Apr. 26, 2011 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

TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2011

ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTH YEAR, Issue 142

www.dukechronicle.com

Becoats to strengthen DPS-Duke ties Duke to consider future revision to amnesty policy

by Caroline Fairchild THE CHRONICLE

For Durham Public Schools Superintendent Eric Becoats, strengthening collaboration between DPS and Duke is key to future success.

In his presentation Monday, titled “Strategic expansion of the collaboration between the Durham Public Schools and Duke University,” Becoats discussed his plan to expand a partnership between DPS and the Duke Center for Child and Family Policy. Becoats outlined areas where the University can collaborate with DPS on research and program evaluations of district initiatives. He noted that he wanted to present a clear plan moving forward in order to take full advantage of DPS’s limited resources.

“We hope to mobilize the expertise and resources of our entire community in order to build lasting partnerships and make our schools better,” Becoats said.

Becoats said Duke could support DPS with a facultyto-faculty initiative by providing opportunities for the University to share its knowledge with public schools.

He added that he envisions the University working with DPS more closely in the future in order to strengthen the academic success of students, increase the academic

by Alejandro Bolívar THE CHRONICLE

A proposed revision to the University’s safety intervention policy could leave a mark on the records of students given emergency medical attention.

Every May, University officials meet to discuss procedural changes related to student behavior. This year, the Office of Student Conduct, the Appellate Board, Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta and other administrators will discuss a potential change to the “amnesty clause,” Stephen Bryan, associate dean of students and director of the Office of Student Conduct, wrote in an email Monday.

“This policy of ‘amnesty’ exists so that students never hesitate to seek medical attention for themselves or their friends,” Duke Student Government President Mike Lefevre, a senior, wrote in an email. “Students need to trust that there won’t be consequences for calling EMS—not in the moment, not in the morning and not in two years.”

Currently, instances where the amnesty clause is applied are not revealed to panels of the Undergraduate Conduct Board if the same student is involved in a new incident potentially requiring disciplinary action, Bryan explained. He said the current model provides an “incomplete picture” to the UCB panel of the student’s previous history with alcohol, adding that his office will recommend that the panels be informed of any incident in which the “amnesty clause” was applied during the preceding two calendar years.

According to the health and safety intervention section of the Duke Community Standard, the current policy

See dps on page 4

See amnesty on page 5 ted knudsen/The Chronicle

Blackstone announces area partnership

by Yeshwanth Kandimalla THE CHRONICLE

Triangle entrepreneurs will soon receive a boost from the best in the business.

The Blackstone Group, one of the country’s largest investment firms, announced Monday that it will partner with universities in the Triangle area to create a network aimed at mentoring local start-ups and linking business ventures to academic research.

The Blackstone Charitable Foundation will contribute $3.6 million to develop a network which will identify and mentor start-ups in the Triangle with promising business models and a potential for high growth. This initiative is part of a partnership between The Blackstone Entrepreneurship Initiative—a program the group announced in 2010—and the White House’s national entrepreneurship program, “Startup America,” launched in 2011.

CEO Stephen Schwarzman addressed an audience of local businesspeople and public officials at the American Tobacco Campus in downtown Durham Monday morning.

He announced that the firm will partner with Duke, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University and North Carolina Central University

Duke studies new diet pill, Page 4

to connect researchers and entrepreneurs.

The five-year initiative will involve matching 15 local “master entrepreneurs” with 30 major start-up ventures in the Triangle each year, Schwarzman said. According to Blackstone’s website, ideal start-up candidates are those in the early stages of fundraising, with the potential to create approximately $40 million in revenue and become profitable within 10 years. Schwarzman added that he predicts the network will double the number of startups in the region, attract more than $800 million in capital and generate more than 17,000 jobs and $4 billion in business revenue.

“This unprecedented collaboration between academic, public and private sector leaders makes a very serious statement about the commitment of North Carolina to fostering economic growth and competitiveness,” he said.

Schwarzman, also the chair and co-founder of the multibillion dollar private equity and asset management firm, said this initiative will focus on job creation and economic growth. He added that the firm as a whole has also shifted its focus to job growth following the economic downturn See blackstone on page 5

melissa yeo/The Chronicle

Administrators will discuss next month a proposed change to the amnesty policy when students seek medical assistance.

ONTHERECORD

“The outpouring of support shows that [Duke students] have the ability to transcend... the perceived limitations of race.”

­—BSA President Nana Asante, a junior. See story page 3

Duke switches to BCBSNC for student insurance, Page 3

2 | TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2011 the chronicle

worldandnation onschedule...

The Chance to Be Brave Women’s Center, 12-1p.m.

Watch a presentation from peaceactivist Linda Stein that incorporates clips from around the world, including 30 Rock and Borat.

on the

Intro to Nature Photography Duke Gardens, 6-9p.m.

Discover the full possibilities of nature photography with photographer Jennifer Weinberg with hands-on practice.

TODAY:

8265

WEDNESDAY:

8667

Das Kapital Sheafer Theater, 8-9p.m.

Enjoy a performance by the Chinese Theater Experiment Class led by Chinese theater artist Yu Rongjun.

web

“There’s not much to say here but it’s awfully tough to win when you don’t score, it’s tough to score when you don’t have the ball and it’s tough to have the ball when you don’t execute on face-offs. The Blue Devils learned this lesson the hard way, losing their first game to an ACC opponent this season in a game when it seemed like they never had possession due to a miserable performance on face-offs.”

— From The Blue Zone sports.chronicleblogs.com

Tim Nowack/The Washington Post

Fire ants instictively form rafts when swept up by floods. These rafts are actually airtight, staying buoyant through the interlocking of arms, legs and jaws. They stay afloat because the microscopic hairs on the fire ants’ legs actually repel water. Alone, each ant drowns. However, when they act altruistically and collectively, scientists had to push the ant raft eight inches into the water before it began to leak.

