Feb. 2, 2012 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

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2012

Pratt sees increase in research funds

ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTH YEAR, ISSUE 88

WWW.DUKECHRONICLE.COM

Students take to bus tracking system

by Kelly Scurry THE CHRONICLE

Funding for engineering research at Duke is rising, thanks to an increasingly productive faculty.

The Pratt School of Engineering received $99 million in outside research grants purposed in the 2010 to 2011 academic year, an increase of more than $20 million from the 2009 to 2010 year, said George Truskey, senior associate dean for research and chair of the biomedical engineering department. Pratt’s research funding has been rising consistently in the past decade, he said, attributing the rise to increased efforts from the faculty members to obtain grants.

“The overall quality of the faculty has been improving,” Truskey said. “Both the new faculty and the faculty that have been here have been successful in obtaining grants.”

Last year, Pratt reported a total of $70 million in outside research funding, with $2 million to go toward partnerships with other universities. Of the $99 million awarded in 2010 to 2011—federal, state and private grant money—$6 million will be used for collaboration with other universities, said Sharon Schulze, associate dean for research development.

SEE RESEARCH ON PAGE 4

CHRONICLE GRAPHIC BY MELISSA YEO

by Brandon Levy THE CHRONICLE

Students are now taking full advantage of Duke’s new bus tracking system and most are loving every second of it.

The Duke bus tracking system TransLoc launched Monday. The website, Duke. transloc.com, uses GPS technology to display the real-time locations of all 28 buses in the University’s fleet. Brian Williams, transportation demand management coordinator for Parking and Transportation Services, said he believes that the availability of tracking information has already made the Duke bus system more depend-

able for students.

Freshman Megan Lax said she has already used the tracking information a few times and has found it very helpful when planning trips between East and West campuses.

“I got the bus tracking [application] on my iPhone, and I love it,” Lax said.

“It has allowed me to stay inside a little longer before going out in the cold and standing at the bus stop hoping a bus is going to show up. It’s awesome that it tells you in minutes how long you could have been waiting there.”

Williams noted that usage statistics re-

garding Duke TransLoc are not yet available.

TransLoc, which is still in its beta phase, contains tracking information for other area bus systems—including Triangle Transit, Bull City Connector, Capital Area Transit, Durham Area Transit Authority and North Carolina State University buses. In addition to visiting the tracking website, students can download a mobile application for their smart phone or utilize a text messaging service to obtain information on wait times for buses at each SEE TRANSLOC ON PAGE 5

Durham home to highest Lemur Center legend paid workers in the state ‘Romeo’ dies at 19

by Autumn Robinson THE CHRONICLE

Durham and surrounding counties have the highest paid workers in North Carolina, according to the latest federal data.

The Durham Metropolitan Statistical Area, which consists of Chatham, Durham, Orange and Person counties, has more than 260,000 employees who received an annual salary of $53,220 or $25.59 per hour on average, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Following Durham MSA, Raleigh-Cary MSA employs 489,670 people who receive an annual salary $44,810 or $21.54 per hour on average.

“There are a lot of forces at play,” said Kevin Dick, director of the office of economic and workforce development for the

Duke welcomes Wake Forest to Cameron, Page 7

city of Durham. “We have a pretty diverse group of knowledge-based industries, [which] tend to pay higher salaries.”

Some of the knowledge-based industries include health care, life sciences information technology and emerging green technology, Dick said. The universities in the area help facilitate these sectors by engaging in research and educating many people for those fields. Many university medical centers, including the Duke University Health System, provide viable employment opportunities.

The public sector also contributes to the job market in the area, with the city and county governments ranking among the largest employers in the area.

Durham County also has one of the highest SEE JOBS ON PAGE 6

by Ashley Mooney THE CHRONICLE

The Duke Lemur Center lost one of its most beloved—and unique—members last week.

Romeo, who was the last living diademed sifaka to be housed successfully in captivity in the Western Hemisphere, died Jan. 21. At 19 years old, Romeo exceeded his expected lifespan and touched the lives of many throughout his time.

“He was a pretty special animal to us and all the technicians, the animal people who worked at the lemur center and even people who visited really fell in love with him,” Conservation Coordinator Charles Welch said. “You try not to do that kind of thing at a place like [the Lemur Center], SEE LEMUR ON PAGE 5

ONTHERECORD

SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

Romeo, the last diademed sifaka to be housed in captivity, died Jan. 21.

“If you aren’t trying to outsmart the wolf, you’re doing it wrong.”

Blue Devils head to Blacksburg,

—Travis Smith in “Man-dating Liam Neeson.” See story page 10

Page 7

2 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2012

THE CHRONICLE

worldandnation

Virginia passes bill requiring ultrasound before abortion

RICHMOND, Va. — The Virginia Senate passed a bill Wednesday that would require women to have an ultrasound before an abortion, the first of several legislative measures this year that are expected to dramatically alter abortion law in the state.

Democrats and moderates in the Senate had rejected a similar bill each year for the past decade, arguing that the measure is designed to discourage women from the procedure. But now that the body is more conservative, abortion and other social legislation are back to the forefront.

Republicans, in control of both chambers for only the second time since the Civil War, are looking to pass a slew of bills in the 60-day session that take on abortion. They include banning the procedure after 20 weeks of pregnancy, requiring that insurers that cover abortions also offer policies that do not, and giving rights to a fertilized egg at the moment of conception.

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Middle East Seminar: Empire in Egypt West Union Taylor-Cole Room, 12-1:30 p.m.

This seminar will feature a reading and discussion of Dr. Zeinab Abul-Magd’s new book,”Empire in Egypt”.

Internship Funding Program Information Session

Active Alaskan volcano Deadly Egpytian clash possible threat to air traffic over soccer kill at least 74 Scientists are watching Alaska’s Mount Cleveland on the Aleutian Islands because it may become a threat to air traffic, says John Power, scientist in charge at the Alaska Volcano Observatory.Mount Cleveland has exploded almost every year since 2005 and was particularly active in the last half of 2011.

CAIRO — Clashes between rival soccer fans in the Egyptian city of Port Said killed at least 74 people Wednesday night in the deadliest incident since the country’s autocratic president was ousted a year ago. The bloodshed brought into sharp focus how much security has deteriorated over the past year.

Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.

— Maya Angelou

on the

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TODAY:

Mary Lou Williams Center, 1-2 p.m.

The Internship Funding Program aims to reduce the financial challenges associated with low-paying or unpaid internships.

Writing from the Reader’s Perspective Griffith Film Theater, 2-5 p.m.

This workshop will focus on improving writing habits and publication success.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Brody Theater, 8-10 p.m.

This free presentation will feature the senior distinction project for four theater studies majors.

TODAY IN HISTORY 1887: First Groundhog Day

”

“Head coach Mike Krzyzewski has said that ball distribution from the backcourt is still a work in progress. The numbers echo Krzyzewski’s concerns, with Duke dishing out just 13.5 assists per game, 127th best in the country. However, the legendary coach may not have to worry for much longer.”

— From The Blue Zone bluezone.dukechronicle.com

on the

calendar

Groundhog Day United States

Candlemas Switzerland

NOAA/THE WASHINGTON POST

Russian scientists work to expose a mysterious antarctic lake. After drilling for two decades through more than two miles of antarctic ice, scientists are finally on the verge of entering the vast, dark lake that hasn’t been touched by light for more than 20 million years.

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REGSS 2012 DISTINGUISHED LECTURE SERIES “Reckoning with the Civil War” February 10, 2012 Gothic Reading Room, Perkins Library Durham, NC, Duke University 2:00-4:00 p.m. (reception to follow) Ed Ayers President, University of Richmond

THE CHRONICLE

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2012 | 3

DUKE STUDENT GOVERNMENT

Senate approves proposal to expand gender-neutral housing

by Patton Callaway THE CHRONICLE

Students proposed gender-neutral options for the new housing model at the Duke Student Government meeting Wednesday.

Duke Student Group for Gender Neutrality Co-Presidents Jacob Tobia, a sophomore, and Sunny Frothingham, also a sophomore, sought support from DSG for their proposal to expand gender-neutral housing options under the house model. This is to ensure that campus is a place where students feel like they can live in their identity, Tobia said.

The proposal aims to establish one genderneutral house on West Campus and another on Central Campus beginning Fall 2012. Currently, only Central Campus has gender-neutral sections.

When filling out housing applications, students would indicate whether they are comfortable living in a gender-neutral envi-

ronment. Selective Living Groups on campus would vote on the issue and could decide to become a gender-neutral house by a two-thirds majority vote. The program would spread organically through student initiatives across campus, according to the proposal. “[Gender-neutral housing] helps to accommodate the needs for transgender and gender-non-conforming students,” he said.

“Also, it helps better gender relations by valuing friendship across gender lines.”

A recent DSG survey of more than 1,139 students revealed that 79 percent of students would be open to an inclusive gender-neutral housing program. In addition to DSG, various campus organizations endorsed the proposal, including Selective House Council, the Panhellenic Association, the Interfraternity ELYSIA SU/THE CHRONICLE

SEE DSG ON PAGE 4

Senator for Student Life Leilani Doktor speaks at the weekly DSG meeting Wednesday evening.

Facebook files for IPO, House approves measure plans to raise $5 billion to freeze federal salaries

by Ed O’Keefe

by Cecilia Kang and Hayley Tsukayama THE WASHINGTON POST

Facebook filed for a much-anticipated stock offering Wednesday that put a dollar figure on the world’s addiction to sharing, commenting and evaluating life with their online friends and family.

The company said it plans to raise $5 billion in its stock sale, making it the larg-

est initial public offering of a Web firm in history. Based on that figure, analysts say Facebook’ s value could reach between $75 billion and $100 billion. The shares are expected to begin trading in the spring under the ticker “FB.” The government-required filing revealed details about the company that were SEE FACEBOOK ON PAGE 4

THE WASHINGTON POST

WASHINGTON, D.C. — House lawmakers voted Wednesday night to freeze their pay and the salaries of congressional staffers and civilian federal employees, scoring a symbolic victory for congressional Republicans who have targeted government compensation as an example of excessive federal spending.

On a vote of 309-117, GOP supporters

scored the two-thirds majority needed to approve the measure under a suspension of normal procedural roles.

The bill, introduced by Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., would extend the current two-year freeze on federal cost-of-living raises for an additional year starting next January. Lawmakers haven't raised congressional pay in four of the last six years.

SEE SALARIES ON PAGE 6

Conference and Event Services - Summer at Duke 2012 What we do: As a “one stop shop” for Duke Services, Conference Services provides support for over 50 different summer groups. During the summer Conference Season, over 9000 visitors enjoy affordable on-campus housing, a dining plan and convenient Duke services during their stay. Programs scheduled for Summer 2012 include: athletic camps (basketball, field hockey, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, tennis, & volleyball), fine arts programs (dance, music, drama), academic programs for youth, high school students and adults and continuing education programs.

Work on your MMS Certificate!

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Priority given to applications received by March 2.

Phone: (919)-660-1760 • Fax: (919)-660-1769 • E-mail: conferenceservices@duke.edu Application and job descriptions online at events.duke.edu/jobs or email to receive the information.

TERM 2: July 2-August 12 CULANTH 110 Advertising & Society MMS 161 Marketing Management MMS 195 Creative Work: Economic Renewal PSY 115 Psychology of Consumers

Registration begins February 20!

