Nov 29, 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

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2011

WWW.DUKECHRONICLE.COM

ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTH YEAR, ISSUE 64

University making progress Students abroad toward carbon-neutral pledge in housing limbo 59 returning juniors left without housing assignments this Spring

by Marianna Jordan THE CHRONICLE

A seed planted in the minds of several students has blossomed into a full-fledged farm.

The Duke Campus Farm celebrated its one-year anniversary this month. During the past year, the DCF transformed an area in the Duke Forest that has been unused since 1996 into a productive plot of land. During the Fall semester, student volunteers have invested more than 650 hours into the project. In the past year, the farm has generated approximately 5,000 pounds of produce.

Farm Manager Emily Sloss, Trinity ’10, has been with the Duke Forest-based farm since the beginning. Students developed the concept for the farm while enrolled in ENV 171: Food and Energy, a Spring 2010 class taught by Charlotte Clark, lecturer in sustainability education and faculty director of sustainability for the Nicholas School of the Environment. The students spoke with clients on campus— from Duke Dining to the University architect—and drew up plans for a farm.

“We knew where the land would be; we knew we had

About 60 juniors currently studying abroad do not yet have housing assignments for the Spring.

Housing, Dining and Residence Life is having trouble accommodating roommate and other housing requests for students returning to live on campus this Spring. This has left 59 students without assignments as of Monday morning, said MJ Williams, director of finance and administration for HDRL. This delay is unexpected given the Spring 2012 opening of Keohane Quadrangle 4E that will add 150 beds to West Campus.

The students who did not receive housing assignments right away will have to wait as the office continues to process information from students leaving for the Spring, whether to graduate early or move off campus, said Linda Moiseenko, manager for Duke community housing.

“There is a lot of change that occurs with students leaving and returning to campus between semesters-- our office tries to make assignments with the best outcome possible,” Moiseenko wrote in an email Monday. “This year we need more time to make that happen.

Junior Christopher Whittaker, currently studying abroad in Madrid, said he had hoped to live with two fraternity brothers who are also returning from abroad. There were no available triples on campus, so the two fraternity brothers will be living in K4, but Whittaker remains without housing.

“It’s just one of those situations where housing works out for nine out of 10 people, and the other one ends up in housing purgatory,” Whittaker wrote in an email Saturday.

HDRL emailed on-campus housing assignments to students Nov. 22—earlier than last year, when students were notified in December, Moiseenko said. HDRL did this in order to better align with billing students for the Spring.

Serving every student who requests on-campus housing in the Spring has historically been challenging for students and for HDRL, Moiseenko added.

Students who apply for on-campus housing are randomly assigned numbers that HDRL processes in order, based on availability and preference. Students returning to campus for the Spring— including study abroad students and those returning from a leave of absence or withdrawal—applied for on-campus housing by Oct. 31. HDRL did not provide the total number of students who requested on-campus housing for the Spring.

Many students, such as junior Taylor Jones, said they hoped for a spot on West Campus even though they were unsure of what to expect.

“We know of so many people that applied to live off campus and weren’t let off, so we naturally assumed that on-campus housing had to be abundant,” wrote Jones, who is also studying abroad in Madrid, in an email Sunday. “We had no idea that not receiving a housing assignment was even an option. Since we’re all scattered all over the world right now, it’s been hard to figure out what’s going on at Duke, and we haven’t really gotten many answers yet which has been pretty frustrating.”

Junior Brandon Locke said he believes that HDRL likely did not have many doubles on campus for juniors coming back from abroad. Locke and several of his friends received an email explaining that there were no more empty rooms for roommate pairs, so he will most likely live with someone that he does not know.

SEE FARM ON PAGE 5

SEE LIMBO ON PAGE 4

ELYSIA SU/THE CHRONICLE

Compared to 2007 baselines, Duke has reduced electricity usage by 5 percent and reduced carbon emissions by 9 percent.

by Vignesh Krishnaswamy THE CHRONICLE

Duke has been working toward becoming more sustainable, but the University has some steps to go before attaining its long-term goal.

Duke signed a pledge in 2007 to become carbon neutral by 2024 and has undertaken several initiatives to achieve this in the past several years, said Sarah Burdick, director of administration and special projects in Facilities Management. The University has also taken on initiatives to integrate sustainability into its overall curriculum.

“So far, becoming coal free has been Duke’s biggest accomplishment,” Burdick said. “We eliminated coal use on

campus in May 2011, and we have achieved a 5 percent reduction in electricity usage in 2010 compared to a 2007 baseline.”

Based on a 2007 baseline for carbon emissions, Duke has achieved about a 9 percent reduction as of 2010. This reduction can be attributed to a reduction in coal use and energy conservation measures, Burdick said. In 2010, 46 percent of emissions came from electricity use, 29 percent for stationary fuel, 14 percent for air travel and 9 percent for commuting. The conversion of the East Campus Steam Plant from a coal-burning to natural gas plant SEE SUSTAINABILITY ON PAGE 4

Duke Campus Farm has fruitful first year

by Matt Barnett THE CHRONICLE

TYLER SEUC/THE CHRONICLE

The Duke Campus Farm, which just celebrated its first full year of operation, has generated approximately 5,000 pounds of produce.

ONTHERECORD

“...like when you know you have to stop lobbing the angry birds at those naughty pigs and start looking over your notes for the exam.”

—Professor Connel Fullenkamp in “Just make me do it.” See column page 11

Administrative living groups bypass lottery, Page 3

2 | TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2011

THE CHRONICLE

worldandnation

UC-Davis protesters still standing after police abuse

DAVIS, California — Over the past two months, the Occupy movement has spawned endless footage of young protesters in tents in New York and Washington. But what may be its most galvanizing image emerged from an unlikely place—the University of California campus in the fog-shrouded city of Davis.

It was here Nov. 18 that students shot video of a campus police officer aiming a can of pepper spray at a row of seated protesters. The video went viral. Now this public university outside Sacramento is a focal point of the Occupy universe.

Student organizers at Davis called a strike Monday, capitalizing on the national spotlight and drawing hundreds of students from their classes on the eve of finals to picket a morning meeting of the university system’s regents. Together with alumni and outside activists, they hoisted signs that read “No tuition hikes” and “Bring back the master plan.”

“

web

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onschedule at Duke...

