as the first-in-the-nation presidential primary makes the Granite State a hotbed for grassroots campaigning and opinionated political action, and this political involvement has defined my time at Dartmouth. Last fall, I was the Dartmouth campus organizer for the New Hampshire Democratic Party. I spent 10 to 12 hours a day, seven days a week, educating students on how to vote in New Hampshire and trying to persuade students to vote for Democrats. Last week, a column in The Dartmouth by Sydney Allard argued that political groups on campus use manipulative tactics to persuade voters. While voter education, persuasion and other turnout strategies may have seemed heavy-handed or even scandalizing, as Allard alluded to, door-knocking, text and phone banking and canvassing (with “Commit-to-Vote” cards) are typical campaign strategies for both Democrats and Republicans, locally and nationwide. Large campaigns seek to meet voters where they are — knocking on doors, calling phones and having short conversations with potential voters in the hope of informing and persuading. The Dartmouth College Democrats and other progressive organizations did not and do not claim a monopoly on political campaigning on campus — in fact, I was surprised by the seeming lack of action by the College Republicans. Across New Hampshire, the GOP was knocking doors and canvassing just as vigorously as the Democratic student volunteers Allard took issue with (myself included). I would
DEBORA HYEMIN HAN, Editor-in-Chief
hope that the College Republicans would encourage like-minded students to turn out to the polls just as much as the College Democrats do — frankly, the more people involved in our democracy, the better. New Hampshire takes pride in its unique politics, and the College Democrats are proud to be a part of this legacy of political activism. Alongside our efforts to turn out voters on campus, we have been fighting tirelessly for the simple right to vote for every student in New Hampshire. Our efforts to repeal HB 1264, a state law attempting to change the definition of “resident” that would force outof-state students to get a drivers license, have not focused on the right to vote only for out-of-state students who vote Democratic. Instead, we believe in, and will continue to advocate for, the rights of every single student, regardless of party affiliation. The College Democrats didn’t campaign in the 2018 midterms because of a sleazy social agenda to trick our peers into voting for candidates they disagreed with. I myself campaigned because I believe in U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster’s work to support veterans, because I believe in U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s policies to combat the opioid crisis, and because I believe in Garrett Muscatel ’20’s ability to speak for the students of Dartmouth as a state representative for Hanover. We campaigned because we wanted our peers to feel informed when they walked into their polling booths at Hanover High School. We got involved and stayed involved in politics because we want to make the world a better place. For all those looking to vote here in the Granite State: Whether or not you “plan to vote Democratic in New Hampshire,” you can register to vote at the SEE GUNDERSON PAGE 4
AIDAN SHEINBERG, Publisher
ALEX FREDMAN, Executive Editor PETER CHARALAMBOUS, Managing Editor
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ISSUE LAYOUT CAITLIN MCCARTHY 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.
Why push the limits of our honor code more than we have to? Dartmouth has a rigorous honor code, and students are frequently reminded of this fact. Summaries of Dartmouth’s rules against prohibited collaboration and other forms of academic dishonesty are conveniently printed on the cover page of many in-class exams, and verbal reminders are often given when a take-home assignment like a lab report is handed out. Even though the onus to uphold Dartmouth’s standards of academic honesty rightly falls onto each individual student, it is worth considering the value that take-home assessments add to Dartmouth’s curricula in the first place. While granting students permission to work on an assignment in their own time and without supervision makes sense in certain cases, take-home assessments are not necessary in all situations and their superfluous use at the College should be limited. Although I am only a sophomore, almost all of my classes have had some form of takehome assessment which contributed to my final grade. In most classes, the take-home nature of the assignment made sense to me. For instance, a take-home midterm for a biology class consisted of long and detailed problems that required extended periods of logical reasoning to solve. In other words, the midterm simply couldn’t be accomplished in a single day, let alone a single class period. Importantly, the answers to the midterm were not of the kind that could be determined from a quick Google search or a glance through a textbook, but instead required paragraphs of explanation — thereby eliminating the main avenues by which students could cheat and gain an unfair disadvantage over others. In other classes, however, professors’ reasons for providing a take-home assessment were far less apparent. For instance, online midter ms in some classes, particularly commonly designated “lay-ups,” do not take more than a class period to complete, and ask questions whose answers can easily be Googled or deduced from a quick glance through one’s notes or textbook. In these cases, some students choose to rely on prohibited resources instead of studying, because there are no proctors or other students around to prevent them from doing so. Dartmouth’s Academic Honor Principle is akin to that of many other institutions of higher education, including those in the Ivy League. It asserts that “Dartmouth operates on the principle of academic honor, without
