February 8, 2021 by Duke Chronicle

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Basketball throws a chance away—again Page 9

The independent news organization at Duke University

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2021

Leah Boyd elected Vol. 117 editor-in-chief

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ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTEENTH YEAR, ISSUE 20

LOVE CONQUERS ALL Duke unable to complete comeback against Caleb-Love led North Carolina

By Nadia Bey University News Editor

Sophomore Leah Boyd was elected Friday as the editor-in-chief of The Chronicle’s 117th volume. In a staff-wide election, members of the student newspaper unanimously chose Boyd to succeed junior Matthew Griffin as editorin-chief of The Chronicle and president of the Duke Student Publishing Company, Inc., the publisher of the independent, student-run daily news organization. Boyd, a biomedical engineering major from Huntington, N.Y., will begin her one-year tenure as editor on April 22. She is currently a University news editor. “Writing for The Chronicle has been one of the few constants of my Duke experience,” Boyd said. “Both before and during COVID-19, I was able to write and edit for the paper and maintain really strong friendships along the way.” Boyd will be one of select few engineering students to lead The Chronicle, the first being John W. Carr, who served as editor-in-chief in fall 1943 and was also an assistant editor for DukEngineer. As editor-in-chief, Boyd hopes to encourage interdepartmental partnerships, such as photo and video essays to accompany feature stories. She also wants to curate a “more creative, personal” digital strategy to increase reader engagement and develop a better idea of what the community wishes to see. Boyd plans to implement a fellowship program to support staff members from communities that are underrepresented in journalism as they take on leadership roles in The Chronicle and pursue professional careers in journalism, akin to the Sharif Durhams Leadership Program at The Daily Tar Heel. “I want The Chronicle to represent students of marginalized identities both in our coverage and internally on our staff,” Boyd said. “With this program and our intentional efforts next year, See BOYD on Page 4

Simran Prakash | Photography Editor Leah Boyd, a sophomore from Huntington, N.Y., will be editor of The Chronicle’s 117th volume.

Courtesy of Nat LeDonne/Duke Athletics

Freshman point guard Caleb Love came into the contest shooting just over 30% from the field on the season, but erupted for 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting Saturday night, including 4-for-5 from downtown. By Derek Saul Sports Features Editor

With 1:53 remaining, Caleb Love drilled his fourth 3-pointer of the night to put his Tar Heels up 86-79, putting the cherry on top of his career performance. Somehow, the Blue Devils rose from the ashes, scrapping their way to a one-possession game. Trailing 89-87 with 15 seconds left, Duke had a chance to tie or win it and write a new page in Tobacco 91 Road lore. UNC Who better than DUKE 87 Wendell Moore Jr., who hit a game-winner as time expired last year to down North Carolina, to have the ball in this spot. But the magic ran out for Moore, who was called for a traveling violation as he drove to the rim, and the Blue Devils’ nightmare season continued. The Tar Heels escaped Cameron Indoor Stadium with a 91-87 win Saturday night, powered by Love’s game-high 25 points and seven assists. “Caleb Love was outstanding,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “I thought the kids that played in this game were all good, but he stepped it up above all the others and did an outstanding job.” With 21 seconds remaining, Jalen Johnson rebounded his own block and led the fast break, finding DJ Steward for a layup to cut the Tar Heel lead to 88-87. Leaky Black went 1-for-2 from the line with 15 seconds left, giving Duke (7-7, 5-5 in the ACC) its chance to win the game.

Duke had fallen behind 60-48 early in the second half, but it would storm back to tie the game at 77 with 4:43 left in the contest thanks to a Matthew Hurt turnaround jumper. But on the ensuing possession, Hurt committed its fifth foul, meaning Duke would need to play crunch time without its leading scorer. Last season’s matchup between Duke and North Carolina (12-6, 7-4) at Cameron Indoor Stadium featured an overflowing student section, and you could hardly hear yourself think over the rowdy home crowd. But this year, there were no Cameron Crazies, and you could hear little more than shoes squeaking. “It gives us extra energy, extra confidence,” junior forward Joey Baker said of the typical Cameron atmosphere. “It gets really loud in Cameron, especially the UNC game, so that aspect was missed [this year].” With 7:48 remaining in the first half and Duke trailing 28-21, Henry Coleman III checked into the contest. Despite having just 22 minutes of game action prior to Saturday, Coleman immediately made his presence felt. On his first possession, Coleman found Jeremy Roach for a 3-pointer to notch his first career assist. A few minutes later, playing as Duke’s center against a menacing Tar Heel frontcourt, the 6-foot-7 freshman had a strong finish inside off of a backdoor cut to tie the game at 30. On the next two possessions, Coleman drew a charge and came down with an offensive rebound that led to a Johnson layup and Duke’s first lead of the night. “[Coleman] has worked hard all year. I’ve seen it in practice and even in the little spurts

WE LOST A BET ... UNC IS STILL THE BEST

where he’s come in this year,” senior guard Jordan Goldwire said. “I knew he was a good player. He came into battle for us and we needed it.” Cameron surely would have erupted for the unexpected performance from Coleman, just like it did for Justin Robinson last season. But this time around, there was no jolt of energy inside the empty arena, and the Blue Devils failed to keep their momentum. Ferocious dunks from Day’Ron Sharpe and Armando Bacot gave North Carolina a 41-39 halftime advantage. Coleman would make his presence felt in the second half as well, and his four total points matched his season total coming into the game. Baker also had his best game of the season Saturday, scoring a season-high 11 points in 18 minutes. See LOVE on Page 9

