October 6, 2014

Road Test Passed

$2,500 at Stake in Senate Race

Duke volleyball returns home after on-the-road wins against UVA and Notre Dame | Sports Page 7

Political Science Dept. hosts Senate elections predictions contest for undergraduates | Page 3

The Chronicle 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

WWW.DUKECHRONICLE.COM

MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2014

Lemurpalooza

Duke spotlights student mental health on campus

ONE HUNDRED AND TENTH YEAR, ISSUE 28

Bryan Center entrance plans Spring remodel After spring break, the construction of a new glass entrance will begin

Mental Health Awareness Week will feature student events with CAPS help Claire Ballentine

Adam Beyer

The Chronicle

The Chronicle

For Mental Health Awareness Week, Duke’s Counseling and Psychological Services aims to spark campus conversation on well-being—but one led by students, not administrators.

The first week of October is recognized by groups and institutions across the country as part of the National Alliance on Mental Illness’s efforts to spread the word about mental health.

This year, Duke will participate through the efforts of student groups, with the support of CAPS—an effort to place students at the center of the conversation, said Gary Glass, associate director for outreach and developmental programming of CAPS. “The single most effective outcome is that conversations begin about issues such as mental health, and student-led efforts constitute the start of those conversations,” Glass said.

Glass said that CAPS chose this student-centered approach in order to prevent student efforts from being outshone by additional events, noting that student voices are the most effective way to spread awareness about mental health.

Among the participating groups is the To Be Honest initiative, which aims to shed light on campus mental health.

The group will host a panel and discussion on the topic this week.

“We think a huge problem is that people don’t feel comfortable talking to their peers about going to CAPS, and we want to try to remove some of the negative stigmas associated with CAPS,” said sophomore Priyanka Venkannagari, who spearheaded the initiative.

Venkannagari noted that they plan to do this through blogs and videos in which students talk about their problems as well as by hosting small group discussions where people can feel more comfortable expressing themselves.

Also participating is To Write Love on Her Arms, a non-profit which aims to help those struggling with depression,

Another student traffic route will be blocked due to construction, as work is set to begin on renovations to the Bryan Center entrance.

The construction—which will begin over spring break—is set to conclude during Summer 2015. The main doorway between Panda Express and Joe Van Gogh will close for the entirety of this time to allow the construction of a new glass facade onto the plaza. Students will be able to enter through the University Store during its operating hours and the traffic-circle entrance at any point.

“There shouldn’t be much inconvenience because of it,” said Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta.

The entrance is being renovated to improve the environment inside and around the Bryan Center.

“The new glass entry will allow more natural light inside the Bryan Center during the day, and will glow with artificial lighting in the evening,” said Sarah Burdick, director of administration and special projects.

The inspiration for the space was influenced by the design of other buildings in the

See Awareness on Page 4

|

See Renovations on Page 4

Emma Loewe | The Chronicle The Duke Lemur Center hosted its semi-annual Lemurpalooza Friday, which provided guests the opportunity to adopt a lemur for a year.

Emma Loewe News Photography Editor

|

More than 100 families flocked to the Duke Lemur Center in the hopes of finding a new sort of animal to call their own.

The center hosted its semi-annual adopt-a-lemur night—Lemurpalooza— Friday. The event featured information sessions on the unique primates, art opportunities for children, raffles and food from local Durham hotspots. It also provided guests the opportunity to adopt a lemur for a year, during which the cen-

|

|

INSIDE — News 2 Sportswrap 5 Classified 9 Puzzles 9 Opinion 10

|

ter will chip in to cover a portion of the lemur’s care fees in return for personal updates and photographs.

“It costs $7,400 a year to take care of one of these animals,” explained Adopt a Lemur coordinator Janice Kalin. “This amount is almost entirely covered by the donations we receive from this event.”

Lemurpalooza attendance has grown significantly since its 2013 creation, when around 40 community members came out to the center. Kalin explained that upwards of 120 families expressed See Lemurs on Page 12

Serving the University since 1905

|

Special to The Chronicle In the Spring, the Bryan Center’s main entrance will close to permit the construction of a new glass entrance.

@dukechronicle

|

© 2014 The Chronicle

The Chronicle

www.dukechronicle.com

2 | MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2014

As N.C. fracking ban ends, research depicts dangers State’s fracking ban expires at end of 2014—opening N.C. to risks, Duke professors say Neelesh Moorthy The Chronicle With North Carolina’s ban on fracking set to expire next year, Duke researchers are looking into the potential dangers of the technique.

Over the last several years, hydraulic fracturing—better known as fracking—has in-

creased the potential to produce domestic oil and gas. The process uses high pressure water and horizontal drilling to break up shale beneath the ground and bring up natural gas. But Duke researchers have explored potential risks of the process, with their work becoming increasingly important as North Carolina holds public hearings on fracking and seeks to begin fracking tests in the fall.

The leakage of methane into private water wells and the presence of carcinogens in drinking water are two of the significant dangers exposed by the research.

“We sampled hundreds of homes with private drinking water wells, and found that people living near shale gas wells are more

likely to have methane, ethane, and propane, the components of natural gas, in their water,” said Robert Jackson, formerly of the Nicholas School of the Environment and now a professor of environment and energy at Stanford University.

This becomes a problem in “confined spaces, such as basements, wells, and sheds,” where methane’s flammability has been known to cause explosions, Jackson said.

However, the leakage of methane into private water supplies is not necessarily an inevitable consequence of fracking. Research

by Jackson and Avner Vengosh, professor of earth and ocean sciences at the Nicholas School, has shown that the culprits are faulty

pipes, or wells, used while extracting natural gas from below the surface.

“Researchers haven’t found connectivity between the fractures made from fracking and any sort of natural pathway to the surface or aquifers,” said Jennifer Harkness, a graduate student at the Nicholas School currently working with Vengosh. “The gas is not migrating from the fractures made during fracking, but it can be leaked out of poorly formed wells.”

It is against this background of research that the North Carolina legislature is working to institute new regulations when See Fracking on Page 4

Rita Lo | The Chronicle

The Advisory Committee on Investment Responsibility (ACIR)

All Dogs Go to Heaven

Open Forum Monday, October 6 5:00 – 6:30 p.m.

Perkins Library, Room 217 The Advisory Committee on Investment Responsibility (ACIR) advises President Brodhead on social responsibility issues related to the University’s endowment. ACIR has made recommendations regarding conflict minerals and Darfur. As part of ACIR’s role of identifying issues of broad concern within the Duke community, ACIR invites all students, faculty, and staff to an open forum to learn more about the work of ACIR and suggest items for its consideration.

Emma Loewe | The Chronicle Duke Chapel hosted a Blessing of the Animals ceremony on its lawn Sunday.

The Chronicle

www.dukechronicle.com

Political Science dept. hosts election predictions contest year who is not very popular,” David Rohde, political science professor, said. “All of these things work to the disadvantage of the Democrats and puts their Senate majority in jeopardy.”

Senior Eric Wu noted that the contest was a great demonstration of the interdisciplinLinda Zhou ary applications of statistics, politics and also The Chronicle computer science.

“I have a passion for politics, and I’m also Think you can correctly predict the re- deeply interested in how to use and analyze sults of November’s Senate elections? You data and combine those with computer scicould be the winner of $2,500. ence, so it seemed like the perfect intersecThe political science department is hold- tion of all the interests that I have,” Wu said. ing a contest to see which participant can Wu explained that the statistical compopredict the most results of the 2014 national nent of project allowed his team to write proSenate elections—with the winner receiv- grams and apply computer science in a real ing the monetary award. In order to enter, world application.

