VOL. CLXXVI NO. 99
MOSTLY SUNNY HIGH 31 LOW 14
OPINION
ZEHNER: DEUTSCHE DRIFT PAGE 4
VERBUM ULTIMUM: REFRAMING THE NARRATIVE PAGE 4
ARTS
HOOD DEPUTY DIRECTOR JULIETTE BIANCO TO RECEIVE NEMA AWARD PAGE 7
SPORTS
THE BATTLE OF THE BEST: FOOTBALL PREPS FOR BIG PRINCETON GAME PAGE 8 FOLLOW US ON
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COPYRIGHT © 2019 THE DARTMOUTH, INC.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2019
HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE
College improves WiFi External report evaluates College’s services as high volume accessibility policy following lawsuit leads to longer waits
B y Emily lu
The Dartmouth
Loading screens and buffering videos have become a familiar sight for those connected to Dartmouth’s wireless networks. While a new network is currently being installed throughout campus, students have noticed slower WiFi connectivity this term, which has hindered their ability to complete assignments and communicate with others. “I was here over the summer and [the WiFi] definitely seems different from then,” said Abby
Cooper ’21. “It wasn’t this bad. Now it takes extra time to actually complete things, and considering everything we do is on Canvas, it’s kind of annoying to have to wait every time you need to know something.” The information, technology and consulting department recognizes the problem and attributes this slowdown to the outdated capabilities of the current network, which was installed in 2011, according to assistant director of network SEE WIFI PAGE 5
Dartmouth seeks tax refund from Hanover B y aleka kroitzsh The Dartmouth
Dartmouth, the largest property owner in the town of Hanover, has appealed to the Grafton Superior Court seeking a tax refund from the town that totals more than $500,000, according to Hanover town manager Julia Griffin. The College’s tax bill increased following the town’s reassessment of property values in 2018. College spokesperson Diana
Lawrence wrote in an email to The Dartmouth that the College applied for the abatement of taxes in 38 out of its 122 “taxable parcels” located in Hanover. The properties being appealed are those managed by the endowment fund, which provides financial support to the College, according to Hanover assessment director Dave McMullen. The majority of the properties are used for graduate SEE ASSESSMENTS PAGE 2
STAFF PHOTO
The College has begun implementing recommendations from a report written to address accessibility.
B y LAUREN ADLER The Dartmouth Staff
Following a lawsuit filed by an alumna, Dartmouth has participated in an external review of Americans with Disabilities Act infrastructure o n c a m p u s a n d h a s implemented several changes to improve accessibility at the College. Staci Mannella ’18, who has a visual impairment, filed a disability discrimination suit against the College in 2017 claiming that Dartmouth had failed to adequately accommodate her disability. The U.S. District Court of New Hampshire issued a consent decree last December, prompting an accessibility
assessment of Dartmouth’s programs and facilities that was completed this October. The report, compiled by representatives from Drummond Woodsum and Access 4 All LLC, found that “Dartmouth’s accessibility model at the undergraduate level … fell short in meeting a number of its obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Both the number of students served and complexity of student accommodation needs contributed to these findings but were not the only shortcomings noted.” However, the report also noted that “Dartmouth is implementing comprehensive systemic changes that will
benefit not only students with disabilities but employees and visitors as well, thereby e n h an c i n g D artm outh ’s compliance with its legal obligations.” The report applauded D a r t m o u t h fo r q u i c k l y beginning to implement their recommendations, some of which were implemented b e fo re t h e re p o r t w a s published. Assistant dean and director of student accessibility services Alison May ’97 said the College began to develop a data management system to facilitate students accessing a c c o m m o d a t i o n s a n d expanded the availability the College’s Student Accessibility SEE ACCESSIBILITY PAGE 3
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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2019
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
Dartmouth students volunteer for presidential campaigns B y Jacob Strier The Dartmouth
As New Hampshire gears up to host the first-in-the-nation presidential primary, various campaigns have established themselves on campus in an effort to increase support for candidates. Student campaign volunteers can regularly be spotted at tables near Novack Cafe or on street corners around the Green in an attempt to attract grassroots support. According to Liza Gallandt ’22, who volunteers for the campaign of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) on campus, her responsibilities include reaching out to other students and thinking of innovative ways to get people engaged with the campaign. Gallandt said she is one of about 10 student volunteers for Warren who have been trained by the Warren campaign’s “Grassroots Organizing Academy.” In this training, Gallandt said she learned about the importance of interpersonal connection while campaigning, a skill she applies
while spreading Warren’s message in Hanover. “A lot of the focus is sharing your personal story; it is more effective to show why you personally support this campaign,” Gallandt said. Gallandt said that she has spent two weekends canvassing in Hanover, including by visiting an assigned list of addresses to speak with potential voters about their political values and ideas. If possible, she said she tries to get prospective voters to sign a non-binding commitment to vote for Warren. Though there are other campaigns on campus, Gallandt said there is little animosity between the groups. “We are part of an inter-connected community of Democrats,” she said. “We all want a Democrat to get elected.” This idea was echoed by recent Harvard graduate Shreeya Panigrahi, a local organizer for the campaign of South Bend, IN mayor Pete Buttigieg, who coordinates efforts on campus and in the Upper Valley community. “What’s been exciting is really
embracing the idea that we are one meetings to spread awareness for party,” Panigrahi said. opportunities within the Buttigieg In order to garner support for campaign on campus, students have Buttigieg, Panigrahi has attended become interested through other efforts meetings of the Dartmouth College as well, including tabling in Novack and Democrats to announce programming through word of mouth. She noted that alongside leaders of different campaigns. the student leadership structure of the “There is no Buttigieg campaign contention — on campus is flat, “Students have a each [campaign] consisting of m a k e s t h e i r direct impact with student volunteers announcements,” elections in New who are interested Panigrahi said. in the candidate “It’s a really open Hampshire.” under Panigrahi’s process.” leadership. To Panigrahi, However, Panigrahi -SHREEYA PANIGRAHI, students are critical said students i n g r a s s r o o t s PETE BUTTIGIEG demonstrate organizing. unique drive and PRESIDENTIAL “Students have a momentum in their direct impact with CAMPAIGN ORGANIZER efforts, including elections in New when some students Hampshire,” she started a Dartmouth said. “New Hampshire sets the stage for Pete Instagram account to spread for the rest of the presidential primary.” awareness. Panigrahi said that while she According to College Democrats has gone to College Democrats president Riley Gordon ’22, because
