The Dartmouth 01/07/2020

VOL. CLXXVI NO. 109

SNOW LIKELY HIGH 32 LOW 22

OPINION

KHAN: AN EMPTY SUIT PAGE 4

MAGANN: THE PATH TO WAR PAGE 4

ARTS

2020 GOLDEN GLOBES RELIABLY REWARDED THE YEAR’S BEST TV AND FILM PAGE 7

REVIEW: ‘LITTLE WOMEN’ REMAINS RELEVANT, FAILS TO MEET HYPE PAGE 8

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2020

HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Tulsi Gabbard holds NYT: Former PBS chair grew town hall at College distressed after mentioned in suit B y EILEEN BRADY

The Dartmouth Staff

“She’s the only one with a heart of gold and a fearless courage to face the powerful,” Hawaii-based musician Billie Sky sang of Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) before a town hall she hosted at the Top of the Hop on Sunday night.

The Democratic presidential candidate eventually took the stage after Sky’s nearly 40-minute performance of covers and original songs, two of which had been written with Gabbard in mind. The

congresswoman spoke to a crowd of around 190 students and community members, focusing much of her 20-minute speech on the recent assassination of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani before finishing with a call for political unity and opening the floor for a question-andanswer session that would last an additional hour.

Gabbard began her speech by declaring President Donald Trump’s authorization of Soleimani’s assassination

SEE GABBARD PAGE 5 COURTESY OF DARTMOUTH COLLEGE

Explosion at area hotel left several injured B y AMBER BHUTTA The Dartmouth

Just three miles from campus, an electrical fire and propane leak caused an explosion at the Element Hotel in Lebanon, which injured eight guests and two firefighters this past Christmas Eve. The hotel faced extensive internal and external damage and, according to the Lebanon Fire Department, cannot be safely re-occupied at this time.

According to a press release from the Lebanon Fire Department, the incident

“does not appear to be criminal in nature.” The fire department arrived at the hotel in response to an initial fire alarm at around 5:15 a.m. on Dec. 24. Preliminary examination of the scene revealed that an electrical fire in an electrical room on the first floor of the hotel and a propane leak in an adjacent room caused the explosion. A small fire also occurred on the fifth floor in a utility room. “ C o i n c i d e n t a l l y, unbeknownst to us, we had a SEE EXPLOSION PAGE 5

Dave Bucci was chair of the psychological and brain sciences department from 2015 to 2019.

B y THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF Dave Bucci, a former psychological and brain sciences professor and department chair who died by suicide last October, grew “deeply distressed” after being mentioned several times in a class action sexual misconduct lawsuit filed against the College and fell into the depression he had been treated for years prior, according to a recent report in the New York Times.

Citing interviews with Bucci’s wife, Katie, some of his closest colleagues, as well as emails Bucci sent at the time, the Times reports that after being mentioned 31 times in the lawsuit, Bucci was shunned by some of his colleagues and was

called a “disgusting human being” by a woman at a local store.

“I don’t know why he took his life that day, and I’ll never know,” Katie Bucci told the Times. “But I know that he wouldn’t have gotten to that point had he not gone through that experience with this lawsuit.”

According to the article, psychiatrists say it is nearly impossible to know for certain why someone would take their own life, and Katie Bucci is unwilling to point the finger at anyone for her husband’s death.

In 2017, a group of students approached Dave Bucci with allegations of sexual misconduct against three PBS professors — Todd Heatherton, William Kelley and Paul Whalen —

upon which Bucci notified the administration and the College opened a Title IX investigation.

In Oct. 2017, The Dartmouth reported that the three professors had been placed on leave, which prompted the opening of a criminal investigation by the New Hampshire attorney general’s office.

In the summer of 2018, the three professors had their tenures revoked by the College and were forced to leave the school, but in November of that year, seven former students who had worked with the professors filed a $70 million federal lawsuit alleging that the College had turned a blind eye for years toward accusations of SEE BUCCI PAGE 3

PAGE 2

TUESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2020

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

Q&A with Jeopardy! contestant Sathvik Namburar Med ’22 B y ELIZA GALLANT The Dartmouth

Sathvik Namburar Med ’22 appeared on Jeopardy! on Nov. 19, winning his first game. Namburar lost his second game, though he said that he still loved the experience and appreciated all it taught him.

The Dartmouth sat down with Namburar to ask about his two games, Alex Trebek and advice for viewers playing along at home for today’s start of the “Greatest of All Time” tournament.

What prompted you to want to be on Jeopardy?

SN: It was always a little bucket list thing that I had. I grew up watching it, and it is just something that I thought would be really cool to be a part of and to get to see how much I know while competing against other contestants. Anyone could be on the show, so I thought that I might as well try out. And I made it on.

What was the process like?

How were you selected?

SN: They have an online test, which is 50 questions. The test is just random questions like, what is the capital of this country? Or, who wrote this book? If you do well on the test, then you get called in for an in-person audition. So I went to Boston for my audition. I took the online test in April, and I auditioned in Boston in May. If you do well on that, then you get called on to the show. I got the call in August, and I taped in September.

It’s crazy — there are 80,000 people who took the online test. Then, they narrow it down to 400. I just got super, super lucky. Besides passing the test, I don’t really know what they look for in terms of criteria.

The test questions were similar to the ones on the show, but a little bit harder. I think you have to get

around a 70 percent. I think they want people who have a good television presence, which I don’t know if I have or not.

How did you prepare for your time on the show?

