VOL. CLXXVI NO. 146
PARTLY CLOUDY HIGH 30 LOW 15
OPINION
VERBUM ULTIMUM: DDS DYSFUNCTION PAGE 4
ARTS
‘THE SWEET SCIENCE OF BRUISING’ FEATURES LITERAL FIGHT FOR EQUALITY PAGE 7
SPORTS
DARTMOUTH BASEBALL LOOKS TO REBOUND AFTER PITCHING WOES IN 2019 PAGE 8
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2020
HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE
Phi Delt fire will likely Susan Rice talks new memoir, displace residents for experience in national security remainder of term B y SAVANNAH ELLER The Dartmouth Staff
A small fire at the Phi Delta Alpha fraternity house last weekend caused by the “careless discharge of what we believe was some smoking material” will likely displace residents for the rest of the term, according to Hanover fire department chief Martin McMillan. First responders responded to the fire on Sunday afternoon. The Hanover, Hartford and Lebanon fire departments all responded to the incident.
According to McMillan, a trash can caught fire in the third-floor bathroom of the house, setting off two sprinklers. Firefighters quickly extinguished the fire, which was confined to the bathroom and was already mostly put out by the sprinklers. McMillan said that the Hanover fire department’s preliminary investigation found that the cause of the fire was accidental. The College relocated residents of the house into SEE FIRE PAGE 5
Town of Hanover hires supplemental inspector for local restaurants B y MARCO ALLEN
The Dartmouth Staff
The town of Hanover has resorted to hiring a supplemental inspector in order to ensure that the town’s food establishments are complying with public health regulations. According to Colleen Smith, an official with the N e w H a m p s h i re p u bl i c
health department, New Hampshire inspects restaurants “about three times less that what the [Food and Drug Administration] recommends” — which is about once per year. Instead, the state only inspects restaurants once every three years, according to Hanover town manager Julia Griffin. SEE INSPECTORS PAGE 3
DEBORA HYEMIN HAN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Rice spoke at an event hosted by the Dickey Center in Spaulding Auditorium.
B y JENNIFER CHEN The Dartmouth
Former U.S. national security advisor and ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice spoke in Spaulding Auditorium on Thursday afternoon. In a discussion with Dickey Center director Daniel Benjamin, who served with Rice during the Clinton and Obama administrations, Rice discussed her years in public service, family background, the 2020 Democratic primary, the government’s handling of novel coronavirus and the motivation behind her new memoir, “Tough Love.” The conversation began on Rice’s memoir, specifically the values she inherited from
her parents which sparked her interest in public service. Rice said that her father — who worked in the Treasury Department, World Bank and Federal Reserve — and her mother — who worked to establish the federal Pell Grant program — jointly enforced the common theme of “education and commitment to service” during her childhood. Rice noted that her father faced many obstacles when trying to find a job after receiving a Ph.D. due to discrimination, but ultimately landed a job as an assistant professor at Cornell University. Rice candidly remarked Cornell did not know the race of her father before he arrived — partially through the help of
his advisors at the University of California at Berkeley — but he was still able to succeed in the job. However, this experience reinforced a notion in Rice from her father: “If my being black was going to be a problem, it’s going to be a problem for someone else, not for me,” she said. Rice began her fast rise in politics in the administration of President Bill Clinton, quickly rising to the post of assistant secretary of state for African affairs — a position which oversaw 43 ambassadors, most of whom were both older than and skeptical of Rice. Rice said that one of the lessons she learned early on SEE RICE PAGE 3
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2020
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
Q&A with former undersecretary of state Steve Goldstein B y IOANA ANDRADA PANTELIMON The Dartmouth
Former undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs Steve Goldstein spoke at a Dartmouth Political Union event on Wednesday, during which he discussed his brief work with the Trump administration as well as his views on politics and diplomacy. Goldstein gave a detailed account of his dismissal from the Trump administration during the event, saying that he was relieved from his duties after issuing a statement that contradicted the White House’s account of former secretary of state Rex Tillerson’s removal. Before working in the Trump administration, Goldstein had a long career in communications, working for members of Congress, the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Wall Street Journal. The Dartmouth sat down with Goldstein after his talk about his career in public service and corporate communications and the Trump administration. Under the present administration, changes to the Foreign Service have prompted concerns among many. What is your advice for students interested in going into foreign affairs who have these concerns? SG: Serving in the Foreign Service is one of the greatest things that you can do. It’s worthy, and I think people that are interested should pursue it. I think it’s harder now. There’s no question that when you’re responding
to tweets and when you’re having to react to the constant flow of the news of the day, that it makes your job more difficult. But that’s a challenge, too, in some regard. Issues exist in the public sector and the private sector. So you have to decide going into any job what’s important to you. And then you shouldn’t compromise those values. If an issue is that important to you and the company or the entity that you’re going to work for doesn’t stand for that, that’s not the place for you. But I think when people stop and think about it more clearly, there are very few issues that fit in that category.