campaigns are not associated with the College through the Council on Student Organizations, they cannot use the College’s listserv email system to spread information about meetings or local activities. Gordon said the College Democrats send out information through the listserv when different candidates visit campus. Gordon also noted that the College Democrats do not favor a specific candidate and instead allow local organizers to attend their meetings to highlight possibilities for local campaign involvement. “Some campaigns will be at every meeting and some campaigns prefer to do their own thing,” Gordon said. “Different campaigns decided to what extent they want to engage with us.” Gordon also echoed the cooperative nature of Democrats on campus. “The College Democrats is a place where people with different visions of the Democratic party can get together,” he said. “It is local, New Hampshirefocused, and we try to make a club that is welcoming to all kinds of ideologies.”
Dartmouth’s assessment of properties $35 million less than Hanover’s FROM ASSESSMENTS PAGE 1
student housing — such as the North Park apartments — and commercial space, as well as single- and multi-family rentals, and were assessed by the town at $86.8 million in 2018. However, Dartmouth’s own assessment of the properties’ value was $51.6 million, $35.2 million less than the town’s assessment. Griffin said that the town received over 350 appeals following the 2018 tax reassessment, some commercial and some residential. She added that this kind of response “isn’t uncommon” in New Hampshire, and that there is often pushback from town residents following property reassessment. In August, 66 Hanover property
owners petitioned the New Hampshire Board of Tax and Land Appeals to order the town to redo its 2018 property assessments. According to McMullen, in the past year, following the release of the 2018 property reassessments, abatements that have been granted have decreased the reassessed value of Hanover properties by $35 million. However, Griffin said that the fact that other abatements have been granted will have no impact on Dartmouth’s appeal, as the College submitted their appeal in the spring — before these abatements were granted. Griffin said that the Dartmouth real estate office “simply disagrees” with the town assessor’s assessed values. She added that the town will be requesting certified appraisals of the properties in
CORRECTIONS We welcome corrections. If you believe there is a factual error in a story, please email editor@thedartmouth.com.
question from the College’s real estate office so that the town assessors can evaluate the “validity” of the College’s claims. Lawrence wrote that the College initially filed an abatement applications regarding these differences on Feb. 27 of this year, giving the town of Hanover until the statutory deadline of July 1 to respond to the College’s applications. “By state law, the fact that the town did not respond by July 1st constitutes a denial of the College’s applications,” Lawrence wrote. Lawrence wrote that Dartmouth had to file an appeal by Sept. 1 in order to maintain its rights. She added that the timing of the College’s appeal was “statute-driven” and anticipated by the town. McMullen confirmed that the town missed this deadline, writing in an email to The Dartmouth that the reason for this delay was that the town ran out of time to act on the appeal. Lawrence wrote that Dartmouth does, and will continue to, pay its
approximately $8-million real estate tax to Hanover while the appeals process continues. When asked about the reason for the increase in assessed value of these properties, McMullen wrote that it is a New Hampshire constitutional requirement to update property values at least every five years. He attributed the increase to changes in value since 2013, when the properties were last assessed. Griffin added that the town saw a “significant shift” in values — specifically of in-town residential properties — as a result of the increased popularity of in-town homes. McMullen wrote that the town uses a “combination of both the Sales Approach and Cost Approach” in order to assess the value of properties. On the Hanover town website, the sales approach is described as the comparing of a property to others that have been recently sold, taking into account the possibility of over- and under-pricing the sold properties. Additionally, the website describes the
cost approach as the estimated amount it would take to replace a property with a similar one at the current material and labor costs. Griffin said that the town’s assessment process will not change, since it is “defined by statute.” She added that property owners retain the ability to appeal the town’s assessed values by “pinpointing inaccuracies in their property record cards or providing evidence of comparables that point to a value that differs from that assigned by the assessor.” She said that it is too early to determine whether the town will grant the College a tax refund, as the College still needs to provide the town with “more detailed and compelling” data explaining the values they have assessed their properties to be. According to Griffin, the town assessor will conduct a “full measure and list visits” to the properties in question, along with properties in the vicinity. Then, both parties will submit their findings to a mediator.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2019
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THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
College’s United Way campaign teams up with “The Call to Serve” B y EMILY ZHANG The Dartmouth
Launched on Oct. 29, Dartmouth’s annual United Way fundraising campaign, which supports social service organizations in the Upper Valley, aims to raise $270,000 by Dec. 20 — a slight decrease from last year’s goal of $290,000. This year, the campaign is partnering with “The Call to Serve” initiative sponsored by the Alumni Relations office, which calls for 250,000 collective hours of service in 2019 from the Dartmouth community around the world in celebration of the College’s 250th anniversary. The partnership with the The Call to Serve is part of the College’s long-standing connection to Granite United Way; the College has worked with the organization for over 40 years and is the largest contributer in the Upper Valley. “[Granite United Way’s] focus is