SN: I found out in August that I would be taping in a month. So I got this huge encyclopedia that I read, or at least skimmed. I just watched the show every day. They gave us a pen, which is like a buzzer, and I would play along with the show and buzz with my pen just to get the timing down. I didn’t prepare for the audition or anything, but after I found out that I made the show, I watched a lot of past shows and tried to figure out the timing and what my weak subjects were.

So for example, I was really weak at the Bible, so I read online on Wikipedia about the Bible and the different books of the Bible and things like that.

What was the most challenging aspect of being on the show?

SN: Just the nerves of being on stage and seeing Alex Trebek for the first time in person. It was difficult to try and answer questions while going against two really, really smart people who also know mostly everything. So there were a few instances where I forgot who wrote Winnie the Pooh and things like that, which I normally know.

It’s just that the nerves get to you and you’re just trying not to say something embarrassing. Nerves to me were the hardest thing to conquer, and there’s no way to prepare for that.

Participating in the show after being a long-time viewer, how did your conception of the show change?

SN: My conception of Trebek really changed. I have so much respect for him because he was diagnosed

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

COURTESY OF SATHVIK NAMBURAR

Namburar, a second-year medical student at Geisel, appeared on Jeopardy! in November and won his first game.

with stage four pancreatic cancer, and he is still hosting the show.

He is so brave to do that. And he told a story about how, in between shows, he would often be keeled over, throwing up because he’s just so sick from the chemo. He doesn’t even have his own hair anymore. He just looks kind of sick in person, but for him to push through that and continue to host the show, I just have so much respect for him after seeing that.

Jeopardy! fans worldwide have been rooting for the recovery of the show’s long-standing host. What do you think Alex Trebek’s public battle with cancer means for the show’s viewers?

SN: Alex Trebek is a legendary figure. He’s larger than life. And for him to be so public in his battle is just amazing. I think it kind of normalizes — not that the disease is normal — but it just

kind of continues to normalize the conversation that we have around disease and how to handle it and grief and grieving and preparing for death and mortality. These are all very important conversations that we don’t necessarily have in the public sphere. He has contributed to kind of nor malizing those conversations.

With the upcoming “Greatest of All Time” tour nament about to air, what advice do you give to viewers playing along at home?

SN: I was told that the “Greatest of All Time” questions are going to be more difficult than average Jeopardy! questions. So don’t get discouraged, because it will definitely not be a reflection of yourself or how you would do on the real show. Those three people — James, Ken and Brad — are just phenomenal players. They’re just incredible. And so don’t measure

yourself against them for sure.

If you could play again, what would you do dif ferently?

Wo u l d yo u l i ke t o b e o n Jeopardy! again?

SN: I would definitely love to be on Jeopardy! again. It was so much fun. The staff is incredible.

They prepare you so well. They’re so energetic and lively. You have nothing to lose, right? So, I just had a great time. When I won the game, it was probably one of the best feelings I have ever had in my life. I lost the second game, and I started off with the category in French. My fellow contestant was a French major. So if I had known that, I would not have started off with French because she got on a roll and then it was too hard to catch her. But there’s not much I would change.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2020

PAGE 3

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

Early patrons give good reviews to Still North Books & Bar B y CAITLIN MCCARTHY The Dartmouth

The town of Hanover once again has a bookstore. Still North Books & Bar, which occupies some of the space formerly used by the Dartmouth Bookstore, held a soft opening on Dec. 19. The store’s owner, Allie Levy ’11, said that there will be additions to the store’s food and beverage selection over the next few months, with a grand opening celebration in the works for February.

The Dartmouth Bookstore closed in December 2018, with Wheelock Books following shortly thereafter, leaving the College and the community at large without a store dedicated to selling new books.

Enter Levy, the former event coordinator of the similar-in-concept BookBar in Denver. She said she was working in publishing and spending more time in the Upper Valley when she started to think about opening an independent bookstore in Hanover. She added that the Dartmouth Bookstore was still operating at the time.

“The idea came before the opportunity,” Levy said, adding that once the Dartmouth Bookstore closed, her idea was able to come to fruition.

The bookstore offers places to sit and work, as well as coffee or tea from the bar. Levy added that the store is also in the process of acquiring a beer and wine license.

Though the store does not have the space to stock course books like Wheelock Books once did, Levy said the store is “starting to experiment” with book orders for College courses.

English and creative writing professor Peter Orner is ordering books for his class this term through Still North.

“I look at a bookstore as a cultural resource — and one that keeps contemporary literature alive,” Orner said. “You can’t really know what’s going on out there in the world of literature — and really the world in genera — without a bookstore that is giving you access to the new books that are being written.”

The bookstore features “staff picks,” as well as a current table of former President Barack Obama’s book recommendations. Orner praised the “diverse selection of books,” as well as the curation.

“You can feel that somebody knows contemporary literature by when you browse the shelves,” he said.

Levy said she envisions Still North as a “third place … a place outside of work or home that people can come

together and just be.”

She added that the store was excited to work with the College to act as a “supplemental space for gatherings [and] talks,” as well as with students “on events that they’d like to see here, so like open mics.” She floated the possibility of hosting an a capella group or an improv group for a show, adding that the flexibility of the space makes this easier.

Lindsey Reitinger ’20, who was in the bookstore on Sunday afternoon, praised the presence of the bookstore.

“I live off campus, so it’s kind of like a middle point for me, and so I can see myself definitely coming here to work, grab a coffee, meet friends,” she said.

