January 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

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2011

Admins give more details on Global MMS

ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTH YEAR, Issue 86

www.dukechronicle.com

Obama emphasizes innovation, cooperation between parties

by Samantha Brooks THE CHRONICLE

by Lauren Carroll THE CHRONICLE

Administrators are actively planning for the recently-announced Global MMS program, which the Fuqua School of Business hopes will prepare students around the world with the skills needed for success in the 21st century.

Fuqua hopes to offer the Global Masters of Management Studies program in several countries including China, India, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates, Fuqua Dean Blair Sheppard announced at Academic Council last week. In an interview with The Chronicle he provided further details about the program, including that it will have a curriculum almost identical to its Durham counterpart but with varying region-specific concentrations.

The program, which will likely first be offered in China, is expected to begin in August 2012—coinciding with the opening of the Duke campus in China’s Kunshan Province.

Students will be required to take eight core courses in basic business disciplines and four thematic courses in a chosen area of concentration, such as public policy.

For example, a Global MMS student in See mms on page 12

caroline Rodriguez/The Chronicle

Students watch from the Old Trinity Room as President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address, which focused on innovation and the importance of American economic advancement.

President Barack Obama began his address to the American people Tuesday night with an eye on progress.

“The first step in winning the future is encouraging American innovation,” he said.

Obama largely focused his State of the Union speech on the theme of American jobs and global economic competition, from which he laid out his strategy for tackling issues such as education, environmental advancement, immigration reform and deficit reduction. He called for American citizens to embrace creativity and imagination in order to further innovation, which he said could define an ever unpredictable economy.

In an attempt to convey bipartisan civility in light of the recent shooting in Tucson, Ariz., many congressmen wore black and white ribbons and sat side-by-side with members of opposing parties. In the speech, the president called for future commitment to bipartisan cooperation, stating that the tragedy should remind the “American family” that progress can only be made through political synergy.

“We will move forward together, or not at all—for the challenges we face are bigger than party, and bigger than politics,” Obama said.

“At stake right now is not who wins the next election—after all, we just had an election. At stake is whether new jobs and industries take root in this country or somewhere else.”

From there, Obama stressed the importance of regaining the country’s economic See obama on page 5

College students focus on socializing over studying, report says

by Chinmayi Sharma THE CHRONICLE

photo illustration by addison corriher

A recent study has shown that college students in the United States today spend 75 percent of their time sleeping or socializing.

In an ongoing debate about the value of the undergraduate experience, a recent report suggested that at many colleges, a prevalent social scene comes at the cost of education.

Recent publications have said this generation’s college students prioritize socializing over studying in the academic spectrum—spending 75 percent of their time sleeping or socializing and only 16 percent in class or studying. Students spend their remaining time eating and participating in extracurricular activities, the study reported.

With the price of a college education constantly rising, many wonder whether the gains of an undergraduate education are worth the cost. For many Dukies, however, the college experience is not as black and white as the study portrays.

“It seems that many people are coming to college for the sake of spending four years doing something they think they’re supposed to do,” said freshman Michael Oliver. “Education does not mean taking classes for the sake of taking classes or joining a career track because it’s easier than taking risks with your future career.... And we defi-

ONTHERECORD

“When I read his e-mail, I realized that he was right and the rest of my education had been wrong.”

­—Fourth-year med student Alex Fanaroff in “Dr. Price’s Duke.” See column page 11

Read what students have to say on Obama’s speech, Page 5

nitely shouldn’t live from frat party to frat party.”

The findings about typical college schedules were featured in a book that was published this month titled “Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses,” which interviewed more than 3,000 full-time college students from 29 campuses nationwide. Throughout their four years in college, the participants of the study took a learning assessment test, a standardized exam that gauged students’ critical thinking, analytical reasoning and writing skills.

The study reports that 45 percent of students showed no significant gains in learning after their first two years, and that 36 percent showed little change after the full four years. The authors, Richard Arum and Josipa Roska, concluded that the trend is due to a collective shift in attention from educational pursuits to social endeavors.

“Compared to past generations, the education system seems to have become much more ends-oriented, and partially due to cultural self-confidence we no longer feel the academic urgency our parents did to compete globally,” said freshman Andy Chu. See learning on page 12

Nadine Fahoum strives for coexistence, Page 7

2 | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2011 the chronicle

worldandnation onschedule...

2011 MLK Packaging Event Southern High School, 4-8p.m.

Help NCCU and Southern High School work towards the goal of packaging 50,000 meals in one night. Refreshments provided.

on the

Diversity Networking Dinner Von Canon Rooms, 7-9p.m.

The Career Center’s Diversity Team is hosting a dinner designed to connect Duke students to employers seeking diversity.

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WEDNESDAY:

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Duke Basketball vs. Clemson Cameron Indoor, 7-10p.m.

Come out and cheer on the Duke women’s basketball team at Cameron Indoor Stadium as they take on the Clemson Tigers.

web

“Severe mental illness is more prevalent among college students now than it was a decade ago, according to a new study by the American Psychological Association.

This conclusion is not new, as the release by APA states, “the data support what college mental health professionals have noted for some time.”

— From The Playground playground.chronicleblogs.com

brendan hoffman/bloomberg news

Peter King, R-N.Y., has called for a series of hearings to discover whether or not certain members of Long Island’s Islamic Center may be involved in terrorist activity. The House hearings, scheduled to begin in February, have simultaneously raised fear and anger within the Muslim community. These congressional investigations indicate that the effects of 9/11 continue to emanate in powerful ways.

“

TODAY:

Art is born of humiliation.

— W.H. Auden

”

TODAY IN HISTORY

0066: 5th recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet.

Obama takes firm stance Tunisian protest inspires even after midterm results similar action in Egypt WASHINGTON — President Obama and his party may have suffered a historic defeat in November’s midterm elections, but in his State of the Union address Tuesday night, Obama was anything but on the defensive.

His speech was most notable not for the nods he made to the changed political balance or the issues that cost the Democrats their majority in the House and that shaved their majority in the Senate—although he did do that. More striking was his effort to frame the coming debates over spending and the role of government in ways that are designed to put Republicans on the defense as the fights begin.

Although this was a speech long on policy and big ideas, it was a political argument as well. Obama’s address, a call for the nation to win the future, was an effort to move the debates that framed the election to a different place.

CAIRO, Egypt — In the largest protest in Egypt in years, thousands of anti-government demonstrators Tuesday called for the end of President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule, a cry inspired by the fall of an Arab dictator in Tunisia.

By late Tuesday night, some 15,000 protesters were encamped in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, saying they had no plans to leave, as supporters brought blankets, food and water to sustain them. Among their demands, posted online and circulated by activists on Twitter, were a call for Mubarak’s immediate “abdication of power.’’

According to the Associated Press, a large security force moved in around 1 a.m. Wednesday, arresting people, beating some, chasing others into side streets and filling the square with clouds of tear gas in an effort to clear the square. Many of the protesters said they were publicly denouncing Mubarak’s rule for the first time.