to provide resources to vulnerable populations that cannot get them in any other way, where the gover nment may not provide enough,” said Dartmouth United Way campaign co-chair Mimi Simpson. The money raised is distributed throughout Vermont and New Hampshire with a specific focus on education, income and health, according to Granite United Way’s website. Simpson said that donations to the campaign mainly come from individual Dartmouth employees, though some departments also make collective contributions in various ways. For instance, the athletics department donates $5,000 every year from the proceeds of the first home football game of the season. According to Dartmouth United Way campaign co-chair and wellness p ro g r a m m a n a g e r C o u r t n ey Rotchford, there are two ways for Dartmouth community members to support the campaign: they can
either make a monetary donation or volunteer at an organization partnered with United Way — or both. At the same time, the volunteer time-off policy for Dartmouth employees allows them one day of paid time off each year to perform volunteer services through organizations affiliated with United Way. Simpson said that although the campaign tried to reach out to students for participation as well, the timing of the campaign — the end of the fall term, overlapping with finals and winterim — makes it difficult to do so. C e n t e r fo r S o c i a l I m p a c t director Tracy Dustin-Eichler, who is a member of the campaign steering committee, volunteered at the Dismas House in Hartford, VT, a nonprofit organization affiliated with United Way that provides transitional housing for formerly-incarcerated individuals to help them reintegrate into the
community. “It’s a really wonderful way to connect with the local community,” Dustin-Eichler said, “and to ensure our Upper Valley community is a place where people who are coming out of incarceration have the opportunity to be successful.” In partnership with The Call to Serve, the United Way campaign also recommends people report the hours that they volunteer in United Way-affiliated organizations to The Call to Serve initiative. According to its website, The Call to Serve campaign has reached 97 percent of its 250,000-hour service goal so far, with 49 percent of hours contributed by students, 34 percent by alumni, nine percent by faculty and staff, and eight percent by parents and families. Alumni Relations deputy director Victoria Gonin said students have contributed significantly to the campaign. The student hours, she said, include unpaid
internships, among more traditional volunteering activities. Gonin also noted that the Alumni Relations office is sponsoring service projects at every major D a r t m o u t h eve n t , i n c l u d i n g H o m e c o m i n g, r e u n i o n s a n d tomorrow’s Dartmouth-Princeton football game at Yankee Stadium in New York City. “We knew in our hearts that the Dartmouth community is very active in volunteerism, and the initiative enables us to see this from a quantitative perspective,” Gonin said. Moreover, Gonin also thinks this effort is able to connect the Dartmouth community around the globe. “I saw people logging in hours from Africa, Alaska, South Dakota, Switzerland, who might not have a lot of Dartmouth colleagues close by,” Gonin noted. “But they still feel connected back to Hanover through this initiative.”
Recommendations to be implemented by end of academic year FROM ACCESSIBILITY PAGE 1
Services testing center. Dartmouth also implemented new grievance procedures for addressing alleged failures to provide reasonable accommodations, according to a College press release. May said she only joined Dartmouth’s Student Accessibility Services staff this term, but she said she has already worked closely with students and members of the administration to implement the report’s recommendations. While she was unable to give an exact timeline of the changes, May expects that they will mostly be in place by the end of the academic year. May said she also believes that the College should implement some changes not explicitly called for in the report. “I would love for Dartmouth to have some kind of an internal evaluation resource for things like learning disabilities, autism spectrum, attention
deficit disorder, just to make sure that, “The report itself was focused that [testing] was convenient, that on compliance and accessibility in mu ch m o re the classroom, but a f f o r d a b l e , “I think there is an there is a longer that sort of importance to thinking conversation to be thing,” May hadaboutimproving said. “All of us about disability as accessibility outside in the office, we another minority of the classroom as want to make well,” Lively wrote. sure that all group or marginalized “One of the big students who group on this campus, recommendations need the we’re looking but one that does not that access have at is whether it the access, and have the wide array of would be possible, that includes those legal-based and given the current being able to constraints the be evaluated.” affinity-based services College has around D e a n o f on campus as other space, to put the the College entirety of SAS groups do.” Kathryn Lively support services in wrote in an a single location.” email to The -JESSICA CAMPANILE ’20 Jessica Campanile Dartmouth ’20, the founder that there and president were areas of of the campus campus accessibility that the report organization Access Dartmouth, did not address. said she believes that the report did
not go far enough and said that she was unhappy with the consultants’ characterization of students with disabilities at Dartmouth. “There was just this repeated language that talks about the incidents of disability at the College … they kept contrasting the amount of students with disabilities or students receiving accessibility services with the fact that Dartmouth is an elite institution or selective institution,” Campanile said. “And they kept using these words that suggested — at least in my and other students with disabilities’ opinion that I’ve talked to — kept suggesting that since we are an elite Ivy League institution, it just seems that in their minds it didn’t match up that there would be a ‘relatively high’ number with disabilities.” According to Campanile, the report said that only 12.7 percent of Dartmouth students receive accessibility services, which is about half the national average. She said
she was disappointed to see that the report apparently still considered this number to be too high for an institution of Dartmouth’s caliber. “We see a lot of people who are struggling in an institution that was not built for their bodies and minds — and truly just never built with the idea that they would ever attend — struggling to have a full and comprehensive Dartmouth experience in a way that other students are given the resources to do,” she said. “I think there is an importance to thinking about disability as another minority group or marginalized group on this campus, but one that does not have the wide array of those legal-based and affinity-based services on campus as other groups do.” With regard to the implementation of the recommended changes, May said that the College has been productive in making progress. Jessica Campanile is a member of The Dartmouth Senior staff.