Red Cross Blood Drive

Duke China Care Panda Fundraiser

Texas asks Supreme Court Syria gains scrutiny as to alter redistricting plan UN reports atrocities WASHINGTON, D.C. — Court challenges to the nation’s once-a-decade political redistricting plans reached the Supreme Court Monday, with Texas Attoreney General Greg Abbot asking the justices to block implementation of a legislative map drawn by a panel of federal judges.

BEIRUT, Syria — The United Nations ratcheted up international pressure on the Syrian government Monday with the release of a report that documents the torture and killing of civilians by state security forces in a step that could prompt action by the U.N. Security Council.

Bryan Center Plaza, 4:30-8:30p.m.

Eat dinner at Panda Express to support Duke China Care! Proceeds will be donated to the National China Care Foundation.

Workshop: Breaking the Mold Center for LGBT Life, 5-6:30p.m.

This workshop looks to challenge traditional appearances of leadership and to explore how we can act in ways that legitimize other presentations and voices.

Chamber Music Recital East Duke 201, 7:30-6:30p.m.

Duke students will perform chamber music written by various composers form the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.

TODAY IN HISTORY 1972: Atari releases Pong.

”

“With iPods and mp3 players, music is everywhere in our world today. At college, however, not only is music everywhere, but it’s playing all the time, at full blast, in your headphones in the library, in your face, in your sleep or when you’re trying to sleep, etc.”

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

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WEDNESDAY:

Law School Blue Lounge, 11 a.m.-3:30p.m.

Save a life by donating blood! Sign up for a time slot at www.duke.givesblood.org or simply stop by the blood drive. The Law School is sponsoring this event.

We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery. The world is all gates, all opportunities.

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

on the

TODAY:

on the

calendar

Liberation Day Albania

Unity Day Vanuatu

CHIP LITHERLAND/MERLIN ENTERTAINMENTS GROUP

A giant impression of famous physicist Albert Einstein greets visitors at Legoland in Winter Haven, Fla. The new theme park is only the second Legoland in the United States, with the other park near San Diego, Calif. Florida residents hope its presence will bring a much-needed boost to the state’s economy.

W.V.S. Tubman’s Birthday Celebrated Liberia

Feast Day of St. Hardoin Catholicism

THE CHRONICLE

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2011 | 3

Housing lottery exemptions Siberian snowfall may ignite student discontent improve US weather

by Kelly Scurry THE CHRONICLE

Some living groups bypassed the typical route in determining housing sections for next year.

Four University-sponsored selective living groups—Wellness Community, SubstanceFree, Women’s Housing Option and Baldwin Scholars—will be housed on West Campus in the house model beginning Fall 2012. Some students have expressed concern about the exclusion of administrative living groups from participating in the October house model lottery. The lottery, which placed 45 sororities, fraternities and non-greek SLGs in new houses for next year, was marked by contention and drama. The University-sponsored SLGs were assigned housing locations after the lottery took place.

The administration made the decision in order to account for particularly large groups and to maintain gender balance among West and Central campuses, said Joe Gonzalez, associate dean for residential life.

Junior Elena Botella, executive chair of the Nexus and a Chronicle columnist, said this information should have been released before the lottery. Nexus, the only SLG to currently offer gender-neutral living situations, will be housed on Central Campus next year. The administrative gender-neutral housing option will also be offered on Central Campus next year.

Gonzalez noted that administrative groups differ from other living groups on campus through their process of selecting SEE HOUSES ON PAGE 4

CHRONICLE GRAPHIC BY MELISSA YEO

Four University-sponsored selective living groups received housing on West Campus for Fall 2012.

by Andrew Freedman SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON POST

Famous for its bone-chilling cold, Siberia typically starts building a snow pack during October, and the speed of its transition from tundra to snowscape helps to shape winter weather throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere, according to a new study by Judah Cohen, principal scientist at Atmospheric and Environmental Research, a firm based in Lexington, Mass.

The findings may help improve U.S. winter forecasts, which now are often of limited value because meteorologists cannot reliably predict the behavior of a highly influential and fickle weather pattern known as the Arctic Oscillation.

The oscillation helps determine the placement of Arctic air masses, and it influences how they move. When the pattern is in a negative phase, cold air gets drawn down from the Arctic and into the United States. Most of the East’s snowiest winters have occurred during such a phase.

When the oscillation is in a positive phase, cold air tends to get bottled up in the far north, leaving the eastern United States milder and drier than average.

Improved seasonal forecasts would enable weather-sensitive businesses as well as households to better prepare for upcoming swings in temperature and precipitation, thereby reducing economic losses. More-accurate seasonal outlooks would also permit cities and towns to set more realistic snow removal budgets and take other action to prepare for a particularly snowy winter.

The trouble is, despite sophisticated computer models and networks of air, land and sea observations, the oscillation still frustrates most forecasters’ attempts to anticipate its behavior.

Cohen thinks he knows how to change that. His study, recently published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, shows a statistically significant link between the rate of change in Siberian snow cover during October and the dominant phase of the Arctic Oscillation during the following winter. A rapid advance of Siberian snow cover, Cohen and his colleague Justin Jones found, is linked with the negative phase.

A slow advance, by contrast, is linked with a positive oscillation, which brings milder winter weather.

Cohen claims that rapidly advancing snow cover in Siberia can set off a chain of events from Earth’s surface to the stratosphere. The quick expansion can lead to a large dome of cold high pressure over Siberia. That dome, in turn, perturbs the jet stream so it flows more north to south in addition to west to east, resulting in more intense cold-air outbreaks in eastern North America and western Europe, which often breed snowstorms.

“Siberia is kind of the refrigerator for the Northern Hemisphere,” Cohen said.

Cohen’s work has been greeted with interest in the forecasting community, although some researchers question whether he has come across a relationship that has real predictive value or has just gotten lucky during the past few years.

4 | TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2011

SUSTAINABILITY from page 1 cut coal consumption by 70 percent.

“This year, we hope to see a 4 to 5 percent reduction in overall emissions through transportation changes and carbon offsets,” Duke Sustainability Outreach Coordinator Casey Roe said. “Duke has taken a holistic approach in reducing carbon emissions, and so far, it has paid off.”

The University reached a peak greenhouse gas emissions level of 448,754 metric tons in 2008, according to the Duke Sustainability website. Duke first measured its emissions in 1990, when the University emitted close to 240,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide. In 2010, total emissions were at 406,109 metric tons.

To achieve carbon neutrality, Roe said the University will take both large and small steps.

