Nov. 2, 2011 issue

T H E I N D E P E N D E N T D A I LY AT D U K E U N I V E R S I T Y

The Chronicle

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2011

Slaughter outlines int’l policy goals

ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTH YEAR, ISSUE 48

WWW.DUKECHRONICLE.COM

Students spur rewrite to group conduct policy

War child

by Anna Koelsch

by Shucao Mo

THE CHRONICLE

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When student leaders were frustrated with a student conduct policy’s wording, they united to rewrite the policy themselves.

Earlier this year, a previously unwritten policy that said student group leaders were to be held accountable for group members’ actions in the event of a conduct policy violation was added to the Duke Community Standard. Some students—including Duke Student Government President Pete Schork, a senior—opposed the policy’s vague wording. The policy was put on moratorium and was ultimately redrafted by a group of students.

The redrafted policy is written as, “Student group leaders most directly responsible may be held accountable for acting as an accomplice through action or negligence to the commission of prohibited acts at a group-identified event.” This language was presented to the Office of Student Conduct earlier this month.

The previous policy did not clarify that student leaders had to be directly involved in the conduct violation in order to be held responsible.

“We wanted to make sure that the language was very tight and can only be applied in a given set of situations,” said DSG executive vice president Gurdane Bhutani,

A national conversation redefining the United States’ foreign policy goals is essential for the future of American grand strategy, Anne-Marie Slaughter, former director of policy planning for the U.S. State Department, said Tuesday.

In the von der Heyden Lecture sponsored by the American Grand Strategy Program, Slaughter discussed “Grand Strategy for the 21st Century” and the importance of rebalancing and restructuring the nation’s foreign policy goals. In a time of domestic and international change, the United States is in need of a framework moving forward that tells the country where to go, Slaughter said.

“A strategy on how to get something doesn’t matter unless we know where we are going,” she said. “And we as a nation is to figure that out together.”

Salughter promoted an American grand strategy that includes strengthening our health and education system and creating more intellectual and physical infrastructure.

She also noted the importance of redefining the country’s goals to reflect its new post Cold War identity.

Making room for other international powers and shifting focus from military security spending to spending on civilian life and empowerment are two essential strategies to

REEM ALFAHAD/THE CHRONICLE

South Sudanese rap artist and ex-child soldier Emmanuel Jal performs in Reynolds Theater Tuesday.

SEE SLAUGHTER ON PAGE 4

SEE CONDUCT ON PAGE 5

$6M grant to fund child obesity initiative

by Raisa Chowdhury THE CHRONICLE

AUDREY ADU-APPIAH/THE CHRONICLE

Policy expert Anne-Marie Slaughter speaks Tuesday at the Sanford School of Public Policy.

A Duke health economist has joined the ranks in the battle against childhood obesity.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have awarded a $6.28 million grant to a group of researchers including Eric Finkelstein, associate research professor at the Duke Global Health Institute and deputy director at Duke-National University of Singapore Graduate Medical School, in an effort to reduce childhood obesity. Obesity—the condition of having a body mass index at or above the 95th percentile for children of the same sex and age—affects approximately 17 percent of children between the ages of 2-years-old and 9-years-old, according to the CDC. This rate has nearly tripled since 1980.

The National Institutes of Health and the Institute of Medicine have called for a systems-oriented approach, which addresses how to structure health care on a community-wide level. The study will work to connect

ONTHERECORD

“The house model is here to stay, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t continue to critique it in hopes of improving it.”

—Michael Goodrich in “The fairness of the house model.” See column page 11

the functions of families, health care providers, schools and other organizations to educate people about obesity. This strategy is necessary because other national efforts to address childhood obesity have failed at halting the epidemic, Finkelstein said. His role in the study will involve analyzing how people make decisions and how public policy can affect that process, he added.

“Obesity is a great area to study because efforts to drive down obesity rates will require people to make increasingly difficult choices about diet and exercise in a world where that is often no longer required,” Finkelstein wrote in an email Monday.

Finkelstein will collaborate with principal investigators Deanna Hoelscher, director of the Michael and Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living at the University of Texas School of Public Health, and Nancy Butte, professor of pediatrics at the Baylor College of Medicine. As the economist on the team, Finkelstein will help structure the economic

GPSC to host national conference, Page 3

incentives for participants and lead cost-effectiveness analysis.

“Child obesity is a problem bigger than any of us can tackle by ourselves. We need to work together,” Hoelscher said in a news release Oct. 24.

The collaborators hypothesize that among low-income, ethnically diverse overweight and obese children from 2-to 12-years-old, the new approach with secondary, medically specialized prevention programs will help reduce weight problems in comparison to primary prevention alone, Finkelstein noted.

In order to evaluate this prediction, assessments will be conducted in disadvantaged neighborhoods of Austin and Houston, Texas to inform which intervention strategies are used and provide a sustainable program structure.

There are three specific aims of the study, Finkelstein said. The first is to implement

Blue Devils face Shaw, Page 7

SEE OBESITY ON PAGE 4

2 | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2011

THE CHRONICLE

worldandnation

Senate approves limited appropriations measure

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Senate has approved a $182 billion appropriations measure that lays out spending for some government agencies through September and could lead to an agreement with the House that would avoid a spending showdown this month.

By a vote of 69-30, the Senate agreed to the bill for agriculture, criminal justice, transportation and housing agencies through fiscal year 2012. The bill groups three of the 12 separate appropriations bills that Congress was supposed to adopt before the fiscal year ended Sept. 30.

