February 18, 2016

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ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVENTH YEAR, Issue 79

CLEAR EYES, FULL HEARTS

Jesús Hidalgo | The Chronicle

Duke closes game on 14-5 run to stun No. 5 Tar Heels in Chapel Hill Sameer Pandhare The Chronicle CHAPEL HILL—The Blue Devils never panicked Wednesday night.

Not when Brice Johnson steamrolled through the paint for 18 points and 11 rebounds in the first half. Not when junior Matt Jones left the game midway through the first-half after landing awkwardly on his left ankle.

Not when center Marshall Plumlee picked up his fourth foul early in the second half, joining fellow captains Jones and Amile Jefferson on the Duke sideline, leaving one sophomore and four freshmen on the floor under the brightest of bright lights.

Backed into a corner, the Blue Devils took their punches. But they stayed upright, gathered themselves, then landed the biggest blow of the night to emerge with their gutsiest win of the year.

Behind 43 points from the duo of Grayson Allen and Brandon Ingram, the No. 20 Blue

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Devils fought back from an eight-point secondhalf deficit to steal a 74-73 victory at the Dean E. Smith Center, stunning No. 5 North Carolina and spoiling Johnson’s 29-point, 19-rebound performance. Utilizing a five-man rotation, Duke did not substitute for the final 10:51, but the Blue Devils overcame fatigue to stay right with the Tar Heels into the closing minutes, then made their move to win their fourth straight game in the Tobacco Road rivalry.

“We have a lot of guys who are fighters.

Even if they miss some shots, even if they get tired, they’re going to keep fighting,” Plumlee said. “I’m so proud of my teammates—I love them.”

Following an Allen miss with Duke up one and the shot clock winding down, North Carolina came down the floor with 20 seconds remaining and opted not to call one of its three remaining timeouts. But the Tar Heels were unable to get the ball to Johnson or a big man down low, and guard Joel Berry II’s potential game-winning shot in the lane was blocked by the outstretched arm of freshman Derryck Thornton, preserving Duke’s second

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INSIDE — News 2 Sports 11 Classified 13 Puzzles 13 Opinion 14

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ADDITIONAL COVERAGE

straight one-point win.

“I wasn’t thinking about anything other than that play,” Thornton said. “I know it’s going to be a big play. Either he’s going to make it or I’m going to get a stop, so I really put everything on the line to stop him and I did a decent job.”

The Blue Devils (20-6, 9-4 in the ACC) trailed for nearly the entire game, several times getting within four points only to be rebuffed.

But Duke mounted one final comeback in the closing minutes, taking the lead on a pair of Allen free throws with 1:09 left. Allen and Ingram scored 13 straight points down the stretch for the Blue Devils to work back from a 68-60 deficit before freshman Luke Kennard’s corner 3-pointer put Duke ahead 72-71—its first lead since the Blue Devils led 20-18 with 11:56 left in the first half.

After Kennedy Meeks answered for the Tar Heels with a second-chance bucket, Ingram misfired on a 3-pointer, but Plumlee deflected Marcus Paige’s pass on the ensuing

INSIDE

See M. BASKETBALL on Page 12

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Serving the University since 1905

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• See how the Blue Devils mounted yet another furious rally against their archrival Wednesday night. PAGE 11 • Another Duke veteran goes down—the Blue Devils prevailed even though junior captain Matt Jones was sidelined with a sprained ankle. PAGE 11

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• Social media reactions from former Duke athletes • Videos of the Blue Devils returning to campus and our postgame analysis • Our best photos from the game

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Faculty push back against ‘attrition’ policy Neelesh Moorthy The Chronicle Duke faculty are divided on the issue of unionization.

Members of Duke Teaching First, an organization of non-tenure track or contingent faculty, filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board asking to be represented by the Service Employees International Union last Thursday. Faculty and student activists pushing for unionization argue that contingent faculty do not have adequate job security and are doing some work without pay. Some faculty also allege that the University is pursuing a policy of attrition to lower faculty salaries and remove positions, citing emails from administrators stating that Duke cannot afford to pay faculty more. Other faculty members argue, however, that unionization would harm faculty and the University.

David Banks, professor of the practice of statistics, said he is discontent with his ability to get pay raises. Duke administrators have told him that individual negotiations with the department chair are the best way to earn a pay raise, but he said that his requests every two years for a small pay raise have been consistently denied.

“I’ve tried to work the system the way it was suggested,” Banks said. “It didn’t work, so now I’m happy to try an alternative.”

If the NLRB finds sufficient interest among non-tenure track faculty, then a union election will take place among such faculty in the Trinity College of Arts and Sciences, the Graduate School and the Center for Documentary Studies, according to the Representation Petition, which was obtained

by The Chronicle. A majority of the faculty who vote in the election is necessary for the

Graphic by Yuhkai Lin | The Chronicle

union to be created and begin negotiations hard time making ends meet, health care is a big issue, and that’s why faculty members with the University. are coming together to advocate for better working conditions on campus.”

Grievances DTF formed last year with the intent of The unionization push at Duke has grown as universities nationally continue to rely unionizing in order to achieve greater job on contingent faculty while only providing security and higher wages. The average salary short-term contracts, per-course payment for Duke professors, associate professors and and sometimes failing to provide benefits assistant professors on nine-month contracts is that tenure-track faculty have, said junior more than $84,000, and the average salary for Zoe Willingham, president of Duke United unranked faculty, lecturers and instructors at Students Against Sweatshops, which has been the University is less than $57,000, according to data released by the University to the supporting DTF. “The quality of life for faculty has gone Department of Education. At Duke, regular down,” she said. “A lot of professors have a rank tenure track faculty are typically assistant

professors, associate professors, professors and named chair professors.

Banks attributed non-tenure track faculty’s inability to get raises to the administration’s current “attrition policy,” which he described as a plan to manage finances by freezing new hires and encouraging attrition among faculty.

In an email to faculty and staff last April that has been obtained by The Chronicle, Laurie Patton—former dean of Trinity—wrote that “we cannot ‘afford’ our current faculty size.”

“As we continue to move towards budget sustainability, our faculty hiring will continue See UNION on Page 4

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Fix My Campus working to expand student reach Anupriya Sivakumar The Chronicle Fix My Campus has made strides to address a number of campus issues recently, but many student concerns remain outside of its purview.

The organization—which is an affiliate of Duke Student Government—handles complaints and suggestions about improving Duke facilities and communicates with administrators about how to implement the changes. FMC co-director Courtney Scoufis, a sophomore, said that the organization “has a fast turnaround rate” for addressing student complaints but that changes are being made to improve its structure.

“This year we plan to extend that to the graduate student population,” Scoufis. “We have brought a graduate student onto our committee and are currently working to make Fix My Campus an inclusive page for all of Duke.”

The organization also plans to create an app so that students have a new avenue to make suggestions in addition to the current Facebook page—which has more than 4,000 members—wrote sophomore Luke Wolf, FMC’s co-director, in an email.

FMC has worked to meet the request for new equipment in campus gyms and members are now working with Duke Vending to add more vending machines with healthy options across campus, Wolf wrote. Members of FMC have also been communicating with Parking and Transportation Services on creating a cartowing app that will notify students if their car has been towed and where it has been moved, Wolf wrote.

He added that complaints about mold on Central Campus are common on the

a few prominent and feasible issues from the approximately 12 suggestions students post on the Facebook page. The committee members—some of who specialize in certain types of requests—then contact relevant administrators, faculty and staff to help resolve the issue. The time frame for a project varies depending on the financial and administrative resources needed.

“We’ve been pretty successful in responding to students,” Wolf said. “We just want to continue getting more input and work on projects that affect students in their day-to-day lives.”

Junior Austin Ruiz noted that he thinks FMC is very responsive and has been able to meet most of students’ requests.

“I think the easiest way to see how effective they are is to just look at the updates they post,” Ruiz wrote in an email. “Most of the projects are new or ongoing, but it really does seem like they’re trying to do the most they can for Duke students.”

Junior Lauren Sibley noted that FMC is effective in its ability to keep students updated on their progress with problems and comes up with innovative solutions but that there is room for improvement.

“I see Fix my Campus drifting into a Melanie Park | The Chronicle place full of negativity and unreasonable Fix My Campus’ Facebook page receives student complaints regarding issues like parking, and expectations,” Sibley wrote in an email. the organization has been working with PTS to create a car-towing app as a result.