INSIDE Black History Month events A move online hasn’t stopped students from celebrating Black heritage. PAGE 2

Student writers explore identity Publications like The Coop and The Muse let students creatively express their thoughts and emotions. PAGE 6

Finding a gay soulmate What does Duke Marriage Pact mean for a gay person? PAGE 10

2 | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2021

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Campus groups plan Black History Month celebrations speed dating event with Mi Gente using the By Gautam Srideshmukh “Glimpse” social platform, and plans to hold Staff Reporter a roundtable discussion with Duke Neurocare Campus groups and organizations on Black mental health. are making plans to commemorate Black “We are also hoping to help host a History Month with virtual events. conversation on how to keep the social justice The arrival of February marks the movement alive,” Robinson wrote. beginning of Black History Month. While members of the Duke Anti-Racism Typically, Black student organizations at Book Club usually read and discuss a work Duke have used this time to hold musical by an author of color each month, President performances, put on plays and invite Sydney McKinney, a senior, is excited about speakers to campus. Due to the COVID-19 three new events that her organization will pandemic, however, student groups have had be holding over the next few weeks in place to find new ways to connect the community of their usual meetings. through virtual events. “There is no way According to Cartier This month, we are working we can conflate black Robinson, co-president history into one book of the Black Student to find ways to bring our and discussion, so Alliance, BSA plays an community together as well as three mini events important role as an seemed like a better advocate for students, empower them. way to honor as staff and faculty, many black stories as cartier robinson possible,” McKinney holding community CO-PRESIDENT, BLACK STUDENT ALLIANCE events and bringing wrote in an email. speakers to campus. “The three mini Robinson, a senior, events will include a wrote in an email that these expectations study/jam session with music by black artists, have not changed in spite of the difficulties a Ted Talk viewing and discussion, and a trivia presented by the coronavirus pandemic. night that focuses on modern black history.” “This month, we are working to find ways Duke’s Mary Lou Williams Center for to bring our community together as well as Black Culture has already begun a packed empower them,” Robinson wrote. “We will schedule of workshops, plays, dinners and be co-hosting a Black Love event with UNC more. The Center’s program corresponds Chapel Hill Black Student Movement and with their 2021 Black History Month theme, other Black Student Unions across the state of “The Black Family: Representation, Identity North Carolina.” and Diversity.” The Black Love event will take place From workshops to talks to trivia, Feb. 11. Cartier added that BSA will have a events revolve around themes such as

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ON DUKECHRONICLE.COM Top-ranked Duke men’s lacrosse leans on veteran leadership to overcome early deficit against No. 5 Denver BY SHANE SMITH | 02/05/2021 For the first 35 minutes of Duke’s season opener against Denver, all the hype surrounding the 2021 Blue Devils seemed like a bit of an exaggeration..

Duke suspends 2 more campus organizations, sanctions 17 students BY MONA TONG | 02/04/2021 In response to COVID-19 violations, Duke has placed two campus organizations on interim suspension since Jan. 1, and 17 students have faced individual sanctions.

Positive COVID-19 tests in spring semester pass fall total, administrators warn of possible new restrictions BY MARIA MORRISON | 02/03/2021 Administrators warned of the possible future need for new campus restrictions or a move to remote learning amid high COVID-19 spread on campus. mental health and communication. More information about these events, as well as the program itself, is available on the Center’s website. The aspirations of these student groups and organizations remain relevant beyond Black History Month. According to the Mary Lou Williams Center website, the Center is “living Black history every day” while “exploring the many different routes of the African diaspora.” Robinson wrote that BSA is an organization “formed to improve the conditions of [the] Black community at Duke University.” “A part of improving the conditions is working to establish an enlightened and open-minded relationship between Duke’s Black community and the general Duke community,” he wrote. “We are committed to eliminating social barriers that face both the Duke and Durham community.”

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‘Not just a dancing app’ Students learn new skills as brand ambassadors for TikTok, other companies By Anna Zolotor Local and National News Editor

While many students hope to work for national corporations during summer internships or after graduation, a few have the opportunity to learn new skills and build their resumes by representing big-name brands all year round. Duke’s campus brand ambassadors have a variety of duties, from creating social media posts and hosting events to partnering with student organizations. Binisha Patel, a junior majoring in neuroscience, is one of Duke’s TikTok college representatives. She found the job through a posting on DukeList, and she explained that her job includes making TikToks and creating content to post on other social media outlets. Before the pandemic, TikTok representatives did in-person tasks, like handing out merchandise to students, Patel said. However, the program has transitioned to a completely virtual format, so the tasks tend to be focused on creating or sharing specific types of TikToks. For one of those tasks, called “passion points,” Patel had to find and share TikToks related to different creator specialties, which could include singing, art, education or cooking. Patel said an element of the campus representative role is increasing student engagement by showcasing the versatility of the app. “Part of the big message is that TikTok is not just a dancing app,” Patel said. “It’s about feeling safe in a community.” Patel said that after the Black Lives Matter movement took off, she tried to focus her work