Check out the projected course offerings at

summersession.duke.edu summer@duke.edu

Attention PPS and other undergraduate Majors!

Study Abroad at University of Glasgow in Fall 2012 Apply for Study Abroad Program in Glasgow, Scotland Application Deadline: March 1, 2011 Information Meeting: Friday, February 3, 2012 4:00 – 5:00pm, Room 225 Sanford Building You are strongly encouraged to attend this meeting if you are interested in studying abroad at the University of Glasgow during the Fall 2012 semester. Students who have participated in the Glasgow program in the past will also be present to answer questions and share their experiences. Refreshments will be served.

The Duke-In-Glasgow application can be completed at the Duke Study Abroad website found at: http://studyabroad.duke.edu/home/Programs/Semester/Duke_in_Glasgow.

Email anita.lyon@duke.edu for additional information.

4 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2012

RESEARCH from page 1 Faculty, graduate students and other researchers receive funding from the federal and state governments and from the private sector, which includes corporations and foundations. In addition, researchers apply for funding from research centers in extremely competitive selection processes, Truskey said. “We have very talented faculty who are willing to put forth the extra effort to write proposals for these large grants,� Schulze said.

In addition, faculty members receive support from the Office of the Dean of the Pratt School of Engineering and other University offices. “These center awards are all faculty driven,� Truskey said. “Sometimes we can make faculty aware of some funding opportunities, but they’re generally well connected themselves.�

Some administrators hope that the increased funding will improve Pratt’s place in the U.S. News and World Report annual ranking of engineering schools, Schulze said.

In the 2011 rankings, Pratt was listed as No. 31 among graduate engineering programs. The biomedical engineering program was ranked No. 4. “We are expecting an increase in our rank [on the 2012 list] because of our large increase in grants and because we are doing more research,�

Schulze said.

Pratt is also putting its research dol-

THE CHRONICLE

lars to use, as a report released by the American Society for Engineering Education indicated that Duke ranked No. 15 for highest ratio of research expenditures to doctoral degree recipients at $1.34 million in fiscal year 2010. Duke also spent a total $68.2 million of its own funds on research in 2010. “A lot of people focus primarily on the money, but it’s more important that the money is an enabler that allows faculty to do the work they need to do,� Truskey said.

Although the engineering school has historically been receiving an increase in research funding, administrators are unsure how residual effects of the 2008 economic downturn and the current state of the federal deficit will affect future levels of funding. “The external research environment is changing pretty significantly,�

Truskey said. “We anticipate the rate of growth will slow because the amount of money available is shrinking. We need to make sure that faculty are aware of the opportunities and provide them with the environment to ensure that our faculty will remain competitive.�

Schulze said the engineering faculty will likely ensure that Pratt’s research funding continues to increase, even if it is at a slower rate than this past year. “We have gone through some years with significant cuts, and Pratt has still grown,� she said. “The fact that Pratt has continued to grow [during a recession] is a result of the quality of the faculty.�

@dukechronicle

FACEBOOK from page 3 previously unknown because the firm was private. The paperwork portrays a company that makes the vast majority of its money from selling display ads targeted to its users who have revealed to Facebook much about their lives. Those connections and activities among its 845 million members are an advertiser's dream, experts say.

The filing stated that Facebook users upload 250 million photos a day, signal that they “like� items posted by friends about 2.7 billion times a day, and have created a web of 100 billion friends and connections on its site.

Last year, the company saw $3.7 billion in revenue and $1 billion in profits—astounding figures for an 8-year-old enterprise, though slightly less than what some

DSG from page 3 Council, the Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Life, the Women’s Center, Blue Devils United, Men Acting for Change, Spectrum, the Multicultural Center, the International House and Counseling and Psychological Services.

DSG approved the resolution 35 to 0, with two abstentions. “We’re hoping that [approving this proposal] sends a message to the administration that not only is it overdue, but the whole community, not just those who would benefit from it, are in support of this,� said DSG President Pete Schork, a senior.

Tobia and Frothingham noted that peer institutions such as Brown University, Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania and University of Chicago have more extensive gender-neutral programs already in place. “Duke is sometimes hesitant to be a leader in the educational community and instead waits on cues from institutional leaders,� Tobia said. “I would like to see Duke adopt a program that the rest of the country can aspire to.�

With DSG support, members of DSGN will present the proposal to the House Model Working Group and Housing, Dining and Residence Life for approval.

In other business: Duke Marketing Club asked for $14,300

analysts had expected. Google, perhaps Facebook’s primary rival, brought in just shy of $38 billion in revenue last year. It launched its own a social network, Google+, in June.

The offering will catapult Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, who cofounded the online phenomenon in his Harvard University dorm room, into the ranks of the richest Americans. The filing reveals that Zuckerberg will hold about a third of the company's shares but nearly 57 percent of the voting power. That leaves him with control over the fate of his firm.

His role is so central that the documents listed his death as a risk factor for the entire firm. “In the event that Mr. Zuckerberg controls our company at the time of his death, control may be transferred to a person or entity that he designates as his successor,� the filing states. from DSG for the Heroes and Villains Library Party Feb. 24 to pay for catering, the John Brown Band, giveaways and other logistical needs. They have already raised approximately $50,000 for the event along with allocations from organizations on campus. Although the Student Organization Finance Committee already provided approximately $12,000 for the event, DMC said they lacked adequate funding from the administration. “I don’t think that we should be responsible for funding what the administration won’t,� said sophomore Gracie Lynne, senator for Durham and regional affairs.

Schork wrote a resolution requesting additional funding and support from Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta. Schork added that Moneta’s student-focused position means he should be obligated to contribute funding.

The Senate allocated a lump sum of $7,500 in a 28-11 vote.

Vice President of Student Life Ebonie Simpson, a senior, proposed a resolution to support the statute of limitations for reporting sexual misconduct. The updated University policy now limits the time for reporting an incident to one year instead of two. The resolution passed unanimously.

Sophomore Patrick Oathout, a senator for athletics, services and the environment, presented eight amendments to the DSG constitution. The Senate approved seven of the eight amendments with a two-thirds majority vote.

Bored? Visit www. chronicleblogs.com for our news, sports, editorial and recess blogs.

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2012 | 5

LEMUR from page 1 but you do anywayâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s such a beautiful animal.â&#x20AC;?

Romeo was brought to the Center from Madagascar in 1993 with two other diademed sifakas, one of which was his mother. Welch, who was also a member of Romeoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s capture mission, noted the diademed sifakasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; leaf-eating diet as the main cause of Romeoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s declining health.

The diets of Romeoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s species differ from other lemurs, in that they are leaf-eaters, but they also eat seeds, flowers and nectar, Welch said. Their diverse diet makes their digestive systems more complex in comparison to the other lemur species. â&#x20AC;&#x153;He gets a pelleted folivore diet, and we feed him what we feed the other sifakas and do the best we can, but replicating a wild diet is impossible,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unfortunate that the species just didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t do well.

We know that we wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t try that species in captivity anymoreâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;at least not in the near future.â&#x20AC;?

Despite being an endangered species, diademed sifakas are not the rarest of the sifakas and are pretty widespread in the wilderness of eastern Madagascar, with a population estimated at more than 6,000 lemurs, Welch said. He added that the problem is that there is not much natural habitat left in Madagascar for any of the lemurs, and

the diademed sifakasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; large bodies make them ideal hunting targets for locals.

Romeo was not a popular research subject because researchers often need sample sizes of more than one individual, so he participated in few projects throughout his time, Lemur Center Registrar David Haring said. Romeo was still one of the staff favorites. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a sad thingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;watching him not thrive has been hard for all of the staff,â&#x20AC;?

Welch said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also at the same time a favorite of everybodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s because he was a real sweetheart and because he didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have members of his own species to be with.â&#x20AC;?

Although another breed of sifakas resides at the Lemur Center, Romeo never seemed to take to the other lemurs after his fellow diademeds died years earlier, Barnett said. For lemurs, grooming each other is an essential component of social bonding. Despite numerous efforts to get him to interact with other primates, Romeo socialized mainly with the technicians. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Romeo was an amazing animal with a magnetic personality. He was such a charmer and a pleasure to work with,â&#x20AC;? said Niki Barnett, education manager and interim development officer. â&#x20AC;&#x153;He would always love a good back scratch or armpit massage from his hard working technicians that always took extra special care of him and ensured he received the social bonding that primates so need.â&#x20AC;?

TRANSLOC from page 1 of the Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 113 bus stops.

The website also notifies visitors of any delays or changes to bus routes. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Having that knowledge, I think, will really allow students to use the bus system even more frequently and realize that theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re getting more minutes back in their day,â&#x20AC;? Williams said.

Many students living on Central Campus said the tracking information is particularly useful for them because it is difficult to predict when a C-2 is going to pass their stop. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s helpful to know where [the buses] are, knowing if I have to leave a little bit early to get to class or to get to a meeting on West or on East,â&#x20AC;? said senior Natalie Marsch, a Central resident.

Williams hopes that the online bus tracking will help students feel safer when traveling at night by allowing them to stay indoors until a bus arrives at a nearby stop.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to be good for everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s piece of mind,â&#x20AC;? he said.

In addition to providing information to students, the tracking system has already helped Parking and Transportation Services monitor and improve the efficiency of the University bus system, Williams said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re able to get a readout daily, even hourly, that shows us how efficiently the buses are running,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Even when we were testing the system out, our bus efficiency improved over the testing period.â&#x20AC;?

Parking and Transportation Services is still working to get the word out about the website by placing signs at campus bus stops, Williams said. There has been a very positive reaction coming from those who do know about it. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The few people that Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve talked to seemed pretty excited,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When the sign [at the bus stop] went up pretty much everyone got out their phone and looked at the buses online.â&#x20AC;?

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THE CHRONICLE

JOBS from page 1

CHRONICLE GRAPHIC BY DENNIS OCHEI

Residents of Durham have the highest average hourly wage of any workers in North Carolina.

concentrations of physicians per capita and nearly one in three workers is employed in a medical related industry, according to the county Chamber of Commerce’s website.

But average salary data can be misleading because the different compensation levels for occupations can distort the numbers, said Kyle Cavanaugh, vice president for administration.

People with a post-graduate education are going to earn well above average, said Bob Korstad, Kevin D. Gorter professor of history and public policy. The statistics from the Bureau do not account for the unemployed and the poor.

“The people at the top do not make up the majority,” Korstad said.

Additionally, the relatively high average salaries do not translate into positive indicators for the community as a whole, Dick noted. Durham has one of the highest poverty rates in the state and a low high school graduation rate.

As of December 2011, the unemployment rate of the Durham-Chapel Hill area is 7.5 percent, which is lower that North Carolina’s 9.9 percent, and the nation’s 8.5 percent, according to the Bureau.

It is sustainable for Durham MSA to have the highest paid workers at least for the near term, despite the layoffs at Research Triangle Park, Korstad said.

“It doesn’t look to me like the University or the medical center is going to fall apart” Korstad said.

SALARIES from page 3 The bill would need Senate approval before becoming law.

In advance of the vote, Republicans touted a Congressional Budget Office report published Monday that said federal employees on average earn about 2 percent more than private-sector employees in comparable professions. When pension and health benefits are factored in, the CBO said, federal employees earn about 16 percent more in total compensation.