“So many posts I see on Fix My Campus Facebook page, but should be addressed by institution stopped and realized that the lack professionalism and courtesy. I calling maintenance for now. majority of the problems reported to urge students to remember that there Several students said that their FMC fall under the umbrellas of larger are students on the other side, reading peers need to be more realistic when it structural problems: the bus system, Duke your post, trying to figure out how to comes to complaints made on the FMC parking, dining plan frustrations,” Lintz address the issue with the limited power Facebook page. said. “There’s only so much that students students have.”

Freshman Alec Lintz similarly noted can do until it becomes necessary for the The Chronicle communicated with Wolf via that many problems are not within FMC’s administration to intervene.” power to fix.

Wolf and Scoufis explained that each week phone and email. Claire Ballentine contributed “It would be great if Duke as an the 10-member FMC committee chooses reporting.

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UNION from page 2 to be both constrained and very strategic,” she wrote. “Moving forward, every hire and every retirement counts.”

Similarly, in an email from March 19, 2010 that has been obtained by The Chronicle, President Richard Brodhead wrote that “Duke simply cannot make permanent salary increases at this time without aggravating our future budget problems and jeopardizing jobs.”

Matteo Gilebbi, lecturing fellow in the Department of Romance Studies, agreed with Banks that non-tenure track faculty need more representation in order to voice both personal concerns and concerns about the University’s future to administrators.

Willingham said that non-tenure track faculty are sometimes expected to fulfill responsibilities that they are not compensated for handling. Gilebbi noted that his contract only requires him to teach and mentor students, but that he additionally does research and presentations at conferences for which he is not compensated.

“It’s something we want to do as faculty at Duke because it’s

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a great institution,” Gilebbi said. “It’s not in the contract, but it’s something I personally do.”

Gilebbi added that longer contracts and solidified career paths would encourage and motivate non-tenure track faculty to focus on further research projects. DTF’s goal is not to eliminate the pay gap between contingent and tenure-track faculty, Willingham noted, but rather to make sure that the work contingent faculty currently do that goes unpaid is actually recognized.

The hiring of non-tenure track faculty at Duke has increased by 67 percent in the last decade, compared to 11 percent for tenure-track faculty, according to the Task Force on Diversity’s report to the Academic Council last May. Divided faculty Not all contingent faculty, however, are in favor of unionization. A number of professors in the economics department have raised significant concerns with the proposal, for example.

Bruce Caldwell, research professor of economics and director of the Center for the History of Political Economy, said that raising the salaries of contingent faculty, while good

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The Chronicle for some, could possibly hurt others because the money for those increases could come out of other contingent faculty’s paychecks or lead to higher tuition costs.

Willingham noted that a lowering of some faculty’s wages would not happen because the negotiation would involve “wage floors” instead of raising some contingent salaries at the expense of others. A union contract reached at Tufts University in 2014, for example, required that by September 2016 all adjunct faculty make at least $7,300 per course.

Senior Lecturing Fellow Daniel Bowling at the Duke Law School, however, noted that pay trade-offs could still happen depending on how negotiations proceed.

“It is entirely possible any final contract reached might include a flattening of the differences so as to keep the overall cost of the contract acceptable to Duke negotiators,” he wrote in an email.

The University might also choose to hire even fewer contingent faculty moving forward as relative costs for pay and negotiating with the union increase, benefiting the current group of non-tenure track faculty but lowering the overall number of contingent faculty in the future, Caldwell said.

Bowling noted that because North Carolina is a “right-towork” state, no faculty member will be forced to join the union or pay union dues, but that they would nonetheless lose the ability to bargain individually with administrators. The DTF website, however, said that individual negotiations would still be possible under the union.

“When we form our union, your relationship with your direct supervisor, provost or dean, is up to you and them,” the website reads. “Our contract will set a floor, not a ceiling.”

Professor of Economics Peter Arcidiacono, who is in a tenure-track position, said that humanities disciplines might be more likely to support unionization than faculty in fields such as economics, science, technology, engineering and mathematics who might be on the higher end of the contingent faculty pay scale. He also noted that these disciplines often have an easier time getting outside job offers.

Unionization also has the potential to diminish merit pay through mandatory pay scales, said Professor of Economics E. Roy Weintraub, who is also in a tenure-track position. He noted that this was his experience when teaching at Rutgers University, where faculty were represented by a union.

Charles Becker, research professor in the economics department, expressed concerns that unionization would damage faculty culture by creating stronger distinctions between management and labor, leading to less bottom-up initiative from faculty.

“Duke is unusually decentralized and entrepreneurial, surprisingly for a large nonprofit institution,” he said.

“Management at Duke University is heavily driven by faculty, but unionization draws that line.”

He added that at universities with a more bureaucratic culture than what Duke has, he would likely be in favor of unionizing faculty, but not at Duke.

Administrative response In the 1970s, the University stopped faculty unionization efforts within the Duke Hospital, noted Robert Korstad, professor of public policy and history. He explained that Duke hired labor management consultants to “defeat the union,” which included playing skilled workers against lessskilled workers. The unionization drives were ultimately unsuccessful.

Korstad added that Duke’s initial response so far has been similar to that of the past, including statements to faculty and the larger community indicating their opposition to the union.

Although Willingham said Duke has not currently taken any “anti-union” or “union-busting” action, she said that the Duke One-to-One website, created by the University in response to DTF, paints the process in a negative light by framing the union as a “third party.”

The purpose of the website was to provide accurate information to employees regarding the costs and impacts of unionization, wrote Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations, in an email.

“Non-tenure track faculty will ultimately decide whether to seek representation by the Service Employees International Union or not,” Schoenfeld wrote. “Duke supports their legal right to explore options and vote.”

Willingham also noted the University’s hiring of labor and employment law firm Ogletree Deakins, which is confirmed by the NLRB case file, and criticized the University’s refusal to commit to neutrality in the matter.

Bowling wrote that University would likely “work hard in good faith to reach some sort of agreement” should the union be formed.

Willingham added that the administration’s decision ultimately comes down to how it wants to treat students.

“Student supporters would be very upset at the administration if they perceived that Duke was willing to cut back on the quality of education just because professors have been asked to pay what they’re worth,” Willingham said.

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The Chronicle

recess

Volume 17, issue 19

www.dukechronicle.com

thursDAY, february 18, 2016 | 5

Condom Couture Fashion show for global health, page 7

february 18, 2016

Dukie two-time Grammy winner Eric Oberstein, page 8

‘The Life of Pablo’ Recess reviews Yeezy, page 10

Lunar New Year, 2014. Chronicle File Photo.

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recess editors What fictional high school would you go to?

Georgia Parke ........ Ned’s Declassified elizabeth DjinisDegrassi/Laguna Beach Dillon fernando ....... Boy Meets World Tim Campbell ....................... Sky High sid Gopinath ......... Friday Night Lights ian Jaffe.......................Wikipedia (!!!!)

Jesús Hidalgo ..............Veronica Mars Christy Kuesel .....................Zoey 101 Georgina Del Vecho........ One Tree Hill sportsdudes ..................Coach Carter rachel Chason ............ Breakfast Club Tom Vosburgh.........North Shore High

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recess

These past few weeks, I’ve been fairly sentimental, and I don’t know why.

Maybe it’s because I feel like my life is always moving, and I don’t have a chance to stop and savor the world and people around me. Maybe it’s because I’m a touch homesick. Maybe it’s something in the water.

However, what I am sure of is that the most palliative catharsis for me is through reflective writing. So yes, like many Facebook users you’ve seen, I will showcase a few quotes and songs that are giving me the feels without all the cheese. However, where I hope to differ from *insert name of annoying friend on Facebook* is that I hope to have a meaningful reflection and meaningful quotes, and resist posts that consist of how Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” is the soundtrack to my life—even though it truly is.

“Shake it Out”—Florence + The Machine I bought Florence’s “Ceremonials” album because it was on sale at Target.

Nothing really pulled me towards buying it except for the fact that it was the only album under $10 that wasn’t One Direction. So by complete accident, I found “Shake it Out.” This of course was before Taylor Swift released her track “Shake it Off”—probably my favorite track off of “1989.” Apparently, I enjoy songs that involve shaking.

“Regrets collect like old friends,” starts Florence as she drifts into the heart of the song. Everyone has regrets, and some of them are more obvious than others. However, when I listen to this song it reminds me of all my doubts.

These doubts lead to hypotheticals: “What if I had gone to my state college?

Might I feel more afloat and worth

something?” “What if I had chosen a different major from the beginning instead of finishing a major I half enjoy?”