“It’s a nice space.”

Victoria Meyer ’20 agreed, saying that the store is a “nice change of pace because they have puzzles and books and it’s more interactive than just going to a coffee shop.”

She added that she was looking forward to the space as an “off-campus evening scene” once the store received its beer and wine license.

Bookstore manager Nichole Cousins added that this week, she has seen “a lot more people just coming in to sit down and hang out or do work or meet up with people, and that’s perfect, because

NAINA BHALLA/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Still North Books & Bar held a soft opening on Dec. 19.

that’s the kind of space that we wanted to provide.”

Levy agreed, saying that they had intentionally designed the space with the hope that people would see the Still North as more than just a bookstore.

Levy said the response from the community has been highly positive.

“I knew the community was excited, but the response was so beyond what I expected … we had sold way higher volume than we had originally

expected,” she said.

She added that she saw a lot of support from Hanover and Upper Valley residents, as well as from college faculty — particularly those belonging to the English department.

David Brooks ’71 and his wife Patricia stopped in to sit, get hot drinks and look at the book selection before spending more time in town. They emphasized how important it was to support local businesses.

College supported Bucci after he was mentioned in lawsuit FROM BUCCI PAGE 1

sexual misconduct by the three former professors, whom the plaintiffs allege had turned the department into a “21st century Animal House.”

The plaintiffs’ complaint in the suit alleged that Bucci, who was chair of the department at the time of the investigation and lawsuit, knew about the professors’ actions but did not act sufficiently to protect the victims. The suit also asserts that Bucci called a meeting of the department in which he “disparage[d] the victims and discourage[d] them from pursuing legal action.”

The College denied the plaintiffs’ account of that meeting in a January 2019 court filing, which contested

many of the plaintiffs’ claims and asserted that Dartmouth officials had not knowingly permitted the acts of sexual misconduct.

According to the Times, Bucci was “closely involved” in drafting the response, having been advised by the College’s general counsel and public relations offices that the best way he could address the allegations was through the legal process. The article also notes, however, that part of the reason Bucci had grown distressed was due to his inability to publicly defend himself.

In an email statement to The Dartmouth, College spokesperson Diana Lawrence wrote that Bucci was an “exemplary” chair of the PBS department.

“He had Dartmouth’s unqualified support for the principled and sensitive way he responded on behalf of the graduate students who sought him out to report concerns about the behavior of the three former faculty members,” Lawrence wrote. “The entire Dartmouth community mourns the tragic loss of a remarkable colleague, scholar, teacher, and mentor.”

In early May 2019, two additional former students joined as plaintiffs in the lawsuit. In an amended complaint by the plaintiffs, one of the students, whose name was kept anonymous in the filing, alleged that Bucci contacted her in October 2017 to inform her of the Title IX investigation and acknowledged that he had been aware of “rumors” about the woman’s sexual relationship with

one of the former professors.

Days later, an organization called the Dartmouth Community against Gender Harassment and Sexual Violence wrote a letter to College President Phil Hanlon urging the College to put the PBS department on receivership and to open a new investigation — demands that were repeated in an additional letter sent a week later by the Student and Presidential Committee on Sexual Assault.

The letter from DCGHSV called for leaders of the PBS department to step down, saying that “while department chairs and deans may claim not to have known about years of harm done to at least nine students, we insist that it was their job to know.”

Hanlon responded to the letters by urging the groups to “appreciate the work of many concerned administrators, faculty and staff in the PBS department, led by chair Dave Bucci, who are actively pursuing significant measures to ensure that students have a safe environment in which to learn, research and grow.”

Meanwhile, dean of the faculty Elizabeth Smith had extended Bucci’s term as head of the department for a fourth year, citing her confidence in his leadership in an email to the faculty.

Soon after, the College and the plaintiffs in the lawsuit entered into mediation, and the two sides announced a $14 million settlement of the lawsuit in August 2019. The settlement has not yet been granted final approval by the judge in the case.

PAGE 4

THE DARTMOUTH OPINION

TUESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2020

CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST OSMAN KHAN ‘21

OPINION EDITOR MATTHEW MAGANN ‘21

An Empty Suit

The Path to War

Take a closer look at Pete Buttigieg.

What is it about Pete Buttigieg that makes him so attractive to Dartmouth students? To the untrained eye, there’s something for almost every kind of voter to hate; he’s polling at 7.7 percent nationally for a reason. Yet, 17 percent of Dartmouth students prefer him for the presidency, according to a poll published by The Dartmouth last fall.

Why is that? After all, he has neither Bernie Sanders’ nor Elizabeth Warren’s leftist policy credentials. Buttigieg fails to electrify younger voters like Sanders, progressives like Warren or moderates like Joe Biden. He performs abysmally with black voters, without whom no Democrat in recent memory has won the nomination. For the moderate voter who lionizes veteran politicians like Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton and Biden, and derides novices like President Donald Trump and Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, Buttigieg brings to bear two terms of small-town mayorship. In all of these cases, Buttigieg’s lack of a record stand out.

He doesn’t have a “Medicare For All” or or a history of bipartisanship. How electable can you be when there’s nothing there to elect?

Yet, in an era defined by backlash and antiestablishment victories from Trump to AOC to Obama to the Tea Party, 17 percent of Dartmouth students are backing Pete Buttigieg, this human equivalent of a hollow briefcase, for 2020.

