September 11, 2009 issue

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

Friday, September 11, 2009

ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH YEAR, Issue 16

www.dukechronicle.com

Campus Alumnus talks ‘Strategy’ in Sanford marks 8th anniversary

9/11 —in memoriam

from Staff Reports The chronicle

The Duke community will mark the eighth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks with a number of events today in memory of the tragedy.

A moment of silence, organized by Duke Student Government, Duke American Civil Liberties Union, the Duke Conservative Union, Duke Democrats, Duke Republicans and Purple, will be observed at 8:46 a.m.— the moment at which the first hijacked plane hit the World Trade Center in 2001.

In addition, a candlelight vigil in memory of the hundreds of victims will be held on the Chapel lawn at 8 p.m. to honor the victims who perished in the attacks. The service will be followed by a concert organized by student group Purple and headlined by senior Mike Posner. Sterly Wilder, executive director of alumni affairs, will place a wreath on the memorial plaque in Keohane Quadrangle Memorial Grove for the six Duke alumni who were killed on 9/11.

In observance of the National Day of Service and Remembrance, officially recognized for the first time this year, the Center for Civic Engagement will also be hosting 40 nonprofit organizations to meet with students from noon to 3 p.m. in the Bryan Center.

Chase Olivieri/The Chronicle

John Hillen (left), former assistant secretary of state for political military affairs under former president George W. Bush, discusses Grand Strategy during a speech at the Sanford School of Public Policy Thursday night. Hillen, Trinity ’88, said Grand Strategy is important for maintaining America’s position as a global power.

by Nicole Kyle The chronicle

John Hillen, Trinity ’88 and former assistant secretary of state for political military affairs, addressed students and faculty on the topic of Grand Strategy and associated policy-making Thursday evening.

Hillen, who served during the second half of former president George W. Bush’s administration, drew a capacity crowd to a lecture hall in the Sanford School of Public Policy with even Hillen’s mother in attendance.

The event was brought to campus through a collaboration between the Duke University Program in American Grand Strategy from the Sanford School of Public Policy and Triangle Institute for Security Studies.

“I think this program is so key to understand and solve because you can’t look at [Grand Strategy] in silos, you have to put it together because that’s the way the world is looking at it,” Hillen said in an interview. “I’m really thrilled that Duke is leading the way.”

Peter Feaver, Alexander F. Hehmeyer professor of political science and director of the TISS, introduced Hillen as “an intellectual who was part of some of the most important security debates in the ’90s.” Feaver lauded Hillen as an alumnus, colleague and friend.

After a few nostalgic quips about Duke, basketball victories and a certain stunt atop Baldwin Auditorium, Hillen dis-

cussed the importance of Grand Strategy and America’s policy perspective. He defined Grand Strategy as strategy involving varied resources, whether militant, diplomatic, political or cultural.

The concept also involves, “the collection of plans and policies by which the leadership of the United States mobilizes and deploys the country’s resources and capabilities, both military and non-military, to achieve its national goals,” according to Duke’s American Grand Strategy Program Web site.

He also underscored the importance of America’s Grand Strategy as a means to incorSee hillen on page 6

Duke faces suit Candidates to focus on transparency after death of LSRC worker DSG election | special secretary for the Young Trustee process

by Zachary Tracer The chronicle

As Monday’s Duke Student Government election approaches, Juniors Ben Getson and Amanda Turner both say the Young Trustee selection process needs to become more transparent and inclusive.

Though their goals may be similar, they approach their race for special secretary for the Young Trustee process differently.

Getson is vice president and treaBen Getson surer of Ubuntu, a civic engagementfocused selective living group, and was a Duke Student Government senator until he resigned to pursue the special secretary position. Turner is president of the Black Student Alliance.

“When it comes to the Young Trustee, everyone can agree that the process could be better,” Getson said. “I see this as an opportunity for me to do what I Amanda Turner can.”

The job of the special secretary for the Young

Trustee process is to recommend changes regarding how the undergraduate member of the Board of Trustees is selected. Currently, members of DSG and Intercommunity Council select a Young Trustee from those who apply. The special secretary will collect input from students and then present a recommendation to DSG. After this presentation, which is supposed to occur no later than Nov. 4, the special secretary’s job will end.

Turner said that if she is elected, she wants to collect input from a wide variety of students before making her recommendation. The English major added that she wants to follow up with whoever is selected as Young Trustee “so it’s not just a random position of prestige.”

She also wants to make sure more students know about the Young Trustee position.

Turner noted that before becoming BSA president and consequently, a member of ICC, she did not understand the importance of the Young Trustee position.

“I’m sensitive to the roles that major student groups play in the process, but I’m also sensitive to the voices of students who are not at the table,” she said.

The family of a Duke employee killed in a steam pipe explosion last May has filed suit, alleging that the University knew that work conditions were unsafe but did not do anything about it.

Rayford Cofer, a 63-year-old master steamfitter who had worked at Duke since 2001, was adjusting a valve in the basement of the Levine Science Research Center when a steam line burst, scalding him with 348-degree fluids. His disfigured corpse was found several feet from the exit with arms pointed straight out, described by a fireman at the scene as “a man frozen in time,” according to the complaint filed last Aug. 26.

Cofer’s family is seeking more than $10,000 from the University to cover the costs of the funeral and other expenses.

See election on page 11

See cofer on page 7

ONTHERECORD

“In the past, as long as your application fit the criteria, you could bring your guest.”

­—OSAF Asst. Director Deborah Hackney on Duke Conversations. See story page 3.

by Julia Love The chronicle

Football: Redemption?

Blue Devils aim to rebound against Army Saturday, PAGE 9

Learn about how to get your paper edited over e-mail or webcams, Page 4

worldandnation

2 | Friday, SepTember 11, 2009

The ChroniCle

TODaY:

8161

saTurDaY:

8863

Ven. recognizes independent So. Ossetia and Abkhazia

U.S. poverty rate rises

Truck explodes in Iraq killing 20, wounding 27

WashingTOn — The government’s first broad look at the recession’s impact on u.s. households in 2008 showed the poverty level jumped to an 11-year high, incomes sank across the board, and the number of people without health insurance rose to 46.3 million. as bleak as these statistics were from the Census Bureau Thursday, they captured only a part of the devastating effects of the economic downturn that worsened last fall and into this year. experts said they expect the official poverty rate, which rose to 13.2 percent of the nation, from 12.5 percent in 2007, to keep climbing this year and next, reversing the progress made in the 1990s.

With unemployment averaging 8.9 percent so far this year, compared with 5.8 percent in 2008, and increasing almost every month, incomes are likely to deteriorate further as well.

BaghDaD — a man driving a truck laden with explosives plowed his vehicle into a Kurdish village in northern iraq before dawn Thursday, killing 20 people, wounding 27 and wrecking dozens of houses, officials said, in the latest attack aimed at deepening strife among the region’s tapestry of sects and ethnicities. police said the carnage in the village of Wardek, about 35 miles southeast of Mosul, could have been far greater. a second explosives-laden truck followed the first across a narrow bridge, but security forces managed to kill the driver before he detonated his load.

The blast was the bloodiest in a violent day in iraq. although strife has ebbed from its breathtaking levels of 2006 and 2007, assassinations, bombings and killings remain a daily part of the landscape, particularly around Baghdad and northern iraq.

“

After all is said and done, more is said than done.

— Anonymous

”

MOsCOW — in a showy display of camaraderie and like-minded politics, venezuelan president hugo Chavez recognized the independence of the breakaway republics of abkhazia and south Ossetia Thursday during a state visit to russia. venezuela becomes the third country, after russia and nicaragua, to acknowledge the national aspirations of the small rebel regions inside georgia’s internationally recognized borders. impoverished south Ossetia was at the heart of last summer’s war between russia and georgia, and russia has been accused of carrying out a de facto annexation of the two republics.

“We recognize both republics starting from today,” Chavez said during a meeting at the residence of russian president Dmitry Medvedev.

The russian leader thanked Chavez

and promptly pledged to sell tanks and other weapons to venezuela.

“There will be tanks among the deliveries [of armaments.] Why not?” Medvedev said. “We have good tanks. if our friends order them, we will deliver.” although details were not announced, a military source told state ria news agency that venezuela would buy 100 tanks for $500 million.

The rewards and platitudes flowed as Chavez met with Medvedev and russia’s prime minister, vladimir v. putin.