with TikTok on sharing educational posts and elevating the voices of Black TikTok creators. “I really wanted to show the positive, socially aware side of TikTok that promotes education, but I also wanted to highlight and uplift Black creators, because I think they should be recognized more,” Patel said. Nhu Do, a senior majoring in computer science and visual media studies, has served multiple roles in Bumble’s brand ambassador program over the past three years and is currently a community leader for Bumble. This job includes helping to facilitate local Bumble ambassadors’ college-centered brand initiatives. “At the end of last year, Bumble teamed up with Niche to launch a $40,000 scholarship sweepstakes to equip students with meaningful resources, especially as Bumble wanted to build a network of support in the time of COVID-19. Our local team of college ambassadors helped spread the word about the scholarship here at Duke in the hopes that Bumble could provide a sense of relief as students prepared for a new semester in 2021,” Do wrote in an email. Do, who learned about the campus ambassador program through a friend in Bumble’s home state of Texas, decided to join the Bumble team because she loved the company’s focus on women’s empowerment and was impressed by the creativity of the brand’s student-based marketing strategies. “I was drawn to the program due to Bumble’s mission of helping people make safe and equitable connections online and empowering women to make the first move. Women’s empowerment is something that I

Simran Prakash | Photography Editor Sophomore Rania Soufny is a campus brand manager for Microsoft Teams, a position that she was offered during her sophomore year after filling out a Riddle and Bloom application.

am incredibly passionate about, and I wanted to share that message with other students on campus,” Do wrote. Before the pandemic, Do enjoyed partnering with local businesses, including Devine’s and Buoy Bowls, to host off-campus events. Rania Soufny, a sophomore majoring in math and biology, decided on a whim during her first year at Duke to fill out a Riddle and Bloom application. Riddle and Bloom, Soufny explained, is a company that manages campus brand manager positions for dozens of large companies. When students apply, they fill out a general application that doesn’t ask for specific brand preferences. Several months later, during the fall of her sophomore year, Soufny was asked to be a Microsoft Teams campus brand manager. Her

role includes creating social media content and partnering with student organizations to transition them to using Microsoft Teams. Last semester, she worked with the Duke Student Advisory Board for Human Rights and Duke Devilthon. Both Soufny and Patel emphasized that the workload for their brand representative positions is very manageable. Soufny said that while the Microsoft Teams program does not require students to track their hours, she spends an average of four to five hours a week on content creation and in meetings with student groups. Patel also estimated that she spends an average of four to five hours a week on her job as a TikTok representative. “I personally don’t think it’s that much of See AMBASSADORS on Page 12

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Students faced increased stress, loneliness last fall Duke survey finds mental health impacts due to pandemic By Jane Zebrack

Duke has revised the spring semester calendar to include a two-day break, as well as a wellness day where classes are not officially canceled but faculty are encouraged to have students Students felt high levels of loneliness, social isolation and participate in wellness activities instead of coursework. concern about their mental health during the fall semester due Other top student stressors included global and national to COVID-19, with students of marginalized identities and responses to COVID-19; the 2020 U.S. election; concerns historically underrepresented backgrounds reporting greater stress levels, according to a Duke survey. The Office of Undergraduate Education Research Group conducted an online survey of Duke undergraduates between Nov. 1 and Nov. 16 to assess student stress, mental health and well-being during the coronavirus pandemic. The Duke Proportion of students who reported Student Government’s Mental Health Caucus helped revise and feeling lonely “most of the time” or distribute the survey. “always.” “Our goal with the project was to collect empirical evidence to learn what aspects of the previous semester were especially challenging and stressful for students, and what aspects may have been less challenging than we might have thought,” wrote about missing out on curricular or co-curricular opportunities; Molly Weeks, director of research for the OUE, in an email. managing academic workload; constraints on hobbies, activities 1,015 Duke undergrads—about 15.4% of those invited or leisure time; concern for mental health; Zoom fatigue and to participate—completed the survey. Weeks wrote that the sample was generally representative of the target population in terms of race and ethnicity as well as students who selfidentified as first-generation and/or low-income. There was a slight overrepresentation of first and second-year students and students who identified as women, Weeks wrote. Proportion of students who had The survey results were compared with those from the severe symptoms of depression and Student Resilience and Well-Being Project (SRWBP) study from anxiety in the two weeks before they previous years, where possible. Part of the survey involved participants rating sources of filled out the survey. stress from the semester. Students—77.8% of respondents— were most likely to attribute the lack of breaks during the fall semester as being “very stressful” or “extremely stressful.” More U.S. and international politics. than 67% of students said that the compressed timeline for the Another takeaway from the study was that “loneliness and fall was “very” or “extremely” stressful. social isolation were a significant problem for students last Contributing Reporter

10%

semester,” Weeks wrote. Almost half of students rated social isolation as “very” or “extremely” stressful. Just under 10% of respondents said they were lonely “most of the time” or “always” in a variety of environments, compared to 1% in the SRWBP results from previous years. The highest percentage of respondents—33%—reported loneliness during class, followed by in the evening, while studying, during free time and at bed time. These percentages were all higher than those reported in the SRWBP. See MENTAL HEALTH on Page 12

20.5%

Jackson Muraika | News Photography Editor A Duke survey found that students were more likely last fall to experience stress, loneliness and mental health concerns.

