Blue Devils Hope to Regain Footing Against Hokies Having recently fallen out of the top 15 for the first time this season, No. 16 Duke will take on Virginia Tech Thursday | Page 2
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
THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2015
WWW.DUKECHRONICLE.COM
ONE HUNDRED AND TENTH YEAR, ISSUE 64
Duke athletes rally for campaign
Report adds newdimension toPottiscandal
Report alleges that Duke faculty attempted to quiet a whistleblower on Potti’s research Emma Baccellieri News Editor More than four years after former Duke researcher Anil Potti resigned in a scandal that made national headlines, the case has resurfaced—this time for the manner in which Duke handled concerns about Potti’s research from a medical student. A report published Anil Potti earlier this week in The Cancer Letter, a weekly national newsletter on cancer research, alleges that Duke professors and deans tried to quiet a whistleblower on Potti’s research in 2008, two years before formal investigations into Potti’s work led to his resignation. Bradford Perez, a third-year medical student working in Potti’s lab at the time, raised concerns about possible misconduct and falsification of data in Potti’s research. When he tried to pursue the matter, however, he was told that pressing forward would result in a loss of funding for his own research and an internal investigation at Duke. He was also discouraged from taking further action, according to The Cancer Letter’s report. The new information comes from emails and depositions given in a Durham County Superior Court case brought by patients involved in Potti’s clincial trials. Filed in October 2011—with defendants See Potti on Page 3
|
|
Photo Courtesy of Shayan Asadi You Don’t Say?, a campaign that aims to raise awareness of the offensive nature of phrases and slurs used in everyday conversation through photographs, has now rolled out its second online push featuring 41 Duke student-athletes. (See story on Page 8.)
Faculty fight drug resistance with software Gautam Hathi Health & Science Editor A computer program developed at Duke has become the latest weapon in the war on drug-resistant bacteria. Researchers at Duke and the University of Connecticut have published findings that open source software can predict how bacteria will become resistant to new drugs. The software analyzes the structure of the bacteria and determines how bacteria will change and adapt to new drugs. In lab tests, the software was able to predict how Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria would develop Bruce Donald resistance to new drugs developed at the University of Connecticut. The software may now be used to improve the drug resistance of antibiotics before they
|
|
|
INSIDE — News 2 Recess 4 Sports 8 Classified 9 Puzzles 9 Opinion 10
|
undergo clinical trials. new drugs, those predictions were tested at “It gives us a little window into evolution,” the University of Connecticut by Amy Ansaid Bruce Donald, James B. Duke professor derson, professor of medicinal chemistry. of computer science and chemistry and co- She is currently working on developing new author of the paper. “We can see what moves antibiotics to fight drug-resistant MRSA bacthe bacterium could make—or will make— teria. Anderson exposed bacteria to her new against new drugs that are drugs and saw how the in the pipeline.” bacteria changed to dee can see what Donald’s open source velop resistance. “We grew resistant software—OSPREY—has moves the bactebacteria and we sebeen used previously to rium could make—or will determine the structure quenced the gene to of proteins and design make—against new drugs find out which mutations new proteins. For this that are in the pipeline. it had. We found some experiment, the software of the same mutations — Bruce Donald which [the software] had was used to determine predicted,” Anderson how bacteria could modify their proteins in ways that would make said. “The prediction was actually validated them resistant to new drugs. in the bacteria.” “The hypothesis is that in order to select Once researchers know how bacteria will resistance mutations, essentially the patho- adapt to a new drug, they can modify the gen has to, on its own, solve a rather tricky drug to fight those adaptations. This saves protein design problem,” Donald said. a large amount of time, effort and money Once the software predicted the possible See Donald on Page 3 ways in which bacteria might change to fight
W
Serving the University since 1905
|
@dukechronicle
|
© 2015 The Chronicle
2 | THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2015
To kick off Spring semester, DSG decharters 50 groups Due to their failure to re-register or undergo training, over 50 student groups were dechartered Wed. Alex Griffith The Chronicle Duke Student Government dechartered more than 50 student groups and funded a large group of student activities. In its first meeting of the Spring 2015 semester, the DSG Senate voted on a statute to decharter 56 groups due to their failure to re-register or go through student group training during the Fall. The statue allows the University Center of Activities and Events and the Student Organization Finance Committee to ensure that student groups are following University rules and regulations and also prevents money from sitting unused in student group accounts. DSG also voted to fund a variety of student group activities. Inside Joke received $1,998 to rent Sheafer Theater and advertise for a stand-up show; the Asian Students Association received $3,460 to bring in a comedian, the Me Too Monologues received $4,350 to bring in a speaker to discuss eating disorders and body image, the Muslim Students Association received $3,525 to bring in a comedian to address racism and Islamophobia, the Duke Asian American Theater received $1,592 to facilitate their annual 24 hour production, Alpha Kappa Delta Phi received $1,615 to bring in the runner up Miss America to speak about her experience as an Asian American in a white-dominated competition and the Duke Consulting Club received $3,580 to hold a workshop to prepare students for consulting interviews. DSG also recognized three groups— Desarolla, which connects students to Latin American communities; the Undergraduate Council for Middle East-
The Chronicle
www.dukechronicle.com
President Obama’s Fourth Quarter Foreign Policy
ern Studies, which builds connections between students, faculty, professionals and careers; and the Duke Curling Club. In other business: Senator for Equity and Outreach John Guarco, a sophomore, explained a new Facebook page created by the Equity and Outreach Committee, which will provide a support and information center for sexual assault victims, in addition to serving as a platform for women’s advocacy groups at Duke. The You Don’t Say Campaign received $380 for banners from the Financial Oversight and Appeals Committee. The Senate passed a statute to provide Fix My Campus with $70 to install a dataport for an ePrint center in the Physics building.
Sanjeev Dasgupta | The Chronicle Jake Sullivan, former national security advisor to Vice President Joe Biden, spoke with Peter Feaver, professor of political science and public policy, about President Obama’s foreign policy agenda at the Sanford School of Public Policy Tuesday evening.
Welcome to The Edge
Lesley Chen-Young | The Chronicle At its Wednesday meeting, DSG dechartered over 50 student organizations and provided funding to various others.
RESEARCH & LEARN
@ DUKE MARINE LAB TAKE CARE OF CORE REQUIREMENTS WITH SMALL CLASS SIZES IN A ONE-ON-ONE ENVIRONMENT SUMMER 2015 Session I: May 11 – June 12 • Session II: July 6 – Aug. 7 FALL 2015 Research Independent Study and more! Go online to see what courses are offered.
Izzi Clark | The Chronicle Duke Libraries hosted an open house Wednesday afternoon in celebration of the completion of The Edge, the newly renovated interdisciplinary research commons on the first floor of Bostock Library.
LOOK SHARP Leaders are made in the National Guard. Contact a Recruiter today! • Leadership training
FREE lunch in Durham, Wed., Feb. 4
• Career skills
Join Marine Lab staff to learn about studying at the Marine Lab.