“We have installed solar panels on the Bryan Center, and we are taking efforts in transportation to reduce the number of cars coming to campus every day,” she said.

Two new hybrid buses were added to Duke’s transportation fleet in November.

Other major projects to offset carbon emissions are also underway.

“We are on the right path with regards to our projects,” Roe said. “We have seen an 8 to 10 percent reduction in emissions in the last couple of inventories, and we have a lot of projects lined up and ready to go.”

Duke will also be cooperating with Siemens AG, a global engineering and electronics company, to evaluate older buildings to reduce energy consumption, Burdick said. The partnership is expected to reduce overall carbon emissions by less than 2 percent, which she noted is still an important reduction.

Sustainability at Duke goes much further than just the accumulation of large projects, added Charlotte Clark, lecturer in sustain-

THE CHRONICLE

ability education and faculty director of sustainability.

“Part of the [American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment] that President [Richard] Brodhead signed includes a segment that says Duke will take action to make carbon neutrality a part of the curriculum with all students,” Clark said.

Clark noted the importance of increasing undergraduate and graduate student involvement to emphasize sustainability as a University-wide commitment “We are finding ways to formulate syllabi to include more sustainability objectives,” she said. “We are not just thinking about protecting human health, we are thinking about a sustainable economic system.”

Several Duke professors have incorporated sustainability into classroom exercise.

Melissa Simmermeyer, a lecturer in the Spanish language program, has her students translate passages relating to sustainability.

Linda Franzoni, associate dean of student affairs and professor at the Pratt School of Engineering, has similarly incorporated the study of the life cycle of materials into her class.

“These are just small examples of faculty delivering courses in ways that increase sustainability literacy,” Clark said.

To improve performance in sustainable literacy, Duke has also founded the Trillium Fellows Project—a faculty workshop in which professors can learn how to better translate sustainability goals into a variety of courses and curriculums.

“While [Duke faculty and staff] are very good at educating students about sustainability, our end goal is to change behavior,” Clark said. “So far, we have not been able to develop an evaluation mechanism to measure these changes. However, we have significant reasons to be hopeful that the progress made in achieving both sustainable literacy and carbon neutrality will increase significantly over the coming years.”

HOUSES from page 3 new members and receiving resources from the University.

“The students [in the administrative houses] are selected into the groups by the administrative sponsors for the community, not the student members,” he said.

Gonzalez said these administrative groups were not automatically given set sections on West or Central campuses—the intent was to maintain gender and size balance among living groups on the two campuses.

“We placed them after the lottery in October,” he said. “It made more sense to place [large groups] such as Wellness and Substance-Free because they have more than 200 beds to fill.”

He added that the Baldwin Scholars and the Women’s Housing Option, both of which are comprised entirely of females, were placed on West Campus after the nine Panhellenic Association

ABROAD from page 1 Locke, who is a member of Wayne Manor, said many of the juniors in the selective living group also went abroad.

“A lot of my friends in [Wayne] already have their assignments, so it would have been much nicer to have been one of those lucky few so that I would not have had to think about this,” Locke said. “But, it’s just for one semester…. Obviously, I wish [HDRL] had gotten the information on who would be leaving or staying [sooner], so we all could have gotten our housing assignments at the same time.

Now, people are left dangling.”

Some other students, though not waiting for an assignment, instead had their pre-

sororities were placed on Central.

“It wasn’t a request on [the part of Baldwin Scholars] to stay on West,” said Donna Lisker, associate dean of undergraduate education and co-director of the Baldwin Scholars program, as well as co-chair of the House Model Committee. “[The placement] was a domino effect from the [Panhel] sororities being placed on Central.”

Botella noted that she does not consider the notion of maintaining gender balance good rationale because there is no guarantee that genders will be equally distributed across campuses.

Panhel President Jenny Ngo, a senior, said she believes that the University’s distinction between University-sponsored living groups and selective living groups is “complicated.” Panhel entertained the possibility of having all sororities living together in a mixed house but could not garner the status of an administrative group by the University. ferred living arrangement split. Junior Andrei Santalo, who is studying abroad in Barcelona, said he was told by HDRL last Spring that attaining a 3-bedroom, gender-neutral apartment with his three other roommates on Central Campus after returning from abroad would not be a problem.

Santalo said, however, that he was notified a few weeks ago that 3-bedroom apartments were no longer available.

“They put me and [my other roommate] together on Oregon and [the other two roommates in another Oregon apartment,” he said. “Now we’re in the same building on opposite sides, which ended up not being a terrible situation.”

Santalo is still exercising the gender-neutral option, though he noted his frustrations with the system.

THE CHRONICLE

FARM from page 1 faculty support; we knew we had opportunities for funding—the only thing was a need for someone who cared enough about the farm,” Sloss said. “I decided I wanted to be that person—it was something I really cared about.”

Once the project was approved by several top administrators, among them President Richard Brodhead, the planners broke ground on the farm last November.

The farm reaped its first harvest in April and continues to harvest weekly or biweekly to support the needs of Duke’s dining halls, Sloss said.

Fresh from the farm The Duke Sustainability Office manages the farm and has hired interns for support.

Sustainability Outreach Coordinator Casey Roe said the farm is not financially self-sufficient, or even close to it. Half of the farm’s funding comes from the Sustainability Office and the rest comes from Bon Appetit Management Company, Roe noted.

“Right now the setup is that all the produce goes to Bon Appetit eateries on campus,” Roe said. “We’re tracking everything, but we’re not selling it—because of their contributions, they basically own the produce.”

Roe noted that the farm does not follow a traditional business model.

Last year Bon Appetit, which runs oncampus venues such as the Marketplace and the Great Hall, agreed to buy all of the farm produce and will serve a partial amount in its eateries. Of the 5,000 pounds of organic food produced in the past year, Bon Appetit has served 4,000 pounds of it in on-campus eateries, Roe said, adding that the rest went to other buyers because Bon Appetit’s demand decreased in the summer.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2011 | 5

A community effort Managing the farm requires labor from multiple parties. The farm is entirely organic and only owns one piece of equipment—a rototiller. Roe said weeds are hand-pulled and insect pests are hand-squashed—methods which will eventually improve the farm’s soil.

The DCF invites volunteers to labor on the farm Sunday mornings, helping to plant, weed and harvest crops. More than 150 students have volunteered at the farm since its inception, Sloss said.

Sophomore Paige Arnold had never been to a farm before she volunteered. She spent a workday weeding and harvesting carrots in November.