The W hite House doesn’t hold regular press briefings anymore. As an experienced communications professional, how would you say this impacts the system of checks imposed by free and active media? SG: I believe that there should be press briefings every day. And I wish that they would do press briefings every day, but I will tell you the President himself is available almost every day. So while the press secretary doesn’t come out to the briefing room, the President talks to reporters on a daily basis. And that’s why you’re seeing what you’re getting on television. Fro m a c o m mu n i c a t i o n s standpoint, how did those under you do their jobs while the President actively tweeted on social media without consulting his advisors? SG: It definitely affects them, because they are having to respond to it. And one of the things I tried to do was tell people, take what is good and
CORRECTIONS Correction appended (Feb. 27, 2020): The Feb. 27 article “Spread of coronavirus in Italy cuts short study abroad program” originally attributed the fact that the College is paying for students to return on the earliest available flights and that students will receive full credit to program director Tania Convertini. This information was actually stated in Guarini Institute executive director John Tansey’s email to students. We welcome corrections. If you believe there is a factual error in a story, please email editor@thedartmouth.com.
go forward and just focus on the job itself. But it definitely is impactful. That’s not going to change; tweeting is here to stay. It’s more negative in some places and in some places that’s instructive because it tells you exactly where the President stands. And in many ways, you want to know where the President stands — it makes your job easier. The issue is not so much as long as the President stands for that same thing tomorrow and the next day. It’s a matter of whether the tweets remain solid or whether they change. But President Trump is a very good communicator. You might not like how he communicates, but he knows how to do it. He’s very effective at it. What are his strengths in communication? SG: He knows how to reach the American people. He can control the news. He is able to get his own message out and he fights back. All of that can be a negative too. But by and large, I think it’s a positive.
Do you think we’ve witnessed a decay in trust in the American government inter nationally under the Trump administration? SG: I think there’s some people who have more trust in their government and there’s some people who have less trust in their government. That exists in every administration, but I think you’re just hearing about it more now. I understand the concern that some people have, and I think that’s legitimate on their part. But I think there are also people that feel like the government is doing exactly what they wanted to do. Yo u l e d c o m mu n i c a t i o n s teams throughout your career. How did your interest in communications arise? SG: I have always been interested in the media and cared about the news. When I was 12 years old, I always told people I wanted to be the White House press secretary. I think it was just something that interested me. I don’t know why anyone gravitates
to what they do. It just happened. My father and mother watched the news a lot, and I always liked spin — trying to figure out how you sell a certain thing. And I don’t want to be a salesperson, I’m not good at that. But I liked the idea of watching reporters figure out how to move the dial, and I thought that there was a lot of power in that. And I thought if you are the person helping them do it, you had even more power. I don’t think it was a power dynamic in terms of me having power, but I think it was a power dynamic in terms of making a difference in this country. I used to tell one of the CEOs I worked for, “I need you, but you need me.” And I think he understood that you can make a real difference — you can use PR for good. You can publicize the story of a family whose home burned down, and you can get people to donate money to have them rebuild a home. A lot of good things can come out of PR. This interview was edited and condensed for clarity and length.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2020
PAGE 3
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
Supplemental inspector identified Jewel of India’s code violations FROM INSPECTORS PAGE 1
“T he state’s public health restaurant inspection function is significantly understaffed and underfunded,” Griffin said. Griffin added that while there used to be more state health inspectors, the state cut its expenditures years ago when reducing budget expenses, leading to a low number of inspections which Griffin deems insufficient. “We currently have 7.5 full-timeequivalent inspectors to inspect over 4,600 food establishments,” Smith said. “So while it would be great to inspect every place every year, with that many people, it’s hard to do that routine inspection.” In New Hampshire, towns can either self-inspect or use the state’s system to inspect restaurants. Smith noted that the 15 self-inspecting cities and towns in New Hampshire are “generally the larger towns.” Hanover itself is not self-inspecting.
