The Dartmouth 4/5/18

VOL. CLXXV NO.9

SUNNY HIGH 49 LOW 39

THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2018

Mindy Kaling ’01 will serve as 2018 Commencement speaker

HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE

APRIL SHOWERS BEFORE MAY FLOWERS

By THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

OPINION

FREEMAN: BORIS NEMTSOV PLAZA PAGE 6

ALLARD: THE ETHICS OF IRVING PAGE 6

ARTS

POETRY DUO MOTHER TONGUE SLAMS VIOLENCE AND OPPRESSION PAGE 8

REVIEW: COMPLEX CHARACTERS CARRY ‘THREE BILLBOARDS’ PAGE 8 FOLLOW US ON

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Actress and writer Mindy Kaling ’01 will serve as the Commencement speaker for the Class of 2018.

Kaling is known for portraying Kelly Kapoor on NBC’s sitcom “The Office,” for which she also served as a writer, director and producer. Her work as a writer for “The Office” earned her an Emmy nomination, making her the first woman of color to receive such a distinction. She also wrote, directed, produced and starred in her television show “The Mindy Project”; voiced the character of Disgust in the Academy Award-winning 2015 film “Inside Out”; and has written two New York Times best-selling books. In 2018, she played Mrs. Who in the film “A Wrinkle in Time.”

While an undergraduate student at the College, Kaling majored in theater, winning the Eleanor Frost Playwriting contest in 1999. She created and wrote a comic strip for The Dartmouth, “Badly Drawn Girl,” that poked fun at campus life, in addition to serving as a contributing writer for the humor publication the Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern. She was also a member of the improvisational group Dog Day Players and the all-female a capella group the Rockapellas.

This year’s Commencement will take place on June 10.

NAOMI LAM/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Students walk to class outside of Baker Berry Library on a rainy day.

Donation made to The Dartmouth Institute for new undergraduate health initiative

B y NICOLAS BERLINSKI The Dartmouth

Undergraduates will have greater access to The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice due to a donation by Eric Eichler

Martin O’Malley discusses green energy at the College

B y WALLY JOE COOK The Dartmouth Staff

Martin O’Malley, former Maryland g ove r n o r a n d 2 0 1 6 Democratic primary presidential candidate, discussed the future of renewable energy in America on April 2 in the Rockefeller Hall.

The event, hosted by t h e D a r t m o u t h

College Democrats, also featured environmental studies professor Melody Burkins, Nicholas War ren GR’18 and Sustainability Leaders Network founder and director Edie Farwell ’83 as speakers.

In his speech, O ’ M a l l ey d i s c u s s e d t h e p o t e n t i a l fo r a shift to green energy

i n t h e U. S . a n d touched on American politics, highlighting that Americans are approaching a pivotal moment in energy production. O’Malley added that Americans who are “concerned believers” in climate change have reached a SEE O’MALLEY PAGE 3

’57. The donation, the amount of which Eichler has stipulated will remain private, will expand the development of the Health Care Leadership Initiative.

Eichler graduated after completing a pre-medicine track at the College. Despite

his successful career in real estate afterwards, Eichler, whose father was a physician, said he remained interested in the field of medicine.

Following his growing concern about the state of health SEE TDI PAGE 2

Tuck study finds free shipping has high costs

B y MARIA HARRAST The Dartmouth Staff

Free shipping does not come cheap — at least not for online retailers. In a working research paper for the Tuck School of Business, updated in Jan. 2018, researchers found that free shipping promotions not only lead to lost shipping revenue for “a leading retailer,” but also result in higher rates of returns. The

study was led by Edlira Shehu, marketing and management professor at the University of Southern Denmark; Dominik Papies, the chair of marketing at the University of Tübingen in Germany; and Scott Neslin, marketing professor at Tuck.

While free shipping promotions may lead to greater sales, the researchers found that because SEE SHIPPING PAGE 5

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THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2018

The Dartmouth Institute given gift pertaining to healthcare delivery. Ten Dartmouth students each year will also care and clinical practice in the U.S., receive the year-long Eric Eichler ’57 Eichler said he was pleased when he Fellowship for Health Care Leaders, was approached attending the by the College summer residency “There are some to contribute to and eng aging a new program upfront development in community b a s e d o n a costs that include outreach with conceptual faculty mentors. framework for everything from According to undergraduate- developing the T D I d i re c t o r f o c u s e d of education curriculum to doing education in Timothy Lahey, h e a l t h c a r e the marketing for t h e i n i t i at i ve delivery science. the program, since will try to Eichler said he encourage more wanted to make the program will be interdisciplinary a donation to offered [outside of courses in Dartmouth that health care and Dartmouth].” was “beneficial clinical practice not only for by p rov i d i n g undergraduates -ROBERT HOLLEY, mechanisms and graduates, and funding for but [also] the DIRECTOR OF organizing such community.” courses.

ADVANCEMENT AND The new TDI primarily ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR initiative will conducts research l e a d t o t h e FOR DEVELOPMENT on how to improve development health care in the o f n e w U.S. while making undergraduate for-credit and co- it more affordable and accessible, curricular classes in collaboration with according to TDI director of the College of Arts and Sciences, a paid advancement and associate director fellowship opportunity and a weeklong for development Robert Holley. summer program — Dartmouth Currently, it only offers a master’s Health Care Foundations — that degree in Public Health, healthcare will be open to undergraduates from delivery science and healthcare all U.S. higher education institutions. research and a doctorate degree in Dartmouth Health Care Foundations health policy and clinical practice. will allow undergraduate students to However, the institute has been conduct an in-depth study of health working on a framework that would care and spend time with Dartmouth expand its undergraduate educational faculty who specialize in issues programs for some time, Holley said.