Obama admin. seeks to Europeans begin to shift loosen privacy protections views on social benefits WASHINGTON, D.C. — It’s a wide, wired world out there, and the Obama administration is asking the Supreme Court to let law enforcement take advantage of it to build cases against the bad guys.

The administration wants the justices to overturn a decision last year by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that said police must get a warrant before launching a long-term surveillance of a suspect using a global positioning device attached to the man’s car.

Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal said the appeals court decision was not faithful to a Supreme Court ruling that people have no expectation of privacy when traveling along public streets.

PARIS — From blanket health insurance to long vacations and early retirement, the cozy social benefits that have been a way of life in Western Europe since World War II increasingly appear to be luxuries the continent can no longer afford.

Particularly since the global economic crisis erupted in 2008, benefits have begun to stagnate or shrink in the face of exploding government deficits.

In effect, the continent has reversed a half-century history of continual improvements that made Western Europe the envy of many and attracted millions of immigrants from less fortunate societies.

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the chronicle

TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2011 | 3

Duke switches Damage forces Shaw to close indefinitely to BCBSNC as SMIP provider

by Kelly Scurry THE CHRONICLE

by Tullia Rushton THE CHRONICLE

After just three years with its current Student Medical Insurance Plan provider, Duke will revive its partnership this Fall with BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina, which served as the provider for 30 years before a change in 2008.

BCBSNC, which will replace UnitedHealthcare Student Resources, was selected after reviewing a number of providers in order to achieve cost savings, said Jean Hanson, administrative director of Student Health. The company will provide insurance policies for students who do not submit a waiver demonstrating that they already have adequate private medical insurance.

The Student Health Insurance Advisory Committee began a formal review of SMIP providers about four months ago, Hanson said. The committee was led by Dr. Bill Purdy, executive director of Student Health, and consisted of administrators from both Student Health and Counseling and Psychological Services as well as faculty, staff and students.

“There were clear signs in the health care marketplace that we could improve coverage and save money for students covered by the current SMIP,” Purdy said. “We received bids from several well known and respected health insurers. After interviewing the top three and closely looking at the packages they offered, See insurance on page 4

Although Shaw University officials are still assessing the damage caused by storms earlier this month, the school’s president said she remains hopeful classes will resume in the Fall.

Shaw, a historically black university in downtown Raleigh, canceled classes for the remainder of the Spring semester after the April 16 tornados devastated the campus’ infrastructure. None of Shaw’s students, faculty or staff were seriously injured in the storm, but buildings, roofs and windows sustained serious damage.

“The university is working with its insurance company and consulting experts to discover the full extent of the damage,” said the school’s president, Irma McClaurin, who added that administrators are not making any assumptions about the Fall but remain “hopeful.”

Since the storm, hundreds of people from the surrounding area, including Duke, have traveled to Shaw to start the process of removing debris from the campus of the historic school, which was founded in 1865 and is the oldest historically black college or university in the South.

Duke’s Black Student Alliance organized a cleanup effort last Thursday, and was joined by a number of students not affiliated with the group after the email detailing plans for the trip reached students in Duke Partnership for Service, other black student groups and the entire freshman class, said BSA President Nana Asante, a junior. BSA provided transportation for about 25 Duke students, but many other students drove themselves,

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she added. When the Duke students arrived, they were joined by more than 400 others in the Triangle community.

“The outpouring of support shows that [Duke students] have the ability to transcend boundaries or the perceived limitations of race,” Asante said of the broad support the trip received at Duke.

BSA has also worked with Panda Express to create a fundraiser that will send 20 percent of all proceeds Monday and Tuesday to Shaw, she said. The National Pan-Hellenic Council has helped to raise awareness for the fundraiser, she added.

McClaurin said the outpouring of support by various members of the surrounding community was “simply amazing.”

The storm was a traumatic experience

for students, and the school was forced to make a decision to cancel classes because student safety and well-being was the university’s top priority.

There were eight more days of classes and a week of exams scheduled when the storm hit. But graduation will go on as planned May 7, and Shaw senior Tyron McLaughlin said he does not expect the fact that the semester had to end early to affect seniors from graduating.

Kealisha Smith, a senior from Lexington, North Carolina, said she is expects the school will reopen its doors in time to begin the Fall semester. She added that the biggest issue for reopening the campus will be the repairing of the cafeteria, which was severely damaged in the storm.

chase olivieri/The Chronicle

After a tornado in Raleigh April 16 left Shaw University heavily damaged, the school has made the decision to cancel its classes for the rest of the semester, though it is planning to resume them this Fall.

4 | TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2011 the chronicle

Clinical trials for new diet pill show promise

by Matt Barnett THE CHRONICLE

The recent trial of an experimental diet pill shows promise for medicated weight loss.

The 56-week CONQUER study, which was published April 16 in The Lancet, showed that a treatment combining phentermine and topiramate resulted in weight loss of up to 10 percent of patients’ body weight in a year. The study involved 2,487 patients who were assigned either a placebo or one of two dosage levels of the drug combination. The combination, called Qnexa,

insurance from page 3 the [committee] picked BCBSNC. I am excited about the expanded provider network and quality customer service.”

Hanson said Student Health compares the prices offered by all different SMIP providers every three to five years in order to ensure students get the best benefits for the lowest cost.

“It’s very common to see what the [health insurance] market offers,” she said. “It doesn’t always result in change.

The goal is not to change, but to get the best benefits for the best price.”

There will be a slight increase in cost for student health insurance from this school year to the next, but exact figures have not been finalized, Hanson said. She added that the price increase would have been significantly higher had the University stayed with UnitedHealthcare.

The process of purchasing student health insurance for the upcoming year will remain the same, said Anna Kenyon, insur-

was developed by pharmaceutical company Vivus Inc., which funded the study.

“Average weight loss was three pounds with placebo, 18 pounds with the lower-dose drug and 22 pounds with the higher-dose drug,” Kishore Gadde, director of Duke’s obesity clinical trials program and lead investigator of the study, wrote in an April 20 email.

