February 17, 2010 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

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2010

ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH YEAR, Issue 97

www.dukechronicle.com

$50M deficit remains, says Brodhead President: ‘Let’s step up to its challenges’ Revised estimate shows cuts ahead of schedule

by Lindsey Rupp THE CHRONICLE

ian greenWALD/special to the chronicle

The Duke medical team in Haiti evacuates an earthquake victim via helicopter to the USNS Comfort, a navy hospital ship, for surgical treatment.

Medical team returns from Haiti

by Shaoli Chaudhuri THE CHRONICLE

After 10 days in Haiti, the Duke medical team sent in the wake of last month’s earthquake returned home Monday.

The 14-member team of specialized doctors and nurses––led by Dr. Ian Greenwald, chief medical officer of Duke Health’s Preparedness and Response Center––set out Feb. 5 to support two Partners

in Health hospitals in the island nation.

Partners in Health, a global health organization co-founded by Duke Trustee Dr. Paul Farmer, Trinity ’82, runs one hospital in the nation’s capital, Port-au-Prince, and one in the neighboring city of Cange.

“Our team worked 16 hours a day in 100-plus degree heat,” Greenwald wrote in an e-mail. “The work was hard. The conditions were suboptimal. But I am confident

we made a difference.”

All but two team members returned Saturday, said Dr. Mark Shapiro, a trauma surgeon who served on the team. Dr. Cameron Wolfe, an infectious diseases physician, and Nancy Payne, a clinical nurse specialist, remained in Haiti until another medical team could take over, and are See Haiti on page 5

University dining system remains in flux

by Sanette Tanaka THE CHRONICLE

Negotiations regarding the overhaul of Duke Dining to reduce the current $2.2 million deficit are still under wraps.

Campus leaders involved in the discussions—including Vice President for Campus Services Kemel Dawkins, Director of Dining Services Jim Wulforst and Duke Student Government President Awa Nur, a senior—met Tuesday to discuss changes but reached no resolution.

Adjustments to dining should be finalized this week, Dawkins said. Wulforst declined to comment for this story.

“The deficit is real, and we want to fix it with the least harm to students,” said DSG Chief of Staff Mike Lefevre, a junior. “We don’t want only undergraduates to be hit.”

Jim Wulforst After the meeting, Nur, Lefevre and sophomore Pete Schork, DSG vice president for athletics and campus services, created a list of student provisions for the administration, including setting an expiration date of one year for any dining changes and eliminating faculty and staff discounts on food.

“We haven’t put any number on a fee or figured out what the entire package will look like, but pending these stipulations, we will consider a variety of proposals,” Lefevre said.

Previous plans to close the gap included “directed choice” and

Renfree rehabs as spring practice begins, Page 8

a “freedom tax.” Under directed choice, students would have be required to spend 500 to 700 food points at non-contracted Bon Appétit Management Company vendors, including the Great Hall and the Marketplace. A freedom tax would have charged students a 6 percent tax on food points spent at contracted eateries.

Both plans are now off the table, but changes must still be made because the current dining model is unsustainable, Schork said.

Although alterations to dining have not been finalized, Lefevre said students can expect both internal changes—which will affect faculty and staff—and administrative changes, such as fee increases and food plan changes. Freshmen may experience the most dramatic modifications of all, including fewer food points in each of the plans. The points in the base allocation may decrease to $300 from $370.

Decreasing allotted food points would ideally shift freshmen from eating at contracted eateries to eating more meals at the Marketplace, increasing the amount of funds going to Bon Appétit and Dining.

But Lefevre said such a plan would not alleviate the deficit, and students would continue to eat at contracted locations.

“What would the freshman reaction be? They would hate it,” Lefevre said. “It would be frustrating, but they would cope and in the end, their parents would add more [points].”

Durham Public Schools The school system received a $1.25 million grant from a national foundation, see story page 3

See dining on page 6

President Richard Brodhead announced Tuesday that the University is almost halfway toward eliminating its budget deficit.

Brodhead said officials now estimate Duke’s overall deficit to be “in the range of $100 million.”

In his Primetime address to about 75 audience members in Page Auditorium and 100 online viewers, Brodhead said a number of circumstances have improved since officials announced the original estimate of $125 million. Primetime addresses are quarterly talks between senior administrators, staff and faculty about the University budget.

He added that efforts to cut the budget have already reduced the deficit by $50 to $60 million through cuts already enacted or identified. He offered few details as to how Duke will eliminate the remaining amount.

“It’s not a time when we can stop being disciplined,” Brodhead said. “We think we’ve solved more than half the problem in the first See Primetime on page 6

courtney douglas/The Chronicle

President Richard Brodhead spoke to employees and other audience members in Page Auditorium Tuesday on efforts to decrease Duke’s budget deficit.

ONTHERECORD

“This is the beginning of the program. It will help North Carolina recover from this crisis more readily.”

­—Pat Simmons, director of the NCDOT’s rail division, on a federal grant. See story page 3

2 | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2010 the chronicle

worldandnation

Oil search revives old battles

United States climate lobby Child obesity finally eases loses three important firms WASHINGTON, D. C. — The rate of childhood obesity and chronic health problems doubled in the United States from 1988 to 2006 with fewer cases toward the end of the study consistent with a recent leveling off, researchers found.

Children ages 8 to 14 showed an obesity rate of 15.8 percent at the end of 2006, compared with 8.3 percent in a similar period that ended in 1994, according to a study published online Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The overall rate of chronic childhood health conditions including obesity, asthma and behavioral or learning problems increased to 26.6 percent from 12.8 percent during the same years.

The report comes a week after first lady Michelle Obama began a nationwide campaign against childhood obesity, urging American youths to get more exercise and develop healthier eating habits.

“

All human beings are also dream beings. Dreaming ties all mankind together.

— Jack Kerouac

”

WASHINGTON, D. C. — ConocoPhillips, BP and Caterpillar have dropped out of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), the coalition of corporations and environmental groups that has been most prominent in pushing Congress to pass cap-and-trade legislation.

The loss of three major companies has dealt a blow to the now 28-member group and further dims prospects for the cap-and-trade bill that passed the House last summer and is awaiting action in the Senate.

ConocoPhillips and BP said USCAP has served its purpose and that they prefer to pursue their interests independently.

Conoco and BP pulled out Monday, Caterpillar last week.

Conoco and BP cited concerns about the effect that proposed climate legislation might have on the oil refining business.

TODAY IN HISTORY 1967: Beatles release “Strawberry Fields.”

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentina is driving up exploration costs for British oil companies seeking to drill near the disputed Falkland Islands, escalating tensions over the remote South Atlantic archipelago that led the two countries to war in 1982.

Argentina is forbidding vessels that stop at the Falklands to load cargoes at its ports for the 8,000-mile return journey to Europe. That’s likely to increase costs, Mark Jenkins, a director at shipbroker Simpson Spence & Young said in an interview. Voyages “will be more expensive,” he said.