Unable to reach agreement with the House, the Senate instead bought time to continue talks with a resolution that continued last year’s spending polices through Nov. 18. Debate over the measure allowed senators time to propose and debate amendments on topics including agriculture subsidies, terrorist detainee policies and food stamps.

“

web

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onschedule at Duke...

Bryan Center, 8a.m.

As the centerpiece of Duke Arts Festival, the exhibition includes work in forms of painting, photography, sculpture and digital art.

The Myth of Choice Law School, 12:30-1:20p.m.

Kent Greenfield, professor of law at Boston College Law School, will present his article on the different approaches to consent in constitutional law.

Alcohol exposes women South Korea sets up fund to cancer risk, study finds for unification with North Even indulging in just a few drinks a week raises a woman’s risk of breast cancer, according to a large Harvard study released Tuesday. The new analysis marks the first clear evidence that even women who consume six drinks a week or less are likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer.

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea will set up a fund as early as this year to begin raising up to $50 billion to pay for its eventual reunification with North Korea.

Individual Koreans will be able to donate to the fund and the government may earmark money including budget surpluses.

String Quartet Perkins Library, 5-5:30p.m.

Duke music students will give a performance as part of Duke Arts Festival. Weather permitting, the performance will take place in the outdoor alcove entrance to Perkins Library.

KMX Release Party Smith Warehouse, 6-8p.m.

Students are invited to join the celebration of the launch of the improved Knowledge Maps of Duke Center for Civic Engagement.

TODAY IN HISTORY 1902: First gas-powered Locomobile hits the road.

”

“Evidently, Duke does not easily tire of housing issues. On Halloween day 25 years ago, the Chronicle ran a front page article on a proposed new residential college system. In true Halloween spirit,the article bears an eerie resemblance to contemporary ones about the housing model.”

— From The Chronicle’s News Blog bigblog.dukechronicle.com

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Duke Arts Festival Visual Arts Exhibition

History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives.

— Abba Eban

on the

THURSDAY:

TODAY:

on the

calendar

All Soul’s Day Belgium

Commemoration of the Dead San Marino

Catholic Remembrance Day GABRIELA MAJ/THE WASHINGTON POST

The tallest tower throughout the world, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, is part of the exhibit “Supertall“ at Lower Manhattan’s Skyscraper Museum. Although the building opened with elevator problems and a cash crunch in 2010, its allure has been growing ever since.

Belarus

Indian Arrival Day Mauritius

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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2011 | 3

GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL STUDENT COUNCIL

Bank of America drops Duke GPSC to host debit card fee plans national conference

by Ylan Q. Mui

by Arden Kreeger THE CHRONICLE

Duke will host the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students National Conference Fall 2012.

The conference is an opportunity to facilitate communication, leadership and skill development and the sharing of ideas between graduate and professional students from institutions across the United States, according the NAGPS website. The Graduate and Professional Student Coun-

cil announced that it would be hosting the conference at their meeting Tuesday night.

The conference will consist of a series of meetings, followed by a banquet on the final evening, said GPSC President Felicia Hawthorne, a fifth-year genetics and genomics doctoral candidate. The conference will be held at no cost to the GPSC, as the council will be reimbursed by NAGPS SEE GPSC ON PAGE 6

SOPHIA PALENBERG/THE CHRONICLE

Students gather for the biweekly GPSC meeting Tuesday evening. Duke GPSC will host the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students National Conference Fall of 2012.

THE WASHINGTON POST

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a rare reversal, Bank of America announced Tuesday that it will drop a controversial fee for customers who swipe their debit cards.

The bank had intended to begin charging the $5 fee next year, citing new federal regulations that it says have hurt its bottom line. But the debit charge drew a torrent of fury from customers, lawmakers and even President Obama.

Faced with consumer backlash, Wells Fargo recently abandoned its testing of the fee. Regions Bank and SunTrust have also dropped the charge.

“We have listened to our customers very closely over the last few weeks and recognize their concern with our proposed debit usage fee,” said David Darnell, co-chief operating officer at Bank of America. “Our customers’ voices are most important to us. As a result, we are not currently charging the fee and will not be moving forward with any additional plans to do so.”

Almost as soon as the charge became public a month ago, it turned into a rallying point for populist outrage at the nation's largest financial institutions.

Roughly 51,000 people have signed up to move their money out of big banks on Nov. 5, according to the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which is helping to organize the event. The group said that more than 21,000 of those who have signed up are Bank of

America customers.

“This shows that when the public fights back together against Wall Street, we can make progress—but the fight is nowhere close to over,” PCCC cofounder Adam Green said.

Boston resident Matt Hrono, 21, said he stopped using his Bank of America checking account after learning about planned charge and opened an account with USAA, which is among many smaller banks that have touted their low fees.

Hrono said he won't go back despite Bank of America's about-face.

“Just the fact that they even considered it, that just shows how ridiculous they are and how utterly greedy they are,” he said.

Yet the debit card fee is only one of a host of changes banks have made their checking accounts in recent years. PNC has reduced the amount of money it refunds customers for using other ATMs. Chase has eliminated its debit card rewards program. A survey this summer by consulting firm Moebs Services found that the number of large banks offering free checking dropped from nearly 93 percent in 2009 to 39 percent this year.

The industry has said it is searching for ways to lower costs and increase revenue as it faces new federal regulations. According to the American Bankers Association, a trade group, maintaining a consumer's checking account costs a bank between $250 to $300 per year.

SEE BOA ON PAGE 5

4 | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2011

SLAUGHTER from page 1 achieving this goal, she said.