Phentermine is currently used as a treatment for obesity and topiramate for epilepsy and migraines. Together, the drugs work to suppress appetite.

Gadde said combining drugs with different ance coordinator for Student Health.

Student insurance plans across the nation may have to be altered as part of health care reform, including both passed and pending laws, Hanson said.

Student Health, which she said already provides “top-notch” insurance, does not anticipate having to significantly adjust the plan in response to potential federal health care changes, she added.

“At this point in time, we don’t have to change anything,” Hanson said. “We have already met all the criteria that health care reform is striving for.”

Hanson said the only aspect of health care reform currently affecting students is their newly esbalished ability to remain on their parents’ health insurance policy until they turn 26, as mandated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which became federal law in March 2010.

Student Health will assist students and their parents with the transition to the new provider this summer, Kenyon said, noting that students should check the department’s website regularly for updates.

mechanisms at times leads to greater success.

“Phentermine... is believed to promote satiety (fullness) and suppress appetite.

Topiramate is also believed to work by suppressing appetite via its effects on glutamate receptors in the brain,” Gadde said.

The Food and Drug Administration warned that topiramate may cause birth defects if taken while pregnant, but of the 34 women who became pregnant during the trial, no defects were reported, Gadde said in the news release.

Individually, phentermine and topiramate have FDA approval, but Qnexa was recently rejected by the FDA, which requested additional safety information, according to an April 10 Duke Medicine news release.

The government has historically been slow to approve obesity medications. The Obesity Society, a group that studies the causes and treatments of obesity, has closely followed the recent FDA trials of several anti-obesity medications, including Qnexa.

In a Feb. 2 news release from the group, TOS President Jennifer Lovejoy criticized

the FDA’s slow approval process.

“In the face of such a devastating, widespread and expensive public health crisis as obesity, it is baffling that the FDA has consistently denied approval for anti-obesity medications,” Lovejoy said.

Time magazine described the pill as a potential “silver bullet for weight loss,” but Gadde was reluctant to jump to conclusions.

“Over a year, this drug treatment achieved impressive weight loss. However, we do not know its long-term benefit,” Gadde said. “Since there are not head-to-head comparison trials or meta-analyses yet, we refrained from stating that the drug we tested was better than others.”

Dr. Peter English, professor of history and pediatrics, said people have been trying to find a magic pill for at least a century, but suggested that medicine is not the best answer for weight loss.

“I really don’t think that the issue here is medication,” English said. “There are no mysteries—we all have to eat less and exercise more and do it for the rest of our lives.”

Physical exam

melissa yeo/The Chronicle

Freshman Jacob Tobia and sophomore Lauren Vernon, members of the student group Know Your Status, campaign in Alpine Bagels for HIV testing and awareness.

dps from page 1 rigor in individual schools and educate family members on how to provide strong support systems for their children.

Ultimately, Becoats said ensuring that Duke is aware of DPS projects during the planning stages of the process will be essential to implementing collaboration effectively.

“I want to see us sitting down at a table ahead of time and figuring out what strategies can really benefit students,” he said.

“Then, we can look and say ‘OK, Duke, how can you help us with this initiative?’

We don’t want it to be an afterthought anymore—we want it to be forethought.”

Jenni Owen, director of policy initiatives and associate director for policy and translation at the Center for Child and Family Policy, has been working for two years to increase the partnership between DPS and Duke. Along with David Rabiner, director of Program Evaluation Services at the center and director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Owen directs the School Research Partnership Office within the center and facilitates the planning and placement of school-based research projects.

Owen and Rabiner have worked with 27 students over two years to produce research projects on topics such as the evaluation of teacher effectiveness and the quality of education in juvenile detention centers.

Despite these past efforts by Duke to promote collaboration with DPS, Owen said Becoats’ initiative marks the first direct request from DPS to institutionalize a

partnership with the University.

“Instead of Duke saying we have this project that we are working on and asking DPS if we can go into the schools, now DPS is saying that they want a partnership, which has created a really great two-way street,” she said.

Rabiner said what started as a simple project to allow students to do research within public schools has grown into a strong collaboration between DPS and student researchers.

One of those student researchers is senior Alex Reese, who worked directly with Becoats on an independent study on how to bring more effective teachers into the lowest performing schools. Reese noted that his independent study was an exciting research engagement because he was working on a policy problem that was directly identified by a community partner and was timely and relevant to issues plaguing Durham schools.

“What I produced for Dr. Becoats was going to be immediately implemented into policy, which was a remarkable learning opportunity for me,” Reese said. “For the first time, I felt like I was legitimately being engaged as a research partner.”

In his speech, Becoats said he hopes to bring the research done by students into faculty meetings and administrative discussions in order to ensure that the findings are effectively used within the school system. He added that he is impressed with the quality of all of the student projects he has seen and would like to see the program grow in the future.

“The research is really awesome, and I support the students’ efforts 150 percent,” he said.

the chronicle

TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2011 | 5

blackstone from page 1 and rise in unemployment.

“We felt that creating jobs is something that’s more than economical,” he said. “It affects people emotionally and psychologically and changes the focus of their lives and their children’s lives.”

The three public university chancellors in attendance— NCCU’s Charlie Nelms, N.C. State’s Randy Woodson and UNC’s Holden Thorp—joined President Richard Brodhead in praising the partnership. Other speakers at the event included Gov. Bev Perdue; U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan; U.S. Representative Brad Miller; and Ginger Lew, senior adviser to the White House National Economic Council.

Perdue emphasized the importance of job creation as a key component of her economic agenda, citing a recent proposed tax credit for small businesses. She also noted her implementation of an innovation council charged with providing policy recommendations to encourage entrepreneurship.

“When it comes to putting people to work in our state, the reputation and the capacity of the Triangle remains one of the biggest and best weapons in our arsenal,” she said. “If you read the history of North Carolina... the seeds that have dropped from the branches of our university system... have grown into game-changing oaks for our industry.”