“I think that’s one thing that we really students must list the name, party and the vote don’t learn enough about in our curriculum percentage received by and academia, so this is really a great opporthe winner in each of tunity for us to get our hands dirty and see the Senate races. Scott if we can really apply the knowledge we’ve de Marchi, professor of learned in class into a real world problem,” political science and one he said. “That’s one of the very exciting of the contest’s organiz- parts, that something I just learned in class ers, noted that the aim I can apply in a very real world way and see of the contest is to get the immediate results of it.”

David Rohde undergraduates students De Marchi also added that he hopes stuinterested in the connections between data dents will deal with data and run into probscience and social science. lems as they work on the contest.

“A lot of undergraduates are not aware “The joy of modeling is that you can be that social sciences are a pretty natural hub wrong. Being wrong is just one of the more for studying data science and human deci- powerful tools for advancing science,” he sion-making,” de Marchi said. “Frame the problem said. “In this case, we in the way that you can ake a shot at it, and have a pretty great elecget the wrong answer, tion coming up, where and good things hapthe way to get better the Senate is up for grabs pen.” is to do it again, keep doing it between the two main To students considerparties, and recently again and keep in mind gen- ing participating in the there’s been a lot of data eral lessons you’ve learned. contest, Rohde suggests work about who is going looking at micro-data in to win. Every main jour— Scott de Marchi the states that will have nalistic outlet is trying to very close races. do data science, so it was a good opportunity De Marchi, however, recommends creatfor undergraduates to try it out and see what ing a good prediction model and avoiding the process looks like and how well they can over-fitting that model to small little differdo.” ences.

Of the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate, 36 are “Take a shot at it, and the way to get open in the November elections. With 21 of better is to do it again, keep doing it again those seats currently held by Democrats and and keep in mind general lessons you’ve 15 currently held by Republicans, many po- learned,” he explained. litical analysts predict that the GOP will take The $2,500 prize, funded by departmencontrol of the Senate this year by gaining at tal money, is the incentive to get students inleast five seats. terested in the contest, but De Marchi hopes “A good chunk of the Democratic seats that undergraduates will be able to create are in states that President [Barack] Obama solid, if wrong, modeling approaches and lost when he ran for re-election, and only keep track of what they’ve learned. one of the Republican seats is in a state that “We might donate the money if we win,” Obama won, so it’s a very disadvantageous Wu said. “This is really just a fun project for contest for the Democrats, in addition to the us to do, so we’re really interested in just usproblems of having a president in his sixth ing that money to help people.”

MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2014 | 3

Afternoon Arts and Crafts

$2,500 to be awarded to any student who most accurately predicts the 2014 Senate elections

T

Lily Coad | The Chronicle DuARTS hosted an arts festival and auction on the Bryan Center Plaza as part of its annual Arts Festival program Friday afternoon.

4 | MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2014

The Chronicle

www.dukechronicle.com

RENOVATIONS

AWARENESS

cal symptoms of anxiety such as sleep disruption and difficulty concentrating.

“CAPS services are directed towards helping stu- continued from page 1 continued from page 1 dents be more resilient and helping them manage anxiety better. We want to support students throughout the addiction and self-harm. The group will help host De- year, not just this week,” Collins said. vicinity, such as Penn Pavilion, she said. The entry’s increased pression Screening Day in the Bryan Center Thursday height will give the space a greater distinction, Burdick said. by setting up tables and handing out depression screen“It’s all part of the overall plan to make better use of all the ing questionnaires that can be completed either on site buildings surrounding the plaza providing both better funcor in private. tionality and aesthetics,” Moneta said. “This is the near final CAPS will provide instruction and support for the part of the overall renovation process the Bryan Center has student groups behind Depression Screening Day, Glass been undergoing for the last year.” said—allowing students to be the face of the event with One advantage of the redesign is that it will allow for easier CAPS behind them along the way. access to the building with only one layers of doors instead of “There are a few different groups working together the current two. for Depression Screening Day,” Glass said. “We’ll be “The current circulation was identified as problematic, esproviding a training for them on understanding depecially during peak student flow hours,” Burdick said. pression and on how to effectively refer students to apThe work could not happen earlier because the University propriate services.”

Store was undergoing renovations and both entrances could CAPS Director Wanda Collins said that students face not be taken out of service simultaneously, Burdick explained. a variety of mental health issues each year. Among the Several students expressed concern about the disruption most common are stress and anxiety, along with physicaused by the closure.

“I think it will be inconvenient, and it’s unnecessary,” freshman Brooke Huang said.

James Carpenter Design Associates designed the 250 squarefoot space. It is also responsible for the new bridge to the West Campus Union currently being constructed.

Follow

The Chronicle @DukeChronicle @ChronicleSports @ChronicleRecess

FRACKING

continued from page 2 the fracking ban ends next year. The state’s Mining and Energy Commission held public hearings throughout August and September to discuss the topic—attracting significant attention from environmental protestors before the Commission drafts its official fracking rules in November.

Jackson said that he believed the legislature was not paying sufficient attention to research from the Nicholas School.

“I think there’s a perception amongst some people in Raleigh that they don’t want to hear about problems that might occur,” Jackson said. “I think the Mining and Energy Commission was designed to establish rules to help drilling come to North Carolina, not to dethink there’s a cide whether or not drilling should come to North perception amongst Carolina. That discussion some people in Raleigh never really happened.”

The research has also that they don’t want to raised concerns about hear about problems that carcinogens being intro- might occur. duced into drinking water supplies. At the end of the — Robert Jackson drilling, the water originally shot at the underground shale layer to break it apart is brought back up along with the desired natural gas. This wastewater normally goes to a specialized wastewater treatment plant before being discharged into rivers which feed into drinking water plants downstream.

However, these drinking water plants often use disinfectants which react with the fracking wastewater to produce potential carcinogens.

“Even if the [fracking wastewater] constituted only .01 percent by volume of the river, there would still be a significant shift in the types of byproducts formed, to the more toxic kinds,” said William Mitch, who conducted research with Vengosh as an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford.

There are alternatives available, such as reusing the water for further fracking and deep well injections.

However, these options are highly dependent on the geology of the specific area, and are not guaranteed to work. Options at the treatment level, such as reverse osmosis, are extremely cost and energy intensive.

“There really aren’t great treatment alternatives that can remove halides,” Mitch said.

The Mining and Environmental Commission will file its fracking regulations with the state November 20, and drilling companies will likely be able to apply for fracking licenses in the Spring. But Jackson is not convinced that North Carolina will see a big surge in drilling operations even when the ban on fracking ends, citing North Carolina’s small shale reserves in comparison to other states’ as well as a lack of oil and gas infrastructure.

“I’m skeptical that many companies will come to North Carolina any time soon. I think what we will see are wells drilled through subsidies from the state,” Jackson said. “The real question is how much the state is going to spend trying to get companies to come drill here, and I hope the answer is not very much.”