Instead, Hanover has been u s i n g a fo r m er s tate h ea l th inspector to conduct supplemental inspections for all of the town’s food establishments every summer. The town budgets $2,000 a year to conduct these inspections, according to Griffin. According to Smith, Hanover and the neighboring town of Lebanon are the only non-selfinspecting towns that have hired an independent, supplemental inspector. Griffin added that the town’s inspector coordinates closely with the state. Griffin noted that Hanover’s supplemental inspector identified Jewel of India’s building code violations earlier in the term. These concerns later led the College to end Jewel of India’s lease, which is scheduled to ter minate in June. College spokesperson Diana Lawrence clarified that the College’s role in that decision was solely that of a property owner.
Furthermore, the supplemental inspector and the town — rather than the state — also worked together to identify grease violations at the now-shuttered The Orient. Market Table chef and kitchen manager Keith Lynde said that the concerns that the town brings aren’t “necessarily what were regulated to be in standard with by the state.” Lynde said that the town’s supplemental inspector lacks the power to enforce regulations and can only make recommendations to the state. He added that the state and the restaurant both ignore some of the changes suggested by the town. “Aside from things falling over into town property, he doesn’t really hold weight over a lot of these restaurants,” Lynde said. Lynde added that while the supplemental inspector could be “annoying to us at times,” he does provide a service. Han Fusion owner Tom Liang said that when he operated restaurants in
Rice declined to endorse pres candidate FROM RICE PAGE 1
in this position was the power of collaborative leadership. Rice said she started as very goal-oriented and wanted to push people forward, but this leadership style proved to be ineffective when one of her colleagues pointed out that she was “discounting the experience” of those around her. “It was the greatest gift of tough love that I have ever received that wasn’t from my parents,” Rice said. Rice conceded, however, that her experiences in the political fray of 2012 “looks like patty cake compared to where we are today” when “truth didn’t matter, facts didn’t matter, [and] we went after individuals ... for political purposes.” “Our domestic political divisions are our greatest national security vulnerabilities,” Rice said. She added that dissent around immigration, gun rights and race could be exploited by the United
States’ adversaries like Russia, who are “aiming to pit Americans against each other.” When Benjamin, who noted that Rice had become the “poster child” of polarization following the 2012 Benghazi attacks, asked about the current state of politicization, Rice emphasized a need to “minimize the powers of the extremes and reinforce a rational middle.” Speaking on the recent coronavirus outbreak, Rice contrasted the current administration’s approach to how the Obama Administration handled the Ebola and swine flu outbreaks. She stressed that she and her colleagues didn’t portray the “alarmist behavior” the current administration has shown during the public health crisis. When asked which Democratic presidential candidate she favored or was campaigning for, Rice stated that four or five candidates had asked for her help, but she declined to endorse anyone. She did, however,
state what she wanted to see in a candidate — specifically, someone with “the ambition of unity” to repair relationships damaged between Democrats and Republicans during Trump’s term. She mentioned former vice president Joe Biden briefly, noting his 30 years-worth of relationships and calling him a “known quantity.” However, Rice said that Biden is not the only candidate who has the potential to unify people across aisles. “As troubled I am by the moment we’re in ... I’m actually still an optimist,” Rice said. She added that she takes “comfort in our young people,” such as the Parkland High School gun control activists as well as climate activist Greta Thunberg. She voiced her admiration for those of the rising generation who are not “constrained by all these forces telling us ‘No.’” “Some of us,” indicating to both herself and Benjamin, “should really be getting out of the way,” she quipped.