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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2019
THE DARTMOUTH OPINION
STAFF COLUMNIST CALLUM ZEHNER ’21
THE DARTMOUTH EDITORIAL BOARD
Deutsche Drift
Verbum Ultimum: Reframing the Narrative
Germany is not as united as it may seem. In the next few days, people will come together to mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. As a moment of triumph over division and repression, the event deserves recognition. But it would be a mistake to believe that the bringingdown of the wall, and the reunification of Germany that followed, marked an end. Germany is still not a unified nation, and the repercussions of this are only now coming to popular attention. Following reunification, distinctions between the former nations of East and West Germany gradually began to fade, as the East was integrated into the West’s economy and political system. As more people came to identify as “German” above all else, the tortuous history of separation appeared to be gradually disappearing. Yet, in recent years, the divide between East and West has resurfaced in a dramatic way, with many pointing to the migrant crisis of 2015 as the spark. This divide has manifested itself as a difference in attitudes and values, with the citizens of former East Germany falling back on a defensive populism and reviving their regional identity through a disassociation with the West. The influx of over a million Syrian refugees into Germany between 2014 and 2016 evoked strong critiques across the country, but drew particularly negative reactions from those in eastern Germany. The eastern Germans felt cheated, as they believed themselves to be refugees in their own right. They were a people transplanted into an alien country in 1990, and left to find their feet. At reunification, the sudden evacuation of state services in the East toppled a major pillar of society, leaving many reeling. And the closure of hundreds of communistera factories led to widespread unemployment. Despite the progress that has been made since, there remain many issues that continue to plague the East.
DEBORA HYEMIN HAN, Editor-in-Chief
Recent coverage of College news by media outlets has been, at times, misleading.
Only a sliver of Germany’s highest-valued firms are based in the East, and a stagnant productivity gap of 20 percent has separated the two sides of the country for 20 years. These factors have added up to create an underdeveloped capitalist class in the East that feels maltreated and ignored by the prosperous West. With East Germans feeling dispossessed to begin with, the addition of a million refugees has inevitably stoked tensions. Those very same Germans who feel they have been left behind by Berlin now watch as the government seeks to provide for a million newcomers. Many now agitate for the East to be integrated into Germany before the same is done for migrants. Ultimately, the East Germans have come to the conclusion that the government repeatedly acts without their consent. This is what explains the tectonic shift currently forcing Germany apart. This sense of exclusion at the expense of others has thrust a regional identity back on the people of eastern Germany. Far from a decade ago, now 47 percent of easterners define themselves as ‘East Germans’ over Germans. In the West, the equivalent figure is only 22 percent. But unlike other areas of the country, such as Bavaria, the East German identity is more firmly rooted in politics than culture. And as one expects from a people who feel excluded from their national government, East German politics has increasingly lurched toward the far-right. The most recent elections saw a surge in support for the Alternative for Germany party — a party well-known for its anti-immigrant, populist rhetoric. The party doubled its vote share in the state of Thuringia in October and made large strides in the states of Saxony and Brandenburg. SEE ZEHNER PAGE 6
AIDAN SHEINBERG, Publisher
ALEX FREDMAN, Executive Editor PETER CHARALAMBOUS, Managing Editor
ANTHONY ROBLES, Managing Editor
PRODUCTION EDITORS CAROLINE COOK & EOWYN PAK, Opinion Editors
BUSINESS DIRECTORS JONNY FRIED & JASMINE FU
KYLEE SIBILIA & NOVI ZHUKOVSKY, Mirror Editor
Advertising & Finance Directors
LILI STERN & ADDISON DICK, 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
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
ISSUE LAYOUT ALEKA KROITZSH 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.