With those numbers in mind, “the federal government has no incentive or obligation to reduce salaries in order to be competitive to stay in business,” Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Fla., who chairs the House subcommittee on federal personnel, said before the vote. “It simply borrows more money or raises taxes.”

But Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., ranking member on the House committee that oversees federal personnel issues, said federal employees have already sacrificed to help pay down the federal deficit by enduring a two-year federal pay freeze ordered by President Barack Obama in 2010.

The freeze is set to save taxpayers $60 billion in the next decade, Cummings said.

“This bill appears to be a disingenuous and disrespectful attack against federal workers,” Cummings said.

Ross and other Republicans shot back, noting that the overwhelming majority of federal employees eligible for within-grade step increases received them in fiscal 2011.

The step increases averaged $1,303 during the freeze, Ross said.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., said she understands the push to freeze federal pay as other Americans are facing financial hardship. “The problem is that federal employees have become a kind of piggy bank—whenever you need some money, you take it from the federal employees,” she said.

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Recess

volume 13 issue 17 february 2, 2012

the ‘cesspool

Sonic

Grown ups

Duke Performances brings Thurston Moore for Demolished Thoughts PAGE 3

LARSA AL-OMAISHI/THE CHRONICLE

lana del rey

controversial crooner’s debut a sumptuously silly affair

PAGE 3

a dangerous method

Cronenberg’s psychodrama only skims the surface

PAGE 7

arts council grants

recipients span a diverse range of media

PAGE 8

recess

theSANDBOX. I’d like to talk today about the Twitter persona @dadboner, and for the many of you who have no idea who that is, just stop reading now. @dadboner is Karl Welzein, an overweight, middle-aged man from Grand Blanc, Michigan, a nondescript town near Detroit with a Chili’s and an Applebee’s and not much else. Welzein works in middle management, is recently separated from his wife, Ann, and lives with a similarly single man named Dave. Their newest roommate, Peanut, is a formerly homeless man they took off the streets, because “having a real degenerate in the house could teach us a lot about ourselves.”

Welzein loves Bob Seger, top-shelf margaritas (“margs”) and Mango wings. He is profoundly unhappy, completely lacking in self-awareness and may be an alcoholic.

Welzein is also a fictional character, created by an unknown writer who has attracted over 50,000 followers to @dadboner.

When you read a funny book, say, A Confederacy of Dunces, much of the humor comes

from both the quirks and actions of Ignatius Reilly and his assorted acquaintances. The rest of the humor comes, obviously, from how the pseduo-intellectual Reilly will react to what is happening in his self-contained world. You read this on your own time, and when you finish the book, the humor ends.

And since author John Kennedy Toole died 40 years ago, you’re not getting much more Reilly in the future.

In contrast, whoever is behind @ dadboner can reveal Welzein’s personality in real time, 140 characters at a time.

It’s arguably more enjoyable to consume than a medium-confined literary character. We laugh every time he abbreviates words he shouldn’t like “the cool dad” is wont to do, or when he wearily recounts another embarrassing encounter with the office toilet, then wearily concludes, “I’m just really ready for the weekend, you guys.”

It’s great writing, sure. But more importantly, it’s great writing without limits.

[recesseditors] our blogger tags Ross Green...............................................................................................rozay_verde Matt Barnett.........................................................................................theconsultant Michaela Dwyer......................................................................................sansShooters Brian Contratto................................................................................youngandinlove Chris Bassil.................................................................................flightschooldropout Josh Stillman........................................................................................herr_universe Phoebe Long........................................................................................st2greeklettaz Chelsea Pieroni.............................................................................................italDisco

“ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING MUSICALS YOU’VE EVER SEEN!”

February 2, 2012

[STAFFER’S NOTE]

PAGE 2

A

few weeks ago, the New York Times published an editorial

by Susan Cain entitled “The R Rise of the New Groupthink.” It m might’ve been in the Sunday Review, b because those are the days when I fish through pages of arts events aand travel destinations and snarky ccommentary on contemporary liteerature until I’d like to say that I eexperience all of this source materrial in some way. But I don’t, really, b because my vicarious experience is lilimited to a physical and intellectual processing of the text rather than p w walking through Damien Hirst’s eexhibit at the Gagosian or taking up th the latest in the contemporary-malefiction-canon i a friend recently referred to as “d**k lit.”

Anyway, the article contends, critically, that “collaboration is in.” The “New Groupthink,” Cain writes, “holds that creativity and achievement come from an oddly gregarious place.”

Idea-production in school, work and culture is now exclusively collaborative. Gone, Cain says, is the notion of the solitary artist creating art for art’s sake; she quotes Picasso (“Without great solitude, no serious work is possible”) to further dichotomize the argument. On one side of the spectrum are the Great Artists in concentrated pursuit of form and beauty. On the other are IKEA-clad open-plan workspaces and a universalization of the extrovert.

All of which got me thinking: can we apply Cain’s diametrical thesis to not only the production but the experience of art as well?

A week ago, I saw The Artist, and was pleasantly surprised that the theater was packed—with, I’ll note, mostly those upwards of age 60 (who are clearly my people, since we also share a love of PBS and practical footwear). I was so taken

with the movie largely because of the communal experience. We beamed together at Jean Dujardin’s uncanny resemblance to Gene Kelly and strained our eyes to read the title cards, engrossed in the Hollywood-Golden-Age throwback. I realized the film’s subject matter corresponds to the movie-going experience.

Like Dujardin’s fictional character, who hones his art for the commercial public but processes his experience as a singular figure, we as viewers are able to recognize ourselves and our interests within and apart from the community the film both acknowledges and creates. Other experiences I’ve had lately follow the same principle: while during break I slugged around (by myself, in my pajamas) for two days straight slurping up both seasons of Downton Abbey, I was desperate for the red light to flash on my phone, reminding me that I’m part of a real community. Reciprocally, I wanted to gush about how much I loved the show, but didn’t want to force something I’ve resigned myself to admit not much of ‘our’ generation cares about onto anyone I care about. If this trend, which continued last week as I read Jean-Luc Nancy’s “The Inoperative Community” and texted friends bemoaning the essay’s difficulty, is anything worth noting, it’s both a mediation and embodiment of Cain’s spectrum. The phrase “I ran from it but was still in it” comes to mind: When we (or I) say we’re so #overit— memes, the hook-up culture, commodified cuteness a la Zooey Deschanel—we’re still in it, just with a more nuanced understanding of what we as individuals and as a group think is culturally (and personally) valuable. As Cain writes, we “have two contradictory impulses: we love and need one another, yet we crave privacy and autonomy.” In 2012, I’m for inhabiting contradictions. It seems the closest way to pin us down—without actually doing so.

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February 2, 2012

Literary mag gives Duke’s poets a stage with Salon SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

Lana Del Rey BORN TO DIE INTERSCOPE

What do you think about Lana Del Rey? Fairly or not, our perception of most art is bound up in our perception of its creator. And since Del Rey has become one of the more polarizing artists in recent memory, it’s become pure folly to go about evaluating Born to Die in a vacuum. But we’ll go ahead and try, just for a minute.

First, Born to Die sounds really, really good. Del Rey is, on record at least, a captivating vocal shape-shifter. Her first gear is Cat Power-dusky and she up-shifts into a breathy, coquettish high register, sometimes so quickly that the effect is like musical theater. Leaving aside any of the album’s rather ambitious conceits for a moment, she’s singing over mostly radio-ready pop songs—there’s even one called “Radio”—that sound vaguely trip-hoppy thanks to Emile Haynie’s production. Of anyone, Haynie probably stands to gain the most from Born to Die. The arrangements are the largely the same sorta-epic, sorta-spooky blends of stratospheric strings and next-room-over drums he used on Kid Cudi’s Man on the Moon 2, but they lend themselves far better to Del Rey’s dramatic crooning than Cudi’s flowdeprived raps.

Second, Born to Die is patently ridiculous. “Lynchian” is an adjective that’s been thrown around a lot to describe the album, maybe because of the vaguely ominous spaghetti-western guitars that pop up here and there, but there’s actually very little mystery to Born to Die. Listening to it is a bit like watching a movie about a trailer park where everyone is very beautiful and doomed; think of a more intimate and stylish version of the Killer’s hilariously overblown but still kind-of-awesome Day & Age. And most of the time, Del Rey is dealing in the same overreaching, impressionistic lyrical nonsense as Brandon Flowers. Go ahead and try to keep a straight face during “This Is What Makes Us Girls,” when she whispers, “Pabst Blue Ribbon on ice.” She’s not

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DELIVERY ON POINTS

Monday - Friday 3 - 9pm

This Friday night, Von der Heyden Pavilion will be transformed to showcase the sounds of poetry and smooth jazz, when The Archive literary magazine hosts Salon: An Evening of Poetry, the official launch party for the magazine’s Spring 2012 issue.

The Archive already has an impressive résumé in the literary community. Duke’s undergraduate literary magazine is one of the oldest continually published literary magazines in the country. Established in 1887, The Archive also holds the honor of being Duke’s oldest student publication, promoting poetry and prose among the Duke community in a unique way. Now, the staff aims to increase the awareness of their magazine with Friday’s release party.

“There have been Archive-related readings in the past, but nothing I can remember on this scale,” said English professor Joe Donahue, who will read at Friday’s event. “I think it’s a great thing, and indicative of what seems to me the ever-increasing presence of the arts at Duke.”

Junior Tong Xiang, co-director and emcee of the event, agreed.

“We’ve never really done this before,” Xiang said. “This comfortable going past I-love-you-you’re-handsome platitudes, and when she does, well, that’s when something like “National Anthem” happens.

This is where things get complicated. Born to Die is juvenile, absurd, and more than occasionally beautiful: in short, it’s a record that manages to be almost as divisive as Del Rey herself. Imagine for a second that Lana Del Rey had never gone by Lizzie Grant, that she’d never made a record produced by the guy from Sugar Ray or gone on Saturday Night Live and drawn Brian Williams’ ire. Imagine that she just emerged out of the e-ether, fully formed and sans major label marketing, with Born to Die. Alternatively, imagine that Abel Tesfaye had dabbled in some kind of Auto-tuned Jason DeRulo dreck before reemerging under Interscope’s wing as The Weeknd.

The point here isn’t to humanize Del Rey, who has done everything she could to appear larger than, or at least apart from, real life. It’s simply to illustrate the importance of identity as a framing effect for art. It’s far from a great record,

PAGE 3

is the first poetry reading that has Duke’s faculty poets all together.”

Xiang also emphasized that planning such an event took the support and coordination of many, including the Office of the Vice Provost for the Arts, helmed by Scott Lindroth. “[Lindroth] has been really exceptionally generous with his time,” Xiang said. “He, along with [Arts Outreach and Communications Assistant] Beverly Meek, have really made this event possible.”

Allowing writers to come together in a professional environment is a central facet of The Archive’s publications. They receive and publish undergraduate submissions every semester, which are reviewed by the student-run editorial board; in this edition, ten authors will be featured. The launch party strives to give these authors and their peers a chance to come out and express themselves in a hopefully supportive way.

“Writing is something that you do in private, reading is something you do in private,” said junior Elizabeth Beam, a co-editor of The Archive. “But I think it will be really great to have writers all come together and talk about literature, look at what’s being published, listen to the readings and really just promote the writing culture.”