Correction

The Jan. 25 story “Semi-finalist pool shows little diversity” incorrectly stated that only one of last year’s Young Trustee semi-finalists was affiliated with Duke Student Government.

Three semi-finalists last year had DSG connections. The Chronicle regrets the error.

on

so ing

com

The Chronicle’s Spring Menu Guide inserted into the newspaper on Friday, Feb. 11

the chronicle

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2011 | 3

FCC taking another step to free airwaves

by Cecilia Kang

The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — With a wave of new smartphones and tablet computers threatening to overwhelm wireless networks, the Federal Communications Commission is preparing to take another aggressive step to ease the growing capacity crunch.

On Wednesday, the agency is expected to grant a crucial waiver to Reston, Va.-based LightSquared that would pave the way for the firm to create a mobile network offering affordable broadband service based on satellite signals.

LightSquared, backed by billionaire Philip Falcone and his Harbinger Capital hedge fund, would be a rare new entrant to the U.S. wireless market, in which six out of 10 subscribers rely on broadband networks run by AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

FCC officials say they see LightSquared’s proposal as a way to spur competition in the sector and have already granted an overall operating license to the firm.

“This is a promising opportunity to promote mobile broadband,” said a FCC senior official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the waiver had not been formally approved. “LightSquared would be a new competitor and entrant into mobile broadband with new sources of capital and a new kind of business model that consumers find appealing.”

If granted, the waiver would allow LightSquared to provide wireless broadband access without also having to sell satellite service. Such an exemption is key to LightSquared’s ability to attract business customers who desire Web access but don’t want to spend extra to lease satellite connections.

LightSquared’s proposal, however, has met with opposition from Global Positioning System operators and federal agencies, who have argued that the firm’s service could knock out their signals. The FCC says that Lightsquared would be expected to resolve any concerns about GPS interference.

“We are requiring that the process be completed to the FCC’s satisfaction before LightSquared offers commercial service under the waiver,” according to the FCC official.

If granted, the waiver would follow other recent FCC moves aimed at freeing airwaves.

Earlier this month, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said the agency would push to redeploy television broadcasters’ unused airwaves to meet exploding wireless de-

“We have common interests here with the GPS community and want to work with them. Devices on our network will have GPS technology, so why wouldn’t we want to make sure it works?”

— Jeff Carlyle, a Lightsquared executive vice president mand that has been fueled by the surging popularity of iPads, Droids and other must-have handhelds.

For now, LightSquared does not plan to offer service directly to consumers. Instead, it would lease space on its network to a range of companies, such as Apple and WalMart, that might want to offer wireless devices under their own brands.

For some consumers, the plan could spell the end of long service contracts. And the FCC likes the idea of more options for wireless users, who have increasingly complained of billing confusion and penalties for leaving their contracts early. The plan could also enable gadgetmakers to break free from exclusive partnerships with the carriers that sell their devices.

“Lightsquared has several important arguments in its favor,” said Rebecca Arbogast, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus.

“We understand the [GPS] interference issues are real and complex, but may be resolvable.”

Lightsquared says filtering technology can be used to prevent interference with GPS service, and an FCC task force studying the issue is optimistic a resolution can be found.

“We have common interests here with the GPS community and want to work with them,” said Jeff Carlyle, an executive vice president at Lightsquared. “Devices on our network will have GPS technology, so why wouldn’t we want to make sure it works?”

GPS providers, however, doubt that filtering technology will be enough and have presented studies and tests to the FCC that show interference.

“Not only us, but other government agencies have strong concerns of interference potential,” said F. Michael Swiek, executive director of the U.S. GPS Industry Council. “That should be enough caution to say let’s take a deep breath, let’s not rush down that road.”

The departments of Defense, Transportation and Homeland Security have all voiced concerns about possible GPS disruptions, and earlier this month, Commerce Department assistant secretary Lawrence Strickling wrote to Genachowski, saying LightSquared’s proposal needs more time to be examined.

Slowing down the process is exactly what the FCC and LightSquared want to avoid, analysts say. LightSquared told the FCC it would commit $20 million for interference tests.

The FCC’s decision on the waiver comes at a critical time for LightSquared, Falcone and his backers at Harbinger, who together have sunk more than $2.9 billion into the venture and are facing pressure from investors to produce returns on the broadband investment.

With more than $1 billion in debts and a $7 billion commitment by Nokia to build out the ground network, LightSquared has promised investors and regulators to build a network that will cover up to 100 million Americans by the end of 2012 and 260 million by 2016.

4 | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2011 the chronicle

Senate nears OK of filibuster change US roadside bomb casualties skyrocket in Afghanistan

by Paul Kane

The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — The Senate edged closer Tuesday to resolving a standoff over the chamber’s arcane rules after leaders presented a set of modest changes designed to satisfy a group of junior Democrats who are pushing to dramatically revamp the filibuster process.

In separate huddles, Democrats and Republicans considered several proposals that are designed to more quickly approve noncontroversial legislation and more smoothly confirm lower-level nominees to federal agencies.

“I think we have a way to proceed forward,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told reporters, a position that GOP leaders echoed. “We’re making good progress,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.

“That’s part of the minority’s right, to extend the debate.”

— Carl Levin, U.S. Senator The leaders have negotiated a small set of changes to rules that will require a couple of days to resolve, according to lawmakers and aides.

The key proposals would reform the practice of “secret holds,” which let a single lawmaker delay even the most noncontroversial provisions; allow for hundreds of junior nominees to agencies to be confirmed without a floor vote, rather than be slowed by the logjam of the more than 1,000 positions that now require full Senate votes; and forbid the minority to force Senate clerks to read full legislative amendments, a tactic rarely used but one that Republicans temporarily forced during the 2009

health-care debate.

This comes in reaction to a broader proposal from Sens. Tom Udall, D-N.M., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., both elected in 2008. Their key idea was a “talking filibuster”: If the majority failed to get 60 votes, the minority would have to hold the floor with an old-fashioned “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”style filibuster. Once the minority no longer had speakers to hold the floor, the Senate would move toward a final vote.

Such a proposal was considered too much change by all Republicans and many Democrats, particularly veteran Democrats who are fearful of altering rules now that would lessen their powers if they lose the majority in two years. “That’s part of the minority’s right, to extend the debate,” said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., a 32-year veteran who supports more modest steps to alter the rules.

Junior Democrats also failed in their effort to win a change in their party’s internal rules that grant committee chairmanships based on seniority. They were pushing for full-fledged internal elections similar to those used in the House. That was rejected, according to senators, and instead they are likely to approve an unusual new rule: The most senior Democrat on the committee would have to stand for a secret-ballot election before his or her colleagues, but no junior member would be allowed to challenge the senior senator.

In this fashion, seniority would still rule the day, but committee chairmen would be informed of how much displeasure there was with their performance.