“If we want an effective international order for everybody to abide by, we need to give everybody more say in our institutions,” Slaughter said. “Climate change, resource scarcity, corruption, pandemics, fragile state, those problems cannot be resolved in government level.”

Slaughter also noted continuing to invest in technological, informational and agricultural innovations as essential to maintaining the country’s foreign power. Slaughter also encouraged using technology and social media to connect societies in tackling problems that government alone can not solve.

“It is more than promoting business, [but more importantly,] to connect roots from different countries.... We need a coalition of civil sector, private sector and government,” she said.

Senior Nick Setterberg said he agreed with Slaughter’s ideas for restrategizing the country’s foreign involvement strategy. Since the country does not have any real threat from another foreign power, Setterberg said the country is in need of a

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complete overhaul of its international policies.

“The American dream is dead,” he said. “We need to formulate a grand strategy for the United States.”

Reflecting on ways the country can better adapt to its new place in the global world, Slaughter said reforming immigration policy is essential to renewing the country’s international image. Slaughter reflected on American foreign policy during the Cold War and said containment can no longer a part of the country’s grand strategy.

“The most connected nation that has many close ties to other countries is the most powerful nation,” she said.

Sophomore Taylor Imperiale noted that Slaughter has a very different focus than most traditional public policy makers.

Imperiale said he enjoyed Slaughter’s holistic approach.

“Rather than analyzing case-by-case policies, she pays attention to changing the structure of the world,” Imperiale said.

Ultimately, Slaughter said that in order for America’s grand strategy to be effective, the entire nation must have a good understanding of its national values and project them to the outside world.

“We cannot have credible influence unless we live up to our

values,” Slaughter said. “Liberty, democracy and justice—those are the values that we define ourselves with.”

The lecture series is named for the von der Heyden Fellows Program Endowment Fund and was co-sponsored by the Sanford School of Public Policy, the Office of Global Strategy and Programs and the Triangle Institute for Security Studies.

OBESITY from page 1 and evaluate a primary prevention obesity program in lowincome, ethnically diverse areas of Austin and Houston.

This step will utilize baseline and two-year follow-up data on the prevalence of childhood risk factors and the availability of health care for parents, children and the community.

The second aim is to implement and evaluate how effective a systems approach is at reducing obesity by using a 12-month family-based secondary prevention program along with the primary care.

The third goal is to measure how cost-effective the 12-month program is compared to just the primary care.

“If this research trial is proven efficacious and cost-effective, the demonstration project could be disseminated widely to address obesity among underserved, at-risk children,” Finkelstein said. “Program sustainability will be ensured through active involvement of community partners within health care, childcare, schools and community sectors.”

Definitive conclusions about the effectiveness of the model will likely be made in about three years, Finkelstein added. If the primary and secondary strategies prove effective at reducing obesity, the United Kingdom-based Mind Exercise Nutrition Do it! Programme will deliver the intervention on a broad scale, work to publicize it and finance the expansion.

Successful findings would have very positive effects on the lives of the children at risk for obesity. Obesity predisposes children to serious health risks including Type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis, cancer, sleep apnea, chronic respiratory, disease and orthopedic problems, said Dr. Michael Freemark, Robert and Veronica Atkins professor of pediatrics and division chief of pediatric endocrinology and diabetes.

“Anything that has such substantial chunks of the population as obesity, has large economic and financial implications,” Freemark said. “We have a right to be concerned, seriously concerned, about the implications and presence of obesity in children. It’s likely to have poor ramifications for medical costs and practice and social and economic considerations of the [U.S.] and world economy. Health care costs are continuing to rise dramatically and obesity and diabetes play major roles in the escalation of those costs.”

The Pediatric Obesity Care Model is the first of its kind, Butte said in a news release Sept. 29, noting that if successful, the model could become a new component of integrated medicine and community health practices.

Freemark has a more cautious attitude towards the community-based model of this research but said he is also in favor of aggressive action against obesity.

“This approach is probably a good one.... It’s going to require policy changes [and] the involvement of everyone in the community,” he said. “It should succeed, but so far, success of community wide projects has been limited.... A fair number of different approaches would have to be employed. None are going to be successful alone.”

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CONDUCT from page 1 a junior and member of the Office of Student Conduct Student Advisory Group. “We made it a lot more legalistic and clear.”

Stephen Bryan, associate dean of students and director of the Office of Student Conduct, said the Office of Student Conduct Student Advisory Group met twice this Fall to discuss the student leader policy. At a meeting Sept. 23, Bryan said the advisory group agreed that the intent of the policy is to hold a group leader accountable for a group member’s plan to violate or a violation of University conduct policy. This only applies if the leader is aware of the violation and if the leader does not take action. After this meeting, representatives from the Council for Collaborative Action—the association for student leaders on campus—and the Honor Council proposed clarifying language for the policy, and these proposals were discussed at a second advisory group meeting.

After discussing the original proposal, Bryan said the advisory group agreed to one slight language change in order to add clarity.

The wording for the new policy was sourced from pre-existing policy language in the Duke Community Standard guide, Schork said.

Moneta said the advisory group’s policy wording is now official.

“If the language has been agreed to, then I consider it adopted,” he said.