I

The Chronicle

www.dukechronicle.com

MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2014 | 5

sportswrap october 6, 2014

the chronicle

SPORTSWRAP

SANJEEV DASGUPTA/THE CHRONICLE

NOT IN THE CARDS

VOLLEYBALL: DOMINATES ACC OPPONENTS ON THE ROAD• FIELD HOCKEY: BUSTIN’S HOMECOMING SPOILED

6 | MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2014

www.dukechroniclesports.com www.dukechronicle.com

The Chronicle

Women’s Soccer

Blue Devils tie Cardinals in first ACC meeting Jack Dolgin Staff Writer A slow start and hot second half were not enough, as the Blue Devils failed to find the back of the net for the second straight game.

In its first ever ACC matchup, Duke tied Louisville 0-0 Friday night at Koskinen Stadium, despite outshooting the Cardinals 15-8 0 in the game. With DUKE LOUISVILLE 0 the draw, the Blue Devils remain in the four-spot in the ACC while Louisville fell into the nine-spot.

“It’s our opening home ACC match, so it’s disappointing for sure that we had a tie,” head coach Robbie Church said. “Every game has its moments…we were not ready for them.”

One of those moments came 18 minutes into the first half, when freshman Imani Dorsey—who ranks second in the ACC in shots during conference games this season— hit a sliding attempt in the box just wide of the left goalpost. In the 36th minute, Duke’s Krysia Sikora sent a cross straight for Katie Trees at the six-yard box, only for it to be caught by Cardinal goalie Paige Brown.

Other than those two chances, though, Louisville (5-5-3, 1-1-2 in the ACC) outplayed Duke (6-5-1, 2-1-1) in the first half, outshooting the Blue Devils 5-4 and dominating the home team physically 8-2 in fouls. The Cardinals nearly found the back of the net in the 30th minute when—off a corner kick— Erin Yenney headed the ball straight for the goal. Standing on the goal line, though, Dorsey miraculously headed the

Sanjeev Dasgupta | The Chronicle Despite several good looks, freshman Imani Dorsey and the Blue Devil offense could not find the back of the net against Louisville Friday.

ball back out to keep the shutout intact and deny Louisville its best opportunity of the night.

After what Church considered a “disappointing” first half, Duke found more opportunities throughout the next 45 minutes, with an impressive transition offense earning free kicks, corner kicks and scoring opportunities from within the box. The Blue Devils fired four shots within the first 12 minutes of the half.

None, however, came close.

“Imani [Dorsey] played really well starting in the second half, and the

moment for us was about a 10-minute play in the second half that we were just all over them,” Church said. “We were attacking much more with a purpose in the second half than we did in the first half.”

Duke’s offense seemed to filter through the freshman striker Dorsey, coupled with strong performances by Kelly Cobb, Toni Payne and Christina Gibbons. In the 79th minute, Gibbons steamrolled through the defense on a counterattack, found an open look on the right side of the box, but whipped it wide left in Duke’s best second half

SPORTSWRAP

opportunity.

After a scoreless 90 minutes, it was more of the same for the Blue Devils in overtime. Duke outshot Louisville 4-1 in the two 15-minute extra sessions, but could not capitalize as the scoreless match drew to a close.

“Give Louisville credit. I thought they also played a very good game,” Church said. “They scouted us very well, and they doubled us in a lot of positions out there. I thought they worked really, See W. Soccer on Page 8

Men’s Tennis

Duke, Alvarez cap solid play at ITA All-Americans Vaishnavi Krishnan Staff Writer Duke’s run in the ITA All-American Championship came to a close this past Saturday in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

After five tough days in the qualifying rounds earlier this past week, three Blue Devils took part in the championship draw of the singles tournament—senior Jason Tahir, junior Bruno Semenzato and freshman Nicolas Alvarez. Both Semenzato—who received a lucky loser’s bid—and Tahir competed in the consolation draw after losing in the first round of the main draw. This tournament is the biggest of the fall season and boasts the 64 best players from around the country in the draw.

The breakthrough performance of this tournament for the Blue Devil squad belonged to Alvarez. This was the first time since 2000—when current head coach Ramsey Smith and former Duke player Marko Cerenko advanced in the championship—that the Blue Devils have had a player move into the quarterfinals

of the ITA All-American singles main draw. Following a first round victory against California’s Andre Goransson, the freshman went on to knock off No. 5 seed Jared Hiltzik of Illinois 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 in a comeback victory to gain a spot in the round of 16. He kept up the strong play against South Florida’s Roberto Cid in the next round, once again pulling out a three-set victory 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.

“For [Alvarez], coming in as a freshman, making it through [qualifiers], winning three more matches in the main draw and reaching the quarterfinals… is a pretty amazing achievement for anyone, but especially amazing for a freshman,” Smith said. “This is his second-ever college tournament, and he obviously did the best of any freshman in the country, which is encouraging.”

With his run to the quarterfinals of the main draw, Alvarez has now qualified for the USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships in Flushing Meadows, N.Y., in November. In the quarterfinals , See M. Tennis on Page 8

Khloe Kim | The Chronicle Junior Bruno Semenzato (pictured) saw limited success in the consolation bracket at the ITA All-Americans main draw as freshman Nicolas Alvarez advanced to the quarterfinals.

The Chronicle

www.dukechroniclesports.com www.dukechronicle.com

MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2014 | 7

Volleyball

Duke keeps on rolling against Virginia, Notre Dame Olivia Banks Beat Writer As students finish up their first round of midterms, Duke can rest easy after passing the first of its crucial conference road tests of the season.

The Blue Devils hit the road this weekend, with stops at Charlottesville, and South DUKE 3 Va., Bend, Ind., and 0 were able to return UVA to Durham Sunday DUKE 3 afternoon with two 1 more ACC victories ND under their belts.

Duke swept the Cavaliers and took down the Fighting Irish 3-1.

The team’s first stop came in Charlottesville, as the Blue Devils (12-3, 4-0 in the ACC) faced Virginia. A talented Cavalier squad kept the Blue Devils from securing a substantial lead in the first set.

But the offensive effort, particularly on the part of sophomore outside hitters Jordan Tucker and Emily Sklar, allowed Duke to capture the first set 25-23.

“I was really pleased with the way we began the match,” head coach Jolene Nagel said. “We continued to control the ball like we wanted to, stuck to the game plan, and executed pretty well.”

After securing the opening stanza, the team continued to dictate play, holding the Cavaliers (10-7, 3-1) to only 18 points in both the second and the third sets. Despite Virginia’s aggressive serve receiving, Nagel attributed the first success of the weekend to the squad’s efficient play and communication throughout.

Catherine Wood | The Chronicle Junior Jordan Tucker and the Blue Devils won their sixth and seventh consecutive matches, as they continued their dominace of conference opponents.

Tucker knocked down 12 kills during the course of the match, with zero attack errors on 18 attempts, recording an impressive .667 hitting percentage.

Senior outside hitter Jeme Obemie led the Blue Devils with 13 kills overall.

“Virginia had some very talented hitters and blockers and their serve receiving was really solid,” Nagel said.

“We really had to work hard to serve tough to be able to make headway in that match, and I think we did that.”

The team’s next stop was Purcell Pavilion, where the Blue Devils took

on Notre Dame (4-11, 1-3) Sunday. Not unlike the previous matchup, the squad was anticipating an athletic group of players on the other side of the net and, according to Nagel, that is exactly what it got. She observed that it was difficult for the team to adjust in the opening set, despite the early two-set lead.

“I feel like we had a good start, but I don’t think we were as disciplined as we needed to be,” Nagel said. “That, then, allowed some errors to seep in and when we’re making errors, the other team has a chance to score some points. I felt like

SPORTSWRAP

we had more errors today than we did on Friday.”