other states, inspections happened more on a yearly basis. He added that in his experience, it is “easier for the town to inspect restaurants” as opposed to the state, due to their proximity and relationship. However, Liang did identify some issues with inspections, noting that they look in the wrong places at times and need to “focus on what’s more important.” Ramunto’s Brick and Brew Pizzeria manager Tim Cullen called the supplemental inspections a “good process,” adding that the “they come in and point out things that you haven’t thought of.” “It can be extremely challenging on the older buildings in town because things evolve constantly on
what the standard is,” Cullen said. “So when you get stuck in older buildings it makes it significantly harder, and I think that’s a little unfair.” In comparison to other states, Smith said that over the last decade and a half, government agencies have experienced a decrease in their staff numbers, and the state is looking at ways in which to ensure that inspection process have a “higher degree of focusing on active, managerial control.” “We’re more likely to be the ones with eyes on a property then the state is, just by the virtue of the fact that this is our community and we’re in and out of local buildings all the time,” Griffin said.
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2020
THE DARTMOUTH OPINION
THE DARTMOUTH EDITORIAL BOARD
Verbum Ultimum: DDS Dysfunction The biometric scanner debacle reflects broader issues.
DEBORA HYEMIN HAN, Editor-in-Chief
AIDAN SHEINBERG, Publisher
ALEX FREDMAN, Executive Editor PETER CHARALAMBOUS, Managing Editor
PRODUCTION EDITORS TEDDY HILL-WELD & MATTHEW MAGANN, Opinion Editors KYLEE SIBILIA & NOVI ZHUKOVSKY, Mirror Editors ADDISON DICK & JUSTIN KRAMER & LILI STERN, Sports Editors LEX KANG & LUCY TURNIPSEED, Arts Editors NAINA BHALLA & LORRAINE LIU, Photo Editors SAMANTHA BURACK & BELLA JACOBY, Design Editors GRANT PINKSTON, Templating Editor JESS CAMPANILE, Multimedia Editor
ANTHONY ROBLES, Managing Editor
BUSINESS DIRECTORS JONNY FRIED & JASMINE FU Advertising & Finance Directors HIMADRI NARASIMHAMURTHY & KAI SHERWIN Business Development Directors ALBERT CHEN & ELEANOR NIEDERMAYER Strategy Directors VINAY REDDY & ERIC ZHANG Marketing, Analytics and Technology Directors
ELIZA JANE SCHAEFFER, Social Media Editor WILLIAM CHEN & AARON LEE, Data Visualization Editors
SUBMISSIONS: We welcome letters and guest columns. All submissions must include the author’s name and affiliation with Dartmouth College and
should not exceed 250 words for letters or 700 words for columns. The Dartmouth reserves the right to edit all material before publication. All material submitted becomes property of The Dartmouth. Please email submissions to editor@thedartmouth.com.