• Money for college
RSVP sarah.anne.phillips@duke.edu with any questions. dukemarinelab.net
• Part-time service in your community
NATIONALGUARD.com 1-800-GO-GUARD Programs and Benefits Subject to Change
07BW-27_3.25x5.indd 1
12/19/14 9:41 AM
The Chronicle
www.dukechronicle.com
DONALD
continued from page 1 in the drug development process, because researchers don’t have to run costly experiments or even clinical trials to determine how bacteria will develop resistance, Anderson said. She added that the techniques developed in this study could be introduced very
POTTI
continued from page 1 including the University, Duke University Health System, Potti and several administrators—the case is set to be heard in court beginning the week of Jan. 26. Duke Medicine officials deferred comment to Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for government relations and public affairs.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2015 | 3
soon in to the development process for new drugs. “There’s no reason it couldn’t be used now for new antibiotics.” Anderson said. In the future, both Anderson and Donald hope to expand their research in order to aid the development of drugs to fight other types of diseases. Pablo Gainza-Cirauqui, a graduate student in Donald’s Lab, pointed out that the new techniques could be used against diseases which are harder to
examine in the lab. “There are other organisms that are very hard to grow in colonies, for example some viruses and some cancer cell lines,” he said. “We think it would very interesting if we were to apply this technology to those pathogens and diseases that develop resistance but which we cannot actually grow and test.” Donald also said that he hoped using the software to combat drug resistance would help to preserve the value of new
drugs targeting widespread diseases such as AIDS. Currently, many newly-developed drugs become less effective soon after they are introduced if measures are not taken to mitigate drug resistance. “If while the clinical trials [for HIV drugs] get under way, [the software] might be able to predict ahead of time what kind of mutations the antigenic targets might evolve or select in order to evade our designed antibodies, that would be very exciting,” Donald said.
“What the University learned, and acknowledged to the [Institute of Medicine], was that there were concerns about the research that had been raised over the years,” Schoenfeld wrote in an email Tuesday, noting that Duke cannot comment on pending litigation. Potti came to Duke on a fellowship in 2003, and was granted his own lab in the now-dismantled Institute of Genome Sciences and Policy in 2006. Duke first began investigating Potti in Summer 2010, when The Cancer Letter
reported that Potti had falsified information on his resume. Potti was placed on administrative leave and his clinical trials were suspended as Duke investigated allegations regarding false information both on Potti’s resume and in his research. In November 2010, Potti resigned. Many of Potti’s papers have been retracted in the years since, and an investigation by the Institute of Medicine noted several issues with Duke’s handling of the case in a 2012 report.
According to The Cancer Letter’s Report, the series of events could have been dramatically different if Perez’s concerns had been pursued in 2008. Perez, now a resident at Duke Hospital, resigned from Potti’s lab soon after speaking out and withdrew his name from papers on which he was a co-author with Potti. “In raising these concerns, I have nothing to gain and everything to lose,” Perez wrote in the memo he sent to professors about Potti’s research in 2008.
Thu Nguyen | The Chronicle
Thursdays:
SeSSion 1: January SeSSion 2: April 23 -
29 - March 5 May 28, 2015
Class size is limited.
Attention PUBPOL and other Undergraduate Majors! Study Away at University of Glasgow in Fall 2015 Apply for Study Away in Glasgow, Scotland Application Deadline: March 1, 2015 Information Meeting: Thursday, January 22, 2015 5:00 – 6:00pm Room 242 Rubenstein Hall You are strongly encouraged to attend this meeting if you are interested in studying away at the University of Glasgow during the Fall 2015 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 program page and application can be found at the Duke Global Education website: http://globaled.duke.edu/Programs/Semester/Duke_in_Glasgow. Contact Meghann.Lail@duke.edu for additional information.
Reserve your seat today! learnmore.duke.edu/youth/testprep_SAT
We have experienced instructors using world-class test preparation materials. Come learn powerful test-taking techniques to help boost your score and improve your chances of getting into the college of your choice!
Come learn SAT® preparation from the best!
R
4 | THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2015
www.dukechronicle.com
The Chronicle
recess
VOLUME 15, ISSUE 16
JANUARY 15, 2015
recess
Monuts opens on Ninth Street Read the conversation with the donut mastermind
R
The Chronicle The Chronicle
recess editors Drunk tattoos ...
Katie Fernelius............. flip-hair-emoji
Gary Hoffman.......squidward’s clarinet Stephanie Wu...................... doorknob Drew Haskins .........................patrick Sid Gopinath ...................Matt Damon Izzi Clark ............................... a radish
www.dukechronicle.com recess
A basketball game over a month away does little to help rationalize freezing in a tent in thirty degree weather. When my tentmate tunes into YouTube, I am left alone with the dark, the cold and the hours of work I set aside to do if I ever gather the courage to take off my gloves. During these freezing moments, viewing tenting as a kind of performance art takes my mind off of the chill. For some tents, the task is not hard. One group decided to construct their own abode, made of a circular wall raised from the ground by wooden palettes. Like teeth, the plastic framework of the wall sticks upwards from the canvas tarp that wraps it. No ceiling is found on top of the wall. Whether this absence is planned to be changed or it is to be left as a testament to the sky—the roof that all Duke basketball fans share—remains to be seen. Other tents are more practical, modernist pieces reflecting the constraints of reality. Admittedly, most fall under this category. Tents to sleep in and tarps to keep the moisture off. In my boredom they lie as defiant reactions to the extravagance of more complex pieces. The real art, of course, is the performance that comes with choosing to sleep outside in a tent instead of in the rented dormitory. There is a sense of practicality in it, insofar as much as sleeping in a tent through cold and rain to watch a basketball game may be considered “practical.” Still, we love Duke basketball and the feeling of camaraderie that comes with it, just like a painter loves a combination of colors or a musician loves a chord
recess
More Online
Check out the Recess online blog for more great content!
progression. While the atmosphere at a top university may make tenting seem crazy and impractical, to many students it is a natural and even mandatory aspect of the Duke experience. Thinking on this reminds me of the fluid, specific nature of art. If someone cares enough about something, they are bound to discover symbolism and meaning in every one of its nuances and intricacies. Consequently they will exaggerate these small details to the point of impracticality to people who do not share that person’s love and their artistic vision. That we can disagree and have completely different opinions regarding what constitutes art—especially what makes up good art—speaks to the variety, individuality and beauty of humankind. The passion and uniqueness that constitute the human individual and that have given rise to civilization are the same qualities that can present challenges to the human species. The Charlie Hebdo tragedy is only the latest in a string of social clashes of values. When abstracted and materialized these values constitute a statement of art in one form or another. As a result, our ability to appreciate the values and actions of others is a reflection of our artistic intelligence. Men walking into an office and killing twelve others because of their expression of opinion is a failure of human intelligence. People blaming others who had absolutely no role in the attacks and demanding they take responsibility is a failure of human intelligence. These failures speak to how little the human race understands and
THURSDAY, JANUARY THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 201515, | 5 2015 | 5
empathizes with itself. I think this understanding can be helped by greater emphasis on artistic development. Art in its purest form—expressive activity without any intrinsic practical value—has been mostly cast to the side in conventional elementary, middle and high schools. Even the core humanities courses, such as English and foreign languages, are usually taught in a practical light that will prepare the student for a career in the future. Obviously, this kind of education is useful and necessary, and the progress of art is tied to advances in other fields as well, but a greater emphasis should be placed on the teaching of art. As this last thought crosses my mind, I remember I am a Neuroscience major with an intention to apply to medical school, and that I am seeing art in muddy tents. With my shift done, I leave K-ville, walking brusquely by the structures that had uncompromisingly captured my attention just twenty minutes ago. They stand unabashedly, as they have for a couple days now. I see an old alumnus giving his son a tour of K-ville. We exchange glances. He winks. A feeling of mutual understanding passes between us. In a couple of months the tents will be gone and K-ville will once again be a patch of grass preceding a fantastic sporting complex. Its value to the Duke community will still be there, though. Hopefully by then, as a people, we will have begun to better understand the personal significance of each others’ actions and values.
n 0! i W 0 $ 1,0 CELEBRATING COACH K The Chronicle is celebrating Coach K’s historic quest for 1,000 wins and
giving away $1,000! Visit dukechronicle.com for a full list of locations to enter.