The accountability policy had always

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2011 | 5

been exercised in practice, but administrators decided to make it official this year in order to increase transparency, Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta said earlier this year. Student leaders, however, expressed concern not only on the policy’s clarity but also because discussions surrounding the policy did not involve students. CCA Chair Ollie Wilson, a senior; Honor Council Chair Nick Valilis, a senior; DSG Senior Policy Adviser Christine Larson, a junior; Schork and Bhutani were part of the group that agreed that the policy should be reworded. Schork, Bhutani and Wilson worked to reword the policy, and the CCA approved the changes, before meeting with the Office of Student Conduct.

It was especially important to include the students who would be affected by the policy in the revision process, Schork said.

“Because the policy primarily affects student leaders, we wanted to ensure that they had a real say in how the new policy would be written,” he added.

Schork said that although he and other students were disappointed in the way the policy was initially implemented, he is proud of how students were able to spearhead the policy change. He added that he hopes that a high degree of student involvement in policy changes can happen more frequently in the future.

“It is always best to make it as clear as possible to students as to how they might be held accountable for their actions,” Schork said. “We’re pleased that we were able to maintain clarity in conduct policies. This was a really collaborative opportunity.”

www.towerviewmag.com.

BOA from page 3 Many banks had long relied on money from overdraft fees to subsidize accounts for customers in good standing. But now, banks are prohibited from charging those fees in most cases unless a consumer has signed up for the service. Several banks—including Bank of America— have dropped the program all together.

Then last month, new rules went into effect that limit the amount of money banks can receive from retailers when consumers use a debit card to make a purchase. The ruling is expected to cost banks billions of dollars and was the center of a brutal lobbying battle on Capitol Hill earlier this year.

Still, financial experts cautioned that consumers must remain on the lookout for changes to their checking accounts.

6 | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2011

GPSC from page 3 through registration fees.

“I can’t emphasize enough how really big [the conference] is for us,” Hawthorne said. “The recognition that we get as a larger group being involved in [NAGPS] is great for us.”

GPSC is also considering becoming a lifetime member of NAGPS, joining 65 other member institutions for a $10,000 fee, said Hawthorne. GPSC will vote on the membership next week.

A motion to close the meeting to the public passed after discussions of the NAGPS conference.

GPSC also approved its fall budget of $27,155, though not all committees were pleased with this semester’s funding.

GPSC Treasurer Philip Weissman, a law

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student, said GPSC provided as much funding as was permitted by its bylaws, and suggested that the committee apply for a cosponsorship to receive additional funding.

“If I bend the bylaws for this group’s funding, I’m going to have to answer to a lot of people,” Weissman said. “And I won’t have answers for them.”

Pulling strings

@duke chronicle

CHELSEA PIERONI/THE CHRONICLE

A performer plays chamber music in the Bryan Center as part of the Duke Arts Festival.

Visit www.dukechronicle.com

Sports

BLUE ZONE

The Chronicle

WEDNESDAY November 2, 2011

Find out why David Cutcliffe quoted Winston Churchill in his weekly press conference.

Behind the numbers created during last Saturday’s football game.

www.dukechroniclesports.com

MEN’S SOCCER

Despite record, Duke Blue Devils struggle has still improved with Elon in tune-up Take a quick look at the game-bygame results for the Blue Devils this year, and it is easy to dismiss this team as another losing bunch, with no hope of reaching a bowl game.

The latter part of that argument has some merit, as the likelihood of this team making its first postseason appearance since the 1994 season is somewhere between slim and none. But, as someone that has watched every Jason play of the 2011 Duke campaign, it is very apparent that this group is different from the many lackluster squads that have inhabited Durham over the last 20 years.

This year’s version could easily have a 6-2 record instead of the 3-5 mark it currently possesses. The only two games this year that Duke did not have a reasonable chance of winning were against Florida State and Stanford. And while the Blue Devils had no chance of competing with the Seminoles by the end of the first quarter, they could have had the lead at the break against the Cardinal had Will Synderwine and Jeffrey Ijjas not combined to miss three first-half field goals.

Keeping it close with Stanford for the entire game would have been unlikely, but Duke’s

Palmatary On Football

effort against one of the country’s top teams is an indicator of the progress head coach David Cutcliffe has made.

The first half against Stanford can be considered a moral victory, but losses to Richmond, Wake Forest and Virginia Tech should have been Blue Devil wins.

Despite a slow start against Richmond, Duke was in position to win until Synderwine missed a 28-yard chip shot that would have put the Blue Devils on top with less than two minutes to play. Facing the Demon Deacons, Duke was clinging to a 23-17 lead late in the fourth quarter when a missed tackle in the secondary turned a short pass into a game-deciding 66-yard touchdown reception. And, against the Hokies, six trips inside the Virginia Tech 30-yard line resulted in just ten points due to two missed field goals, a fumble and a turnover on downs.

While it is clear that Duke is not always executing when it comes to kicking, tackling and protecting the ball, emphasis should be put on the plays that are being made.

“We’re playing really good football,” Cutcliffe said. “That gets lost when we’re getting beat. There are a lot of football players playing well in all three phases. When you have an error or two at an inopportune time, sometimes that gets lost.”

The Virginia Tech game provides a perfect case study.

SEE PALMATARY ON PAGE 8

DUKE vs. SHAW (ex.)

Wednesday, November 2 • Cameron Indoor Stadium 7 p.m.