“It’s so hard to know where your food comes from nowadays,” Arnold said. “[The Duke Campus Farm] is very grassroots, very small—but I think that’s good.”

Arnold said she has no intention of becoming a farmer but appreciated the opportunity to learn about food production.

Indeed, Sloss said the goal of the farm is not to produce agriculturists but to encourage students to reevaluate their eating habits.

“We’re not necessarily trying to create the next generation of sustainable farmers, but Duke does produce the next generation of policymakers and business leaders,” Sloss said.

“It’s important to educate them about sustainable farming.”

A bright, green future The DCF has its goal set on expansion.

“The dining halls serve thousands of meals a day—the amount [of food] we’re producing right now isn’t really enough to make a dent,” Sloss said. “Each year we’re adding more production space. Each year we’re contributing more and more to their demand.”

Although it is located on a 12-acre site, only one acre of the land is currently being used to grow crops, and only half of that acre is in production at a given time, in accordance with

crop-rotation practices.

“In the future, we’re planning to expand, to have an orchard, a vineyard possibly, some berry patches and some field crops,” said junior Emily Mendenhall, who has been with the farm since the beginning. “We’d expand some things that are perennials, like rhubarbs, strawberries—perennials will continue to enrich the soil over time.”

Mendenhall currently volunteers periodically and works to promote the farm through Students for Sustainable Living, a student employment program run by the Sustainability Office.

The farm recently held a fall festival, at which members of the Duke and Durham communities were invited to eat food, play games and tour the farm. Mendenhall said the farm

has also hosted sessions on sustainable eating and is being incorporated into the curriculum of an increasing number of courses.

“We’ve had fraternities come out [to volunteer]—we’ve had groups come out,” Mendenhall said. “In the future, we hope to have speakers from different walks of life come to the farm and hold educational workshops.”

There are a million reasons to support local farms, Sloss said, including the satisfaction of growing one’s own food.

“It went from a garden project to an allconsuming farm,” Sloss said. “The first time any of us harvested something that we planted from seed has been the most rewarding experience.”

TYLER SEUC/THE CHRONICLE

A trash can serves as a rainwater collector at the Duke Campus Farm.

Sports

INSIDE INS

The Chronicle

TUESDAY November 29, 2011

Ryan Kelly and Austin Rivers joined several football players in earning awards, and the Duke basketball program gained another commitment. PAGE 7

www.dukechroniclesports.com

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Paulus adds limb to Krzyzewski coaching tree

by Jason Palmatary THE CHRONICLE

When two of the nation’s top five teams take the court for tonight’s battle in Columbus, Ohio, the eyes of the college basketball world will be on Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger and William Buford. But the duo, which has combined to score 36.5 points per game for the Buckeyes this season, gets substantial assistance from a man working in the shadows, the Ohio State video coordinator— former Duke point guard Greg Paulus.

Although he will not be a focal point after the game tips off, the former Blue Devil will have spent countless hours behind the scenes breaking down game tape in preparation for Tuesday’s much-anticipated matchup. This type of work is valuable experience for Paulus as he seeks to further his deeply rooted coaching ambitions.

Since his graduation from Duke in 2009, Paulus has taken a very circuitous route to his current role in Columbus. Taking advantage of an NCAA rule that allows athletes a fifth year of eligibility in another sport if they pursue a graduate degree, the point guard transferred to Syracuse to revisit a oncepromising football career. A highly-touted high school passer from Manlius, N.Y. who received scholarship offers from several schools including Miami and Notre Dame, Paulus threw for over 2,000 yards and 13 touchdowns in what he deemed a successful season despite his team’s 4-8 record.

“Syracuse was an unbelievable experience,” Paulus said last year. “If I had to make that decision, I would 100 times out of 100. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I was able to get my master’s degree in communications.”

He briefly pursued a professional football career after getting invited to the New Orleans Saints rookie minicamp for a tryout, but he did not receive a contract offer. So he moved to Annapolis, Md. to take a job as an assistant basketball coach at CHRONICLE FILE PHOTO

Greg Paulus, formerly a point guard under Mike Krzyzewski and now video coordinator for Ohio State, has head coaching aspirations of his own.

Cutcliffe needs to show progress in win column

SEE RICH ON PAGE 8

Tuesday, November 29 • Value City Arena 9:30 p.m.

No. 3 Blue Devils (7-0)

FRONTCOURT

F F G G G

BACKCOURT

Rich

decades of laughingstock status. Cutcliffe’s hiring was supposed to change those expectations, especially after the coach showed in his first two seasons that the Blue Devils could be successful in the win column. So the question has to be asked: Who is to blame?

The only answer is the coaching staff.

Cutcliffe’s hiring was supposed to bring a renewed sense of football pride to Durham, a feeling that should have been cemented when he spurned former employer Tennessee’s advances after the school offered him its head coaching position in 2010. He was an established and successful head coach who had been a part of a national title at Tennessee as an assistant and led Ole Miss to an SEC championship as a head coach.

So it is inexcusable that the recent downturn at Duke appears to have been tolerated by the fan base, if its silence on the matter is any indication. Cutcliffe should be held to the standard that comes with his resume, not that of the previous two decades of Duke football.

Expecting the Blue Devils to reach a bowl game four years into the Cutcliffe era might have been a pipe dream, but

DUKE vs. OHIO STATE

BENCH

David Cutcliffe was not hired to lead Duke to a national championship, an ACC championship or even a bowl game in his first four years as head coach. He was hired to immediately do two things—change the culture surrounding the program and return it to respectability.

Many will argue that the Blue Devils have made significant progress on that road Scott to respectability. They will cite the progress Cutcliffe has made in fundraising and recruiting, plus the increased competitiveness of the product he has put on the field.

Early returns were positive. After just two wins in three years prior to Cutcliffe’s hiring, the new coach won four games in 2008 and then five games in 2009. But Duke has won only three games in back-to-back seasons after winning a total of nine in the first two years of Cutcliffe’s tenure. Duke fans can cling to the positive that the team is no longer the worst BCS football program in America, but that does not change the fact that the win totals say that the program is backsliding.