Perdue added that Blackstone’s contribution will help convert the research and development occurring at universities into new avenues for economic growth.

Lew said the Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network was a top priority for President Barack Obama as part of his administration’s Startup America Initiative, a campaign launched in January 2011to foster small business innovation. “[Obama] issued a call to action... challenging leaders of companies, universities and foundations to dramatically accelerate the success of America’s high growth entrepreneurs,” she said. “I hope others take a close look at this [Triangle] model and think about how best to scale it to other regions... that are ripe for innovation.”

Brodhead said local universities will be key to the Triangle’s continued economic growth, and added that this partnership has been nearly a year in the making.

“People nowadays don’t want to go to work for someone else—they’d rather create the enterprise and have someone come work for them,” he said. “But people need help to become successful entrepreneurs... what’s so brilliant about the Blackstone concept is supplying the mentors to give help at the stage [entrepreneurs] need it.”

ems from page 1 states that students who seek medical assistance for themselves or others will not receive formal disciplinary action for a violation of the alcohol policy as long as they have not broken other University rules. The section also states that students who receive medical assistance may be required to complete a referral for assessment or treatment at the Duke Student Wellness Center or at Counseling and Psychological Services.

Tom Szigethy, associate dean and director of the Duke Student Wellness Center, said the new changes would help the University differentiate between an isolated incident and a pattern. He mentioned that while the center was not responsible for writing the new policy, it had several discussions with OSC about the proposal.

The OSC Advisory Group, of which Bryan is a member, has been discussing the policy of amnesty during its most recent meetings. The 10-person group, composed of faculty and representatives from DSG, UCB, Honor Council, Greek Conduct Board and Campus Council, was founded last year to provide student input on potential changes to the Duke Community Standard. Some of its members disagreed with Bryan’s proposal.

“In the interest of what they consider to be helping us, they are taking our most fundamental rights—rights that keep us the safest,” Lefevre said.

Lefevre, who serves as an at-large representative in the group, added that he thought the new judicial policy will turn the notion of amnesty into a “half-truth.”

“The student group was very wary of putting modifiers on the notion of amnesty,” Lefevre said. “We feel like [it should be] absolute or it’s not amnesty at all.”

Jessica MacFarlane, a senior who represents the Undergraduate Conduct Board in the group, also has reservations about the proposal.

“I see both sides but I am apprehensive about supporting the change because I don’t want anything to deter students from looking out for the safety of other students,” she said.

Bryan’s plans are not yet final, as it is up to Moneta and the Appellate Board to decide whether or not to accept his recommendation at the meeting among administrators May 16.

special to The Chronicle

National, state and local university leaders pose at the launch of the Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network at the American Tobacco Campus Monday.

2011 Boyarsky Lecture in Law, Medicine & ethics

Wednesday, April 27, 2011 5:30PM Nasher Museum of Art Duke University Reception to follow Free and open to the public

Solomon Benatar MBChB, DSc (Med)

For more information: 919.668.9000 trent-center@duke.edu

Emeritus Professor of Medicine Founding Director, UCT Bioethics Centre University of Cape Town, South Africa

While new scientific discoveries can make wide-ranging contributions to health,

improving global health will depend on achieving greater social justice, economic redistribution and enhanced democratization of social institutions responsible for essential health care, education and public welfare.

Dr. Benatar has published over 300 journal articles and book chapters on respiratory

medicine, health economics, health care systems, academic freedom, medical ethics, human rights, and global health. He has served as an ethics advisor to organizations

including UNAIDS, Médecins Sans Frontières, Family Health International, and the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

The Boyarsky Lectureship, created through a gift from Drs. Saul and Rose Boyarsky, brings distinguished lecturers to Duke University who can inspire achievement in social justice and public health through science.

trent center for bioethics, humanities & history of medicine BoyarskyChroniclead.indd 1

4/21/11 10:28 AM

6 | TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2011 the chronicle

Sports The Chronicle

A job I’ll never forget

A little over a year ago, I unsuccessfully struggled to restrain myself as Gordon Hayward heaved the biggest shot of his career. I leapt to my feet, threw my hands in the air and hugged my fellow Chronicle writer.

Then I remembered where I was. I was on press row in Lucas Oil Stadium. That kind of behavior isn’t allowed on press rows.

So I collected myself, went on the court, got my quotes and, an hour later, wrote an analysis of the national championship game. I recovered from that journalistic lapse, and my Andy coverage of the event was as an unbiased as anyone’s.

During my term as sports editor this year, I’ve become a bit better at masking my emotions for the sake of objectivity. I didn’t show anger or disbelief as I watched on Halloween as Duke Football nearly blew a 20-point lead to the Navy Midshipmen.

I didn’t show disappointment when head coach Mike Krzyzewski effectively said we would be robbed of a full season by the most dynamic young player Duke has ever seen. I didn’t show joy or excitement when Nolan Smith and Seth Curry kickstarted that incredible comeback in Cameron on Feb. 9—when I sat at center court in the best seats in the house, as blue paint chips hit my back and a deafening noise hit my ears like helicopter blades, when there was such electricity in the air that you felt you could just grab it.

No, even with the adrenaline so coursing through me that I would later fail to sleep that night, I didn’t show emotion.

Because that’s the tradeoff I chose. I got unprecedented access to the greatest college athletic program in the country. But I also had to remember that I was given that access with the duty of reporting what I objectively saw.

It was, truly, a deal with the (blue) devil.

But there was more to this deal than just keeping my mouth shut on press row. I had to work 50-hour weeks in a freezing cold office, spending many a night editing gamers and previews, running a blog and leading a staff of 30.

I had to check Twitter every 15 minutes, just so I would be the first one to know about an update on the Toepocalypse, or what the score of the men’s lacrosse game was.

Dark bags appeared under my eyes this year. I chalk

ONLINE

TUESDAY April 26, 2011

Frank Haith, Paul Hewitt and Sidney Lowe are out as ACC men’s basketball coaches.