FROM TDI PAGE 1

Around a quarter of the Dartmouth undergraduate body is interested in a health care career, which motivated TDI’s new undergraduate initiative, Lahey said. He added that the initiative, made possible by Eichler’s donation, will help connect TDI with the College of Arts and Sciences.

“At The Dartmouth Institute there are internationally-prominent people who work in healthcare delivery science and public health.

And then feet away, there are people who are similarly experts in medical anthropology, economics [and] sociology,” Lahey said. “Our perception was that the collaboration between those faculty members would be mutually beneficial and something that students across campus would really benefit from.”

Holley and Lahey agreed that the donation allows the institute to finally begin working on visions it has had for the study of healthcare delivery science at Dartmouth. They said that financial gifts similar to the one provided by Eichler allow TDI to move in new directions and undertake new projects.

“There are some upfront development costs that include everything from developing the curriculum to doing the marketing for the program, since the program will be offered [outside of Dartmouth],” Holley said.

Eichler said he is very excited to see how this new initiative will be developed and received by the College’s undergraduate student body.

The underlying hope of the initiative is that it can improve health care in the U.S., he said.

HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR EGGS IN THE MORNING

CORRECTIONS Correction Appended (April 3, 2018): The print version of “Morin: The Perils of Cram Studying” included an incorrect title and byline. The online version has been updated to reflect the correct title and cartoonist.

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

NAOMI LAM/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

During the hustle and bustle of the morning, a Collis employee prepares eggs for students.

THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2018

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

PAGE 3

Ahead of the midterms, O’Malley visits the College best and most aggressive energy current state of American politics policy.” and its effect on green energy record high at 50 percent.

Speaking to the feasibility of an initiatives.

This ideological shift was ambitious green energy initiative “Our politics is badly bruised, accelerated by President Donald in the lecture, O’Malley claimed but we have the ability to make it Trump’s presidency, under which that the U.S. has the necessary work again,” he said. “We are not A m e r i c a resources, citing going to win by saying this group has b e e n “Usually, once things the “$1.5 trillion or that group stole our greatness.” experiencing in tax cuts” for O’Malley discussed the 2018 a “period of make the Democratic c o r p o r a t i o n s midterm elections. i n v o l u t i o n platform, they don’t implemented “No presidency is permanent,” before a period by t h e Tr u m p he said. “This is the opportunity of evolution,” fall out until they administration. for course correction — darkness according to become policy and He added that with makes a great canvas.”

O’Malley. only 12 percent Following the lecture, there reality.”

He added o f t h a t $ 1 . 5 was a question and answer period that in the 2016 trillion, the federal in which O’Malley said that p r e s i d e n t i a l -MARTIN O’MALLEY, government could bipartisan solutions to green election, he h a v e t r i p l e d energy issues can be found in job was the first FORMER MARYLAND spending on green creation. c a n d i d a t e GOVERNOR AND energy research He said that while the transition to propose a and development. to green energy jobs may seem 2016 DEMOCRATIC complete shift “ U n l i k e t a x daunting, career training could to green energy PRIMARY PRESIDENTIAL facilitate the by 2050. process.

CANDIDATE “No presidency is O’Malley In his interview permanent. This is said that he with The believes green energy will be a c u t s , t h e s e the opportunity for Dartmouth, top priority for the next president, i n v e s t m e n t s O’Malley added course correction — whom he thinks will sign an make 2.7 million that a major executive order for a green energy jobs and [lead to] darkness makes a issue with a initiative within his or her first few a better future,” great canvas.” shift to g reen days in office.

O ’ M a l l e y energy is how In an interview with The said. “Energ y the employment Dartmouth following his talk, transition to 100 -MARTIN O’MALLEY, changes are O ’ M a l l ey s p o k e a b o u t t h e percent [green presented to FORMER MARYLAND Democratic Party’s emphasis on energ y] is no voters. the prioritization of green energy. longer a question GOVERNOR AND Although the “Usually, once things make the o f t e c h n i c a l 2016 DEMOCRATIC subject matter Democratic platform, they don’t feasibility, [but o f t h e e ve n t fall out until they become policy rather political PRIMARY PRESIDENTIAL was serious in and reality,” O’Malley said. “You’ll will].” tone, O’Malley CANDIDATE probably see a lot of candidates O’Malley still found competing as to which one has the also spoke to the opportunities to FROM O’MALLEY PAGE 1

lighten the mood with jokes about run at this. A big part of me would Iowa and New Hampshire being like to.” his favorite states and his borrowing Melanie Gomez ’21 said she inspirational slides from Al Gore. attended the event because she The jokes that was interested played best were “Unlike tax cuts, in O’Malley’s self-deprecating, r e s p o n s e poking fun at his these investments t o Tr u m p ’ s previous failure make 2.7 million withdrawal in the 2016 from the jobs and [lead to] presidential race.