What is it about this highly educated, McKinsey/Ivy League alumnus just-diverseenough politician with a glaring lack of a track record that gets the Big Green piping hot?

Maybe it’s just that: the fact of Pete’s existence, the rundown of his resumé is what we like,

DEBORA HYEMIN HAN, Editor-in-Chief

rather than anything he’s accomplished. Our school contains a great deal of very smart, very ambitious young people. It also contains people who are, like Mayor Pete, incredibly good at checking boxes and filling out resumés.

It’s hard to break out of that mindset, and it’s one I understand well. We’re trained to value high grades, fancy jobs and gold stars.

And that’s all fine, but it’s not substantial in the real world. It’s certainly not what makes a great president.

Lyndon Johnson didn’t pass the Civil Rights Act because he checked the box of growing up poor in the South; he passed it because he mastered the legislative process after 24 years in Congress. George H. W. Bush initiated and ended the invasion of Kuwait (regardless of your opinion on that escapade) during his presidency, dodging an endless war the way many others failed to—not because he was a Yale alumnus, but because he had experience with foreign policy as vice president and CIA director. Mayor Pete’s experience prepares him for exactly zero of the executive branch’s powers.

If you care about “electability,” this is not your candidate. If you care about experience, this is not your candidate. If you care about electing someone who will be radical or deliver on Obama and Trump’s broken reformist promises, there’s no reason to believe this is your candidate, because he hasn’t done anything radical in his entire political or professional life. There is a reason the media outlets and a donor class stuffed with people from schools like Dartmouth love Mayor Pete. He’s an empty suit. Don’t elect him.

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.

With Soleimani’s assassination, does Trump want war with Iran?

Just before midnight last Thursday, as dangerously close to violent confrontation.

I was settling into bed, I decided to take a Let’s face it: Trump’s assassination of quick look at the news. And there was the Soleimani was an act of war. There’s no top story. Qasem Soleimani. Dead. other way to spin it. However bad Soleimani General Soleimani was the most influential was, his killing was a targeted act of violence military leader in Iran. He led the country’s intended to weaken the Iranian government.

Quds Force, an elite segment of the One could hardly blame the Iranians for paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard responding with force — imagine how the Corps, and he was widely considered the U.S. might respond if an Iranian strike took second-most powerful figure in the Iranian out one of its leading generals. Thankfully, regime, after Supreme Leader Ayatollah the situation has not yet erupted into all-out Khamenei . That is, until an American war, since Iran is rightly cautious to provoke airstrike targeted war against the vastly S o l e i m a n i ’s c o nv o y, “Instead of pursuing superior U.S. military, killing the general. but U.S.-Iran tensions are diplomacy, our nation Shortly after an higher than they’ve been American drone strike resorted to violence — since the hostage crisis of t o o k o u t S o l e i m a n i , not as a last resort, but 1979-81.

President Trump tweeted Wh en auth orizin g a captionless photo of as a first resort.”

Soleimani’s assassination, an American flag. The the Trump administration message was clear: must have known that the Victory. Just like, the President seemed to killing would bring the U.S. to the precipice imply, when President Obama dispatched of ar med conflict. After all, previous al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden or when administrations declined to target Soleimani the Trump administration killed ISIS head in light of the potential ramifications of his Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. assassination. But as I’ve written previously, Like terrorist leaders bin Laden and al- this administration seems hardly dissuaded Baghdadi, Soleimani was a bad actor — he by the potential for war. played a central role in Iran’s efforts to The Trump administration has shown little bolster the brutal regime of Bashar al-Assad, patience for negotiation with Tehran. In 2018, undermine Iraq with Shi’a Islamist militias, Trump very publicly withdrew from the Joint promote terror and otherwise destabilize Comprehensive Plan of Action — the sothe Middle East. He called Iran Nuclear Deal was a bad man pursuing “There seems to be — because he believed violent actions in service that the painstakinglyto a repressive theocracy, only one endpoint for n e g o t i at e d s e t t l e m e n t and the world is better off the administration’s was too soft on Iran . In without him. But despite an administration often policy of escalating Soleimani’s history of known for its piecemeal violence, his assassination violence: War.” foreign policy, Trump’s bears little resemblance Iran policy has stood to the other two targeted out for its hawkish and killings of terrorist leaders. hardline consistency. After leaving the When the U.S. killed terrorists like bin JCPOA, the administration seemed intent on Laden and al-Baghdadi, that action occurred military escalation, sending large numbers of in the context of a preexisting armed conflict troops to the Gulf, ratcheting up sanctions and with a terrorist group. The U.S. was, in coming within minutes of launching missile both cases, in what amounted to a state of strikes. These actions presented a real threat war with al-Qaeda and ISIS. America had to peace in the region. But the assassination no peace to threaten with an assassination, of General Soleimani is a provocation beyond since it was already at war. That’s the crucial any of the administration’s previous actions. difference: We are not at war with Iran, and The assassination of Soleimani was not just if you’re like most Americans, you don’t want a provocation, but an act of war. to enter into conflict with Tehran . But the SEE MAGANN PAGE 6 assassination of Soleimani pushes the U.S.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2020

PAGE 5

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

Gabbard talks Iran, Trump at event FROM GABBARD PAGE 1

“an act of war,” and noted that she believed that the assassination could be the beginning of a deadly, expensive conflict.

“If it continues to escalate, it will end up being far more costly, far more devastating, both in terms of lives — American lives and lives of people across the region in the Middle East — and far more costly in terms of taxpayer dollars than anything we have seen in the wars waged in Iraq, in Syria and in Afghanistan.”