Check out the new hires at Miami, Georgia Tech and N.C. State

www.dukechroniclesports.com

A year to remember

Moore

See Moore on page 8

Melissa Yeo/The Chronicle

Sean Renfree and Nolan Smith’s teams might have been disappointing at first glace, but Scott Rich believes this year was special.

This wasn’t the year Duke fans expected.

Kyrie Irving wasn’t supposed to miss the entire ACC season. Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler weren’t supposed to end their illustrious careers in the Sweet 16.

Sean Renfree wasn’t supposed to play like a sophomore quarterback, and his teammates weren’t supposed to take the program’s first step backwards under David Cutcliffe.

But it was a great one, nonetheless.

Let me be clear, though—fans have every Scott reason to be disappointed that Coach K didn’t capture his fifth national title and Cutcliffe didn’t lead Duke back to bowl eligibility. Lofty expectations have become as synonymous with Blue Devil sports as caffeine-induced late nights are with engineers, and despite the protests of some, neither one should elicit shame.

But on the court and the gridiron this year, Duke achieved a different kind of greatness. The Blue Devils showed a resilience that was engaging, independent of the results in the win column. It was a quality that fans don’t often get to see, yet rarely appreciate when they do. It may not have been beautiful at the time, but in hindsight it truly was.

When Irving went down against Butler, fans and media were justifiably aghast, myself included—given Irving’s transcendent performance in the CBE Classic, I thought Duke’s season was done without him. The ESPN spin cycle reflected fans’ reactions, almost immediately dismissing the Blue Devils from the national

Rich

Margie Truwit/The Chronicle

Seth Curry led the Blue Devils’ epic comeback against North Carolina.

championship picture.

Make no mistake—Duke was still a fantastic team. But it seemed the only group that still believed they could be the best was the Blue Devils themselves.

Smith certainly thought so—and the circumstances that fans initially labelled apocalyptic allowed him to ascend to the pantheon of Duke legends. Make no mistake about it—Smith put the Blue Devils on his back.

Duke might have won a national championship had Irving’s toe not been the modern day equivalent to Achilles’ Heel and the team’s chemistry not been disrupted when he eventually returned, but Smith wouldn’t have been an All-American. His epic performance against North Carolina wouldn’t have happened, and neither would have one of the greatest games in the history of the rivalry.

And had Smith not had the opportunity to seize the spotlight, these Blue Devils might not have been one of the more entertaining bunches to watch in recent memory. They weren’t dominant like fans hoped, but they had more fun on and off the court than college athletes are supposed to. Even Irving didn’t wallow in his toe-induced depression—indeed, the best images of the season were his teammates having to hold him back on the bench after every one of Smith’s highlight-reel dunks.

None of this would’ve happened had Duke’s season gone as expected.

And things were pretty similar on the gridiron. Fans certainly didn’t expect a national See RICH on page 7

8 | TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2011 the chronicle

Moore from page 7 them up to 4 a.m. production times and my morning routine, in which I would wake up every day in a panic, checking my e-mail for any problems that needed to be solved, any corrections that would soon need to run.

Yes, to most of my friends, the job seemed like insanity.

I never saw it that way, though—after all, how could I not like the advantages this job gave me?

Twice I sat down for an extended period of time with Coach K; once to pick his brain just before he left for Istanbul, and another time to watch him record his XM Radio show (which required me to twice stifle sneezes during an interview with Villanova’s Jay Wright).

Then there were the times I met with Drs. Hunt Willard and Paul Haagen, of Duke’s Genome Institute and law school, respectively. Willard and Haagen are giants in their fields, and both are incredibly smart and knowledgeable.

And me, a guy with a low-to-middling GPA, got to ask them anything I wanted, just because of my job.

And, of course, I got to talk about and edit some of the best stories I think this paper put out in Volume 106. Where else could you read about Bryan Morgan’s symphony or-

chestra? Willard’s quest to eliminate injuries in sports? Nick McCrory’s, Becca Ward’s and Abby Johnston’s roads to national championships? Austin Rivers on why he chose Duke?

Or David Cutcliffe on his childhood in Alabama?

Yes, we could’ve written more of those unique stories.

And we could have found more angles to cover, been more advanced online and more innovative in our print design. But I’m confident the sports section will continue to get better and better. This sports-crazed institution deserves nothing less.

That change will have to come from someone else, though. My tenure in this strange, wonderful position has come to an end.

And now, as I type this, I’m conflicted. For the past few weeks, I wanted nothing more than to go back to being a normal Duke kid and to once again be a fan. But I’m terrified of giving up my squeaky chair and back office—the only office on campus, I bet, with five-day-old Loop and Cheddars, John Feinstein’s bound volume and an apprehended Scheyerface.

I won’t ever forget my time in this place. But now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get ready for next year.

I hear Harrison Barnes is coming back, and someone has to curse at him.

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RICH from page 7 championship from the football program, but they expected that they would at least be competitive— especially in the team’s highest-profile game against Alabama. Instead, the Blue Devils were walloped 62-13, and any optimism the team garnered by its offensive outburst against rival Wake Forest a week before was quickly forgotten.

And while Duke only won two games the rest of the season, it wasn’t for lack of trying. Had it not been for a questionable substitution at quarterback, the Blue Devils might have pulled off an epic comeback against Boston College. Duke also had a chance for a surprising comeback against rival North Carolina.

And lets not forget the one comeback the team did finish—a thrilling 55-48 victory over Virginia in Wallace Wade.

Like his team, Renfree showed flashes of brilliance, albeit without consistency. Through the season’s first two games he had thrown for over 700 yards and six touchdowns—but then completed only 45 percent of his passes against Alabama. He followed up a 12-for-32 passing performance against Virginia Tech with a 28-for-30 masterpiece in a victory over Navy. In short, he played like a talented first-year starter, and one with a promising career in front of him—but wasn’t immediately the perfect successor to Thaddeus Lewis that fans dreamed of.