proctoring of examinations” and outlines a policy on “unauthorized collaboration” for the case of take-home papers or tests. While honor codes check boxes on paper, various studies have established that honor codes do not actually limit instances of cheating. Indeed, Dartmouth has experienced its fair share of nationally recognized cheating scandals, such as in 2015 when 64 Dartmouth students were charged with academic dishonesty in an ethics class. Because students were graded on inclass participation, students began answering clicker questions on behalf of their friends, allowing some students to skip coming to class altogether. The failure of honor codes to do their job is not a problem that is specific to Dartmouth. Case studies at many other top universities provide evidence that honor codes fail to significantly decrease rates of cheating and academic dishonesty. For instance, a survey of honor-code colleges and universities in the United States found that half of students admitted to engaging in some form of cheating. Therefore, because they don’t actually dissuade students from cheating, honor codes should not be relied upon more than they have to be. Apart from the obvious moral issue with cheating, academic dishonesty on take-home assessments disadvantages students who don’t cheat, especially when examinations or classes are curved. Why should students spend their precious time studying, when others use their textbook to fill in all the blanks and receive a better grade for doing so? Certain take-home examinations can provide valuable opportunities for students’ academic growth by truly testing students on their understanding of the material at hand. By asking questions that cannot be found on the Internet or in the textbook, or requiring students to train difficult skills that go beyond memorization and plug-and-chug techniques, some take-home exams are sufficiently challenging. Despite a well-written exam, however, there may be other opportunities to cheat, like using notes and the Internet when not permissable. In general, take-home midterms open the door wide open for cheating and other forms of academic integrity that could easily be avoided. In turn, they undermine honor codes that set standards for the Dartmouth community and foster a culture of academic integrity.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019
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THE DARTMOUTH OPINION
STAFF COLUMNIST CHANTAL ELIAS ’22
CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST NEELUFAR RAJA ’21
NRO:The Not-Reliable Option
Learning the Science of Empathy
Dartmouth’s academic policies are inconsiderate of students’ needs. This term has been particularly trying for me. My run-in with a head injury and my adjustment to a more social Dartmouth experience has sent my highly structured schedule as a freshman last year into a new chaotic normal. As I was dealing with the hurdles popping up in each aspect of my life, I was exposed to the reality of Dartmouth’s unaccommodating academic policies. Superficially, Dartmouth appears to have lenient academic policies, including the Non-Recording Option, the ability to drop a fourth course far into the term and the option to “shop” different courses for the first couple weeks of the term. But there is more than meets the eye. Dartmouth’s academic policies are structured to fall directly into place with a perfectly planned out life. There are far too many constraints placed on the academic policies that are supposedly meant to reduce academic stress. Few students’ terms will pan out within the confines of the registrar’s timeline. If all is going well in a term, then perhaps using the NRO or dropping a class will not be of concern. The problem is, when hiccups arise in a student’s life, and those hiccups are not perfectly timed with the NRO and class drop dates, that student is out of luck. The NRO, which allows a student to set a minimum grade level at which the grade will show on the transcript, is only available for the first two weeks of class. Unless a student goes into the class knowing they will utilize an NRO, or is overwhelmed in the first few classes, the short NRO period decreases its efficacy. With the fast-paced 10-week term, each assignment holds great value for a student’s overall performance in a class. So what happens when a student is struggling with a personal matter — beyond the first two weeks of NRO election — which prohibits them from achieving their best results? To help remedy the stress that comes from academic rigor, extracurriculars and personal matters, Dartmouth has resources in place to support our mental health, such as the Counseling Center. In addition, professors may grant extensions with a case-by-case flexibility. However, it’s important to note that mental health resources and extentions can only go so far; Once an assignment has been graded, there is little wiggle room in removing the grade from the record. Another well-known Dartmouth academic
policy is students’ ability to drop a fourth course until Week 7 of the term without receiving a ‘W’ on the transcript. The issue with this policy is that very few students take four-course terms. It certainly is not the norm, and it is illogical to think that the majority of students would keep four courses until Week 7 just in case something goes wrong in one of the classes. Instead, the most common term load for students is a three-course term, and if one one wishes to drop one of the three classes without receiving a ‘W,’ this must be completed in the first two weeks. Clearly, the efficacy of the NRO and coursedrop policy loses merit when its limitations are spelled out. Why have a policy that works for only a small margin of Dartmouth students? It is naive to assume that Dartmouth students are living their lives on a timeline that doesn’t account for errors and mishaps. With the current academic policies, if a mistake is made, there is little room for a rebound. We need to allow Dartmouth students to take risks in their classes and continue to grow as young adults. It is contradictory to the school’s liberal arts structure to have academic policies that necessitate a division between life and school. A concern associated with creating more lenient academic policies is that the rigor of Dartmouth would be undermined. However, we must not forget that Dartmouth strives to prepare its students to take on the world post-graduation, and that college is a time of self-discovery and change. The rigor of Dartmouth will not fade by making space for students to be people. If anything, it will increase academic performance and happiness. This ter m, I have been swimming upstream, looking for something to grab hold of that will allow me to take a second, breathe and go the right direction with my academic performance. The trouble is, there was nothing to grab hold of, because my trials didn’t happen in the first two weeks of the term. With the tabulation of grades at Dartmouth, no matter how hard someone may work to get their grade up in the second half of the term, the first grades will continue to serve as an impediment. When these grades are influenced by factors out of a student’s control, it is truly disheartening. It is vital, then, that we recognize students are being unfairly punished by academic policies that are out of check with a college student’s experience.