“What if I had done more to keep people in my life instead of letting them go?”

“What if I focused more on the positives in my life instead of whining about the negatives and coming up with these silly hypotheticals?” The latter is easier to say than to genuinely feel.

As drums pulse through the background, Florence’s song reminds me of the figurative “dead horse” that drags behind me. As the vocals pick up and the echo of the lyrics “shake it off” emerge in the song, I feel compelled to move and dance. Why? Because “it’s hard to dance with a devil on your back, so shake him off.” And for a brief 4 minutes, I seem to forget about how my regrets burn the back of brain, but instead, how I shall conquer them and life shall be peachy.

Pocahontas—“Colors of the Wind” I love Pocahontas. I love this song. I love everything about it. Last semester, I wrote an editor’s note about how I walk around campus with my headphones in all the time—to yield disastrous results.

However, this semester, I took the headphones out and took in the world around me. Cranes, blue tarp and all.

I think just walking along a wood or looking up into a clear blue sky reminds me that there is something truly special about where we live.

“My husband killed himself. And it was my fault. We were making love and I took the bag off my head.”—Joan Rivers Joan Rivers is my comedy heroine.

She was brave, smart, witty. She said whatever was on her mind. She didn’t apologize. For a woman so bold and

courageous to do what she did in the time that she did is so amazing. She was always pushing the line with her comedy and offending everyone all in the heavily male dominated game—I loved it. What made her so able to do these things was that she was able to make fun of herself first. Whether it was about her many plastic surgeries or like the above devastation of her husband’s suicide, Joan believed that humor was the best medicine. In the documentary “Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work,” she faces a heckler during one of her standup performances who is upset about a joke she made about deaf people. The heckler’s son was deaf. Joan handled it gracefully, but she retorted that comedy is not to be taken seriously. It’s meant to make people laugh not at tragedy, but in spite of it.

Joan Rivers is the only comic whose work I can watch over and over again and always laugh out load. She teaches me that we shouldn’t take life too seriously, but should also work our tails off to be the best version of ourselves. As she said, “Never forget to laugh at yourself; after all, you’d be missing out on the joke of the century.”

—Dillon Fernando

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thursDAY, febRuaRy february 18, 2016 | 7 thuRsday,

Condom Couture raises AIDS and fashion awareness Georgina Del Vecho The Chronicle At first glance, a fashion show featuring pieces made exclusively from condoms seems like a fun, albeit strange, way for people at Duke to embrace and normalize conversations about sex and sexuality. But beyond the fun, Condom Couture stands for bigger issues.

With its inaugural show three years ago in 2013, Condom Couture was hosted by FACE AIDS and is now hosted

by Partners in Health Engage, a national organization devoted to building health care delivery systems and helping the poor that has a chapter at Duke. All proceeds from the event will go to benefit the national organization and help them accomplish their goal of helping increase the number of people on life-saving HIV medicine, eliminate mother-to-child HIV transmission and expand programs to reduce new infections in young women and girls.

The show will be hosted by Duke University Improv and will also include performances by a cappella groups Speak of the Devil and Deja Blue.

“The event originally aimed to destigmatize HIV/AIDS and promote the use of contraception, in addition to raising money for Partners in Health’s efforts to combat AIDS globally,” said senior Tahvi Frank, one of the fundraising chairs of Duke’s PIHE. “Since then, FACE AIDS has become Partners in Health Engage, but we hold the same goals in hosting the event.”

The Duke chapter of PIHE was the first

chapter to host a Condom Couture event, and the fashion show has since grown and has been replicated by various PIHE chapters across the count.

Outfits showcased at the event in the past, although always made entirely of condoms, have been extremely diverse in their use of the materials.

“In past years, my favorite designs have always been the ones that used condoms in unexpected ways,” Frank said. “Last year, one designer made a skirt by laminating condom wrappers.”

Although none of the designs for this year’s couture have been released, we do know that this year’s list of designers represents a very eclectic mix including Duke students as well as non-Duke students, as student groups as well as individuals.

“Both Duke students and outside groups have designed [this year],” said senior Elsa Gunnarsdottir, president of PIHE. “We also have judges that include faculty members as well as representatives from North Carolina AIDS Action Network.”

Although the event is hosted at Duke, the whole community is getting involved to help PIHE reach its goal of bringing development, security and health to impoverished people in countries struggling with health crises.

Some of the groups participating in this year’s show include Global Brigades and the Women’s Institute of Secondary Education and Research.

“I think the show provides a great opportunity for groups on campus with the similar mission of promoting access to healthcare to work together,” Frank said.

Condom Couture will be held on Thursday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. in Keohane 4E Atrium.

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Chronicle File Photos The looks featured above are just some of the gowns that Condom Couture has rocked in past years.

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Q&A: Duke Performances’ Eric Oberstein on his second Grammy Jessica Williams The Chronicle Eric Oberstein, Trinity ‘07 and associate director for Duke Performances, won his second Grammy Award Monday for Best Instrumental Composition for producing Arturo O’Farrill’s “The Afro Latin Jazz Suite” from the album Cuba: The Conversation Continues. Obserstein previously won the 2014 Best Latin Jazz Album Grammy for his work as producer on the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra album The Offense of the Drum. The Chronicle’s Jessica Williams conducted an email interview with Oberstein to talk about his musical origins leading up to his Grammy success.

The Chronicle: How and when did you first become interested in producing music?

Eric Oberstein: I’ve played saxophone and drums since elementary school, when I caught the music bug. I started a rock band in high school with my best friends, and we ended up recording an album in a professional studio in Queens, NY, near where I grew up. We wrote all original music and raised enough funds for the project by selling our band’s t-shirts to our family and friends.

That experience of recording in a professional studio, working with an engineer, of seeing a project through from an idea to a final product, was incredibly gratifying. I realized producing was an outlet for me to combine my love of music with my organizational skills and attention to detail. I ended up interning at Kampo Studios in Manhattan the summer before my senior year of high school, where we recorded acoustic sessions with well known artists, such as Jimmy Eat World. That summer in the studio was a great education for me.

It wasn’t until I was back in New York City

Special to The Chronicle

after graduating from Duke that I met Arturo O’Farrill and was ultimately invited by him to produce his sextet record, Risa Negra. I’ve produced six records with Arturo in our eight years of working together.

TC: Why are you drawn towards Afro Latin jazz music specifically?

EO: When I picked up the alto sax in fourth grade, my dad gave me the CD “Bird & Diz,” featuring jazz greats Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. I came to love jazz and wanted to play like Charlie Parker. I also learned that Dizzy Gillespie was one of the founders of Afro Cuban jazz, and Charlie Parker was the featured soloist on “The Afro Cuban Jazz Suite,” the masterpiece composed by Arturo’s father, the legendary Cuban composer and arranger Chico O’Farrill, 65 years ago.

I’m also half-Cuban—my mother was born in Havana and left Cuba in 1961 after the Revolution, moving with my family to New York, so I grew up around Cuban music and Cuban culture. I was hooked when I heard the mixture of Cuban music with jazz. I saw Afro Latin jazz, encompassing the music of Cuba and Latin America, informed by rhythms of the African diaspora, as exciting and infectious. I am particularly drawn to the music’s danceable rhythms and energy.

TC: As the producer of “The Afro Latin Jazz Suite,” what did you do for the album?

EO: As a producer, I wear many hats, seeing an album through from start to finish. With my co-producers, I consult with Arturo on the artistic vision for the project, and help Arturo to translate that as effectively as possible into a

beautiful musical recording. I help to raise money and run the recording sessions in the studio, sitting alongside the audio engineer, acting as intermediary between Arturo, as bandleader and artistic director, and the engineer. I keep us on schedule and on budget, and also try to create a positive environment so that Arturo, the Orchestra, our guest artists, the engineer, and the studio staff, can do their best work.

We recorded our album, “Cuba: The Conversation Continues,” in Havana at Abdala Studios over three days in December 2014, just 48 hours after the restoration of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States was announced—a very exciting and surreal historical moment. I still shake my head in disbelief thinking I was on the ground in Cuba for that. We were working for the first time in a Cuban studio, so I was working with a Cuban engineer and staff, translating between Spanish and English during the process. When we got back to the United States, I worked with Arturo and a team of New York-based engineers to mix and master the album. I also worked closely with our record label, Motéma Music, on the release of the album and the accompanying publicity and marketing campaign.

TC: What did accepting the Grammy feel like?