Argentina summoned British embassy officials to issue its “most energetic protest against the imminent start of drilling” near the Falklands, known in Argentina as Las Malvinas, on Feb. 2.

London-based Desire Petroleum, which plans to start drilling offshore the islands this month, fell 4.68 percent in two days after Argentina said Feb. 11 it had refused to let the Thor Leader cargo ship leave a river port.

TODAY:

4224

THURSDAY:

4424

Online Excerpt After Duke’s 77-56 win this weekend over Maryland, a reporter asked Mike Krzyzewski about the rumor that the New Jersey Nets are interested in him as their next head coach.“The guy (prospective Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov) is Russian, right? You think they’d hire a Polish guy?

Really? Really?”

“No one’s contacted me,” Krzyzewski went on to say. “If they did, to say ‘nyet’ would be easy for me.”

— From The Sports Blog sports.chronicleblogs.com

Marvin Joseph/The Washington POST

Johnny C. Green, left, and his cousin, Willie Russell, of Eufaula, Alabama, join other black farmers at a rally near the U.S. Department of Agriculture building in Washington, D.C. Tuesday. The farmers hope to persuade the government to fund a 1999 court settlement in a case known as Pigford. The case would compensate them for long-standing racial bias in federal farm programs.

the chronicle

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2010 | 3

Local schools get $1.25 million grant

by Allison Schulhof THE CHRONICLE

Starting this year, six Durham schools will receive extra help to close a racial achievement gap.

The National Education Association Foundation awarded Durham Public Schools a $1.25 million grant from its Closing the Achievement Gaps Initiative, the group announced last week. The money will combat dropout rates among black males in the school system.

Almost 45 percent of black males in the district do not graduate on time, compared to only about 13.5 percent of white males, according to DPS statistics provided to the NEA. “We know that at this time, AfricanAmerican males are at the lowest of any demographic,” said DPS School Board Chair Minnie Forte-Brown, referring to graduation rates “They are not graduating high school with their cohort.... And when they are graduating, many times they are ill-prepared for college. Now this means that there is something that we should be doing because we cannot allow a subgroup of individuals in our district to be at this point.”

The money, which will be spent over a period of five years, will go toward developing strategic interventions that close the achievement gap between black males and their peers. The Durham Association of Educators is working with DPS to explore strategies like teacher training, cultural competence, mentoring, academic coaching and home visits, DPS School Board Vice Chair Heidi Carter said.

The grant will go to six schools in Durham: Eno Valley Elementary, Chewn-

NC railroad creation to increase jobs

by Alejandro Bolívar THE CHRONICLE

foundation invested $6.2 million in its pilot initiative, which sought to narrow the achievement gap in schools districts located in Chattanooga, Tenn., Milwaukee and Seattle.

In the three pilot sites, achievement gains have been made since the program was implemented, and each site has seen certain improvements, according to the

Governor Bev Perdue announced Tuesday that the development of high speed rail networks in North Carolina will create or maintain 4,800 jobs in the next four years, 1,000 of which will be seen within the coming year.

President Barack Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act awarded $545 million to the state Jan. 28 to implement high speed rail, an amount about equal to what North Carolina receives annually from the Federal Highway Trust Fund. North Carolina is among several other states to receive grant funding for this purpose.

“These rail projects are going to have far-reaching benefits for North Carolinians,” Perdue said in a statement Tuesday.

“They will put people to work while providing transportation, environmental and energy benefits through reduced congestion and improved air quality.”

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson traveled to Durham Jan. 28 to announce the grant.

“I suspect [Durham was chosen for Jackson’s announcement] because Durham has done quite a bit to focus on regional and local transportation, given the renovated Amtrak station and the new Durham Station Transportation Center,” said Mayor

See DPS on page 7

See grant on page 7

kat shirrell/The Chronicle

The National Education Association Foundation granted Durham Public Schools $1.25 million to help curb the dropout rate for black males, which is the highest among any demographic. ing Middle, Northern High, Fayetteville Street Elementary, Lowe’s Grove Middle and Hillside High.

Individual schools will be allowed to determine which specific strategies they will implement, said DAE President Kristy Moore.

This is not the first time that NEA funds have gone toward initiatives meant to close the achievement gap for minority students. Almost six years ago, the NEA

4 | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2010 the chronicle

Duke grad receives scholarship Zhang elected next Union president Duke university union

Paula Long, Trinity ’09, and former Benjamin N. Duke Scholar, was awarded the Gates Cambridge Scholarship, Cambridge University officials announced Friday.

The scholarship, which was awarded to 29 graduate students from 20 states and 24 universities across the United States, covers the full cost of studying at Cambridge, including travel to England and an annual stipend. An October 2000 donation of $210 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation funds the scholarship.

Long hails from Carrboro, N.C. While at Duke, she was an English major and studied in Jordan for a semester. Her studies focused on gender and the work force in the Middle East, and at Duke she led an organization aimed to promote peace and understanding among Arabs, Jews, Muslims and Israelis through dialogue. After graduating from Duke, Long studied Arabic at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

She was selected from a pool of approximately 800

applicants this year. The Cambridge selection committees whittled the list down to 220, then to about 100 candidates over two selection rounds based on “intellectual ability, leadership potential, a commitment to improving the lives of others and a good fit with Cambridge,” according to the scholarship’s Web site.

The finalists attended interviews in Annapolis, Md. earlier this month, from which the 29 scholarship winners were selected. Another 50 Gates Scholars will be selected next month following interviews for candidates outside the U.S. From 2001 to 2009, 911 Gates Cambridge Scholarships have been awarded to students from around the world.

According to a University news release, Long will pursue a master’s degree in Modern Middle Eastern Studies while at Cambridge and plans to enter academia following her studies.

—from staff reports

Space, finances cited as constraints

by Ray Koh

THE CHRONICLE

Duke University Union hopes to expand its programs under a newly elected president—current Major Speakers Director Yi Zhang, a junior.

Zhang will begin her term April 2. She will succeed current President Zach Perret, a senior. Members of the DUU Executive Board and the University Union Board elected Zhang from a pool of four candidates after extensive interviews and discussions Saturday evening.

“I am really excited to utilize new venues next year and make DUU events more enjoyable,” Zhang said.

Vice President of Communications Karen Chen, a junior, said Zhang has the ability to motivate fellow members.

Perret said he was impressed with Zhang’s work as Major Speakers Director.

“Yi has brought a ton of great speakYi Zhang ers and pushed the committee to achieve better things,” he said. “She has a great potential to bring the union to better and higher places.”

Zhang added that she wishes to collaborate with student affairs committees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University.

She said she would like to develop the mentor relationship between advisers from the Office of Student Activities and Facilities and DUU. “OSAF advisors are a great resource,” Zhang said.