The programming at Salon will open with a performance

by John Brown, associate professor of music and director of the Duke jazz program. The evening will feature student and faculty speakers, including English professor Deborah Pope, Nathaniel Mackey, the Reynolds Price Professor of Creative Writing and Fred Moten, the Helen L. Bevington Professor of Modern Poetry, along with a variety of written and spoken word performances. There also will be free food and drinks.

With Salon, The Archive hopes embody the title of the event—a gathering of people for the purpose of amusement and intellectual discussion– to raise awareness of the magazine, and of the talent of the undergraduate and faculty writers at Duke.

Salon: An Evening of Poetry will be held in Von der Heyden Pavilion Friday from 6-9 p.m.

CHELSEA PIERONI/THE CHRONICLE

Organizers of The Archive’s Spring 2012 launch, Salon: An Evening of Poetry, at the event’s location in Von der Heyden Pavilion.

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February 2, 2012

Duke

PERFOR

BRODY STEINFIELD/SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

Fiasco company begins Duke residency

by Caitlin Moyles THE CHRONICLE

After an 18-week run off-Broadway, Fiasco Theater Company will bring its critically acclaimed production of Cymbeline and its commitment to educating aspiring actors at Duke. Presented by Duke Performances and the Theater Studies department, the six-person Shakespeare company will be in residence from Feb. 2-18 to perform Cymbeline, visit classes and host a variety of conversations. The residency will culminate with open workshop readings for a new production of Measure for Measure.

Praised for its ability to keep Shakespeare’s plays fresh and playful through simple sets, creative use of props and instruments and dynamic fight scenes, Fiasco’s performance of Cymbeline offers Duke students the opportunity to see for themselves whether the hype about this young theater company is true.

Although there are countless ways to interpret and perform Shakespeare, Fiasco believes strongly in the primacy of the texts and in performing them the way Shakespeare intended, said Ben Steinfeld, a member of Fiasco Theater Company who co-directed Cymbeline. This means a set-less stage, big physical events, live music performed by the actors and, most importantly, direct engagement with the audience.

“We like to make the actors the center of the show and always invite the audience to meet us halfway with their imaginations,” Steinfeld said. “A lot of times in the theater nowadays, the lights are off on the audience and everyone does their best to pretend they can’t see or hear them. We’re not interested in that, because Shakespeare’s plays were performed in broad daylight. All the soliloquies, prologues, epilogues, songs, all this is meant to include and directly engage with the audience.”

Sarah Beckwith, professor of English and professor and chair of Theater Studies, recalls seeing Fiasco perform Twelfth Night in New York in the summer of 2010. Although Fiasco began to gain in popularity after the New York Times gave a positive review of its first production of Cymbeline in 2009, the company was still performing in a tiny theater, “way down on Broadway,” and had to turn off the air conditioning in order for the actors to be audible.

“They just gave this beautiful, magical version of Twelfth Night,” she said. “They’re a really young group to watch, so fresh, and they worked with the berth so well. There was

nothing stuffy about their performance at all. It was as if they’d gone back to bare bones, worked with the words, and thought about it from the ground up.”

As a non-profit organization, Fiasco Theater Company is committed both to low-cost performances and to teaching inexpensive classes and workshops for aspiring actors.

In fact, Fiasco’s readiness to have substantial interaction with students in the classroom and to spend time developing Measure for Measure on Duke’s campus are important reasons for sponsoring Fiasco’s extended residency, said Duke Performances director Aaron Greenwald. Due to the expense of extended theater residencies and the large number of events happening on Duke’s campus, Duke Performances only sponsors three or four extended residencies each year, he added.

“We would not bring a theater production here or a dance production here or a musician here if we did not think the quality was world-class,” Greenwald said. “We’re in the world-class business.”

In addition to being a crowd-pleaser for the general student body, Fiasco’s residency opportunities will allow for more in-depth study of Shakespeare in English and Theater Studies classes.

“I have found that really good actors absolutely inspire and energize the class because they’ve worked so responsibly and accountably with the texts,” Beckwith said. “They’re such brilliant readers and they think in such incredibly intelligent ways about the text, that when they come into an English class where students have been reading the text they literally bring it to life.”

The open rehearsals of Measure for Measure, to be held on Feb. 7 and 14, will be followed by question and answer sessions and allow students to observe how a group of actors “unpacks the texts” by doing acting exercises, practicing stage directions, and reading lines around a table, Steinfeld said. In addition to offering students a glimpse of how the group works together, the open-book readings on the 17 and 18 will be representative of the progress the company has made during their residency.

“This is such an important way that the university can be actively involved in sustaining the arts,” Beckwith said. “I can’t underestimate the importance of having this sort of work going on. It’s just a unique space for students to get involved in the process of making theater.”

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February 2, 2012

PAGE 5

RMANCES

SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

Sonic Youth frontman Thurston Moore set for Demolished Thoughts concert

by Katie Zaborsky THE CHRONICLE

On Sonic Youth’s widely-regarded 1988 album Daydream Nation, frontman Thurston Moore sang, “Got a foghorn and a drum and a hammer that’s rockin’/ And a cord and a petal and a lock, that’ll do me for now.” The lyrics, accompanied by Moore’s charging electric guitar, define the attitude and aesthetic of a band that became so overwhelmingly influential to musicians thereafter—Sonic Youth’s post-punk experimentation and confrontational attitude to the conventions of rock paved the way for a noisy, crafted musical rebellion that many artists felt compelled to join in throughout the ’90s.

But if Sonic Youth pioneered a revolution, then Thurston Moore’s solo album is the quiet after the storm—the future of the band, who last released an album in 2009, is uncertain. Moore will draw from his new album Demolished Thoughts for his Feb. 7 show as part of Duke Performances. His third solo album in 12 years, Demolished Thoughts does not adhere to the Sonic Youth doctrine of defiance. Instead, the album showcases Moore’s undeniable talent as a singer and guitarist.

Produced by fellow rock icon Beck, Demolished Thoughts is a quiet, acoustically-driven work that sounds like a collection of soft lullabies reminiscent of José González or Nick Drake à la Five Leaves Left. Instead of stick-it-to-the-man lyrics, Moore opts for forthright introspection. On “Benediction,” the album’s first track, he creates an atmosphere of palpable desperation with a tale about a girl clinging to love, punctuated with his admission, “I know better, than to let her go.” A hallmark of a great musician, Moore’s ability to produce indelible feelings—in this case, a mournful allusion to his recent divorce with his wife and Sonic Youth bassist Kim Gordon—makes Demolished Thoughts special and not just another hokey singer-songwriter production.

Aaron Greenwald, director of Duke Performances, chose Moore as part of this season’s lineup precisely for his transgenerational appeal and the contri-

bution he has made over the past two decades. “I don’t think you can overestimate Thurston Moore’s importance to contemporary music. Thurston is the connection between groups like the Ramones, or Patti Smith or the Talking Heads to everybody from Vampire Weekend and Feist.”

The connection is also inescapable on Moore’s solo album. The guitar riffs on the LP, albeit more restrained, echo the wild distortion of Goo-era Sonic Youth, providing a familiar backdrop to a new venture. More impressive is Moore’s voice, which has remained strikingly unchanged after almost 30 years of performance, creating an uncanny sense of timelessness—that in his voice we might as easily imagine ourselves in 2012 as 1988.

For Greenwald, Demolished Thoughts wasn’t the surprise that it was for some Sonic Youth fans. He sees the release as the natural progression of a multifaceted musician with a broad artistic horizon. “I think it was inevitable that this is a place an artist like Thurston Moore would go. Probably, if you are someone that is known for making music that is loud, perhaps you have to get to a place of confidence in your life to make a quiet record.”

Moore’s influence on the landscape of music has as much to do with his ability as an artist as it does with what his music represented at the time.

“Those bands [Sonic Youth and their contemporaries] defined a lot of young people’s identities,” Greenwald said. “Those people were really important to people growing up all over the country as speakers of hipness, sophistication, rebellion or a certain kind of aesthetic…. an engagement with the world that is both artistic and political.”

Though the audience at next Tuesday’s performance will likely be dominated by Sonic Youth fans curious to experience Moore’s new musical direction, Greenwald insists that Demolished Thoughts doesn’t need to rely on legacy or context to be appreciated, but knowing Moore’s history does provide an enhanced experience. “I think it’s beautiful music made by a really talented musician who has something to say. If you come at it with the contextual nar-

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Albert Nobbs

DIR. RODRIGO GARCIA ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS

Albert Nobbs, starring perennial favorite Glenn Close as a cross-dressing waiter, aims high but falls short of what could have been Oscar-worthy material.

Originally a book by George Moore, and later adapted into a play by Close herself, Albert Nobbs takes place in the industrial, American-dream obsessed bustle of 19th century Dublin. Albert-—Close’s male pseudonym—works as a waiter in a hotel run by a presumptuous and fastidious Mrs. Baker (Pauline Collins). To no one’s knowledge, Albert saves her daily earnings underneath her bedroom floor to purchase her own tobacco store.

Although questions of sexuality can be found subtly throughout the film, it ultimately seems far from director Rodrigo Garcia’s focus. In fact, Albert’s character is so meek and one-dimensional that she comes off as asexualized. On the contrary, Albert’s later companion Mr. Page (Janet McTeer), the hotel’s gruff, interior painter and also a woman in disguise, far more clearly displays a preference for women through her

loving marriage to wife Cathleen.

So no, the film doesn’t revolve around Albert’s crisis about her gender identity. When Mr. Page asks Albert for her real name, probably expecting a hesitant but endearing “Alberta” at the very least, Albert stares back at Mr. Page soberly and dryly utters, “Albert.” Struggles of gender identity seem to be the last thing on Albert’s mind.

Despite what the film’s trailer seems to suggest, it is also not about any unrequited love from Albert toward young, coquettish Helen (Mia Wasikowska). She appears in Albert’s mirage of a successful future merely as an appealing ornament to greet customers in the tobacco store. Marrying Helen becomes an obsession for Albert, as she calculates the cost of each date, strategizes as to the revelation of her gender and ponders her competition against Helen’s eye-candy boyfriend Joe (Aaron Johnson), just to procure the token wife that comes with her vision of a successful life.

Close is indeed convincing as poor, repressed and occasionally funny Albert (and by funny, I mean so ridiculously awkward that it’s humorous). Whether her performance deserves her recent Oscar nomination, I’m a bit hesitant to say, which is why I’d much rather point the finger of blame to Garcia.

February 2, 2012

All throughout the film, there is an inexplicable disconnect between Albert’s dark Dickensian orphanhood and her now naive, one-track mind. There are many moments where the film dances atop some barrier to a deeper understanding of Albert, but it fails to ever break it.

I will say this: Garcia masters aesthetic subtlety. I’m not sure if that’s just indie film norm, but there is a beauty to the littleless-than-done appeal of the entire film. Yet, sadly, he fails to deliver poignancy. There are films that draw me in and I become uncontrollably submerged in the story, characters and action. Then there are films like Albert Nobbs, where I leave the theater a bit tired, to be honest, from having to engage in the story myself.

—Jamie Moon

SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

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The Department of Theater Studies presents a senior distinction play

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Kool A.D.

THE PALM WINE DRINKARD GREEDHEAD

Since the 2010 release of Shut Up, Dude and Sit Down, Man, Brooklyn-based Das Racist, have been dubbed “alternative hip-hop” by the masses for their pseudo-serious tone, conversational verses and cultural references. They’re situated smartly in a territory less self-serious than backpack or “indie” rap, with playful nods to traditional gangster and party rap. Members Heems (Himanshu Suri) and Kool A.D. (Victor Vasquez) have made a name for themselves in the rap world, and their respective mixtapes complement their repertoire of so-called “new Kool G rap”—some 21st century s***, whatever it is.