$115 million engineering building opens doors with each other across disciplines,” Bellamkonda wrote in an email. “Everything about the building was thoughtfully Duke opened the doors of its newest architected to encourage people to mingle, building last month. share ideas and work together to solve The Wilkinson engineering building is named after the Wilkinson family. Jerry The Wilkinson building Wilkinson, Pratt ‘67, has been a long-time features interdisciplinary donor and philanthropic presence at Duke. Planning for the $115 million building classrooms, and Duke plans began in 2008, and the project accelerated in for a branch of local coffee 2016, when Vinik Dean of Engineering Ravi Bellamkonda arrived. shop Cocoa Cinnamon to Construction began in 2017, wrote Michael open there. Vann, director of facilities, infrastructure and safety for Pratt, in an email. “Duke Engineering is undergoing an societal challenges.” ambitious reimagining of our undergraduate One subtle yet striking feature of the and graduate students’ learning experience, Wilkinson building is the amount of as well as our faculty’s ability to collaborate natural light it receives. Near the entrance By Natalie Katz

Contributing Reporter

of the building is a tall stairway which allows light from a skylight to seep through all five levels. Despite the large number of windows, the building is still environmentally friendly. “We’re proud to have built a facility that reflects Duke’s commitment to sustainability—we expect the Wilkinson Building to be LEED Silver with a chance at achieving Gold,” Vann wrote. The building contains energy-efficient glass, a roof color designed to require less energy and to reflect the sun’s heat, and a lab exhaust system based on intensive wind model tunneling. The Wilkinson building is built to allow interdisciplinary collaboration, with four active-learning classrooms equipped with whiteboard walls and reconfigurable furniture. The building also has three research “neighborhoods” that bring faculty together to focus on health and innovation, environmental health and sustainability, and advanced computing and intelligent systems. According to Vann, more than 60 classes and labs are taking place at the building this semester. “The Duke Engineering curriculum is increasingly focused around creative problem-solving, where we bring teams of students together to design solutions to authentic engineering challenges,” Bellamkonda wrote. “The Wilkinson Building greatly expands our capacity to do that, with new teaching and design labs where students can build prototypes and fine-tune projects both in and out of class.” First-year Caroline Wayhas class in the Wilkinson building’s auditorium this semester. “The auditorium we’re in is really nice. I can see the screen well, and I can see the professor well,” Way said. “I also am glad to have a class Jackson Muraika | News Photography Editor in person, and to have a space where everyone

The Wilkinson engineering building opened last month. Planning for the $115 million project began in 2008, and construction began in 2017.

See BUILDING on Page 12

BOYD FROM PAGE 1 students from underrepresented groups will be able to take on important roles in The Chronicle, find opportunities upon graduating and engage in programming throughout the year that really helps them develop as journalists and future leaders.” Griffin cited Boyd’s work in the early months of the pandemic as evidence of her dedication to The Chronicle. “I’m impressed with the work Leah has done over the past two years, and I’m proud to know I will be handing the reins over to her this spring,” Griffin said. “I think it’s telling how, when the pandemic hit, she stepped up and put in the work to make sure the Duke community had the news it needed during a time when our role was more important than ever. I know she’ll bring the same hard work and dedication to her work as editor-in-chief.” Managing Editor Maria Morrison, a junior, expressed faith in Boyd’s ability to identify and pursue important stories. “Leah has proven herself as a journalist for years, and I’m excited to see her step into this big role,” Morrison said. “I have no doubt she’ll do great. Not only does she care deeply about reporting the facts of news, but she also cares about pursuing stories important to the Duke community as a whole.” News Editor Mona Tong, a junior, commended Boyd’s dedication and expressed confidence in her ability to “leave The Chronicle and its community a better place.” “It has been such a privilege to work with Leah or the past two years. She has been a powerhouse writer and reporter from day one, in addition to a fantastic editor and empathetic leader,” Tong said. “She is talented, passionate and cares deeply about the Duke and Durham communities.” Boyd’s primary goal is to “interrogate the definition of a new normal” at Duke through community-centered reporting, building on the foundation left by previous editors, she said. “Matthew and [Volume 115 Editor-in-Chief Jake Satisky] are and were both phenomenal editors. I have big shoes to fill, but they both teach me more and more every day about being editor-in-chief and how to navigate difficult situations,” Boyd said.

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MONDAY, MONDAY, FEBRUARY FEBRUARY 8, 8, 2021 2021 || 55

february 8, 2021

recess

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;the bad air smelled of rosesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; recess

Indianapolis-based artist collaborates with student artists, page 7

honoring SOPHIE The life and impact of the experimental pop artist and producer, page 7

extra, extra

Duke student publications explore identity and intersectionality, page 6

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6 | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2021

recess Who is your TV father figure?