Every year in October, Dartmouth and similar institutions are required to report on their campus crime and security in accordance with the Clery Act. Topics subject to reporting include law enforcement authority, incidence of alcohol and drug use, sexual assault, and domestic or dating violence. Of particular note in this year’s report for Dartmouth was that the number of reported sexual assaults increased. In October, the Valley News reported on sexual assault at Dartmouth, beginning the article with, “The number of rapes reported at Dartmouth College increased by more than 41% in 2018, according to annual statistics released this week by the college.” WMUR 9 also reported on this issue, comparing this nearly 42 percent increase at Dartmouth with the nearly 50 percent drop in sexual assault cases at University of New Hampshire, which decreased from 49 incidents to 27. While this 41 percent increase conjures up an impression of a dangerous campus, the actual number of reported incidents went up from 24 in 2017 to 34 in 2018. In an interview with Kristi Clemens, the College’s Title IX Coordinator and Clery Act compliance officer, The Dartmouth learned that some incidents reported had actually occurred in earlier decades but were only reported in 2018, in part due to a national shift that encourages women to report rather than stay silent on occurrences. Though much of the reporting on this topic eventually discussed nuances in this increase, many outlets featured this statistic as news in and of itself. Though technically accurate, promulgating the 41 percent increase statistic not only leads readers to potentially believe a different reality — that Dartmouth has suddenly become much more unsafe than in recent years — but also detracts from the nuances of the occurrence, like the rise in willingness to report. This increase in reporting is a stark reminder of the reality of sexual assault in our community, and it should not be whittled down to a simplistic statistic. Instead, it is important that we treat these numbers honestly and as the complex figures that they are. As Mark Twain once said, there are lies, d—n lies and statistics. For comparison, The Dartmouth reported on this increase in sexual assault reports in an article titled, “Yearly crime data show increase in reports of sexual assault in 2018.” Instead of leading with the 41 percent statistic, this newspaper chose to investigate possible reasons for the increase in reporting — indeed, the statistic is not used at all. The article looks at
the recent lawsuit regarding sexual misconduct allegations against three former professors and the change in leadership at the Title IX office, both which may have encouraged more victims to come forward. The article also acknowledged the complex nature of reporting sexual assault cases and addressed the limitations of the Clery Act and reported numbers. In reporting on difficult and complicated stories, news organizations have a responsibility to give their readers the most accurate picture as possible. While at times, this involves reporting clearly and directly on difficult news, it also involves framing news fairly. This discrepancy in reporting can occur even with stories as simple as event coverage. When Joe Biden visited campus this August, Biden’s off-handed remark about a hypothetical assassination of President Barack Obama made at the end of his speech became a national story in outlets like The Hill and the New York Times. The statement in question was, “Imagine what would have happened if, God forbid, Barack Obama had been assassinated after becoming the de facto nominee.” According to The Hill, Biden’s remark “raised eyebrows” among audience members, and the New York Times’ Aug. 23 article was headlined, “Joe Biden, Recalling ’68, Asks Audience to Imagine Obama’s Assassination.” While this may have been a way to frame the event in a fresh way, particularly given the day-to-day humdrum of the campaign stump much of the national coverage on the Biden event emphasized a point that audience members did not react to in ways the articles suggest they did. There are many ways to tell the same story, and it is enriching to see how different journalists shoulder the charge of portraying information precisely and accurately. However, these examples are a sobering reminder that information, while still “true,” can be misleading by portrayal. Our aim, of course, is not to cast distrust on this community’s or society’s journalistic organizations writ-large. Instead, we reflect on the many ways information can be presented. Moreover, we recognize the importance of independent reporting — not just in terms of the freedom of the press, but in avoiding the perpetuation of characterizations that take events out of context or give misleading impressions. It is also important, then, to cast a wide net: to read critically, think critically and digest information as it relates to one’s own lived experiences. The editorial board consists of the opinion editors, the executive editor and the editor-in-chief.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2019
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THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
$11 million campus WiFi upgrade project to be completed by 2021 FROM WIFI PAGE 1
services Felix Windt. At that time, there were approximately 4,000 concurrent devices on the network, Windt said. Now, the number has gone up to more than 25,000. Since the summer, ITC has begun the process of updating WiFi across campus, a process expected to take two years. “More and more people associate with an access point and there’s only a certain amount of bandwidth it can share,” said chief information officer Mitchel Davis. “It becomes more distributed and slower until it won’t let anybody else on the network because it can’t give you any signal.” Since 2015, ITC has pushed for the wireless networks to be upgraded, according to Windt. Davis said that when he joined the College in 2017, he noticed an accumulation of 30 years’ worth of technical debt and prioritized the overhaul of the campus’ WiFi. “Technical debt refers to when you manage technical systems and make decisions that put off necessary investments, putting together workarounds or Band-Aids [instead],” Windt said. “You’re solving the problem in the short-term, but it makes it much harder to solve the problem in the long term.” This year, Windt said, the College
allocated approximately $11 million to aid ITC’s installation of the new wireless system and recover from the accumulated technical debt. “We’re not trying to get the old system up to snuff,” Windt said. “We’re literally going through a process of going to every building, ripping out the existing wireless and installing something completely new that is current technology.” Upgrading the wireless infrastructure in each building on campus will require several steps. First, contractors will determine the optimal placement of wireless hardware by moving access points on tripods throughout every room and measuring signal strength. These measurements produce a design that ensures consistent connection at 5GHz throughout the building. After the radio frequency survey, other contractors will begin installing Ethernet cabling to connect to the wireless access points. More than 90 percent of the wiring will be new, and two wires will be pulled to each access point location in anticipation of future growth or backup connections. New hardware is installed as the last step; access points are connected to the new wires and attached to the ceilings or walls to begin providing services. The process is ongoing, with ITC and hired contractors taking two months to work through each building, Windt said.