The numerous attack errors culminated in a third set loss 25-20 for the Blue Devils, with the team recording only a .029 hitting percentage overall and posting 13 attack errors.

The slump did not last long, however, as the Blue Devils managed to bounce back in the fourth set, due to what Nagel attributes to the squad’s improved focus on its collective playing ability.

Communication has been a theme for Duke, and the majority of the team’s successes have involved consistent and effective communication between players and coaches, including the wins this weekend.

In addition to the team’s offensive success, the defensive effort was a critical part of the weekend’s victories.

Sophomore defensive specialist Sasha Karelov recorded 20 digs in the threeset match against Virginia and 23 digs against the Fighting Irish. “[Karelov] had a great weekend,” Nagel said. “I don’t think it was our best defensive effort for our entire team today, but having as many digs [as] she had really helped out.”

Although the Blue Devils collective defense left a lot to be desired against Notre Dame, the squad boasted four players with double-digit kills, which contributed heavily to the wins.

“Considering the circumstances of the travel and everything, I think it was a great thing to come away with two wins this weekend on the road in the ACC,” Nagel said. “That’s a wonderful thing to do.”

Field Hockey

Blue Devils drop back-to-back road games Cassie Calvert Staff Writer Friday night’s game proved to be a bittersweet homecoming for Duke head coach Pam Bustin, and Sunday’s game provided few pick-me-ups.

Louisville emerged victorious against Duke 2-1 DUKE 1 Friday night at LOUISVILLE 2 Trager Stadium in Louisville, Ky. The DUKE 2 Blue Devils then 3 seemed to bounce IND back at Indiana but three second half goals from the Hoosiers quickly changed the tune of the game and the weekend.

Against Indiana, the Blue Devils jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead off of goals from senior Jessica Buttinger and Heather Morris. Going into halftime, the game seemed to be all but decided.

“We came out strong and had our front ready to attack today,” Bustin said.

“Coming off a rough loss on Friday, I thought we regrouped pretty well. We

had a good practice Saturday.... With the two goal-lead at halftime, I felt that second half we were going to be able continue what we had done.”

But the Hoosiers had different plans.

Indiana cut the lead in half 12 minutes into the second period, as Taylor Pearson netted her first goal of the season. Just three minutes later, Audra Heilman added the equalizer, leading up to Sydney Supica’s go-ahead score in the 54th minute. In just seven minutes, Indiana had completed the comeback and left a shell-shocked Duke squad reeling from its first losing streak of the season.

“Of course we knew Indiana was going to come out stronger,” Bustin said. “I was a little disappointed how we handled that.”

The first defeat of the weekend tarnished the return trip to Louisville for Bustin, who served as the head coach of the Cardinals from 1998 until taking the helm at Duke in 2010.

“It was exciting to be there with Duke and play in that great environment. I

think it was exciting for [Louisville] as their first year in the ACC to have Duke there,” Bustin said. “It was fun. It was a great environment, a good night for a game.”

The No. 12 Cardinals handed No. 4 Duke its first loss on the road and maintained their unblemished home record. In just its fourth ACC contest since joining the conference this season, Louisville (9-2, 3-1 in the ACC) has already demonstrated that it is a team to be reckoned with.

In the first conference meeting between the two teams, Duke (8-2, 1-2 in the ACC) struggled to make an impact both offensively and defensively in the first half. The Blue Devils entered the game with an edge against the Cardinals 7-2 all-time, but Louisville got off to a fast start Friday. Sophomore Erin McCrudden and junior Elisa Garica each scored in the first half on penalty corners.

“We fell off a little bit in the first half See Field Hockey on Page 8

Sanjeev Dasgupta | The Chronicle Junior Lauren Blazing and the Duke defense allowed an uncharacteristic three-goal outburst from Indiana in Sunday’s loss.

The Chronicle

www.dukechroniclesports.com www.dukechronicle.com

8 | MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2014

W. SOCCER

M. TENNIS

really hard.”

Part of that hard work came in the form of physical play, as Louisville players went down four times. In the second half, junior Hannah Konerman needed to be carried off the field after sustaining a leg injury. It may have been ACC Sportsmanship Week, but under the magenta sunset and later moonlit night sky, Louisville fans were all over head referee Jeff Davis.

For the Blue Devils, an unmistakable highlight had to be the defense, as goalkeeper Ali Kershner—now boasting six shutouts this season—posted her third in the past four games.

“The defense has really risen to the challenge early in the year,” Church said. “It’s not just the back line, or the goalkeepers, it’s team defending... And that’s what we did… Unfortunately it ends up as a 0-0 tie.”

No. 2 seed Yannick Hanfmann from USC proved to be too strong a competitor and cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 victory against Alvarez.

“It’s All-Americans, it’s the biggest tournament of the fall, it’s a big national stage that everyone gets a shot at.

To have two guys break through is pretty neat,” Smith said.

“It’s pretty amazing how much [Alvarez] has improved just since he got here. I think four of the six guys he played play number one for their team, he beat two top-15 ranked guys in the country and he handled himself well in difficult moments against more veteran college players.”

Semenzato, who took on Connor Glennon of Memphis, dropped a close first set 6-7 (5) but was able to bounce back with a decisive 7-5, 6-0 in the next two sets for the victory Friday morning. Maintaining that momentum against Tennessee’s Hunter Reese,

continued from page 6

continued from page 6

#DyingInAmerica Sponsored by Bioethics, Law and Literature Duke Consortium on Social Equity

Most people nearing the end of life are capable of making their own decisions about care.

True or False?

(See answer tomorrow)

7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9 Smith Warehouse “Garage” Franklin Humanities Institute

Semenzato won handily, posting a 6-4, 6-2 victory to move into the quarterfinals of the consolation draw.

But his run ended there, where he fell in a tight contest 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3 against Ohio State’s Chris Diaz. Tahir fell 6-4, 6-2 to Tennessee’s Mikelis Libietis in the first round of consolation, ending his time in Tulsa.

The final of the All-Americans will be played Monday morning at 10 a.m., and though there are no Blue Devils in the event, both the finalists ousted a Duke player in the earlier rounds. Semenzato lost to Lousiville’s Sebastian Stiefelmeyer in the first round of the main draw 4-6, 6-2, 6-0, and Alvarez was knocked out by Hanfmann in the quarterfinals.

“It gives the team confidence, even the guys who maybe didn’t play as well at All-Americans. It just shows that we have a lot of players that can compete at the highest level against the top players in college,” Smith said. “I expect this to motivate the rest of the team for the rest of the fall.”

FIELD HOCKEY continued from page 7

and we gave Louisville five minutes that they capitalized on,” Bustin said. “That’s extremely frustrating and that’s tough on the road to kind of dig yourself out of that hole.”

The Blue Devils regrouped at halftime and came out strong in the second half, with a score in the 48th minute by senior Martine Chichizola—her third of the season—seeming to change the momentum of the game.

But senior Jessica Buttinger—who leads Duke with 12 points this season— was unable to convert on a penalty corner late in the 66th minute. Freshman Ashley Kristen attempted to even the score with a late shot as well, but was denied by Louisville goalie Sydney King.

“The second half, I thought we did a great job in changing our energy and changing mentality and playing together as a team,” Bustin said. “We had some wonderful chances and unfortunately it didn’t go for us last night.”

The Blue Devils will spend the week looking to correct the mistakes made this past weekend before playing host to ACC foe Boston College Friday at 6 p.m.

