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
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2010
Gluten-free needs pose challenges
ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTH YEAR, Issue 18
www.dukechronicle.com
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HIGH TIDE
by Sonia havele THE CHRONICLE
As gluten intolerance becomes a more widespread medical condition, students affected by the disease hope Duke will make further efforts to accommodate their needs. Celiac disease, the formal name for gluten intolerance, is a digestive condition that causes damage to the small intestine and interferes with the absorption of nutrients from food, according to the National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse website. For those affected, gluten—a protein commonly found in food products such as wheat, barley and rye—provokes an immune response that damages the villi, or tiny, finger-like projections that line the small intestine. Increasing numbers of students at Duke are affected with cases ranging from mild to severe. “Until about the last five years, glutenfree needs were almost unheard of,” Franca Alphin, director of nutrition services at Student Health, wrote in an e-mail. “I can remember a few meal plan exemption requests here and there, but nothing major.” In light of greater scientific knowledge and more accurate diagnoses of the condition, however, specific gluten-free dietary requests have doubled, she added. “Nationally the prevalence is estimated to be 0.5 to 1 percent of the population,” Alphin said. “However, many in the industry believe that this is a significant underestimate—I have seen estimates as high as 20 percent.” Villi are responsible for absorbing nutrients from food through the walls of the small See gluten-free on page 1
addison corriher/The Chronicle
The number of students requesting special gluten-free diets has doubled in the last few years, said Franca Alphin, director of nutrition services at Student Health.
Duke suffers its worst football loss in 10 years by Laura Keeley THE CHRONICLE
chase olivieri/The Chronicle
Alabama gained 626 total yards Saturday and held Duke to the least amount of points and offensive yards it has gained all season. The 62-13 loss was the Blue Devils’ worst in 10 years.
The oddsmakers in Las Vegas predicted Alabama would win by 24. The Crimson Tide beat that mark within the first 10 minutes of the game. In a game where Duke (1-2, 0-1 in the ACC) struggled with basic fundamentals such as tackling and catching, No. 1 Alabama (3-0) capitalized time and time again in front of the 39,042 at Wallace Wade Stadium en route to a 62-13 victory, the Blue Devils’ most lopsided defeat in 10 years. “That’s a laundry list of things that need to be addressed as a head coach,” Duke head coach David Cutcliffe said after the game. “I told them that it’s obvious to anyone who watched this game or the last two games that we’re in rehab. We certainly have some things to fix. In this point in time, that’s where we are.” See Alabama on page sw4
Zandt details rise of social media by Anna Koelsch THE CHRONICLE
As the use of social media networks grows, Facebook and Twitter may increasingly serve as vehicles of change. Media technologist Deanna Zandt spoke in Perkins Library last Friday about the power the everyday Internet user has with social networking, drawing from her recently published book “Share This! How You Will Change the World with Social Networking.” Zandt, a research fellow at the Center for Social Media at American University, cited the example of April 2009, when Amazon.com flagged feminist and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual literature as adult material, prompting many Twitter users to display their outrage online. “People lit their torches, got their pitchforks and stormed over to Amazon’s castles,” Zandt said. Zandt added that it was not until after the public responded to Amazon’s flagging that the mainstream media covered the incident. “What we had in 2009 was the ability of people to slip into the consciousness of the Web and infuse a huge public conversation with their values and stories,” she said. “The mainstream media was stuck playing catch-up.” The importance of social networking lies in it’s ability for individuals to connect to others through story, Zandt said. She described how social network users develop empathy for
ONTHERECORD
“What we can do is work with the system to improve the situation little by little, and more in favor of independents.”
—Senior Doris Jwo in “Change the game.” See column page 7
each other because they feel they are engaged in each others lives. Zandt said she believes people are drawn to social media because of this involvement. “It’s about connecting, sharing and engaging with one another,” Zandt said. “The trust created by empathy is what I see leading us out of the isolation that’s been plaguing us for so long.” Zandt also stressed the importance of participating in social networks because online conversations may influence people to think about issues creatively. During the question and answer session, Zandt addressed many concerns about the changing nature of privacy. Whereas in the past there was a clearer notion of private and public boundaries, Zandt said social media has increasingly muddled these distinctions. “The concept of anonymity is changing,” Zandt said, adding that when she first starting using the Internet, people used nicknames to maintain a degree of privacy. “Now when you Google someone and you can’t find anything, it’s creepy,” she said. Furthermore, Zandt said she hopes that social networks will become less like “walled gardens.” Zandt feels that people
ONTHEWEB
Check out video of the Crimson Tide in Durham at dukechronicle.com.
See zandt on page 4
Durham recognized for bike-friendly policies, Page 3