Medvedev announced plans to open a joint bank with venezuela with $4 billion in capital to fund the country’s mutual projects. if needed, the russian president added, the cash deposits would be increased. venezuela is giving russia a scrap of legitimacy in its drive to present the two rebel regions as independent nations.

toDay in hiStory 2001: The twin towers fall in New York City after terrorist attacks

Prepare for the Global Education Fair CHECK OUT OUR GUIDE IN TODAY’S CHRONICLE

The Annual Global Education Fair is this Tuesday, Sept. 15 11:30-3:30 in the Bryan Center

linDa DaviDsOn/The WashingTOn pOsT

at lincoln high School in vicennes, indiana, students recite the pledge of allegiance. ever since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the school has been playing the pledge over the intercom system.

the chronicle

Friday, September 11, 2009 | 3

Review seeks to better Conversations 18 admitted to new Cardea program

by Ann Kang The chronicle

tively small number of students who were inviting a large number of guests, he said.

He also noticed that many recent graduates were being brought back to campus.

“Sure, they were interesting and doing interesting things, but they seemed to be invited because they were friends with the people who asked them to come,” Nowicki said. “That is not what we had wanted.”

Selecting individuals with a wide variety of backgrounds is an important part of the new changes.

“We are looking for a diversity of experience, industry and thought,” Hackney said. “We’re asking, ‘Is this a perspective you would hear already at Duke, or is this something new?’”

Conversations have always consisted of a

In a University where perfect scores on science Advanced Placement exams and SAT subject tests are not surprising, Cardea Fellows allows science classes to be a bit less daunting.

Cardea Fellows, a four-year pre-health program that incorporates creative seminars and interactive courses in biology and chemistry, helps students who may not have had such an opportunity to develop strong backgrounds necessary for health professions. This program, in its first semester, reflects this vision for not only the students but also for the Trinity College of Arts and Sciences.

“We really want students to know when to collaborate and to compete—and when to collaborate to compete,” said Lee Baker, Trinity dean of academic affairs.

The program consists of Chem20, a required course of the curriculum, and Bio49S, “Medical Biology,” a freshman seminar. The curriculum still follows all Trinity requirements and it is managed in a flexible way, Baker said.

Eighteen students were admitted this year, from two international countries and almost a dozen states. The students are selected by looking at their academic experiences, commitment to science, teamwork and their interest in Chem20.

“True to our mission, we were seek-

See duke conversations on page 6

See Cardea Fellows on page 7

glen gutterson/Chronicle file photo

Students who wish to invite guests as a part of the Duke Conversations program will now require the approval of a selection committee composed of faculty, students and staff. The four-year-old program saw its budget cut from $150,000 to $100,000 this year because its funds were under-utilized last year.

by Ethan Marks The chronicle

Duke Conversations, a four-year-old program that allows students to bring compelling individuals to campus, has undergone a makeover.

After a review by administrators, faculty and students, the program has been modified to expand participation from a select group of students to the entire Duke community. One of the most notable changes is the formation of a selection committee composed of faculty, students and staff to approve all nominated guests.

“In the past, as long as your application fit the criteria, you could bring your guest, assuming there were resources to do that,” said Deborah Hackney, an assistant director of the Office of Student Activities and Facilities who works with the program. “If

you said someone was interesting, as long as you were following the policies, we said they were interesting too.”

Funding for the program has also been reduced from $150,000 to $100,000 because some resources went unused last year, Hackney wrote in an e-mail.

The impetus for change came last Fall from President Brodhead, who asked Steve Nowicki, dean and vice provost of undergraduate education, to convene a review committee to look closely into Duke Conversations and suggest areas for improvement. Nowicki found that the program— which pays for the travel, room and board for guests to come to campus and spend time with a small number of students— was not always provoking the kind of discussions that had been intended.

The program was being used by a rela-

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4 | Friday, September 11, 2009 the chronicle

New reader project offers digital feedback

by Trent Chiang The chronicle

Students already feeling the strain of the semester’s first paper can look to the Duke Reader Project for help.

The Project, formally launched by the Writing in the Disciplines Program and the Office of Alumni Affairs last Spring, recruited Duke alumni and employees as readers to provide feedback on drafts of academic papers through e-mail or webcam.

“The idea is that they’ll get feedback on drafts from someone who’s out there in the world and has experience,” said Cary Moskovitz, director of the Writing in the Disciplines Program.

The Project included 14 different courses this Fall, ranging from economics to biomedical engineering, each with different experts available to read and advise on drafts of papers, said David Bernay, project manager and a lecturing fellow in the Thompson Writing Program. The students in the courses were encouraged to sign up with the project, which paired them up with a reader to provide comments about their writing samples.

For instance, a public policy class on counterterrorism and the law has readers who have worked for federal intelligence, the White House and Congress, Bernay said.

“The students are writing policy memos intended for people who’ll be making decisions and involved in federal anti-terrorism matters,” Moskovitz said. “There’s

nobody who tutors here who has experience doing that. Fortunately, there are quite a few people who are Duke alumni who do have that experience.”

Only the students in the designated courses were allowed to participate this semester, the project coordinators said.

Neil De Marchi, a professor of economics who teaches “Cities as Incubators of Growth,” said the Duke Reader Project will be a useful tool for his students.

“The possibility for students to expand their notions of the world is probably enlarged by the people who are in the world,” De Marchi said. “I think it has a very positive influence on the students. It might be a way to help them accept criticism, to understand how things could be done differently.”

Several students who signed up with the Project this semester said the program will provide valuable input on their work.

“It’s a good opportunity—absolutely,” said senior Tiffany Pan, who is signed up for the Project for an environment class.

“It’s always nice to get feedback.”

Moskovitz said he hopes the Project will ultimately provide mentorship opportunities for students as well, and spark a deeper academic interest in the subject matter.

“Students have told us that having a reader who is not connected to the classes, in some cases, motivated them to do it more seriously,” he said. “It’s not only about the grade, but a more professional altitude.”

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Steve Nowicki, dean and vice provost of undergraduate education, speaks to Campus Council members about his vision to improve Central Campus at the group’s weekly meeting Thursday night.

Campus Council

Nowicki depicts vision to better ‘junky old houses’

by Carmen Augustine The chronicle

Drastic renovations are in store for Central Campus in the coming months.

At Campus Council’s Thursday night meeting, Steve Nowicki, dean and vice provost of undergraduate education, and Zoila Airall, assistant vice president of student affairs for campus life, discussed the renovation of Central Campus and their vision of making it a more friendly, social environment and not a collection of “junky old houses that [are] just filled with stuff.” They also spoke about campus life and the importance of students staying informed about campus issues.

“Nobody was in the mood to think about Central because it was in the past,” Nowicki said.

With plans to build New Campus delayed due to the economic downturn, Nowicki and Residence Life and Housing Services officials have turned instead to Central Campus beautification projects. Nowicki noted that there are four main problems with Central Campus that make it unappealing to students—there is a lack of dining options, transportation is sparse, the campus is “scary” and there are few recreational options.

To address the problems of food and fun, plans have been made to bulldoze the historic buildings of Mill Village and construct in their place buildings that are more functional and safe. Duke had an agreement with the city of Durham to maintain the historic buildings. But after inspection last year, it was found that the buildings were too termite-infested to be renovated and had to be torn down, further delaying the renovation of Central Campus.

There will be four new buildings constructed to recreate the historical houses of Mill Village, maintaining the “historical charm” that it originally had, Nowicki said.

Two of these buildings will be larger social-study spaces that are very “programmable” Nowicki said.

The Central Campus convenience store Uncle Harry’s will be renovated and turned into a more functional store with a separate storage warehouse. The fourth building will be converted into an exercise room. To help make the Mill Village more appealing to students, landscaping will be done on the grounds and more lighting will be put in. Many students have expressed safety concerns and Now-

icki speculates that this may be brought on by some environmental factors.

“Central Campus is actually not unsafe if you look at data,” Nowicki said. “If it feels unsafe, that’s a problem.”

Nowicki said at the meeting that one problem is that there is no main route through campus—no walkway students can take to ensure that they see other students and feel safe. More lights will also be added over the course of the year.

The newly renovated area is forecasted to open by the beginning of the Spring semester.

A new restaurant will be placed next to the Central Campus pool, according to the plans presented at the meeting. The restaurant will boast gourmet dining, similar to local eateries such as Foster’s Market and Guglhupf Bakery and Patisserie, Nowicki said, adding that it “will not be the Great Hall.”