- Gary Hoffman
6 | THURSDAY, JANUARYJANUARY 15, 2015 15, 2015 6 | THURSDAY,
The Chronicle The Chronicle
www.dukechronicle.com recess
Moving through Miró: A reflection on Le Bal Miró Stephanie Wu Local Arts Editor My eyes widen, blinking at the enormity of the painting before me which engulfs both the gallery wall and the relatively tiny stature of my being. For an unconscious second, my breath pauses as the canvas’ enormity translates into a physical weight upon my body, stapling my feet to the concrete floor. The only movement it allows me is that of my eyes, which dart from one end of the canvas to the other, following the thick black line which races across. My eyes dart from one end to the other as if challenging the brushstroke’s liveliness, yet unable to deny its energy. In examining a blotch of paint at one end of the line, my head leans to the side, crooked at an angle that would seem possible only if gravity itself suddenly displayed a preference for one side of my body over the other. My arms cross, as I try to make sense of the Western blot-esque mark; my arms rest on my hips, as I try to make sense of the mark; my arms fall to my sides and my fingers engage in a tapping motion as I try to make sense of the mark. My feet unglue themselves and take a few cautious steps backward, naively hoping that these few steps taken away from the painting will be able to exactly traverse the distance between blankness of thought and enlightenment of understanding. In trying to be fair, I then take a few lunges forward, giving my nose the opportunity to smell the dried paint and nearly ruin the integrity of the painting, while unintentionally also encouraging a few suspicious glances from the nearby security guard. Such is a typical experience not only when
recess
Colour Correction British and American Screenprints, 1967-75 On view April 2 - August 30
Admission is free to Duke students. nasher.duke.edu/colour
Richard Anuszkiewicz, Spectral Cadmium from the portfolio Spectral Cadmiums, 1968. Screenprint on paper, edition 118/125, 26 3⁄4 x 26 3⁄4 inches. (67.9 x 67.9 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. Gift of Nancy Hanks, 1971.61.3. Art © Richard Anuszkiewicz / Licensed by VAGA, New York, New York. Photo by Peter Paul Geoffrion.
Elysia Su | The Chronicle
viewing the paintings of Miró, but also when viewing any painting at all. The movements we take in trying to make sense of art are largely universal. In our observation of art and in our efforts to interpret and understand art, we engage in a reciprocated dance with the artwork—an interactive, robust, full-body experience that not only consciously increases our awareness of the artwork itself, but also unconsciously increases our sensitivity to our own bodies and our understanding of ourselves. Looking at art, parts of our body slow down—our steps, our heart rate, our breath—while other parts speed up—our eyes, our heart rate, our breath—and other parts sway back and forth, and other parts simply pause. But this is not a private dance. Rather, our personal slow dance with art is one of call-and-response. We try, through our physical movements, to achieve an intimate understanding of the work and to discover our personal relationship with the work. Through moving our body to examine a work of art from all angles and from all perspectives, we gain an intimacy with the art that cannot be found in any other way. With every backward step we take away from a painting, our relationship with the painting takes a matching step forward. With every step and every movement on our part, we become more and more in-tune with the elements of the artwork, and become ever more connected and in sync as partners in this dance. This union is what I find to be the essence of interpretative dance such as that performed at Le Bal Miró—it is not merely the inspiration art can offer to dance, but the necessity of engaging in dance to better understand art.
The Chronicle The Chronicle
www.dukechronicle.com recess
THURSDAY, JANUARY 15,| 72015 | 7 THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2015
Monuts donuts reopens in new locale on Ninth Street Tim Campbell The Chronicle
The Chronicle was able to sit down with Lindsey Moriarty, the founder and co-owner of Monuts in Durham. Monuts, a bakery that specializes in donuts and bagels, recently moved locations, and The Chronicle talked to her about the new location and the future of the adored independent bakery. The Chronicle: So when I was checking out your website, I saw that Monuts started out with you selling donuts from the back of a tricycle by the Durham Farmer’s market. How did you decide to get started that way? Lindsey Moriarty: Well, I had this adult sized tricycle, and I had just finished grad school. Over the summer time, I had decided to start selling donuts off the back of this tricycle as a sort of job while I looked for another job. There were food trucks at the farmers market… I mean, I did it as a kind of whim, as a way to not have to look for any kind of real job, and then it took off, I think it got way more popular than I expected it to, and it kind of forced me to take it more seriously than I had planned to. TC: And clearly you’ve ended up taking it very seriously; Monuts isn’t just doing donuts anymore, right? Didn’t you recently add a dinner menu as well? LM: Yeah, I mean I knew that when we transitioned from the tricycle to the first store on Ferris Street we knew we wanted to do more than just donuts, and then because of limitations of the space on Ferris Street and how quickly we hit capacity, we could only do so much more than donuts. Things sort of stopped at bagels and sandwiches. One of the goals of moving into the new space was to give ourselves the ability to continue to grow and continue to have fun with food, and that meant adding to our service. We like to cook, and, the more we can, the better.
recess
TC: So, was the idea to evolve the food and the space something you had from the outset? Or, has that changed over your time working and building up Monuts?
employee welfare, and that kind of makes me upset because people just think it has to be that way because it’s been that way for so long. And so, with Monuts, from the beginning, we built into our business plan a certain expectation for wage levels and benefits, and that’s been what we’ve prioritized. Rather than just produce profits, we want to have good jobs for our employees.
it would be wonderful if one of the effects of Monuts would be to push other restaurants in the neighborhood to take similar steps towards the important things, like adopting a living wage instead of a minimum wage.
TC: That’s really incredible that you’ve been able to keep that idea alive through all your expansion, too. If it were still a smaller business or shop, or maybe a couple other employees, I can see how you would manage. But you mentioned that you have almost 40 employees now? LM: Yeah, we’re just hitting 40 now. It’s been really great because one of the impacts that we have seen in the past three years is that… Well, people in Durham want to take hold of this concept. Durham is a place with a lot of activists, and I think it makes it easy for a cause like that to take root, and I think
More Online Check out the Recess online blog for the rest of the interview!