As this newspaper reported last Friday, Dartmouth Dining Services has decided to eventually implement biometric scanners at the Class of 1953 Commons, the College’s main dining hall. Jon Plodzik, the head of DDS, extolled the virtues of scanners at the entrance, calling the technology a “game changer” that would reduce lines at ’53 Commons. What’s more, Plodzik justified the presumably expensive scanners as a means to ensure “better utilization of resources.” If “better utilization of resources” is DDS goal, then perhaps it should look elsewhere. Few students at the College have ever had much trouble with the line at ’53 Commons; during a busy mealtime, students might need to wait a few jarring minutes, or perhaps a couple more on an exceptionally busy day. Ask most students here, and they might wish for shorter lines at Collis or Novack Cafes, where lines can stretch on for 15 minutes or even longer. Or they might even tell you that the lines aren’t the biggest problem they have with DDS, pointing instead to the inflated food prices — as this paper reported last Tuesday, many items sold by DDS at Collis Market cost over twice as much as they do in the Hanover CVS. All students at Dartmouth must purchase a meal plan with the College. These range in price, but for on-campus students, the cheapest option still comes in at a whopping $1,900 per term, or $27 per day. Compare that to the average American. In a 2012 Gallup survey, American households reported spending an average of $151 per week on food. Since the average 2012 American household size was 2.55 people, that means that Americans spend roughly $8.46 per day per person on food. Why, then, does DDS require students to pay over three times more than that? The reason why DDS charges so much — why it fails to respond to student concerns and focuses on projects like biometric sensors — is likely because it doesn’t have to deal with competitors, and is therefore operating with incomplete information inputs from its customer base. It’s easy to end up thinking that a biometric scanner system would be an excellent innovation because DDS doesn’t have a mechanism for receiving widespread feedback on what it is that actually makes a dining experience enjoyable for students. At best, implementing a biometric
scanning system might make wait times marginally better at the one dining hall with the least-bad line problem. At worst, the proposal raises legitimate concerns about the tendencies for biometric systems to end up reinforcing discriminatory patterns among minorities — and while the proposed system for ’53 Commons does not directly implicate those problems, they reasonably suggest a desire to expand such systems throughout campus, which is cause for concern. DDS responds to student needs and priorities about as effectively as any organization that gets relatively minimal feedback from the people who interact with it; that is to say, exceedingly poorly. Again, that’s not to fault the excellent staff of DDS, who do their best to make this broken system work for the student body. But in the end, the fact that DDS doesn’t have to worry about competitors for student dining dollars — whether or not you believe that a deregulated dining system would be any better — means that they lack an effective mechanism for testing whether their customers are truly pleased with the way the business is run. The case of the ’53 Commons biometrics system is an example of the misguidedness resulting from the isolated nature of DDS operations. While lines during the busiest terms have certainly gotten longer as freshman class sizes have increased, biometrics aren’t the solution. All they do is raise fears of surveillance and targeting among vulnerable populations — any shortened wait times would be marginal at best. As this Editorial Board has previously argued, the College has a whole host of options available for improving quality of life on campus, especially when it comes to food options. It could allow meal plans to transfer over to local restaurants and grocery stores; they might also consider the implications of increasing class sizes on the facilities available to serve them; it also would be worthwhile to investigate methods to expand or improve the facilities at the Collis Cafe. There are a number of improvements this campus needs desperately, and many others that could make life smoother for everyone involved. Biometric scanners are not among them. The editorial board consists of the opinion editors, the executive editor and the editor-in-chief.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2020
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
PAGE 5
Building suffered water damage from seeping sprinkler system FROM FIRE PAGE 1
temporary accommodations in residence halls on campus after the fire, according to College spokesperson Diana Lawrence. According to McMillan, the structure suffered minor fire damage but was impacted primarily by seeping water from the sprinkler system. He said Phi Delt would likely need to fix water damage before the house could be habitable again. Preventing mold and electrical issues will require opening some walls in the house, he said. McMillansaidthatthefireprevention system causing more damage than the fire itself is sometimes unavoidable. “The sprinkler basically put the fire out, which was relatively small to begin with, and then what we end up with is a water problem,” he said. Associate director of residential operations Bernard Haskell said that residents of the building will remain in temporary accommodations until
the Hanover fire department confirms that the building is safe and the Greek organization decides to allow students to return. Phi Delt is taking measures to repair damage, according to Haskell. A building inspector and Hanover fire marshal Michael Hinsley will do a walk-through check when repairs are completed, according to McMillan. McMillan said that his impression of Phi Delt’s plan was that repairs would take place in the coming few weeks and that residents would likely not move back in until the beginning of next term. “My understanding was they were going to … wait and actually put the building back to normal so that people can move in during winter break,” he said. McMillan said that the timeframe of repairs and how long students will have to live elsewhere is ultimately up to Phi Delt and the College. Phi Delt president Sean Keough ’20 declined to comment.
PETER CHARALAMBOUS/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
The fire at Phi Delta Alpha on Sunday was extinguished quickly, but the building suffered water damage from sprinklers.
PAGE 6
THE DARTMOUTH EVENTS
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2020
DARTMOUTHEVENTS TODAY 12:15 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Tour: “Mindfulness in the Museum,” led by Dartmouth’s Mindfulness Practice Group. Sponsored by the Student Wellness Center, Hood Museum.