Paris climate O’Malley also a better future. agreement. responded to a Energy transition to “Climate question in The change is really D a r t m o u t h ’ s 100 percent [green a danger with interview about energy] is no longer a the current whether he was state of the c o n s i d e r i n g question of technical [Environmental r u n n i n g f o r feasibility, [but rather P r o t e c t i o n president again.

Agency], so political will].”

“I’m certainly I’m interested in keeping an open the Democrats’ heart and an open -MARTIN O’MALLEY, solution to mind,” O’Malley solving this s a i d . “ H av i n g FORMER MARYLAND problem,” Luiza done it once, I GOVERNOR AND Odhiambo ’21 have a very clear said.

2016 DEMOCRATIC idea of what it College entails and what PRIMARY PRESIDENTIAL Democrats it takes.” president CANDIDATE He added that Jennifer West his experience ’20 said “The with the midterms m e s s a g e would influence students should his final decision. take away is that “Right now, the future of what I’m putting our climate is my energy into up to us,” West is helping other said. “Climate people who are running in these change is something that is going to midterms this year,” O’Malley said. be one of the most pressing issues “In the course of that, I’ll make a of our lifetime and we need to be decision about whether or not the prepared for all of the challenges path is there for me to take another that we are going to face.”

PAGE 4

DARTMOUTHEVENTS

THE DARTMOUTH EVENTS

PEAK NAP SEASON

THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2018

UUGANZUL TUMURBAATAR ’21

TODAY

12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

“Developing Intercultural Citizenship: A Conversation with Milton Bennett,” Baker-Berry Library 102

4:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Lecture: “Medicalizing the Souls of Black Folk,” with professor of religion Jamil Drake of Florida State University, Rockefeller Center 002

4:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

“Queer Nuyorican Performance and Poetry with Karen Jaime,” Kreindler Conference Hall, Haldeman Center

TOMORROW

9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Dartmouth Entrepreneurs Conference, sponsored by the Dartmouth Entrepreneurial Network and Borealis Ventures, Hanover Inn

2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Women’s Tennis: Dartmouth vs. Yale, Boss Tennis Center

7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Film: “Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story,” directed by Alexandra Dean, Loew Auditorium, Black Family Visual Arts Center

ADVERTISING For advertising information, 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.

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THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2018

PAGE 5

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

Free shipping comes at a cost for online retailers

wrote.

While free shipping results in these promotions result in higher consumers buying more products, the increased rate of returns returns, profitability decreases.

“Product returns in general have counteracts these sales.

“The positive effects of free become a big, big issue for online retailers,” Neslin said. “Returns shipping promotions are ‘erased’ are a real problem for retailers, by their negative return effect,” and it costs a lot even if they’re Shehu wrote. “Thus, free shipping not giving free shipping. With free promotions are a double-edged shipping, you just get more returns, sword.”

While there is no “one-sizeplus you don’t get any revenue.”

The researchers found that the fits-all recommendation” for online retailer they studied lost online retailers, Papies wrote, money due to its free shipping retailers have several options promotions. However, other when considering free shipping retailers may find that free shipping promotions. For retailers who do promotions can be profitable, not typically offer free shipping, Neslin said. These retailers must a free shipping promotion can counteract the high rate of returns strategically increase sales. To account for high retur ns of by attracting enough customers.

According to the researchers, experience products, retailers could free shipping promotions lead to consider restricting promotions to greater consumer exploration, products that are less likely to be which ultimately results in greater returned.

Papies added that most retailers returns. When shipping is free, consumers are more likely to should not offer free shipping explore purchasing products permanently.

“There will be some actual of uncertain quality, known as “experience products,” Neslin shipping costs for the retailer, but most retailers said. are likely to Shehu wrote in “Product returns in make a profit an email statement that s i n c e general have become a on shipping consumers cannot big, big issue for online fees,” Papies said. “If evaluate these you decide riskier products’ retailers.” to waive it quality until after or offer free p u rch a s e, t h ey shipping are more likely -SCOTT NESLIN, permanently, to be returned. MARKETING PROFESSOR then you E x p e r i e n c e AT THE TUCK SCHOOL OF either forgo products typically this profit, include clothes BUSINESS or you will a n d e l e c t ro n i c have to try to products that cannot be fully evaluated until increase prices.”

When considering free shipping they are worn or tested in person.

Free shipping promotions promotions, online retailers must are attractive to consumers for anticipate the resulting higher different reasons, Shehu wrote, returns, Shehu wrote. Since free one of which is because shipping shipping leads to consumers fees are “generally a pain point” purchasing more experience products, online retailers should for online shoppers.

“Different industry studies show focus on decreasing these kind of that shipping fees are one of the products’ return rates.

Shehu suggested that online most common reasons for [online shopping] abandonment, and retailers might consider options that customers would be willing such as live chats, videos and to trade longer delivery time for u s e r r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s t o provide consumers with as much free shipping,” Shehu said.

The cost of shipping is an information as possible before additional consideration for purchase.

Neslin added that retailers such consumers, Papies wrote in an email statement. He added that as Amazon, Bonobos and Warby free shipping promotions relieve Parker have opened physical stores consumers of worrying about the where consumers can familiarize extra shipping cost of a product themselves with products in person before making online purchases. they may not like.

“If we think about free shipping The goal of such stores is to promotions, where the shipping decrease returns of experience and handling fees are waived for products, making free shipping a week, this may put consumers in promotions and online sales more a more positive mindset,” Papies profitable.