In other business: DUU tentatively scheduled the Cameron Rocks concert for 8 p.m., April 1.

Two artists—whose names will be released when paperwork is finalized tomorrow—will perform at the show, said Major Attractions Director Liz Turner, a senior. She added that DUU will hire professional designers to create posters for the show.

The Battle of the Bands competition between Duke and UNC will take place for the second time March 20 at 6 p.m. at the Coffeehouse, said Campus Concert Series Director Shin Chang, a junior.

Applications can be submitted until March 3, and three bands will be selected from each university to perform. Chang said she hopes to continue this tradition in the future.

“It is a celebration of student music, and we hope to foster a relationship between Duke and UNC in music,” she said.

stephen farver/The Chronicle

At the Duke University Union meeting Tuesday night, members discuss plans for the April 1 Cameron Rocks concert.

the chronicle

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2010 | 5

Haiti from page 1

First time for everything

james lee/The Chronicle

Performers related their personal experiences as part of the Off Broadway play “My First Time” Tuesday in Reynolds Theater.

scheduled to return today.

“I think we pretty much had one goal [going in], and that was to support the Haitians in getting back on their feet,” Shapiro said. “We weren’t there to necessarily do the work for them. We weren’t there to make these patients necessarily ours. We were there to support them in any way possible.”

During the 10-day stay, the team split into two groups so that both facilities and their patients could be aided simultaneously.

The conditions of the two hospitals, however, were dramatically different, said Shapiro and Katie Sligh, a clinical nurse on the team. “[In Cange,] we had running water… it was still relatively clean and the people were very nice and it was a very safe working environment [though] the hospital was overwhelmed,” Shapiro said. “But once you entered the general hospital in Port-au-Prince, the conditions were Spartan.”

He added that the team had to work by the light of head lamps at night.

In one hospital at which several team members worked, only one building escaped unscathed in the destruction by the Jan. 12 earthquake.

“People were living in tent structures,” Sligh said. “The hospital in Port-au-Prince was working with really limited resources.... A lot of [non-governmental organizations] were supplying staff and personnel to work.”

In retrospect, Sligh said that given the devastation in Haiti, the team’s efforts were “only a drop in the bucket.”

But Shapiro said the medical team exceeded its goals and objectives.

“We went in there with such strength and such determination... we were basically an entire operational staff,” he said. “We could pretty much go 24 hours if we needed to.”

Greenwald noted that careful planning allowed the team to fulfill its mission.

“We worked hard pre-departure to ensure we were bringing just the right amount of staff with the correct skill set to meet the needs on the ground,” he wrote in an email. “If we didn’t feel we were making a significant impact and justifying our presence it would have been better to go home. In the end, the team did a whole lot of good.”

6 | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2010 the chronicle

Dining from page 1

Primetime from page 1

Other fee adjustments may include increases in students’ administrative or dining services fees. Student dining plans may also increase in price by 6 percent instead of the annual 3 percent increase, although the amount of food points received would not change, Nur said.

Nur added that with more than 40 percent of students currently receiving financial aid, much of the costs would revert back to the University.

“Obviously, the fees that are charged to students are a concern for everyone,” Director of Financial Aid Alison Rabil said. “In the end, it’s [the administration’s] decision, and they understand that by making that decision, lots are impacted.”

The fees are a temporary measure to help the administration cope with the deficit, Lefevre said.

The proposed measures to fix the deficit will not be applicable a year from now.

“This is a financial band-aid, a bailout from the students for an organization that is failing to be lucrative,” he said. “We’re willing to give as much as we have to, but [the administration] must rethink their model because we’re not paying their way out of their mess.”

To ensure that the fee increase is not permanent, Lefevre said DSG plans to draft a written contract and present it to the Board of Trustees to hold the administration accountable.

Over the next few years, Dining would have to substantially revamp

one-third of the time we’ve given ourselves to do it. So it’s a good start, but nevertheless we still have a significant way to go.”

Brodhead noted that the University has already eliminated the equivalent of 450 fulltime jobs and said “with fair confidence” that there would be no large-scale layoffs.

“I cannot promise that we’ll have no layoffs,” he said. “Duke has a very decentralized budgetary system, and as each part of it figures out how to best manage its business, there may be layoffs here and there.”

Brodhead also could not say whether faculty and staff would receive raises or bonuses this year.

Last year, Duke announced a pay freeze for individuals making more than $50,000 annually and a one-time payment of $1,000 for those making at or below $50,000.

Although Brodhead said no decision on raises will be reached for four to six weeks, he emphasized that any increases would be modest.

“If we give out big raises this year, we only compound the problem we have to solve—so what do we do? Do we cut your benefits so we can afford your raises? Lay off people so we can afford the benefits and raises of those who remain? You may not like it, but all these things trade off in a very immediate way,” Brodhead said.

By foregoing bonuses and

faith robertson/Chronicle file photo

Although their food points may remain constant, students may see their dining service fees rise up to 6 percent. Officials expect to finalize the new plans by the end of the week. its current model to become profitable without relying on student fees, Schork said. Ideally, the additional money from the students would be reinvested in Dining.

Lefevre attributed the deficit to the surplus of contracted vendors on campus and added that there are plans to close some eateries. In their list of stipulations, DSG leaders asked to be included in talks regarding the closures, as well as regarding contract re-negotiations with privatized vendors.

Currently, they are looking to make the core dining locations more appealing, evaluate staffcustomer relations and improve the overall quality of food on campus, Nur said.

“We’re pushing for a complete and total restructuring of Dining in the sense that we have known for

several years now that dining cannot sustain 33 vendors,” she said.

Neither DSG nor the administration has signed on to any concrete plan. Negotiations have persisted because of the vast number of variables involved and the various proposals from either side, Lefevre said.

“We’re not done yet, but this may well be our last working meeting,” Dawkins said. “I’m hoping to finish everything up this week.”

Lefevre said the entire negotiation process has been everything but transparent.

“It’s going to look like we’re imposing some unfortunate changes, but if we hadn’t been [present at the meetings], it would have been so much worse,” he said. “It won’t make us popular, but at the end of the day, we, as students, have to make our cut.”

raises last year, Brodhead said the University saved $18 million and protected about 200 jobs.

He added that he does not anticipate making cuts to employee benefits.

As Duke tries to create a sustainable budget, Brodhead said the University will continue to look for ways to cut costs and boost revenues. He cited the Duke Administrative Reform Team’s efforts to boost University efficiency as part of the effort to cut the remaining millions from the deficit.

One DART change going into effect is a standardized, central computer purchasing process. The effort will save the University an estimated $2 million annually by negotiating bulk discounts through Dell, Lenovo and Apple and by extending the useful life of computers at Duke, according to a Duke news release Tuesday.

The new program will serve those who use standard office software, enterprise applications and data analysis or graphic applications, according to the release.

Despite the approximately $50 million left to cut, Brodhead said he is confident that “at the end of the day, Duke will be fine.”