4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Talk: “Relics of War,” with Yale art history professor Jennifer Raab. Sponsored by the Art History Department, Rocky 001.
TOMORROW 1:00 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.
Screening: “Agrippina,” from the Metropolitan Opera. Sponsored by the Hopkins Center, Loew Auditorium.
1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Performance: “Dartmouth Youth Wind Ensemble.” Sponsored by the Hopkins Center, Spaulding Auditorium.
7:30 p.m. – 9:45 p.m.
Film: “Little Women.” Sponsored by the Hopkins Center, Spaulding Auditorium.
ADVERTISING For advertising infor mation, please call (603) 646-2600 or email info@ thedartmouth.com. The advertising deadline is noon, two days before publication. We reserve the right to refuse any advertisement. Opinions expressed in advertisements do not necessarily reflect those of The Dartmouth, Inc. or its officers, employees and agents. The Dartmouth, Inc. is a nonprofit corporation chartered in the state of New Hampshire. USPS 148-540 ISSN 0199-9931
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2020
PAGE 7
THE DARTMOUTH ARTS
‘The Sweet Science of Bruising’ features literal fight for equality B y Mia Russo
the theme of boxing — a typically male dominated sport. It also The Dartmouth highlights the idea that this struggle “The Sweet Science of Bruising” is nowhere close to being over. had its American premiere in “I think it’s really cool that this is Moore Theater last Friday. Written a play with four female leads. I don’t by Joy Wilkinson, the play is set think that happens very much, just in 1869 London. It tells the story in general,” Stornelli said. “Getting of four women from a variety of to see these four female characters, backgrounds who find their way into played by four very strong women the boxing ring to literally fight for in real life, kind of showcases the their right to freedom and gender different ways that they are feminine equality. and the different kinds of strength. “I would say it’s an explosive play I think that’s really, really powerful about female boxers that manages because I think it can sometimes be to be both beautiful and sad and easy to forget that feminism doesn’t empowering and just amazing just mean wearing pants and going in all the best ways,” said Nat out into the workplace — it means Stornelli ’21, props master for the freedom to do whatever brings you show. Stornelli found “The Sweet joy.” Science of Bruising” to be incredibly Each lead character finds their powerful, from way to the boxing the cast members ring for many “It really does make to the set. different reasons. D i r e c t o r you think about all Anna, a mother Peter Hackett and victim of s a i d t h at t h e the aspects that go domestic abuse, historic setting into making a strong lives solely for o f Vi c t o r i a n h e r ch i l d r e n . woman.” England allows Violet, a nurse, for greater dreams of being understanding -NAT STORNELLI ’21 a doctor. Matty, of the severity of a prostitute, does the issues. w h a t e ve r s h e “Even though can to support it’s set in the past, and has a herself. Polly, a fighter, has no league historical framework, it’s really a to compete within. Though they all very contemporary play in that it differ, each of these women combat deals with a lot of very important the male-dominated society they are contemporary political and social trapped in through boxing. issues,” Hackett said. “All of the The four women serve as a issues — you can’t just point to one — metaphor for the struggles that that the play raises are contemporary women face everyday, but have issues that [students] at Dartmouth been able to confront through their are dealing with now.” unity. This message is encapsulated The play displays the long history in the final scene of the first act, in of the feminist struggle for equality which all four women are practicing on many levels, from the casting their punches, hooks and dodges choices, to the actual characters, to simultaneously — but each in their
own light on stage. “Four women on stage doing something successfully, that is normally thought of as the purview of men — the whole play is contained in that image,” Hackett said. With characters and challenges based on real people from both the past and present, the play demonstrates that each woman and each person is instantly more than what they might appear to be at first. Though feminism is a strong theme, the underlying focus is on empathy and the recognition of humanity. Each character being so different allows each audience member to connect with the play on a deeper level. Veronica Cavalcanti ’23 plays Anna Lamb, one of the female leads in the play. At first, she struggled connecting to her character since she has not faced domestic abuse or motherhood. However, she realized that just as Anna put everything she had into her children, everyone can relate to having something or someone to live for. “Through these small little