The mixtapes serve as a canvas for Heems and Kool A.D. to independently explore new styles while staying true to the sound of their former records.

Heems’ Nehru Jackets makes solid use of samples and drum beats to set the tone of each song. “Alien Gonzalez” exemplifies this with its South-Asian chunky cymbal instrumental and vocal set, balanced with punchy sitar. The cut successfully evokes an A.R. Rahman-Kanye West collab. It also pays respect to the group’s cultural know-how. (This time, see shout-outs to Richard Karn, Karl Marx.) ‘“Womyn” uses the same elements to poke fun at the all too common “us vs. them” rhetoric, a dead horse that has been savagely clubbed to death in popular rap. Giddy Bollywood-esque vocals underscore the track’s playful beat and lyrics that reveal Heems’ vision of women: “Sometimes they like to smoke/ Sometimes they drink drinks with the little umbrellas in ‘em.” The cut ends with Heems reiterating its light-hearted (albeit reverent) mood, “Women you’re great, on behalf of men, thanks/ I’m glad to be a part of your ranks, if you accept me, women.”

Kool A.D.’s The Palm Wine Drinkard moves in a different direction more in tune with Vasquez’s personality. The record departs from Das Racist’s bouncy beats and focuses instead on a more lethargic air, coupled with short, repeated lyrics. “Girls and Women” uses an echoed synthesizer to set up Kool A.D.’s recurrent mumbled musings, like “Girls don’t think enough/ Women think too much.”

“A Ganglion of Lightning” follows the same pattern, but uses synth-pop to aestheticize a Timbaland production feel. Bouncy electro bleeps segue the following cut, “Fun,” which transitions to a Balearic nightlife vibe a la Justice, employing a nu-disco sound that differs from Heems’ hiphop pulses.

Neither mixtapes disappoints, especially for the price ($0). They effectively sample each member’s sound without divorcing their idiosyncrasies. Nehru Jackets could easily be a sequel to 2011’s Relax, whereas The Palm Wine Drinkard feels like morning-time on a booze cruise. Suri and Vasquez can only produce so much individually, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The mixtapes prove as worthy testaments to each rapper’s talent, but they don’t match the complementary greatness achieved via Das Racist.

—Andrew Karim

SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

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February 2, 2012

First Aid Kit THE LION’S ROAR WICHITA

First Aid Kit launched their career with a novel YouTube oddity that’s received almost 3 million hits. Two teenage sisters in matching flannel covered Fleet Foxes’ “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song” from a forest in their Swedish homeland.

The second record from the woodsy-folksy sister act begins in a similar fashion with its title track: one guitar, plus Johanna Söderberg’s sometimes-melancholy, sometimes-uplifting vocals at the fore. By the end of the song, prominent drums, woodwinds and heavy piano chords add to the initial simplicity of the acoustic guitar, setting the stage for a richer sound on First Aid Kit’s sophomore album.

The second and strongest track, “Emmylou,” starts off with

A Dangerous Method DIR. DAVID CRONENBERG SONY PICTURES CLASSICS

In the second part of Chilean author Roberto Bolano’s masterful 2666, a university professor named Oscar Amalfitano stumbles into insanity as a result of his search for, and supposed discovery of, order in places where there is none.

Like most other great portrayals of the insane, 2666 succeeds for a specific reason: depictions of the insane that are characterized only by “weirdness” are nothing more than freak shows and cheap tricks, focusing wholly on their degrees of aberration from the normal. Effective illustrations like Bolano’s rely instead on insanity as a different breed of normal unto itself, and whose afflicted’s ill-suitedness to traditional thinking and interpretation is omitted in favor of glimpses into alternative psychological landscapes. What is moving to us is not that these individuals don’t see things the way we do, but that their logic, though it seems foreign, is aggressively consistent in its self-governance. We get a sense that the chaos we witness is, in fact, highly ordered, though the mechanism according to which it operates remains hidden.

On one hand, it is difficult to say A Dangerous Method fails to pull off this impressive and deeply affecting technique, but only because the film makes almost no attempt to do so. It is as though director David Cronenberg simply told lead actress Keira Knightley, who plays the at-first psychotic and then pretentious psychoanalyst Sabina Spielrein, to act like a crazy person. And Knightley does, screaming and wading into pools and speaking in sentences that make no sense. She assumes her most antic disposition and acts as far away from normal as possible. In doing so, however, she betrays the effect she is trying to create; she comes off as a sane person acting crazy, rather than a crazy person who believes herself sane. One of the most genuinely intriguing elements of the great books and films that depict the insane is the sheer normality with which those characters view their own behavior. Knightley fails to capture this, and the film suffers as a result.

The thorough sidelining of this insight, especially as it relates to a film that is ostensibly about Sigmund Freud himself, is problematic when one observes that the idea was at the heart of the man’s 1919 The Uncanny, a work that inspired much fiction concerning the surreal, the insane and the asylum. But the film has other flaws, too, and its pleasing aesthetic and technically sound execution are not enough to save it.

The script is dull and, at times, humorously melodramatic; apparently, the pretensions of psychoanalytic shop talk don’t well translate to the big screen in 2012. It’s all the more difficult to deal with once filtered through Knightley’s absolutely preposterous attempt at a Russian accent. Lastly, and perhaps most disappointingly, the film feels cold but not cerebral; passionless but not calculated. It is something like a John Frusciante guitar solo, and all the technical skill in the world can’t save it from its own lack of substance.

—Chris Bassil

PAGE 7

a slide guitar line that could come straight off a Trace Adkins single, and its pairing with Johanna’s distinctly un-Southern vocals presents an initial cognitive dissonance. But by the opening line of the chorus, they issue the statement of intent for their fusion of Swedish and American countrysides and channeling of American greats: “I’ll be your Emmylou and I’ll be your June/ if you’ll be my Gram and my Johnny, too.”

After “Emmylou,” the album delves into deeper, darker themes of death and lost love with only hints of optimism sprinkled throughout. The album ends on a decisively upbeat note with “King of the World,” which features the members of Bright Eyes on catchy accordion and trumpet lines, plus an entire verse from Conor Oberst. The song’s situation as the final track is superb; it leaves a peachy aftertaste after an enduring melancholy and summarizes the sentiment, “I’m nobody’s baby/ I’m everybody’s girl/ I’m the queen of nothing/ I’m the king of the world.”

The video for “Ghost Town,” a single from First Aid Kit’s debut, shows the duo walking through a field of tall grass in plain white dresses. The album insert for The Lion’s Roar shows the sisters donning colorful hippy dresses, an apt metaphor

for their progression to a more full-bodied sound. Amid the crowded crop of folk revivalists, First Aid Kit sing sweet enough to capture an admittedly overstimulated audience.

—Ted Phillips

Salon

an evening of poetry with The Archive Celebrate the latest release of The Archive Literary Magazine with a showcase of poets on campus including faculty poets Joe Donahue, Nathaniel Mackey, Fred Moten, and Deborah Pope and student poets Alex Alston, Elizabeth Beam, Helen Cai, Andy Chu, Daniel Fishman, and Tony Gouw.

•

join us from in

FRIDAY, FEB. 3RD 6-9PM VON DER HEYDEN PAVILION & start your Friday night in Duke literary fashion.

SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

recess

PAGE 8

Semans’ legacy extends to Durham Arts Council grants

by Anna Koelsch THE CHRONICLE

Durham Arts Council’s recent announcement of this year’s crop of Ella Fountain Pratt Emerging Artists Grants serves as yet another reminder of the late Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans’ legacy in supporting the arts in Durham.

Semans, who passed away last Wednesday, will be honored at the Emerging Artists Awards Ceremony Feb. 23. Semans and her husband, Jim, brought the idea of funding individual artists to the Durham Arts Council in the 1980s.

They worked with Ella Fountain Pratt, a close friend of Semans’, to create the Emerging Artists Grants in 1984, said Margaret DeMott, director of artist services at the Durham Arts Council.

“They said, ‘OK, let’s start a program that gives small career development grants to individual artists at a point where they’re still developing their career,’” DeMott said.

“Now there are many other programs across the country that recognize the importance of artists developing their careers; in North Carolina, every county has a [program similar to the Emerging Artists Grants].”

The Council awards 15 or 16 grants each year and has done so every year since 1984, DeMott said. This year, 15 winners—whose media range from fiber art to theater— were selected from a pool of 97 applicants.

Diane Daniel, one of this year’s grant winners, applied for an Emerging Artists Grant to pay for editorial assistance for her upcoming memoir from Melissa Delbridge, an archivist in Duke’s Rare Book, Manuscript and Special Collections Library. Daniel, a journalist who freelances for newspapers including the Boston Globe, is writing a memoir from her perspective as a spouse to Lina, a male-tofemale transgender. “[The grant is] for emerging artists, which could be someone who is already established in a medium but is doing something new for them,” Daniel said. “That’s what excited me. I said ‘Hey, that’s me! I’m an emerging artist.’”

Daniel said she has been working on the memoir for about seven years but became serious about it last year. She added that she has found that the writing process for a memoir varies greatly from what she is accustomed to as a journalist.

“This is a huge stretch as a writer, and the craft is way out of my comfort zone,” Daniel said. “My journalism has been no longer than 3000 words, but that’s half a chapter in a book. So for me, the most daunting part has been learning how to structure the book, how to approach it.”

Daniel attracted attention after she wrote a Modern Love column in the New York Times entitled “My Husband is Now My Wife” and an article in the Boston Globe called “Goodbye husband, hello wife” in August 2011. In the articles, she details what she went through as Lina made the transition from male to female.

After publishing the NYT piece—which ends with the line “Diane Daniel lives in Durham, N.C.”—Daniel said she heard from a number of people in the Triangle. Later in February, Daniel said she plans to publish a similar piece about her relationship with Lina in the Raleigh News and Observer.

“There’s an immediacy where people feel affected by something when it’s local, which is why I’m writing about it in the News and Observer,” Daniel said. “My whole mission is advocacy and I know that writing something in the News and Observer will play more of an advocacy role than in the New York Times—it will have a greater impact because it’s someone in their own backyard.”

Another grant winner, abstract artist Anne Gregory, Trinity ’78, will be using her grant toward an upcoming trip to Morocco. She was asked to join a group of North Carolina artists going to Morocco to collaborate with Moroccan artists on art that will be donated to charity.

Gregory majored in English during a time when the University did not officially recognize double majors, although she fulfilled all of the requirements of an art major. During her senior year at Duke, she interned at the

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February 2, 2012

Durham Arts Council.

“I’ve always known about the grant and have always been involved in the Arts Council,” Gregory said. “This is not the first time I’ve applied—it’s competitive because it’s well-known.”

Gregory, who has painted full-time for the past three years, said it takes her months to finish a painting. She paints in layers, and often sands or scrapes her canvases before hosing some off with water outside.

“My paintings go through a lot of abuse,” Gregory said with a laugh.

Her work includes three series of paintings—the Pi series, which features lots of earthy tones and powerful images, the Path series, which she described as “calmer,” and the Uprising series.