Almost all of the buildings in the Tuck School of Business and Thayer School of Engineering have been completely upgraded, and the central libraries — which include Baker-Berry Library and Sanborn Library — and the Class of ’53 Commons are in the middle of the procedure. Kara Shurmantine Tu’20 said that she has noticed a difference in WiFi speeds. “Most of the classes are lecture-based and low-tech, so it’s not something that would come up during class, but in terms of day-to-day usage, connectivity has improved from last year,” Shurmantine said. The upgrade also includes almost doubling the number of access points to about 6,000, according to Windt. He added that AX WiFi, which is particularly adept at serving areas of high density, will be installed in classrooms. “What we’re really expecting to build is pervasive good wireless coverage,” Windt said. “Ideally, we should no longer have anyone complain about WiFi not being good, anywhere — that’s the goal.” While this upgrade continues throughout campus, Davis and Windt acknowledged that students are currently facing connectivity issues and that the ITC is willing to use short-term solutions in the meantime. This includes adding access points in places where several
OLYMPIA NAGEL-CALAND/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF
Some of the College’s libraries, such as Baker-Berry, are currently in the midst of receiving a WiFi upgrade.
students have reported problems with WiFi while they wait for the upgraded system. However, Windt added that ITC must balance their limited resources devoted to these provisional fixes with the resources dedicated to the campus upgrade project. “When they originally put the access point in, there were maybe 10 people on it,” Davis said. “Now there’s 60 with four devices they’re walking around with. We can go add more old [access points] into the space and try to beef up those spaces.” Windt also warned about the danger of switching networks from eduroam to Dartmouth Public as a temporary solution. He said that the networks are run by the exact same access points and radios; the only difference is the additional authentication eduroam has to allow students to use campus resources. Transitioning often between the networks can present as an attack to an access point, enabling protective measures that drop the connection.
“Three-quarters of user-specific problems we solve involves forgetting Dartmouth Public,” Windt said. “The logs on the wireless system show us that a user actually gets kicked off wireless because their device flipped flopped between eduroam and [Dartmouth] Public so much. The AP [sees] an unstable client, and tells [them] to hold out for a little bit.” In addition to the $11 million allocation, the College is building a sustainability fund for network services that can be used for upgrades. Instead of having to submit proposals for capital received at a later time, the department will have funds for whenever new technology is released to maintain adequate connection. “That reserve is sized so that we’ll be able to replace the entire WiFi on campus every four to five years,” Windt said. “Technology has moved in faster cycles than our funding has traditionally, and that’s what we’re trying to address looking forward.”
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DARTMOUTHEVENTS
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2019
THE DARTMOUTH EVENTS
NIGHTTIME ADVENTURES
NEELUFAR RAJA ’21
TODAY 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Colloquium: “Neural Circuitry Underlying Reinforcement Learning,” with Dr. Bruno Averbeck, sponsored by the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Moore Hall, Room B03.
4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Seminar: “Social Interactions Can Generate Sexual Selection on Brains and Behavior,” with Dr. Suzanne Alonzo, University of California - Santa Cruz, sponsored by the Department of Biological Sciences, Class of 1978 Life Sciences Center, Room 201.
8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Viewing: “Public Astronomical Observing,” sponsored by the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Shattuck Observatory.
TOMORROW 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Exhibition: “Technoutopias Tour” with Professor Tarek El-Ariss, Chair of Middle Eastern Studies, sponsored by the Studio Art Department, Jaffe-Friede and Strauss Galleries, Hopkins Center for the Arts.
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Exhibition: “Hood Highlights Tour,” sponsored by the Hood Museum of Art, Hood Museum of Art.
FROM ZEHNER PAGE 4
With declining prospects in the West, the AfD has increasingly fashioned itself as the party of East German identity, with campaign posters stating “The East Rises Up!” And, evidently, the tactic is working, playing off of the disillusionment of the easterners. For the casual observer, it may be easy to make neat categories, to see 1989 as the end of a divided Germany. But, divisions have a habit of persisting, and many of the inequalities that separated West from the East have left scars that continue to affect attitudes and politics on both sides. Neglecting the enduring effects of 55 years of division risks
misunderstanding the present. If we fail to see the divide within Germany that continues to exist, there is no possibility for the grievances of the eastern Germans to be addressed. And this will do nothing to halt the current strain of destructive actions the region is undertaking. As one of the defining victories of the 20th century, it is hard to let go of an event like the fall of the Berlin Wall. Yet, it is more important to recognize the 30th anniversary of the fall as an ongoing process. For, if we see it as ongoing, and not an event in the past, the possibility of change exists. This is the only peaceful way forward.