It was a season that was always oh-so-close to being special—but that, in itself, was special. Fans got to see the passion that Cutcliffe has for his job here after many questioned it during his winter flirtation with Tennessee. They also saw a group of players that have begun to embody the spirit of their coach and, at least on the offensive side of the ball, finally boast some legitimate firepower.

And you can bet that Renfree and Cutcliffe will turn those close-but-no-cigar moments from last year into motivation for this upcoming season.

So yes, this wasn’t the season fans expected. It might not have even been the one they wanted. But it was brilliant nonetheless—something that fans shouldn’t forget over the long, Duke-less summer.

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Sean Renfree went through the typical growing pains of a firstyear starter, and was unfairly compared to Thaddeus Lewis.

the chronicle TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2011 | 9

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The Chronicle rain plans for ldoc: i can see it from the lounge: ���������������������������������������������� toneway our secret door: ������������������������������������������ ndotkyle, dorupp, sanit running from chronboys: �����������������������������������������������������������chin confused, thinking about it: ������������������������������������������������������� dru sports bros love the mud: ��������������������������������������������������������� chris sun y u no shine?: ������������������������������������������� yeo3x, tseuc+thuang scoot away: ����������������������������������������������������������������������������� denise read some ‘tunes: ��������������������������������������������������������������� remester Barb Starbuck will make it rain: ����������������������������������������������� Barb

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10 | TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2011 the chronicle commentaries

A time for change Critics never cease to ac- head was once hailed for his cuse the Allen Building of concern for students—he was administrative opacity. But even called a “great champion recently filed documents in for students” by Kemel Dawkthe lacrosse lawsuit and con- ins, former vice president for troversy over Duke Kunshan campus services, who worked University have with Brodhead once again at Yale Univereditorial drawn attensity. tion to the administration at Although Brodhead may the conclusion of the year. have wanted to be this champiThe administration’s de- on, he was forced to confront cision-making process must the controversial side of stuimprove. For too long, deci- dent life early in his term with sions have been made behind the explosion of the lacrosse closed doors in the name of scandal, the repercussions of enhancing Duke’s reputa- which continue to play out in tion. This process fails to take an ongoing lawsuit against the the concerns of students and University. Regardless of what faculty seriously. The next aca- it actually did, the Brodhead demic year should bring with administration seemed to take it a change in the relationship an outsider’s view of Duke durbetween students, faculty and ing the scandal and gambled the administration. against the students in the President Richard Brod- name of public relations.

“

onlinecomment

What a wonderful article- really enjoyed it. Thanks Julia.

”

—“maw16” commenting on the story “Tombstones in the Blue Zone.”

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T

This was a one-off incident. But it has become paradigmatic for how the Brodhead administration handles major issues—developing and executing plans with only superficial input from the University community.

Faculty members are now complaining about not being brought into the discussion about Duke’s new China campus. Once again, the administration firmly insists that its plan will benefit Duke’s image, this time abroad. But with only intermittent communication between the administration and the Academic Council’s Executive Committee, the faculty is right to be distressed about the DKU enterprise.

The trend continued in this year’s campus culture scandals. At discussions about

Tailgate, gender relations and Greek life, Brodhead continually rehashed his position that these incidents do not reflect the real Duke—­or at least are not particular to it. This was smart public relations.

But it was also a missed opportunity to lay out a clear response to Duke’s cultural problems. He emptily encouraged students to “visualize a change” in a November email to the student body. And, while numerous student working groups have formed in the wake of these crises, they are only pantomimes of true solutions. Cultural progress at Duke will require strong presidential leadership.

Going forward, the Brodhead administration needs to focus on what really matters to students and faculty.

This includes more socioeconomic diversity in our student body, more student and faculty input in administrative decisions and more outspoken leadership from our president on the direction of the University.

Duke’s reputation is important, but it should not trump the substantiative concerns of students and faculty.

We must return to the basics and focus on improving Duke and the problems within it.

In an interview with The Chronicle last Friday, Brodhead rightly identified Duke as a self-critical university.

We need an administration that will invite this criticism and speak with students and faculty on issues before decisions are made behind closed doors.

Soothsayers and skeptics

he first warm day in what was technically containable, a self-fueling machine that spreads still winter, I watched in disbelief as a spiri- from one realm of your life to the next. Over the tual portraitist worked her alleged magic at years, my self-doubt mounted with my doubts the 2011 Mind Body Spirit Expo, about Duke. The boundless sense a traveling convention of psychics of what I could accomplish here julia love and other new-age practitioners. slowly narrowed. Some might senior column Scribbling in a subtly labeled chalk my experience up to the oft“Reporter’s Notebook,” I caught cited study that female students the artist’s eye quickly. The chair positioned in leave Duke with less confidence than when they front of her easel was empty—she was looking for arrived. Skeptical of statistics, I trace it back to a new subject. skepticism.

“If only you could see what I see inside of The trouble is that Duke has been lovely, but you,” she said with a wink. nothing like how I imagined it would be. So I wasn’t tempted to pay the hefty sitting fee, many times in college, I have been dismayed by but it was easy to imagine what she would have my complete and utter inability to predict how shown me. The walls of her makeshift gallery things would go. The word “y’all” still does not were densely lined with her paintings, all featur- come naturally to me. My mind sometimes waning a translucent white fetus. Ghosted onto a ders while watching games in Cameron Indoor. I woodland landscape or soaring heavenward, the gained the Freshman 15, after all. fetus was always center stage.