Sarah Derris .......................mr. big

Stephen Atkinson ..........logan roy

Sydny Long ...............walter white

Skyler Graham ..... homer simpson

Kerry Rork ................ bob belcher

Jonathan Pertile ..... tony soprano

Tessa Delgo ......... richard gilmore

Derek Chen ....... bojack horseman

on the cover: “The Bad Air Smelled of Roses” by Carl Pope Jr. courtesy of Cleveland Museum

staff note “They say the real fear with these rides comes from the feeling of having no control.” This insightful evaluation of the psychology behind roller coaster phobia comes from the blandly nice boyfriend of “Final Destination 3” protagonist Wendy Christensen (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) shortly before he is horrifically killed by a malfunctioning cart system on the ride in question. Like every other main character in the franchise, Wendy experiences a haunting premonition of a fatal accident, which motivates the control freak to evacuate everyone around her from the doomed roller coaster. She manages to rescue everyone but her boyfriend and her best friend, both of whom careen to their untimely demise while Wendy watches helplessly below. It is an unexpectedly striking scene in an assemblyline horror film, an oddity in its disquieting

depiction of just how terrifying it can be to realize that you truly have no control. I actually came to this same conclusion alongside Wendy. As an eleven-year-old plugged into the Internet, I stumbled across the “Final Destination” franchise and was so morbidly fascinated by the premise that I decided to watch it for myself. At that point in my life, my media diet was still heavily restricted to age-appropriate fare: the closest I came to horror was SyFy channel marathons of “The Twilight Zone.” The notion of diving headfirst into such a gory, thrilling film as my first exposure to the genre was enchanting enough that I recorded a showing of the third movie on the family cable box, then watched it at two in the morning so I could erase it before anyone could find out. Needless to say, I was horrified — not by the graphic content, but by the realization that mine and everyone else’s fates were entirely out of my hands. As an anxious child, this did not sit well with

me. I was entirely convinced of my ability to prevent disaster and ensure fortune by staying attuned to my environment and catching onto the universe’s plans before they could be enacted. If I always made sure to look at the clock when the last number was even and recited the exact same prayer before bed every night and touched my stuffed animals in the correct order, I could ward off evil in all of its forms. Unfortunately for my young nerves, the entire “Final Destination” franchise hinges on the premise that no matter how closely you examine the world for signs, no matter how many premonitions you experience, no matter how tightly you hold onto your loved one, you and everyone you know will eventually die. The end we meet may not be so terrifically elaborate or gory, but it will inevitably come. Confronting this reality as a young girl was initially paralyzing, especially given my insistence that rituals and lucky numbers could protect the people in my life from harm. However, as I began to watch more horror movies, I slowly relaxed into my panic and found that as troubling as it could be, horror was the perfect escape from the ubiquity of death. In the self-contained universe of a “Final Destination” or “Saw” or “Nightmare on Elm Street” entry, I could encounter death in all of its conceivable manifestations and tease out the machinations of the cinematic universe while not understanding those of my own. Horror has made this process and the resulting acceptance of death a little more bearable despite the harshness of its real-life applications. When my best friend Gwen died suddenly during our final semester of high school, under circumstances so eerily similar to the aforementioned “Final Destination 3” scene that I considered the film cursed and wouldn’t watch it for years, I felt again immobilized by my lack of control. I was so certain that there was something I could have done to save her, that if I had read the hands of the clock more closely or interpreted my

The Chronicle dreams more rigorously, I would have seen this coming and rescued her. Her death was so utterly senseless and cruel, a decision handed down from forces beyond my knowledge and command. It was my return to the horror genre that allowed me to fully comprehend the arbitrary nature of death and how my preoccupation with control would ultimately do nothing but make me miserable considering where we would all end up. First finding myself in the wailing, grieving characters of Ari Aster’s films, I sank down into the comforting nonsense of surrealism and the jolting ennui of extremism. I watched all of Alan Resnick’s work, which forces the viewer to accept that there is no certainty and that living in constant fear of death is perhaps worse than death itself; these lessons of no reality but the one we create imparted by his “alantutorial” series were especially helpful when the pandemic struck and threatened to revert me back to my clock-watching ways. New wave and new extremity films — along with their lessenlightened American torture porn counterparts — reaffirmed that pain is universal, that nothing we do can buy us more time. Where these nihilistic messages should have soured my compassion for humanity and general appreciation of life, I instead take solace in them. The entire conceit of horror is exploiting our greatest fears, exposing us to unsafety and expecting us to relinquish our power for ninety minutes. In the universe of the film, we live out the worst things that can ever happen to us, only for the credits to return us to a reality where the best things can happen to us as well. We can control our feelings, our love, our willingness to open ourselves to all the beauty and joy in the world. The real fear of the roller coaster may come from the feeling of no control, but the real thrill comes from the feeling of not needing to control anything at all. —Sydny Long, managing editor

campus arts

Duke student publications explore identity and intersectionality By Satya Khurana Contributing Writer