Udall’s most far-reaching idea is a provision that Democrats could just change the rules in a simple majority vote, despite provisions in the chamber’s standing rules requiring a two-thirds majority to alter the rules. Senior Democrats, such as Reid and Levin, believe that such a unilateral change in the

The number of U.S. troops killed by roadside bombs in Afghanistan soared by 60 percent last year, while the number of those wounded almost tripled, new U.S. military statistics show.

All told, 268 U.S. troops were killed by the improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, in 2010, about as many as in the three previous years combined, according to the figures obtained by The Washington Post. More than 3,360 troops were injured, an increase of 178 percent over the year before.

Military officials said an increase in attacks was expected, given the surge in U.S. and NATO troops, as well as the intensified combat. Even so, the spike comes despite a fresh wave of war-zone countermeasures, including mine-clearance machines, fertilizer-sniffing dogs and blimps with sophisticated spy cameras.

The U.S. military has struggled for years to find an antidote to the homemade explosives. IEDs - concocted primarily of fertilizer and lacking metal or electronic parts that would make them easier to detect - are the largest single cause of casualties for U.S. troops, by a wide margin.

Army Lt. Gen. Michael Oates, the director of a Pentagon agency dedicated to combating the bombs, noted that the percentage of IED attacks that have inflicted casualties - on U.S., NATO and Afghan forces, as well as Afghan civilians - has actually declined in recent months, from 25 percent last summer to 16 percent in December, according to U.S. military statistics.

“My main concern is driving these effective attacks down,” he said. “We’re enjoying success there, and I do believe we’re going to continue to reduce [the enemy’s] effectiveness.”

Oates and other military officials have emphasized

See filibuster on page 6

See casualties on page 6

2011

Wednesday, january 26 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Bryan Center , main level

Questions? Call 919-684-4304

by Craig Whitlock The Washington Post

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2011 | 5

StateoftheUnionsoundoff

by Matt Barnett THE CHRONICLE

Students gathered Tuesday in the Old Trinity Room to watch President Barak Obama’s State of the Union address. The viewing party was organized jointly by Duke Political Union, Duke College Republicans and Duke Democrats. In an astounding act of bipartisanship, students of all political affiliations answered the questions of The Chronicle’s Matt Barnett.

“I thought [Obama] did a good job trying to reconcile two very different opinions, but I think there are a lot of issues that need to be addressed. I would have liked to hear more about the health care plan and more about the deficit, but I think it’s going to take a while for the American people to decide what they really think about it, and we have a long way to go.”

—freshman Alissa Wall, a member of DCR “I thought it was very optimistic. I think that he glossed over some details, but I do hope he follows the trajectory of the speech.”

—junior Taylor Callobre, who sometimes attends Duke Dems events “I think it was wonderful. I think it was innovative and sharp. I took a lot away from it. I think it gave us a sense of what we can do as individuals to improve the country to move us all forward, together.”

—freshman Marcus Benning “I thought that it was a good speech.

I thought that he highlighted education, innovation and infrastructure as the three main things that we need to work

on. He gave a firm blueprint.... The whole thing was centered on [America] having a stronger economy. I thought that his speech last year was much better.”

—sophomore Charles West, a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People “I thought he kind of got back in the hang of the speaking that I remember him for from when he campaigned. It was very moving. I was actually talking to some of my friends around me that were Republican, and they were saying that they were actually impressed with him. Hopefully he’ll get back to his goal of bipartisan cooperation—the tone he struck after the Tucson tragedies. It was unifying in some sense, and it was inspirational, as well.”

—sophomore Colin Baker, a registered independent “I thought Obama’s speech was very good. He definitely had a ‘bend-dontbreak’ attitude towards domestic legislation for the upcoming year. I think that’s definitely a risky move trying to work with the Republicans because it hasn’t worked for the past few years, but it definitely is optimistic and promising and uplifting, so I enjoyed that. I want to see how his words actually play out in actions.”

—freshman Eli Kozin, a member of Duke Dems “I think it’s good that someone organized [the watch party], and I think it’s cool that all the political groups are together to do this.”

—sophomore Sarah Van Name, who considers herself liberal

OBama from page 1 competitive edge and acknowledged the way in which employment opportunities have changed in the past three decades. At a time when American unemployment is hovering at approximately 9.4 percent while economies in countries such as India and China are booming, the president said he hoped for the country to reach a new level of development and research. He called for the present generation’s “Sputnick moment,” which he hopes to achieve through proposed investments in biomedical research, information technology and clean energy technology. He noted that the country must “break [its] dependence on oil with biofuels and become the first country to have one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015.”

Obama also presented his strategy for decreasing the deficit and maximizing tax dollars. His plan is to impose a five-year freeze on nonmilitary discretionary spending, which he said would involve cuts in expenditures in places such as the military and community action programs but also reduce the deficit by $400 billion over the next decade.

“Now, most of the cuts and savings I’ve proposed only address annual domestic spending, which represents a little more than 12 percent of our budget,” he explained. “To make further progress, we have to stop pretending that cutting this kind of spending alone will be enough. It won’t.”

Outside of his strategic focus on economic rejuvenation, there were many issues the president chose not to address, particularly gun control, Social Security and Medicare. The president also only briefly addressed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but noted his intentions to bring troops in both countries home.

“This year, our civilians will forge a lasting partnership with the Iraqi people,

while we finish the job of bringing our troops out of Iraq,” he said. “America’s commitment has been kept­—the Iraq War is coming to an end.”

Obama added that he hoped the war in Afghanistan would result in an “enduring partnership” with the country through empowering its people.

On campus, students gathered for a watch party organized by the Duke Political Union, Duke Democrats and Duke College Republicans in the West Union Building.

President of Duke Democrats Ben Bergmann, a senior, said that although he thought the speech went well, he found nothing in it to be surprising.

“I think it was the speech everyone expected him to give in light of the new reality in Congress,” Bergmann said. “This was the first speech of the 2012 [presidential] campaign. I think he tried hard to move on from the divisiveness that was created by health care.”

Indeed, in his brief acknowledgement of the health care reform bill, the president said he was open to addressing the concerns of dissenters.

“Let me be the first to say that anything can be improved,” Obama said. “If you have ideas about how to improve this law by making care better or more affordable, I am eager to work with you. We can start right now by correcting a flaw in the legislation that has placed an unnecessary bookkeeping burden on small businesses.”

Duke College Republicans Chair Stephen Bergin, a senior, said he also found the speech to be within his expectations and noticed the president’s efforts to appeal to moderate voters.

“There was nothing particularly remarkable about it,” Bergin said. “I’m surprised that [Obama] didn’t [mention gun control laws], but at the same time, he’s not looking to start that fight now.”