For a long time, I took these discrepancies Although I was writing for class rather than between my real and imagined college career as The Chronicle, I couldn’t shed the journalist’s signs that I had strayed from my proper path. Yet skeptical posture. After spending four years on now, if given the chance, I’d take back the time staff and writing nearly 180 stories, it has been I spent worrying about whether things were undrilled into me. I saw countless ways I could poke folding according to plan. On the cusp of graduholes in her story. But I stayed silent. Standing ation and a new set of unknowns, I love my life beside me, there was a wide-eyed girl of perhaps here too much to care whether it is the one I was 16, nodding in agreement with the artist’s every meant to lead. word. I could not accept what the spiritual porAnd even as a 21-year-old skeptic, I still find traitist said, but it seemed to me that if the girl plenty to regard with wonder. The first time I atwas still able to believe, she should. tended Shooters II, I vowed never to return. ToLike her, I used to love what I found at the day, I am a card-carrying member. I dreamed in fringes of reason. I read with interest about UFO Spanish for the first time the other night. And, sightings, crop circles, the Virgin Mary in the pan- finishing the column I started composing many cake batter. There were no coincidences for me, times in my head but never believed would actuonly fate. (What else could be made of the fact ally run, I am intrigued by writing more than ever. that I am not the first Julia Love to write for The To me, it feels like playing tag with someone invisChronicle and that my forerunner was also a Span- ible: A faint touch of inspiration arrives, perhaps ish major? Or that a young girl buried in the Blue in the form of an overheard snippet of conversaZone cemetery was born on my birthday nearly tion or the way light shadows a stranger’s face. You 100 years prior?) But at some point, my faith in can spend hours chasing what it means. those phenomena faltered. I craved proof.

Indeed, writing strikes me as one of the best In writing, I like to think I can pretend to be ways to take a leap of faith. After I said gooda different person. As a journalist, I prefer to bye to the spiritual portraitist that afternoon, a speak as a cynic whose voice is deep and reso- woman peddling prayer rocks approached. I was nant. Donning a second skin is thrilling—and drawn to the stone for creativity. My eyebrows besides, readers prefer to get their news from shot up when she advised me to tuck the small someone who sees the world with eyes that are teal gem into my bra the next time I was writing less wide than clear. At Duke, I have made a hob- a paper—but I doubt I could have finished my by of confronting figures who should rightly be thesis without it. viewed with skepticism: Playboy photographers, reality TV stars, spokespeople from all walks of Julia Love is a Trinity senior. She is senior editor, life. I can’t say whether it was simply maturation former features editor and former University editor of or whether the act of imitation started to change The Chronicle and an associate editor of Towerview me, but at the end of these four years I struggle magazine. In a less official but equally meaningful cato accept others’ words as fact. pacity, she is also founder and chair of The Chronicle’s The problem with skepticism is that it is un- Social Enrichment Board.

the chronicle

L

Sculpted

ast semester, I made a choice many upperclassmen would regard as a Total Freshman Move—something masochistic, fruitless or just plain dumb.

No, I didn’t gather 11 random people from my hallway jessica lichter and willingly forgo an insulated senior column dorm room that was costing my parents thousands of dollars so that I could subject myself to two miserable winter months of sleeping outside in a tent. Nor was I presumptuous enough to sign up for Chemistry 23L, an accelerated general chemistry course that made no use of a real textbook or any concepts that I assumed to be tangentially related to chemistry. I didn’t even pound six shots of Aristocrat vodka in 20 minutes and subsequently attempt to ride the bull at Shooters II. So what was my TFM? Enrolling in Economics 51.

Granted, I took Econ 51 on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis and was thereby not under the same pressure to perform as my fellow classmates. But taking an introductory weed-out course as a senior is an altogether different experience from enrolling in one as a freshman. As my classmates frenetically took notes with three different colored pens, felt disheartened after receiving curt replies to their long-winded questions from Lori Leachman and exhibited seizure-like gestures in the minutes preceding the exams, I observed them as a nostalgic spectator with calm reserve.

They still had the illusion that Duke was a balancing act: that they could be in control. Duke gave them the ingredients, and they were to precisely follow the steps of their own perfectly crafted recipes.

Once, I sat behind a pair of girls discussing their plans for the coming week. One I learned was pre-med, the other currently enamored with her long-distance boyfriend from high school. I rolled my eyes, mentally computing the odds of both maintaining these trajectories throughout college.

There’s about a 33 percent chance that the pre-med will stay her course. As for the one in a long-distance relationship, the best she has going for her is luck. I don’t mean to be overly judgmental, just realistic: I personally came in with both— a boyfriend and an eye on medicine—and am leaving with neither.

When I arrived at Duke, I had definite goals, a set path and relatively straightforward notions of morality, relationships, equality and sex. I was, and to some degree still am, notorious for compartmentalizing different facets of my life. I thought I could always draw a clear, impassable line between personal and professional, reason and emotion, and attraction and attachment. I’ve learned—often by hurting myself or someone else—that when it matters most I usually cannot even pretend such lines exist. And on those rare occasions when I can make definite distinctions, they are almost irrelevant because boundaries will be crossed regardless.

Many of us would like to think we got here based on a procedure that has been perfected over decades. Yet, the admissions process is one constantly in flux, shaped in large part by the applicant pool and shifting institutional priorities. And once we get here, the game doesn’t change all that much. We come into this world-renowned University thinking there is some formula we can manipulate, hoping to tweak it enough so that we simultaneously maximize our college experience and achieve a desirable career outcome.

But instead of carefully abiding by a predetermined path, we are often caught off guard and forced to react before we act and change course. Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Christoph Guttentag once told me that he “sculpts” the class in finalizing admissions decisions. As students, we don’t have that luxury. We don’t sculpt our Duke experience as much as it sculpts us.

To all the prospective freshmen out there, don’t let your tour guides deceive you. Duke is anything but a place of balance, and I’m still hard-pressed to find anyone that can simultaneously excel in academics, extracurricular activities and a social life. I entered Duke as a well-rounded student expecting a well-rounded education, and the last four years of my life have been extreme in multiple senses. I’ve been brutally awakened to concerns of gender, race and socioeconomic status. I’ve become passionate enough about a subject to pursue a five-year Ph.D. program in the field, and I’ve made lifelong friends that are genuine, quirky, brilliant, caring and willing to make fools of themselves when other people say it’s inappropriate to do so.