As we have been routinely told since the start of COVID-19, this past year has been unprecedented. And it is only becoming more strange as we try to incorporate masks and Zoom classes into our new “normal.” Yet through it all, Duke students have continued to create, produce and connect. Students’ shared sense of community and regard for the arts remain unchanged by the events of the past year. Through short stories, essays, poetry, photography, visual and digital art, students on and beyond Duke’s campus have found creative outlets to express their thoughts and emotions. This includes the wealth of publications that Duke students have founded. Here are four student-run publications to look out for this semester. The Coop If you found yourself scrolling through The Coop’s Instagram page this past summer, you’re not alone. The Coop, created by sophomores Claire Kraemer and Riley Hicks last year, is an online publication meant to provide female-identifying students a platform to write about their experiences and interests. Coop writer and sophomore Kellyn McDonald has enjoyed having a space in which she can connect with other female-identifying students and write about her personal interests. “The creators… were really trying to create a space for women, by women,” McDonald said in an interview. “At Duke, sometimes we are lacking the really strong network of women that I think we need to thrive. I think that The Coop is a really cool way for us to have an outlet to literally just post anything we want.” The publication is writer-focused, rather than reader-focused. It gives its writers the reigns and allows them to write and post about topics of their choosing. Kramer and Hicks are also

committed to ensuring that the writers have all the support and resources they need to start new posts and projects. McDonald, who is starting her own podcast this year, summed up the Coop’s atmosphere: “It’s just nice to have a place for us.” The Coop is looking to do more podcasting and host more community building activities for women involved with the publication this spring. Thali Senior Preethi Kannan and junior Parvathi Kumar decided to start a literary magazine last fall when they realized that there were no campus publications focused on South Asian culture and experiences. Literature, the arts and the humanities are not considered as valuable as STEM fields in many South Asian cultures, and Kannan and Kumar wanted to change that. Thali, a South Asiancentered literary magazine, was born. “The main objective is about who you are. [South Asian students] share a similar culture, but all have different experiences,” Kumar said in an interview. “Everyone has different experiences with combining their two identities [South Asian and American], so the objective is to be able to express your side of things.” While Thali primarily includes pieces of literature and art produced by South Asian students, it is open to submissions from students of all backgrounds who have stories to tell about their experiences and struggles with culture and identity. Thali’s main goal this spring is to publish its first edition and to become more interactive. “We want to make [Thali] a place for literary, analytical and artistic discussions,” Kumar said. “A platform to talk about anything that affects the South Asian community or public issues.” The Muse The Muse was created by Sabriyya Pate (Trinity ‘19) and senior Abby Kingsley in 2018 in the wake of the #MeToo movement. It promotes an accepting and collaborative environment

Courtesy of Juhood Magazine

The varied student-founded and run publications have been a space for open expression and creativity this year. where students can explore feminism, femininity, social justice and intersectionality. Junior Samantha Su, the publication’s editor-inchief, believes that The Muse created a much-needed space for female identifying students and students interested in learning about feminism at Duke, specifically first-years who may be overwhelmed by application-based student organizations. “The Muse aims to represent female identifying students and to empower female voices,” Su said in an email. “Our goal is to create a platform in which readers can learn more about the feminism and the female perspective, whether it be specific to Duke or with a more global lens.” The Muse is looking to expand their horizons this spring by adding writers to their team in the next few weeks. Juhood Juhood Magazine is an online student publication focused on the Middle East and North African (MENA+) community and their

experiences at Duke. Juhood also includes an academic journal of Middle Eastern Studies that is published twice a year. Duke undergraduates edit submissions to both the online magazine and academic journal. Juhood magazine was actually founded on Duke’s campus in 2009 and ran until 2013, after which it was not published again for five years. A group of undergraduates took it upon themselves to restart and revamp the publication in 2018. Today, Juhood Magazine is consistently updated with submissions from members of the Duke community. According to the publication’s website, its mission is to “build an inclusive community of diverse individuals united by a desire to engage with MENA+ studies, empower students from and/or interested in the MENA+ region with a platform to showcase their work and inspire creativity and curiosity to curate … historicallydriven, nuanced perspectives on the region.”

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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2021 | 7

‘The Bad Air Smelled of Roses’ is a collaboration with student artists By Tessa Delgo

directed by art, art history and visual studies professor Pedro Lasch. After Lasch invited Indianapolis-born artist Carl Robert Pope Pope to speak to his lab, Fick recalled talking to Jr.’s “The Bad Air Smelled of Roses,” a collection Lasch about how “cool” it would be to further of more than 108 posters, speaks for itself. Set engage Pope’s work on campus. Right before against a rainbow of vivid backgrounds are terse the start of the spring semester, Fick proposed quotes like “The Future is Black - Bring a Light!” the poster design course, exposing students to and “A Brown Girl is Always Underestimated.” renowned poster artists like Pope, Corita Kent The project, described as an “ongoing essay and Barbara Kruger as well as providing them about the presence and function of Blackness firsthand screen printing experience. in society,” originally began in 2004 and will “Especially during these times, I think it’s add 22 new pieces this spring for an on-campus a nice opportunity for students to not have installation in early April. to be in their apartments or dorm rooms — Students in Bill Fick’s “Poster Design and I think just being physical with a creative Printing” course will complete the project, process is just a really nice thing right now,” screen printing the posters in Pope’s style and Fick said. “I think exposing the students to wheatpasting them onto The Rubix, a pop-up this kind of work and this process is really installation space on campus. Pope, a virtual exciting because they might end up saying, visiting artist this semester, will Zoom into ‘Hey, you know, I want to do something like Fick’s class to offer support and guidance that, too.’” throughout the project. Pope created 22 new The installation will also be The Rubix’s slogans for the class to work with, allowing first involving student work. Established in students to take charge of the design. early 2020 by Fick and fellow art, art history “What I’m excited about is that the students and visual studies lecturer Stephen Hayes, the will be able to sort of get into [Pope’s] mind wooden structure was meant to serve as a popand understand how he creates his text and up exhibition space as well as an art piece in what he’s thinking and how he sees that as itself, probing questions about the nature of being an effective tool to convey the message public art. Last spring, Fick taught a different that he wants to convey,” Fick, a lecturing fellow course that was also centered around creating in the department of art, art history and visual an installation for the space, but the COVID-19 studies, said. “And visually, it’s really going to pandemic derailed those plans. From November be something else. I mean, just thinking about 2020 until early this month, The Rubix displayed a structure that’s totally covered with text Antoine Williams’ audio collage “Othered Suns”, — it’s going to be super exciting. Even just but students were unable to be involved with looking at it from a distance, I think it’s going that project. to have a lot of impact.” “Really, the only reason we created it is that Pope first interacted with Duke this really there are no spaces on campus … where academic year through the Franklin you can actually put art onto a structure or Humanities Institute’s Social Practice Lab, modify the structure. The only space that is sort Local Arts Editor