And yet you do not hear much grumbling from Duke fans because they still have not adjusted their expectations after

SEE PAULUS ON PAGE 7

RYAN KELLY 14.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.0 bpg MASON PLUMLEE 11.4 ppg, 10.0 rpg ANDRE DAWKINS 10.1 ppg, 44.7 3FG% AUSTIN RIVERS 14.4 ppg, 2.1 apg, 1.1 spg SETH CURRY 15.1 ppg, 3.1 apg, 1.6 spg

No. 2 Buckeyes (6-0) F F G G G

DESHAUN THOMAS 12.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg JARED SULLINGER 18.8 ppg, 10.7 rpg LENZELLE SMITH, JR. 5.8 ppg, 3.0 apg WILLIAM BUFORD 17.7 ppg, 3.2 apg AARON CRAFT 9.2 ppg, 5.5 apg, 3.5 spg

(Projected lineups, statistics from 2011-12 season) Kelly and Plumlee have had DUKE OSU strong showings early but will 85.2 PPG: 79.4 have their hands full on de54.7 PPG DEF: 67.4 FG%: fense. Sullinger remains one of 46.8 51.5 3PT%: the nation’s best players, and 42.9 31.0 FT%: combo forward Thomas hasn’t 69.3 66.3 RPG: 39.7 39.0 missed a beat in a larger role.

APG: 13.1 20.3 Craft is a skilled point guard 2.3 BPG: 3.4 who can distribute and deSPG: 10.7 8.3 fend, and the veteran Buford 15.9 11.5 TO/G: can score in a variety of ways.

The breakdown The Buckeyes are one of the Ohio State is dangerous in all facets, shootfew teams that can match ing over 50 percent on offense and forcing Duke’s backcourt talent. plenty of turnovers on D. Duke’s edge lies in Shannon Scott provides effeclong-range shooting and depth, and effective tive relief for Craft, and fellow substitution could wear down the Buckeye freshmen Sam Thompson and starters. Free throws could be a deciding facAmir Williams are talented tor, as neither team shoots well from the line. reserves for Ohio State, but Duke is undoubtedly the deeper of the two teams.

OUR CALL: Ohio State wins, 79-69

THE CHRONICLE

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2011 | 7

Jones commits as Blue Devils earn accolades After bringing in a five-man recruiting class this season, Duke held just one commitment for any player after the class of 2011. That changed Monday evening, when class of 2013 shooting guard Matt Jones announced his verbal commitment to the Blue Devils on Twitter.

“After long consideration with my parents and people around me,” Jones wrote, “we felt it was best that I commit to DUKE UNIVERSITY!” The 6-foot-4 guard from DeSoto High School in DeSoto, Tex. has a well-rounded skill set but is best known for his 3-point shooting ability, with range out to 20 feet.

Jones, who ranks 21st overall in the class of 2013 according to ESPNU, was also a standout on the Texas AAU circuit, where he got to know Rasheed Sulaimon, currently Duke’s only commit for the class of 2012.

Jones visited Duke alongside Sulaimon in November for Countdown to Craziness.

Jones chose the Blue Devils over a slew of other schools, including North Carolina.

His commitment came just hours after a report by Evan Daniels of Scout.com which said that the Tar Heels were “making up

ground” for Jones.

Jones’ offensive profile should fit nicely into head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s offense, which emphasizes the 3-pointer. Jones could also prove pivotal in the recruitment of class of 2013 power forward Julius Randle, who ranks third overall in the ESPNU rankings and plays on the same AAU team as Jones in the Dallas area.

The Duke coaching staff continues to work hard on the recruiting trail, with several other class of 2013 candidates, plus power forward Tony Parker and small forward Shabazz Muhammad from the class of 2012.

PAULUS from page 6

nior year of high school. Ever since that recruitment process, Paulus and Matta had remained in touch, making it easier for Matta to offer him a position on his staff, which he accepted this past May. At Ohio State, Paulus’ role is not so diverse. As a video coordinator, he is prohibited by NCAA rules from participating in on-floor coaching or recruiting. Although he helps out in any way that he can, the vast majority of his time is spent preparing video for scouting and game preparation. In some regards, he had to take a step back in order to get a chance to work at one of the premier programs in college basketball.

Paulus admires the way that his current mentor has sculpted the Ohio State program into one of the country’s finest, while also demonstrating the character and dignity he remembers from his high school days. Another coach that he holds in very high regard is the one from his collegiate playing days.

“Having the opportunity to be Coach K’s point guard for four years, I don’t think there was a better way to learn the game,” Paulus said. “I’ve always wanted to coach ever since I was as little as I can remember. Learning from the all-time winningest coach and all the great coaches that have come out of his program has been an unbelievable resource.”

At this point, Paulus is completely focused on his coaching career, and could not help but chuckle when asked about the possibility of returning to the playing side of either basketball or football. Despite occasional interest from professional basketball teams overseas, the video coordinator seems very content in his current capacity as he works toward his dream of one day running his own program.

“One hundred percent of my attention has been on coaching since I made the decision to pursue coaching,” Paulus said. “I have certain goals and aspirations that I want to achieve, and I’m completely focused on bettering my craft and achieving those goals.”

Paulus admitted that Tuesday is going to be an emotional night for him with Coach Krzyzewski patrolling the opposing bench, but he will spare none of his focus for sentimentality.

“There will be a lot of emotions for me personally because of how much I love Duke,” Paulus said. “To see the coaching staff and the players, it’s exciting. It’s exciting to have two top-five teams playing each other. But it will be a great test for us to have a top program on our home floor.”

the U.S. Naval Academy. As the junior member of Billy Lange’s staff at the academy, Paulus gained exposure to a variety of different responsibilities. The Navy program lacked the resources to have a dedicated video coordinator, so Paulus handled many of the video responsibilities but was also involved in recruiting and on-floor coaching.

“Being at the Naval Academy, I had a lot of responsibility and got a chance to do a little bit of everything,” Paulus said. “From camps to workouts to recruiting to the video side.... That was such a great year for me to get to learn all the different aspects of running a basketball program.”

As last season came to an end, Navy head coach Billy Lange departed the program to return to his previous employer, Villanova, as an associate head coach. With his boss gone and uncertainty surrounding the program, Paulus was open to looking at other schools, and he did not have to wait long until a familiar voice reached out.

Thad Matta, who left Xavier to become the Ohio State head coach in 2004, had aggressively recruited Paulus out of high school while still at Xavier. The interest was mutual, as the two-sport athlete made the Musketeers one of his final five choices and took an unofficial visit there during his ju-

CHRONICLE FILE PHOTO

Greg Paulus hopes to use some of the knowledge he gained at Duke to carve out a coaching career.