FROM SHIPPING PAGE 1

PAGE 6

CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST JILLIAN FREEMAN ’21

CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST SYDNEY ALLARD ’21

Boris Nemtsov Plaza

The Ethics of Irving

American democratic values are not fading.

On February 27, the section of Wisconsin Avenue directly in front of the Russian Embassy in Washington was renamed Boris Nemtsov Plaza, in a tribute to its namesake Russian opposition leader. The Associated Press has called the renaming “a D.C. sponsored effort to troll the Russian government.”

Exactly three years before, Boris Nemtsov, former Russian deputy prime minister and a charismatic figure in the country’s political opposition, was assassinated crossing the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge near the Kremlin. This occurred mere hours after he appealed to the public to support a march happening two days later against Russia’s war in Ukraine. After a short investigation by Russia’s main security agency, the F.S.B., five men were arrested. All arrests were connected to a man long distrusted by the F.S.B., Ramzan Kadyrov. Kadyrov, the ruthless ruler of the Chechen Republic, an autonomous region in southern Russia, is granted more autonomy by Russian President Vladimir Putin than any other Russian regional leader — much to the dismay of the F.S.B. This overwhelming showcase of bias would have been enough to raise speculation on its own, but became even more suspicious when all confessions were retracted by the suspects on the grounds that they had been coerced with threats and torture. When the case was finally “solved,” a low-ranking officer — who had conveniently disappeared — was charged with the murder. The indictment gives no motive, points to no leads as to how he financed the operation and leaves unanswered questions. To this day, Nemtsov’s murder remains unaccounted for. This absence of satisfactory answers has led to a growing number of conspiracy theories, many of which point to Putin and his administration as the culprits.

These sentiments were heightened after Trump’s congratulatory call to Putin regarding his electoral victory, although said victory was widely disputed; Putin faced little significant opposition, and there were even videos that emerged from Russia demonstrating possible election fraud. Most notably, Putin’s only legitimate opposition, Alexei Navalny, was detained shortly before the election and banned from running over a questionable conviction of embezzlement.

Not only did Trump congratulate Putin on this victory, but he also made no mention of the

investigation into possible Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Trump’s show of support to Putin’s triumphant election, and his reluctance to confront Putin on pressing issues, displays his willingness to work with Putin.

More importantly, it could, for some, signal an admiration Trump has for the stronghold Putin maintains on his people. One Los Angeles Times column, fittingly titled “Is Trump turning the U.S. into Putin’s Russia?”, portrays these sentiments well. After analyzing the question of whether or not Trump is a strongman-in-the-making, the author concludes with many questions at hand: “Is there collaboration between Trump and the Russian oligarchs? Why haven’t we implemented sanctions against Russia? And what does the Kremlin want?” Unfortunately, this exemplifies what many U.S. citizens might be terrified of or believe is occurring.

No matter how much the current administration seems to support autocratic rule, one must simply look to the facts to realize that American democratic ideals cannot be easily suppressed. Public actions have recently showcased this, as evidenced by the decision made a few weeks ago by the U.S. to expel 60 Russian diplomats in solidarity with Great Britain.

This act shows that the U.S. government still understands the injustice within state-sponsored acts of terror — in this case, the Russian state’s suspected killing of a former Russian spy in Salisbury earlier in March. However, the little things are just as important, such as the decision to rename the Russian embassy’s address to salute the late Boris Nemtsov. Accomplishing more than simply “trolling” the Russian government, this effort demonstrates to Russia and the global community that the U.S. will not forget the unjust acts that Putin and his government shrug off.

One need not worry about American ideals being stifled. Media outlets may seek to create popular, fear-invoking headlines about the similarities and respect President Trump appears to hold for Putin’s autocratic rule. Despite the possibility of these stories holding semblances of truth, American democratic principles will nonetheless prevail. Boris Nemtsov Plaza, seated at the heart of our nation’s capital, is now one of many displays of this persistence.

It is a permanent and public representation of American democracy, values and integrity.

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ISSUE

THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2018

THE DARTMOUTH OPINION

LAYOUT: Sonia Qin, Amanda Zhou

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.

Accepting tainted money poses ethical questions.

Some know Martin Shkreli as the “pharma bro” responsible for gouging the price of the lifesaving drug Daraprim, relied on by vulnerable populations — pregnant women, cancer patients, people living with AIDS — by 5,000 percent.

Some know him as the man who received a seven-year sentence for securities fraud this March. Some know him as the owner of the sole existing copy of the Wu-Tang Clan album “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.”

Martin Shkreli is all of these things. But before I knew about any of them, I knew him as the man who donated $1 million to my high school, Hunter College High School in New York City.

In 2015, the Hunter College High School alumni association’s website featured the headline “Martin Shkreli, from the Class of 2001, donates $1,000,000 to HCHS!” The day after the donation was announced, the hallways of Hunter High were filled with chatter and enthusiasm — not only was it the largest donation my school had ever received, but it was one of the largest gifts ever made to a public, non-charter high school in New York.

Hunter College High School’s student body includes an unusual mixture of first-generation immigrants and people whose parents and siblings attended the school before them. In some ways, Shkreli fits into this picture well. He grew up in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. His parents were immigrants and janitors. At Hunter, he was exposed to opportunities that might not have been available to him otherwise. The school is known for its incredibly high standardized test scores — some of the highest in the nation — and the unusually high percentage of students it sends to the Ivy League each year. It affords its students one of the best free educations in the country.