In other business: President Stephen Temple, a junior, noted that Campus Council is running on a $152,000 budget for the year—$37,000 of which was leftover from last year, approximately $3,000 less than usual.

The council has allotted $25,000 for a band to perform during the Old Duke Party in April. Although no specific information could be released, Programming Chair Ben Goldenberg, a sophomore, said the group is looking for a “contemporary band.”

Additionally, Campus Council has budgeted $20,000 for Last Day of Classes celebrations—$5,000 less than last year, a result of the smaller rollover budget, said Treasurer Sean Puneky, a senior.

Junior John Pryor, Campus Council facilities and services chair, presented his committee’s idea of purchasing more “large products” for campus this year.

Among these would be a reverse vending machine, which would take in cans, crush them, and return a few cents back per can. Although installation of such a large device would be expensive, it would be a green contribution to campus and would reduce waste, Pryor said. The initiative would cost $100,000.

New Campus Council members joined the table this week, and Temple said he was very impressed by the new members, adding that it seems like Campus Council is “gearing up and gaining momentum.”

The ChroniCle

Friday, SepTember 11, 2009 | 5

DSG hopes for more elected Senators this Fall

by Lexi Wallace The chronicle

With Senate elections Monday, Duke Student Government is hoping that this Fall’s hotly contested ballot is a promising sign of greater interest in DSG’s senatorial seats. in recent years, DSG has routinely fallen short of its goal of having 32 popularly elected representatives in the 40-member Senate, and last year’s elections were no exception, junior Gregory Morrison, DSG executive vice president, wrote in an email. Following the elections last Spring, only half of the 24 available Senate seats were filled. This is unfortunate for the democratic process at Duke, Morrison said, considering that even if all eight of the freshman seats are elected this Fall, only half of the DSG senators will have been elected by students.

“The executive Board in the Spring saw who was elected and how many had to be appointed, and we thought that that number [undermined] the legitimacy of our democracy. We then made a concerted effort to find candidates,” Morrison said. over the summer, DSG by-laws were amended to accommodate for special elections, including the race between two candidates for special secretary for the Young Trustee process, which will coincide with the freshman elections this week. For the first time in Fall election history, there will be 19 Senate seats up for popular vote Monday, including some of the unfilled positions left vacant last Spring, Morrison noted in an e-mail. in the past, DSG has faced difficulty in recruiting upperclassmen to run for the Senate, many of whom are often dedicated to other groups on and off campus, Morrison said.

Ben Bergmann, a junior and senatorial

JaMes lee/ChrOniCle file phOTO

Duke Student Government typically aims to have 32 members of its 40-person senate elected by popular vote, but recently more senators have been appointed. candidate, said juniors and seniors tend to be invested in their existing commitments.

Bergmann himself already serves as president of Duke Democrats.

“Students tend to dismiss what DSG does and view it as a lobbying organization,” he said. “People who care about a lot of issues are often involved in a lot of other things.”

But Gordon Wilson, a freshman also running for the Senate, said upperclassmen disinterest in DSG may result from more than just involvement in other activities.

“From what i’ve heard from upperclassmen, many feel that DSG is not an effective

vehicle for change,” Wilson said. “Many Duke students feel disaffected from DSG.” There have, however, been promising signs that students are taking a greater interest in DSG and the Senate election process, Morrison said. With the special elections for upperclassmen seats designated to occur along with the freshman elections, a total of 44 candidates will be running for 16 seats. This year’s freshman, sophomore and junior classes will have full eight-person delegations of popularly elected senators, meaning 29 of a possible 32 senatorial seats will have been filled democratically.

“My impression from looking at this list is that the folks who are running in the junior or senior class have not been senators or in DSG yet,” said Morrison. “We have a lot of first-time senators, which means that there will be a lot of fresh voices.”

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, and this Fall DSG hopes for more than just significant voter turnout from freshmen. “i really hope that students’ faith in DSG will grow in the future,” said Wilson. “There is great potential for positive change by DSG for the school at large.”

Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy

Explorations Week:

Discover the Possibilities >>> http://genome.duke.edu/education/explore/ September 14 – 18, 2009:

All are welcome to join us in

IGSP Explorations Week activities to learn about opportunities for research, education, professional development, and discovery in genome science and its impacts on society.

M o n d a y, S e p t . 1 4 • 3:00 – 5:00 pm • Registration required RCR Training: Setting Expectations and Resolving Conflict in Mentoring Relationships T u e s d a y , S e p t . 1 5 • 4:00 – 5:30 pm IGSP Faculty Research at a Glance We d n e s d a y, S e p t . 1 6 • 4:00 – 5:00 pm Biomedical Research in the 21st Century: What's race got to do with it?

6:00 – 9:00 pm Movie Night: Minority Report and discussion with Dr. Bob Cook-Deegan T h u r s d a y , S e p t . 1 7 • 4:00 – 5:30 pm Interdisciplinary Research Career Panel F r i d a y , S e p t . 1 8 • 12:00 – 1:30 pm Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future 3:30 – 5:00 pm • Ice Cream Social, featuring Mapleview Farms Email tomalei.vess@duke.edu in the IGSP Education Office with any questions.

6 | Friday, September 11, 2009 the chronicle

hillen from page 1 porate security and diplomacy and maintain America’s global position as a power. He said Grand Strategy is a “practical necessity if a country is in the business of accomplishing goals.”

Hillen spoke of the challenges to implementing Grand Strategy, as well as particular obstacles he encountered in Washington D.C. as a policy-maker and assistant secretary of state. He touched on his responsibility as the mediator between the Department of State and Department of Defense, and the importance of forging a connection between military security, foreign relations and economic understanding. Hillen made it clear that this is a challenging field.

“Life is not a linear process, and neither is strategy,” he said.

Hillen later addressed the undergraduates in the room specifically, encouraging them to seek work in the policy area of Grand Strategy. “[It is the] most inspiring and consequential work you will do in your life,” he said. “And, the stakes couldn’t be

higher.”

Hillen saved some time for a question-and-answer session after the speech with students, and disclosed further specifics about his time as a soldier, policy-maker, assistant secretary and businessman.

Students’ reactions to the speech seemed generally positive and appreciative of Hillen himself.

“He did a good job explaining how the process works with politics, and touched on linking those two in the policy world—that was really insightful,” said Katie Cochran, a graduate student in political science.

Feaver noted the importance of bringing Hillen to campus, especially as the American Grand Strategy program’s premier speaker.

“Hillen is a triple-threat in that he has a distinguished record in thinking and writing as well as a distinguished record [working] inside government and industry, most importantly on the backs of a Duke education,” Feaver said in an interview. “I wanted my students to see and be inspired. I’m guessing I have a few future John Hillen’s in my classroom.”

chase olivieri/The Chronicle

John Hillen, former assistant secretary of state for political military affairs discusses the importance of the Grand Strategy with audience members during an event at the Sanford School of Public Policy Thursday night.

duke conversations from page 3 dinner with the guest, the student host and a limited number of other students, but future dinners will be restricted to on-campus eateries. Also new this year is “Community Hour,” an event with 25 to 50 students that gives guests an opportunity to tell their story, host a question-and-answer session or teach a master class—anything besides a traditional speech. Senior Samiyyah Ali, an OSAF student intern and the chair of this year’s selection committee, said she especially supports this change.

“I think the Community Hour is the biggest part of the program now,” Ali said. “It allows people to come together to learn about something they wouldn’t otherwise get to hear about, particularly people who don’t have access to these kinds of opportunities in their classroom settings.”

Senior Isaac Warren used the program last year to bring Brazilian martial arts expert Valder de Fernandes to campus. He also attended the focus group held by administrators over the summer and said he supported most but not all of the committee’s work.

“They said that they wanted student groups to try to use funding from other sources to bring in speakers, but they didn’t prohibit the groups from using Conversations,” he said. “Some of the rules were not well thought out or well enforced.”

The committee will also be replacing the rolling guest nomination process with two distinct deadlines.

Applications for Fall conversations must be submitted

by Sept. 14, and applications for Spring conversations will be due in November.

Evaluations will be given to all guests and their student hosts in order to judge the efficiency and effectiveness of the program, and administrators will continue to monitor usage patterns to see if the program is evolving to meet campus needs.

“I’d like to see Duke Conversations become something that is recognized across the country and across the world as being prestigious, as being an honor,” Nowicki said. “I think that’s possible. That’s part of what we want to do—to expose Duke students to the world, but also to design the program in a way so that the world is exposed to Duke students.”