Four Blue Devils earn conference honors Matt Daniels wreaked havoc as a part of the Duke defense this season and is being rewarded for his efforts as the lone Blue Devil selected to the all-ACC first team, announced yesterday.

The senior safety led ACC defensive backs with 10.5 tackles per game, while also notching two interceptions and 14 pass break-ups on the season. A potential NFL prospect,

Daniels joins Wake Forest’s Josh Bush as the safeties headlining the conference squad.

Three other Duke players were also recognized by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association. Punter Alex King and wide receiver Conner Vernon were named to the All-ACC second team, while tight end Cooper Helfet received an honorable mention.

Vernon led the Blue Devils receiving corps as a junior with team highs across the board, posting six touchdowns and 956 yards on 70 receptions. His 5.8 receptions per game ranked fourth best in the ACC. He also made conference history this year as the first player to catch 70 or more balls in multiple seasons.

King, a senior, averaged 42.1 yards per punt this year, ranking third in the conference. He also displayed precision, cornering 17 kicks inside opponents’ 20-yard lines.

This was the second consecutive year that Helfet, a senior, earned an honorable mention. Grabbing 43 passes for 395 yards this season, he caught four of his six career touchdown passes in 2011.

Maui, scoring 17 points in each game. He totalled 11 boards and four steals in the three contests, while displaying pinpoint accuracy at the foul line, making 16-of-18 attempts.

Playing more than 30 minutes per game throughout the tournament, Rivers averaged 16 points over the three contests with a career-high 20 in the seven-point win over the Wolverines. Overall, the guard is tallying 14.4 points and over a steal per game so far in his freshman year.

—from staff reports

Kelly, Rivers win weekly ACC awards Last week, Ryan Kelly and Austin Rivers earned accolades, being named to the alltournament team at the Maui Invitational last week, with Kelly also garnering the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award.

Now the conference is honoring their play by awarding Kelly player of the week honors and Rivers the rookie of the week award. The pair led the Blue Devils to wins over Tennessee, No. 14 Michigan and then No. 15 Kansas in the championship game of the tournament to secure the title.

Kelly consistently produced for Duke in

CHRIS DALL/THE CHRONICLE

Matt Daniels (right) led Duke in tackles and was recognized as one of the ACC’s best players Monday.

8 | TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2011

RICHfrom page 6 consistent progress in the win column is not.

And by those standards, Cutcliffe’s seat should be feeling a bit warm. His recruiting classes have generally been given higher acclaim than his predecessor Ted Roof’s, yet Cutcliffe’s two most successful seasons came with Roof’s recruits. With four recruiting classes under his belt and a team that is significantly more talented and athletic than its previous incarnations, it is not unreasonable to have expected more victories from Duke.

But many of Cutcliffe’s recruits have failed to develop as one would expect, a responsibility that falls solely on the coaching staff. Moreover, Cutcliffe’s in-game management cost the Blue Devils multiple victories this season. His poor clock management led to a season opening upset against Richmond, and his insistence on using running quarterbacks led to the red-zone failures that cost Duke possible program-defining victories against Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.

And while many look at those close calls as steps forward,

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if the Blue Devils are to be respectable, they must be judged by the same standard as every other football program—victories. Often cited is the statistic that four of the Blue Devils’ losses this season have come by a combined 14 points. But it isn’t an accomplishment that Duke “should have” beat teams like Richmond and Wake Forest. It’s an indication that this team still is not able to play with the big boys.

I am in no way advocating that Cutcliffe be fired. He deserves the time to mold his program, just like Mike Krzyzewski did when he arrived in Durham. But Krzyzewski took his team to the NCAA tournament in his fourth season while Cutcliffe’s program has taken a step back in years three and four. Yet while Krzyzewski endured a firestorm of criticism during his early tenure, Cutcliffe has seemingly been given a free pass.

Still, there’s reason to believe—once again—that next year will be the year the Blue Devils take the long-awaited leap towards respectability. But if Duke spends another season mired in the ACC’s basement, especially with Cutcliffe’s first full recruiting class in its senior season, it may be time to make some changes to ensure that his progress off the field translates to results on it.

MELISSA YEO/CHRONICLE FILE PHOTO

David Cutcliffe won nine games in two years, but has won just three each season since. He must be held accountable for that, Rich writes.

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sports

The Independent Daily at Duke University

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10 | TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2011

Remake Gameday The Harvard-Yale foot- Football Gameday—has yet to ball game is one of the most become a premier pregame storied matchups of all time. experience. As students and Nicknamed “The Game,” it at- administrators continue to tracts students, administrators, work toward a safer form of tailalumni and a large number of gating, they should learn from spectators to the last weekend’s host school. Alcatastrophe. editorial though Harvard More so than University prevailed last week- other universities, Duke has the end, this year’s edition of the capacity to make big tailgate game was marred by tragedy. changes fast. Duke’s Tailgate A U-Haul, driven by a student, tradition spans less than a destruck a group of spectators at cade, while alumni at Harvard the pregame tailgate, leaving and Yale have been a persistent one woman dead. Although obstacle to changing tailgating the accident was reportedly policies at those schools. In due to a malfunctioning ac- fact, Yale administrators even celerator, the incident empha- caved into demands by stusizes the risk inherent in any dents to allow student-driven event involving vehicles, alco- U-Haul trucks into their tailhol and college students. gate, a concession which came More than one year has back to haunt them following passed since Duke canceled the recent accident.

Tailgate, and the alternative— As an event, a well ex-

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best team on campus. good luck winning that first national crown.

—“yesnomaybe” commenting on the story “Duke faces upstart 49ers.”

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.

ecuted tailgate sparks excitement before home football games and also provides a fun, community-building event for Duke students. Although Football Gameday festivities initially started off strong, the popularity of the initiative faded fast.

While many complained that Gameday simply could not replicate the raucous atmosphere of Tailgate, it is probably time to concede that we will not revive it in its original form. There are several steps the University can take, however, to ensure that a new model works.

The University should first figure out how to safely control alcohol consumption. Offering free beer from Universityadministered kegs would likely boost attendance while controlling underage drinking.

The University should also

aim to relocate the new Tailgate to a more confined area closer to Wallace Wade Stadium. Combining the Wannamaker fire lane with Crowell Quadrangle would create a central location convenient to both residential areas and the athletics complex. Using K-ville or the parking lot on Whitford Drive also makes sense, as these locations do not advantage particular house locations. Security personnel could also easily position themselves along the perimeter of the new tailgating zone in order to ensure the safety of all students.