No. 6 Blue Devils (32-5)

BENCH

BACKCOURT

FRONTCOURT

F F F G G

ALEX MURPHY 2 steals, 1 rebound vs. BU MILES PLUMLEE 4.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg MASON PLUMLEE 8.1 ppg, 1.9 rpg AUSTIN RIVERS 13 points, 4 rebounds vs. BU SETH CURRY 9.0 ppg, 2.0 apg

Knights (23-9) F F G G G

JAYLON BATTLE 3.3 ppg, 2.6 rpg SHERIDAN PRICE 6.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg GREG THOMAS 4.1 ppg, 1.0 rpg DEVON MCLENDON 11.9 ppg, 5.9 rpg ANTONIO SMITH 12.5 ppg, 5.8 apg

(Projected lineups, statistics from 2010-11 season) Miles and Mason Plumlee DUKE SHAW combined for 10-of-14 shoot73.5 PPG: 80.9 ing against Bellarmine Sat66.3 PPG DEF: 64.7 FG%: urday. Ryan Kelly added 10 47.6 47.4 3PT%: points of his own, and Alex 37.7 34.5 FT%: Murphy added solid defense 75.3 69.6 RPG: 37.7 36.8 in his first start.

APG: 13.9 13.0 Shaw shot just 34.5 percent 2.1 BPG: 4.2 from beyond the arc last seaSPG: 6.5 7.1 son—and now is without its 11.6 15.3 TO/G: best scorer from a year ago.

The breakdown Duke struggled from deep Although Duke struggled in the first half of last against Bellarmine, but it Saturday’s exhibition against Bellarmine, Shaw should rebound. is significantly less talented than the Knights The Blue Devils played 11 are. The Bears lost five of their top-six players different players against Belin terms of minutes played after last season, larmine Saturday, showing off including top scorer Raheem Smith. Plus, they both their depth and relative make just over one-third of their 3-pointers. youth. The Bears will begin the process of integrating a wealth of new transfers.

OUR CALL: Duke wins, 94-52

CHELSEA PIERONI/THE CHRONICLE

Freshman Matt Slotnick scored the first goal of his collegiate career Tuesday night against the Phoenix.

by Daniel Carp THE CHRONICLE

After completing their ACC season, the Blue Devils looked to a pair of nonconference games for an opportunity to smooth out some last wrinkles before the ACC tournament.

Things did not go as they planned last night against Elon, though, 2 Elon as they fought to a Duke 2 2-2 draw.

The Blue Devils (9-6-2) were unable to best the Phoenix (610-2) Tuesday evening at Koskinen Stadium, and although one point is valuable for Duke, the result did not meet head coach John Kerr’s expectations.

“It’s going to make us focus on the final third and getting sharper in those areas, get the timing right,” Kerr said. “For sure we’re going to work on that this week.”

Duke allowed Elon to control the tempo of the game from the start, as the Blue Devils

did not register a legitimate scoring chance until the game’s 16th minute. Elon very nearly scored four minutes later, but thanks to solid goalkeeping by James Belshaw, the game remained scoreless. Duke finally commenced the scoring when junior striker Andrew Wenger took the ball down the left sideline and blasted his 17th goal of the season past the keeper from 15 yards out. Duke picked up its play following the first goal, but despite another great chance by Wenger to score from virtually the same spot in the 32nd minute, the Blue Devils went into the half leading 1-0.

Elon struck back with an equalizer in the 47th minute when junior Chris Thomas converted his sixth goal of the season, burying a header just in front of the goal. The Phoenix then took the lead when Thomas ran down a long ball and deposited it past Belshaw just three minutes later. As Duke searched for SEE M. SOCCER ON PAGE 8

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Duke takes on Shaw In what should have been an easy exhibition game against a Division-II team, the Blue Devils came out of the gate slowly when they kicked off their collegiate season last weekend.

Coming off an 87-65 exhibition win over Bellarmine, Duke will look to work out some early season kinks and continue improving when it plays Shaw at 7 p.m. tonight in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The game is Duke’s second and final exhibition match before heading into regular season play.

After the contest against Bellarmine, in which the Blue Devils failed to find a rhythm until late, the matchup against Shaw will serve as another opportunity to develop a layer of consistency that was missing in the opener.

They face a Bears team playing its first game of the 2011-12 campaign, after finishing with a 23-9 record last season. In the process, they won the CIAA championship, making it to the NCAA Atlantic Regional semifinal for Division-II basketball, where the team lost to

top-ranked Western Liberty.

With no player above 6-foot-9, the Bears may be vulnerable to the inside scoring attack of Miles Plumlee, Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly, who combined for 40 points against Bellarmine.

The Bears will also have to find a new way to generate points without last season’s leading scorer, Raheem Smith, who averaged 19.6 points per game.

In terms of leadership, though, Shaw has a wealth of experience, returning four seniors and six juniors. Additionally, the team is coached by last year’s Division-II coach of the year, Cleo Hill.

For Hill, the key will be developing a game plan that can stymie Duke’s outside efforts the way the Knights did—holding the Blue Devils to just 2-for-14 from long range made the game competitive for much longer than it could have been otherwise.

—from staff reports

8 | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2011

PALMATARY from page 7 On the defensive side of the ball, there was a level of playmaking that has not been seen before in the Cutcliffe Era. Safety Matt Daniels made impressive breaks on three balls in the air, intercepting two and nearly a third, to erase Hokie scoring opportunities. Backup safety Jordon Byas put two massive hits on Virginia Tech wideouts that not only sent them staggering off the field, but also made it clear that the athletes on a deeper defense have gotten bigger, stronger and faster.

Even with talented pass rusher Kenny Anunike sidelined for the season with a knee injury, and a stable of young ends and tackles rotat-

THE CHRONICLE

ing in and out, the undersized defensive front was able to penetrate and record seven stops for losses against a very talented backfield.