“We’re still learning, there are changes that we have to make. No matter what the personnel is on the field, we’ve got to come out ready to play and come out with a lot of intensity and energy,” Bustin said.

SPORTSWRAP

#DyinginAmerica #Duke

Student Ticket Lottery Duke vs. Connecticut Men’s Basketball Game Game on Thursday, December 18, 2014 Izod Center in East Rutherford, NJ • Ticket lottery will be held on October 7 & 8 • 10 am – 4 pm at the Cameron Indoor Stadium Ticket Office • To enter the lottery: 1. Present your Duke Card 2. Cash or Check in the amount of $29 3. Sign the lottery rules form • If you are successful in the lottery, you will receive an email from the Duke Ticket Office with pick up date and time.

• This lottery is only for current Duke students. Students who are successful in the lottery may NOT transfer their ticket to anyone else.

Questions call 681-BLUE (2583)

—Nick Martin contributed to this article.

THE

• • • CHRONICLE APP Need Duke news and info?

There’s an app for that.

•••

The Chronicle

www.dukechronicle.com

MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2014 | 9

Men’s Soccer

Duke blown out 4-1 on the road at Wake Forest

CLASSIFIEDS ANNOUNCEMENTS

BLUE DEVIL MUSICIANS WANTED

TEACH A HOUSE COURSE!

What do Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, Carlos Santana and the 2014 Bands4Good Challenge have in common?

SPRING 2015

Staff Reports

APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE

The Chronicle

online at housecrs.trinity.duke.edu

Wake Forest entered Friday’s matchup as one of the top offensive teams in the ACC and in the second half against the Blue Devils, it made sure to back up its reputation.

The Demon Deacons routed Duke 4-1 at Spry Stadium in Winston Salem, N.C. thanks to an DUKE 1 impressive display WAKE 4 of offense in the second half that resulted in three unanswered goals.

Wake Forest (6-4-0, 2-2-0) dominated on offense in the first half, outshooting Duke 12-4. Despite the differential, the Blue Devils managed to keep things close, allowing a sole Demon Deacon goal in the first half n the 43rd minute.

Duke would answer 10 minutes into the second half, as Nick Palodichuk connected on a 20-yard strike off a Zach Mathers assist. In the 58th minute, with the game knotted at 1-1, things would begin to unravel for the Blue Devils.

Through the next 26 minutes, Wake Forest controlled the pace and momentum, reeling off three-straight goals to secure its second conference victory.

Although it was far from the result the Blue Devils were looking for, the loss actually did not set them back in the conference race as much as it could have sudoku_448B

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION: Friday, October 10, 2014 Inquiries to kt125@duke.edu

Jesus Hidalgo | The Chronicle Nat Eggelston and the Blue Devil defense could not slow down Wake Forest in Friday’s loss.

thanks to some other fortunate results around the league.

No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 8 Louisville and Clemson all suffered losses this weekend, leaving Duke’s ACC position— and postseason dreams—untarnished.

The Blue Devils will spend the week working on their defense and preparing for another road trip, as they will head to Charlottesville, Va., to face Virginia Oct. 11 at 7 p.m.

HARASSMENT OF ANY KIND, including sexual harassment, is unacceptable at Duke. Sexual harassment is a form of discrimination and also prohibited by Title IX, a federal law that prohibits discrimination based upon gender. Discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, gender or age is prohibited by law and Duke policy.

They all support music education.

Are you ready to be “discovered”! Now is your chance.

Bands4Good Challenge 2014 is looking for talented Duke musicians---students, faculty, staff and/or alums, unsigned solo artists or bands of all genres and instrumentation--to receive national exposure, the opportunity to win valuable prizes, be heard by music industry professionals and raise money for a worthy cause!

6

1

3

2 8 6 (c) PZZL.com

1 5

5 9 3 7 8

448B

Distributed by The New York Times syndicate

Solution sudoku_448B Find the answers to the Sudoku puzzle on

the classifieds page

7 3 2 9 8 4 5 1 6 6 4 8 7 1 5 3 9 2 The Chronicle 9 Our 1 celebrity 5 6 spouses: 3 2 8 4 7 Ann Perkins: ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ mouses Matt Saracen: �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������bacces 8 2 9 3 4 7 1 6 5 Mr. Big: ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������stiehmy Bradley Cooper: �����������������������������������������������������������������������menchacachaca 1 7 4 8voice: ���������������������������� 5 6 9 NickatNite 2 3 Idris Elba with Matthew McConaughey’s Reggie Bush: ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Syracuse 3 5 6 2 9 1 4NationalParke 7 8 Andrew Garfield: ����������������������������������������������������������������������� Conor Kennedy: ������������������������������������������������������������������� ChasingtheDream Barb Starbuck gets 2 all the9 husbands: �������������������������������������������������������Barb 3 4 7 8 6 5 1 Student Advertising Manager:...................................................James Sinclair 5 8 7 1Jennifer6Bahadur, 9 Shannon 2 3Beckham 4 Account Representatives:....................... .

Peter Chapin, Caitlin Chase, Courtney Clower, Alyssa Coughenour 4 Chris 6 Geary, 1 Liz 5Lash, Hannah 2 3Long, Parker 7 8 9 Tyler Deane-Krantz, Masselink

448B

Nic Meiring, Brian Paskas, Nick Philip, Cliff Simmons, Lexy Steinhilber, Olivia Wax Creative Services Student Manager:.................................. Marcela Heywood Creative Services:...........................................................Allison Eisen, Mao Hu Rita Lo, Izzy Xu Business Office..........................................................................Susanna Booth

$189 for 5 Days. All prices include: Round-trip luxury party cruise. Accommodations on the island at your choice of sudoku_448B resorts. Appalachia thirteen Travel. www.BahamaSun.com Created by Peter Ritmeester/Presented by Will Shortz 800-867-5018 3

9

6

8

1 6 The Chronicle

1

3

classified advertising

2

5

www.dukechronicle.com/ 8 9 1 3 classifieds 6 5 7 8

448B

Distributed by The New York Times syndicate

(c) PZZL.com

Solution sudoku_448B

For Information Call: 1-800-972-3550 For Release Monday, October 6, 2014

7 6 9 8 1 3 2 5 4

3 4 1 2 7 5 9 8 6

2 8 5 9 4 6 3 7 1

9 7 6 3 8 2 4 1 5

8 1 3 4 5 9 7 6 2

4 5 2 7 6 1 8 9 3

5 3 8 1 9 4 6 2 7

1 9 4 6 2 7 5 3 8

6 2 7 5 3 8 1 4 9

448B

dukechronicle.com classifieds

Crossword

8 1 6

BAHAMAS SPRING BREAK

The Bands4Good Challenge is a national online music competition where fans purchase votes for their favorite contestants with proceeds benefiting music education in schools through participating charities. The application window closes October 30 so hurry and apply now at

3 9

TRAVEL/VACATION

If you have questions or want additional information, you may contact the Office for Institutional Equity (OIE) directly at (919) 684-8222 or visit our website at: www. duke.edu/web/equity. If you www.bands4good.com have a concern, you are encouraged to seek help from your manager, Human Resources or OIE. Students who have concerns may seek asAdvertise here for sistance from the Office of The New York Times Syndication Sales Corporation Student Conduct, your chair, the best results dean or OIE. 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10018

Created by Peter Ritmeester/Presented by Will Shortz

Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.