Although we believe all these efforts would help in popularizing the new Tailgate, we ultimately think that any proposed changes need more student input and involve-

ment. Combining administrative power with student input could help legitimize the new initiative, and organizations like Duke University Union and Duke Student Government could even create their own committees to operate the new Tailgate. The introduction of the house model also comes at an opportune time, as each house could register for its own spot in the new Tailgate system. As seen by the generation-spanning popularity of the Harvard-Yale tailgates, the University might also want to consider how to better incorporate alumni into a new Tailgate.

These changes might seem minute, but we believe that each one addresses a key hurdle that Football Gameday must overcome in order to truly be successful.

In the name of university ethics

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A

lmost every American university purports I find this first question important to answer a mission statement that, in some form mostly because it raises another, more pressing set or framework, vows to practice and teach of questions. Noting that the university name carries the highest of ethical standards. this set of loyalties and expectations, Turning our attention, then, to the does a university have a right—or types of headlines covering today’s a responsibility—to handle crimes front pages, it is hard to ignore the differently than does the nation at incongruity between this vision of large? Does a university’s commitwhat a university represents and ment to teaching high ethical stanthe implications of recent univerdards justify a harsher response to sity developments. moral and ethical violations?

A university’s name should In a perfect future world, the evoke notions of pride and prom- amanda garfinkel same, superior ethical standards ise, but it disturbs me to acknowlwill be the norm for everyone everythe devil doesn’t edge that those aren’t the first where. However, at present, univerwear prada words that come to mind when I sities do occupy a unique position hear the name “Penn State.” Even of national and global leadership, as though I am aware of the school’s educational they educate most of the individuals who will come vigor and I know that the allegations have not yet into contact with the greatest amounts of power. been confirmed, the name makes me think, first In my opinion, this position and the associated and foremost, of the major ethical investigation responsibility does justify holding universities— currently rattling the school. The same is true of including all of their departments, administrators, the name “Syracuse,” which I cannot dissociate faculty and students—to a higher standard. If unifrom the alleged scandal that recently erupted versities really do aim to prepare students to lead there. This even applies, still, to “Duke,” as I can by the highest ethical standards, those universities expect “Karen Owen” or “lacrosse scandal” to must lead by example; they must take the most excome up often when I tell people the name of treme possible measures—no matter the reputamy school. tional risks—to speak out against ethical breaches This discussion is not meant to reduce these within their own communities. significant events to one generalized category However, I realize this claim leads to another or to make some oversimplified claim that these question: How does a university balance its dedi“first word” associations are full and accurate por- cation to high ethical standards with its committrayals of these universities. However, I think it is ment to trusting and supporting the members appropriate to notice this pattern and to ask some of its community? To what extent is a university’s questions about the role and the responsibility name the first priority, and at what point do the that comes with a university’s name. names and reputations of the individuals involved One of the first questions these events prompt come first? me to consider is the following: Why do crimes I’ll be honest—in this conversation, I have and ethical violations that happen at universities more questions than I have answers. I do believe, incite such tremendous emotion and attention however, that something needs to be said. I hope, and so tarnish the universities’ names, while the by asking these questions, to encourage our own same crimes can occur outside the university university community to speak up and try to ansetting without nearly as vocal and as public a swer them. response?

We at Duke know firsthand the harmful impact This difference is a function of the differ- of ethical controversy on a university community. ent constituencies of a university versus a non- But we also know that we, along with our peer university enterprise—say, a corporate company. institutions that are currently under scrutiny, are While individual stakeholders invest in a company much more than the negative associations that through material assets, students, alumni, families may be attached to our names. We owe it, not just and fans have a sentimental stake in their univer- to ourselves as members of a university, but also sities that is targeted when their schools’ reputa- to the broader notion of what a university repretions are jeopardized. The wide variety of individ- sents, to reevaluate current practices to ensure uals affiliated with a university, and familiar with that the highest of ethical standards are upheld in that university’s mission statement, do not expect the most ethical of ways. large-scale ethical controversies to emerge from the source of their loyalties, and thus the news of Amanda Garfinkel is a Trinity junior. This is her these events comes with a stronger sting. final column of the semester.

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commentaries

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2011 | 11

Duke’s investment

Just make me do it

uke University’s endowment hold- subsidiaries, including an interesting ings invest in a future well beyond fund titled “The Durham Casualty ComDuke’s campus. pany,” currently located in Bermuda, that The Duke endowment’s at least partially represents relationship to DUMAC, Duke’s medical malpracLLC—Duke’s privately run tice insurance. but institutionally directed DUMAC also manages investment wing—directly faculty and staff pension drives investment policy. funds, including retirement Students, alumni, faculty deductions and employee and staff are represented in contributions. name and literal capital by DUMAC primarily fojosh brewer the policy dictated to DUcuses its investments into MAC and onto its subsidiary southern socialism other hedge funds. It does corporations. this directly and through The pooled investments companies founded by DUDUMAC and its subsidiaries make on be- MAC to act in its interest. A few of these half of the University, the Duke Endow- were reported by Ed Rickards in The Herment and clients’ charitable remainder ald Sun in 2010: the Gothic Corporation trusts must become entirely transparent. and Gothic London which, in turn, run Due to the Supreme Court case, Citizens Blackwell Corporation and Gretmar CorUnited v. Federal Election Commission, poration. Further, incorporated holdings money is legally recognized as speech; are located in Johannesburg, London and ergo, our University has been speaking a India, while some stateside are as near as lot and, most likely, in an embarrassingly real estate investor DCE Lucky Strike. Yes; less-than-ethical capacity. Only with trans- this sounds like the logic of shell corporaparency can DUMAC be expected to avoid tions to me too, but we seem to be displacthe pitfalls of financially lucrative, but ethi- ing risk—financial and public relations— cally unacceptable investments. rather than capital.