“I say to myself, let’s look this moment in the eye, let’s take the measure of its challenges, and let’s step up to its challenges,” Brodhead said. “We can make it our place to make this place stronger at this time, and with your help that’s what we’ll do.”

the chronicle

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2010 | 7

grant from page 3

tyler seuc/The Chronicle

Gov. Bev Perdue announced Tuesday that construction of a new rail system in North Carolina will create up to 4,800 jobs over the next four years.

DPS from page 3 NEA. In the pilot schools in Milwaukee, high school graduation rates among low-income and minority students are now at 70 percent and growing four times faster than the district average, according to NEA statistics.

As a result of the positive changes in teaching and learning in these pilot communities, NEA extended the project.

This past week, Durham and two other school districts— Columbus, Ohio and Springfield, Mass.—were chosen among 14,000 other school districts who also submitted grant proposals.

“The NEA Foundation established a set of eligibility requirements, implemented a competitive process and selected sites based on their readiness and capacity to achieve the... initiative outcomes,” William Miles, NEA Foundation director of programs, wrote in an e-mail. “In particular, we looked for evidence of collaboration between the local educators’ association and district, meaningful analysis of data about the achievement gaps, focus on teaching and learning, parental engagement and the potential of systemic transformation as a result of these efforts.”

Carter also said Durham was chosen for a reason, adding that the relationships between the DAE, DPS, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina Central University and local business leaders were a key basis for earning the grant.

“One reason we received the grant was that Durham has a track record of successful collaboration among the educators at the teacher level and at the administration level, as well as with the community,” Carter said. “It’s about community partnership.”

Even though the $1.25 million is a fraction of the district’s $451 million annual budget, Forte-Brown said it will make a big difference in the community.

“It is really exciting for Durham,” she said. “When we look at where this grant has been placed, it has made a vast difference. We are getting ready to change some things.

When we change this, we change Durham. When we do this, the rippling effect is going to be enormous for our city.”

Bill Bell, adding that both projects are located next to each other in downtown Durham, encouraging users to walk.

Pat Simmons, director of the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s rail division, said the Durham Amtrak station was representative of downtown Durham’s redevelopment, adding that the station—which was renovated last year—is located in James Buchanan Duke’s first tobacco warehouse, next to where Duke’s house once stood.

In a speech delivered at Jackson’s announcement, Rep. David Price, D-N.C., said that throughout the last 20 years, federal funding for high speed rail projects has been minimal.

In 1992, the U.S. Department of Transportation established five corridors for high speed rail in the country. One of them, the Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor, was to run between Washington, D.C. and Richmond, Va. and also link Raleigh and Charlotte. One of the SEHSR’s goals was to be connected to the high speed corridor in the northeast, connecting Boston, Mass. with Washington, D.C. In 1996, then-governor Jim Hunt established the goal

of a two-hour travel time from Charlotte to Raleigh. The grant builds on this goal, with trains reaching average speeds of 86 miles per hour.

NCDOT developed the application for funding, which was submitted Oct. 2, 2009 and had a “focus on reliability, safety and something called capacity,” Simmons said. He added that two out of five funding requests were awarded, with more to come once additional funding becomes available.

Cooperation between local and private entities and the railroads was crucial to the project, Bell said.

Part of the money is to be spent on new locomotives, renovating existing stations and building double track projects, passing sidings and bridges.

“The problem with high speed rail is that you can’t have a high speed train traveling through curves,” Bell said.

Simmons said 150 communities across the state, as well as the full Congressional Board, sent in resolutions of support.

“This is the beginning of the program,” Simmons said.

“It will help North Carolina recover from this crisis more readily. It will make infrastructure that will last for generations and will give us a good foundation as we go forward to compete in the regional and international marketplace.”

Sports

>> FOOTBALL

The Chronicle

WEDNESDAY February 17, 2010

Former Duke wide recievers coach Scottie Montgomery has accepted the same position with the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers after four seasons in Durham

www.dukechroniclesports.com

Men’s basketball

Duke does decline, MIAMI objectively speaking DUKE Coral Gables, Fla. • WEDNESDAY • 7 p.m. • ESPN Blue Devils hope to stay on course vs. ’Canes

by Tim Visutipol THE CHRONICLE

maya robinson/The Chronicle

Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski is 11-1 in his career against Miami, with the lone loss coming on the road.

Duke has proven that it knows how to defend its home court, and its record at Cameron Indoor Stadium stands at 14-0.

However, the Blue Devils have shown weakness during their travels—even against the ACC’s worst team, N.C. State.

Tonight, Duke (21-4, 9-2 in the ACC) hopes to avoid a similar defeat to one of the conference’s lesser lights.

After taking a one-game lead at the top of the ACC by defeating Maryland last Saturday, No. 6 Duke looks to cement its place at the top against Miami at the BankUnited Center at 7 p.m.

Having started the season with three straight losses on the road, Duke has won the last two away from Durham. Should the

After Duke beat UNC last week, I got an e-mail from one of my friends containing his thoughts from the game. Included was this comment: “Scheyer, Smith and Singler playing 40, 39 and 40 minutes.

Sure it was UNC on the road, but this is a trend and they will break down.”

Among Duke fans and People That Talk About College Basketball On Television (Hi Pat Forde!), it’s become the gospel truth that Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski plays his best guys too Alex many minutes, leading his team to collapse from exhaustion down the stretch every season.

But like Giordano Bruno, who was burned at the stake, I don’t buy the gospel truth.

Let’s break this up into its parts and approach it scientifically. (That’s right, I’m about to blind you with science.)

1. Duke collapses down the stretch. 2.

Duke’s stars play too many minutes.

Fanaroff

First we’ll tackle the idea that Duke collapses down the stretch.

It’s easy to see why people would believe that Duke struggles in the latter part of the season. The 2006 team—ranked No. 1 nearly all year—lost its final two conference games and then fell to LSU in the Sweet 16. The 2007 Blue Devils climbed as high as fifth in the polls before losing eight of their last 12 games, including their last four. In 2008, Duke peaked at No. 2 in the rankings, and then promptly finished 6-5.

But three years of data make up what scientists call anecdotal evidence (and TV commentators call gospel truth). So I went back and looked at Duke’s game-bygame results in all ACC games since the team’s last trip to the Final Four in 2004.

Using the database at kenpom.com, I determined efficiency margin (offensive points per possession minus defensive points per possession) for every ACC game, including the conference tournament. I used only ACC games to keep quality of opponents relatively controlled, and used per-possession statistics See fanaroff on page 10

See miami on page 12

Football

Renfree’s injury leaves QB questions

by Taylor Doherty THE CHRONICLE

When redshirt freshman quarterback Sean Renfree fell to the field against Georgia Tech in Duke’s second-to-last game of the season, he thought he had simply twisted his knee. It felt like a punch to the back of his leg—or, maybe someone had fallen on it, he thought. After four or five seconds of pain, it didn’t even hurt anymore.