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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2019
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THE DARTMOUTH ARTS
Hood deputy director Juliette Bianco to receive NEMA award B y Lucy Turnipseed The Dartmouth Staff
Deputy director of the Hood Museum Juliette Bianco ’94 will be presented with a 2019 New England Museum Association Excellence Award today at the association’s annual meeting, where three other Hood staff members will also be presenting their work. Bianco oversees the Hood’s exhibitions and often travels to speak about the benefits and opportunities that museums can bring to college campuses. Bianco was the Hood’s primary representative during the museum’s renovation. NEMA recognized the two essays she co-authored about reenvisioning the museum: “Stepping into the Composition: Collaboration as a Framework for Architectural Discovery,” which she wrote with architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, and “Creating the Ideal Museum Learning Environment,” which she penned with Chanon Kenji Praepiptmongkol and William Chow. Both essays are featured in the Hood’s new book, “The Hood Now: Art and Inquiry at Dartmouth.” In an interview with The Dartmouth, Bianco discussed her role in the renovation of the Hood Museum, as well as what drew her into and what keeps her dedicated to the museum field. Why have you chosen this career path? JB: What really motivates me to contribute to the Hood and Dartmouth is a strong belief in the benefits of collaborative work. And in this case, that motivation was understanding what an art museum can do on campus academically, socially and co-curricularly. It’s also the ability to listen to how a faculty member wants to engage with the collections, to listen to how students want to be in the museum, whether it’s part of their everyday lives or just learning
from the objects in our collection in a class. It’s understanding how the staff and administration at Dartmouth see a museum fitting into the bigger picture of what a liberal arts degree means at Dartmouth.
Why did you decide to come back to Dartmouth after graduating? JB: I was given a wonderful opportunity, and I try to remember that and pay it forward as well. I’d been trying to figure out where to go, and I stopped by the Hood and asked if they needed any volunteers. A couple of staff members said they had some projects, and if I could help that would be great. Then the European art curator was looking for a curatorial assistant on an exhibition project, which is not an area of my expertise. But I jumped right in and learned how to catalog essays, how to research artists, how to keep track of loans, how to label slides — which is not something we do anymore — and how to send out information about this exhibition to see if other museums would be interested in it. And so I got this wonderful hands-on experience working on exhibitions, and that was my first role with the museum, which I still maintain in overseeing the exhibition program. But I really was given an opportunity at a very tangible level. And so I try to offer and support those same opportunities for students. I really think that I stayed because I always had the opportunity to contribute. In your essay with the Hood’s architects, what did you discuss? JB: The architects and I talk about decision-making from the Hood’s point of view, from Dartmouth’s point of view and from the architects’ point of view. When we’re talking about things that matter to us, we create a sense of being on the same page and how that winds up affecting the design. So we
talked specifically about the window in the front of the museum, which is kind of this iconic window. How did we come to the decision that that was going to be the way to present the facade? What is it saying about the museum to the outside world when you’re standing outside the museum? How does it function once you’re inside the museum space? And how does that window, as opposed to a smaller window or a larger window, affect our ability to curate the spaces? So these are all decisions that, when the museum looks done, it’s hard to realize that every one of those components was a result of conversations about making meaning together — about what we wanted to deliver to our community. Why was the topic of your second essay, the Hood’s learning environment, important? JB: Right when the Hood was beginning to think about the expansion project, we did a session on it at a conference. The session was about imagining a learning environment where all sorts of things can happen. What does that look like? And how do you work toward that together? And the thing I liked particularly about my second essay is, at the time, Kenji was a current Dartmouth student. And it was a bit unusual to have a current Dartmouth student on a panel at a conference that was mostly people who are representing their profession. He brought right into the middle of the conversation a Dartmouth student’s perspective on not only what would make a learning environment meaningful for students at Dartmouth at the time, but an insider perspective as well, because he was an intern at the Hood and helped lead a program for other students at the Hood. He brought a sort of depth of experience to that conversation right where we wanted it, right where we were hoping to create these spaces for students just like him. I felt like both of those essays were an
COURTESY OF ALISON PALIZZOLLO
Bianco oversees the Hood Museum’s exhibitions.
opportunity to look back a little bit, but also to hopefully benefit those who might be thinking about doing a similar project. Why do you continue working in the museum field? JB: What really keeps me in the field is being able to contribute to those moments when someone realizes something new or remembers something that maybe they knew, but now they see it in a different way. I love enabling that: the fact that maybe art can help you see things differently, that interacting with works of art might help you see something new or learn something about another person because you’re interacting with them either in a class or in a social situation. It’s just being able to provide a framework for making sense of the world. That gives me a lot of professional joy.
What would you say to someone who says they know nothing about art and doesn’t feel like the Hood is for them? JB: I would say you’re probably the best audience because you’re going to come in with a fresh mind. It should be a place where you can start, just like you start reading a book. You may or may not know anything about the subject at all, but the hope is that you make a connection or that you learn something pleasing or interesting or funny or different. Or maybe not! But the opportunity is there. I would say that the museum should present an opportunity for anyone and everyone. Where they go from that is one of the wonderful things about being human. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2019
THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS
PAGE 8
SPORTS SPORTS
The battle of the best: football preps for big Princeton game
B y devan fink The Dartmouth
In its 17 games dating back to the start of last season, No. 13 Dartmouth football is 16-1. No. 9 Princeton University football is 17-0. The one loss separating these two teams? The Tigers’ 14-9 defeat over the Big Green last November. Those five points in that game would ultimately be the differentiator. Since there are no playoffs, the Ivy League football championship is awarded to the school with the best record. The 2018 title came down to that single game. Had Dartmouth won, a new banner would have been added to the ring at Memorial Field. Instead, the team looks to redeem itself in another battle of undefeateds this Saturday. In the 2019 edition of the matchup between the two schools, the stage is significantly brighter. Rarely is Ivy League football on nationwide television, but this game will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU, so it can truly be said that this is exactly how the networks would have drawn it up. This game will also take place not in Princeton, not in Hanover, but in New York at Yankee Stadium, as the two schools commemorate the 150th anniversary of college football. Princeton played Rutgers University in the first-ever college football matchup on Nov. 6, 1869. Though the two schools currently boast undefeated records, head coach Buddy Teevens ’79 shied away from calling Saturday’s matchup the de facto Ivy League championship — though he did note that the game will have significant ramifications for how the standings finish. “It’s certainly two teams that are undefeated,” Teevens said. “It doesn’t get much better than that. The team that has success is going to have the inside track on a title. There’s a lot on the line for it.”