“Uprising has a lot of turbulence and frenetic energy in how the paintings look, but I’m also trying to capture a calmness as well,” Gregory said.

Gregory, who also teaches painting classes at the Durham Arts Council alongside serving on the board of the Scrap Exchange, said she is honored to have received the grant and sees it as an affirmation that she is moving along in her career.

“In the application, we had to talk about our career goals and how the grant will impact our goals,” Gregory said. “I explained how I want to work with other artists and just make a difference with my art.”

SOPHIA DURAND/THE CHRONICLE

The Durham Arts Council chose to award its annual grants for emerging artists to 15 applicants, from a pool of 97.

Sports

IN THE BLUE ZONE

The Chronicle

FOOTBALL

THURSDAY February 2, 2012

Visit The Chronicle’s sports blog online to get a recap of the best Duke-related comments from the past week on Twitter, from all around the world of Duke sports.

www.dukechroniclesports.com

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Cut signs 20 in Duke faces freefalling Hokies Class of 2012

by Matt Levenberg THE CHRONICLE

The Blue Devils confirmed the addition of 20 players for this fall Wednesday, a class highlighted by the nation’s top kicker and two highly-rated running backs.

Duke’s class ranks eighth in the ACC according to Rivals. com, the highest grade in head coach David Cutcliffe’s tenure. Cutcliffe, though, believes that combine numbers and highlight reels play too prominent a role in rankings.

“Wow,” Cutcliffe said. “That’s what we feel like in this class. That’s our ranking. It blew me away.”

Kicker Ross Martin owns the highest positional ranking of any new Blue Devil, and he will fill the shoes of graduating Will Snyderwine, a 2010 All-American. The Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio native held scholarship offers from Pittsburgh, Texas and a handful of Ivy League schools, among others, and has hit field goals from up to 65 yards in practice. Cutcliffe acknowledged that Martin would be the favorite to win the kicking job heading into the 2012 season.

Geographically, the class is composed of student-athletes from all four time zones and 10 different states. The most-represented state is Duke’s own, North Carolina, leading the way with five players.

“We always start inside-out,” Cutcliffe said.

Eighteen of the high school seniors had made verbal commitments to the Blue Devils before Wednesday, but the SEE SIGNING DAY ON PAGE 8

MELISSA YEO/THE CHRONICLE

The Blue Devils (18-3, 5-1 in the ACC) will travel to Blacksburg, Va. tonight to take on Virginia Tech (12-9, 1-5).

The 7 p.m. matchup at Cassell Coliseum pits No. 7 Duke, which at 80.3 points per game has the 11th best offense in Division I, against one of country’s weakest scoring teams in the Hokies who tally just 67.7 per contest.

Junior guard Erick Green is at the helm of the extremely slow-paced Hokie attack that averages just 64.6 possessions a game, which ranks 266th in the nation. Green—who has made great strides since a freshman year that saw him shoot 29 percent from the field—leads the squad in scoring with 15.9 points per game, fulfilling his point guard duties on both ends with 3.2 assists and 1.5 steals per contest.

Dorenzo Hudson—named third team all-ACC in 2009 before missing the 2010-11 season due to foot surgery—joins Green in the backcourt. He has bounced back well, contributing 11.9 points per game.

The Hokie backcourt has also contributed on the defensive end, where they have led a perimeter defense that allows opponents to shoot just 25.9 percent from beyond the arc this season. That mark ranks second in the nation and could be critical to stopping a Duke offense that records nearly 30 percent of its scoring from 3-pointers and shoots 39.9-percent —best in the ACC—from deep.

Although the Hokies possess talented starters in the backcourt, the Blue Devils may be able to control the paint, since Virginia Tech’s tallest forward is 6-foot-9 Cadarian Raines. But even though Raines and fellow post player Victor Davila face a height disadvantage against Duke, both possess wide 240-pound frames that could enable them to

Miles Plumlee will lead the Duke frontcourt on the road tonight against a much shorter corps of forwards for Virginia Tech.

SEE M. BASKETBALL ON PAGE 8

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

DUKE vs. VIRGINIA TECH

Duke looks to stay unbeaten in ACC play

Thursday, February 2 • Cassell Coliseum 7 p.m. • ESPN

SEE W. BASKETBALL ON PAGE 8

FRONTCOURT

Following a disappointing 61-45 loss at Cameron Indoor Stadium to No. 3 Connecticut, the Blue Devils are looking to get back in the wins column playing Wake Forest at 7 p.m. tonight.

Although No. 5 Duke (17-3, 8-0 in the ACC) held the Huskies to 61 points, Wake their lowest point toForest tal of the season, the vs.

Blue Devils will need No. 5 a stronger offense Duke and more rapid ball movement to prevail THURSDAY, 7 p.m.

Cameron Indoor Stadium in their return to conference play.

“We need to find each other and run in transition ourselves, which is something we did not do last game,” head coach Joanne P. McCallie said.

The team has shown steady improvement, only having fallen to the best in the country, with all three losses coming against top-10 ranked opponents.

“I think every game we’ve gotten better, we’ve learned from each other,” McCallie said.

“Again this last game was very disappointing to us because we did not do some of the things we had practiced and set out to do.”

Chelsea Gray and Elizabeth Williams will play a critical role in taking the ball from guard to post but other members of the team will need to step up to build on the group performance.

“We’re really growing as a team,” McCallie said. “We have a lot of different people that can make an impact. We’ve seen a lot of film, we’re excited to play. I hope people come out and support the team.”

Wake Forest (12-9, 2-6) comes to Duke following two consecutive conference losses to North Carolina and Miami.

“It’s been a tough stretch,” Demon Deacon head coach Mike Petersen said.

“We had a five-point lead against North Carolina, we couldn’t quite close the deal. We were in a tie game with [Georgia Tech] with three minutes left on the road but we can’t quite close the deal. We just need to make a shot or two more or a rebound or two more and we’ll be fine.”

The Wake Forest offense has proven to be strong this year, averaging 71.3 points per game, 8.1 more than their opponents average.

Guard Latevia Boykin leads the squad in points during conference games and will head off a strong effort against the

AUSTIN RIVERS 14.1 ppg, 38.2 3PT% SETH CURRY 12.2 ppg, 36.3 3PT% ANDRE DAWKINS 10.2 ppg, 40.8 3PT% RYAN KELLY 12.7 ppg, 5.4 rpg MASON PLUMLEE 12.0 ppg, 9.8 rpg Hokies Victor Davila and Cadarian Raines bring significant bulk to the paint but cannot match the height of Mason Plumlee, not to mention the skills he has displayed in his recent offensive breakout.

BACKCOURT

THE CHRONICLE

G G G F F

Virginia Tech’s starting guards average 27.2 points per game and lead a perimeter defense that allows the nation’s second-lowest opponent 3-point shooting percentage. But Duke’s guard depth should overwhelm the Hokies.

BENCH

by Yeshwanth Kandimalla

Virginia Tech (12-9)

No. 7 Duke (18-3)

Ten Hokies average doubledigit minutes per game, but there’s not much in the way of notable talent off the bench for Virginia Tech. Duke and its deep rotation should be able to wear out the Virginia Tech starting corps.

G G F F C

ERICK GREEN 15.9 ppg, 3.2 apg ROBERT BROWN 7.7 ppg, 2.1 apg JARRELL EDDIE 9.9 ppg, 49.3 3PT% CADARIAN RAINES 4.6 ppg, 4.0 rpg VICTOR DAVILA 7.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg

PPG: PPG DEF: FG%: 3PT%: FT%: RPG: APG: BPG: SPG: TO/G:

DUKE

VT

80.3 69.1 48.9 39.9 70.2 35.8 13.5 4.4 6.5 13.1

67.7 61.1 43.0 36.0 74.5 35.4 12.7 3.8 6.0 12.7

The Breakdown ACC road games are always tough matchups, but Virginia Tech is in freefall, having dropped six of its last seven games. The Hokies’ strength in perimeter defense could neutralize the 3-pointers that Duke typically relies on, but the Blue Devils can concentrate on dominating inside with their significant size advantage down low.

OUR CALL: Duke wins, 73-61.

8 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2012

THE CHRONICLE

W. BASKETBALL from page 7

M. BASKETBALL from page 7

Blue Devils. Boykin averages 15.3 points per conference game and 11.3 overall, and scored 25 when the Demon Deacons fell to Duke 76-58 earlier in the season. She is a part of a deep rotation of nine players that regularly receive minutes for the Wake Forest.

“We’re a team with pretty good depth— we distribute the scoring around a little bit,” Petersen said.

Key to the Demon Deacons pulling off an upset against Duke will be containing its strong offensive attack, led by Tricia Liston and Chelsea Gray who have combined for 49 3-pointers on the season. Wake Forest nearly pulled off an upset against No. 23 North Carolina last week, keeping the Tar Heels to just three 3-pointers in the 75-71 nail-biter.

“We’re going to try to force turnovers and locate their shooters and make sure they take competitive shots,” Petersen said.

battle the Plumlees down low.

Despite the Hokies’ bulk inside, though, Mason Plumlee will be a particularly tough matchup, as he has grabbed 29 boards and recorded 38 points over his past two contests. If he continues his improved foul shooting after going 20for-27 over the past five games, he could finally offer the Blue Devils a consistently dangerous inside threat.

The wild card for Virginia Tech could be freshman small forward Dorian Finney-Smith, a 2011 McDonald’s AllAmerican who has done well on the boards with 7.2 rebounds per game, but has shot an ugly 29.5 percent from the field so far during his freshman campaign. Against a Duke team without a true small forward, he could be a candidate to make good on his offensive po-

SIGNING DAY from page 7 tential tonight.

But even with Finney-Smith headlining a talented class of rookies for the Hokies, Duke will certainly enter tonight’s contest as the favorite against a Virginia Tech team that has lost six of its last seven games, including defeats at the hands of ACC cellar dwellers Wake Forest and Boston College. The Blue Devils have won three of their past four at Cassell Coliseum, and that tally could increase to four out of five against a Hokie squad that lacks size and depth.

—from staff reports

LAWSON KURTZ/CHRONICLE FILE PHOTO

Point guard Erick Green leads Virginia Tech in scoring and stands tied for fifth in the ACC.

team picked up a pair of surprise additions on National Signing Day—Jela Duncan, Rivals’ 23rd-rated running back, and Keilin Rayner, the 44th-best linebacker. While Rayner’s recruitment had been wide-open headed into Wednesday, Duncan had posted Tuesday night on his Twitter account that he was only considering East Carolina, Wake Forest and Purdue.

Cutcliffe boasted that North Carolina beat border-rival South Carolina in the Shrine Bowl game this year thanks to Duncan, who rushed for 112 rushing yards in the contest, including a 76-yard touchdown.

Tight ends Dan Beilinson, who also played in the Shrine Game, and Erich Schneider, listed at 6-foot-5 and 6-foot-6, respectively, have the potential to create a major mismatch against opposing defenses. While Sean Renfree will be the one throwing passes to Beilinson and Schneider next season, questions remain regarding who will be his successor. Returning quarterbacks Brandon Connette and Anthony Boone are in the discussion, but freshman Thomas Sirk, who enrolled for the 2012 Spring semester, saw tremendous success in high school both running and throwing. This is Cutcliffe’s third consecutive quarterback recruit who excels running with the ball.

“It’s not an accident,” Cutcliffe said.

“It evens your numbers….We’re bending in that direction to try to help us win football games.”