She encouraged voters to be “clear-eyed” about the consequences of Trump’s actions and frequently referenced her own experiences as a member of the Hawaii Army National Guard during the Iraq War. Gabbard then segued into her plans for combating the political gridlock that she said has taken over Washington, stressing that, regardless of party, “we are all Americans” — a theme to which she frequently returned during her question-and-

answer period.

During the Q&A, she fielded questions on issues such as climate change, ongoing 9/11 investigations and her ability to “bridge the gap” between the political parties.

Addressing the last topic, she told a lengthy anecdote about her first year in Congress, during which she said her mother’s macadamia nut toffee and her own hand-written letters to other congressmen were crucial steps in fostering the connection and respect she said is essential to reducing political polarization.

In response to a question about her poor polling thus far, she noted that, “all the polls in 2016 said Trump would lose,” encouraging voters not to pay too much attention to polls but noting that, if she does not win the primary, she will not consider running as an independent.

According to the RealClearPolitics average of polls in New Hampshire, Gabbard is polling at four percent in the state, while her national polling average is only two percent.

Eric Lee ’23, who attended the event and said he “unenthusiastically” plans to vote for Gabbard in the New Hampshire primary, said that he wasn’t particularly excited about many of Gabbard’s ideas. However, he appreciated her willingness to raise questions that “most people are not” — particularly those related to the involvement of the U.S. in the Middle East — and thus preferred her to any other candidate in the Democratic primary.

“I have three younger sisters, and the Afghan war is older than all of them,” Lee noted.

However, he added that he thought Gabbard’s remarks on political unity were the strongest part of her talk, and contrasted her rhetoric to that of other candidates.

“She’s one of the only ones that isn’t mostly focused on yelling at other people,” Lee said.

Hartford residents Jon and Nicroya Parker said they are both Gabbard supporters and look forward to voting for her in February, attributing their

“Christmas miracle” that no one was hurt FROM EXPLOSION PAGE 1

propane leak in the main mechanical room,” said Lebanon fire chief Chris Christopoulos.

He explained the exhaust system cycled air in and out of the mechanical room, likely drawing leaking propane up into the exhaust system. A power outage disrupted the exhaust function, causing propane to build up in the mechanical room.

“We don’t know how long [the propane leak] had been going on,” Christopoulos said. “But once the power went out, the exhaust couldn’t work anymore. Because propane is heavier than air, a fair amount of propane sucked back down into the mechanical room. When our guys attempted to make entry to the area to access the electrical room, there was a some type of source that ignited that propane and caused the explosion.”

Two firefighters, Todd Hamilton and Captain Jeffery Egner, were

injured during the explosion and taken to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. According to Christopoulos, Hamilton spent Christmas at DHMC with head injuries, a broken arm and broken ribs, and Egner received treatment for a head injury. Both have since been released.

“They’re both home recovering,” Christopoulos said. He went on to describe the situation as a “Christmas miracle,” in that there were no lifethreatening injuries.

“Had these firefighters or any of the civilians been standing near the door when it happened, we’d be dealing with a much bigger incident right now,” he said.

At the time of the explosion, the hotel housed three staff members as well as 80 guests, who occupied 54 of the hotel’s 120 guest rooms.

Eight guests were transported to DHMC for minor injuries incurred during the evacuation process, and all

have been released. The remaining occupants were evacuated safely, including a cat and three guests rescued by firefighters through first-floor windows. A total of nine departments and 40 to 50 personnel responded to the incident.

“When the explosion happened, you could see the whole thing bend,” said hotel guest Shih-In Ma in an interview with WCAX-TV. “I’ve never seen anything like that before — the glass and the metal just bent.”

Dee Dee Douchen, a spokesperson for the hotel’s management company, True North Hotel Group, said she was pleased that there were no severe injuries and that the occupants were quickly evacuated and relocated.

The displaced guests were relocated to two other Marriott hotels nearby. Though the hotel staff was later allowed into the building to help retrieve guests’ belongings, a few of the guest rooms were damaged beyond accessibility.

EILEEN BRADY/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Gabbard spoke to a crowd of roughly 200 community members and students.

support specifically to her positions against the assassination of Soleimani and against war in general.

Hanover resident Carol Edwards noted that, though she is a registered Republican, she attended Gabbard’s event to gather information before the primary. While she said that, even after the talk, she was planning to vote for Trump, she noted that she preferred Gabbard to the rest of the Democratic candidates and appreciated her

military background. Edwards added that she had tried to see Gabbard in November, when she visited the Salt Hill Pub in Lebanon, but was not able to due to space constraints. She said she would be interested in hearing more from Gabbard in the future, specifically regarding Soleimani.

“We’ve taken out other leaders in the Middle East, so I just wonder why killing Soleimani was, to her, the wrong thing to do,” Edwards said.

PAGE 6

TUESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2020

THE DARTMOUTH EVENTS

DARTMOUTHEVENTS TODAY 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Seminar: “Engineering-Physics Space Plasma Seminar,” Cole Tamburri, Boston College. Sponsored by the Thayer School of Engineering, Wilder Hall, Room 202.

4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Lecture: “Do Liquid-like Phases of Proteins Organize Membrane Compartments?” Andreas M. Ernst, Yale University. Sponsored by the Biochemistry Department, Chilcott Auditorium.