Courtesy of Carl Pope Jr.

“The Bad Air Smelled of Roses” is a collection of more than 108 vivid posters with eye-catching quotes. of like that is the tunnel heading to East Campus, which is really a free-for-all,” Fick said. “So yeah, it’s a unique structure on campus to where we could, you know, cover it with posters and not have it be a problem.” According to Fick, merely finding a place where art for art to be seen in person is difficult in the age of COVID, as traditional venues like museums and stages have largely been shut down. However, the public exposure aspect remains critical for works like Pope’s that are centered on social justice. The slogans Pope created for the class engage themes like the Black Lives Matter movement, Black history and Black culture. “It’s just a really important time to be doing work like this. I think there’s even been a call from the university for classes to deal with these social justice issues, and so I thought this would just be a really perfect class for that,” Fick said.

The public nature of both The Rubix and posters as a medium made the space an ideal home for the Pope installation. Despite having “a gigantic campus with plenty of open spaces,” Fick noted a lack of sculptures on campus beyond the bronze statues of Duke family members that adorn the quads. “I think this allows us to really investigate what kind of public art we can do on campus. I mean, obviously, you know, the university wants things to be tasteful … but I mean, I think we’ve got plenty of room,” Fick said. “You know, does it allow us to think that maybe we could do more? I don’t know. I think there might be an opportunity … with COVID sort of allowing us to think that way. Before, we were pretty much always thinking about things on the inside, but I think now having stuff on the outside is really important. Because otherwise, there’s no art anywhere.”

playground

Remembering SOPHIE: a gut-wrenching loss for pop music

By Ben Smith Staff Writer

One of the most influential pop musicians and producers of the last decade, Sophie Xeon, known professionally as SOPHIE, passed away Jan. 30 in a tragic accident first reported by the artist’s record label Transgressive. “Tragically our beautiful Sophie passed away this morning after a terrible accident. True to her spirituality she had climbed up to watch the full moon and slipped and fell,” read the statement. SOPHIE, who was 34, is another devastating instance of a music innovator and genius lost at a young age. SOPHIE, who asked publicists not to use pronouns, was not only a musical icon but an icon in the LGBTQ community, coming out publicly as a transgender woman in 2017 with the release of “It’s Okay To Cry.” This was the first time the artist’s unaltered voice was present on a project. SOPHIE sought to break down the traditions and rules of not just music but gender and sexuality, all in service to greater expression and selfactualization. In an interview with Paper Magazine, SOPHIE said that “transness is taking control to bring your body more in line with your soul and spirit.” Originally from Glasgow, SOPHIE began attending raves at about ten years old when the artist’s father came to believe that electronic music was the way of the future for the musical world. As SOPHIE matured, the artist came to this belief as well, expressing a fascination with “Kraftwerk and Orbital cassettes” instead of the more “normal” interests of SOPHIE’s siblings. This fascination grew into a passion; SOPHIE wanted to quit school and make electronic music before even becoming a teenager.

By the early 2010s, SOPHIE’s dream of making electronic and pop music had become real, as the artist’s breakout single, “Bipp,” turned heads in 2013 with its off-putting, glitzy pop melodies. The single became an underground club banger and was later featured on the artist’s debut EP “Product” in 2015. Like much of the artist’s solo work, “Product” is a stirring collection of contradictions, as childlike glee clashes with atonal noise-pop amid perky and “standard” pop choruses. Regarding the artist’s views on pop, SOPHIE said in an interview with Rolling Stone that “all pop music should be about who can make the loudest, brightest thing.” While much of pop or electronic music comes from samples and can often be formulaic, SOPHIE’s solo work is anything but. With “Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides,” the artist’s Grammy-nominated second album, SOPHIE continued to refine the experimental and multifaceted tones presented in earlier works. The album’s lead single, the previously mentioned “It’s OK to Cry,” sees a more vulnerable SOPHIE singing a stirring ballad featuring SOPHIE’s real voice above a bed of ‘80s synths. Later in the tracklist, however, SOPHIE explores BDSM noise pop with “Ponyboy” (which happens to be the first song I ever heard by the artist) and pays tribute to the iconic Madonna. In his retrospective on SOPHIE’s life, Spencer Kornhaber suggests that the strange sounds and techy creations on “Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides” are constructions of SOPHIE’s queer self-actualization. While much of SOPHIE’s solo work ventured far beyond the boundaries of popular music, the artist was also deeply involved as a producer for several more mainstream musicians, such as Charli XCX,