experiences, I realized people are not that different in the end,” Cavalcanti said. “The big, outside circumstances are obviously hugely different, but not the way that we feel things.” A c c o r d i n g t o C av a l c a n t i , Wilkinson wrote the play with the themes of empathy and humanity in mind. While a joy to watch due to the incredible set and cast, the power of the play thus lies in its subtle ability to transmit its messages. “It really does make you think about all the aspects that go into making a strong woman,” Stornelli said. “One of the cast members told me that when they were talking to the playwright, Joy Wilkinson, she said that each woman represented a different part of a whole person: Anna is the soul, Polly is the heart, Violet is the brain and Matty is the body. Thinking of it like that and thinking about all of these parts that make up strength and make up femininity is so cool.” This focus on feminism, humanity and empathy connected the cast and crew, as they recognized the importance of the messages they
were portraying. While this helped to make the production as coherent and successful as it is, it also made the audience incredibly attentive and reactive. “The one thing I have noticed is that during the performances, the audience is really, really with it. They are hanging on to every word and are really following the story very carefully, and that’s very gratifying,” Hackett said. Cavalcanti said that she hopes this audience engagement will help spread the power of the show and further its important messages of equality and empathy. Though it only takes one person to start a change, there is power in numbers. “I hope they leave feeling super inspired, like they could pretty much do anything. If these four women from all these different backgrounds could do all this ... that’s pretty incredible,” Cavalcanti said. “The Sweet Science of Bruising” has its final productions this weekend in Moore Theater. Tickets are available on the Hopkins Center’s website.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2020
THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS
PAGE 8
SPORTS
Dartmouth baseball looks to rebound after pitching woes in 2019 B y DEVAN FINK
The Dartmouth Staff
If the uncharacteristic warmth this past weekend was not enough of a reminder that spring is almost here, perhaps the return of baseball season will be. Though the 50-degree days made for some surprisingly good baseball weather in Hanover, the Big Green (2-2) opened up its season with a four-game slate at the Snowbird Classic in much-warmer Port Charlotte, FL. The team is gearing up for what should be a rebound season in 2020. Last year, Dartmouth finished the year 15-26, including an 8-13 record in Ivy League play, the school’s first sub-.500 Ivy season since 2007. After that 2007 season, the team quickly put its subpar finish in the rearview, as the Big Green made eight consecutive Ivy League championship series appearances, a stretch that included a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances in 2009 and 2010. “Every year is different,” said head coach Bob Whalen. “You never start or begin where you left off. When you get to the next year, you’re 0-0 like everybody else. And you have to build the foundation of the house all over again. I liked my team last year — a lot of good kids, a lot of good players. We had some things happen that are really out of your control. This is a new year.” In 2019, it was the pitching that kept the Big Green fighting from behind. Though the Ivy League does have a higher run-scoring environment than most leagues, Dartmouth’s 7.04 team ERA put the team last in the conference. Moreover, the Big Green had the secondlowest strikeout rate at 13.4 percent and the second-lowest strikeout-minus-walk rate at 4.8 percent. A lack of dominant pitching led to some wacky conference
games, none weirder than a 21-inning, 21-15 loss versus the University of Pennsylvania, the longest game in Ivy League history and tied for the eighthlongest in the history of Division I baseball. Perhaps Dartmouth’s pitching woes were at least in part due to relative inexperience on its staff. Last year, two of the team’s most-utilized starting pitchers were freshmen, something that had not happened since 2009, when rookies Kyle Hendricks ’12 and Cole Sulser ’12 — both of whom pitched in Major League Baseball last season — made 11 and six starts, respectively. Both regular starters, Justin Murray ’22 and Nathan Skinner ’22, have already returned to the bump in 2020. “It didn’t go great last year, but I think that experience really helps us, knowing how to pitch in the Ivy League,” Murray said. “We can only go up from here. Getting thrown into the fire as freshmen may be tough for one season, but that’s how you grow.” Murray turned in the