TOMORROW 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Job and Volunteer Fair: “Social Impact Fair,” sponsored by the Center for Social Impact, Paganucci Lounge, Class of 1953 Commons.

12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Talk: “Shifting the Lens: The Critical Indigenous Photographic Exchange at Dartmouth,” sponsored by the Hood Museum of Art, Hood Museum of Art.

FROM MAGANN PAGE 4

If war comes between Iran and America, the blood will be on America’s hands. Our country assassinated one of Iran’s leaders, an act bound to create further violence.

Instead of pursuing diplomacy, our nation resorted to violence — not as a last resort, but as a first resort.

There seems to be only one endpoint for the administration’s policy of escalating violence: War. The U.S. has given Iran a more-than-valid casus belli. I only hope the Iranians choose not to act on it.

If you take away one thing from this column, take away this: Our Iran policy is veering rapidly toward war. War in which 18-yearolds from my hometown and yours will be shipped off to die in the desert, war in which cities will be bombed, atrocities committed,

lives lost, families divided, civilians killed. Hopefully, if war comes, it will remain a limited war fought through proxies, but no guarantee exists of that. Still, any war will be a tragedy, because it will be a war that we could have easily avoided had we tried diplomacy.

So let’s stop goading Iran into conflict. Let’s stop killing senior Iranian officials, stop massing troops in the Gulf, stop threatening Iran with military action. The United States can counter Iran with diplomacy. That’s the view of most policy experts, and it’s a view that, until recently, the U.S. has used as a basis for its Iran policy.

Killing Soleimani was not, as Trump’s narrative would have it, a simple case of “a bad guy, he’s up to no good, we have to do something.”

It formed part of a larger policy of

aggression toward Iran, aggression that seems to have its logical endpoint in war. As tensions grow worse by the day, we should hope that our nation’s leaders have the courage and the integrity to reject the administration’s Iran policy and avoid this pointless war.

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2020

THE DARTMOUTH ARTS

PAGE 7

2020 Golden Globes reliably rewarded the year’s best TV and film

B y willem gerrish The Dartmouth Staff

Ah, the Golden Globes. The boozy, raucous, often unpredictable version of the Oscars with a hint of the Emmys, handing out awards for both film and television to Hollywood’s chummy elite as they plow themselves on prominently placed bottles of Moët.

This year, comedian Ricky Gervais returned as the ceremony’s leading degenerate, walking onstage to begin the show with a glass of beer in hand. Gervais has always been a contentious figure in Globes history, known for his scathing comments to the otherwise-lauded Hollywood elite that aren’t always well-received. I, for one, have always loved his brashness in the face of star-powered ire, and was glad to see him back for the first time in four years and his fifth time overall. As a whole, I didn’t find his performance as electric as some of his past attempts at hosting (remember when he introduced Robert Downey Jr. not as an actor but as a former drug-addled heathen?), but the offcolor jokes still made an appearance, including a censored riff on Dame Judi Dench pleasuring herself like a cat and a meme-worthy “Jeffrey Epstein didn’t kill himself ” reference.

Gervais also lamented politics and morality in acce ptance speeches, urging would-be political pontificators to “accept your little award, thank your agent and your god and f—k off” — a request that nonetheless went unheeded by a few of the night’s recipients. His reckless attitude was a welcome slice through the entertainment industry’s shiny veneer, yet it felt stifled as the show went on, with Gervais only getting a few more moments on stage after the monologue. He claims this is his last go at hosting the Globes, but I would certainly be glad to see him back in the future.

But on to the awards themselves.

Movie and television marketers would like you to believe that a Golden Globe is something like an “Oscar Lite,” but the Hollywood Foreign Press Association holds nowhere near the prestige of the Academy

of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and the Globes are better understood as a fun little party where actors get plastered and winning an award is a secondary joy. I don’t say this to minimize the Globes but rather to put them in perspective, especially when it comes to the film categories, where the Oscars hold the real power.

A Golden Globe is nonetheless an impressive achievement, and the gilt statuette usually ends up in the hands of an extraordinarily talented individual. Here are some of the big winners and my thoughts on each:

Best Television Series — Comedy or Musical: “Fleabag” “Fleabag” unsurprisingly took home the win in this category, as this sharp, witty show written by the inimitable Phoebe Waller-Bridge (who also serves as lead actress) has been a critical and popular sensation.

Waller-Bridge also took home the award for Best Actress in a Television Series — Comedy or Musical, rounding out the proper recognition for a worthy show.

Best Television Series — Drama: “Succession” “Succession” is incredible. Its writing feels like an enfilade of daggers — so sharp it is with its devastating tragedy tempered by biting humor — and the impeccable cast certainly doesn’t hurt. Despite a slew of worthy opponents, including “The Crown” and “Killing Eve,” “Succession” was always just a nose ahead of the pack, gaining an edge with every witticism and monologue.

Much like “Fleabag,” the success of “Succession” saw a further boost with Brian Cox’s win for Best Actor in a Television Series — Drama. Cox’s portrayal of a ruthless media mogul and family patriarch clearly draws on his esteemed work playing King Lear in England, but he adds a cutthroat flavor that feels decidedly American.