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the chronicle

Friday, September 11, 2009 | 7

cofer from page 1

cardea fellows from page 3

The explosion resulted from excess water that had collected in the pipes due to a series of design, maintenance and repair flaws in the system, the document reads. Cofer’s family alleges in the complaint that administrators were aware of the potential safety problems with the system but knew that repairing the facilities would have cost millions of dollars.

“Duke University intentionally weighed the cost of the renovations and needed repairs with the risk of loss of human life,” the complaint reads. “Duke University opted knowingly and intentionally to operate the steam system in its presently inherently dangerous condition.”

Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations, said the University is not to blame for Cofer’s death.

“Ray Cofer’s death was a great tragedy for the Duke community, and I think everybody here joins with his family in their grief,” he said. “We know that his death was an accident that Duke itself could not have prevented.”

ing high-achieving students who enjoy working with others, but with limited backgrounds in science and math,” Alyssa Perz-Edwards, director of the Cardea Fellows Program, wrote in an e-mail.

The program covers its expenses without any new funding from the University—it uses resources like the Academic Resource Center and pre-health advising staff, Perz-Edwards said. Duke has also been receiving donations from external sources, Baker noted.

“The beauty of this is that this is an innovative program from a constrained budget,” Baker said.

The special freshman seminar for this program is taught

by Dan Scheirer, chief pre-health adviser and Trinity associate dean. His course uses interactive media that he wrote and designed called “Biology Basics” to replicate experiments by scientists Francesco Redi and Louis Pasteur. The seminar focuses on broad views of biology—the consistent and evolving knowledge base in the science—as well as new dynamic relationships

“We know that his death was an accident that Duke itself could not have prevented.”

— Michael Schoenfeld, VP for public affairs and gov’t relations But Cofer complained to his superiors that someone would be killed if safety conditions in the system did not improve, said Anthony Brannon, one of three Raleighbased attorneys who filed the complaint.

“The ‘slushing’ of water in the system made the system a ticking time bomb, which could have exploded at any moment, and eventually certainly did,” the complaint reads. “Cofer, as it turned out, predicted his own death.”

Duke continuously evaluates its safety protocol and therefore has not made many significant changes as a result of Cofer’s death, Vice President for Campus Services Kemel Dawkins said. Employee training, however, has increased since the explosion last May. “Any time there is an accident or a situation like that, we use it as the opportunity to refocus on safety procedures, the kinds of things that we need to be paying attention to constantly in order to ensure a safe environment,” Schoenfeld said.

Brannon said the positioning of Cofer’s body near the exit suggests that he made an attempt to flee. Although Cofer and his colleagues had rehearsed evacuation plans, a mangled steel door thwarted his escape and made it difficult for firemen to access the basement after the explosion, according to the complaint.

“The mechanical room transformed into a death trap with no possible egress,” the document states.

An investigation conducted by the North Carolina Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health division in November found that Duke employees in the LSRC had not been properly trained to use the steam system and clear access to exits was prevented. Duke was fined $35,000 for nine “serious” violations after the inspection.

The University has provided the organization with additional information to ensure that they fully understand Duke’s efforts to improve safety and has not yet paid the fine, Schoenfeld said.

Dawkins noted that the rare nature of such accidents, coupled with measures the University has taken to improve safety, means it is extremely unlikely tragedy will strike the steam system again.

Doriane Coleman, a professor at the School of Law who specializes in tort law, said lawyers trying workplace compensation suits in civil court must establish that the defendant knew with certainty that its operations were dangerous. After reviewing the complaint, Coleman noted that the Cofer attorneys sketch an argument that could be convincing, but whether they will produce the necessary evidence in court remains to be seen.

“Whether the plaintiff can eventually prove the things alleged in the complaint is not presently at issue. This will come later, assuming the complaint survives a motion by the defendant (Duke) to dismiss the claim,” Coleman wrote in an e-mail. “In other words, it is not possible at this stage to say that Duke has done anything that could make it civilly liable in this case.”

between biology, politics, religion, business and technology.

“The importance of this approach is that medical schools do not require applicants to be biology majors, or even science majors, although many are,” Scheirer wrote in an e-mail. “So my goal is to ‘bring biology to life’ for students with all kinds of majors.”

With the help of these classes, the program helps students explore their career options as well, participants said.

“I think that the program will help us understand the breadth of options in the health care field, and it will include programming specially targeted to improve our knowledge of medicine and health care,” freshman Andrew Lay, a program participant, wrote in an e-mail.

Freshman Mariah Hukins, a Chronicle cartoonist, said the program changed her mind about medicine, opening her to the various aspects of the health field and “not just the stereotypical types.”

As a new program with strong goals and purpose, the Cardea Fellows program centers on students’ potential and needs—not only academically but also socially, Perz-Edwards said.

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The ChroniCle

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DUKE

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FRIDAY

September 11, 2009

Follow David Cutcliffe and Co. in action Saturday with a live blog from West Point The Blue Devils make an appearance in the one poll they want no part of

www.dukechroniclesports.com

ARMY

WEST POINT, N.Y. • SATURDAY • 12 p.m. • CSTV

boUncInG bacK

Duke aims to avoid slide against Black Knights

by Andy Moore THE CHRONICLE

Last week’s game did not go according to plan for the Blue Devils.

The contest against Richmond was supposed to be a tune-up for a challenging two-week road trip. Instead, the Blue Devils (0-1) were left stunned after a 24-16 loss to the Spiders.

“We felt like we were better than that while we were on the field,” senior quarterback Thaddeus Lewis said. “We knew we weren’t playing up to our potential.”

In order for Duke to achieve its potential against Army (1-0) at 12 p.m. Saturday at Michie Stadium in West Point, N.Y., head coach David Cutcliffe has identified three key points to improve on.

First, Duke wants to see better special teams play this week. Last week’s performance left much to be desired, as the first score in the game came from a blocked punt returned for a touchdown. Two missed field goals—both from inside 40 yards—hurt the Blue Devils’ chances for a comeback.

“For us to win, we’ve got to first win the kicking game,” Cutcliffe said. “That’s an edge. We could have won against Richmond [if we had kicked it well]. We had our opportunities.”

Junior Will Snyderwine remains an option for Saturday’s game. Snyderwine handled kickoff duties against the Spiders and knocked in the final extra point. There has been no word yet on whether Nick Maggio, who missed both kicks last week, will start.

Duke will also have to ramp up the physical play if it wants to have a chance to win.

Rushing yards are perhaps one of the best measures of a team’s physicality, and

on that front, the Blue Devils fell short last week. With the offensive line struggling against the Spider defense, Duke mustered only 19 yards on the ground.

“We have to be way more physical, on both sides of the ball,” Cutcliffe said. “We were not near as physical as our opponent in the last game.”

The running back corps will face a tough Army defense that gave up only 223 yards last week in its 27-14 win against Eastern Michigan. It also collected nine tackles from behind the line of scrimmage.

The Blue Devils will have to toughen up, according to Cutcliffe, in order to stand a chance. “[Physicality’s] got to be a driving force in this game,” Cutcliffe said. “As you can imagine, Army is a very physical team....

Those guys will flat mix it up with you.”

Finally, offensive consistency has to improve, as it was also an issue in the season opener. Duke finished a paltry 3-of-14 on third down conversions last week, a difficult stat to overcome no matter the opponent.

“We have to be consistent with offense and third down conversions,” Cutcliffe said. “It just kills you to see flashes of playing extremely well, and then let let-ups like that occur. It was far too familiar from a year ago.”

The lone bright spot in the offense during the Richmond game—Lewis’ passing— still wasn’t good enough for Cutcliffe.

Lewis threw for 350 yards and two touchdowns, but attempted a whopping 55 passes. He was frequently hurried by the Spiders’ defensive line, and Duke’s SEE FOOTBALL ON PAGE 11

men’s soccer

larSa al-omaiShi/the ChroniCle

Thaddeus lewis and the blue Devils lost to richmond in their season opener last week, and now they are trying to right the ship with their first road game of the year at army saturday at noon.

Blue Devils open ACC slate riding high

by Chris Cusack THE CHRONICLE

Simeon laW/ChroniCle file Photo

The no. 19 blue Devils kick off their acc schedule Friday night against no. 16 virginia in charlottesville.