EO: It was a thrilling moment, to hear Arturo and the Orchestra’s name called. I was sitting with my parents in the audience, and we all just yelled in excitement. I joined Arturo, my co-producer Kabir Sehgal, and Motéma Music president Jana Herzen onstage to accept the award from the great Anoushka Shankar, Ravi Shankar’s daughter. ...You can never prepare yourself for a moment like that. You’ve worked hard and spent years on a project, so to hear your name called—it’s an incredible rush.

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http://tinyurl.com/applyucb2016 Deadline Friday, February 26 The Undergraduate Conduct Board is a group of faculty, students, and staff who are selected/appointed to hear referred cases of potential violations of university policy.

Participation in the Undergraduate Conduct Board is one way for students to shape their environment so that it reflects the ideals expressed in the Duke Community Standard.

Questions?

Email conduct@duke.edu or call 919-684-6938.

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thursDAY, febRuaRy february 18, 2016 | 9 thuRsday,

College a cappella regional competition hits Durham Christy Kuesel The Chronicle The name International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella, or ICCA, may ring a bell for any lovers of the movie “Pitch Perfect,” as the fictional Barden Bellas competed the real-life a capella competition.

This Saturday, the ICCAs come to Durham where Duke’s own a capella group Rhythm and Blue will compete for the chance to move on to the competition’s semifinals.

The ICCAs is the biggest collegiate a cappella competition in the United States, and groups from all around the country compete in it. The competition divides the United States up into eight different regions, with several quarterfinals taking place within each region. Rhythm and Blue will face off against eight different a cappella groups coming from North Carolina State University, College of William and Mary, High Point University, University of Tennessee and Elon University.

“This is the competition for all a capella groups to perform in. The best groups in the country are the ones that win it every year,” said Rhythm and Blue President Andrew Jacobs, a senior.

He said that the process to enter quarterfinals is relatively easy—participants in the quarterfinals had to send in an application, including a video of the group performing three songs last fall. The lineup was announced in November.

Each a cappella group has a 12-minute set in which they can sing whatever they want, as long as it is without accompaniment.

Five judges, typically comprised of music experts from the local area, will grade the

Chronicle File Photo A cappella group Rhythm and Blue sings at a past concert. They will compete in the ICCAs this Saturday.

singers on a variety of traits, ranging from choreography to cohesiveness to each groups’ interpretations of the songs they have selected.

The top two groups from the quarterfinals have the chance to compete in the semifinals. Rhythm and Blue competed in the ICCAs for the first time in 2014 and made it to the semifinals in Nashville, Tn. Although the group took a break last year due to the time commitment necessary to compete in such an intense competition, they are excited to be back this year.

“It was really great to get our name out there, to show that we’re a really talented group,” Jacobs said. “We’re really competitive and we’re hoping that we get to go to semis again this year.”

The ICCAs song selection process for Rhythm and Blue began last fall, when members were invited to submit songs that they wanted to perform. After their executive board narrowed down the top songs, members were again invited to vote on which songs would make the set.

The group decided on three songs: a mash-up of Beyoncé’s “Crazy in Love,” Amber Run’s “I Found” and Delta Rae’s “Chasing Twisters.” Although these songs are not currently topping charts, Jacobs said they accurately represent the feeling of the group.

“We like to say our style is spook and angst, and I think our set definitely accomplishes that feel,” said Jacobs.

Rhythm and Blue is Duke’s oldest co-ed

a cappella group. It was formed in 1992 as an offshoot of the Duke University Chorale.

The group has deviated from its choral music origins and now sings more current, popular songs. Rhythm and Blue released their latest EP “Fresh Poison” in August 2015.

While no other Duke a cappella groups are performing in the ICCAs this year, the competition still promotes musical activity in Durham and on campus. The quarterfinals have been hosted in Page Auditorium and Baldwin Auditorium in the past, the event is now being held in Durham at the Carolina Theatre.

“It’s a really cool thing because it brings not only other a cappella groups and collegiate groups and students from all over the region, but also adults and people involved in the a capella community, involved in recording, involved in all kinds of musical endeavors,” said junior William Windham, president of the all-male a capella group Speak of the Devil.

Some Duke a capella groups are more focused on activities and performances on campus, rather than competing, which necessitates having the time and the funds to travel to further competition locations if a group passes the quarterfinal competition.

“At Duke, a lot of the groups seem to focus on recording as opposed to ICCAs,” Windham said.

Duke students are invited to attend the competition this Saturday night to give Rhythm and Blue a home field advantage.

Tickets are available for a student discount of $20 at the door and in advance.

“We’re hoping that people come out to support us, and we hope that we do well,” Jacobs said.

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REVIEW: Kanye, ‘The Life of Pablo’ Alex Griffith The Chronicle

Special to The Chronicle

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It changes perspective to be able to see things through the eyes of others who have grown up in different cultures, with different sets of attitudes and beliefs.”

Yeezus just rose again.

“The Life of Pablo”—complete with the best Microsoft Word artwork ever seen—was released early Sunday morning after a rambling and haphazard process. Kick-started by a release party at Madison Square Garden last Thursday, Kanye’s performance art tweets—which alternately blamed collaborators for delays, dodged culpability for lyrics about Taylor Swift and alluded to Tron, the apostle Paul and his immense personal debt—stoked rumors about the album’s public release. Finally, a faded Ye performed on Saturday Night Live and ended his performance by screaming that the album was available on Jay-Z’s music streamer Tidal.

The album is as disorganized as the rollout. The sprawling and unfocused 18-track LP makes The Beatles’ “White Album” look as cohesive as Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon.” Stellar opener “Ultra Light Beams” features deliberate, stomping drums, and Kanye is the focus for only a moment, as a gospel choir and guest soloists take turns in the center stage.

“Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1” and “Pt. 2” follow, where Kanye pleads for liberation (from his ego?

His fashion aspirations? Kim?) and describes sexual misadventures on top of a beat from trap producer Metro Boomin (complete with his producer tag) and a Future-esque verse from GOOD Music signee Desiigner.

“Famous” follows, where the already infamous Swift line—”God, I made that b**** famous”—figures prominently after a sultry Rihanna intro channels Nina Simone, and a Simone sample is later reshuffled for a buoyant outro.

“Feedback” features Kanye rapping over, well, feedback, before proclaiming himself the Ghetto Oprah. On “Low Lights,” Atlanta phenom Young Thug appears on “Highlights” over a scatterbrained warehouse beat composed of piano, strings, a typical R&B choir and verses about Kanye’s desires for a GoPro camera.

“Freestyle 4” and “I Love Kanye” disappoint and demonstrate the album’s lack of focus. However, immediately after, the most impressive string of songs arrives, headlined by the standout Chris Brown vehicle “Waves,” which we should thank Chance the Rapper for. “FML” is perhaps the most introspective track on the album, as Kanye mentions his antidepressant use before the Weeknd closes the track.

The highlight of the track “Wolves” was Frank Ocean’s appearance, which confirms that he is, in fact, alive, though the audio sounds like it might have been recorded in the cave where Ocean is hiding.

The album commences its clumsy ending with “Silver Surfer Intermission,” a voicemail from generally irrelevant rappers Max B and French Montana. “30 Hours” features André 3000 in a rambling outro with references to Matt Barnes’ beef with Derek Fisher and the days-ago MSG debut, demonstrating the chaos that went into releasing the album. On “No More Parties in LA,” Kendrick Lamar and Kanye trade phenomenal bars over a vintage Madlib beat, where Kanye again calls out his felonious cousin and explains why he ain’t worried about his months-old son Saint (because he’s baby Ye).

“FACTS” is a throwaway Nike diss track channeling Drake, and “Fade” lacks Kanye entirely as Post Malone and Ty Dolla rap in spurts on a dancehall beat before a beat change up closes the track and the album. “Fade” is emblematic of the album as a whole, as on many of the tracks Kanye fades into the background completely and lets his featured guests stand out.

The album is a mess, with little or no connection between the tracks—frustrating when you consider that this man made “808s & Heartbreak” and “MBDTF”— and poor lyricism or a completely missing Kanye on several songs makes you wonder about his creative process. However, the varied production is still there, and the guest features stand out—ultimately leaving Ye with a flawed and inconsistent but still wildly entertaining album.

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the blue zone

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MEN’S BASKETBALL

TOBACCO ROAD WARRIORS

Short-handed Duke authors another comeback in Chapel Hill for fourth straight win vs. North Carolina Jack Dolgin The Chronicle CHAPEL HILL—The crowd at the Dean E. Smith Center fell silent once again Wednesday as the Blue Devil bench poured streaming out onto the court.