When news of Shkreli’s unethical pricegouging and securities fraud broke, Hunter was rattled. Hunter may have been as deserving as any institution of Shkreli’s $1 million donation, but could they accept tainted money?

To make matters more complicated, Shkreli’s donation to Hunter was not an isolated incident. He also donated $15,000 to Community Solutions, a charity that helps the homeless. Community Solutions chose to return the donation to Shkreli, with spokesman Jake Maguire stating, “We serve people who depend on AIDS meds every day, and as an organization I don’t think we can keep this money.”

The ethics of accepting Shkreli’s money are complicated. Perhaps Community Solutions worried that it could not keep a clear conscience while holding onto money from Shkreli. Perhaps the organization feared that in accepting the donation, they would absolve Shkreli of some of his guilt or improve his reputation — although his reputation seems pretty far beyond repair at this point.

I can think of no better way to spend Shkreli’s money than by helping to right some of the wrongs he committed. When Community Solutions returned Shkreli’s money, they may have cleared their conscience, but they robbed the community they intend to serve. In the name of taking the moral high ground, they made a practical error.

What Martin Shkreli did is done — using his profits to create positive impact is the only way

I can think of to repair some of his damage.

Hunter College High School’s students and alumni became concerned with what to do with the Shkreli donation. Some suggested that it be used to fund seminars on bioethics. How the money was eventually used — or if it has been used at all — is unknown. All of the excitement around the donation faded in my last two years of high school. But I was reminded of the controversy recently when I heard Dartmouth students groaning about the Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society, named after Arther L. Irving and funded in part by the Irving Family, Irving Oil and the Arthur L. Irving Family Foundation. Dartmouth College announced plans for the Irving Institute in 2016.

Irving is currently the 253rd richest man in the world, having inherited his father’s oil business in 1992. In the eyes of environmental advocates, he has wreaked irreversible havoc on the environment. As of 2016, $113 million had been donated in his name to create an Institute right here at Dartmouth, at the end of Tuck Drive, to research the future of energy.

The press release announcing the Institute quoted College President Phil Hanlon as saying, “Meeting the energy demands of the future is one of the most complex and urgent challenges facing humankind. We need to provide abundant affordable energy to allow for continued economic growth across the globe, particularly in developing nations, so that billions can be lifted out of poverty.” In the same release, Ross Virginia, professor of environmental studies, defined the Institute’s focus as “not energy alone, it’s energy and how it connects to people, to society, to broad issues like climate change and environmental justice.”

Anger about the Irving Institute’s namesake is misplaced. If the Institute really does produce cutting-edge research about climate change and environmental justice, then it could do exactly the kind of work that those who criticize oil companies like Irving Oil should be advocating for.

Some may take issue with the Irving Institute not because its funding comes from an oil magnate, but because the Institute will bear Irving’s name, thereby paying homage to a person and an organization that do not align with the Institute’s purported values and that continue to harm the environment. But whether or not Dartmouth accepts the donation won’t change whether Irving continues to drill for oil. Naming the building after Irving is a small price to pay for a $113 million donation that has the potential to produce important research for the future of the environment. If Dartmouth did not accept this donation, it is hard to imagine that it would go to any equally important cause. Energy equality, environmental justice and sustainability are some of the most important issues of our time, and accepting this donation enables members of the Dartmouth community to play a role in promoting them.

To reject donations from figures like Irving and Shkreli is to cry over spilled milk. The money was made how it was made — now it ought to be used to do some good. Tainted money is best used to create positive change, whether by helping the homeless, supporting a public school or funding a research institute.

THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2018

PAGE 7

THE DARTMOUTH OPINION

STAFF COLUMNIST NICHOLAS BARTLETT ’21

GUEST COLUMNIST SARAH LEHAN ’20

Inhibitive Distributives

Gift Shop Politics

A liberal arts education should not mandate distributive requirements.

Yesterday’s activists may still have a place in today’s feminist discourse.

Little in life frustrates me — an ever-proud the writing program, it operates under the humanities major — more than the science, erroneous assumption that students wouldn’t technology, engineering and mathematics explore the variety of Dartmouth’s curriculum fields. It’s hard to place exactly why that is, but without this being required of them. As a I learned early on in life that the path of the member of the Class of 2021, I can attest — scientist was hardly one that I wanted to follow. albeit only anecdotally — that many students Sure, I played the game in high school: I padded at Dartmouth do not explore courses solely my college applications with a myriad of AP because they are required to, but rather and Honors STEM courses in the hopes of because they want to. Many friends of mine coming across as more accomplished and well- used their freshman falls and winters to test the rounded to college admissions committees. But waters, so to speak, of the different subjects being able to succeed in a field and actually they were considering as potential majors. enjoying the subject matter are vastly different One friend has changed his corse of study ideas. It’s safe to say that post-high school, I was four times already. This was not the result elated to be finished with what I considered to of a liberal arts directive, but of an effort to be naught but tedious means to an end. maximize his education, try new things and However, college is not the escape from enjoy his college experience.