After winning its first three games of the season with relative ease, Duke could use a win over a ranked opNo. 19 ponent to continue Duke its early season movs. mentum.

It will get that No. 16 Virginia chance against No. 16 Virginia.

FRIDAY, 8 p.m.

The No. 19 Blue Charlottesville, Va. Devils (3-0) kickstart their ACC schedule tonight in a highly anticipated top-25 battle against Virginia (2-0) at 8 p.m. at Klockner Stadium in Charlottesville, Va. Duke will have to deal with a rambunc-

tious Virginia crowd, as the players try to get Cavalier head coach George Gelnovatch his 198th career victory.

“We come to play in this league because it’s the toughest league in the country, and Virginia’s one of the top teams this year, athletically and talentwise,” head coach John Kerr said. “It’s going to be a tough challenge, but we’re excited about it.”

Duke currently trails the all-time series 35-37-7 but have a 3-1-0 lead since 2006.

Convincing wins over Denver and Columbia in the Duke/Nike Classic over the weekend have propelled the Blue Devils to a fast start to the season, but Duke cannot SEE M. SOCCER ON PAGE 11

10 | Friday, September 11, 2009

the chronicle

women’s soccer

volleyball

After a slow start to the season, the Blue Devils will take to the road for their biggest challenge thus far.

Duke (2-2-1) travels to Gainesville, Fla. tonight to take on No. 14 Florida. This will be the Blue Devils’ first match against Duke a ranked opponent vs. this season.

Duke heads south No. 14 Florida following a 0-0 draw with UNLV last weekFRIDAY, 7 p.m. end. Scoring has Gainesville, Fla. proven to be an issue so far this season, despite the production from senior captains KayAnne Gummersall and Elisabeth Redmond. Gummersall has notched three goals and two assists, while Redmond has contributed two goals and four assists.

Freshman Tara Campbell has been impressive in her four starts in goal this season, anchoring a stingy Blue Devil defense.

She owns a 0.81 goals-against average, and is coming off back-to-back shutouts of UNC Wilmington and UNLV during last weekend’s homestand.

The Gators (3-2) will be happy to be home after a tough road trip. Florida lost to Indiana 2-1 in double overtime Friday, then dropped a 3-0 decision to UCLA Sunday.

—from staff reports

Although the Blue Devils (6-1) are the host of the four-team Duke Invitational this weekend, all eyes will be on the number one team in the country in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

“We are going to be challenged Coll. of a lot this weekCharleston end, especially vs. against Penn State,” middle Duke blocker Sophia Dunworth said.

FRIDAY, 7 p.m. “[We need] to Cameron Indoor Stadium continue to play at a high level Loyola throughout the entire match, but vs. we’re up for it.”

The No. 1 NitDuke tany Lions are coming off an SATURDAY, 10 a.m. perfect Cameron Indoor Stadium almost season in which they did not lose No. 1 Penn St. a single game and only dropped two vs. sets the entire year. No. 1 Penn Duke State has started right where it left SATURDAY, 7 p.m.

Cameron Indoor Stadium off, having won six straight games without losing a set.

Penn State is led by Durham native Megan Hodge, a three-time All-American. Hodge has also been named the NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Player two years in a row.

Blue Devils In home tourney, Duke hosts the best head south for Gators

Sam Sheft/The Chronicle

The Blue Devils welcome two-time defending national champion Penn State in the Duke Invitational.

Duke last played Penn State in 2006, when the Nittany Lions won in three sets 30-18, 30-18 and 30-22.

Despite the presence of a top-ranked foe on the horizon, head coach Jolene Nagel said the team hasn’t begun to think about playing Penn State yet.

“We are not focusing on anyone but College of Charleston right now,” Nagel said.

“We have to focus in on our opponents one at a time. Period. I don’t want it to get con-

fusing for our players or our staff.”

Dunworth said that the Blue Devils’ depth will play a big role in any success the team has this weekend.

“If someone has a bad day, it’s OK because we have so many good people that can play,” she said.

Duke will have to hope its quantity of talent can match up to the high quality Penn State is expected to serve up Saturday evening.

—from staff reports

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the chronicle

Friday, September 11, 2009 | 11

M. SOCCER from page 11

field hockey

afford to get complacent. The next three weeks will bring contests against No. 3 North Carolina and Boston College, concluding in a game at Koskinen Stadium against No. 7 Maryland. With next week’s date against the Tar Heels drawing closer, Kerr insists his team can’t afford to overlook the Cavaliers. “[The Cavaliers] have terrific team speed and aggression and they can close you down really, really fast,” Kerr said.

“They have a strong, experienced group.”

In Friday’s match, Virginia will count on sophomore striker Brian Ownby, who is playing in his last game before leaving Monday for Egypt to compete in the U-20 World Cup for the United States. Ownby is complemented by fellow sophomore Tony Tchani, a member of this week’s Soccer America Team of the Week and MVP of last week’s Nike Portland Classic.

Duke will look to junior midfielder Cole Grossman to continue his strong play from last week, as he was named ACC Player of the Week. He and the seniors will be relied on to continue to carry the underclassmen, including James Belshaw, a freshman goalkeeper from Nottingham, England, who has split duty with Nick Tsipis. The team’s defense helped Belshaw deliver a shutout in his first game in net, as he only had to make one save against Denver.

“The players that we’ve brought in are maybe inexperienced in the ACC, but they’re very good players,” Kerr said. “I’ll be looking to see how they cope and how they handle themselves.”

If Kerr’s faith is well-placed, then Duke should have no problems keeping its momentum from the nonconference slate intact.

election from page 1 She added that her experience in leadership roles in BSA will help her incorporate many different opinions into the process.

Getson also wants to talk to many students as he develops a proposal to reform the Young Trustee process, he said. The computer science major added that his experience on DSG’s Young Trustee Selection Committee last year allows him to “observe, judge and analyze the responses from the students.”

“I saw firsthand what about it works and what doesn’t,” he said, but added “as the special secretary, I would not want to come in with a preconceived notion of what the best process is.”

Getson said that as he talks with students, he will compile their opinions and make his notes public in order to make the reform process more transparent.

“The job of the special secretary is to create a fair and balanced process for anyone involved,” he said.

Both Getson and Turner said they do not have any conflicts of interest that will interfere with their duties should they be elected. Turner will resign from ICC if she is elected, she said, and Getson has already resigned from the DSG Senate.

Turner also will not apply to be Young Trustee, she said. When asked, Getson declined to say whether he would apply for the position.

Duke to take on ACC rival

Courtney Douglas/The Chronicle

After giving up 125 rushing yards last week, Duke’s defense will have to contend with Army’s triple option.

FOOTBALL from page 11 weak offensive line forced conservative play calls. Many of the passing plays were short screens or swing passes to running backs and slot receivers as Lewis rarely had time to look for the deep ball.

“We should have thrown for 500 yards,” Cutcliffe said. “Had we played the best we could have played [with the passing game], we would have won.”

Improving on last week’s miscues won’t be easy for the Blue Devils. Duke not only faces a tough Black Knight defense, but an explosive triple option offense that easily ran for over 300 yards

last week. The Blue Devils have experience playing against the triple option offense—they played Navy and Georgia Tech last year—but have struggled to contain it in the past.

“The preparation this week is more critical than ever,” Cutcliffe said. “We’ll have to work a little harder to get the looks that we see from the scout team.”

Last week, Army won its first season opener since 1996. That was also the last time Army opened a season 2-0.

Even if the Black Knights repeat the feat Saturday, Cutcliffe is sure it will not be for a lack of effort on Duke’s part.

“I’m totally convinced our team will respond and go play the best it can be at Army,” he said.

No. 11 Duke (3-1) will have its hands full this weekend when it hosts No. 3 Wake Forest in the ACC opener for the Blue Devils Saturday at 1 p.m. at Jack Katz Stadium.

The Blue Devils are coming off a rough weekend in which they barely beat unranked St. Joseph’s 4-3 in overtime, lost No. 3 to Drexel 4-3 in overWake time, and lost their vs. star defender Lauren No. 11 Miller to injury. Head Duke coach Beth Bozman said after the St. Joseph’s game that los- SATURDAY, 1 p.m. ing Miller had a det- Jack Katz Stadium rimental effect on the team’s defensive cohesion.

The Demon Deacons have made five of the past seven national championship games and have three crowns to show for it, including two victories over Duke in the 2003 and 2004 title matches. This season, Wake Forest has jumped out to a 3-1 record, with its only loss coming to then-No. 4 North Carolina, 4-1.