Professor Bucci’s death reminds us that we must support our professors. My freshman winter, I walked into PSYC Instead, he invited me to explore classes in both 6, “Introduction to Neuroscience,” a little fields on topics that excite me. When I shared nervous and not knowing what to expect. I was the specific classes I was considering from the considering the neuroscience major and was neuroscience major, he gave me his honest interested in the complex machinery of the thoughts on who to take it with, or which classes brain. When I entered Filene Auditorium, I was to avoid taking at the same time. awash by the excitement that filled the room, all Hearing that from my professor was thanks to the professor, David Bucci. Starting incredibly impactful. Here was the head of the on the very first day of class, Professor Bucci department, spending 20 minutes in his busy day took us on an adventure of to help a nervous freshman the brain. We learned about figure out Dartmouth’s “Here was the head neurotransmitters, sensory academics. I found of the department, pathways like hearing and Professor Bucci’s honest, spending 20 minutes open advice and guidance vision, and newer fields like attention, learning and in his busy day to help to be representative of mental illness. Dartmouth’s undying a nervous freshman Professor Bucci was an dedication to it students. example of an empathetic figure out Dartmouth’s Despite his impressive professor who saw his stature as an acclaimed academics.” students as more than just researcher in the field of ears in a lecture. His recent learning and memory, he death is an important reminder that we should saw past my identity as a student and understood view our professors as more than just faces at the worries and anxieties I had about my future, the front of the classroom. We should see past career and life aspirations. Bucci saw past my their vocations and see them as human beings “title” as a student, and it serves as a salient who are also vulnerable to mental illness and reminder that we must see past his and those need support time to time, as the rest of us do. of other professors’. Like the rest of us, Bucci had a passion. His I urge the Dartmouth community to reflect was a deep love for the field of neuroscience, on Professor Bucci’s death and think about which was infectious; it made me look forward the extent to which we should support our to every class. I distinctly remember laughing professors. Students have access to resources along to his silly analogies and having small on Dartmouth’s campus to deal with mental epiphanies when a concept he explained made health troubles, like Counseling at Dick’s House, sense. He brought a special excitement to the the Mental Health Student Union and the room, one that was present when he shared a clip Student Wellness Center. But the College’s aid from “A Beautiful Mind” to highlight a depiction to its faculty, through the Faculty/Employee of schizophrenia or brought Assistance Program, seems real human brains into the inadequate in comparison. “I urge the Dartmouth In this time of grieving, classroom. Professor Bucci also community to reflect we should also look to see had an empathy for his what tangible steps we can on Professor Bucci’s students that made me feel take as a community to death and think about prevent such tragedies from supported and cared for. I visited Professor Bucci’s occurring again. the extent to which office the following spring, We should be there for still choosing between the we should support our each other and lean on each biology and neuroscience other in times of need; it professors.” majors, and I thought that is what I have done when Professor Bucci, being the I heard this devastating chair of the psychology and brain sciences news. As students, it can be easy to envision our department, would offer me some words of professors only in the context of their roles. In wisdom. And he did. After I described my our busy lives, we often forget that they often predicament, which at the time felt monumental, deal with the similar obstacles and emotions that he gave me a smile of reassurance. He could we do. By reaching out to one another, we can have told me to major in neuroscience since he work to make Dartmouth a more empathetic was the chair of the department, but he didn’t. and caring environment.
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019
THE DARTMOUTH ARTS
Student Spotlight: Nicholas Gutierrez ’20 shines as a playwright
B y ELIZABETH GARRISON The Dartmouth Staff
Nicholas Gutierrez ’20 is involved in anything and everything creative at Dartmouth. Gutierrez, a native of Miami, FL, is a playwright, actor, film projectionist, opera singer and leader. As a film and theater modified with anthropology and geography double major with a minor in linguistics, his passion for pursing diverse interests goes beyond his extensive extracurricular involvements. In his work as a playwright, Gutierrez has staged two of his plays with the theater department. He is also acting in the theater department’s fall mainstage production of “The Living” and is a singer with the Dartmouth Opera Lab. In addition to theater, Gutierrez is passionate about film. He is the director of the Dartmouth Film Society and works as a projectionist at the Hopkins Center. This year he is serving as a film fellow at the Hopkins Center, which has enabled him to further pursue his interest in the performing arts. No matter what he is doing, according to Gutierrez’s friends and coworkers, he always brings infectious energy and vibrant creativity to every project. Last fall, a staged reading of Gutierrez’s play “Gallery” was featured as part of the theater department’s PlaySpace (now called Studio Lab) presentations, a program that allows students to explore unconventional performance art. “Gallery” takes place in an apocalyptic world where scholars have to decide which works of art should be preserved in an impenetrable container. Gutierrez lets his imagination run wild through his playwriting. “I’ve been writing stuff for as long as I can remember,” Gutierrez said. “I write plays to work through ideas I have in my head. I like to jot down random thoughts I have in a document on my computer.”