STEM that I had always dreamed it would For herein lies the flaw of mandatory be. Instead, Dartmouth mandates that all coursework: it misconstrues the importance of students take a variety of courses, from STEM the liberal arts environment for that of a liberal to English to art, in order to graduate, which arts curriculum. A liberal arts environment is is to a certain extent infuriating. Don’t get me replete with variety and possibility; it openly wrong: I knew what I was getting into when I encourages students to broaden their horizons decided to attend a liberal arts college, as my and experiment with different subjects. A college-bound friends and family had regaled liberal arts curriculum mandates that students me since I was young with tales of the suffering partake in such varied coursework. From a that accompanies student’s perspective, the “gen-ed”courses — “For herein lies the former is the ideal — a c a l l e d d i s t r i bu t i ve situation in which those flaw of mandatory requirements at who need to explore in Dartmouth. Yet this coursework: it order to elucidate their shouldn’t disqualify miscontrues the path in life are free to me from criticizing do so, while those who the system. While I importance of the liberal have already made their understand the aim of a arts environment for decisions are allowed well-rounded education, to immediately and that of a liberal arts I question the utility continuously develop of requiring such a curriculum.” and pursue their own breadth of coursework interests. Again, a to graduate. That is, liberal arts environment students might gain less from dividing their actively encourages intellectual diversity in attention between disciplines out of necessity coursework, but it does not mandate it in such a than they would from pursuing those that way that it inhibits many students’ development pertain to their interests and aspirations. as academics within their fields.

Take, for example, the hypothetical case Let’s return to Billy McEnglish, who already of an English major — I’ll call him Billy knows that he wants to be a writer. Within McEnglish — who aspires to become a a college experience free from mandatory journalist for the New York Times. His career coursework, Billy can add any mix of writingwill be near exclusively defined by the way in oriented courses to accompany his English which he is able to write effectively, write quickly major — from science to government — if and manage deadlines. To that end, Billy’s best they either align with his interests or are seen course of action would be to craft a curriculum as fortuitous in his development. He does which is predominantly writing-based — be not, however, have to take any science, math it analytical, narrative or otherwise — that or art courses which he might otherwise view catalyzes and reinforces the development of the as wasteful or unnecessary to his academic three capabilities I mentioned previously. The development. More broadly, the absence of specific coursework is largely irrelevant, so long mandatory coursework lends itself to a more as it pursues the end goal of becoming a better personalized academic experience. writer, and Billy can very easily use his interests Perhaps I have too much faith in my fellow as the conduit for this development. “But what students, thinking that if given the freedom to does this have to do with distributives?” one choose from a plethora of options, they will dare might ask. to explore and better themselves intellectually.

Dartmouth’s liberal arts education operates Or perhaps it is Dartmouth that has too little under the assumption that “graduates must be faith in its student body, underestimating the prepared to deal with complexity, diversity, ingenuity and curiosity which prompted their and change,” according to a 2016 letter acceptances in the first place. Either way, I from College President Phil Hanlon. and can’t help but dream of a Dartmouth without that mandating a well-rounded curriculum distributive requirements — one in which facilitates this intellectual development. students are neither punished for wanting to And while I agree that certain facets of this explore nor punished for wanting to abstain. approach possess their own merit, particularly Wishful thinking, I suppose.

“I don’t normally shop,” I said apologetically.

As item upon item stacked by the till, I’m not sure the cashier believed me.

It was a drizzly Sunday in early March, the week before International Women’s Day, and I had just raided the Museum of London gift store. My goal to see the museum chronologically meant that I had gone inchby-inch through Celtic axe heads and Roman trepanning drills, but had not seen anything post-1066. Nevertheless, the gift store section that most attracted me accompanied the centenary celebration of women’s suffrage in the U.K. I was chagrined. How could I buy merchandise on an exhibit I hadn’t seen? And just what, now that the vote had been won, did the suffragettes offer today’s society?

But I decided to silence my inner dogmatist.

This visit was my third to the museum; I had considered these purchases for two weeks now.

Besides, I would see the exhibit eventually.

Now that I’d traversed 451,016 years, what were 902 more?

Three minutes before closing, I re-entered the drizzle laden as a camel. One tea mug, four postcards, one umbrella, one deck of cards, one five-by-eight notecard and one book for my goddaughter — together, they made up a flurry of green, gold, and purple that cost me two weeks of my internship stipend (although, in my defense, said stipend is £35 a week).

As I began my walk home, I wondered why, of all London’s history, the suffrage movement and its trinkets so pulled me.

Luckily, a five-mile walk in the dark with a dead phone provided plenty of opportunity for thought.

In some ways, women’s suffrage is to modern activism as petticoats are to thongs or as corsets are to Spanx: woefully obsolete.

Women won the vote decades — no, a century — ago. To saunter down the street with a “Votes for Women” umbrella when so much injustice remains seems disingenuous.

Why doesn’t my umbrella demand “Equal Pay for Women”? Or “Work Without Sexual Assault”? Emmeline Pankhurst, social justice activists might say, is so 1918.

And not just for its agenda. The movement’s very constituency is anathema to modern social justice discourse. Predominantly white and middle-class, the British movement was far from intersectional. The American movement was worse: though leaders included black women like Ida B. Wells and, before her death in 1883, Sojourner Truth, the movement tilted toward abject racism after the passage of the 15th Amendment in 1870.

Upset that Congress had enfranchised black men but not white women, activists like Carrie Chapman Catt appealed to southern white women with the idea that their vote could counteract those of black men. The organizers of a suffrage parade demanded in 1913 that black women march either at the back of the protest or not at all. Not all white leaders felt this way — Amelia Bloomer, for example, fought the racism — but fear that black support would taint success contaminated suffrage strategy.