Best Screenplay — Motion Picture: Quentin Tarantino for “Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood” Quentin Tarantino is a genius, not just behind the camera, but on

the page as well. His movies have always featured rapid-fire dialogue that’s equal parts vulgar and refined, and I would normally be happy to see him win. But this year, he accepted the award for what might be the worst script of his career. It’s not bad — not by a long-shot — but compared to the elastic verbiage of movies like “Pulp Fiction” and “Inglorious Basterds,” “Hollywood” felt like a dud. Noah Baumbach’s knockout punch of a screenplay for “Marriage Story,” meanwhile, is a career peak for the cerebral writer-director. It’s the bestwritten movie I’ve seen since, well, Tarantino’s heyday, and Baumbach deserves to feel slighted by a coterie of voters who fell into the Tarantino prestige trap.

Best Director — Motion Picture: Sam Mendes for “1917” I thought Scorsese would take this prize in appreciation for both the extraordinary “The Irishman” and a career of prodigious talent and achievement. Tarantino and Baumbach felt like the safe alternatives, but Sam Mendes surprised with a Globe for “1917,” a World War I film that’s shot to look like one single take (or so I’ve heard — the movie doesn’t have a full theatrical release until this Friday). If it’s anything like the swirling camerawork of “Birdman,” a film shot and edited with a similar single-take idea, I’ll be able to retrospectively call Mendes the right recipient — for now, I’ll trust the HFPA on making a solid choice.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Brad Pitt While my opinion on “Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood” remains to be fully formed, even after two viewings, Brad Pitt’s understated performance as Leonardo DiCaprio’s disgruntled stuntman took no longer than a few seconds to stand out.

Pitt has an onscreen gravity unlike anything I’ve seen — just watching him walk across a dusty ranch in jeans and a Hawaiian shirt is enamoring.

Despite being in the most stacked category of the night — Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Tom Hanks and Anthony Hopkins were his opponents — Pitt

was the proper winner in a crop of revelatory film performances.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Laura Dern Laura Dern’s turn as an incisive LA divorce lawyer in “Marriage Story” is pitch perfect. She can flip the switch from kind-hearted sympathy to viperous legal action in an instant, and despite the abhorrent nature of her character, she stands out as one of the film’s best. Another quality choice by the HFPA. Best Motion Picture — Drama: “1917” “Marriage Story” is the best movie I’ve seen in three years.

Heartbreaking and cathartic, it’s a wallop of a film, written and acted with the utmost excellence. Yet I didn’t have high hopes for it in the motion picture category, as its unfussy naturalism tends to get awarded in writing and acting categories rather than the overall prize. This left “The Irishman” as the favorite, a careercapping achievement for America’s greatest living director, Martin Scorsese. Somehow, though, “1917” pulled off the win, as surprising as Mendes’s win for Best Director.

I’ll know for sure when it comes out later this week, but it’s hard to picture “1917” besting the quality of “Marriage Story” or “The Irishman.”

Best Motion Picture — Comedy or Musical: “Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood” This was almost a no-contest category, as Tarantino’s love letter to the golden age of Hollywood exceeded its opponents in both prestige and quality by a significant margin. Despite the fact that I think it belongs in the lower half of the Tarantino canon, “Hollywood” is still an impressive film by a great director.

Best Actress in a Motion Picture — Drama: Renée Zellweger Renée Zellweger was the favorite from the start for her transformative portrayal of Judy Garland in “Judy,” and this was really her award to win. Similarly worthy would have

been Scarlett Johansson, whose performance of naked emotion in “Marriage Story” is a career highlight.

Best Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama: Joaquin Phoenix I was pulling for Adam Driver in this category, as his raw, pulsating performance in “Marriage Story” is a tear-jerking display of humanity, but the HFPA has a penchant for showiness, and Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck, also known as the Joker — a modern-day Travis Bickle with a comic book twist — had the kind of bravura shine the HFPA loves. I still think Driver will take home the Best Actor Oscar in a month instead of Phoenix, so I’m okay with Joaquin getting the Globe for a phenomenal performance.

Other Notable Wins Rapper-turned-actress Awkwafina received the Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture — Comedy or Musical. This makes her the first person of Asian descent to win a Golden Globe in an acting category — no small feat indeed, as many bright days are ahead for this erumpent star. Another big win was Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite” taking home Best Foreign Language Film, bringing attention to an innovative masterpiece that could be a legitimate contender in the Best Picture category at the Oscars.

Looking ahead, the Globes results generally serve as a solid litmus test for the Oscars, with the caveat that the HFPA leans toward intrigue while the Academy leans toward classical cinematic greatness. This means that a movie like “Marriage Story” is in store for the love it deserves, likely in the screenplay and acting categories, while a movie like “Joker” — the Academy has a traditional disdain for comic book movies — will have a much harder time. Awards shows are always unpredictable, though, and even though this year’s Globes gave the statuette to the right people most of the time, its future iterations — and the Oscars later this year — can always come out swinging.

PAGE 8

THE DARTMOUTH ARTS

TUESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2020

Review: ‘Little Women’ remains relevant, fails to meet hype character development and film style was uneven.

The Dartmouth Staff It is difficult to watch “Little I always look forward to winter Women” without thinking of two break for many reasons, an other movies at the same time: unexpected one of which is Oscar- Gerwig’s “Lady Bird” and Ari Aster’s bait. Oscar-bait season is the first “Midsommar.” Both films led me to three weeks in December, when movie have high expectations for “Little production studios are racing to put Women” due to similar creative teams out their “best” films of the year and performance artists working on the films. The before the Oscar 2017 hit “Lady q u a l i f i c a t i o n “Pugh is capable Bird,” Gerwig’s deadline on the of capturing both directorial debut, last day of the cemented both year. Typically, versions of Amy: the films t h a t young, entitled girl sick Gerwig’s place among the great receive Oscar film creators nominations are of living in her sister’s and established released between shadow and the older, the working August and more somber woman relationship December. between her T h i s y e a r, who has committed and Ronan, who one of the Oscar herself to raising her played the lead in contenders I was the film. most excited to family’s economic It is not see was “Little situation through hard to imagine Women.” “Little marriage.” that Gerwig’s Women” is a own experience film written and directed by Greta Gerwig based on with “Lady Bird” informed the the 1868 book by Louisa May Alcott. production of “Little Women.”