The Baldwin Scholars Program presents
The Tenth Annual Event in the
Jean Fox O’Barr
Distinguished Speaker Series hor of t u a , s i w e L ift of G h e h a t r , a y S it r Mastery : Creativ The Rise nd the Search fo a Failure,
LM: When I started, I had no idea it was ever going to be this successful. Even after moving into Ferris Street, I had no idea of it being any bigger than what it was at that point. I think it’s been about 3 years total from when I started the tricycle to now, and so the fact that it’s gone from me and my boyfriend making donuts in the kitchen at 4 in the morning to having 40 employees… well, it’s crazy, and it’s hard to believe even for us. And so, no. I never saw it getting that big. Although, I’m happy it has. I think it’s taken on a life of its own in a lot of ways. TC: If it’s started to take on a life of its own, do you feel that you’re still in charge of the direction that Monuts is taking? LM: I don’t think that the two are mutually exclusive. We’re still the driving force behind Monuts, and I think from the beginning we made a pretty conscious effort to be transparent about what the business was, what we wanted to support with it, and, because of our own background coming from academia, we want it to be more than just a restaurant. And so, in that regard, Monuts is very much a reflection of what we want it to be. I think in terms of the size and the move from downtown to 9th street, those kinds of things are growth, but I think we can control it to a certain extent. But, you know, it’s going to be impacted by the community and the environment that you’re in. As much as we’re influencing Monuts, I think Durham and our customers and our staff have a little influence on it. TC: You mentioned that you had a vision of what you wanted Monuts to be when you started out. What was that vision? LM: For some background, I have a master’s degree in economic development, and I’ve always had an interest in job quality, especially with regards to service industry jobs. And when I started Monuts, I wanted it to be a restaurant that actually treated its employees well and offered health insurance, paid a living wage, you know, I didn’t want to just be another restaurant paying minimum wage or below to employees that hated their jobs. I wanted to use Monuts as a way of showing the rest of the industry and the community that restaurants are able and can do better than they have been. They’ve developed a terrible reputation for
Thursday, January 15 at 7:00p.m. Nelson Music Room, East Duke Building Duke University
Free and open to the public Co-sponsored by the Muglia Family, the Women’s Center, the Innovation Co-Lab, the Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture, The Nasher Museum of Art, and Art, Art History, and Visual Studies
Sports
8 | THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2015
www.dukechronicle.com
The Chronicle
The Chronicle
www.dukechroniclesports.com
THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2015
Features
Student-athletes join You Don’t Say? campaign Nick Martin Sports Editor Last spring, You Don’t Say? went viral with just 17 students. This spring, the campaign decided to take a more active approach and hit the recruiting trail. You Don’t Say? is a campaign founded by senior Daniel Kort and juniors Anuj Chhabra, Christie Lawrence and Jay Sullivan that aims to raise student awareness about the offensive nature of phrases and slurs used in everyday conversation through photographs shared using an online campaign. Starting Jan. 7, the group began to roll out its second online push, only this time instead of 17 students, the project featured 41 Duke student-athletes. “Sports are really integral to our campus culture, and with that comes a pretty big microphone around our athletic culture,” Kort said. “It’s easier to dismiss a message if it’s coming from a social justice-oriented group on campus…. By getting people who aren’t traditionally seen as the social justice kids on campus to stand up for this message, it carries a lot more weight. It’s also that these student-athletes care a lot about the issues.” After running a successful campaign
Shayan Asadi | Special to The Chronicle Sophomore women’s basketball forward Oderah Chidom is one of 41 Duke athletes to take part in the second edition of the You Don’t Say? campaign.
sports
last spring during which their work was featured on HuffingtonPost and CNN, Sullivan—a former Chronicle columnist and current president of Think Before You Talk—and the board of You Don’t Say? met to decide on what their next step would be. “Around that time, Daniel, me, Christie and Anuj were running the different media stuff at that point,” Sullivan said. “That’s when we were trying to figure out, ‘Okay,
this was successful. What do we do next?’ We went and met with Athlete Ally.” Senior Tara Dalton and junior Lauren Miranda are members of the rowing team and serve on the executive board of Athlete Ally’s Duke chapter along with Brody Huitema of men’s soccer and Dylan Ryan of wrestling. Athlete Ally is a national nonprofit organization focused on ending homophobia and transphobia in sports by
educating allies in the athletic community. Kort—who is the president of Blue Devils United—and the You Don’t Say? board sat down with Duke’s Athlete Ally representatives with the idea of relaunching the campaign they ran last spring. This time, instead of students, they would feature the student-athletes, feeling the platform the athletes possessed would allow the message to reach more than those in the social justice niche. The notable difference in the 2014 and 2015 campaigns—other than the inclusion of student-athletes—has been the presentation of the photographs. The original photos were black and white and focused more on the words than the subjects issuing the statement. With the student-athlete campaign, the text was moved beside the players’ profiles and the photographs were published in all-color. The athletes were also encouraged to come dressed in their uniforms and bring any props they wished. And when it came to selecting a term, the athletes were given free reign in order to make the project a more personal experience. “It was really cool that people got to bring their own topic to the campaign,” Dalton See You Don’t Say? on Page 9
Women’s Basketball
Duke looks to continue dominance against Hokies Delaney King Beat Writer After falling out of the top 15 for the first time this season, the Blue Devils return home ready to regain their footing in the ACC. No. 16 Duke welcomes Virginia Tech to Cameron Indoor Stadium Thursday at 6:30 p.m. The contest marks the programs’ Virginia Tech 25th meeting, with vs. the Blue Devils having won 20 in a row after No. 16 Duke the teams split the first four. THURSDAY, 6:30 p.m. The Hokies are Cameron Indoor Stadium at the bottom of the league standings, having lost all four of their ACC contests this season. But after narrow wins against Wake Forest and then-No. 21 Syracuse, Duke suffered its first conference loss Sunday at the hands of Florida State and knows it needs to show improvement for 40 minutes to bounce back. “It’s important to learn to do things consistently. It’s not about one or two plays… it’s about the whole game,” head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “[The loss] was a
great lesson for us; it definitely is a motivator. I don’t feel good until you hit the court again and go after a new opponent.” Turnovers have plagued the Blue Devils (115, 2-1 in the ACC) all season long, consistently damaging their offensive momentum. In each of Duke’s last two games, the mistakes have reached unprecedented heights, with a season-high 25 turnovers committed in both contests. McCallie’s squad averages 18.6 giveaways per game. “We want a high-IQ kind of game,” McCallie said. “The turnovers [Sunday] were low-IQ, and then that led to some other things that weren’t so great.” More recently, the Blue Devils have developed a problem rebounding, an aspect of the game they dominated earlier in the season. Duke had its worst rebounding performance to date Sunday, notching just 28 total boards and allowing the Seminoles to grab 38 rebounds of their own, tied for the second-most of any Blue Devil opponent. Sunday also marked the second consecutive game in which Duke has been outrebounded. “Our rebounding was very, very poor against Florida State,” McCallie said. “Rebounding is heart and hustle, and these players have to have it every time they hit the
floor…. You’ve got to play with passion, and you’ve got to play with fire.” Many of the Blue Devils’ chronic mistakes might be attributed to the fact that they are still a young team—only center Elizabeth Williams has played heavy minutes through the ups and downs of ACC play for a full season—a problem Virginia Tech (9-8, 0-4) certainly understands. The Hokie offense began the season with strong contributions from two freshmen—Rachel Camp and Regan Magarity—who combined for an average of 28.4 points and 17.0 rebounds in Virginia Tech’s first five games. After entering the record books on two separate occasions for most points scored in a debut game and most rebounds in a single game, Magarity’s season ended after a calf injury demanded surgery. Camp has since increased her production and now averages 16.7 points per game along with 7.1 rebounds, but has sorely missed Magarity’s activity down low. The Hokies have yet to put up more than 60 points in ACC play. Two familiar faces on the Virginia Tech side for the Blue Devils to contend with are sophomore point guard Vanessa Panousis and junior forward Taijah Campbell, the team’s second and third leading scorers since
Magarity’s injury. Panousis scored 21 points against Duke last year and knocked down five 3-pointers. “They always play hard. They’re a good team—everybody in the ACC’s good,” McCallie said. “We’ve had a terrible time with their point guard [Panousis]. [Camp] is doing a great job for them, so they’ve got players.” Despite its turnover issues, Duke maintains its share of impressive offensive performers, namely redshirt freshman guard—and ACC Rookie of the Week—Rebecca Greenwell, who ranks fourth in the Blue Devil record books for a rookie with five games with 20plus points. Down low, Duke has relied on Williams and recent addition to the starting lineup Azura Stevens, but the two combined for just seven total rebounds in Sunday’s loss. The Blue Devils know they cannot afford to come up short again on the glass and with their effort if they want to avoid falling further in the rankings and ACC standings. “In the ACC, you’ve got to be ready to play any night against anybody,” McCallie said. “Based on the way we played against Florida State, we certainly better be ready.” Sameer Pandhare contributed reporting.