Duke has not defeated Wake Forest since 2005, when it beat the Demon Deacons 3-2 in the national semifinals to end their bid for a fourth consecutive national title. Wake Forest has since won five straight games against the Blue Devils. ­—from staff reports

8 years later, Pentagon survivors continue to heal

by Faye Fiore

The los angeles times

WASHINGTON — Lt. Col. Brian Birdwell is in Texas now. Army Chaplain Henry A. Haynes is in South Carolina. Eight years ago Friday, they were inside the Pentagon at 9:43 a.m., when American Airlines Flight 77 hit its mark.

The world tends to give its fullest attention to anniversaries divisible by five or 10, not eight. There will be bagpipes and drums in New York. The president will lay a wreath in Washington. Most of the nation will take a collective pause and move on.

But for Birdwell and Haynes and others like them, directly touched by the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, every anniversary is a powerful reminder of grief, and, as years go by, a kind of healing.

Birdwell was burned over 60 percent of his body. Today, he is retired from the Army and running a ministry for burn victims that he founded with his wife.

Haynes was the Pentagon chaplain, coming up from a meeting in the basement when he heard chaos and then spending the next 24 hours ministering to people who kept asking, “Why?” Today, he is at Fort Jackson, S.C., counseling combat troops with a wisdom that didn’t come from books.

“The key thing for those who lived it versus watched it is, the nation will recognize an anniversary,” Birdwell says of the three jets deliberately crashed that day into the Pentagon and New York’s World Trade Center—

and one that went down in a field in Pennsylvania. “But when I look in the mirror and see the scars, I can concentrate on the terrible nature of what happened or I can concentrate on the Lord’s grace in our lives.”

Birdwell was standing about 20 yards from the point of impact at the Pentagon. The plane exploded, and he was on fire. It took 30 surgeries and years of excruciating rehabilitation to piece him back together.

When his wife, Mel, first saw him in the hospital, the doctors’ best efforts to prepare her for the sight of him were insufficient.

Had anyone said to her then that they would go on to write a book and found a ministry, she wouldn’t have thought it possible.

The book is “Refined by Fire”; the ministry is “Face the Fire.” They tour the United States talking to combat-wounded soldiers and children pulled from infernos. Sometimes they are asked: Will life ever seem normal again?

They answer yes.

“A number of things came out of that day,” Birdwell says from his home in Granbury, Texas. “I knew my ability to compete for promotion was over. But the pastors who visited kept asking, ‘How are you going to let the Lord use you for this story?’”

Not a day passes that he doesn’t think of two co-workers who perished. His joints don’t bend the way they once did, and his lungs are damaged. But he thinks he looks pretty good “for a 47-year-old guy who got run over by a 747” and came away with a son, a dog and a mission.

“If I want people to know one thing, it’s this: I am alive today because of the miracle of Christ.”

A few states north, Chaplain Haynes doesn’t need a calendar to know what time of year it is. For many who were in the vicinity that day, a crisp, cloudless sky has become a “9/11 day.”

Since he left the Pentagon in 2002, Haynes has had rotations at three different posts. In each place, someone has asked him to talk about the attack, and so he has: The way Americans came together, the flags that hung from every overpass as he drove home, exhausted, and later from every house in his neighborhood.

“It changed me as a person,” says Haynes, 56. “I have a far greater appreciation for the spirit of people in a time of need and how they came together. God is always there.”

When soldiers going into or coming out of combat seek his counsel, he references that Tuesday. “It helps them to understand.

It’s something tangible they can get their arms around and say, ‘He’s not just talking off the top of his head.’”

Still, it is easier to discuss other people’s suffering rather than his own, he says. “I don’t talk about that much. It was humbling.

I don’t have a good answer.”

As anniversaries go, eight years isn’t much of a milestone. The traditional wedding anniversary gift for eight isn’t silver or gold; it’s pottery—useful and durable, but fragile nonetheless.

Read this far? You should join The Chronicle! E-mail Emmeline at ez8@duke.edu for more info.

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since 1789 Come explore faith with us: Sunday Worship and dinner 4:00pm

Sunday Mass Schedule

Wednesday Bible study 7:00pm (Link Classroom #2)

11am

Richard White Lecture Hall, East Campus

9pm

Duke Chapel

505 Alexander Ave. (Central Campus) www.episcopalatduke.org

Imagine a religion... that welcomes your questions and makes room for your beliefs!!!

CAMPUS-WIDE FAST

Daily Mass Schedule Monday

5:15pm

Goodson Chapel, Duke Divinity School

Tuesday

12 noon

Duke Hospital Chapel (6th Floor)

Wednesday 5:15pm

Duke Chapel Crypt

Thursday

11:30am

Yoh Football Center, Team Meeting Room

Friday

5pm

Fuqua School of Business, Seminar B

catholic.duke.edu

(919) 684-8959

037 Duke Chapel Basement (office) & 402 N. Buchanan Blvd.

HINDU STUDENTS ASSOCIATION Come Join Us For

Weekly Gita Discussion • Diwali Puja • Shivratri Puja • Temple Trips • Hinduism 101 • Yoga • Ram Navami • Garba • Meditation • Open Discussions and Speakers on issues that deal with campus life and Hinduism and many other events!

September Events

F R I D AY, S E P T. 1 8 The Duke Muslims Students Association invites you to fast for a day.

Participants are invited to a free dinner in the Great Hall after the fast, from 6:30-9:30 PM.

Unitarian Universalism is a liberal religion that believes in the inherent worth of every person, the authority of reason and conscience in religion, freedom of religious belief, and a faith that is manifested in justice and love.

Visit dukemsa.org to learn more and sign-up.

By participating, you can help the Mariam Clinic continue to provide free healthcare to the uninsured in the Raleigh-Durham area.

The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship @ Duke

Join us in your spiritual quest for truth and meaning!

www.duke.edu/web/uu

Sets

For students. Must present college id. Delivery, phone orders and layaway available. 336-226-0013

Resisting Simplistic Theology

All are welcome!

Rent

For Sale 35%

Homes for Rent

for

Male student looking for a housemate to share two-bedroom townhouse in Colony Lake. I have master bed, other bedroom is a good size too. Shared bath. $400/month plus shared utilities. House includes resident cat to keep you company at no extra cost! Townhouse conveniently located to Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh. On busline.

Want to take a look? 919-933-9263

HOME AFTER SCHOOL CARE NEEDED Need help in SW Dur-

Rev. Duke Lackey, Senior Pastor

E-mail: church@trinitydurham.org Web Site: www.trinitydurham.org Phone: (919) 683-1386

CHURCH WORKER

1.) Weekly Sunday Discussion, 12pm, Graduate Student Lounge - Grey Building 2.) Bhutanese Empowerment Project - Tutoring every Thursday, 6pm 3.) Sanskrit Workshop (19th and 20th,, 9am to 5pm) 4.) Navratri Garba (26th, 7pm) Email ym15@duke.edu to RSVP for these events Join our Facebook Group: Hindu Students Association @ Duke University or visit our website: www.duke.edu/web/hsa for frequent updates!

Temples in the Area we visit: 1.) HSNC Temple 309 Aviation Parkway, Morrisville, NC 27560 2.) Sri Venkateswara (Balaji) Temple 121 Balaji Place, Cary NC 27513

the chronicle

Friday, September 11, 2009 | 13

Diversions Shoe Chris Cassatt and Gary Brookins

Dilbert Scott Adams

Doonesbury Garry Trudeau

the chronicle Favorite study-abroad spots: following the footsteps of ldu: ........................hon, charlie, likhita British port-a-potties: ......................................................will, emme outback steakhouse: .................................................................. toni Franklin street on halloween: .................................................austin West Point...for one weekend: .................................. sabreena, jeff alpha centauri: .................................................................... glen, ian there’s cheese on the moon: .....................................................klein ...i’m more fond of the planet dwarf planet Pluto: .............. ashley Barb Starbuck honestly prefers 301 Flowers: .......................... Barb

Ink Pen Phil Dunlap

Student Advertising Manager: ..............................Margaret Potter Account Executives: ....................... Chelsea Canepa, Sterling Cross Liza Doran, Lianna Gao, Ben Masselink Amber Su, Mike Sullivan, Jack Taylor Quinn Wang, Cap Young Creative Services: ...............................Lauren Bledsoe, Danjie Fang Christine Hall, Megan Meza

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The Independent Daily at Duke University

The Chronicle

14 | Friday, September 11, 2009

More groups, more money,more problems At the beginning of last the process of student group academic year, student lead- creation and funding would ers asserted that the prolif- have to be reformed. As a eration of student groups in welcome first step, budget inrecent years had cut down formation about the amount on the money of money given available to to each group editorial each group. An was put online increase to the student activi- last year. ties fee had become necesThen, just a few weeks sary, they argued, to fund all ago, came the news that the of the worthwhile student Student Organization and Figroups popping up around nance Committee had added campus. around 30 student groups to Although the money al- the ranks of the chartered located to the average group groups that receive funding, in recent years has in fact raising the total number of increased rather than de- such groups to about 130. creased, it was at least true In all, there are about 400 that the number of groups student groups now on the has skyrocketed. books, and this year the charAnd especially after a ref- tered groups will get a total erendum on the increase to of about $638,000. the activities fee failed, it was This is excessive on its widely acknowledged that face. It is so excessive that

“

onlinecomment

I totally agree with you Cliff. In the end what’s easier to change, the behavior of 15 million regular marijuana users or the policy our country uses to control marijuana?