In “Gallery,” Gutierrez said he was inspired by his surroundings to explore philosophical topics in an unprecedented manner. “For ‘Gallery,’ I had just taken a class about what constitutes good art and bad art, and I was very frustrated with the idea of people telling me what to think and what we should value as a society,” Gutierrez said. “So, I came up with an extreme scenario to explore if it would make a difference if we didn’t have art.” This fall, Gutierrez’s play “Tires of a Dream” was one of two works featured in the theater department’s fall 2019 New Works Weekend, which showed original performing art pieces from students. While writing “Gallery” was spontaneous, Gutierrez wrote “Tires of a Dream” with the intention of it being staged at Dartmouth. While he was working in Los Angeles, Gutierrez deliberately designated large amounts of time to writing a full-length play. “Tires of a Dream” tells the story of an aspiring professional clown grappling with the expectations of his immigrant parents. Gutierrez thought it was important to bring unconventional Latinx stories to Hanover. This term, theater professor Jamie Horton has directed Gutierrez in the theater department’s Fall Mainstage production of “The Living.” According to Horton, Gutierrez is a generous actor with a big heart and a strong commitment to what he’s doing. When Horton saw “Tires of a Dream,” he was impressed with Gutierrez’s writing ability. “As a playwright, his work ‘Tires of a Dream’ was an incredibly interesting piece,” Horton said. “We were all struck by his great wit and his ability to tackle important themes.” Naomi Agnew ’20 directed the staged reading of “Tires of a Dream” and has worked closely with Gutierrez on many projects throughout their time at Dartmouth. Since living on the
same freshman floor in the Humanities Living Learning Community, Agnew and Gutierrez have become friends and artistic collaborators. According to Agnew, Gutierrez’s unique voice as a writer shines through his productions. “When I read his scripts, I hear my friend Nick coming through,” Agnew said. “He is such a unique, caring, intelligent person with a hilarious sense of humor, and all of that shines through his work.” Agnew said that what makes Gutierrez’s work stand out is how much of his personality he puts into his productions. “I know ‘Tires of Dream’ has been a seed in his head for a while and when you read it out loud it is truly the epitome of everything Nick Gutierrez is now at this moment,” Agnew said. “The fact that the person shines through is what makes his work truly special” Gutierrez brings this dynamic energy to his work as a film fellow for the Hopkins Center. As a film fellow, Gutierrez plays an active role in programming, event administration and student outreach. Hopkins Center film programming and operations manager Johanna Evans said she first met Gutierrez when he started working as a film projectionist. Quickly, Evans said, he became a reliable team player who took initiative to make sure things ran smoothly. According to Evans, he was an obvious choice for the position of film fellow because of his contributions to the film department. “It is very rare to have a student who comes up with great ideas and has the capacity and willpower to see them through,” Evans said. “Since he is so exceptional at his job, I’ve gotten to know him on a more personal level, and we’ve gotten to talk extensively about film. When deciding what movies to bring to the Hop, I value his opinion as much as my own.”
Evans also said she appreciates Gutierrez’s ability to make connections with people, a skill he honed through his work in theater. According to Evans, Gutierrez is collaborative and always comes up with new ways to engage students with film. This fall, he worked with the Asian American Student Association to host a discussion after a screening of ‘The Farewell.’ “Through his work, Nick turned a typical film screening into an event that people wanted to go to,” Evans said. “In doing so, he doubled the student attendance we normally see at this kind of event.” After he graduates from Dartmouth, Gutierrez hopes to attend graduate
school for playwriting and continue pursuing a career in the entertainment industry. As he reflects on his time at Dartmouth, he said he appreciates the great opportunities to get involved in the arts on campus. “I came to Dartmouth with the assumption that this school was not the best conduit of the arts,” Gutierrez said. “Now as a senior, I’ve realized that if you seek out opportunities in the arts there are so many people here who are willing to help you or to connect with the right people. Moving forward this year, I have a lot of responsibilities but I feel happy knowing that I’m helping to facilitate great opportunities in the arts at Dartmouth.”
COURTESY OF NICHOLAS GUTIERREZ
Gutierrez has staged two of his plays at Dartmouth.