I had grown accustomed to watching and even hearing the defensive mentality described as “bendbut-don’t break” in previous seasons.

That’s why seeing aggressive play at the line of scrimmage, more blitzing and other efforts to force takeaways was so refreshing. Perhaps because the coaching staff has recruited better athletes, it is finally able to take a more aggressive approach.

“Coach said all week that we really matched up well with them from a defensive standpoint,” Daniels said. “We understood that each person could go out and win their individual battles. We were

able to do that.”

The proof is in the numbers too, as the Blue Devils already have 15 sacks this season, after recording just 12 and 18 in the two previous years. And, the unit is giving up 27.4 points and 403.1 yards per contest, compared to 35.4 points and 450 yards last season.

Before dismissing this season as a disappointment even if it culminates with a losing record, consider the foundation being built, especially defensively.

While it does get frustrating to always be waiting for next season, with the vast majority of starters returning, Cutcliffe will have no excuse if his talent is not executing to produce wins next fall.

M. SOCCER from page 7 the tying goal, the team became increasingly frustrated and physical, and the referees took notice, handing Joe Pak a yellow card in the 57th minute. Duke finally got its chance in the 63rd minute, when Chris Tweed-Kent made a nifty move, freeing himself up for a cross from the left sideline. The goal was scored by freshman forward Matt Slotnick to tie the game 2-2. The goal was Slotnick’s first collegiate tally, in just his fifth game.

“I knew that Chris is good at taking people one on one. He put me in a good position to score,” Slotnick said. “I think I’m finally able to show my team that I can really play.”

The Blue Devils had several opportunities to score over the final third of the game but could not convert.

The action continued back and forth over the course of the first overtime period. In the 102nd minute Duke was awarded a free kick from just outside Elon’s 18-yard box, but the shot bent wide. Soon after, in the 103rd minute, defender Sebastien Ibeagha was issued a red card and sent off the field. Playing a man down, the Blue Devils were unable to break the deadlock with a game-winning goal.

“Well you always want to win, but they’re a good team,” Kerr said.

“They’re far more talented than their record indicates. They attacked well and played good chances.”

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Conversations program deserves reincarnation Last year, the University by a 2008 review that demoneliminated Duke Conversa- strated that a small number tions—a program that pro- of students were using a large vided funding for student-in- portion of the funds. More vited speakers to host intimate troubling, however, is that the discussions on campus. The $150,000 budget was at times administration being utilized purports that to bring back editorial it did not cut recent alumni Conversations because of bud- who were friends of the nomiget strain during the econom- nating students, but who proic downturn. Rather, it was a vided little contribution in the consequence of the program’s way of valuable discourse. The failure to meet its goals, said 2008 review led to a 33 percent Steve Nowicki, dean and vice budget reduction in 2009—to provost for undergraduate $100,000—as well as the creeducation. ation of a selection committee President Brodhead initi- to read applications for proated Conversations after his posed speakers. Ultimately, arrival from Yale, in order to the program was eliminated mirror a residential speaker in 2010. program there. But the proNow, the time is right for gram drew skeptics for its the revitalization of Duke Conquestionable allotment of versations. funds—a suspicion vindicated Fortunately, University ad-

“

students rally to support Food Factory... doing all they can except eating there.

—“DukeChecker” commenting on the story “Students voice support for Food Factory.”

See more at www.dukechronicle.com.

LETTERS POLICY The Chronicle welcomes submissions in the form of letters to the editor or guest columns. Submissions must include the author’s name, signature, department or class, and for purposes of identification, phone number and local address.

Letters should not exceed 325 words; contact the editorial department for information regarding guest columns.

The Chronicle will not publish anonymous or form letters or letters that are promotional in nature. The Chronicle reserves the right to edit letters and guest columns for length, clarity and style and the right to withhold letters based on the discretion of the editorial page editor.

ministrators are open to considering its revival. Nowicki is leading the way to assemble a committee to discuss its potential reinstatement under the house model.

As all Duke affiliates are well aware, the house model marks a drastic shift in campus life. Duke Conversations could make a vital contribution to this shift. Reinstating Conversations in conjunction with the house model would provide the ability to host speakers, fomenting house identity which, in turn, would encourage increased participation in Conversations. The new manifestation of the program should allow only houses to invite speakers to emphasize the unique responsibility of houses have to create their own identities.

We believe that allowing individual houses to be the sole solicitors of Conversations provides an important opportunity to each house. Houses can invite speakers specifically geared toward their house’s interest, where relevant, and should have the agency to dictate the scale of the event—whether it is a large gathering or a small dinner. Regardless, the houses should host the event within their walls but open up attendance to the larger Duke community. If demand for an event exceeds supply, preference should be given to those within the house on a first-come, firstserve basis.

In the past, failure to publicize speakers acted as a hindrance to student attendance.

But if houses serve as the initiators of inviting guests, poor

turnout poses less of a threat.

Speakers should be determined by consensus of the house and can be easily publicized via house emails.

To prevent the abuse of funds that occurred during the first few years of Duke Conversations’ existence, the new form of the program should heed the suggestions of the 2008 review committee. We recommend that a selection committee is again utilized, as in 2009, and should be comprised of students and faculty to ensure the quality of speakers and the intentions of those inviting them. Duke Conversations will encourage house cohesion within the new residential model. Nowicki and his committee would be wise to reincarnate the programs for the upcoming academic year.