”

—“End the Prohibition” commenting on the guest column “Pot doesn’t kill Mexican kids.” See more at www.dukechronicle.com.

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groups like the Anime Club, the Apiary Club, the Duke Circus, the Swing Dance Club, the Culinary Society and the Public Speaking Club are now funded by students’ money from the student activities fee.

But the proliferation of groups is worse than excessive. It is bad, too, because it diverts money that should be going to established and worthwhile groups to groups that are by no means sinister or purposeless but certainly do not deserve funding for their activities.

Many of these frivolous groups could maintain an existence very similar to their current one if they received no SOFC funding. In general, what makes a student group good is not free pizza

and partially funded trips to the circus but a real mission, an efficient leadership and interested students—all of which are both free and, so to speak, priceless.

There are three ways to rectify this situation.

First, SOFC and Duke Student Government should audit all existing groups with an extremely discerning eye. They should in particular stop funding groups that do not need funding and cut down on funding for groups that are receiving too much.

Second, SOFC and DSG, whose Senate must approve each chartered group, should be much more stringent about which groups they choose to create. The addition of 30 new groups

this year indicates that they are failing to do this, if they are even trying.

Third, SOFC should make a conscious effort to shift the main stream of money allocation from the annual budgets of student groups to the Programming Fund. If groups are forced to draw from the Fund for specific events, they will have to justify the importance of each event and present receipts in order to be compensated. Money approved through an annual budget can be, and is, wasted much more easily.

Many groups deserve students’ money, but many more do not—and as it is now, groups of both categories receive a lot of it. All parties involved have an obligation to change that.

Keep faculty in the fray

ike all universities smart enough to give its professors a large role in shaping policy, Duke doesn’t let the administration make decisions without its prized academics weighing in first.

In 1972, George Christie, James B. Duke professor of law, chaired a comnate freeman mittee dedicated to good night, and reforming the bygood luck laws of the Academic Council, a governing body made up of elected faculty members. Among the changes was a refined definition of the Academic Council’s overall modus operandi: a formalized procedure that allows the academic sector of the University a chance to oversee administrative policy. The Christie Rule, as it was referred to, allows the council a chance to review any decision that impacts academic life—before the policy is sent to the Board of Trustees.

The rule was part of an effort to establish the Academic Council as a governing body that extended beyond the establishment of academic degree programs, Christie told me in an e-mail. “[Before the reforms] there was an Academic Council but it had no formal governance powers,” he wrote. “It could and often was consulted by the University administration, but the president was free and often did rely exclusively on informal consultation with whatever University faculty the president might choose. The president was not formally required, however, to seek any consultation with faculty.”

With the implementation of the Christie Rule in September 1972, the Academic Council would thereby be a required consultant on all “plans of the Administration that significantly affect academic affairs,” as the rule reads.

John Burness, former Duke senior vice president for public affairs and government relations, is currently teaching a course about how the media covers higher education, in which he discusses the Christie Rule. He told me that the rule is overall beneficial to Duke, as it gives highly acute minds the chance to weigh how administrative policy affects academics.

At the best institutions, you tend to have strong faculty governance,” he said. “I believe it is a real hallmark of Duke’s governance that the faculty has a clear forum to discuss these issues.… It’s one of the reasons Duke has risen so high in its relatively short history.”

Burness isn’t the only veteran Allen Building resident to praise the policy; in his address to University faculty in October 2004, President Richard Brodhead affirmed his support, too.

“I learned long ago of the Christie Rules, the

Magna Carta extracted by Duke faculty at some local version of Runnymede, and I affirm that I will continue to consult the faculty on all matters of import,” he said in the address. “I accept this not as an unavoidable limitation on my sovereignty but as a way of wisdom to be positively preferred.”

In arguably its best-known invocation, the Academic Council exercised its power to help prevent the Nixon Presidential Library from coming to Duke’s campus in 1981. “Certainly the opposition expressed in the Academic Council was a major factor in the University’s decision not to pursue the possibility of having the Nixon Library at Duke,” Christie told me.

In August 1981, Duke President Terry Stanford announced that he was in negotiations with former U.S. President Richard Nixon, Law ’37, over bringing the library to campus. This ignited a firestorm among the professors who opposed Nixon’s politics or conduct in office, and many fought to cease all discussions.

The Academic Council voted 35-34 to end negotiations regarding the presidential library, and though the Board of Trustees voted 9-2 to continue the discussion, the evident distaste for the project led to a stall, and Nixon’s camp eventually went elsewhere.

Other instances of faculty intervention, however, seem not as steeped in Duke’s academic culture. In the ’90s, there was a push to bring Starbucks coffee all over campus, but a few members of the faculty raised hell over the idea of the ubiquitous chain colonizing campus. I stopped by the office of Executive Vice President Tallman Trask to talk about what he called “the Starbucks saga.”

“There was a view held by some members of the faculty that given a choice, we should prefer local vendors instead of national vendors,” he said. “That’s not a view I agree with, or a view that I believe students agree with, but I finally agreed to give it up.”

Though the question of whether to bring Starbucks to campus isn’t exactly academic, Trask said the administration often gives faculty “the benefit of the doubt” if they are passionate about an issue. “Faculty concern about the effect of having a Starbucks on campus played a very large part in deciding not to have it,” he said.

But despite the lack of the popular chain on campus, the Christie Rule is absolutely integral to the University—I would be shocked if Duke had a policymaking structure that excluded the faculty at the highest levels of legislature. The University is an institute of higher learning, and this attitude must pervade every aspect of campus life. I’m even glad the faculty deemed coffee “academic” enough for their involvement—I’d drink Joe Van Gogh over Starbucks any day of the week.

Nathan Freeman is a Trinity senior. His column runs every other Friday.

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Friday, September 11, 2009 | 15

commentaries

lisa du moshi moshi

Red is the new black

arack Obama swept into office on Nov. 4 on the strength of his charismatic public persona and a message of hope and change that overwhelmed the stale and racist dogma of McCain/Palin. The Democratic Party rode Obama’s coattails to perhaps its biggest electoral victory in 50 years. With a majority in both the House and Senate, liberals hoped, and conservatives feared, that we were on the verge of an era of unprecemichael stauch dented liberal reform.

Those who voted spread the embers for Obama in droves couldn’t have been more pleased. Spontaneous celebrations broke out in the streets of Detroit, D.C., L.A. and Philly, among others. After more than 30 years of attacks on working folks, on queer folks and youth and on people of color communities, Obama’s victory seemed to indicate a sea change in American politics.

Two hundred days into the Obama administration, we are still waiting. We will be waiting a long time, for Obama represents not a dramatic break with politics as usual, but the continuation, with some minor modifications, of the mainstream agenda that has dominated politics in the U.S. for so long.

The evidence is staggering.

We saw inklings of it on the campaign trail. Back in August, Obama talked grandly about the small contributions that made up a majority of his campaign donations, but made less mention of the $112 million of those donations, approximately one-third of the total, that came from people associated with real estate and finance capital on Wall Street, the two industries most responsible for the economic collapse.