Duke University School of Nursing

Office Office of of Global Global and and Community Community Health Health Initiatives Initiatives Presents Presents

The Fourth Annual Global Health Lecture Thursday, Thursday, February February 3, 3, 2011 2011 4:30pm 4:30pm –– 6:00pm 6:00pm (Reception (Reception immediately immediately following following in in Café Café DUSON) DUSON)

Duke University University School School Duke of Nursing Nursing of 307 Trent Trent Drive Drive 307 Room 1014 1014 Room Durham, NC NC 27710 27710 Durham,

“USAID in Haiti: One Year After the Earthquake… A Vision for the Future” 2011 Lecturer:

Co-sponsors

Russell Porter Coordinator, Haiti Task Team U.S. Agency for International Development This event is FREE and open to the public, however, registration is required. To register go to www.nursing.duke.edu. The deadline for registration is January 31, 2011.

For more information contact Belinda Wisdom @ 919-684-9554 or via email: belinda.wisdom@duke.edu.

All photos provided courtesy of US Agency for International Development.

All Rights Reserved.

6 | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2011 the chronicle

Filibuster from page 4

casualties from page 4

rules would fundamentally alter the chamber and would result in an even more forceful rules change by Republicans whenever they reclaim the majority.

Because of that fear, some major unions and abortion rights groups have mounted a behind-the-scenes effort to scuttle the Udall-Merkley proposal, which has support from other ranks of the liberal coalition such as MoveOn. “We have a longer range perspective on this. . . .We will need the filibuster to protect our core interests,” said one union official, requesting anonymity to talk about the liberal division on the issue.

Udall and Merkley are taking an approach that junior Republicans took during their long tenure in the majority from 1995 to 2007, during which they held power for all but 18 months. The Democrats say their distinction is that the chamber’s rules can be changed at the start of each new Congress, on the first day that new senators are sworn in, as opposed to the unsuccessful 2005 effort by the Senate GOP to change rules midyear.

A final consolation that is going to be offered to the younger Democrats is a vote on some of their proposals, but Republicans and senior Democrats expect to allow that vote only if it is set in the traditional sense that a two-thirds majority is required for it be considered successful.

figures showing that IEDs killed fewer troops in the NATO-led coalition last year than in 2009 - a slight decline, from 447 to 430.

A further examination of those numbers, however, shows that casualty rates among U.S. troops have skyrocketed as they have taken over responsibility from European allies for fighting in southern Afghanistan, where resistance from insurgents has been most fierce. Meanwhile, casualty rates among allies have dropped.

Afghan insurgents planted 14,661 IEDs last year, a 62 percent increase over 2009 and more than three times as many as the year before.

Army Col. George Shuplinkov, chief of counter-IED programs for U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, said he is guardedly optimistic that the number of bombs has crested, after reaching a “high-water mark” last summer.

“I think this [past] year we stopped the momentum,” he said in a telephone interview. “We will know next spring. If it starts spiking back up in May or June, we’ll have to reassess.”

Oates predicted that the overall number of bomb attacks would not increase significantly this year. But he said it is unrealistic to expect the military to eliminate the threat as long as the Afghan insurgency persists.

“The narrative has been that we’re losing the IED fight in Afghanistan, and that’s not accurate,” he said. “The whole idea isn’t to destroy the network.

That’s maybe impossible. It’s to disrupt them.”

The bomb attacks have risen steadily since 2005, when the Taliban began copy-

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ing tactics used by insurgents in Iraq.

The Pentagon created Oates’ agency, the Joint IED Defeat Organization (JIEDDO), in 2006 to coordinate efforts among the armed services. With an annual budget of about $3.5 billion, it is supposed to speed the deployment of counter-IED programs to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Critics - including members of Congress, the Government Accountability Office and some military officers - have said that JIEDDO in the past moved too slowly and wasted money on unproved technologies. Such concerns took on new urgency in December 2009, when President Barack Obama announced an expansion of the Afghan war and deployed 30,000 additional troops.

Around the same time, Defense Secretary Robert Gates created a separate highlevel task force - led by Marine Lt. Gen. John Paxton and Ashton Carter, the Pentagon’s chief weapons buyer - to rush even more counter-IED equipment to Afghanistan to coincide with the troop increase.

One result has been a blanketing of the Afghan skies with blimps.

The white helium-filled airships, also known as aerostats, are outfitted with spy cameras that can track movements as they hover 2,000 feet above ground.

The U.S. and Israeli militaries have used them for years, but only a handful were operating in Afghanistan, primarily over Kabul, when the troop increase began.

Since then, the Pentagon has shipped 60 more to the war zone and expects to double that total this year. It also plans to equip the blimps with a new spy-camera technology, known as Wide-Area Airborne Surveillance, which is designed to focus multiple sensors on an entire village simultaneously.

Cameras now on the blimps have a range of 20 miles and can zoom in on people and locations, day or night. Video is transmitted to operators on the ground who steer the airships with joysticks.

“It just provides a level of situational awareness that otherwise wouldn’t be there,” Carter said in an interview. He said the blimps also provide a deterrent: They are easily visible to Afghans on the ground, who can never be sure whether they are being tracked.

Defense officials said they do not have data that can measure the blimps’ effectiveness, although Carter said he has received anecdotal reports of airships catching insurgents burying IEDs. Air Force Col. Scott Murray, who served as the U.S. military’s chief of intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance operations in Afghanistan until this month, said airborne spy cameras are more useful to detect patterns of movement that can provide information about how insurgent networks function.

In addition to the blimps, he said, the military is relying on a range of surveillance technologies to gather intelligence about bombs and bomb builders. The equipment includes high-flying Global Hawk drones as well as cameras mounted on a stick, which foot patrols can use to peer into culverts and under bridges.

The U.S. military has increased the number of teams that clear roadside bombs along highways and other routes from about a dozen a year ago to 75 today. The teams are equipped with hand-held drones that are about the size of model airplanes and can look for bombs around corners or over hills.

Even with all the technology, military officials said the best method for detecting buried bombs has proved to be old-fashioned: a dog’s nose.

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BRIDGING THE DIVIDE

NADINE FAHOUM’S FIGHT FOR COEXISTENCE

by Alex Krinsky THE CHRONICLE

In Israel, it can be easy to choose a side. In the volatile country strained by the tension between Arabs and Jews, some choose to hate.

But Duke tennis standout Nadine Fahoum is an Israeli that does not hate. As an Arab growing up in Haifa, Fahoum was exposed to the political discord and periodic violence inherent to the conflict. Thanks to Nadine’s parents, however, she was given the opportunity to understand the other side.

“We don’t think about coexistence, we just live it,” Fahoum said. “It’s not something that my family has to think too much about. We just do it. It’s normal, that’s how it should be.”

Nadine’s mother, Wafa Zoabi Fahoum, a lawyer by trade, was formerly the head of Beit Hagefen, a non-profit organization in Haifa that works toward improving relations between Arabs and Jews. She and her husband, Anan, made the unusual decision to send their daughter to the Reali Hebrew School, rather than choosing a school predominantly composed of Arab students.

When Nadine enrolled, she was the only Arab student there.

Consequently, from a young age Nadine was completely surrounded by Jewish people. And even though her family had many Arab friends, most of Nadine’s friends were Jewish kids.