This fall, HEI Workers Rising—a naIn 2006, Connel Fullenkamp praised tionwide student-Labor campaign—has DUMAC’s ability to remove funding from brought workers’ voices onto those college the hedge fund Amaranth, months becampuses with known endowment funding fore its collapse; Fullenkamp explained, of HEI. Focusing on hotel and resort com- “It’s a lot about having relationships and mercial properties, HEI runs three funds connections to know people in the indusfounded in 2004, 2006 and 2008 with in- try and to be privy to information that is vestment from 8, 7 and an undisclosed just not really known”—perhaps a poor number of “the country’s most prestigious choice of words. university endowments.” Due to student Duke’s capital holdings should support activism, Brown University announced that our educational and health systems, not it will not reinvest in HEI until the univer- the other way around. Duke must invest in sity is confident that HEI respects workers’ an environmentally sustainable future with rights. University of Pennsylvania has stat- companies that respect human and worked publicly that it had no current plans to ers’ rights. DUMAC and subsidiary investmake future investments in HEI-sponsored ed hedge funds must be equally transparfunds. Recently, Yale—a principal investor ent and in line with the University’s ethical of at least $119 million—announced that it standards. Invest in Durham directly and will not re-invest in HEI. through local credit unions focusing on While university investments have done social groups. very well, HEI workers have suffered greatFull transparency; call it a confession— ly. One janitor spoke of the present “sweat- painful but necessary. Doubtless, there shop mentality” at his HEI-operated hotel, are embarrassing investments. What use but was hopeful that if the spotlight was is a carbon neutral pledge with investbright enough, HEI might begin to treat its ment in tar-sand oil, fracking and Appaworkers as “human beings, not machines.” lachian coal? To provide a living wage to Divestment efforts are currently underway employees while investing in anti-worker at Harvard, Princeton and Notre Dame— corporations betrays our greed and true other principle investors. Duke must im- Labor stance. mediately make an explicit refusal to invest Duke must terminate conflict investin HEI and its current Labor stances.It is ments—in all forms—immediately and, also very likely that Duke’s endowment in- beyond an ethically acceptable investment vests in mountaintop removal coal, hydro- system, we might just construct a socially fracking natural gas, conflict zone miner- active one that we are unashamed to bring als (currently there is a petition circulating to light. to end this particular investment strategy), sweatshop organizations and oppressive Josh Brewer is a Trinity senior. This is his state industrial complexes including, but final column of the semester. not limited to, the United States. With the last fiscal year’s endowment return of 24.5 percent—in this economy, no less—who knows what DUMAC is investing in. Don’t get me wrong—I understand it’s currently all about the capital procurement. But if we want money at any cost, invest in a drug cartel—assuming we have not indirectly done so. It is past time that Duke makes clear what it stands for. What types of corporations are we a billboard for?

DUMAC pools its capital investments, but Duke—being the principal investor— calls the shots. We must identify the partitions in this pooled investment strategy to understand exactly where DUMAC’s money might come from: The legally recognized University endowment provides the much-talked-about $5.7 billion.

Next, Duke Health’s “reserves”—also a non-profit holding—contain several

ast week, the so-called Supercom- willing to submit to hard deadlines and remittee that Congress appointed this quirements imposed by someone else. For summer—when it couldn’t find a example, I remember thumbing through compromise on how to cut a book by Alvin Hansen, a the budget deficit and alfamous Keynesian economost sent the government mist and one of the creators into default—also failed to of the President’s Council find a compromise to cut of Economic Advisers, in the budget deficit. So now which he proposed that we we fall back to Plan B, which hand off part of fiscal policy calls for automatic spending to a Fiscal Authority. The restrictions.

Fiscal Authority would work Interestingly, though, the connel fullenkamp like the Fed—it would be spending restrictions don’t politically independent and leptokurtotic take effect until 2013. How staffed by professional econconvenient! Now Congress omists—but in this case, its has plenty of time to find a veto-proof coali- job would be to figure out how much montion to override these spending restrictions ey Congress could spend each year, given and can even tuck them into its lame duck the state of the economy and the world. session this time next year.

Congress was still in charge of divvying up Congress’ failure to suck it up and deal the money, but the Fiscal Authority set the with the problem head on is alarming in total size of the pie. and of itself, but what’s even more frightenAre we willing to live with an arrangeing to me is that the same scenario is play- ment like that? Given what we’ve been going out in several areas of economic policy. ing through, this could seem like a good For example, the Europeans can’t deal idea. On the other hand, this may make with their own fiscal problems head on, so you nervous—and rightly so—about giving they dither in the short run and propose up this much power to technocrats. There’s all kinds of longer-term solutions that ei- also a wee issue about the constitutionalther don’t work out, like their bailout—uh, ity of creating an authority like that, but financial stability fund—or that are even remember that Congress delegates to the more complicated and impractical, like the Federal Reserve its constitutional authority current proposal for tighter fiscal union. to coin money and regulate its value. This In financial regulation, it’s the same proposal for a Fiscal Authority may need thing. The Dodd-Frank Act was literally work, but it gives an idea of what one modthousands of pages long, but it mostly gave el of an effective commitment technology instructions to the regulatory agencies to would have to look like. write new rules—a process that is into its If that seems a bit too strong for your second year with no end in sight. As the taste, then we have to fall back on the other new rules get proposed, big banks are lean- commitment technology—us. As I mening hard on the regulators to grant exemp- tioned above, the other factor that seems to tions to the rules or otherwise take it easy get each of us to suck it up and do what we on them. Even internationally, nobody is oughta is the credible threat of serious conwilling to deal with the too-big-to-fail prob- sequences if we don’t get our acts together. lem head on, so we are stuck with lame pro- And for most of our policymakers, the only posals that are subsequently watered down serious consequence they really face is losin response to pushback from the banks. ing an election.

In the language of economics, everyone Do we have the ability—and the will— seems to be searching, vainly, for a commit- to actually make our elections function as ment technology—some perfect rule or a commitment technology for our policymechanism that actually forces us to do the makers? I’m skeptical that many Congresthings we know we should but can’t bring sional districts are truly contested, in this ourselves to do. age of data-driven gerrymandering. But Does that sound familiar? Yeah, proba- even more important than that, we seem to bly a little too familiar, like when you know lack the level of political engagement that you have to stop lobbing the angry birds at it would take to make elections competitive those naughty pigs and start looking over and hold politicians accountable. Ugh—so your notes for the exam. Hard deadlines like everything else, it falls back on each and requirements imposed by someone of us to suck it up and do what we know else and real consequences—like the ones is good for us, but don’t necessarily want you face with exams—seem to play a big to. I’m sure you’ll get to it, right after you role in actually getting us to do things we make it to the next level of Angry Birds. don’t really want to do. Otherwise, it’s too easy to procrastinate—again.

Connel Fullenkamp is the director of underSo let’s think about what that means for graduate studies and professor of the practice our policymakers. If we want a workable of economics. This is his final column of the commitment technology, we have to be semester.

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