The Chronicle
www.dukechronicle.com www.dukechroniclesports.com
YOU DON’T SAY?
play. I know sometimes at Duke, athletes get a bad rep almost like we’re kind of skating through the normal life of a Duke student,” Miranda said. “Sometimes people don’t think we work as hard, and academically aren’t as engaged. Some of what the people wanted to do is rise up against that stereotype and that reputation we sometimes get. The role of being an athlete is a really empowering one.... We get to kind of break the mold that people impose on us.” Like any social campaign, the project has been met with its fair share of criticism. Those who oppose You Don’t Say? claim the campaign is based on the grounds of censorship and that those running the project are hypersensitive and attempting to limit free speech. Kort said that last time most of the negativity came from Facebook,
of the more popular teams at Duke, the decision to speak out came with a platform she knew she had to take advantage of. “We have a more recognizable face, so when people see our posters around or our quotes, I think it makes a bigger impact on what words people choose to use,” Cooper said. “Me and my brother are kind of close, so I took it to heart as well as he did. I just don’t like the word, it makes me feel a certain type of way. So when people use it around me, I feel offended.” And as much as the project was meant to present the issues that the athletes had personally experienced with loved ones, many photos feature words that are aimed at athletes and students on a daily basis, not just those that are disadvantaged or marginalized. “It’s an interesting kind of role to
continued from page 8
said. “You didn’t have to do something that was directly under the umbrella of Athlete Ally or You Don’t Say? and a lot of people brought their own experiences, which is why people were so eager to get involved.” Sophomore women’s basketball forward Kendall Cooper decided to join teammate Oderah Chidom at the fall photo-shoot after Chidom told her about the project. For Cooper, the campaign instantly hit home. Her brother, Michael, has a speech impediment and has been subjected to harassment. So when an opportunity to speak out on the issue—specifically the word “retarded”—came, the 6-foot-4 forward did not hesitate. As a player on one
THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2015 | 9
although after the relaunch, detractors have taken more to Twitter to combat the project. Kort and Sullivan have been adamant throughout their two campaigns that the project is not meant to censor speech, but rather to bring a new light to the way students use it. With the student-athletes on board, it would seem the message is being heard on Duke’s campus. “Often people look at this and say, ‘Oh, they’re trying to censor speech,’” Sullivan said. “What really this is is student-athletes that are taking a stand on a social issue they care about. The word represents something more than that. That’s why it was important to get people who were very passionate about it.” Cassie Calvert and Sameer Pandhare contributed reporting. sudoku_457A
CLASSIFIEDS
Created by Peter Ritmeester/Presented by Will Shortz
TRAVEL/VACATION
A LOT OF CARS INC. Downpayments start at $425� Layaway w/$500� Duke Student/ EmployeeID(or this ad) $150 discount� 3119 N� Roxboro St�(next to BP gas station) www�alotofcarsnc�com� Owned by Duke Alumni 919-220-7155
BAHAMAS SPRING BREAK
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.)
6 4 3
7 8 2 4 6 4 9 5
7
1 4 8 1 5
2 3 (c) PZZL.com
6
457A
Distributed by The New York Times syndicate
Find the answers to the Sudoku puzzle on Solution sudoku_457A the classifieds page
5 6 3 7 9 8 2 1 4 The Chronicle 1 4 2 3 6 5 7 8 9 7 If we 9 were 8 a TV 1 show: 2 4 3 6 5 Lost: ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������mouse 3 5 7 6 4 1 9 2batch 8 Freaks & Geeks: ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Degrassi: �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������stiehmy Anger Management: �����������������������������������������������������������������mouseRound2 2 1 9 8 7 3 5 4 6 Seinfeld: ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������nickatnite The Office: ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� izzizzi 4 8 6 2 5 9 1 7 3 Parke and Recreation: ��������������������������������������������������������������� nationalparke Recess: ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ katiefern 9 talent7for the 1 big5screen:8����������������������������������Barb 6 4 3 2 Barb Starbuck saves her Student Advertising Manager: ������������������������������������������������������������Liz Lash 6 3 4 9 1 2 8 5 7 Account Representatives: ����John Abram, Maria Alas Diaz, Alyssa Coughenour Sophie Corwin, Tyler Deane-Krantz, Davis English, Philip Foo 8 Hong, 2 Rachel 5 Kiner, 4 Elissa 3 Levine, 7 John6McIlavaine 9 1 Kathryn
457A
Nicolaas Mering, Brian Paskas, Juliette Pigott , Nick Philip, Maimuna Yussuf Creative Services Student Manager: ����������������������������������Marcela Heywood Creative Services: �������������������������������������������� Allison Eisen, Mao Hu, Rita Lo Business Office �������������������������������������������������������������������������Susanna Booth
4 8
ACROSS 1 Have a role to play 4 Part of GTO 8 Make indebted 14 Tokyo stage shows 15 Hoped-for review 16 “Beats me” 17 Highlight of Beethoven’s Ninth 19 Throws out 20 Chip variety 21 Defeat 23 Cleanup target 24 Togs with red tags 26 Aerial anomaly 27 Lunch order with sauerkraut 29 Elude a person’s grasp 30 USA competitor 33 Measure of brightness 34 Digs for pigs
35 What could loosen up a lot? 36 Has an ad that really stands out 37 What Germany’s leader lacks? 39 Arctic ___ 40 Stick on a table? 41 Lacoste of tennis 42 One of a group of singing brothers 44 Medit. country 45 Retin-A treats it 46 Biochemical sugar 47 Like arts and crafts: Abbr. 48 Ain’t spelled out? 49 Expert with books, for short 52 Succeeds when it matters most 54 Making a feeble effort 57 East Asian stew 59 Gin fizz ingredient
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE L E W I A M I S S U N N T O A T U T E C E S I H U L L P A L S K G B M E R C A N I M R I D O T E E N
S H I H T Z U
D E B R I E F E D
A L I I
O R E M
L I Q U E F Y
A C E D R Y W L A A G N E
S O C I O
D D I R G A U M W P I E M R R E S O U M J N E A D A W E L L Y I E N D E
W I T H
A V O I D
R A N T O
F L E E T
S T E R O A H U A M E S E T E S T S S N E R T I G E R P O X Y
61 Brand name in immunity boosting 62 Fox’s partner on “The X-Files” 63 Old service site, informally
3
classified advertising 1 5
2 www.dukechronicle.com/ 3 6 classifieds