“I never noticed it,” Nadine said. “When I was with Jewish people, I felt welcome.... All the time I heard both sides. I heard the Jewish side, and I heard the Arab side. And I’m somewhere in the

middle trying to decide what’s right and what’s wrong. When you hear everything, it’s easier for you to see the whole picture.”

At the age of nine, Nadine began playing tennis at the Haifa Tennis Center where she was, once again, the only Arab. She was also the most talented athlete. Under the tutelage of her first coach Eli Tzarfati, Nadine won her first national championship at the age of 11, competing almost entirely against Jewish opponents.

“I knew for people to actually see me I had to be the best in the country,” Nadine said. “Otherwise nobody was going to look at me. No matter who you are or what you are, you have to be the best for people to notice you. It’s tougher for an Arab person to be noticeable because we are the minority.”

Two years after her championship Nadine began attending Wingate Academy, a sportscentric school outside of Tel Aviv that provided exceptional amenities and opportunities for its athletes. Every day, Nadine drove an hour from Haifa to Netanya to practice with the best men’s and women’s tennis players in Israel.

Nadine was dominant on the court, earning a spot on the Israeli national team each year from 2003-2008. She was an Arab representing the Jewish state of Israel. But despite this honor, she still was profiled and screened more intensely than her Jewish teammates.

Apart from her experiences with airport security, though, Nadine was generally not See fahoum on page 7 See fahoum on page 8 graphic by Addison Corriher/The Chronicle

women’s basketball

DUKE

CLEMSON

CAMERON INDOOR STADIUM • WEDNESDAY • 7 p.m.

Undefeated Blue Devils keep focus on one game at time

by Tom Gieryn THE CHRONICLE

ted knudsen/The Chronicle

Head coach Joanne P. McCallie said Duke “gave away 20 minutes” against N.C. State, but was inspired by the second half comeback.

Although the husky may be the most feared animal in women’s college basketball, it’s critical to remember that a tiger can still maul you if you’re not paying attention.

So even with the No. 2 Connecticut Huskies looming less than a week away, the No. 3 Blue Devils (19-0, 5-0 in the ACC) will keep their focus on tonight’s 7 p.m. contest against the Clemson Tigers (9-12, 2-4) at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Duke stands as the last unbeaten team in women’s college hoops, and its 19-0 start is the fourth time in school history that it has won its first 19 games. This early success bodes well for the last Blue Devils: The 2006-07 team blew straight past 19-0 to win their first 30 games and reach the Sweet 16, and two other Duke teams to have started 19-0 reached the Final Four. Still, the players aren’t focused on the zero in the loss column.

“The media are the only people that talk about us being undefeated,” senior Krystal Thomas said. “To us, we have

so much work to do, we have so many things to get better, so that’s not even something that we think about.”

Clemson, by contrast, has had an especially rough time of late, winning just three of its last 11 games. But seven of those 11 contests have been played against ranked opponents, so taking on a top-tier opponent will be nothing new for rookie head coach Itoro Coleman’s squad.

The Tigers nonetheless have the talent to represent a threat to Duke—they boast three double-digit scorers to the Blue Devils’ one. Senior guards Sthefany Thomas, who averages 12.6 points per game, and Kirstyn Wright, who averages 11.6 points, comprise a dynamic backcourt duo while 6-foot-3 center Shaniqua Pauldo chips in 10.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per contest. Only Jasmine Thomas averages over 10 points per game for Duke.

The Tigers will also test the Blue Devils’ perimeter defense, as they lead the ACC in 3-point shooting at 35.4 percent.

See w. basketball on page 8

8 | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2011 the chronicle

fahoum from page 7

ion, and her performance on the court reaped the benefits.

“To her, it’s just a tennis match,” Duke head discriminated against in her everyday coach Jamie Ashworth said. “She doesn’t put life. She always felt that other Israelis the whole world on her shoulders when she deserved to experience her peaceful co- walks on the court. The situations that she’s existence with both Arabs and Jews, and been in and her family’s been in, she keeps so off the court Nadine continued to things in perspective very well.” work for the cause. As a member of the Nadine was dominant during her threeFreddie Krivine Foundation, which her year tenure as a Monarch. As a freshman, parents were both actively involved with, she was a Colonial Athletic Association CoNadine taught tennis to both Jewish and Rookie of the Year, and then was named Arab children together. to the CAA First Team in both singles and “Very few people had this path,” Na- doubles as a sophomore. In her final year dine said. “I’m very fortunate that my par- at Old Dominion, Nadine was voted CAA ents sent me to Co-Player of the a Jewish school.

Year.

Hopefully many “It’s tough for Jews and Arabs “Nadine has other people will a lot of self-discito forget. They rely on hishave this opporpline,” said her tunity.” torical things. You just have brother Fahoum While NaFahoum, who to start new—we are at this also attended the dine’s Jewish friends graduated Reali Hebrew point now, and we have to from high school School, played solve it.” and began their tennis at Wingmandatory serAcademy and — Nadine Fahoum ate vice in the Israeli currently plays at army, Nadine was Old Dominion. “I conflicted with learned from her the decision of whether to continue her to work hard and appreciate your achieveschooling or turn professional. Just six ments, but keep your head down to earth. weeks before school started in the United There’s always room to improve.”

States, Nadine rushed through the SATs Nadine decided after her junior year and her application and was accepted to she wanted to improve elsewhere, and Old Dominion University. after assessing her possibilities, she beIn the United States, Nadine was no came the first senior transfer in history to longer recognized as the Arab tennis join the Duke women’s tennis team. Ashplayer, and there were no spectators worth explained that not only did she fit watching her break barriers for the next in academically, but she was also already generation of Arab athletes in Israel. familiar with several of the girls through The pressure to promote coexistence, junior tennis competitions. The players along with the anxiety over turning pro- were confident she would be an asset and fessional, melted away at Old Domin- a team-oriented player.

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Nadine Fahoum, who recently won her 100th career match, grew up as an Arab in Israel before coming to the U.S. It didn’t hurt that she was gifted with a racket in her hand. After just two matches this season, Nadine has picked up her 100th career win and helped a promising Blue Devil squad jump to a 2-0 start.

“There’s not a shot that she can’t hit,” Ashworth said. “A lot of girls are very one-dimensional, but she brings so many dimensions and so much depth to her game that it’s hard to play against her, and we saw that... when she was at Old Dominion.”

Depending on her performance this year, Nadine will once again have to decide if she wants to turn professional or

w. basketball from page 7 The key to the game, though, could be momentum. Both teams are coming off emotional games: Duke rallied from a 20-point deficit against N.C. State Sunday to win by one, while Clemson garnered its first overtime win of the year the same day when it defeated Wake Forest, 77-73. The Blue Devils are motivated to demonstrate MORE that their first-half ONLINE struggles against the Wolfpack were If you can’t make it to a fluke.

“You can’t Duke’s game against Clemson, check out help but be incredibly inspired our live blog of the by that second contest: half, something sports.chronicleblogs. that was special com in its own right,” head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “But also you’re totally motivated, because you’re wondering why you gave away 20

continue her studies in graduate school.