I only researched these details later. That

walk home, all I had was high school history and a tea cup painted with protesters, all of whom were white. I felt ashamed — all too familiarly, the fight against one discrimination had propagated another.

What was I to do? Should I scrub my tea mug, shake my umbrella, walk back to London Wall and drop them back by the till? Or could I keep my merchandise in good conscience?

I chose the latter. And even though I didn’t have time to finish the museum before I left, I will be back as soon as I can to see the exhibit and its gift shop in all its complexity.

Because that’s how the suffragettes should be remembered and celebrated: as humans who achieved great success despite their flaws. Without their courage and persistence, imperfections and all, today’s issues could never be fought — and not just because women were barred from the ballot box.

Before women’s enfranchisement, society deemed the female sex apolitical, born for the demands of the home. Suffrage was the culmination of a long campaign for women’s rights that, among other victories, secured the right to divorce and to hold property. Until the late nineteenth century, “respectable” women in the U.S. and U.K. could not even walk the streets unaccompanied.

Much has changed this past century, and many of those changes should be acknowledged and appreciated.

But much remains that should change.

And in that regard, my tea mug and umbrella are daily reminders to remember what 1918 offers 2018.

First, change is possible. In this contentious political climate, it is easy to feel static. A look at the last century shows not only what the world has gained, but all that it can gain.

Society can and has shifted drastically. Have hope.

But secondly, change is hard. Winning the vote took decades — decades of signs, sashes and speeches, yes, but also jail time, hunger strikes and Emily Davison’s death under the hooves of King George V’s horse. Change that today seems a matter of course — women have officially won the vote everywhere but Vatican City — was then a radical step taken through radical measures. As someone who tilts towards moderation, at times excessively, this insight is invaluable, as is the idea that flawed individuals can still engender great positive change. Each time I open my new umbrella, I will be reminded to keep an open mind.

The upshot? While petticoats and corsets may be outmoded, suffrage history is most definitely not. Celebrate it. Criticize it. Seek to understand it.

And remember it, with every cup of tea.

LeHan is a member of the Class of 2020.

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.

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PAGE 8

THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2018

THE DARTMOUTH ARTS

Poetry duo Mother Tongue slams violence and oppression

By ISABELLE BLANK The Dartmouth

In a perfor mance entitled “Trigger Warning” on Tuesday night in Brace Commons, powerful poetry duo Mother Tongue made one thing clear from the beginning: They will not remain in the margins. These poets — Rachel McKibbens, 2009 Women of the World Poetry Slam champion, and Dominique Christina, twice a winner of the same contest — aren’t performers who beat around the bush. They come at the bush headon, with equal parts confidence and vulnerability.

Mother Tongue performed their spoken-word poetry as part of a three-day residency sponsored by the women’s, gender and sexuality studies department. In addition to three public events this week, the poets visited four different classes and attended organized discussionbased lunches and dinners with students.

Women’s, gender and sexuality studies professor and published

poet Giavanna Munafo said she and professor Francine A’ness, a lecturer in the women’s, gender and sexuality studies department, began working to establish the residency last year in response to demand from students.

The artists introduced their residency in a mission statement.

“We believe in interrupting narrow spaces,” Christina and McKibbens wrote in promotional materials. “We believe in introducing students to the wider function of language and art as activism.”

A s m a l l bu t e n t h u s i a s t i c audience filled every seat in Brace Commons to hear Christina and McKibbens grapple with violence and marginalization. One student asked how the artists work with the deep-seated history of colonialism inscribed within the English language. Christina responded that historically, black and brown bodies were violently forced to speak the English language, but not allowed to read it — in this way, according to Christina, “colonization weaponized English.”

Soul Scribe members Raven Johnson ’18, and Skyler Kuczaboski ’21, opened for Mother Tongue.

Rachel McKibbens followed the introduction with her poems, fir st providing the per sonal history behind each. She spoke about her childhood, both in her poetry and introductions. In one poem she described herself as a “kindergartener with a sweet tooth for death,” a “child standing at the mouth of the underworld” who “never wanted to stay dead, [she] just wanted a better, sweeter life.”

McKibbens was a powerful speaker, a rhythmic poet and a person who suffered unimaginable trauma. Her poetry is visceral, personal, dark and at times very funny. It not only reveals her soul but turns her skin inside out. She bares blood, makes the audience witness to a topographical map of her historical body.

Christina concluded by performing a wide range of her poetry. Dealing with dark and important material, she was laughout-loud funny, empowering and a

beautiful singer. She too described her childhood and her “storied body.” A piece entitled “The Right Kind of Slutty,” began with a disclaimer to her Catholic mother before answering her daughter’s question of “how many men there were” with something “out of Game of Thrones: legions.” Christina asks her daughter in a poem to name her menstrual blood “something biblical.” This is important work that moves and inspires. It’s work whose words spoken aloud sink into the skin to rest, make a rash and cause revolution within their host.

The duo also touched on how to navigate queerness in languages like Spanish or Italian, which operate on a gender binary. The language should fit the body, Mother Tongue argued, not the other way around.

“English sits alongside violence… [and] as an African American, my relationship to the English language is alchemical, because it had to filter through so many ways of knowing,” Christina said.