There was no buzzer-beater from Austin Rivers to seal a furious 10-point comeback, but the feeling remained the same: What just happened?

The parallels were not lost on freshman Luke Kennard, whose 3-pointer from the corner gave the Blue Devils a 7271 lead with 2:39 left.

“I was actually watching the Austin Rivers shot earlier today,” Kennard said. “I could tell that we had a little momentum going when I hit that shot.”

The deficit was not quite as large Wednesday and the time remaining not quite as alarming, but the Tar Heels once again held a sizable lead with Duke in danger of slipping too far behind to pose a late-game threat. A jumper by sophomore Justin Jackson widened the North Carolina lead to 68-60 with 6:49 left—the home team’s largest of the game—prompting a timeout by Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski.

But as has so often been the case in recent editions of the Tobacco Road rivalry, when the Blue Devils broke the huddle and came back onto the floor, they controlled crunch time, and the course of the game took a turn in favor of the darker shade of blue.

Duke closed the game on a 14-5 run, walking away with a 74-73 victory that—just by looking at the box score—defied explanation. North Carolina scored 52 points in the paint, outrebounded the Blue Devils 46-34 and racked up a 10-0 edge in fast-break points.

But the box score does not take heart into account.

Duke found itself more undermanned Wednesday night than it had been all season. With senior forward Amile Jefferson still out indefinitely with a fractured right foot,

Jesús Hidalgo | The Chronicle Joel Berry II had a shot to win the game for the Tar Heels, but Derryck Thornton blocked it and Duke ran out the clock, capturing yet another victory in the Tobacco Road rivalry in comeback fashion.

the Blue Devils lost Matt Jones to a left ankle injury in the first half when he came down awkwardly on North Carolina forward Brice Johnson’s foot.

Stuck with a six-man rotation, Duke turned the concept of depth on its head by resorting to desire and hustle. Not everything was flashy in the way Rivers and Tyus Jones engineered their comebacks in 2012 and 2015, but the Blue Devil underclassmen stepped up on the biggest stage of the regular season.

The biggest obstacle to cutting into the Tar Heel lead was finding a way to deal with Johnson. The Orangeburg, S.C., native used his athleticism to tear apart the Duke

frontcourt on the glass, grabbing 19 rebounds—seven of them offensive—and turning errant jumpers into easy putback dunks that helped North Carolina keep Duke at bay every time the Blue Devils threatened to come within two.

“They rebound the ball, they just play well together, they push the ball, and they were getting us there in the first half,” Kennard said.

Duke fell back against the ropes several times Wednesday, but the night’s most dangerous juncture arrived with 14:06 remaining in the second half. Marshall Plumlee went to the bench after registering his third and fourth fouls on See COMEBACK on Page 13

MEN’S BASKETBALL

A costly win: Jones’ ankle injury a new obstacle Sameer Pandhare The Chronicle CHAPEL HILL—Grayson Allen launched the ball high into the air, beginning the Blue Devil celebration after a gritty, come-from-behind win against the Tar Heels. But as riveting as the victory was, it likely came at a cost.

If youth and depth were concerns in the past, they are red flags in the present.

Duke junior Matt Jones went down with a little less than eight minutes to go in the first half of the Blue Devils’ 7473 win Wednesday with a sprained left ankle that left him writhing in pain on the court for nearly three minutes.

Jones had to be helped off the floor and later returned to the bench on crutches.

With a second captain injured, Duke navigated around Jones’ absence Wednesday, but the DeSoto, Texas, native will be tough to replace if forced to the sideline for any extended period of time.

“Matt’s just first and foremost a leader,” freshman Derryck Thornton said. “He’s been here for three years and he’s a great leader and he helps us on the court. He’s a good

defender and just a great player overall, and we’re going to miss that from him. We’re going to miss that, but he’ll be back soon.”

Although the point guard seemed optimistic, Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski was more direct. “[He] sprained his ankle pretty badly, so I’m not sure how long he’ll be out,” Krzyzewski said.

As Jones went for a rebound following his own miss, the guard’s left foot appeared to come down awkwardly on the heel of North Carolina’s Brice Johnson. After being tended to by Krzyzewski and team officials, Jones was helped off the court by Sean Obi and walk-on Brennan Besser, unable to put weight on his left foot.

A quick turnaround certainly does not help the Blue Devils, who have a noon game against No. 18 Louisville Saturday. With just five players playing more than 32 minutes Wednesday, Duke’s players will have to recharge heading into a matchup with the physical Cardinals.

But one thing is for sure. Although the names on the backs of the jersey may be the same, the players wearing them for Duke are not the same as they were See JONES on Page 12

Jesús Hidalgo | The Chronicle Junior Matt Jones did not return Wednesday after injuring his left ankle midway through the first half.

12 | thursDAY, THURSDAY,february febRUARY18, 18,2016 2016

Jesús Hidalgo | The Chronicle Freshman Luke Kennard hit a 3-pointer from the corner with 2:39 left in the game to give the Blue Devils their first lead since 20-18 midway through the first half.

M. BASKETBALL from page 1 North Carolina possession, sending the ball into the hands of Allen. The sophomore drove downcourt and was fouled by Berry II, heading to the line for the game-tying and goahead free throws.

“I don’t think we were lucky to win this game. I thought we fought hard and earned it,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said.

“This is an incredible win for our kids. It was a heck of a game.”

Ingram started 2-of-10 from the field, but stepped up in the second half, finishing with 20 points and 10 rebounds and keeping the Blue Devils afloat as North Carolina extended its lead to as many as eight with 6:49 left.

Although Johnson did not top his 39-point, 23-rebound performance from a January matchup against Florida State, the senior was all over the floor for the Tar Heels, helping North Carolina (21-5, 10-3) impose its will inside. The Blue Devils allowed 52 points in

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the paint, including 25 second-chance points.

Seven of Johnson’s 19 rebounds came on the offensive glass.

But the Tar Heels seemed to go away from Johnson down the stretch, settling for midrange jumpers and 3-pointers. Starting guards Berry II and Paige combined for just 15 points on 4-of-22 shooting, and Paige missed all six of his 3-point attempts.

The game appeared to turn for the worst for the Blue Devils with 7:43 left in the first half, when Jones landed on Johnson’s shoe after attempting an errant floater. The junior stayed on the floor in pain as the Tar Heels raced down the floor for another easy basket that increased the North Carolina lead to 3024, then had to be helped off the floor. Jones later returned to the bench on crutches.

Even after losing a second captain to injury, Duke stayed within striking distance, keeping the same five players on the floor for the rest of the half. Allen came out of the gates in attack mode and set the tone with an array of finishes near the hoop. But Ingram—

fiercely recruited by Tar Heel head coach Roy Williams—struggled early on. The Kinston, N.C., native showed the ability to get by Johnson off the dribble, but missed numerous point-blank looks near the hoop.

“There’s a lot of pressure on [Ingram], not just here,” Krzyzewski said. “He’s 18 and he’s not ready to be who he will be. There’s a toughness element with that, you know like, “It’s not going to be my night—no, I’m going to work through it.’”

With Ingram struggling early, another new face in the Tobacco Road Rivalry rose to the occasion. Kennard did his best to provide a boost off the bench as he scored seven straight points for the Blue Devils after entering the contest. Along with the freshman on the perimeter, Duke got a big lift from center Marshall Plumlee, who recorded 10 first-half points.

Johnson opened the second half with six straight points and helped North Carolina stretch its lead to seven. Plumlee picked up his fourth foul with 14:06 left headed to the bench, leaving Allen and four freshmen on the floor to deal with the veteran Tar Heels.

But with the odds stacked against them, the Blue Devils hung tight. With Ingram heating up from the floor and Allen getting to the rim, the Blue Devils found themselves trailing by just two with a little more than nine minutes to go in the game. North Carolina made another effort to pull away, but time and time again, the five on the floor for Duke responded. Plumlee returned with 10:51 left and avoided a fifth foul, thanks in part to North Carolina’s hesitancy to get Johnson the ball in scoring position.

“We don’t stop attacking,” Allen said.

“We’re not worried about one, two, three, four, five shots getting blocked. Obviously, you make an adjustment, but we’re just going to keep attacking. We’ve always been about the next play, next game, next everything, so it’s the same mindset.”