But regardless of her choice, she will continue to play tennis because she loves the sport, and she will continue to fight for coexistence in Israel because the cause is close to her heart.

“It’s tough for Jews and Arabs to forget,” Nadine said. “They rely on historical things. You just have to start new—we are at this point now, and we have to solve it.

Don’t look back because it’s never going to be solved this way. You just have to work from this point on how to solve it…. You don’t have to agree, you just have to live peacefully with each other.”

minutes.”

Thomas agreed with her coach.

“We showed for 20 minutes how bad we can play, and then we showed for 20 minutes how resilient we can be,” she said.

“So we’re trying to match the second half from the N.C. State game, and carry that resiliency all the way out. We don’t want to be at any more 20-point deficits.”

McCallie thinks her team needs more consistency if it hopes to continue improving.

“I think it’s all about everybody going after their role, and fulfilling their role, and not taking games off,” she said.

“We’ve had too many people take certain games off, and that’s led to some predicaments, so to speak.”

For McCallie, though, it’s not about the minutes her team “gave away” against N.C. State, or about the upcoming showdown with Connecticut. All that matters is getting the next victory.

“It’s about the chase,” she said. “It’s about chasing after what we can be.”

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2011 | 9

Diversions Shoe Chris Cassatt and Gary Brookins

Dilbert Scott Adams

Doonesbury Garry Trudeau

The Chronicle what obama should have talked about: job creation... oh, wait: ������������������������������������������������ twei, lincoln definitely needed more talk of the high speed rail: ��� dough, rupp dumber college kids: ��������������������������������������������������������������� julian the axis of evil: ������������������������������������������������������������������������� drew legalizing it: ��������������������������������������������������������� andy, mr. comfort getting job done on time: ���������������������������������������c-rod, fraddisan better immigration reform: ����������������������������������������������������� xtina other stuff: ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������alem Barb Starbuck liked the tea bagger response: ������������������������� Barb

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10 | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2011

MMS moving too fast After graduating just a sin- certainly opportunistic—a gle class, it looks like Fuqua’s business savvy move by the Master of Management Stud- business school administraies program is here to stay. tion—committing to such an At last week’s Academic unproven program without Council meeting the Fuqua serious institutional review is School of worrisome.

Business anImplementeditorial nounced its ed just last year, plans to make permanent the the MMS degree was intendrecently created MMS offer- ed to fill a specific niche. For ing. Simultaneously, Fuqua students unable to obtain a will seek to expand globally job directly out of college, an by creating an international MMS degree could serve as a supplement program, with way to spend one year learnan eye toward attracting stu- ing about the business world. dents in emerging markets With such a short period of such as China and Brazil. study, the true depth of the We have serious reserva- educational offerings is sustions about Fuqua’s plans to pect, as we have covered here so quickly make the MMS before. Surging interest in program a permanent part of the program, despite its heavy the Duke educational land- price tag, suggests an ancillary scape. And while the rapid motive for prospective MMS international expansion is matriculates—the chance to

“

onlinecomment

I agree fully with the writer. When Nolan is playing point he is not sharing the ball enough and is forcing his shot too often. Playing Tyler works on both offense and defense.

Good article.

”

—“capecodlaw” commenting on the column “To help Smith, play Thornton at the point.”

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M

improve their employment prospects by adding a Duke degree to their resume.

When initially conceived, Fuqua Dean Blair Sheppard stressed the importance of taking it slow. But immediately making permanent the MMS degree, without taking the time to fine-tune its curriculum and assess the educational quality, seems to belie Sheppard’s commitment to the development of a “worldclass” degree program.

If educational excellence were the primary concern, Fuqua would stick to its initial plan of a three-year pilot run.

In fact, in the single year that the MMS degree program has existed, serious questions have been raised, especially in regards to its relationship with the undergraduate

population. Concerns about MMS students overwhelming already strained on-campus career services, as well as questions about whether the degree does more than improve a student’s resume, have not been addressed.

Educational concerns aside, there is clearly a global market for students seeking jobs in American business. Considering the revenue stream the MMS program produces for the University, expanding in an economy in which jobs are scarce can help Fuqua achieve greater financial stability in challenging times.

Further, a well conceived MMS program actually does make sense on an international scale. Ambitious, talented students in foreign countries could benefit from

a year to acquire knowledge of American business practices and economic structures before seeking jobs in the global economy. Having these ambitious, talented students associated with Duke as they pursue prominent jobs in the business community could be a boon for the University’s global presence.

Ideally, Fuqua would seek to make permanent the MMS program and expand internationally only after a thorough review of the program’s educational quality. In the end, all programs reflect on the University. A program that offers a shoddy education or an inability to provide students with the business opportunities advertised would reflect poorly on Duke, both internationally and in the business world.

Finding the gray swan

y curiosity got the better of me last week- to philander, to fight and to generally embrace end – I watched a movie about ballet. I the demons they so successfully suppress during saw the film “Black Swan.” I had been the workweek. hesitant to see it, despite the favorWhat I realized upon watching able reviews and the categorization “Black Swan” was not that there are of the movie as a “psychosexual some people who are completely thriller.” I just didn’t see myself engood and some who are completely joying a movie with ballerinas and evil. Rather, the film was an extutus, yet I ended up thoroughly treme illustration of what I believe enjoying it. to be true: there is a good side and I love movies with metaphor– a bad side in all of us. The girl who movies whose characters embody debates political science with her milap mehta some trait or idea. Metaphor is the professor by day could be dancing reason why I loved “No Country what i think i think in the cage at Shooters later that For Old Men,” but was not so crazy night. about “True Grit.” There is something subliminal Part of the reason why we are all here is that and fascinating about the manifestation of an idea we have found a way to quiet these dark sides. We inside of a character. I came to associate Anton keep them out of sight in order to achieve success Chigurh in “No Country”, for example, with the and move to the top of the academic ladder. We fortuitousness of fate and death. He was the Grim are so adept at doing this, in fact, that we manage Reaper, only in a leather jacket. to convince the people around us that our dark While “Black Swan” was less understated than sides don’t exist at all. We portray ourselves as “No Country,” I was nonetheless intrigued by the pure and punctilious, and shock the higher powduality of good and evil presented in the story. ers when they see our (formerly) lewd behavior at Essentially, the story revolves around Nina Sayers, Tailgate, hear about the latest freshman that got a “good” ballerina, played by Natalie Portman, at- too wasted last weekend, and so on. tempting to get in touch with her darker, more There can be disastrous consequences to sup“evil” side. This darkness is embodied by Mila pressing our demons as much as we do. Students Kunis’ character, Lily. She smokes cigarettes, eats drink unhealthy amounts and do dangerous cheeseburgers and hooks up with random guys things as a way to relieve the stress we allow to in nightclubs. She is the bad girl, in stark contrast accumulate. Our issues, doubts and fears come to Nina. The conflict between these two charac- roaring to the surface and can result in more ters is what made the film appealing to me. Oh, damage than just scrapes and bruises. Between and Mila Kunis and Natalie Portman making out the exhausting workload some of us have and the didn’t hurt either. above-average pressure to drink alcohol on this Upon further reflection, I came to see the campus, good and evil have combined in a most movie not just as the psychological conflicts of a unhealthy fashion. tragically flawed protagonist, but as an internal Nina Sayers eventually embraces the dark side struggle between good and evil that can be ap- of her personality, and in so doing achieves what plied to Duke students. she considers to be perfection. She delivers an inThere is the Duke student by day: the book bag- spired performance onstage and is given a standwearing, polite conversation-having, morally con- ing ovation. It was only through embracing, and scientious student who attends class religiously, not suppressing, what made her unique as a hustudies with zeal and acts with dignity. The Duke man, that she finally gave the (tragically) masterstudent by day is who our parents and adminis- ful performance. trators want to see. We are the upstanding young We all have a Black Swan inside of us - a side citizens that are preparing to change the world that we tend to repress, sometimes with dire conand be the cream of our generation’s crop. We go sequences. We are used to success, and we are acabout our daily business, accumulating the quali- customed to appearing perfect. Yet perfection lies fications needed to succeed in the real world. By in the ability to embrace idiosyncrasies, to reconday, we are White Swans – structured, regimented, cile the duality of seemingly contradictory persoprecise. nas into one authentic and genuine personality.