Poetry, at times, has been a survival strategy for the duo.

“My relationship with the spoken word has a lot to do with growing up in a culture of silence, and specifically, we couldn’t survive if we didn’t have language as this amazing bridge towards moving out of our traumatized bodies and into a place within ourselves that is empowered and strengthened and willing to breach those codes of silence,” McKibbens said.

Ultimately, Mother Tongue asserted that their work is an act of reclamation, an act of reclaiming and utilizing a language in a way that it was not intended to be used.

The words certainly made an impression on the audience.

“The perfor mance was incredible, considering how a poem can take you through a range of emotions, that you can listen to people discuss trauma and in the same poem be laughing and cheering,” audience member Katie Carithers ’20 said. “It is incredible that Mother Tongue deals with such heavy subject material while at the same time uplifting their own voices and the voices of others.”

Review: Complex characters carry ‘Three Billboards’

By LEX KANG

The Dartmouth Staff

The critically acclaimed “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” received a second wave of attention during Oscar season last month.

In the wake of a generally positive initial reception, “Three Billboards” received backlash as the Oscars drew closer because of the way the film seems to redeem Jason Dixon (played by Sam Rockwell, who won an Oscar for his performance), a violent and racist police officer. But upon a critical reevaluation of the film’s complicated message, it’s clear that “Three Billboards” doesn’t redeem Dixon. No character, protagonist or not, can be seen as completely good in the first place. That’s precisely what director and writer Martin McDonagh articulates through his emotional, dramatic and painfully realistic film — human nature and personal relationships can’t be seen in black and white. McDonagh’s captivating and thoughtful “Three Billboards” shows that the definition of what is right and wrong is a circumstantial, biased blur, and that no person can truly be redeemed.

The plot is interesting but doesn’t seem jarringly unique at first. The protagonist, Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand, who also won an Oscar), is a divorced middle aged woman who lives and works in the small town of Ebbing, Missouri with her son Robbie (Lucas Hedges). The film begins with Hayes renting out three old, forgotten billboards on the outskirts of town. On the billboards, she leaves provocative messages about the abduction, rape and murder of her teenage daughter Angela (Kathryn Newton).

It’s true that there have been plenty of movies about wrathful parents seeking justice for their victimized children — the “Taken” franchise comes to mind. But rather than telling a story centralized on a parent’s actions, “Three Billboards” relates how Hayes’s messages catalyze a series of life-changing events for multiple people in Ebbing. McDonagh does an excellent job of mixing the perspectives of the characters so homogenously that by the end of the film, the roles of hero and villain become muddled, leaving viewers unsure of their satisfaction with the outcome. Simply put, none of these characters are going to heaven.

For example, the violent murder of her daughter Angela is the crux of Hayes’s character. Angela’s murder gives rise to a stone-faced, vengeful ball of fury who pushes away love and care and isn’t afraid to break laws or offend and hurt people to express her anger. Toward the beginning of the film, the graphic nature of the murder makes the audience sympathize with Hayes. But as the film progresses, she begins to slip from the moral high ground, leaving the audience wondering whether her actions could still be understood as the vengeance of an angry mother.

When her dentist passive-aggressively expresses disapproval of her billboards and the effect they have on the police chief, she doesn’t hesitate to grab his dental drill and push it through his thumbnail. Even more shocking is the scene in which she sets the police station on fire by throwing Molotov cocktails through the window.

Yet it is difficult to condemn her, not only because of the degree to which she was hurt, but also because she is likable — especially because of her sharp and humorous tongue, which does not hesitate to offend when appropriate. She is the epitome of a

classic anti-heroine. Her motivation is understandable though her methods are questionable, and throughout the course of the roughly two-hour film, her moral standing slowly disintegrates as a result of her rage. To add yet another complication in evaluating her character, Hayes apologizes and displays a somber, regretful attitude toward the conclusion of the movie, making it difficult for the audience to side with or against her.

A similar difficulty in judging character arises with Dixon, the target of the backlash rendering controversial an otherwise widely-acclaimed film.

Dixon is an unlikeable, irrational bigot with anger management issues, the film’s natural villain. On the other hand, Chief Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) — who, despite his responsibility in Ebbing Police Department’s failure to find Angela’s murderer, is a continuously likable character — consistently advocates for Dixon. Willoughby’s evaluation seems laughable at first, but turns out to be foreshadowing Dixon’s change.

His character development is not meant to erase his brutality or sloth in the first half of the film, as many critics allege. Rather, it speaks to the

complicated nature of personhood and justice. Certainly, Dixon changed for the better in some ways. He becomes more dedicated to his work as a police officer and attempts to think more clearly. Yet he still maintains many of his negative characteristics.

His main act of “heroism” is drunken and violent and leads to the film’s open ending which leaves him poised to commit murder in a twisted act of justice. Not only does that sully his improving reputation, it ensures that Dixon is leading his life to ruin.

To say that the ending depicts Dixon as a hero is a gross misunderstanding of Dixon’s character arc.

These complications in human nature make the audience reconsider their understanding of right, wrong and responsibility. The witty dialogue and powerful acting accentuate the refreshing believability of the plot points and characters’ responses.

Moreover, the raw emotion of the story engrosses the audience in the metaphorical trial happening in the film. “Three Billboards” successfully exposes the intricacies of justice, the faults of the justice system and the heart-wrenching violence of police brutality.