But an hour later, in the company of the team’s training staff and doctors, Renfree’s fears were realized by the results of an MRI: An ACL tear ended his redshirt freshman campaign prematurely, and Renfree’s presumed future as the Blue Devils’ quarterback in the wake of Thaddeus Lewis’s graduation was put on hold.

And while the physical obstacle was obvious at once, a mental one emerged when the freshman saw the film.

“I watched it with my coach and if I had made... a read right, I could have just thrown the ball and I wouldn’t have had to move or anything,” Renfree said.

“I wouldn’t have gotten hurt.... It’s tough to know, just something that was mental for me. If I had just done the right thing mentally, I wouldn’t have gotten hurt physically. But that can happen to anyone, an ACL tear, just any awkward movement to your knee.”

Renfree ended the season with 330 yards passing and completed 34 of his 50 pass attempts. Against Army, he led Duke to a 39-19 victory, throwing for 106 yards, two touchdowns and completing all but one of his eight pass attempts after the Blue Devils were behind 10-7 at halftime.

Now, three months since Renfree’s Nov. 14 fall, the quarterback is focused on rehabbing the injury, which involves lots of swimming, improving balance lawson kurtz/Chronicle file photo

See renfree on page 9

Quarterback Sean Refree, Duke’s presumed starter next year, will miss the Blue Devils’ spring game next month while rehabbing a knee injury.

the chronicle

renfree from page 8 and regaining strength that the quarterback noted had quickly disappeared. When Renfree went home over Christmas break, he received no rest: Renfree’s father, Dr. Kevin Renfree, is an orthopedic surgeon. Dr. Renfree not only saw to it that his son attended physical therapy sessions Monday through Friday, but also gave him careful instructions on how to get the most out of

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2010 | 9

his weekends. Three months out of surgery, Renfree has regained flexibility in his knee but is still two or three months from being ready for contact drills.

Beyond attending team workouts, Renfree’s ability to participate actively in practice is still very limited, but he is now able to step into throws and deliver his receivers the ball.

“He’s throwing now—you know, he’s still got it,” rising sophomore Connor Vernon said. “He’s not dropping back yet or anything like that, or running or doing any kind of that stuff. We’re doing drills and we’re doing

drills with him. We’ll run our routes and he’s throwing them just standing there.”

With Renfree out of action, Duke has just two quarterbacks who can take part in full-contact drills as the Blue Devils’ March 27 spring game approaches: redshirt freshman Sean Schroeder and true freshman Brandon Connette, who enrolled at Duke at the start of this semester. Neither of those two has ever seen game action, and in all of Cutcliffe’s seasons as a Division-1 head coach, he has never gone into spring practice with just two quarterbacks, he said.

“If I had just done the right thing mentally, I wouldn’t have gotten hurt physically.”

— QB Sean Renfree

lawson kurtz/Chronicle file photo

In Sean Renfree’s absence, Duke is relying on two inexperienced signal-callers during the spring, Sean Schroeder and Brandon Connette.

During Cutcliffe’s time as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator, then-freshman Peyton Manning was the team’s only quarterback as spring practice neared and Cutcliffe had to scramble to get two players under center just to be able to conduct a practice.

At a press conference Friday, Cutcliffe admitted that it would indeed be difficult for the team to go through the spring with this lack of depth at quarterback—especially given the pair’s youth—but noted that redshirt freshman Schroeder gained valuable experience in practice last August when Lewis not only had an ankle injury but also caught the flu.

“We didn’t advertise how little Thad practiced,” Cutcliffe said. “But Sean Renfree and Sean Schroeder were our quarterbacks last fall. We didn’t have another answer, so that kid got thrown in the fire. I’ve never put—even Peyton [Manning]—a freshman quarterback in as early as he was, repping every twos because of the necessity of it.”

For the Blue Devils, preparing for the fall knowing that Renfree will be back in a number of months should work, but the team will suddenly find it hard to conduct practice if one of the young quarterbacks gets injured.

“I’m not going to play second-string quarterback, so if one of them gets banged up, we’ve got a problem,” Cutcliffe added with a smile.

10 | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2010 the chronicle

fanaroff from page 8 so that I could compare efficiency without regard to a team’s style.

I expected to shine the bright light of “statistics” and “math” on the anecdotal idiocy around me. I thought I’d debunk the idea that Duke had a tendency to fade down the stretch.

But I was wrong.

As it turns out, Duke does have a tendency to fade down the stretch. The Blue Devils’ efficiency margin dropped, on average, by 0.01 points per possession per game. That doesn’t seem like much, but it adds up. Assuming 67-possession games (the national average), the Blue Devils declined by 13 points relative to their opponents over the course of the 19-game conference season (0.01 x 67 posessions x 19 games = 13 points). January’s double-digit win became March’s nail-biter—or even worse.

You can make the argument that as the calendar turns from January to February to March, the Blue Devils’ conference opponents gain an increasing sense of urgency— needing a big win to make the Tournament while Duke’s postseason fate is sealed. But other traditional powers like North Carolina and Michigan State have historically maintained constant efficiency margins throughout their conference schedule.

While Duke does have a tendency to fade down the stretch, that still doesn’t prove that these late-season slides are due to playing its players too many minutes.

Yes, Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith are averaging 36.6, 35.5 and 35.2 minutes per game this season. Yes, they’re second, third and fourth in the ACC in minutes played per game. Yes, Duke has had at least two players average over 32 minutes per game in every season except one since 2005. Yes, this year’s five Blue

Devils earning the most minutes (these are nominally the “starters,” though they might not start every game) play 75.4 percent of the available minutes—among the highest percentages in the country. And yes, Duke annually ranks near the top in this statistic.

But it’s not like playing more than 35 minutes in a basketball game is some sort of great feat. Forty-nine NBA players are currently averaging more than 35 minutes per game, and no one ever talks about Tyreke Evans—who should be a sophomore at Memphis this year—collapsing down the stretch. And it’s not like Scheyer, Singler and Smith didn’t know that the coaching staff expected them to put up big minutes this year. They were three of four perimeter players on the roster this year, and of course, Coach K has a history of pushing his best players to play big minutes.

Plus, with eight television timeouts plus halftime during every game, it’s not like these guys are running for-plus minutes straight anyway.

Still, there’s no escaping the fact that Duke’s top players historically play an awful lot of minutes. And, anecdotally, everyone remembers National Player of the Year J.J. Redick averaging 37 minutes per game in 2006 before struggling against LSU in that Sweet 16 upset loss.

So I compared, year-by-year, the slope of the decline in Duke’s efficiency margin to the percentage of minutes played by Blue Devil starters. As it turns out, there’s really no relationship. Even in years where Coach K has played a deep bench and kept his stars rested, his team still declined. If anything, years that Duke’s stars played more minutes tended to be more successful.