(No number is repeated in any column, row or box.)

VOTER REGISTRATION: Make sure your NC voter registration is up to date at https://www.ncsbe.gov/webapps/voter_search/ October 10 deadline to register. Info on how to register at http:// www.ncsbe.gov/

ACROSS 1 Pyramid city close to Cairo 5 Mocking remarks 10 “Yikes!”

14 Achieved a perfect score on 15 Obstinate reply 16 African country bordering 12-Down 17 Socialite who inspired 1950’s “Call Me Madam” 19 Texts, e.g.: Abbr.

20 Fossil fuel 21 Sulu and Uhura, e.g., on the Enterprise 23 1957 hit covered

by Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1968 25 First word in many newspaper names 26 “___ you for real?”

27 ___ Dhabi 28 Stale-smelling 31 Like Old Norse writing

33 Workplace communication 35 Letters before an alias 36 Not eat eagerly 37 Pastrami and salami 40 Vietnam War weapon 43 Make a goof 44 Sea of Tranquillity, for the Apollo 11 astronauts 48 Car fuel additive 49 Army NCOs 51 Site of a church kneeler 52 ___-la-la 53 McKellen who played Magneto in the “X-Men” films 55 One of a 1980s demographic 57 Run out of energy 61 Martinique et Guadeloupe 62 Many a car on the autobahn 63 Groups hired for high-profile cases 66 Carpentry spacer

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE L A Z A R U S

O Z Z F E S T

M O Z I L L A

F U J I T S U

I P A D A P P

T O N E L O C

B A R D B L U E Q U I L I N T Y G O A W I S H E D M I X I N T O N E N E P A A L D A R I A N G E R C O D E

G O G E G L L K E S

O V A R Y

E D J U A E P A S E N T A O R O P L

G O B A R E R A T E N G S T A A S I D M A M E B A L E R E R E S S I Y N K A R T G A T O R Y O G I E M A P L M A I L S A N N E A Y T E X

67 Sky-blue 68 Where Vietnam is 69 Roget’s listings: Abbr.

70 Theater reservations 71 1930s art style, informally DOWN 1 Clothing chain with a “Baby” division 2 Drink cooler 3 Like a game with equal winners and losers 4 Old politico Stevenson 5 “Garfield” cartoonist Davis 6 Leaves dumbstruck 7 Deluxe 8 It’s really something 9 ___ infection 10 Jane Austen heroine 11 What’s filled up in a fill-up 12 African country bordering 16-Across 13 Cut up, as a frog 18 Kind of school after nursery school: Abbr.

22 Boy Scout ___ badge 23 Uncle ___ 24 Hesitation about something 29 Slalom, say 30 Breaks … or an anagram of the ends of five Across answers in this puzzle 32 Golden State school up the coast from L.A.

Edited by Will Shortz 1

2

TGIF 3 4

5

14

8

9

10

21

28

Sportswrap ~ 37 38 today!

33

34

41

25 29

31

47

32

36 39 43

48

44

49 53

46

26

30

35

42

52

13

22

24

27

12

19

Recess ~ today!

23

11

16

18 20

57

7

15

17

40

6

No. 0901

50

54

58

55 59

60

45 51

56 61

62

63

66

67

64 68

65

69

70

71

PUZZLE BY ALLAN E. PARRISH

34 Old jazz icon Anita 36 The “P” of G.O.P. 38 Perry of fashion 39 Part of a joule 40 Business setback recorded on Schedule C 41 Wither away 42 Add by degrees 45 Mollify

46 Earth-shaking 47 Animal whose name sounds like a pronoun 49 It goes “Ah-h-h-choo!”

58 State trees of North Dakota and Massachusetts 59 Spanish water

50 Zoot ___

60 Many a service station adjunct

54 Mythical strong man

64 “___ Misérables”

56 Beg

65 ___ Paulo

Annual subscriptions are available for the best of Sunday crosswords from the last 50 years: 1-888-7-ACROSS. AT&T users: Text NYTX to 386 to download puzzles, or visit nytimes.com/mobilexword for more information.

Online subscriptions: Today’s puzzle and more than 2,000 past puzzles, nytimes.com/crosswords ($39.95 a year).

Share tips: nytimes.com/wordplay.

Crosswords for young solvers: nytimes.com/learning/xwords.

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

“

The paths not taken Andrew Yang—founder and CEO of Venture for America, a program that encourages recent college graduates to pursue novel and entrepreneurial initiatives—recently published a piece in which he outlined the “six tracks” that he argues up to 70 percent of graduates from the nation’s top

Editorial universities funnel into. Unsurprisingly, these six tracks encompass most of “The Big Four” industries Duke students are attracted to: law, finance, consulting and medicine. Yang adds Teach for America and graduate school to these four options to round out his six tracks. Is the pre-professional aspect of education disruptive to Duke liberal arts?

We’ve written about the pitfalls and opportunities with pursuing consulting and finance before. On the more general issue of pre-professionalism we fall much the same way: it’s ok to have specific career goals in mind and to create an educational experience which allows us to reach those goals. However, that ultimate objective should be the result of a period of self-reflection and analysis which we believe requires the resources, environment and stimuli of a liberal

arts education. Moreover, falsely conceptualizing pre-professionalism as a necessarily myopic and rigid educational pathway limits the flexibility students still retain within these tracks. When seen in this way, being “pre-professional” is one of many pathways to achieving one of many goals we as students hold.

Still, we caution against the fact that too many people forgo the “pre-” step of introspection and proceed straight to the professionalism.

Doing so cuts both students and society at large short. When students pursue narrowly defined educational pathways and goals, the distribution of student talent and education is skewed towards a handful of industries. The industries themselves are hollowed out as hordes of students pursue law degrees, for example, without any intention of ever becoming a lawyer. Moreover, overlytracked education rewards perceptions of prestige rather than social value production; it values credentialism over the content of our education; and it encourages optionality—students keeping as many career paths open as possible—over intentionality in pursuing our goals.

Pre-professionalism originated out of old European universities, which continues to exercise a deep educational and architectural legacy on their

I hope now that you are having this realization, you take the many wonderful things Duke does give you, and turn that into direction and action in your life that you find meaningful for the Latino community.

—“Emily Du” commenting on the column “I wasn’t meant to be here.”

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.

E

” edit pages

Direct submissions to: E-mail: chronicleletters@duke.edu Editorial Page Department The Chronicle Box 90858, Durham, NC 27708 Phone: (919) 684-2663 Fax: (919) 684-4696

The Chronicle

Inc. 1993

CARLEIGH STIEHM, Editor MOUSA ALSHANTEER, Managing Editor EMMA BACCELLIERI, News Editor GEORGIA PARKE, Executive Digital Editor NICK MARTIN, Sports Editor DARBI GRIFFITH, Photography Editor ELIZABETH DJINIS, Editorial Page Editor TIFFANY LIEU, Editorial Board Chair MICHAEL LAI, Director of Online Development TYLER NISONOFF, Director of Online Operations CHRISSY BECK, General Manager RACHEL CHASON, University Editor ALEENA KAREDIYA, Local & National Editor GAUTAM HATHI, Health & Science Editor EMMA LOEWE, News Photography Editor KATIE FERNELIUS, Recess Editor IZZY CLARK, Recess Photography Editor MICHELLE MENCHACA, Editorial Page Managing Editor DANIEL CARP, Towerview Editor ELYSIA SU, Towerview Photography Editor MARGOT TUCHLER, Social Media Editor PATTON CALLAWAY, Senior Editor RAISA CHOWDHURY, News Blog Editor SHANEN GANAPATHEE, Multimedia Editor SOPHIA DURAND, Recruitment Chair MEGAN HAVEN, Advertising Director BARBARA STARBUCK, Creative Director

American counterparts. In European educational models, students choose degree specializations attached to specific careers before entering the university. Yet compared to this European model, even the most pre-professional liberal arts education in the US still allows for significant flexibility. For example, a pre-med Duke students with no Advanced Placement credits has fifteen credits left over after fulfilling all of their pre-med requirements. That puts the onus on students to remain critical and reflective about how they design their undergraduate education and be intentional in their choices. And so we say to students: step back and think about what you really want to do and why.