With Jones’ status up in the air, the Blue Devils will have to bottle up the fight, grit and energy they showed Wednesday. They’ll need it Saturday at No. 18 Louisville.

Jesús Hidalgo | The Chronicle Making his Tobacco Road rivalry debut, freshman Brandon Ingram scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds Wednesday night despite a 2-of10 start from the field.

Jesús Hidalgo | The Chronicle Senior Brice Johnson torched Duke for 29 points and 19 rebounds, but went quiet late.

JONES from page 11 early in the season.

“You know, at one point we had four freshmen and a sophomore out there, and to have the toughness they displayed with that youth is incredible,” Krzyzewski said.

“Marshall [Plumlee] and Matt and Grayson [Allen] have helped them.”

For the pieces that remain, Jones’ injury means that each individual must take his play to the next level.

If Jones sits out, Luke Kennard will likely shift into the starting lineup. The freshman has made five starts already this season and had another strong performance in Wednesday’s win, recording 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including a late 3-pointer to give Duke a 72-71 lead with 2:39 left.

As for bench depth, the Blue Devils may have to face the likelihood of not having a scorer among their reserves. Add in any sort of foul trouble, and Duke becomes a team that may have a hard time just getting enough bodies on the floor, regardless of their level of play.

But after smooth sailing for much of the regular season a year ago, facing adversity has almost become the norm for this year’s team.

“For us to play through the adversity we already have with someone like Amile being out, and then we get even more thrown on our plate and Matt gets hurt for the moment—to be able to fight through that, you really get tougher as a team mentally,” Plumlee said. “Ideally, moving forward we’re going to be even tougher.”

Duke may have been mentally tough enough to withstand the absence of Jefferson, but whether it is possible to continue to be physically tough enough without two of its captains remains to be seen. The Blue Devils now sport a roster with only five players getting consistent rotation minutes.

Freshman Chase Jeter was the only other Blue Devil to see the court Wednesday—the Las Vegas native grabbed one rebound in five minutes—but could be forced into a bigger role by necessity as the size of the bench shrinks even further.

When Jefferson’s injury threatened to define their season, the Blue Devils overcame his lost production and rose to the challenge behind the play of Grayson Allen and Brandon Ingram. Now, Duke will have to show its heart and grit once again with another captain possibly on the sidelines.

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COMEBACK from page 11 consecutive plays just 13 seconds apart.

Freshman Chase Jeter subbed in for Plumlee, trying to give the Warsaw, Ind., native a break for as long as he could. But with Jeter struggling defensively, Krzyzewski rolled the dice, re-inserting Plumlee and his four fouls with 10:51 left. The Tar Heels had added two points to their lead in Plumlee’s absence and led 62-55.

If Plumlee was at all wary of fouling out with plenty of time left, he did not play like it. The 7-footer played tough defense— contesting shots without reaching in—and he grabbed two rebounds and scored in his first minute back on the court.

“Even though I had four fouls, you can’t afford to play tentatively. You have to still be aggressive,” Plumlee said. “I’m lucky I didn’t pick up that fifth foul, but I got to give a lot of credit to my teammates really pushing me to play my best ball.”

Offensively, the Blue Devils started to settle into a groove. Trailing 68-60, freshman Brandon Ingram took over scoring duties when it mattered most for the third straight game, rattling off three consecutive field goals.

And as Duke’s shots started to fall, the Tar Heel offense stagnated. Transition opportunities were bottled up, forcing North Carolina into its half-court offense, which translated into fewer shots for Johnson. Duke held North Carolina to just two offensive rebounds in the final 6:49—the Tar Heels had 18 for the game— preventing Johnson from soaring over the top for easy put-backs.

The Tar Heels finished the game 1-of13 from beyond the arc, and Johnson took just one shot after the 12:55 mark. As North Carolina searched for answers, the Duke

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defense showed no sign of exhaustion despite zero substitutions following Plumlee’s return, and the offense went to work on the other end of the floor.

“We had a hard time stopping them in the first half, especially in transition— we just gave up points,” Krzyzewski said.

“They’re quicker than anyone bringing it in, and they were all over the offensive boards, and we scored enough points to stay close.

And then in the second half, we did a much better job on the defensive boards, and to give up only 27 points [in the second half] was key.”

Grayson Allen closed the deficit to just one with 4:19 to play, spinning past Marcus Paige while drawing contact and converting the 3-point play. After Paige split a pair of free throws, Kennard drained his second 3-pointer of the night, which gave Duke its first lead since the 11:20 mark in the first half.

The Tar Heels regained the lead, but with just more than a minute left, Paige lost the ball in a log-jam in the paint, and the ball slipped to Allen, who elected to drive in and draw contact rather than feed a nearby Kennard.

And after missing two free throws late in Duke’s win against Virginia Saturday, Allen had no such problems Wednesday.

“Grayson hit the two free throws—so that was pretty good,” Krzyzewski quipped.

The Tar Heels responded by getting the ball to Kennedy Meeks on the left baseline, but Allen secured the rebound. Thirty-one seconds later, North Carolina was down one with a chance to win.

But head coach Roy Williams elected not to call a timeout, instead allowing things to play out. The Tar Heels got Justin Jackson the ball near the elbow, but the sophomore was stonewalled by Allen and flipped it back outside to point guard Joel Berry II.

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Berry II drove and tried to create space just inside the free-throw line, hoisting a desperate attempt to win the game.

Derryck Thornton blocked it instead.

And without a dramatic go-ahead shot like Rivers delivered four years ago, the short-handed Blue Devils pulled off the

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Jesús Hidalgo | The Chronicle Grayson Allen’s two free throws with 1:09 left proved to be the decisive points in the Duke win.

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Online subscriptions: Today’s puzzle and more than 7,000 past puzzles, nytimes.com/crosswords ($39.95 a year).

Read about and comment on each puzzle: nytimes.com/wordplay.

Crosswords for young solvers: nytimes.com/studentcrosswords.

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

The Chronicle

“

Fix My DSG, pt. 2

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orecast for the next two weeks? Flyers, profile pictures and platforms galore. In this round of Duke Student Government elections, Annie Adair, Tara Bansal and John Guarco have entered their names as our three presidential hopefuls. Two others are vying for Executive Vice President and three for chair of the Student Organization Finance Committee. Today we turn not to the candidates and their campaigns but to an inspection of DSG in the status quo and our vision for the organization.

In our view, DSG finds its first purpose as a representative government, a conduit between students and the administration. Compared with student organizations, DSG provides a formally structured institution and persistent connections with administrative and academic leadership to translate legislative advocacy into policy change. Most importantly, DSG’s reach and elected nature task it with envisioning and moving towards a better Duke in close consultation with student sentiments.

But ask any student, and they can hardly tell you if DSG is accomplishing its mission or improved since we commented last in “Fix my DSG.” We see the great potential for DSG to make students feel heard on campus and leverage its relationship with administration, but there is a disconnect. The

onlinecomment

“Most of us (i.e. conservatives and liberals alike) have good, positive intentions and I believe all of us have the potential to be good people; certainly this fact is something we need to remind ourselves from time to time (and give each other the benefit of the doubt) before we fall into the trap of blind diatribe.”

— “Brian Krasnick” commenting on the Feb. 17 guest column “The conservative’s guide to being liberalapproved™ at Duke”

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

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

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

Est. 1905

”

Direct submissions to: E-mail: chronicleletters@duke.edu Editorial Page Department The Chronicle Box 90858, Durham, NC 27708 Phone: (919) 684-2663 Fax: (919) 684-4696

The Chronicle

Inc. 1993

Amrith rAmkumAr, Editor ryAn hoerger, Sports Editor rAchel chAson, Co-News Editor ryAn ZhAng, Co-News Editor gAutAm hAthi, Digital Content Director stephAnie Wu, Office Manager cArolyn chAng, Photography Editor JonAthAn ZhAo, Editorial Page Editor leonArd giArrAno, Editorial Board Chair michAel lAi, Director Of Online Development

chrissy Beck, General Manager clAire BAllentine, University Editor sArAh kermAn, Local & National Editor ABigAil xie, Health & Science Editor lily coAd, Sports Photography Editor eliZABeth dJinis, Recess Managing Editor tom vosBurgh, Editorial Page Managing Editor emmA BAccellieri, Towerview Editor mAttheW rock, Towerview Photography Editor AleenA kArediyA, Special Projects Editor sophie turner, Special Projects Photography Editor michelle menchAcA, Recruitment Chair sAmAnthA neAl, Senior News Reporter megAn hAven, Advertising Director mAry WeAver, Operations Manager