In addition, almost 40 percent of Obama’s stimulus package was devoted not to job creation programs, but to tax cuts, another indication of Obama’s ties to the economic order so many people are so tired of. Moreover, far from rallying to workers’ causes, Obama made auto industry bailouts contingent on restructuring workers’ benefits and has all but abandoned the Employee Free Choice Act, with its card-check system that would have greatly simplified unionization drives at workplaces across the country.

He sided with the Bush administration over the government’s right to conduct warrantless wiretaps; he favors continuing the privatization of education, supporting both increasing merit pay and expanding the charter school system, measures teachers themselves oppose; and he has been decidedly ambivalent about full marriage rights for queer folks.

The campaign trail gave us similar inklings of Obama’s policies internationally. Most glaringly, he campaigned not on an antiwar platform, but explicitly advocated

sending more troops to Afghanistan. Furthermore, he has largely adopted Republican strategy on Iraq, continued Bush-era illegal renditions and maintained the U.S. government’s unquestioning support not only for Israeli apartheid, but for authoritarian regimes in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and throughout the Middle East.

The list could go on.

Such policies suggest not the radicalism conservatives have taken to calling “socialism,” but a centrist tied to the neoliberal economic policies responsible for the current state of the economy, more willing to side with moderate Republicans than progressives on social issues (even those progressives that pledge him their unquestioning support), and tied to the usual authoritarian suspects internationally.

Given all the evidence to the contrary, why is it that the right raises the specter of socialism over each and every move Obama makes? I would put forward that in this case, red is the new black. That is, attacks on Obama as a socialist are a way to attack him for the one thing that has undeniably changed since his election— the country isn’t run by white folks anymore. These attacks express an anxiety over the racial composition of the United States. Their viciousness suggests what these racists know in their heart of hearts—history is against them. In 50 years, perhaps fewer, white people won’t be a numerical majority in the U.S. Where these racists have it wrong, however, is that

Cartoon by Mariah Hukins for The Chronicle

they conflate skin color with political perspectives, and the two have not been commensurable for a long time (if indeed they ever were). For progressives, “socialists” and radicals of all types, the question before us is what to do given the fact that Obama is black, but he is no red; given the fact that the status quo remains, and to it has been added a layer of racist animosity parading as legitimate political critique.

Do we rally around Obama, a black man subject to racist attacks from the right, but with little to recommend him politically in a time of great social upheaval? Or do we search for, and create ourselves, the political alternatives that can respond both to racist attacks as well as to the burning political, economic and social questions of our time?

Michael Stauch is a second-year Ph.D. candidate in history. His column runs every other Friday.

lettertotheeditor Comment misrepresents Duke’s role in Durham Thursday’s online comment box: “it still mystifies me why the University must be responsible for things that happen off its campus,” is a gross misrepresentation of Duke’s role in the Durham and Triangle communities. Our University is part of a greater community that extends well beyond Duke’s borders. It is our duty to the University and to the community to do everything possible to always proudly represent the Duke

we know and love—both on and off campus. Students like David Hershey, who is running for the Trinity Heights Neighborhood Association board, should be applauded for actively realizing that our actions off campus have consequences.

Will Passo, Trinity ’11 Duke Student Government Vice President, Durham and Regional Affairs

A yes vote is key to a better DSG

O

n Monday, Sept. 14, we, Duke Student Government, ask you to vote yes on four referendum questions. We believe that each question is critically important to our student body and will improve the quality of our government.

Referendum Question 1, reforming the DSG Judiciary: Duke Student Government needs a functioning, independent judiciary that can check the powers of the Senate and the Cabinet. A new judiciary will be charged with the settlement of student group disputes and the duke student discipline of student groups in addigovernment tion to their duties of judicial review. guest column As it stands, the judiciary is not independent and does not serve a useful function in terms of ensuring oversight and accountability. The system of appointment/election is vague and confusing, and it empowers individuals who have no clear understanding of their job and who are not prepared to use their power constitutionally.

With increased judicial visibility and activity, students will more likely seek and receive redress through the judiciary, rather than abandon the DSG system altogether.

Referendum Question 2, establishing DUSDAC as a part of DSG: Every student has a stake in Duke Dining, so it’s imperative that the student voice is heard in campus dining decisions. The liaison between the administration and the student body is a group called the Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee, made up of a handful of our classmates who are committed to improving the dining experience on campus. Every Monday, the committee assesses Merchants on Points, reviews campus eateries and makes recommendations about all aspects of the dining program. DUSDAC is officially an advisory committee under Dining Services, with an unofficial relationship with DSG. The purpose of the DUSDAC referendum is to guarantee students a voice in dining decisions in the future. With no formal by-laws, DUSDAC exists at the will of the administration and could be dissolved or, more likely, lose structure and influence as student leaders graduate and administrations change. Most importantly, with only a casual link to DSG, DUSDAC lacks the full weight of the student voice. Because we feel DUSDAC is a critical lobby for students, we must take measures to secure the organization’s continued influence. The constitutional amendment we are presenting will officially create DUSDAC as an advisory body of DSG, guaranteeing the committee’s role in campus decisions.

Referendum Question 3, dissolving the office of Vice President for the ICC: The Inter-Community Council ought to be made separate and independent from DSG. As a council of student organization presidents, the ICC provides a highly useful forum for both DSG and administrators to receive feedback about proposed policies and initiatives.

There is no substantive difference between the mission of the ICC and the mission of DSG as outlined in the constitution. The ICC is tasked with the same general job as DSG, and yet, while a cousin of student government, it is unelected and not amenable to direction by the Executive or by the Senate. Indeed the entire relationship between ICC and DSG is murky.

If the ICC is allowed to be independent, both groups could focus on their strengths, pursuing meaningful service to the University without encumbrance. If the referendum is passed, ICC could fashion for itself whatever role in the university it felt was necessary and appropriate, tackling issues of interest to its members based on its own priorities. DSG would still benefit from collaboration with ICC without the drawback of ICC administration.

DSG and ICC both endorse this move to independence.

Referendum Question 4, making the Constitution Gender Neutral: Last year the student body voted in favor of a referendum to make the DSG constitution gender-neutral. Unfortunately, not enough students voted in the last election to make the referendum valid. DSG urges you to pass this important change. The idea of gender neutrality is not new.

Unlike our current constitution, previous constitutions have included gender-sensitive language. Removing gender bias in the DSG constitution is not simply an exercise in hollow semantics. It is an act to make the student body’s governing document more inclusive.

The argument that these changes will make the constitution difficult to read is nonsensical. It is no more difficult to read “Chair” than “Chairman,” or “self incriminate” than “incriminate himself.” After all, for a school that used to have a separate Women’s Student Government Association, shouldn’t our now united Duke Student Government constitution reflect the fact that DSG is no longer all men?

For the good of the University and for the sake of effective student governance, we ask you to vote in favor of the constitutional questions during the referendum on Sept. 14.

Awa Nur, President Gregory Morrison, Executive Vice President Cynthia Chen, VP for Academic Affairs Spencer Eldred, VP for Student Affairs Will Passo, VP for Durham and Regional Affairs Pete Schork, VP for Athletics and Campus Services Mike Lefevre, Chief of Staff David Hu, SOFC Chair

16 | Friday, September 11, 2009

the chronicle

“ T h e y e a r s h av e pa s s e d b u T T h e i r m e m o r i e s l i v e i n T h e h e a rT s o f T h e i r f r i e n d s a n d fa m i ly , and of This universiTy. We are saddened by Their absence b u T i n s p i r e d b y T h e i r l e g a c y . T h i s pa i n f u l d ay a l s o r e m i n d s u s T h aT T h e p oW e r o f d e s T ru c T i o n is less mighTy Than iTs opposiTe: o u r p o s i T i v e e f f o rT s a s i n d i v i d u a l s a n d a s a c o m m u n i T y . ”

— Richard H. Brodhead, President, Duke University

Duke University remembers alumni who lost their lives on September 11, 2001.

A wreath was placed this morning in Keohane Memorial Grove, the site of six trees that were planted by the Duke Alumni Association to honor: J. Robinson “Rob” Lenoir ’84 Peter Ortale ’87 Christopher Todd Pittman ’93 A. Todd Rancke ’81 Frederick C. Rimmele III M.D. ’94 Michael Morgan Taylor ’81

September 11, 2009 8:46 a.m. Campus-wide Moment of Silence, sponsored by Duke Student Government, Duke ACLU, Duke Conservative Union, Duke Democrats, Duke Republicans, Purple 8:30 p.m. Candlelight Vigil, Chapel Quad, sponsored by Purple