$189 for 5 Days� All prices include: Round-trip luxury party cruise� Accommodations on the island at your choice of thirteen resorts� Appalachia Travel� www�BahamaSun�com 800-867-5018
Crossword
3
7 The Chronicle 1
457A
Distributed by The New York Times syndicate
(c) PZZL.com
Solution sudoku_457A
6 4 9 5 1 8 7 3 2
For Release Thursday, January 15, 2015
Created by Peter Ritmeester/Presented by Will Shortz
7 8 2 4 6 4 9 5
3
5 1 7 $25 NCSTATE INSPECTION 3 PERSONALS w/this ad or Duke ID� 2 4 50% OFF LABOR w/Duke ID� A $2K+ PERSIAN LESBIANS 9 TheAUTO NewCARE(3100 York Times Syndication Sales Corporation LOT OF CARS seek Mid�East/Asiatic athletic N� Roxboro Street) by 620 Owned Eighth Avenue, Newdonor York,persianmoms@ N.Y. 10018 sperm 6 Duke Alumnus (919)246-0066 gmail�com For Information Call: 1-800-972-3550 8
sports
sudoku_457A
ANNOUNCEMENTS
6 4
3 2 8 7 9 6 1 4 5
7 3 1 6 8 2 5 9 4
Edited by Will Shortz 1
2
3
4
14
5
33
1 8 6 2 4 7 3 5 9
4 9 5 8 6 3 2 7 1
457A
9
10
11
12
13
31
32
55
56
19 21
24 27
2 7 3 9 5 1 4 8 6
No. 1211 8
18
64 Top
8 5 4 1 3 9 6 2 7
16
20
66 It’s blue
7
15
17
65 It’s blue
6
9 6 2 4 7 5 8 1 3
22
25
23
26
28
29
30
34
36
37
35
38
39
DOWN 1 Before long, quaintly
40
41
42
44
45
46
2 Opus ending
47
3 See 36-Across 4 They’re on the record
49
50
51
57
52 58
43
48 53 59
54 60
5 British rule in India
61
62
63
6 Says for certain
64
65
66
7 R&B artist with the hits “So Sick” PUZZLE BY JOE DIPIETRO and “Because of 28 1975 Tony39 Many of the Ten You” Commandments winning play 8 See 29-Across with a Latin 41 Bond name 9 Some proofs of 43 Ditz purchase 29 Bender 48 Cat Stevens’s 10 Fat ___ surname, now 30 See 54-Across 11 Each month has 49 Bistro name 31 Yawn inducers one starter 32 Touch, for one 50 It may be struck 12 Loot
55 State bordering Can. 56 Like wild boar 58 Can. province not bordering the U.S. 60 Longtime Burmese P.M.
13 “Whoa now!”
38 Invalidate
18 Ancient site of the Luxor Temple
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.
22 Like notepaper and kingdoms 25 See 52-Across 27 Christina of “Sleepy Hollow”
51 Memo abbr.
53 Some HDTV screens
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
“
January at Duke 101
W
inter Forum, fresh new Spring classes, the possibilities of drop-add period, prime basketball season, tenting galore, Tech Connect, the Career & Summer Opportunities Fair, thoughts of studying abroad and so much more. With Spring semester underway and a week’s worth of classes under
Editorial our belts, we evaluate the January Term model of some universities that places a January academic term between the Fall and Spring semesters against Duke’s current system with its short three and a half week winter break and long 16 week summer break. January terms often have condensed classes that are typically four to five weeks long and offer a potentially wide range of enriching activities to increase wintertime productivity. For example, MIT’s four-week Independent Activities Period (IAP) offers students technical courses and seminars for credit or non-credit, hosts departmental open houses and lecture series and has IAP coordinators for
departments, labs, offices and student groups who design contributions for each year’s IAP roster. Students who choose to spend their break otherwise—with jobs, internships and more time-intensive research positions—are enabled by breaks that are as long as a month and a half depending on the university. Some regional companies even create internship positions knowing that nearby universities provide a pool of applicants every winter. The chance to take classes not normally considered for regular terms and the special programs offered in January terms confirm that the January term model encourages and enables productivity. Yet, in spite of these tempting advantages, Duke’s shorter winter break and lengthier summer break still appear to be the best calendar arrangement. Cutting down our four month summer would come at no small cost. From a productivity standpoint, an early release in May is desirable as students can opt to start early for internships or jobs—an arrangement that can make them more competitive candidates. But, more importantly, the long summer allows students
onlinecomment He just left UCLA in the wake of significant conflict of interest scandals which the school settled by paying a whistleblower $10 million.... The man isn’t even a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
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.
O
ne of the biggest fears I have is that I’m not going to be a writer. It has always been, to quote Morgan Freeman in “The Shawshank Redemption,” my s***ty pipe dream—the one thing I’ve always wanted to try but never quite rustled up enough courage to do. Yours might be playing soft rock songs in front of a crowd of crying men, saving lives in the emergency room or reading people’s fortunes. Whatever it is, all s***ty pipe dreams have something in common—they’re not
of hard work, sacrifice, but most of all, a belief that ultimately we will get that creamy acceptance letter. We are the special ones, and our school does a fantastic job of continuing this narrative. We’re told we are among the best, deserve the best, and should shoot for the best. Anything less than the absolute point of achievement makes us feel inadequate. I tell myself I might fail as a writer—but do I really believe that? Despite the competitiveness of the job, the slim chance and the amateur nature of my
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
to comfortably work an internship or job, go abroad to a DukeEngage or study abroad program and still have time at home and with family to recharge. Additionally, winter break is currently short enough that students cannot reasonably expect themselves to compete for internships or work a job and long enough between finals and the mid-week start of Spring semester to allow for rejuvenating reading, writing, sleeping and socializing with friends and family. Time off should be an opportunity to guiltlessly unplug without any pressure to fill time with activities or apply to a month of programs. There is plenty of time for that during the academic year and summer break. Personal time is important and tends to get pushed to the wayside during the year with all that goes on, even during the shorter breaks with schoolwork or exams never far from our thoughts. The pressure to always be busy and not waste time (read: relax) is a dangerous one that Duke does not need more of given the existing opportunities for engagement. Remember to relax once in a while and really mentally unwind.
Pipe dreams
” edit pages
—“Booker T” commenting on the article, “A new chancellor.”