So why would this be?

Maybe, when Duke has better players, those players are counted on to play big minutes. And maybe, when Duke has better players, those players are better able to

stave off a late-season decline.

Or maybe that’s not it. Maybe Duke’s Hall of Fame coach and high-character players give their best effort all season, leading them to overachieve at the start against more talented teams that don’t turn it on until later.

But while recent Duke teams have asked their starters to play big minutes and have declined in performance at the

end of the season, these two phenomena don’t seem that closely related. If anything, those teams working their stars harder have had better late-season results.

And, just in case you’re interested, despite Scheyer, Singler and Smith’s big workload, this year’s efficiency margin is trending upwards.

Trust me, it’s science.

the chronicle

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2010 | 11

12 | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2010 the chronicle

miami from page 8 Blue Devils return with a victory, they will no longer have a losing road record.

Miami (17-8, 3-8) has been strong at home this season, having defeated Wake Forest, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech—all likely NCAA Tournament teams—in Coral Gables.

The Hurricanes’ only loss at home came at the hands of Boston College Jan. 19.

“The Big Three, obviously you’re going to be concerned about them.”

— Frank Haith The Hurricanes are coming off a defeat at Clemson, their seventh in the last nine games, and will be looking to get their season back on track.

Duke will be aiming to win its fifth consecutive game, and will again be relying on the trio of Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith for the majority of its points. The “Big Three” are averaging a combined total of over 53 points per game, making them the highestscoring trio in the nation.

The Blue Devils will also need production from their big men, and hope

senior Brian Zoubek can build off his 16-point, 17-rebound performance against Maryland.

“The Big Three, obviously you’re going to be concerned about them,” Miami head coach Frank Haith said. “But you’re going to have problems when those other guys, [Zoubek], or Mason [Plumlee], or Lance Thomas have big games against you.”

Those post players will have to contend with Miami forward Dwayne Collins, who posted 23 points and 11 rebounds in his team’s win over the Demon Deacons earlier this season. Collins is averaging close to a double-double.

Haith especially emphasized the importance of keeping Duke off the offensive glass, which has been a large factor in the Blue Devils’ recent winning run.

With the outright lead in the conference following two wins last week, Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski sees the Blue Devils in reach of the ACC regular season crown, something Duke has not achieved since 2006.

“We’re just happy we had a really good week, and we’re hoping to have another good week,” Krzyzewski said. “[But] they don’t give awards based on a week. Those things go away real quick.

But if you win something big, if you win a championship, it stays forever, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

michael naclerio/Chronicle file photo

Miami took Duke to overtime last year in Cameron Indoor Stadium thanks in part to forward Dwayne Collins.

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Diversions Shoe Chris Cassatt and Gary Brookins

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The Chronicle memories from our first time:

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The Independent Daily at Duke University

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14 | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2010

“

From rhetoric to reality In yesterday’s editorial, we to be a national leader in outlined the most pressing civic engagement, it must issues identified by the Klein- carefully consider what imWells Committee’s “Engaging provements and changes Excellence” report. Moving can advance its civic enforward, the University must gagement as a whole, not address these challenges just one singular program. through open, First, the honest dialogue Duke Ceneditorial and careful conter for Civic sideration of national best Engagement must assume a practices. strong identity as a stand-alone With this goal in mind, organization that can provide Provost Peter Lange and Vice support to existing and future Provost and Dean of Under- civic engagement initiatives graduate Education Steve at Duke. Administrators were Nowicki’s written response to correct to formally draw a line the report is disconcerting. between the DCCE and DukeNowicki and Lange assume Engage and reinforce this disa defensive position and fo- tinction by appointing Leela cus far too much attention Prasad as faculty director of explaining why DukeEngage the DCCE. has prospered while its parSecond, the Universient organization, the Duke ty’s tenure system must be Center for Civic Engagement, changed to accommodate fachas faltered. ulty involved in civic engageIf the University wants ment and incentivize this im-

”

This entire article could’ve been summed up with 140 characters on Twitter.

—“Pointing Out the Obvious” commenting on the letter “Replace inefficient employees.”

See more at www.dukechronicle.com.

Letters Policy The Chronicle welcomes submissions in the form of letters to the editor or guest columns. Submissions must include the author’s name, signature, department or class, and for purposes of identification, phone number and local address.

Letters should not exceed 325 words; contact the editorial department for information regarding guest columns.

The Chronicle will not publish anonymous or form letters or letters that are promotional in nature. The Chronicle reserves the right to edit letters and guest columns for length, clarity and style and the right to withhold letters based on the discretion of the editorial page editor.

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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

will robinson, Editor Hon Lung Chu, Managing Editor emmeline Zhao, News Editor Gabe Starosta, Sports Editor Michael Naclerio, Photography Editor shuchi Parikh, Editorial Page Editor Michael Blake, Editorial Board Chair alex klein, Online Editor jonathan angier, General Manager Lindsey rupp, University Editor sabreena merchant, Sports Managing Editor julius jones, Local & National Editor jinny cho, Health & Science Editor Courtney Douglas, News Photography Editor andrew hibbard, Recess Editor Austin Boehm, Editorial Page Managing Editor Drew sternesky, Editorial Page Managing Editor ashley holmstrom, Wire Editor chelsea allison, Towerview Editor eugene wang, Recess Managing Editor DEAN CHEN, Lead Developer zachary kazzaz, Recruitment Chair Taylor Doherty, Sports Recruitment Chair Mary weaver, Operations Manager Barbara starbuck, Production Manager

portant work. Administrators must remove the barriers that prevent professors like Sherryl Broverman, who has launched the Women’s Institute for Secondary Education and Research in Kenya, from being adequately rewarded for their groundbreaking work.

Civic engagement and community-based research— in which community needs, not personal academic interest, is the driving factor— should not be required for all faculty, but it should be encouraged, not hindered,

by University policy.

Third, the University should refocus its civic engagement programs to emphasize this type of community-driven research.

Unlike short-term, direct service promoted by programs like DukeEngage, research can deepen engagement with communities and create long-term

impact beyond a student’s time in the field.

Fourth, civic engagement must be embedded and integrated into the University’s curriculum. More classes geared toward students with civic engagement experiences would encourage students to critically reflect on their service, analyze the systemic problems they have encountered and develop the skills to make a difference.

Fifth, the University should make a concerted effort to publicize the wide arrange of civic engagement opportunities to students. Greater information upfront will allow students to be more strategic and intentional about their approach to civic engagement. This would enhance the educational benefit to students and heighten their contribution to community partners.

In enacting these changes and enhancing its civic engagement programs, the University does not need to reinvent the wheel. Many faculty members at Duke and many universities across the country have been involved in civic engagement work for years, and their successes can provide a set of best practices that the University should adapt and reconfigure to suit its own needs.