Behind this facade, there lies an inner iden- Perhaps this is the only way that true perfection tity that we would probably not like our grand- can be achieved. mothers to know about. When the sun goes down, and the weekend begins, we let out our Milap Mehta is a Trinity Junior. His column runs dark sides. Duke students are known to drink, every other Wednesday.

the chronicle

I

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2011 | 11

commentaries

Even California gurls ain’t perfect

Dr. Price’s Duke

spent a week in Hungary over Winter Break. Most tling cities, beautiful landscapes… But America also Hungarians I talked to while I was there had a faces challenges such as healthcare reform, immigranegative—they called it “realistic”—outlook for tion issues and social inequality. themselves and their country. The chalThe charming, alluring side of lenging times they’ve experienced over America is the one that most often the past 70 years have caused them to gets projected to the rest of the world, become disillusioned with the governusually in a most compelling manner. ment and with institutions in general.

At the end of the day, however, that’s It’s probably a tourist’s naïve over-genonly part of the story. eralization to conclude that HungarNations are not the only entities that ians are pessimistic people, but that’s present idealized images of themselves. definitely the impression I got. Given This phenomenon of revealing only a daniel wong that Hungary ranked number 103 in portion of the truth is something that loving life, the 2010 Gallup World Poll of happiest we do in our personal lives too. loving lives countries, maybe my gut feeling wasn’t Whether it’s a rush event or a job too far from the truth. interview, we try to present an image One day I was sitting in a small resof ourselves we think others will like, taurant in Budapest. It was 10 degrees outside and but when we’re constantly adjusting our behavior besnowing, and the gusty winds were making the weath- cause of how we anticipate others will perceive us, we er bone-chillingly cold. It was dark outside, there eventually come to a point where it’s hard to truthweren’t many street lights, and few people were walk- fully answer the question “Who am I?” ing about. All in all, a rather gloomy evening.

In this digital age we live in, “Who am I?” has beEating a plate of lamb stew, I suddenly heard a come an even more complex question. We exhibit a familiar tune playing on the radio. different persona when we blog, tweet, GChat, use “I know a place Facebook or LinkedIn. For example, most people try Where the grass is really greener to appear more intellectual when they blog, more Warm, wet and wild, fun when they use Facebook, and more professional There must be something in the water when they’re on LinkedIn. It’s a trend Soraya Darabi, ... named the 53rd most creative person in business in California gurls, 2010 by Fast Company, has called the “multiple eWe’re unforgettable dentity disorder.” This is a problem that we as a digiDaisy dukes, bikinis on top tal generation need to address.

Sun-kissed skin so hot In his book “American Scandal,” Pat Williams tells We’ll melt your popsicle the story of Mahatma Gandhi speaking before EngOh oh oh oh” land’s Parliament about granting independence to You got it, that’s “California Gurls” by Katy Perry. India. Gandhi spoke eloquently for almost two hours The five minutes I spent listening to that song en- without referring to any notes, and received a standcapsulated, for me, the mystique of America. There ing ovation at the end of his address. Afterward, a reI was in not-too-cheery Hungary on an exceptionally porter asked Gandhi’s assistant, Mahadev Desai, how dreary day and Katy Perry was singing to me most Gandhi had been able to deliver such a rousing speech enthusiastically about a place “where the grass is re- without any notes. ally greener” and where the “unforgettable” girls all “You don’t understand Gandhi,” Desai replied. have “sun-kissed skin.”

“You see, what he thinks is what he feels. What he If you’re an American, you might not be aware of feels is what he says. What he says is what he does. the aura that surrounds America, but as an interna- What Gandhi feels, what he thinks, what he says, and tional student from Singapore I can tell you that it what he does are all the same.” definitely exists.

I believe an important life goal is to become a Before coming to America for college, it really completely authentic person, where—like Gandhi— seemed to me like Americans were better-looking, what we feel, think, say and do are perfectly aligned. wealthier, cooler and happier than everyone else. But we first need to recognize that nobody’s flawless, Over the past four years, though, I’ve come to real- not even “California gurls,” who judge us for not havize that there are good-looking and less good-look- ing “sun-kissed” skin like them, and that the people ing, wealthy and poor, cool and uncool, happy and who don’t like us for who we are are the ones who unhappy Americans. usually ought to matter least to us.

Don’t get me wrong, I think America is a wonderful place with amazing things to offer anyone who Daniel Wong is a Pratt Senior. His column runs every sets foot here: opportunities, freedom, hope, bus- other Wednesday.

lettertotheeditor What makes a qualified candidate While I expected the acknowledgement that the Young Trustee semi-finalist pool shows little diversity, I take issue with Young Trustee Nominating Committee Chair Christine Larson’s assertion that Duke Student Government experience tends to make for a ‘more qualified’ candidate. I find this assertion to be erroneous, as DSG appears to be quite an insular organization that has a very limited (and far from eclectic) view and understanding of campus issues beyond topics such as gender relations between the Interfraternity Council and the Panhellenic Association. Let us not overstate a student’s experience on DSG as one that produces

a ‘more qualified’ candidate, more so than any other prominent leadership entity on campus. In fact, these ‘more qualified’ candidates who come from a DSG background may speak volumes about the lack of diversity among the candidates and the often homogenous and limited vision of campus issues. We shouldn’t delude ourselves into thinking that experiences with other campus organizations don’t, in fact, produce more qualified candidates than those with present or prior DSG affiliation.

Nana Asante Trinity ’12

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L

et’s begin like this: When discussing Reynolds Price, I don’t have a unique vantage point.