Est. 1905
The Chronicle
www.dukechronicle.com commentary
10 | THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2015
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
Isabella Kwai
TRUTH OR DARE supposed to happen. They’re just supposed to be fodder for daydreams as you drive to work, preparing for the crippling institutionalization of a typical office day. And then I came to Duke. I started to write more often, and with more intensity. I read books written by obscure authors, assigned by professors who loved writing. I found that I saw the world in moments and stories that might be remembered and retold. The s***ty pipe dream became a tentatively open avenue. I could write for The Chronicle, submit short stories to magazines, apply for MFA programs. I could be a writer, if I wanted to. The realization of all that possibility stunned me, like the first time I saw the grandiose and utterly ridiculous silhouette of the Duke Chapel in person. Once inconceivable—it was now real. Now, I think of writing and I am ambitious. What does this mean? Ambition means that I feel, some days, as if there is an intangible voice, whispering the words of books I might one day write—but I still can’t hear the words. I believe that I will write books that people will be published and read—because why ever not? I go to Duke. I have the resources. Am I not chosen? Am I not special? Some days I panic, feeling pressure descend because, after all, this is my dream, the one that I must chase until I have either succeeded or failed. The clock is ticking, and I have not nearly submitted enough short stories to independent magazines, I have not begun writing my first novel. I believe I will succeed, but I am afraid that I will fail. And that’s when I hate wanting to be a writer. Not only does it give me an attitude of annoying entitlement, it is this very ambition that makes me horribly, decidedly unhappy. There is a curious phenomenon at Duke, and likely other similar institutions, where high selfbelief is juxtaposed with a low self-esteem. After all, attaining a spot at Duke requires a great deal
prose, my arrogance does not allow me to really, truly believe that I might never publish anything at all. And if I do not write, my failure to strive for my dreams perpetuates a morose sense of inadequacy. Ambition to me means a state of discontent and dissatisfaction, when the disconnect between expectation and reality causes such discontent that we want better. This is good, usually. It is good to know when our situations need to change because we are not satisfied with the way we’ve been living. I still believe having dreams and the self-belief to pursue them is an exquisite part of being human. It gives meaning to the meaningless routines. It makes days brim with importance. I just don’t want to it to be fuelled by the fear of not fulfilling my potential or tied to heightened ambitions that make me unhappy. After all these years, have all we learnt is that we must achieve our greatest potential to have served ourselves well? What happens if we cannot? Because the truth is, we aren’t special. We may have gone to Duke, but the world is still going to throw obstacles that hurt us deeply some day. We may burn like stars and reach that elusive final point and the s***ty pipe dream is real life. Or more likely, we will have to confront the moderation of that dream and the pursuit of some other path. It is just as brave to concede failure as to fight on for a vision. It is just as brave to work at a corporate job to pay your father’s medical bills as to become the artist who paints illegally on the streets. We have been taught that our dreams must be chased, or else we are doing it wrong… but it okay to let them go too. I’m afraid that I will never be a writer, and if it does not happen, then so be it. The days will go on afterwards, as will yours. There will be more s***ty pipe dreams, and we’ll try again. Isabella Kwai is a Trinity junior. This is her first column of the semester.
The Chronicle
www.dukechronicle.com commentary
Grieving for multiple reasons: reflections on Charlie Hebdo
I
want to clearly make one point—every human life is of equal value. A human that claims America is not more valuable than a human that claims the Middle East, or Nigeria, or Pakistan or Yemen. Or France. I’m a Muslimah, and I have a nuclear and extended Muslim family, and I have Muslim friends in this country, and I have Muslim friends outside of this country, and I couldn’t name to you a single one of them who has not condemned the terrorist attacks in Paris. There is no elaborated explanation, clarification or footnote that can provide a plausible justification to these murders. All human life
Though Muslims only make up 12 percent of the entire country, they comprise 60 to 70 percent of all inmates, which highlights the deep social divides that keep Muslim immigrants on the brink of society. Productive satire, I would argue, has an end goal of challenging powerful and naturalized systems at play. Considering the generalized attacks on Islam, I question the sincerity of Charlie Hebdo’s satirical motives. What is to gain when one feeds into the stereotypes of minority immigrant groups as barbaric and savage? When the only things we see about these groups are bodily distortions (Muslims with hook-noses), terrorism and sodomy (Muslims as naked or with weap-
The whole wide world
C
atching up with my grandmother over winter break, I shared some of my highlights at Duke. I rattled off my favorite aspects of collegiate life and mentioned having had the privilege of meeting people from all over the world both while on campus and far from it. The diversity of their perspectives, though not directly a part of my formal Duke education, is an unanticipated benefit that has meant as much to me as any classroom learning did. While listening to me sharing these things, my grandma interrupted—“My goodness, Elissa, your world is so much larger than I knew could be possible at 21.” In some ways she was right—and it’s true for all of us. When I decided to attend Duke in the first place, it was in part because a high school teacher had warned me that if I didn’t force myself to leave my comfort zone, I could get stuck in my insular Connecticut bubble. It
Leena El-Sadek
Elissa Levine
(DIS)EASED (RE)PRESENTATION
PUNSHINE
is equal. Period. Yet, our history shows us that, as a global society, we are guilty of challenging this seemingly simple fact. Systems were set up all over the world advocating for social hierarchy, and those chapters have not ended. The global legacy of human on human degradation is still fresh and active. I’m not looking for answers for the Charlie Hebdo murders. After all, I do not question why the KKK, Lord’s Resistance Army or antiabortion groups commit murder under the name of Christianity. I mourn the Charlie Hebdo murders, but I don’t expect any logical answer to why those murders occurred. Yet, quite the opposite is expected of Muslims. Muslims are expected to have the answers. And they will give them to you. The Quranic chapters, the prophetic messages and the international condemnations made by Muslim leaders of all nationalities support every conversation we are having about Islam’s position on peace and violence. And turning to the facts, as well as to the heavy and disproportionate number of followers of these facts, will gladly answer any lingering doubt about the values and traditions extracted from these teachings. So, no, I am not looking for answers within Islam that shed light on why Cherif and Said Kouachi committed these horrific murders. But when I first learned of the attacks, I introspectively searched for a way to mourn. I was lost in the media’s attempt to garner a collective solidarity. Watching personal testimonies, reading articles by peers and following the actions of presidents and prime ministers, I was compelled to join the international conversation. And the Internet makes it easy to do so, as #jesuischarlie became a global sentiment. The hashtag is meant to unite supporters of free speech and freedom of expression, especially those supporting satirical news organizations like Charlie Hebdo. But what are we actually standing for? Charlie Hebdo is lauded as the secular country’s freedom of expression in practice. France is a flagship symbol of this freedom as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed in Paris in 1948, and Article 19 recognizes everyone’s right to freedom of opinion and expression. However, this clearly has exceptions since Muslim women in France will face repercussions if they wear the hijab in schools. French nuns, however, face no backlash. We can’t assume a platform like freedom of expression until we ensure that all individuals have the right to safely and comfortably express their opinions and beliefs. Until then, hashtags like #jesuischarlie are false misnomers that simplify an overly complex issue. Never mind that this expression comes at the expense of an already marginalized group.