All this aside, there are even bigger system forces at work that shape our educational decisions and career preferences. It has becoming increasingly prestigious to attend four-year, private, liberal arts colleges, which also happen to be the most expensive forms of higher education. To be able to pay off the exorbitant cost of higher education, students are incentivized to apply to high-paying jobs Why society places more monetary value on “Big Four” industries and more generally, exploring what other pathways of value will be the subject of our second editorial tomorrow.

Opt out or “weed-out”

onlinecomment

Est. 1905

The Chronicle

www.dukechronicle.com commentary

10 | MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2014

KALI SHULKLAPPER, University Editor JENNA ZHANG, Local & National Editor GRACE WANG, Health & Science Editor BRIANNA SIRACUSE, Sports Photography Editor GARY HOFFMAN, Recess Managing Editor YUYI LI, Online Photo Editor RYAN HOERGER, Sports Managing Editor DANIELLE MUOIO, Towerview Editor ELIZA STRONG, Towerview Creative Director RYAN ZHANG, Special Projects Editor RITA LO, Executive Print Layout Editor IMANI MOISE, News Blog Editor KRISTIE KIM, Multimedia Editor ANDREW LUO, Recruitment Chair MEGAN MCGINITY, Digital Sales Manager MARY WEAVER, Operations 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.

To reach the Editorial Office at 301 Flowers Building, call 684-2663 or fax 684-4696. To reach the Business Office at 2022 Campus Drive call 684-3811. To reach the Advertising Office at 2022 Campus Drive call 684-3811 @ 2014 Duke Student Publishing Company

verything about Duke is welcoming, except for the classes.

When I first came to campus, I was treated to a warm welcome by almost everyone.

The message came from wildly enthusiastic firstyear advisory counselors, whose excitement was particularly noteworthy given that they were hauling luggage in the heat and craze of move-in day. I heard it from my resident assistants and resident coordinators in my dorm and from President Brodhead during Convocation.

For the most part, I have really felt very welcome here. Upperclassmen are enthusiastic about the organizations I’ve joined and I have almost figured out the bus system.

In the academic arena, however, the warm welcome seems to rapidly dissipate. Instead of

places where students are encouraged to explore different academic interests and to approach learning with curiosity and excitement. In that sense, a weed-out course is against everything that a university, especially Duke, should stand for.

Students would benefit more if introductory courses were taught with the intention of exposing students to new material and not any other ulterior motive, like discouraging students from going forward with the major.

If these courses focused more on introducing students to the material, then students wouldn’t just worry about their grade but also actively think about the concepts being taught.

It’s also worth noting that many weed-out classes are also introductory courses taken by freshmen. This is particularly harmful because

Shruti Rao DISTURBING THE UNIVERSE enjoying my introductory courses and exploring new subjects, I’m just trying to scrape by with a semi-decent grade. In layman’s terms, the struggle has been very real.

I hear people use the term “weed-out” class all the time, especially for classes in economics, public policy and almost all introductory math. It’s worth noting that “weed-out” isn’t an official term that shows up on ACES while we register and book bag our classes, but it is true that some introductory courses are exceptionally difficult.

Basically, a weed-out class is a class that is designed to discourage students from further exploring that subject area, so as to ensure that the students who do actually pursue it are serious enough about the subject to stay. The consequence is that it also translates into creating introductory courses that are essentially designed to discourage students from learning more about that discipline.

While I understand why departments create weed-out courses, I think its important to factor in the impact that these classes can have. I find it shocking that here at Duke, a place that should be focused on encouraging students to explore their interests, students have to take introductory courses that are absurdly difficult for the sole purpose of discouraging them to continue to learn. Weed-out courses also discourage students from honestly engaging with the material and turn the focus on grades.

After all, universities are supposed to be

many freshmen are still trying to decide what their interests are and want to take introductory courses across different disciplines to find what they enjoy. However, when basic introductory classes are made extremely challenging, students are advised against taking a variety of courses and don’t get to explore as much, which could be a huge academic loss. Weed-out courses are also often large lecture style classes which breed competition as students try to find their way to the top of the curve instead of fostering community and making students feel like they belong at Duke. Also, freshmen year is a big transition year where students deal with leaving home and their families for the first time while also adjusting to college life. The combination of unnecessarily difficult coursework creates a stressful experience, which takes away from the Duke experience.

I came to Duke to be exposed to new ideas and get excited about learning. Creating a rigorous academic environment is definitely important, but when it comes at the cost of students actually engaging with the material, it may not be the most productive style of teaching.

Creating courses like weed-outs discourage actual learning and take away from our ability to build a thriving intellectual environment here at Duke.

Shruti Rao is a Trinity freshman. Her column runs every other Monday.

The Chronicle

www.dukechronicle.com commentary

MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2014 | 11

Cut the cord

S

alutations children, I was sitting on the Main Quad a few days ago appreciating the beauty of my iPhone 7— the iPhone 6 is already too basic for me—when something strange happened. No, it was not the lack of half-dressed Duke students playing cornball or whatever faux southern frativity they indulge in near Craven (although, let’s be real, we are all glad that part of the year is over.) Here I was, sitting there minding my own business making snide comments about the tour groups, when another one of my so-called friends decided to ruin my day by having a complete and utter mental breakdown.

She—because you know men can’t have mental breakdowns due to sexism or gender norms or whatever—started blubbering about how Duke was “so hard” and she was “so stressed” and “so homesick.” In order to deal with the situation and get back to seeing how many likes my most recent

fall break), get yourself a JetBlue ticket and go.

Being homesick if you’re from these types of places doesn’t merit pity—even though I pity all of you for not being as “with it” like I am—because the flight is only an hour, which is approximately how long it takes to get from Edens to Science Drive.

If you really miss your family that much and you’re from somewhere far like California, try to keep life together. In case you didn’t realize that it’s modern day because movies like “Back to the Future” have misled and disappointed you on what 2014 would be like, we have the technology to talk to others far away. In fact, in assuaging homesickness, Skype is better than a real visit because you get the luxury of stopping the conversation whenever it’s convenient for you by hanging up and walking away, which is apparently rude in person, but I digress. I totally fail to understand what you would miss about home? Duke has food, amazing living

Monday Monday

The midterms that matter

“

You can’t complain about politicians if you don’t vote!”

“Our forefathers fought for the right to vote—exercise it!”

“Your vote really does matter!”

These are all untrue or insufficient reasons that government teachers tell us so we’ll vote once we turn 18.

They just aren’t good enough to motivate most millennials like myself though—they don’t tell us how our vote will directly affect us. So let me tell you why you should take a second away from such carnal needs as the birds and the bees, and of course the squirrels, and take the time to vote in the upcoming elections.