Wide receiver Drew Estrada ’20 offered a similar sentiment. “You can’t think ahead,” Estrada said. “We still have two games left [after Princeton]. But us both being undefeated teams, it’s going to have really big implications. If we were to win, we would have to focus on each game after that and not slip up. Like every week, the next game is the biggest game, and what we have to focus on is this game. But yeah, there’s a little bit more to this game, I feel like.” Dartmouth is coming off an effort in which the team almost did slip up. After trailing for the vast majority of last Saturday’s game at Harvard University, the Big Green escaped unscathed with a last-second Hail Mary pass from Derek Kyler ’21 to Masaki Aerts ’21 to top the Crimson 9-6. The pass not only sent shock waves across the rest of the Ivy League, but the entirety of college football. The FCS named the pass the No. 1 play of the week. “It was exciting,” Teevens said. “Just a great example of playing to the end, being optimistic, and being competitive. Our guys did a great job. They could have stopped at any point. It certainly didn’t look bright when we fumbled the ball on the eight-yard line, but our defense buckled down, kept them out of the end zone. Kyler made a bunch of plays to get us down the field, and Aerts finished it off.” Even in the win dubbed the “Miracle in Cambridge,” the Big Green offense took a hit when starting quarterback Jared Gerbino ’20 left the game in the first half due to a leg injury and did not return. This week, according to Teevens, Gerbino did practice on Tuesday and Wednesday, but his status for Saturday still remains unclear. “At this point, it comes down to how limited I am at practice and how the coaches feel about me not practicing
much and then playing in the game,” Gerbino said. “It comes down to their feel. It’s one of these injuries that I’ve had in the past. It’s something I can push through, even though it’d be a little painful.” If it were up to him, Gerbino said, he would be playing. “I’ve played my whole career to play in games like these,” he said. “But it comes down to the coaches’ perspective and if they want to play me after not playing much in practice or if they want to play Derek. I’m going to try my hardest to get back to normal, but if I can’t, I’m going to try to be [in] a supportive role on the sideline.” Teevens, however, seemed to think that Gerbino will be ready to go. “Yes,” he said when asked if Gerbino will play on Saturday. “He’s a tough kid.” Regardless, Dartmouth finds itself in a unique spot. With its two-quarterback offense, the loss of the “starting” quarterback may not be as significant as it would be to the vast majority of offensive units. But, whichever player is playing quarterback on Saturday — and if Dartmouth had its way, it would be both — it’s going to be tough for the team to move the ball against a tough Tigers’ defense. Princeton is second in the conference in rushing defense, allowing just 96.4 yards per game, and is also second in the conference in passing defense, allowing just over 223 yards per game. “We’ve had good success with big plays,” Teevens said. “They’re a very, very aggressive defense, so sometimes that opens them up to the opportunity for a big play. When Princeton has been scored on, it’s generally been a big play.” These were the plays on which Dartmouth was unable to convert last Saturday, but Estrada believes that the difference rests in the Big Green just needing to execute when the opportunity
presents itself. “Last week, we had some trouble with the execution, which made it tough at the end,” he said. “[This week, we should focus on are] just starting off strong and finishing off strong in all phases of the game, offense and defense and special teams. Princeton is a really good team. They’ve shown it on film. Offensively, they’re putting up big numbers, and defensively, they’re one of the best defenses in the league. They have a ton of athletes, and they’re really wellcoached.” Still, no matter the outcome, the team is just excited for the experience of playing in such a unique venue for this important of a game. For Gerbino, a New York native, it will be especially cool playing in a ballpark that houses the team that he “grew up loving.” He, along with the rest of the team, will get to experience the ballpark’s special features prior to Saturday’s game.
“We’ll have the chance to take our players through and see some of the memorabilia and see some of the historical aspects,” Teevens said. “For a guy in any place in the country, they know the Yankees, they know Yankee baseball, they know Yankee Stadium. And as a young guy or an old guy, to have the chance to actually be in that facility, be in the locker room, be in the dugout, be on the field, it’s really special.” The stadium, the atmosphere, the opponent — for Dartmouth football, all of it will converge tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. “This is the biggest game that I think the majority of us have ever played in,” Gerbino said. “It’s on a huge stage, probably in front of the most people we’ve ever played in, so I would say that this is the championship for us in this moment. You kinda just get the feeling that Princeton’s only loss is going to either come from us or nobody.”
SAM HYSA/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF
The undefeated Big Green football team faces Princeton at Yankee Stadium tomorrow.