The Chronicle

www.dukechronicle.com commentary

14 | thursDAY, THURSday,february FEBRUaRy18, 18,2016 2016

Alex griffith, University Editor neelesh moorthy, Local & National Editor sAnJeev dAsguptA, News Photography Editor georgiA pArke, Recess Editor Jesús hidAlgo, Recess Photography Editor BriAn pollAck, Sports Managing Editor nick mArtin, Towerview Editor thu nguyen, Towerview Creative Director cArleigh stiehm, Senior Editor ritA lo, Graphic Design Editor dAni lAZArus, Recruitment Chair AdAm Beyer, Senior News Reporter grAce WAng, Senior News Reporter Julie moore, Creative Director

the chronicle is published by the duke student publishing company, inc., a non-profit corporation independent of duke university. the opinions expressed in this newspaper are not necessarily those of duke university, its students, faculty, staff, administration or trustees. unsigned editorials represent the majority view of the editorial board. columns, letters and cartoons represent the views of the authors. to reach the editorial office at 301 flowers Building, call 684-2663 or fax 684-4696. to reach the Business office at 2022 campus drive call 684-3811. to reach the Advertising office at 1517 hull Avenue call 684-3811. one copy per person; additional copies may be purchased for .25 at the chronicle Business office at the address above. @ 2016 duke student publishing company

problem may start with the self-selection of those who are interested in being on committees and working through legislative channels. While selection bias for an organization is not unique to DSG, its implications have consequences for the whole campus. DSG cannot continue to attract bureaucratic types or climbers of elected hierarchies. We recognize the range of passions that motivate individuals within the organization, but the disinterest and even disdain shown by students are symptoms for some broader failure. DSG has made

Editorial strides this year to better connect with student leaders and their organizations, but only after last semester’s campus and national turmoil. DSG ought to also serve as a countervailing force of student interests to administration with regards to sexual assault policy and student affairs.

Past low voter turnout demonstrates student apathy towards DSG. The disjointed nature of the DSGstudent body relationship stems in part from a lack of transparency. Even when the most promising projects are adopted, they disappear from public view and updates are sparse. The DSG Research Unit promised great work but has yet to release any research on the

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student body or University to make headlines. DSG’s social media updates and blog are poorly maintained, and its weekly emails feel promotional. This forces students to choose between being frustrated or uninterested, bolstering the sense that DSG may not be living up to its claims.

This is not to say that DSG has not followed up on all of its promises. The living learning community set to debut in Edens next fall and the release of DevilsGate are two great big projects to come out of DSG’s work.

Our critique also does not mean to diminish the work of passionate individuals within DSG. We recognize the potential for pushback and obstacles that make many projects more difficult to complete, but if that is the case, we reiterate the necessity for public communication back to students and concerned student groups. Key platform mentions from elections last year regarding mental health leave policy and PACT training expansion require more accountability in the year those candidates took office.

While we certainly prefer the Duke with DSG to the one without it, and while exemplary senators, VPs and leadership do participate in the organization, the fact remains that DSG can do much better in the eyes of students. When elections roll around in two weeks, we hope candidates not only run for their positions but also for improving their organization.

Failure 101

he greatest class I have ever taken during my undergraduate career is Failure. I have managed to fit it into my schedule every semester and it’s cross-listed under each department of study. The class begins and ends at undisclosed times and is made readily available everywhere you go. Failure is a non-selective course, open to any and all students willing to take it. The one pre-requisite for Failure is that you’re human. In Failure, students dive deep into their personal faux pas, defeats, missteps and total losses. They explore them from various angles, eventually arriving at the realization that failures aren’t mistakes to avoid after all. Rather, failures are painful and necessary lessons guiding students to their highest potential.

I will warn you, the class is unpleasant and

affect others’ opinions and treatment of me. 3. The fear that failing will affect future me.

These fears keep me living comfortably under a facade of consistent good, even great at times. Too often, though, it is at the expense of my vibrant sparkle. This sparkle side is extremely failure-prone; it is unstructured, messy and vivacious. Running with this side has led me to my most epic findings. With that, I think the fear of failure is extremely debilitating. It is the threshold that keeps greatness 30 feet away from epic brilliance and adventures of a lifetime.

Please allow yourself to fail among this unique concentration of brilliant minds, professors and support.

Stop avoiding failure in order to keep up with your peers.

Embrace your unique self and love your individualized

Catherine White surviving the best years exponentially awkward. It is strenuous and involves the deep desire to isolate one’s being from the rest of the world. It causes many of its students to undermine all of their abilities and doubt their reason for doing just about everything. If you would like to pass Failure with flying colors and a bruised ego, you should be aware that the majority of students are failing at Failure.

Many refuse to embrace failure as necessary and inevitable. Fabulous failures are often blocked by protective mindsets and socially upheld standards. One such mindset is that, in order to be a high-achieving stud, one must maximize success and minimize perceived failure. Furthermore, when failure emerges, there is a tendency to resist, ignore or shield it under a fragile façade of perfection.

The maintenance of said façade is no easy feat and is almost impossible to disengage from. The façade is reinforced by our peers, our culture and ourselves.

Even tools intended for connection, expansion and communication are turning into stages for our best nonfailing fronts. If our Facebook statuses, snaps and tweets were used to showcase our realities, there would be a lot more snafus, falls, breakups and UN- edited-croppedfiltered-photos across the various newsfeeds. Perhaps if this were the case, we would all stop pouring time and energy into the maintenance of presented perfection. Better yet, we would stop comparing our realities to our peers’ wellcrafted modern works of art.

The patterns we develop on social media sites can seep deep into our objective reality. That is, we are optimizing perceived success and minimizing perceived failures. Our presented selves only share a fraction of our complex, layered and multi-faceted existences. When we do decide to lift the façade, if only for a brief moment, it is made available for only a select few. Those we trust will not use our failures as weapons against our fragile facades of perfection.

My personal reasons for avoiding failure always seem to fall under one of three fear categories. 1. The fear of not getting what I truly desire 2. The fear of how my actions will

failures. They might just manifest as your greatest achievements. My greatest failures continue to be my greatest teachers. My failures constantly teach me to align my purpose with my passion and my skills. The only failure I would consider a true failure without chance of reconciliation is regret. I would much rather say woops and learn from it than say I really should have.

It is hard to experience failure and get to your epic when you live under your façade of perfection. Stepping down from your comfortable throne means taking risks and being okay with not being okay. Google the antonyms for comfortable and you will find among them “exceptional, noteworthy, rare, valuable and superior.” Start getting uncomfortable and give yourself permission to feel like a complete disaster from time to time. From your lowest points, wherever you are in your failure journey, learn, and get going with your life. Time is limited, and there’s much to explore and experience. Please go out and fail, then get on your feet and fail again. Learn from it and fall in love with the deepest engrained lessons failure provides.

Perhaps this model is not the best to experiment with in all of your required academic courses. Rather, aggravate the static area of your life you wish to achieve epic greatness in.

This could mean asking out your long-time crush on a date, breaking up with a dead-end relationship, quitting a job that kills your spirit, applying to the program you think you have no chance at, switching to a major you find passion in but know nothing about or even letting someone know your truth without fear of abandonment or blackmail. Everyone defines failure in his or her own unique language. One’s failures can manifest as another’s greatest treasures.

Failure is not fun; it is painful, and we avoid it at all costs.

However, if you embrace it, learn from it and grow from its infinite lessons, it is totally worth the risk. Who knows, you might just find your epic. Trust the process, Catherine.

Catherine White is a Trinity senior. Her column runs on alternate Thursdays.

The Chronicle

www.dukechronicle.com commentary

There is no black vote, only black voters

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hat do Donald Trump, #alllivesmatter proponents and the notion of “the black vote” all have in common? They all need to go.

For years, Democrats and Republicans alike have pandered to certain demographics, may they be religious sects, ethnic groups or specific socio-economic classes. On the other hand, “natural polarization” between individuals is most

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Genders re-seen

reshman year is novel and inimitable for various reasons.