Your health, your problem

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A

s the November withdrawal date approach- wait until the last day of classes and declare stress es, students face the decision of whether or an illness, trying to use medical withdrawal to or not to end their participation in a par- avoid the inevitable. These cases would inundate ticular class. The option of withCAPS and Student Health with drawal adds considerable flexibility nonsense and therefore impede for students, as it is the final way for both offices’ ability to do serious a student to avoid a bad class affectwork for those in need. ing their GPA (with the downside Eliminating the idea of mediof adding a “W” to your transcript). cal withdrawal panders to the miThe process is an acknowledgment nority of students who decided to that the drop/add period does not take advantage of the scenario. always provide sufficient time for becomes a situation of “your antonio segalini Ithealth, some students who may realize they your problem,” as the onus musings are outmatched by a course. It also falls on the student to somehow adds enough drawbacks to prevent mitigate other circumstances or students from taking advantage of it. come up with a convincing enough excuse to Although the withdrawal deadline takes into find an ulterior way to withdraw (currently there account academic difficulties, such as being over- is no official way to get out of a class after the loaded by classwork or simply joining a class with- November deadline). Considering no structure out proper preparation, Duke has always offered currently exists for an outside withdrawal, an illa medical withdrawal. In previous years, these ness or family emergency during the last month medical withdrawals extended to the last day of of school is essentially a death sentence. classes, and offered a student an ability to drop Understanding that any late medical witha class (with the “W” distinction) after the offi- drawal date will be taken advantage of, there cial withdrawal date in extreme circumstances. It has to be a way to mitigate the situation without also allowed students who have already dropped having to completely eliminate it. The first and to underloading during their time at Duke to do most obvious solution is to move the medical so again. withdrawal date a week or so before the last day The process made sense. There are various ex- of classes, but this will just mean CAPS will be treme circumstances that can never be taken into slammed a week earlier and students who face account in advance. Stress for serious problems extreme circumstances the last week are in the outside of the classroom or actual illness does not same situation. always happen before the November deadline.

Instead, the process of medical withdrawal The medical withdrawal’s late deadline takes this should still occur on the last day, with the idea into account. Students are given every opportunity that it should be tiered. The idea of a medical to state their circumstances and have an indepen- withdrawal is that there are extreme circumdent third-party—usually CAPS for stress or other stances out there that would prevent a student mental illness or a doctor for physical illness—de- from doing his or her best (or even close to it) cide whether or not circumstances justify a medi- in a course. Where it fails is that students use this cal withdrawal. The process has multiple checks process and go directly to CAPS, finding (or makand balances. It makes sense. ing up) the best excuse to get out of a course.

And, like many others who have come before Instead, these students should be going to proit, the sensible process was changed. Medical fessors, as most would understand if something withdrawal now has a deadline, and unsurpris- terrible came up. The medical withdrawal would ingly it comes on the same date as regular with- then come into place when the two parties could drawal, four weeks before the last day of classes, not work out an arrangement—when withdrawal which for Fall semester comes in November. The would be best for the student.

November deadline means that there is no techThe process of elimination over reasoning unnical way to get out of a course in the last month derscores many different instances where a seriof classes due to extreme circumstances. Some- ous University policy was not completely thought thing so logical as a last-ditch escape for those through. There is a valid justification for medical seriously affected by outside circumstances was withdrawal where the concept and vision matcheradicated. es the reality. It should not be neutered simply One of the major reasons why it had to be because perfection was not found instantly. eliminated was that students would take advantage of it. Since there was no actual deadline for Antonio Segalini is a Trinity junior. His column medical withdrawal, students would feel free to runs every Wednesday.

THE CHRONICLE

The fairness of the house model

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lot of seniors that I know have been saying the same thing: It’s a good time to be graduating from Duke. After all, Tailgate met its bitter end, and now we have all this house model business to contend with.

And in many ways they’re right. As a university, Duke is making massive alterations to undergraduate social life. Life at Duke is becoming perhaps neither better nor worse, but certainly different. michael goodrich Anger over the house model seems indicative of this. Unfor- between parentheses tunately, as the house model has become less aspirational and more procedural, the debate has shifted—rather pragmatically—away from the value of the house model, and towards questions of whether the process itself is being conducted fairly, particularly with respect to lotteries for selected living groups.

Administrators say the process was conducted fairly. This claim is questionable. If fairness is denoted by equality of opportunity—as is suggested by the randomization of house assignments—then to call it fair is to confuse the equality of house assignments with the equality of individual assignments: It might be fair for each house, but perhaps not for each person. After all, adamant independents will no longer be able to definitively choose their dorms (aside from the nebulous possibility of being allowed to list favored houses), let alone their exact rooms, which is a freedom that many like myself have valued. Choosing to rush a fraternity or SLG automatically gives one a unique advantage in terms of choosing location, no matter how much DSG and administrators claim that location won’t make a difference. Indeed, last year Residential Life and Housing Services (RLHS), now Housing, Dining and Residential Life (HDRL), said that house assignments wouldn’t even be revealed until after recruitment so that locations couldn’t be used as incentives to recruits. This (aborted) plan of deferral immediately suggests the possibility of what the University claims won’t happen. And students committed to independent life have no ability to take advantage of this.

Nevertheless, administrators have asserted that the process was conducted fairly. Indeed, as Donna Lisker, associate vice provost for undergraduate education, explained, “We did our best to be fair to everybody. And sometimes that means that everybody is equally annoyed with you. Our goal was to keep our principles of equity and community in mind.”

Of course, if everybody’s equally annoyed with you, being fair to everybody can’t be all that much different from being fair to nobody. The equality of a plan says nothing about the quality of the plan.