Cutcliffe compared the strategy to the single wing and options offenses run by other football teams. Although Sirk will likely have to spend time on the bench before leading the offense, some of his peers may have the opportunity to play as freshmen.

“I think this class, more than any we’ve had, has a number who might [be able to contribute early],” Cutcliffe said.

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For elementary licensure, contact Dr. Jan Riggsbee at 6603075 or jrigg@duke.edu. For high school licensure, contact Dr. Susan Wynn at 660-2403 or swynn@duke.edu.

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We have openings for graphic artists to help design and process advertising for the daily newspaper. You’ll work approximately 10 hours per week and receive on-the-job training.

For more information, contact Barb Starbuck at starbuck@duke.edu Deadline for applying is Wednesday, February 15, 2012

THE CHRONICLE

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2012 | 9

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The Independent Daily at Duke University

The Chronicle

10 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2012

Reject legacy admission policy As Duke’s admissions of- 2008, and 13 percent of the ficers carefully pore over class of 2015. Although the adthousands of applications missions office denies that legain preparation for May, they cy status adds significant weight will consider a number of fac- to an application, consistently tors, concrete and intangible, admitting legacy applicants at to craft a class such high rates editorial that is both amounts to the qualified and exclusion of diverse. One of these consid- otherwise qualified applicants erations—where a student’s for no other reason than to reparents went to college—tells ward someone else’s filial conus nothing about her aca- nection to the university. demic merit or unique qualiLegacy status has no bearfications. Nevertheless, for de- ing on an applicant’s merit, cades, a student’s immediate does not attempt to account for relationship to Duke Alumni societal inequities and disadhas factored into the delicate vantages and fails to promote admissions calculus. diversity. In fact, given that legThe children of alumni acy applicants tend to be white, tend to make up 10 to 25 per- Protestant, and private-school cent of students at selective uni- educated, granting their apversities, a trend that Duke typi- plications extra weight actively fies—children of alumni made undermines the University’s up 20.4 percent of students in commitment to diversity and

institutional equity. Duke’s legacy admissions policy lacks a traditional justification, and, because preferential treatment for legacy applicants—however slight—results in the exclusion of some students based on an unjustifiable factor, the practice stands as patently unfair.

Two additional justifications for legacy admissions exist, but neither possesses the strength to warrant a policy that compromises fairness and diversity.

The first claim—that admitting the children and grandchildren of alumni provides a substantial financial benefit to the University—is simply false.

A recent report, authored by Chad Coffman of Winnemac Consulting, analyzed alumni contributions at the nation’s 100 top universities (Duke falls into this category), and

“

we demand a student body that refrains from reactionary outrage until all facts are available. We demand due process!

—“Rikky_Tikky_Duke” commenting on the story “Justice in the workplace?”

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.

found that, when controlling for variables such as alumni wealth, “there is no statistically significant evidence of a causal relationship between legacypreference policies and total alumni giving at top universities.” Duke’s admissions office has not produced evidence to the contrary, and, if it cannot prove that legacy admissions generate a significant payoff, then it cannot justify the policy on those grounds.

Still, some attempt to justify legacy admissions by contending that multi-generational Duke families enrich and improve the community. They argue that legacy students possess a unique enthusiasm for Duke that radiates outward and improves the overall character and spirit of the school. But this phenomenon, even if it were

not extremely ill-defined and impossible to measure, does not carry the moral weight necessary to justify a practice inimical to both fairness and to Duke’s commitment to diversity. Specious claims about improved school spirit and community do not outweigh Duke’s obligation to preserve fairness in the admissions process—arguably the most fundamental obligation of any University that values academic merit, equity, and diversity.

Duke’s legacy admissions policy is not only unfair but unjustified. Because Duke cannot rationalize its legacy policy on the grounds of financial necessity or community enrichment, the admissions process should no longer grant any consideration whatsoever to legacy status.

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SANETTE TANAKA, Editor NICHOLAS SCHWARTZ, Managing Editor NICOLE KYLE, News Editor CHRIS CUSACK, Sports Editor MELISSA YEO, Photography Editor MEREDITH JEWITT, Editorial Page Editor CORY ADKINS, Editorial Board Chair MELISSA DALIS, Co-Managing Editor for Online JAMES LEE, Co-Managing Editor for Online DEAN CHEN, Director of Online Operations JONATHAN ANGIER, General Manager TOM GIERYN, Sports Managing Editor KATIE NI, Design Editor LAUREN CARROLL, University Editor ANNA KOELSCH, University Editor CAROLINE FAIRCHILD, Local & National Editor YESHWANTH KANDIMALLA, Local & National Editor ASHLEY MOONEY, Health & Science Editor JULIAN SPECTOR, Health & Science Editor TYLER SEUC, News Photography Editor CHRIS DALL, Sports Photography Editor ROSS GREEN, Recess Editor MATT BARNETT, Recess Managing Editor CHELSEA PIERONI, Recess Photography Editor SOPHIA PALENBERG, Online Photo Editor DREW STERNESKY, Editorial Page Managing Editor CHRISTINE CHEN, Wire Editor SAMANTHA BROOKS, Multimedia Editor MOLLY HIMMELSTEIN, Special Projects Editor for Video CHRISTINA PEÑA, Towerview Editor RACHNA REDDY, Towerview Editor NATHAN GLENCER, Towerview Photography Editor MADDIE LIEBERBERG, Towerview Creative Director TAYLOR DOHERTY, Special Projects Editor CHRISTINA PEÑA, Special Projects Editor for Online LINDSEY RUPP, Senior Editor TONI WEI, Senior Editor COURTNEY DOUGLAS, Recruitment Chair CHINMAYI SHARMA, Blog Editor MARY WEAVER, Operations Manager CHRISSY BECK, Advertising/Marketing Director BARBARA STARBUCK, Creative Director REBECCA DICKENSON, Chapel Hill Ad Sales Manager The Chronicle is published by the Duke Student Publishing Company, Inc., a non-profit corporation independent of Duke University. The opinions expressed in this newspaper are not necessarily those of Duke University, its students, faculty, staff, administration or trustees. Unsigned editorials represent the majority view of the editorial board. Columns, letters and cartoons represent the views of the authors.

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kay so here is the situation (insert abdomi- me tell you something—housed inside that rugnal picture here): I’m stranded in the Alas- ged, beard-covered, emotionless head of his, Liam kan wilderness with Liam Neeson and five has got one damn resourceful brain. others who were unlucky enough My final piece of advice: have an to survive our plane’s unscheduled alcoholic in the group. When the crash landing. The plane happened poop hits the fan, you don’t want to to land in the “kill zone,” a phrase be the least-coordinated member Liam growled while squinting off of the bunch. Also, I watched Liam into the distance. This is the zone make X-Men claws out of broken of aggression and death surroundairplane mini bottles … in about ing the den belonging to a pack of 3 seconds. Since having this brush wolves so sassy only CGI could accuwith death I’ve started selecting my travis smith rately portray them. As evident from friends based on their weight class, it’s all in the game this article, I survived, and at the or leg brace. I always keep at least personal cost of an $8 (er, plane?) one person that I could potentially ticket, I now present to you free tips on how to disable and leave behind between me and any forsurvive a wolf-riddled Arctic tundra thanks to my ested area. It’s a selfish practice by today’s stanman-date with Liam Neeson. dards, but my caveman ancestors are nodding in First and foremost, don’t think about sitting at approval. your own funeral. Just survey the situation in obLong past are the days of hunters and gatherers. jective terms and don’t attach any emotion to any- The continuation of our lineage is no longer solely thing until you’ve survived. Phrases like “We have dependent on competition and survival, but on sono water” and “Oh my God, it’s Liam Neeson” are cial conformity and financial success. Battles once counterproductive. Liam likened this to everyone fought tooth and nail are taken to court, or the being in the same boat and no one wanting to comments section of YouTube videos. Life is now so hear about the leak. I likened this to anyone who easy people have enough resources to devote free talks about the finals they have to study for during time to such thoughts as what brand of jeans to buy, finals week. Liam agreed. the legalization of marijuana and Justin Bieber. In Next up: be Jewish. Hanukkah is eight days short, unless in the company of Liam, we’d all last long, the length of time that one-day’s worth of oil about a day stuck in the wilderness; all of our surburned for, according to Jewish scripture. I know vival skills were hung up generations ago. this because Liam knows this. He filled half a therBored with our relative safety and comfort, mos with jet fuel before we left the burning crash Americans are demanding a mental escape to site, and the stuff never ran out. Days of lighting battle for their lives, and Hollywood has met this and relighting both campfires and torches never demand with a flood of disaster/zombie/plague posed much of a problem, even amidst intense movies. Maybe producers are just flexing new wind and snow. Now I know Liam is Irish, but he CGI capabilities, but regardless, it made me think did play Oskar Schindler, a guy who employed about how we are fortunate enough to live where over 1,000 Jewish refugees. Or maybe it was just a we can crave that which we have spent millennia deceptively large thermos. moving away from: the struggle to survive. In a Another gem I realized when I came upon the world where day-to-day existence actually is a fight stump that used to be the largest member of our for some people, it’s odd to waste time playing survival party: it rarely comes down to push-ups. If make believe when we could be helping to ease you aren’t trying to outsmart the wolf, you’re do- their struggle. ing it wrong. When all is said and done, it comes down to using the one organ we seem to most neTravis Smith is a Trinity junior. His column runs glect and intentionally harm: our brain. And let every other Thursday.

tom borger guest column

Online only today: “This is your team and your house” Read @ www.dukechronicle.com

THE CHRONICLE

Skirting the issue?

A

s a girl writing a column, it is my duty to tackle one of the following subjects each year, depending on the seriousness of the column: either I am the only person at Duke who knows that gender inequality is a thing, or whether or not leggings are pants.

This happens to be a very serious column. Also, I really like controversial issues that will generate thoughtful discussion and affect Campus mia lehrer Culture with as many capital but actually C’s as I can give it. So I would like to take the next 600 words to explain to you why, in fact, leggings may be worn in place of pants. And it’s not just because I hate pants.

Though I do. Women’s jeans do not stretch properly, the pockets are too small and, unlike men’s jeans, you can’t climb rocks in them. Any other kinds of pants fall outside the purview of The Uniform and are therefore unwearable at the risk of flouting social norms (let’s be honest here: Yoga pants are just leggings that flare at the calf).

First of all, I will agree with all of you that tights are not pants. The opacity of tights actually has a unit of measurement: the denier. (It’s pronounced “den-ear,” not as in “one who denies.”) The denier has to do with the yarn with which tights are made. Thicker yarn produces higher denier. Tights range from sheer (10 denier or less) to thick opaque (70 denier or above). If hosiery is over 70 denier, it’s a pair of leggings, goshdarnit, and it unquestionably leaves more to the imagination than those cutoff shorts you were wearing all last September. Another good general rule is that if it has feet, it’s a pair of tights, and if it doesn’t, it’s a pair of leggings. Just please make sure I don’t know what color your thong is. Thanks.

Now that we’ve established the difference between tights and leggings, we can discuss the arguments made against the freedom from denim restriction. Both men and women argue against them, though the points they make are different.