Students get to mold and gains sizable support from black voters. shape themselves in tandem with new That said, there is a range of beliefs that surroundings, selecting the people they vary between black individuals—a scope mingle with and the subsequent values they of intelligence that the words “black vote” hold closely as they learn, both academically neglects, undermines and disrespects. and socially. This existential tabula rasa GOP candidates have accused acts as a launch pad to everyone’s Duke Democrats of pandering for “the black University experience. vote,” sometimes suggesting that “it” may ‘Twas my first year in college, and be bought with “free stuff.” Unlike Newt Thanksgiving loomed large in everyone’s Gingrich’s insinuation that the entire minds; I had understood where I was

Sabriyya Pate

Madhav Dutt

emerging world order

guest column

prevalent in racial groups as reported by the Washington Post: “while almost all of the most Republican groups are white, almost all the most Democratic groups are African Americans.”

With these unavoidable skews comes a politician’s intrinsic desire to appeal to atypical demographics for which their policies otherwise would not relate to or favor. This practice of pandering, where individuals cater to the wants of unique demographics, has for a long time been the quick-fix savior for the relatively homogenous Republican Party.

With a 2016 electorate that will prove to be arguably the most diverse and hence, if history is to truly set a precedent, evolved to favor the Democrats, the vicious fight of pandering is to be expected. Consequently, the tailoring of personal narratives and policy nuances has unfortunately become the norm for politicians, however destructive and inherently backwards these transgressions may be.

There is a point to be made about the effectiveness of pandering. In 2008, Hillary Clinton was a favorite because of her husband’s political legacy that drew women of color to polls at unprecedented levels. In 2012, “black women voted at a higher rate than any other group—across gender, race and ethnicity.” Gaining “their vote” in 2016 could push her above Bernie Sanders in South Carolina, where African-Americans play a notable role in the primaries.

While the statistics may be true, the sequential generalizations are mischaracterizations of black women and other minority groups. When the New York Times reported that Clinton’s campaign on criminal justice reform was simply a ploy to “consolidate support among the AfricanAmerican communities,” it undermined her ability to recognize this nonpartisan issue, as well as the black voters who no not support her solely because of her strong embrace of President Obama’s record.

To act upon these trends to an extent that censors differences on issues concerning the economy, climate change, health care, data security, education and more is to act in derogation. Although, in attempts to gain the “black vote,” candidates may lump these issues into a parochial platform meant to appeal to all blacks, they are simply building on their trivialized views of black people.

Perhaps based on socio-economic analysis, candidates can frame their platforms to garner a large amount of their votes, just like how Sanders earns brownie points for flaunting his involvement in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. However, the all-encompassing generalization on the desires and wants of black people undersells the various desires and expectations we hold for our nation’s leaders.

Willingness to defend the rights of African-Americans should rightfully be the top characteristic of the politician who

THURSday, thursDAY, FEBRUaRy february 18, 2016 | 15

black population favors food stamps over paychecks, Rick Santorum’s assertion that black people live off of someone else’s money and Mitt Romney’s belief that monetary gifts got Obama the “black vote,” black people are capable of making their own vindicated decisions. (On a side note, stop Bernie-Splaining to black voters).

A core issue at hand is the mentality that views individuals with multiple defining characteristics as uniform actors in political fields. There is a debate to be had on accountability for such attempts and the labeling of pandering made by politicians and the sensationalist news outlets that seek to polarize and generalize for the sake of crass viewers. Regardless, the overriding simplification of black political actors is problematic.

It is time the “black vote” be eradicated from contemporary discourse on identity politics and diversity. The crude reality is that individuals, even minorities, are capable of making rational decisions even if just in their own minds. Even when a certain demographic has traditionally held strong to a particular political leaning, less-favored politicians should steer away from inauthenticity and instead seek to cultivate a bona fide understanding of the various and complex demographics they seek to represent.

Regardless of whether or not political figures, media outlets and individuals themselves can come to wholesome realizations of the intricacies of every group of people, “the black vote” and other generalizations detract from meaningful campaigns on genuine platforms.

Black voters are shaping up to become one of the most influential voting populations in the upcoming elections.

While voting, we ask the fundamental question: which candidate is better for us?

And though a candidate’s stance on the right to live for around one-sixth of the U.S. population is one way to gain our support, that does not mean to say that our vote can be bought by the mere acknowledgment of the presence of police brutality, globalization and deindustrialization on persons of color.

To return to my first statement, the notion of “the black vote” needs to be swapped for a more nuanced understanding of the basic human rights, racial, economic and gender equality that all individuals can recognize. Politicians operating campaigns on the premise of a few broad or culturally misguided principles that wondrously attracts all black people need to be pressured to acknowledge and act contrarily.

As black people continue to fight for civil liberties against oppressive institutions, the added misguided and undermining lingo is very much unappreciated.

Sabriyya Pate is a Trinity freshman. Her column runs on alternate Thursdays.

positioned at Duke and had found a group of friends. We were a group that went out to the regular places on the regular days.

Visiting Shooters and Devine’s on a weekly basis seemed a lot easier (dare I say sensible) my first year; the lack of other social venues and added social fluidity (owing to the lack of any affiliation) affected things.

One night, one thing led to another, and one of my close friends and I ended up sleeping together. I slipped out of bed to turn on the lights and gather my belongings.

The lights turned on and out came the gasps. There was blood all over the bed and around both of us. She immediately became extremely apologetic, mumbling, “I had my period like last week. This is weird…”

The scene was straight out of “Kill Bill,”complete with all the visual Tarantino flair. Upon cleaning and initial inspection, I arrived at the conclusion that I was the source of the crimson patches. All I think I felt was the slight tug of a muscle.

Visiting the doctor provided me with more information, and I was told that I must refrain from coital activity for a few months, before I could get corrective surgery.

The mattress was flipped over and the bedding dumped to the very bottom of the laundry basket. She and I never slept together again. The entire situation was handled really smoothly; I’m glad to say that we’re still close friends.

Thus manifested quite a cruel and ironic twang to my “freshman” experience: the proto-masculine farce of my functioning became evident when I broke my chief vessel of masculinity. Gender slapped my first-year self hard in the face.

In a way, talking about this, regardless of how of the way my views are received, will aid in at least facilitating conversation about things and ideas we’re surprisingly uncomfortable talking about.

I’d fashioned most of my outward persona carefully taking into account the impression I had on women who I fully hoped I’d attract. My years in boarding school back in India caused me to internalize an objectified and overtly sexualized portrayal of women. Spending all of your psychologically and sexually formative years with little to no contact with women isn’t exactly helpful, and the way we talked about women in our own environments didn’t help. This gendered nature of conversation and behavior is highly evident in college. We men change

our words and tones in front of women, not once wondering why we do so.

One of my friends made this obvious when I was saying bye to her. I had just shook hands with another friend, and he’d invariably grabbed my hand for a man hug: they’re always an overtly manly affair. When I turned to her, she mimicked the same motion he’d done to me. I was taken aback as she’d cleverly made explicit the usually implicit nuances of gendered interaction. The status quo is internalized to acceptance.

The biggest dilemma manifested itself in coming to terms with the way I had become accustomed to treating women and the way I should ideally behave both towards them and around them. I was almost freed the moment talking (and smooth talking) wasn’t the means to the end of sex. Sex wasn’t the end, so my compass of heterosexuality spun un-calibrated.

Be it trying stop people around you from saying, “don’t be a p---y”, to just knowing that nothing except explicit consent is consent, there a million ways we can make things easier for half of the human race.

Many of us don’t realize the power men hold. In the fashion industry, women are objects of the male gaze, and, in social media and the music video industry, the pornification of the female body is rife.

It’s frighteningly easy to slip into a tirade against masculinity, but that’s only because men, to paraphrase comedian Louis C.K, are the “single worst thing(s) to happen to women.” Heart disease, on the other hand, is the worst thing to happen to men.

Sexual/romantic attraction was completely changed for me that night because, when I actually ended up in an intimate scenario with a woman, I had to request her to do two things: “Could you please be gentle” or “Can we please cuddle?”

It certainly softened things up, and we ended up having great conversations.

Being vocal in bed about what you want and need is a much easier affair than awkwardly bouncing around, waiting for the guy or girl to grunt a little and then sleep on one end of the single bed, sweaty and unsatisfied.

I was forced into reevaluating how I approached my own gender and sexuality.

There are entire spectrums and dimensions to gender that I have scarcely visited, and hearing from people who’ve lived these confusions is the best way we can make ourselves aware of the struggles people have faced because of society.

Be it the haunting posters put up by #wearehereNC or gatherings like Common Ground, the more information exchanged, the more aware our community will be.

We’re heading firmly in the right direction in many spheres, and the ones in which we aren’t, we must do so at the earliest.

Madhav Dutt is a Trinity sophomore.

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