The story follows the four March Despite mass critical acclaim, Gerwig sisters during the Civil War as they was notably snubbed a directing come of age and pursue their various nomination at the 2018 Golden interests, all of which are artistic in Globes, which resulted in an entirely nature. In ascending age order of male lineup. The correlation between the sisters, Eliza Scanlen plays Beth, that arguable injustice and Gerwig’s a piano virtuoso; Florence Pugh commitment to “Little Women,” is Amy, a painter; Saoirse Ronan a movie telling the story of female plays Jo, the writer; and finally, writers and artists trying to make it in Emma Watson plays Meg, the male-dominated professional worlds, actress-turned-mom. The story is is an important connection.

Walking into the theater, I had really dominated by Ronan’s Jo and shows how the sisters’ relationships with high expectations for another Gerwigeach other, respective love interests Ronan collaboration. Unfortunately, and — most importantly — the I ended up being let down. Where family’s financial security develop “Lady Bird” had been a visceral look over several years. Overall, the movie at a young woman coming of age and was a successful adaptation, but the learning about balancing aspiration

B y SAVANNAH MILLER

with familial responsibility, “Little a woman with Laurie, a childhood sisters than about the entire family Women” featured a protagonist who friend of Jo’s played by fellow “Lady dynamic. Furthermore, the timeline was just not quite there. Jo March in Bird” alum Timothée Chalamet, of the piece was unclear at times, Alcott’s book is wild, fiery and has a proclaiming, “I want to be great, or jumping back and forth years and temper — something that is addressed nothing.” Spoiler alert: When Amy, months without much indication. in the film adaptation but never who is a more sympathetic character The constant jumps prevented me actually shown to amount to much. in the mov i e from becoming Ronan plays a much-subdued Jo with than in the book, fully invested in certain professionality and, overall, gets her happy “Despite being over a the blossoming Ronan’s Jo lacks the characteristic e n d i n g w i t h century old, the story relationship passion of the beloved main character. Laurie, it made between Jo and feels like a relevant At one point in the film, Jo claims to me ridiculously Louis Garrel’s have a temper that often flares up, happy. After all critique of patriarchy Friedrich Bhaer but viewers are never made privy. the pressure both and the devaluation — a professor However, one individual who did not her family and who disappears disappoint throughout the film was society placed on of art by society, for two-thirds Pugh. Pugh rose to stardom through her, it was only seen particularly in of the film, only her leading role in the 2019 work fair that Amy win to retur n at Jo and Amy’s career “Midsommar,” an unconventional the heart of her the end as Jo’s horror film that became an absolute childhood crush struggles.” l ove i n t e r e s t . hit, due to Aster’s name recognition, — even if it did C o m p a re d t o the aesthetic brightness and the mean stepping on “Lady Bird,” psychological themes in the movie. Jo’s toes. If there is one thing “Little “Little Women” feels a little rushed Like many others, I was intrigued Women” did, it confirmed 2019 as or even sloppy, due to the screenplay by the hype and critical acclaim the year of Florence Pugh. as well as the unclear cinematography.

“Midsommar” had been garnering However, Pugh’s phenomenal Despite these few faults, “Little and decided to watch it and was performance also served to highlight Women” is a very good movie overall. impressed by Pugh’s perforamce. a few of the problems with the film, Despite being over a century old, the In “Little Women,” Pugh is capable exacerbating the lack of passion story feels like a relevant critique of of capturing both versions of in Ronan’s Jo and — as much as patriarchy and the devaluation of Amy: the young, I hate to admit art by society, seen particularly in Jo entitled girl sick it — some issues and Amy’s career struggles. It also of living in her “Additionally, Meg with Gerwig’s serves to show wealth disparities sister’s shadow and Beth faded to the s c r e e n p l a y . and the classism that can further the and the older, W h i l e A m y ’s oppression of women. background as the m o re s o m b e r redemption in But I just wanted more. I needed w o m a n w h o story became more the film was a the main problem with “Little has committed about the two middle welcomed change Women” fixed. It may have been herself to raising from the bratty an issue with the character balance. h e r f a m i l y ’ s March sisters than c h a r a c t e r o f Or the problem could have been e c o n o m i c about the entire family Alcott’s book, the missing fiery personality of the situation through t h e i n c re a s e d beloved protagonist. The writing dynamic.” marriage. She is focus on her left and adaptation may also be at the relatable, shows Jo sharing the heart of the matter. Ultimately, it consistent growth and delivers spotlight too much for a film that was was some mixture of all three. Either a performance that is at once supposed to be headed by her. way, something was just missing from heartbreaking and mesmerizing.

Additionally, Meg and Beth faded “Little Women.” It is definitely worth At one critical moment in the film, to the background as the story became a first see, but not a second, and is Amy discusses her place in society as more about the two middle March worth an Oscar nod — but not a win.