Only by engaging with its strengths, weaknesses and areas for improvement can the University move from the rhetoric of “knowledge in the service of society” to a reality of high quality, intentional civic engagement.

Chelsea Goldstein recused herself from this editorial because she contributed to a report submitted to the Klein-Wells committee.

The eyes have it

onlinecomment

Est. 1905

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zachary tracer, University Editor naureen khan, Senior Editor toni wei, Local & National Editor rachna reddy, Health & Science Editor Ian soileau, Sports Photography Editor Maya Robinson, Multimedia Editor Emily bray, Editorial Page Managing Editor Rebecca wu, Editorial Page Managing Editor Charlie Lee, Design Editor Ben cohen, Towerview Editor Maddie Lieberberg, Recess Photography Editor Lawson kurtz, Towerview Photography Editor caroline mcgeough, Recruitment Chair Andy Moore, Sports Recruitment Chair CHRISSY BECK, Advertising/Marketing Director REBECCA DICKENSON, Chapel Hill Ad Sales Manager

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I

haven’t set foot on campus in months, but I can still picture the scene so clearly. It took place perhaps five times a day.

Whether trotting to class or strolling to the Bryan Center, if you are in the heart of the Gothic Wonderland, it is bound to happen. Across the quad, you spot the person you sat next to in Writing 20 or your roommate’s ex—someone you know just julia love well enough that it a love story would be rude not to acknowledge them, but not well enough to actually carry on a conversation—heading straight in your direction. Duke is small enough that you are acquainted with almost everyone this way.

He is far enough away that it is possible, though not probable, that he has not seen you.

So you pretend to be transfixed by your phone or intrigued by your shoelaces and continue your approach with carefully concealed unease.

Moments before you pass each other you glance up as if by chance, albeit with a flip of your hair that probably gives you away. This allows for just enough time for a one-word greeting and nothing more.

It is more than coincidental that your phone is your savior and eye contact feels like an imposition if held for more than a moment. With much of our communication having nothing to do with the words that pass our lips, our eyes may say much more than we mean to.

Eye contact is a portal to emotion. More than a glimpse can give you away. If asked “what’s up,” we chirp “nothing.” But anyone who looks at us straight on can discern, on some level, it is rarely the case.

From what I’ve read, it seems each part of the world seems to have developed its own strategy for dealing with this involuntary confession. In the Middle East, men and women often avoid

looking each other in the eye for fear of letting sexual tension come to the surface. In some parts of Africa, an unbroken gaze can be seen as a challenge to authority. I’m convinced that the optical illusion commonplace on the Main Quad constitutes its own bizarre cultural phenomenon.

Yet Spaniards, for their part, are not afraid of eye contact. In fact, they dare to do more than look—they stare.

The spectator Olympics is at its best on the metro. Rather than staring off into space when a pitch-black tunnel is all the scenery there is to be taken in, Spaniards fix their gazes on each other.

At first, the attention made me feel like a tourist attraction myself. I shifted in my seat, but I could still feel the weight of the eyes. I tried staring straight ahead, but I could see the same pairs of eyes, fixed on me, reflected in the spotless window of the metro car.

The stares are probably more persistent because I am so clearly not Spanish. My interactions in this foreign space are at times so awkward that it must be hard to look away. Like spotting what remains after a train wreck, you have to crane your neck to see more. From the first glimpse, Spaniards can tell I am American.

People stop to offer me directions even when I know perfectly well where I am going. Before I can open my mouth to let my accent give me away, they ask what state I am from. Even when I took to reading a book with a splashy English title to quell all suspicion, the inquisitive looks persisted.

But now, a month into my stay, the stares have started to feel less like an imposition than an opportunity. In a Spanish speaking-country, where my vocabulary is elementary and my accent unintelligible, I figure my eyes say things I probably can’t.

So I hold the gaze, though—ever the American—I cannot help but grin back sheepishly.

Sometimes all it takes is a smile to make me melt.

Julia Love is a Trinity junior. Her column runs every other Wednesday.

K-ville or Ghost-ville? Check out the video: kville.dukechronicle.com

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‘That’s where the money is!’

O

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2010 | 15

commentaries

ver the last few weeks, many juSheikh summed it up well when he niors have been in a frenzy up- said, “If you give people a taste of the dating their resumes and apply- good life, they just want more. You ing for summer internships. Investment think to yourself, ‘I’ll quit next year to banking and consulting seem to be the follow my dream.’” Losing his “dream” hot favorites. job, ironically, allowed Sheikh to pursue According to the Career Center, the his real dream. top two hiring industries To borrow an analfor 2009 Duke graduates ogy Stephen Covey uses are financial services (26 in “The Seven Habits of percent) and consulting Highly Effective People,” (19 percent), and the top Sheikh had been so busy seven for-profit employclimbing the ladder— ers are Morgan Stanley, Should I skip rungs?

Bank of America, GoldWhat’s the best climbing man Sachs, Exxon Motechnique?—that he had daniel wong bil, Boston Consulting forgotten to check if the loving life, Group, Barclays Capital ladder was leaning against loving lives and Microsoft. the right wall. Getting laid Those statistics paint off gave him the oppora pretty good picture of how popular tunity to do just that. It’s a good thing banking and consulting are. In fact, he realized that the ladder was indeed out of the first 10 friends I thought of leaning against the wrong wall so early who have filled out internship applica- on in his career. tions, nine of them applied to one or So when I see such a large number the other. of Duke students getting excited about But why exactly are banking and con- banking and consulting jobs—and sulting so popular? about all the money they will be makI attended a talk last semester by ing—I wonder if they’ve already asked George Grody, a visiting professor in the themselves what they truly want out of a Markets and Management Studies pro- career. And just to make it clear, I don’t gram, where he asked the audience—all doubt that for some people, banking or Duke undergrads—that same question. consulting is exactly where the ladder “That’s where the money is!” shouted should be. one student. That’s where the money is.

In closing, I’m reminded that, “That’s Well, money is a good reason to ap- where the money is” was what bank robply for a job, but I don’t think it’s good ber Willie Sutton said when a reporter enough. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t asked him why he stole from banks. I think there’s anything wrong with want- fully recognize that I’m speaking as an ing to be rich, and I don’t think money idealist whose work experience conis the root of all evil. It opens doors for sists only of two summer internships. I you both financially and socially, and it believe, however, that if money is your can be used for many noble causes. But primary reason for choosing a career, at some level, we’re all keenly aware of you’re robbing yourself of the fulfillthe fact that there are billionaires out ment that is yours to claim if you were there who are extremely unhappy. to pursue your calling rather than your I have a theory as to why we think ambition. money will buy us happiness though.