ons) and animal depictions (black French justice minister Christiane Taubira as a monkey), we internalize these tropes and reinforce the marginalization of the Muslim and black immigrant communities. Again, I am compelled to remind you that I condemn these attacks, make no excuse for them at even the most minuscule of levels and mourn for these lost lives. I condemn the attack, while also taking this opportunity to urge you to separate the right to live of the real humans behind Charlie Hebdo, whose lives should have never been lost, from the concept we’re explicitly hashtagging—unconditional free press to the suffering and further marginalization of the oppressed. Shortly after #jesuischarlie erupted, supporters of Ahmed Merabet rallied behind #jesuisahmed. Ahmed was the 40-year old Muslim police officer who lost his life trying to protect Charlie Hebdo victims from the terrorists. Many championed behind this hashtag to shed light on the sacrifices Muslims have made for their country and to show that Muslims, too, die at the hand of terrorists. But what about all the other Ahmeds? What about the Ahmeds in Pakistan and Yemen that have been killed by drone attacks? You can blame the U.S. for that. What about the Ahmeds in Nigeria that have been killed by Boko Haram? What about the Ahmeds that have been killed by the conflict in the Central African Republic? When deaths of innocent Muslims enter our conversations, it’s usually about Muslims closer to home in our beloved west. As Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan stated, murders in Muslim majority countries mean just as much when Muslims are murdered at home. Our country continues to send drones that kill many innocents, and rather than mourning these deaths, we mirror the discourse our government imposes on us—“It’s collateral damage.” The Internet is an intriguing, albeit messy, world, luring us in to place ourselves in the lives of the fallen. But we are none of these people. By standing behind labels, we are reducing multi-component and complex issues to black and white arguments. You can stand in solidarity with Charlie Hebdo’s right to speak and to live, but not in their influence in oppressing already oppressed groups and promoting deeply entrenched double standards. You can stand behind Ahmed’s bravery in protecting his country and its right, but you must also acknowledge the thousands of other Ahmeds doing the exact same thing. We can condemn without endorsing, and we can mourn without using the deaths of one people to fight a different battle.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2015 | 11
set off a chain reaction in the form of a kind of experiential inertia: an object—or wide-eyed freshman—in motion remains in motion, while an object at rest remains at rest—camera pans to me over Christmas break, elbowsdeep in popcorn, Netflix and Trivia Crack. So I came to Duke hesitant and was practically handed experiences in rapid-fire succession that pushed beyond my insulated bubble. It’s so painfully college of me to say this, but peers and adventures outside the classroom taught me more than any professor could have. Debates early on with more Southern members of my freshman floor showed me that coming from a sheltered and politically correct Northeastern upbringing did not make me right‚ just smug. My first introverted friend taught me that I could be happy alone. Friends from other countries called out subtle but significant ways that I let assumptions about their cultures color my interactions with them. DukeEngage, study abroad, a summer spent working in the Middle East—not to mention incredibly meaningful time spent in Durham—introduced me to people scattered all around the planet, who continue to inspire me to strive to live with the same compassion and understanding they exuded. In my last semester of college, I find myself feeling simultaneously unstoppable and infinitesimally small. So at a time of year when a palpable tension can be felt on campus as many of us try to
edit pages
Leena El-Sadek is a Trinity senior. This is her first column of the semester.
climb into boxes with labels that may or may not fit us, I find myself nervous. I’m overly conscious of the prevalence of the feeling that in order to fit in at Duke, people must find the other individuals who look act, and carry themselves the same way and pull as small a box around themselves as possible. I’m uneasy about the exclusivity that permeates this campus but works as a powerfully limiting tool against the stuff that pushes and challenges us. And I’m nervous as we start to face graduation for the inevitable grind that will come with full-time employment. This year, I moved off campus—perhaps the tightest box pulled around myself, since with the exception of parties, my social interaction is now comprised of deliberate, punctuated interactions with the people I get along with and know best. But a social life with that level of intentionality
has been challenging—I miss the spontaneous encounters and introductions that result from wandering on campus, the hodgepodge of people I’d meet in early 100-level classes, the randomness of all of it. I’m wary of self-limitation and finding myself afraid of a shrinking universe where routine and consistency replace spontaneous adventures, cheap travel, and people from different backgrounds that I can get into fights with and learn from. I’m afraid of losing the spark that made me love so many experiences at Duke and most importantly, of losing the incredible people I have in either my backyard or back pocket to the mundaneness of adulthood. I don’t know whether as grown-ups our worlds get to stay so large and accessible at the tip of a hat, or whether I’m at the brink of a burst in my haphazardly-formed bubble. But maybe it’s the ephemerality of college condensed into four years that lets us squeeze so much out of the relationships we forge—knowing college is temporary makes us do things now and knowing our lifestyle is unsustainable slowly prepares us ready for whatever’s next. My grandma’s observation reminded me that we’re privileged to live the way we do, and whether we choose to pull our worlds in or push them further out is up to us. Elissa Levine is a Trinity senior. This is her first column of the semester.
Letter to the Editor ‘Open letter to the Cameron (not-so) Crazies Freshman year, we got pummeled at home by a Tar Heel team that finished with 13 losses. Just as vivid is my memory of the unbearable din, rocking Cameron from start to finish except for stark silences during our free throws. Two hometown friends I snuck in left awestruck, captivated and amazed by the level of enthusiasm and originality our fans showed throughout the tough, 12-point loss. Watching the Duke-Miami game Tuesday night, I hardly recognized the place. I’ve seen many Duke games since graduation but have never heard a more lackluster, feeble effort from the student body, regardless of score. Momentary cheering followed by long, quiet stretches? Gloomy fans standing in despair? Others crying—during the game? Contrast that with the Carolina home crowd at their last game who seemed to shake the rafters. I remember Florida State University’s Sam Cassell once saying that Tar Holes were not a Duke kind of crowd, more of a wine and cheese
crowd. What happened? Have you gotten spoiled, thinking you deserve home victories? If you freeze your tails off to get into the game, then by all means—get into the game and stay into the game for 40 minutes! The five-man team sweats until the last buzzer. The sixth man likewise must show energy! Be loud and united! Create an atmosphere of unique, creative derision that intimidates any team to step onto our court! Otherwise, you’re just any other home crowd. Perhaps history will repeat itself. An alumnus letter to The Chronicle condemning our sixth man performance appeared just before the LSU game. We responded with the most boisterous, creative condemnations Shaq had ever heard. We students redeemed ourselves and Duke shut down the Tigers, going on to be crowned National Champions. So, Duke lost two consecutive games, one at home. So what? They’ll get it together. Coach K will work his magic. But you have to work yours. Terry Harlin Trinity ‘95
12 | THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2015
www.dukechronicle.com
The Chronicle
Dignity Through Dissent: Demanding Civil Rights in a Modern World Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II
President of the North Carolina NAACP Founder of the Forward Together Moral Movement
Keynote Address MLK Sunday Service January 18, 2015 l 3:00 PM Duke Chapel, Duke University Free and open to the public. Free Parking at Bryan Center Parking Garage.
Dignity Through Dissent: Speak Up January 15 and 16, 2015 l 11 a .m. to 2 p.m.
Statue Quad
#dignitythroughdissent
Sounds of Justice and Inclusion Performances by Durham Symphony, John Brown “Little� Big Band, 100 Men in Black Choir, Yolanda Rabun January 17, 2015 l 8 p.m. Baldwin Auditorium, Duke University For tickets, visit tickets.duke.edu or call (919) 684-4444. $10 for adults, free for students and seniors. Youth under 17 must be accompanies by an adult. Sponsored by The MLK Commemoration Committee, the Office for Institutional Equity, Duke Chapel and the Office of the Vice Provost for The Arts
For more information, please call (919) 684-8353 or visit spotlight.duke.edu/mlk