When you decide to run for or donate your way into public office in the future (you’re a Duke student so you’ve undoubtedly fantasized about being president, though you’re

Justin Koritzinsky

WITH DISDAIN, YOUR GUARDIAN DEVIL

SOUNDOFFS FROM EDEN

Facebook status got, I told her selfish self to calm down and be grateful that even though she was “homesick,” she wasn’t actually sick with Ebola or anything that could affect my life.

However, after she left, in what seemed to be more tears from when she arrived, I realized that maybe being homesick was a more widespread issue at this school that I, as your guardian devil, could try to better understand. Since I have houses in all 50 US states, Puerto Rico, Guam, Mexico and briefly North Korea, I find it difficult to relate to those who only have “one home that they miss so much.” But because I’m so magnanimous, I’ll try to relate. I get that after almost half a semester of stressful midterms, interviews, assignments, Tinder dates and late-night pizza deliveries, your guardian devil knows there is one thing on your mind— home. So let’s talk about being homesick because you’re all incredibly pathetic.

Like most obnoxious Duke students, I’m from the Northeast because if you have to live in America, it’s the only acceptable place to be from. I’m pretty sure the pilgrims and colonists left Europe—which probably had great nightlife back then too—to move there so it must be pretty great. In particular, I hail from the New York area, which is my ambiguous way of saying “I want to say I’m from New York City, but I actually live in Connecticut/New Jersey/Long Island/etc. and only go in to the city once in a while when getting drunk in my basement, however large it may be, is too much, oh and I think I’m better than you.” If you really want to go home (like for this upcoming

conditions—unless you’re me and are used to really bougie things—a gym and people to listen to you complain about how hard your life is (shout out to the Duke Librarians y’all).

So don’t be weak-minded and keep it together.

I usually don’t advocate for tough love because I prefer passive-aggressive manipulation, but get over being homesick. Your parents and friends likely still love you for whatever reasons and you have everything you need here. In an effort to be more self-critical, which my psychiatrist says will help me become an even better person (like that’s possible), I’ll admit that I may not understand exactly what you feel is missing with your life here at Duke. I was raised by a string of nannies from countries who don’t speak English, Ivy League au pairs trying to become my stepmother(s) and, for one summer, Mary Poppins. That’s a lot of people I’ve grown up with, but you don’t see me having a complete mental breakdown about it, so why should you?

Because I’m a normal 18-22 year old, I never feel homesick so while you all deal with your emotions this upcoming Fall Break, I plan on going on a personal “Eat, Pray, Love” vacation, without the praying or the love. As your guardian devil, if you’re feeling homesick, I truly hope you cut the cord because I’m pretty sure this overall depressive attitude is going to further reduce our U.S. News ad World Report rankings.

edit pages

Your guardian devil loves mispronouncing names intentionally and is currently petitioning RDU to establish valet parking.

open to such lesser roles as Senator or cabinet member), there will be background checks. These include a peek at your voting record to ensure your interest in politics is genuine and not self-motivated—I know this seems mind-boggling, but there are actually people who go into politics for personal gain.

After propping up your campaign with millions of your own money or befriending an up-and-coming politician, the last thing you want getting between you and that fancy title is a little misunderstanding, like the fact that you haven’t voted in the last 20 years—you can’t Short-Term Illness Notification Form your way out of that one.

This situation is unnecessary though, so do yourself a favor and register to vote. Now here comes the hard part—ask for an absentee ballot. Remember, if you voted is public, but not who you voted for—once you get your ballot in the mail, always opt for the write-in (these are mad-libs for adults).

Of course there are those of you who get more excited for their 18th birthday than their 21st. For them, the life and death of government (which one depends on the side of the aisle they lie on) is what they live and die for. These diehards have already gained residency in a battleground state, but for everyone else who hasn’t, changing the state you live in can make your vote more valuable.

“But I thought the abolishment of the 3/5 rule made all votes equal,” you might ask—it made all votes equally worthless. A 1998 study found that in the best case scenario, your vote has 1 in 1.5 million chance of making a difference—in some states, the odds that your vote will affect the outcome is less than 1 in 100 million. These odds are of the same magnitude as you winning the lottery. If your vote is the winner though, don’t count on hundreds of millions to recklessly spend coming your way—the government only gives those types of awards to people named Solyndra and ExxonMobil.

So if all Duke students not from North Carolina (also known as everyone from New York, New Jersey & California) want their votes to get a little more bang for their buck, they should change their residency to North Carolina. I know this will be tough for these students whose identity exists solely through their legal residence, but it’s a necessary step to maximize your vote’s value. What’s more, by claiming the Tar Heel state as your own, it’s no longer cultural appropriation when you add a little y’all to your drawl.

If I haven’t made the political risks of not voting clear yet, let me direct you to Meg Whitman, billionaire former CEO of eBay and current Chairman and CEO of Hewett-Packard.

In between these two jobs, Whitman realized her true calling was politics—in particular, governor of California.

Unfortunately for her, she was blinded by the light that was her destiny in politics and, at the time of her campaign, had forgotten to vote in 8 of 14 elections since 2000. Despite pouring $144 million of her own fortune into her campaign and actually remembering to vote, Whitman still came up short. While her loss was mostly due to poor public outreach and widespread hypocrisy, her less than stellar voting record certainly didn’t help.

Don’t be that person. Don’t be Meg Whitman.

So take a step back from midterms and cast your ballot in the midterms—don’t do it for me or for your country, do it for yourself.

Justin Koritzinsky is a Trinity sophomore. His column runs every other Monday.

12 | MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2014

LEMURS

continued from page 1 interest in joining this year’s Fall event.

“It’s a great opportunity for families to come because they can take their time with the animals. The lemurs are engaging and fun to meet. It’s just such a casual, laid back type of environment,”

www.dukechronicle.com

Kalin said.

Program participant Susan Marks and her daughters spoke enthusiastically of their connection with Thistle, a female mouse lemur they adopted last year.

“We have not only adopted lemurs, we got [my daughter’s] school to do a field trip out here to visit Thistle,” Marks said.

Former Duke financial administrator turned Lemur Center volunteer, George Kolasa, provided insight into his own af-

fection for the Center’s lemurs, many of which are named after famous celebrities.

“Elvis Presley is my favorite lemur here. He’s a blue-eyed black lemur,” Kolasa said. “These lemurs are actually one of the only primate species that have blue eyes.”

Their piercing eyes are one of the many qualities unique to lemurs. The critically endangered primates can jump up

The Chronicle to 30 feet between tree trunks and many parade different fur colors throughout life as a result of their extreme sexual dimorphism. Television programs like “Lemur Kingdom” and “Zoboomafoo” have brought the distinctive creatures wider notoriety.

Since its founding in 1966, Duke’s Lemur Center has become the world’s largest sanctuary for the animals outside of their native Madagascar.

Weekend in photos

Emma Loewe | The Chronicle The Duke Chapel hosted its annual Blessing of the Animals service on its front lawn Sunday.

The service has been held each year since 1989, and, last year, the Chapel ministered blessings to animals ranging from hamsters to horses.

Jennifer Zhou | The Chronicle The Nasher Student Advisory Board hosted “Discover,” an event featuring 20th century exhibits and Salsa performances, Thursday.

Lily Coad | The Chronicle DuARTS hosted an arts festival and auction on the Bryan Center Plaza Friday afternoon.