Distinguishing between calling and It’s because unless we actually have it ambition isn’t easy, but therein lies the all—money, cars, mansions, etc.—we’re key to a satisfying work life. Let’s not not fully convinced that such luxuries settle for second-best when it comes to will not bring us fulfillment. We recog- something as important as our career. nize that we are not 100 percent content right now, so maybe if we score Daniel Wong is a Pratt junior. His colone more A, go to one more awesome umn runs every other Wednesday. party or travel to one more exotic destination, we will become just a little bit happier.

On Sep. 18, 2009, the Wall Street Journal published an article about well-paid bankers who had lost their Letter provides laughs jobs during the economic downturn. A I was pleased to see The Chronicle 27-year-old, Ajmal Sheikh, was working publish a letter to the editor Feb. 16 en90- to 100-hour weeks at UBS, making titled “Replace inefficient employees,” over $250,000 a year before he was laid which complained about the “indolent” off in Nov. 2008. But in the summer of employees who work on campus. The 2009, UBS asked if he wanted his job writer complained that the opportuniback. At the time, Sheikh was working ties for acquiring omelets and sandwichon a long-standing interest of his: a es on campus, so capacious at her old project that helped to provide doctors boarding school, were severely cramped with electronic health records. After at Duke due to inefficient employees doing some soul-searching, Sheikh dewho should be punished. cided that he had to turn UBS down I’m glad to see that my alma mater and pursue what he was truly passionis teaching the fine art of satire to its ate about. students. It’s important, especially in What a tough decision that must the recessionary times in which we live, have been! When you’re 27 years old, to retain our ability to make fun of the earning $250,000 a year, driving a fancy puffed up privilege that the spoiled car and living in a nice penthouse in hyper-rich cultivated during the bygone Manhattan, everyone you know probyears of excess. It helps take the sting ably looks at you and thinks, “You’re the off the fact that most Americans—and man. You’re living the dream.” Even if Duke students, for that matter—have you’re not actually happy with your life, more on their minds than speedy omI can’t imagine how difficult it must be to give all of that up.

I don’t give a hoot about populism

Y

ou always suspected it but never want- heard that right. ed to say it out loud. I’m here to conOh, and I forgot the crucial part: If you firm it: Sarah Palin is in cahoots with think otherwise, you’re not only a Comthe Tarheels. munist (they’ve been saying that since Joe Questions have always surrounded this McCarthy), but you’re also an elitist. A Alaska charmer. Does she in fact know the Communist Elitist… that’s a tough one. It names of any of the Founding Fathers, would have to look something like Nikita or was Glen Beck just Khrushchev, who was really a too swift and erudite for very classy dresser, especially her? Is that amalgamated, as regarded his shoes. ostensibly All-American The Tarheels have gotaccent authentic, or just ten into this insidious smear a mish-mash of various campaign. Will Blythe, a vowel sounds lifted from UNC alumnus and journal“Blue Collar Comedy ist, discussed what he takes Tour”? Was she ever actu- connor southard to be the oppositions at the ally governor of the Great heart of our dearly held dead poet State of Alaska, seeing as Tobacco Road rivalry in his she left in a flurry after book, “To Hate Like This a brief period of confused flirting with is to Be Happy Forever:” “…it is locals oil companies? And, finally, is she allur- against outsiders, elitists against populists, ing enough to single-handedly bring sexy even good against evil.” back to that Monster Ballad doo she’s been Let’s catalogue: like Barack Obama rocking recently? I don’t know what White (whom everyone knows to have been born Snake’s politics are, but surely he smiles in Kenya or something), we Blue Devils are when he sees that masterpiece of sculpted the supposed outsiders. We are the elitists, highlights. smirking as we torment the “populists.”

We can speculate all we please, but the And of course, we’re getting called evil. facts are there: Sarah Palin is the grand I call bulls—. dame of the Tea Party, and that means that It is commonplace among the varishe can’t really be ignored. Now, you can ous hacks who parade through American gnash your teeth and snarl about her per- political history—whether Lyndon Laceived lack of substance all you like, but Rouche or George Wallace (Wallace, by that won’t get rid of her. Like some fright- the way, also liked to go around yelling ful videogame uber-boss, Palin seems only “populist,” when he wasn’t acting as a racto gain in strength after absorbing a well- ist mouthpiece for Jim Crow)—to point a aimed rhetorical strike. vague and furious finger at the “elite.” I’m Just remember: She’s a populist. That not talking about constructive criticism of means that a snotty Duke English major like those holding office. I’m talking about a me can’t understand the mysteries of her ap- superstitious kind of voodoo-mongering peal. I probably need to shoot more moose. in which everything done by the other The Oxford English Dictionary defines side is not just evil: it’s mysterious. Those “populism” as “the policies or principles of elites have their own club—whether it’s any of various political parties which seek “Americans Who Know Who Thomas Jefto represent the interests of ordinary peo- ferson Was” or, er, maybe K-ville?—and ple.” Time and again, we hear that the Tea who knows what they do there?

Party—Palin at its head—speaks for an orAs far as I know, not even Rahm Emandinary person’s resentment of the power- uel has yet taken to slaughtering goats in ful, the entrenched, the elected, the gov- the august chambers of the White House. erning. The people have spoken, and they Executives of either party are probably still want change, only this time they want more interested in governance—the proto see to it that government is both held cess that does cool things like generating responsible for fixing everything and that public schools and roads and the national it does so without taxing anyone and while defense—than the slavering fist-shakers staying out of anything important. Yes, you whose business is not to solve problems but forever to imagine them. How to save oneself from having to actually articulate a position or an issue? Simple: Shroud it all in mystique. Those elites are up to something not only bad but more or less nameless—“Big Government” is as faceelet service or how to expedite compliless, distant and sounds about as scary as mentary bus rides. It certainly brought a “Big Brother.” smile to my face!

To make the opposition into a figment is to take “the people” for a cheap rhetoriFrank Holleman cal ride. It’s not populism because a good Trinity ’09 populist would have to sincerely “seek to represent the interests of ordinary peoA resounding silence ple.” Sowing fear is just the opposite. It disOn Jan. 14, The Chronicle ran my tracts everyone from actual issues of goverguest commentary, “From a DukeEnnance. Much like grumbling about those gage dropout,” concerning my experimean “rich kids” (I wish) in the stands ences with the DukeEngage Trinidad at Cameron distracts from the good, oldand Tobago program in the summer of fashioned basketball taking place on the 2009. A month has passed and I have court. yet to receive any response, private or So, sorry but not sorry, Carolina: We public, from either DukeEngage Direcaren’t cooking up anything elaborate over tor Eric Mlyn or Fuqua Professor Lucy here. It was good to see you a week ago, Reuben. and we’re already getting out our best silI am eager to hear their perspectives, ver for that date on March 6. But it’s not an but their silence speaks volumes as well. elitist thing: We just like to be classy when we’re fixing to serve up a good whoopin’.

Lisa Ma Trinity ’10 Connor Southard is a Trinity sophomore.

His column runs every Wednesday.

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16 | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2010

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