And last semester, I finally got to take Econ 51, where I saw reflections of who I once was and never again will be.

Jessica Lichter is a Trinity senior. She is the recruitment chair and the former Health and Science co-editor. She has also been happy to watch her sister Joanna slave away at the University coeditor position.

TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2011 | 11

commentaries

F

Just a story

or some reason, I’ve come to associate a cer- der and arson last year. Many of these have been tain burning sensation in my quads, a sharp stair-sprinting, tuna-sandwich-eating stories, and I tiredness in my calves, with working on a good sincerely hope that you’ve chewed over a few of story. There’s usually ragged breaththem. ing, too, and maybe a few beads of But in a testament to the strange zachary tracer sweat that I wipe from my forehead beast that is the reader, the story I senior column with the back of my hand. wrote that garnered the most views is My notebook is filled with quesnot one that I ran up the stairs for. A tions asked, questions to ask and, at least some- tragic piece, it was one that I had to write but not times, some honest answers. I carry a Subway sand- one that I’m particularly proud of. It was a story wich—footlong: wheat, tuna, no mayo—to fuel me about a girl who should have kept her slideshow to as I write. herself. Go figure.

Sit down at the computer, unwrap the sandwich, The sandwich is done, the article nearly so. open InCopy, bite, write. As rituals go, it’s not much. Truth is on the page now, the facts laid out in narNo whispered incantations to Dana Priest, no can- rative form. dles lit for Carl Bernstein, not even a shot of vodka Tomorrow, you will see the story in the paper for Clifford J. Levy. Your idols are useless here. or online—some of you, anyhow. And I already It’s just my mind, the blank page, the truth. And know what to look forward to. If my article is about that sandwich. Bite, write. Write, bite. lacrosse, I anticipate a comment or two with that The sandwich doesn’t matter, though, not un- infamous list of 88 names, even if none are menless an errant lettuce shred or tuna chunk gums up tioned in my piece. If it’s about budget cuts or Anil the keyboard or something.

Potti’s misdeeds or too many other topics to name, This is about getting that good story, after all.

I expect to see Richard Brodhead roundly deBecause as I run up the stairs to The Chronicle’s nounced, conspiracy theories spun, axes ground. office like I’ve done so many times before, pushed I sometimes wonder if you bother reading my stoon by the rush that is particular to deadline report- ries at all. ing, as my legs tighten and my breathing quickens, But if you’ve read my story, then I ask nothing the same thought always runs through my mind: more. I will remain hidden behind my byline, and How do I tell you what I’ve discovered in a way that the story will speak with a voice of its own, as it entices you to read my article, to chew on it like a should. And yet, I still hope that I’ve done the bite of a footlong tuna sub, to really think about story justice, that I’ve written it in a way that draws it deeply? you in and doesn’t let you go.

During my four years at The Chronicle, these I hope, at least, that my story is true. And that it questions have become an obsession, one that I is a damn good story. believe will stick with me. I’ve written about death and about technologies that hold the promise of Zachary Tracer is a Trinity senior. He is special projlengthening lives. I’ve covered a national elec- ects editor, a former University co-editor and always a tion campaign, the downfall of a dishonest can- photog. In a final effort to spread truth, he would like cer researcher, lacrosse lawsuits, budget cuts and to remind you of a few little things about Dr. Anil Potti: even Crystal Mangum’s arrest for attempted mur- http://tinyurl.com/byeAnil.

lettertotheeditor No resurrection in Duke Divinity Let me begin by giving you some numbers that the Divinity School won’t publish: zero—the number of African-American women tenured track professors, two—the number of AfricanAmerican students in the Class of 2011 going to Ph.D. programs, five—the number of perpetual African-American congregation field education placements, seven—the number of graduating students of African descent with guaranteed jobs, 25—the percentage of African-American students who transferred from Duke Divinity during 2009-2010, 65,000—the average amount of loan debt in dollars that African American women students carry even though less than three per class (not 3 percent) will have gainful employment to pay it back.

How many students of African descent does the Divinity School have? Sixty-eight (around 60 percent of them women).

How many students of African descent are in the senior class? Twenty-four (give or take one or two).

I raise these numbers because I have been a part of a strong contingent of students who wrote a letter more than two weeks ago to raise concerns about what we see as a tragedy in our Duke Divinity experiences. In our letter to the dean, the Office of Black Church Studies and black and allied faculty, we have raised a variety of concerns (and are willing to offer solutions) that we see as critical. The letter given was a third draft (started more than a year ago) that we submitted because we wanted to be honest but not accusatory.

But, our professors and administrators, who ask for us to sit and listen to them, refuse to hear our stories. They refuse to hear stories about their colleagues intimidating students. They

refuse to hear stories about the void of mentorship and support. They refuse to hear how the lack of networks have left us deplete of opportunity (especially since they do not want or have a connection with the Career Center), denying students opportunity post-graduation. They do not want to hear how the chosen adviser for the Black Seminarians Union has damned up its potential to advocate and program, foregoing this year’s elections. Next year, she says, “She’ll choose the officers.”

Other letters, too—personal letters, deeply sad letters—have been sent to administrators, but to no avail. No one wants to listen.... They just want to tell us that they are working on “our issues.” Truthfully, some of these people told students not to sign the letter that called for a meeting, so that all students could have a more positive education. Mostly, they hope we will go away... like discarded trash. But, I will not. I love Duke! And, in a few weeks, I’m going to become an alumnus, and become more involved than I was when I was here!

However, today in this season that acknowledges that Christ has risen, that is ultimately about redemption, there is no resurrection in the Divinity School where we are taught to listen. There is no resurrection on critical issues that frame black livelihood as a part of the Duke story. Instead, we are told to wait until summer and “they’ll” figure out how to fix it. But, all I want is to be heard. Is that too much to ask for before I graduate? How is it that a school can teach redemption and resurrection in the church, but here in our community it remains midnight, theologically?

Sean Palmer Divinity School ’11

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