finest performance of his college career on Sunday against the University of Omaha: seven innings, three hits, no runs, two walks and six strikeouts. As a result of this performance, he was named the Ivy League Pitcher of the Week. “You always are excited to be recognized for what you’ve done,” Murray said. “My biggest thing is — it’s cool to get it now, but you want to get it in the Ivy weekends when it really means something. It’s definitely a great place to start, but you don’t want it to be your last.” In its contribution to the highscoring environment of the Ivy League, the Big Green lineup ranked in the middle-of-the-pack in most important offensive categories last year. As a team, Dartmouth hit .263/.354/.396 last year, with its .750 on-base plus slugging
percentage (OPS) ranking fourth in the conference. The offense was buoyed by raw power; the team’s isolated power (ISO) was .133, ranking third. “With the way that our philosophy has shifted as an offense from — my freshman year, for instance, and my sophomore year, a little bit, we were more of a small ball team,” said co-captain Blake Crossing ’20. “As I’ve gotten older, we have put more of a premium on extrabase hits, on guys with power — even mechanically — changing guys’ swings and having an approach of, ‘Let’s hit some balls far,’ as opposed to hitting guys over and getting guys in.” Crossing cited the “launch angle trend” in the MLB as to why the Big Green has shifted its offensive approach over his career. “It’s really hard, as a player, to watch all of these [Major League] guys focus on [launch angle] and have all of this success and then go, ‘Oh, I still want to hit groundballs to the opposite side,” he said. Even with a more power-centric approach, Dartmouth’s offense may be something of a question mark going into this season. By OPS, three of Dartmouth’s four best hitters in 2019 — Steffen Torgersen ’19, Matt Feinstein ’19 and Nate Ostmo ’19 — have all graduated. That leaves Ubaldo Lopez ’21 to carry the charge; he posted an impressive .254/.384/.525 slash line as a sophomore last year, leading the Big Green in home runs with seven. Perhaps more importantly, he displayed impressive plate discipline, ranking third out of the eight players with 100 plate appearances in walk rate. “If you’re going to walk me, I’m going to take first base,” Lopez said. “Granted, would I rather get a double and get a good pitch to hit? Yes. But, I see a walk and a single as the same thing, so I’m fine taking them.”
MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
The Big Green hit .263 as a team last year, but its pitchers combined for a 7.04 ERA.
This season, Lopez has come out of the gate right where he left off, starting the year 5-13 at the plate with three doubles. Like with Murray, he already has received some recognition for his hot start; he was named the Ivy League Player of the Week on Monday. “It’s really gratifying, especially just being put on the map a little bit,” Lopez said. “You’re like, ‘Wow.’ You don’t [want to] get complacent because you’re actually being compared to the rest of the country.” All told, the Big Green should be able to rebound from what was a disappointing 2019 campaign. Most prognosticators have Dartmouth finishing somewhere in the middle of the conference, with D1Baseball.com expecting a fourthplace finish, the conference media predicting fifth and Baseball America projecting sixth. In any of these scenarios, the Big Green would be held out of the Ivy League Championship Series, a midMay best-of-three held between the toptwo conference finishers to determine which team will earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. “I don’t pay any attention to [the preseason polls],” Whalen said. “I’ve never understood coaches who are
happy — the prediction is for their team to finish in the middle or the lower part of the league, and then they finish one or two places higher — and feel like they’ve exceeded expectations. We’re not playing for second place. We play to win.” Conference play for the Big Green begins on March 21, with a threegame set at Penn. Dartmouth does not have an Ivy League home series until April 4 versus Princeton University, but the team does have two midweek nonconference contests at home on March 25 (Quinnipiac University) and on April 1 (College of the Holy Cross). Dartmouth is used to starting its season on the road, as the team cannot play home games until the snow thaws in Hanover. “I never afford myself the luxury of feeling sorry for myself because, if I do, the players will,” Whalen said. “You’re going to play in cold weather. [Other teams don’t] care about your problems. They’re just glad that you have them, and they don’t.” For now, Dartmouth continues its road nonconference schedule this weekend at the University of Virginia, where the Big Green and the Cavaliers will face off for a three-game series in Charlottesville.