I was his student in Spring 2005, when I was a sophomore. I took his Two Gospels seminar. I took it because it was taught by the world-famous Reynolds Price, and because it only met once a week. I got a B. I don’t think I meant more or less to him than any of his average students, which alex fanaroff is to say that he seemed to care a great deal about my farewell tour development as a writer and an intellectual.

As part of the seminar, we read his translations of the gospels of Mark and John. Each student then wrote his own gospel. My gospel was told from the point of view of Jesus. It incorporated some stream-of-consciousness elements and reflected the same ethos as “Christmas Song”

by Dave Matthews, which I discovered while writing my gospel.

I prepared for class by reading Professor Price’s translation of the gospels and whatever other reading was assigned, but I never read anything else. I attended every class session, but I never went to see Price during his office hours. I went to the end-of-class tea at Price’s house, but I didn’t stay any longer than I had to. Put simply, I did everything that was expected of me, and I did nothing else.

I turned in my 42-page gospel on the appointed day.

Later that summer, I received a package in the mail. In the package was a copy of my gospel, marked up by Price’s red pen. He also included three-quarters of a page worth of comments. He wrote that my gospel was “very good” and that with some more work, it might even be worth publishing. (It will not surprise you to learn that I did not put any more work into it.)

Since I was still a punk pre-med at the time, I wrote Price an e-mail, asking why he said my gospel was “very good” and then gave it a B. The e-mail he sent me was impressive in its clarity. Very good is a B, it said; excellent is an A. When I read his e-mail, I realized that he was right and the rest of my education had been wrong. I hadn’t done excellent work, and I didn’t really deserve an A—even if the same work would’ve earned me an A in most other classes at Duke.

Like I said, I’m not telling this story because I think it’s unique. I didn’t have a special Reynolds Price experience; I think I had a garden-variety, regular Reynolds Price experience. Still, it was among the most important experiences I had as an undergrad.

Class with Price was a throwback to a time when being a college student—being a Duke student—really meant something. He was a throwback to his own undergraduate days, the time when, as Price said in his famous 1992 Founders’ Day speech, the University “gloried in a proportionally greater number of absolutely first-rate student minds.”

In Price’s classes “fruitful personal exchanges between teachers and students were far more common.” We were encouraged not to be “students who exhibit a minimum of preparation or willingness for... serious conversation in the classroom.” We were not graded as though “standards of grading [had] steadily inflated.”

Unfortunately, it took me until after the semester was over to realize what was going on, and it took me until well after I graduated to realize what it meant. I treated Price’s class as though it was just like any other, when, quite clearly, it was not.

Price’s own brilliance and force of personality made his classes what they were; he was one of a handful of professors I had while an undergrad who could turn back the clock to the time he described in his Founders’ Day speech. But what all those teachers had in common was how much they asked of their students.

As students, we all have the capacity to turn Duke into an institution of which Price could be proud. We only have to ask more of ourselves.

Alex Fanaroff is a fourth-year medical student. His column runs every Wednesday.

12 | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2011

the chronicle

mms from page 1 Shanghai might choose to concentrate in banking, Sheppard noted, calling Shanghai “the New York of China.”

“It’s highly likely that in your career, you will work for people conducting firms everywhere in the world,” Sheppard said.

“Students are saying, ‘I want to go to a school that’s preparing me for the 21st century, not the 20th.”

Fuqua hopes to partner with other Duke schools to give students the opportunity to gain knowledge in business management and a chosen sub-field. The Duke Global Health Institute has already agreed to organize global health courses for MMS students abroad. This combination of different graduate programs to provide students with an interdisciplinary global experience will make the program valuable and unique, said Kathie Amato, assistant dean of executive education at Fuqua.

Michael Merson, director of DGHI, said that providing courses abroad would benefit the institute’s current efforts to expand globally as well as enhance the quality of the University as a whole.

“One of the real strengths of Duke as a university is its ability to bring together faculty from different schools and institutes and disciplines in its education and research,” Merson said. “Many of the world’s problems today are best addressed through a multidisciplinary approach.”

Both the Global MMS degree and the traditional MMS program, which was implemented in 2009, are intended to teach recent college graduates the business

skills needed to pursue entry level jobs with companies and organizations. The Global MMS program will be tailored to the needs of the region in which it is taught.

“In some parts of the world, the thematic courses will be different than what we have [in Durham] because the needs in that global region are different,” Amato said. “That’s where the rest of Duke comes into play.”

The MMS program addresses two separate needs: Recent college graduates with a liberal arts background and no work experience were having trouble starting their careers, and undergraduate programs were not successfully preparing their students for roles in major global firms.

After outlining a one-year masters program that would give American students an advantage when entering professional settings, Sheppard said he realized that the MMS degree was also a “perfect” solution for the needs of students around the world. It would help students become familiar with the global economy and network with major business leaders, and it would also increase Fuqua’s international standing.

Although the Global MMS program in China has not yet been approved officially by the Academic Council or the Chinese Ministry of Education, Sheppard said he is hopeful that the proposal will be successful because of the potential research opportunity for faculty, current successes of the local Duke MMS program and Duke’s current investment in Kunshan.

“It’s our belief that if we don’t go, we won’t be meeting the needs of our core students,” said Sheppard.

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learning from page 1 A supporting statistic from the book shows that this generation’s college students dedicate half as much time to their studies as their parents did. Today’s students spend much more time studying in groups, which results in fewer gains in learning than those who spend more hours studying by themselves.

Steve Nowicki, dean and vice provost of undergraduate education, said he is not deeply persuaded by the study.

“I think the problem is that you can’t measure value by some of their methods.

You can’t quantify how a student’s life has been changed or the satisfaction of civic engagement,” said Nowicki, who said he was familiar with the recent book. “An academic environment like the one we provide brings out the potential in people by providing an academic haven for constant interaction with people of diverse backgrounds including socioeconomic situations.”

President Richard Brodhead echoed Nowicki’s sentiment. He said he thought the study oversimplified a multi-faceted problem, adding that he believes an undergraduate education is a “million-sided, complicated process” that is hard to calculate.

“Every hour of every day is part of a pro-

cess of education,” Brodhead said.

He added that the study aims to equate all schools under the generalized conclusions it drew. He emphasized, however, that Duke has the luxury of being highly selective, choosing “smart, lively, energetic” students every year from an increasingly competitive pool.

“There are definitely many students who are here to work and participate very little in social activities,” said Alexandra Ashinoff, a sophomore. “At the same time, there are definitely students who take the easiest classes to give themselves the least work. The driven students may not be as evident unless you go to the library.”

Although partiers may be more visible, Ashinoff said they are just a “loud minority.”

Nowicki stressed that Duke is first and foremost an academic institution. Immersion in the college environment is crucial for developing life skills, he added.

“People are having a hard time getting jobs, and tuition prices are a large sum to pay without the guarantee of getting a job,” he said. “But when I look back on my college experience at Tufts [University], I cannot remember much about what I learned in classes specifically... but I cannot possibly imagine being successful without [that] education.”

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