Many male arguments are superficial and weight-shaming. I’ve read many columns in papers from other institutions in which men assert that women who “can’t pull them off” should not wear leggings. To deny a specific group of people the right to wear something comfortable is not only discriminatory, but also probably unconstitutional or something. It is a woman’s own decision whether she can “pull off” leggings, and judgments—likely based on whether or not the man in question wants to pull them off of her—smack of sexism and a certain need to control women’s bodies (oops, am I going there? Or is that for a less serious column?).

Women take a different approach to reproach. The female arguments, best encapsulated in Bunmi Zalob’s 2010 Huffington Post diatribe, “Leggings Are Not Pants: An Essay,” can be boiled down to the following: Leggings are tighter than pants. Leggings might make men look at you. You’re a woman. Why do you want men to look at you. For shame.

It’s OK, though. We’ve just heard from various male columnists that they don’t want to look at us in leggings unless we weigh approximately as much as my 10-year-old sister. So don’t worry, Bunmi. We’re safe from the gazes of lechers.

But let’s stop and think about this for a second. It’s almost as if the “leggings-as-pants” debate stems from, oh, I don’t know, Victorian-style social mores about acceptable feminine behavior. As long as your leggings cover your undergarments and extremities, they fulfill the two basic means of clothing: they cover the body and conserve warmth. Leggings are, by that definition, pants. They’re just kind of tight.

What’s really at stake here is how much of a woman’s body is “allowed” to be displayed. If the woman feels comfortable with her body in leggings, then, provided those leggings meet the two basic requirements of clothing, she should wear them as she see fit. The issue, though, as presented by both men and women arguing against leggings as pants, has nothing to do with the woman’s comfort level. It is how the man views her.

How a woman dresses is her choice. She is free to be “modest” if it conforms to her beliefs and principles, whether based on religious texts or on personal values. Heck, our constitution preserves this right. But unless she follows a strict creed on the subject, whether something pleases or displeases men is not required to be factor in her dressing.

Leave your shame off my happy, denim-free lower body, please. Thanks.

Mia Lehrer is a Trinity senior. Her column runs every other Thursday.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2012 | 11

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lettertotheeditor In support of Edens staff It is unfortunate that the grievances brought against Linda Schlabach to Duke University have taken so long to come to light, since Ms. Schlabach’s gross unprofessionalism and lack of respect extend far beyond her staff. As members of Delta Tau Delta, and residents of Edens Quad, we were treated with the same disrespect and malice that serves as the basis of the formal complaint by her staff. Ms. Schlabach’s use of verbal threats, habit of calling the police on students, excessive use of fines and penchant for removing personal property from section spaces were common place. Highlighting the outrageousness of her demands was a threat to fine us for a birthday cake left in a common room, which she had deemed a “fire hazard.” While these experiences may seem petty in light of the gross misconduct alleged by the Edens staff, we believe it further supports and adds to the picture of Ms. Schlabach painted by the housekeepers as staff member who fails to represent even the most elementary standards Duke University has established for its employees.

Ms. Schlabach’s tyrannical abuse of her staff and students should not be confused with professionalism in any sense of the word, as has been the mistake of many HDRL staff with whom we have shared our frustration. We can’t help but wonder how many times Ms. Schlabach’s misconduct went unreported or was ignored by supervisors, as housekeepers took to recounting their maltreatment to students of Edens Quad on multiple occasions. I think many of us would agree that the housekeepers at Duke University are some of the kindest and most generous individuals on campus. As students and alumni we should stand behind the Edens staff and encourage the University to take the accusations leveled at Ms. Schlabach seriously as we all have a responsibility to provide both students and staff with a campus and working environment that is safe, respectful and beneficial for everyone.

Sincerely, Jay McCarthy, Pratt ’13 president, Delta Tau Delta Fraternity

A bad case of electoral dysfunction

D

espite being a citizen for almost a year now, I behavior ranging from Palestinian solidarity activism still find it hard to get excited about electoral on college campuses to performing prayers at a Giants politics in the United States. Call it a bad case game. Or when I take it for granted that whenever I of E.D. (i.e. electoral dysfunction) if you walk into any gathering at a mosque, an will. I feel like I’ve been waiting my whole undercover FBI agent will be present. life for the day I could call myself a U.S. I have come to realize that I was just citizen. When it finally happened in a Debeing silly. The National Defense Aupartment of Homeland Security office in thorization Act (NDAA) signed this past Newark, N.J., I didn’t see what all of the New Year’s Eve confirmed that the govfuss was about. I got asked if I was a terernment has full authority to detain me rorist, communist or Nazi, took a short indefinitely, regardless of whether I’m civics exam and watched a governmenta citizen or not, as long as they deem it ahmad jitan issued DVD with a recorded greeting necessary. With the assassination of Anfrom President Barack Obama. I finally indecent family man war al-Awlaki, the president has shown became a citizen when a squirrely man that he can become judge, jury and exled a group of us through an oath while he reminded ecutioner for U.S. citizens in the name of counterterus of just how momentous this occasion was. I was ex- rorism, regardless if those individuals were taking part pecting sparks to fly or to gain superpowers or to sud- in combat or not. For those who tell me I shouldn’t denly feel free. But nothing magical happened. I had worry as long as I’m not being a terrorist, I would ask some Dunkin’ Donuts with my mom afterward; it felt them to consider what role they want due process to like an appropriate first meal as an American. play in our society. Or to look al-Awlaki’s 16-year-old I’m going to be honest, the most exciting part of son who was killed alongside his father. Or to consider gaining citizenship for me wasn’t so much the ability to the scores of individuals who have been released from vote as it was the ease of travel that comes with having an Guantanamo Bay with no actual charges ever leveled American passport. Now, I can finally visit my family in Je- against them. rusalem and Nablus with greater ease. For some reason, So what does all this have to do with my E.D.? Well, Israel doesn’t readily hand out visas to young male citi- think of it as performance anxiety. If I have no confizens of Arab nations, even if they’d just like to visit their dence in my rights and freedoms as a citizen, how am I aunt who’s battling cancer. Now, a visa is no longer an is- supposed to perform my duties as a citizen on election sue. I can cross the Jordan River with my U.S. passport in day? The ruling of Citizens United that has confirmed hand and receive no hassle aside from a couple of hours money as speech and allowed super PACs to basically of interrogation at the border because, even though I’m buy out elections hasn’t helped either. Don’t worry a full citizen of the Jewish state’s greatest ally, my name about me though, because I think I finally got over it is still Ahmad. My passport doesn’t prevent me from get- (and without a little blue pill). I won’t be keeping up ting “randomly” screened at any airport either, but I can with primaries or rushing to the polls or campaigning travel with a smile because even if I’m being patted down for Obama this election season, and I feel more liberat least I’m an American being patted down. ated than if I were. I’ve decided that I’m not going I was also excited that I would no longer have to live to waste too much energy to put somebody in office with the fear of ending up in Guantanamo Bay. For in- so they can tell me I can live the life I want to live, stance, I didn’t feel comfortable enough to start writing especially when my life experiences have confirmed a column for this paper until I was a citizen. I had no that the system is much better at ensuring the exact idea what protections I had as a non-citizen expressing opposite. a critical opinion of our government’s policies. Call it paranoia, but I’m not so sure if I can blame myself when Ahmad Jitan is a Trinity junior. His column runs every I’ve had friends detained by the FBI for “suspicious” other Thursday. Follow Ahmad on Twitter @AhmadJitan

12 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2012

THE CHRONICLE

DUKE PERFO PERFORMANCES PERFORMANC ORMA ANCES SPRING

2012

SEASON

Exhibitions I Recall the Experience Sweet and Sad: Memories of the Civil War. Thru April 8.

Perkins Library Gallery. Free.

The Puerto Rican Diaspora: Photographs by Frank Espada. Thru July 8. Rubenstein Library Photography Gallery. Free.

Events Feb 2 - Feb 6 February 2 First Thursday. Katie Jentleson on Outsider Art. 5:30pm, cash bar; 6pm, Gallery Talk. Nasher Museum of Art. Free.

FIASCO THEATER IN RESIDENCE AT DUKE UNIVERSITY FEBRUARY 2 - FEBRUARY 18, 2012 SHAKESPEARE’S CYMBELINE / ÕÀÃ`>Þ]Ê À `>ÞÊEÊ->ÌÕÀ`>ÞÊUÊ iLÀÕ>ÀÞÊÓ]ÊÎÊEÊ{ 8 pm | Reynolds Theater / /-\ÊfÓnÊUÊfÓÓÊUÊfxÊ 1 Ê-/1 /-Ê

ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE EVENTS On Fiasco Theater: Careers in the Theater Monday, February 6 | 7 pm Manbites Dog Theater, 703 Foster Street Followed by a reception.

On Fiasco Theater’s Cymbeline Moderated by Prof. Sarah Beckwith Wednesday, February 8 | 12 pm John Hope Franklin Center, Rm. 240, 2204 Erwin Road Lunch will be provided.

SHAKESPEARE’S MEASURE FOR MEASURE WORKSHOP READING À `>ÞÊEÊ->ÌÕÀ`>ÞÊUÊ iLÀÕ>ÀÞÊ£ÇÊEÊ£n 8 pm | Sheafer Lab Theater / /-\Êf£äÊ , ÊUÊfxÊ 1 Ê-/1 /Fiasco Theater is a co-presentation of Duke Performances and Duke Theater Studies.

Fiasco Theater’s residency is made possible, in part, by a Visiting Artist Grant from the Council forthe Arts, Office of the Provost, Duke University.

$5 TICKETS

DUKE STUDENT

EVERY DUKE PERFORMANCES SHOW, ALL SEASON. TAKE ADVANTAGE.

GET TICKETS s 919-684-4444 s DUKEPERFORMANCES.ORG This message is brought to you by the Center for Documentary Studies, Duke Chapel Music, Duke Dance Program, Duke Performances, Duke Music Department, Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Department of Theater Studies, and William R. Perkins Library with support from Office of the Vice Provost for the Arts.

Nasher Museum Cafe. Jason Cunningham, executive chef at the Washington Duke Inn, prepares a special menu. Seating for dinner will begin at 5 PM; the last seating is at 8 PM. This event is expected to sell out, so please make your reservations today online or by calling 919-684-6032 Nasher Museum of Art.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. By Tennessee Williams. Directed by Kim Solow (T’12).

Featuring Kirsten Johanssen, Jennifer Blocker, Kyler Griffin (Sr. Distinction Projects). 8pm. Brody Theater, East Campus. Free. This show will also take place on February 3 and 4 at 8pm.

February 4 Duke New Music Ensemble [dnme].

Old Film | New Music: featuring works by six Duke composers written to accompany archival film footage from the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. 8pm. Von Der Heyden Pavilion, Perkins Library. Free.

February 6 When Janey Comes Marching Home.

Photo portraits and oral histories of female Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. Thru April 21. Center For Documentary Studies. Free.

Screen Society All events are free and open to the general public. Unless otherwise noted, screenings are at 7pm in the Griffith Film Theater, Bryan Center. (N) = Nasher Museum Auditorium. (SW) =Smith Warehouse - Bay 4,C105. (W) = Richard White Auditorium.

2/4 “VIRGIN SPRINGS” (2pm, N) - short films program from NYFF 2011 Q&A w/ curator Mark McElhatten + Duke filmmakers Josh Gibson & Erin Espelie!

2/6 OCTOBER - rare 35mm screening of the classic film!

Sergei Eisenstein Retrospective 2/7 Experimental short films program from the 49th Ann Arbor Film Festival