The bigger problem with this brand of fairness and equity, however, is that it allows the University to fiat the virtue of the house model, taking us away from discussions of what’s good and bad about it and into discussions of implementation. We should not let the latter overtake the former. A lot of questions remain unanswered, and we should not sweep them under the rug just because the changes are starting to happen.

What administrators need to understand is that undergraduate frustration with these processes is also emblematic of larger uncertainties over the house model. Aside from annoyance over the lottery, a bigger reason for the resistance to the house model could be that students and administrators may not have the same goals. Lisker clearly sets up the administration’s chief criteria: the “principles of equity and community.”

And yet, this may not be what students want, positive-sounding and unimpugnable though these words may be. Before we can decide on this, we still need to have a discussion on what the role of the University is in the non-academic lives of its students. Is it even the job of a university to create a set of microcommunities—intergenerational friend groups—for all of its students?

The house model is here to stay, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t continue to critique it in hopes of improving it.

There should be more open forums with the administration on the house model—with everything left on the table to discuss as this new structure emerges—and the plan should be more malleable than it is now. Rather than asserting the fairness of implementation, we should be trying to use the continuing transition to figure out where the flaws are and how to fix them. The University would be unwise to ignore the expertise of its last generations of pre-house model students.

Michael Goodrich is a Trinity senior. His column runs every other Wednesday.

commentaries

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2011 | 11

Take my job, Siri

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n Oct. 14th, Apple Inc. introduced Siri with the contestant with whom they converse is a person. its new iPhone 4S. Though voice-recognition The topic of the conversation is not predetermined software is nothing new, Siri’s ability to recog- and the contestants must be able to strike up a connize and understand unconventional versation on any topic, from the imphrases is startling and revolutionary. plications of the European economic However, in hindsight, Siri’s introduccrisis to what it must have been like tion was inevitable. growing up in place X. Since the test’s A machine’s ability to understand introduction, no computer has sucthe complexity of human language was cessfully convinced all the judges of its once considered impossible. An often“humanity.” used example to demonstrate this However, that does not mean maphenomenon is the sentence “James chines have not come very close. Jeoprui dai shot an elephant in his pajamas.” Most ardy, for instance, is a very difficult a picture’s worth human beings would know without a game for machines to master, precisely doubt that James is the person wearing because it is such a human game. Bethe pajamas and that “shot” refers to his use of a gun sides the vast amount of technical knowledge that to shoot the elephant. However, because sentence’s one must be able to muster, Jeopardy also requires syntax is ambiguous, a computer can interpret that a solid grasp of puns, hidden hints and small pieces sentence in a variety of ways that seem almost dys- of convention that are inherent to being human, but lexic to a human audience. For instance, it would are very difficult for computers to understand. For be perfectly reasonable to conclude that it is the ele- example, the term ’90s conventionally means 1990s, phant that is wearing the pajamas, or even that James but a computer would interpret it as a year that ends shooting the elephant means he shot a picture of the in 90, meaning it could either be 1190, 1290, 1390, elephant. etc. In a game like Jeopardy where every single clue This is particularly interesting when we consider counts, this gap in conventional knowledge could how computers can now compute thousands upon mean winning or losing. As a result, when IBM’s thousands of high-level equations in a matter of sec- computer Watson triumphed over Ken Jennings and onds, a feat that even some of the most advanced Brad Rutter, two long reigning champions of Jeoparmathematicians and physicists would find difficult. dy, it was a significant milestone in computers’ ability When Deep Blue defeated the chess champion of the to be more human. world, Garry Kasparov, predictions of how computers Therefore, when I discovered that Siri could unwould conquer humanity soon ran rampant in the in- derstand unconventional ways of asking the same tellectual world. More than 10 years later, computers question and can even shoot back sharp responses have become far more advanced; smaller and more (“Siri, will you marry me?” “My End User Licensadvanced machines, which are able to work faster and ing Agreement does not cover marriage. My apolosmarter, have eclipsed Deep Blue. What was once the gies.”), I was shocked. I was scared for my future as most advanced computer in the world is now only a a possible professional in a world where computrelic of the past that students use as a way to measure ers will probably be able to do our jobs better and technological progress. cheaper. WebMD, after all, is already replacing priYet, despite how far technology has advanced in mary physicians as the first source of medical knowlthese past few years, computers are still unable to edge. Before long, and especially after Watson, perform some of the most basic human tasks. The machines will be able to replace lawyers in sifting fantasy of a computerized personal butler who does through piles and piles of documents for nuggets of everything that a human butler would be able to do valuable legal information. is still nowhere near realization.

What’s more, IBM is developing a new core chip Being human, something kindergarteners are that imitates the human brain. Before long, computable to do without even lifting a finger, is exactly what ers will be able to use the same cognitive processes as is difficult for a computer. By kindergarten, we have humans. That sounds awfully like the prologue of a a basic understanding of common sense and we can science-fiction novel that describes computers’ conhold a conversation about inane aspects of life. quest of the human world.

The Turing test is a test of a computer’s intelliRest assured—in the next part of this two-part colgence and how closely it is able to imitate a human umn on technology, I will explore the reasons why being. First introduced by Alan Turing in 1950, it in- computers will not be able to replace humanity. volves a text chat conversation between contestants and judges. Contestants can be either human or maRui Dai is a Trinity junior. Her column runs every other chine, and it is the job of the judges to determine if Wednesday.

Email mlj14@duke.edu for a spring column application.

Want to join the editorial board? Email cka6@duke.edu

12 | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2011

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