Vince Staples and Madonna. Alongside frequent collaborator A.G. Cook, SOPHIE produced nearly a dozen tracks for the ascendant hyperpop artist Charli XCX, who took many cues for her own electronic pop music from the more experimental SOPHIE. With Vince Staples, SOPHIE produced the song “Yeah Right,” which also featured Kendrick Lamar, demonstrating

but are most prevalent within the exponentially growing genre of hyperpop. Hyperpop, which typically combines glitchy production, altered vocals and intense tempos, counts SOPHIE as one of its founders. Artists within this genre include 100 gecs, Rina Sawayama and Charli XCX, as well as many more young artists from around the world that are making innovative and provocative pop

Courtesy of Transgressive

Experimental pop artist and producer SOPHIE passed away late last month at the age of 34. the far-reaching musical impact SOPHIE had even beyond the genres of pop and electronic music. And of course, Madonna’s “Bitch I’m Madonna,” shines through with SOPHIE’s signature colorful and addictive pop production. SOPHIE’s impact and legacy go beyond the artist’s solo and production work. The impacts span across the music and culture world

music. The hyperpop genre also provides a niche for other trans and nonbinary artists, such as Dorian Electra, Kim Petras and 100 gec’s Laura Les, to express themselves and do what they love, further proving the immense impact that SOPHIE has had on the future of music and cultural expression, and how irreplaceable SOPHIE is in the history of modern pop music.

8 | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2021

the chronicle

The Chronicle

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february 8, 2021

sportswrap

COURTESY OF NAT LEDONNE/DUKE ATHLETICS

CAROLINA BLUES

The Chronicle

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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2021 | 9

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Wasted opportunities continue vs. UNC By Conner McLeod Associate Sports Editor

Up by seven points with less than two minutes left in the game, it seemed as though North Carolina had it in the bag. Duke had already blown what seemed like its best chance to come back, with bad shot selection and poor communication on defense allowing the Tar Heels to pull ahead. It didn’t help that Matthew Hurt had just fouled out of the game. However, the Blue Devils answered the wake-up call, as they’d been doing all night long. Wendell Moore Jr. and Jordan Goldwire put the team on their backs to claw back into the contest with suffocating defense and heady transition offense. Now down by two points with 15 seconds left to play, Moore found himself with a wide open lane to the rim to possibly tie it up in buzzer-beater fashion, an opportunity to build on last year’s game-winner in Chapel Hill. But, sticking to the season-long theme of ‘almost, but not quite there,’ Moore was called for a traveling violation, virtually ending any

chance at a Duke victory. “Something went their way toward the end of the game and it’s gonna be like that sometimes,” Goldwire said. “We just gotta keep fighting and keep getting better each day.” This wasn’t the only time Duke whiffed on an opportunity to take control of the game. After a subpar opening to the contest, the Blue Devils seemed like they were finally finding their way near the end of the first half. With just under four minutes remaining in the opening period, freshman Jalen Johnson capped off a 14-2 run with a layup to give Duke its first lead of the game. On the next play, fellow freshman Jeremy Roach stole the ball in the open floor and drove to the rim, hoping to extend Duke’s edge and allow everyone to forget about how sloppily the Blue Devils played early on. However, Roach missed the wide open layup, further cementing the narrative of the contest, as well as the narrative of this season as a whole. Time and time again, Duke blew chances to capitalize on North Carolina mistakes— with 16 Tar Heel turnovers, the Blue Devils

had ample opportunity to do so. However, numerous mental errors, which have plagued this young Duke team all season, reappeared at all the wrong times. Don’t get me wrong—this game was one of Duke’s best performances of the season. The Blue Devils fought hard from start to finish, hitting big shots and playing unselfishly on the offensive side of the ball. But an ill-advised shot here, a mindless turnover there, and Duke’s commendable efforts were all for naught. “[Head coach Mike Krzyzewski] told us that he was proud with the way that we fought,” Goldwire said. “A couple of things here and there and we win that game.” Goldwire is correct—if a few things shaked in the Blue Devils’ favor, the Tar Heels could have easily been the ones going home with a loss. However, throughout the game—and the rest of the season in general—Duke had more than enough chances so that a questionable call by a referee or a dropped pass by a wide open teammate would not be the deciding factor in whether the team wins or not. Relying on 50-50 games going their way isn’t going to get the Blue Devils into the NCAA tournament this year. Duke’s chances, as slim as they are already, are shrinking each day, and the team must find a way to make sure things start shaking in its favor.

LOVE FROM PAGE 1 Krzyzewski opted to sit normal starters Goldwire and Johnson in favor of Roach and center Mark Williams, but this switch would not give the Blue Devils the boost Krzyzewski desired. In the first three minutes of the game, Duke committed four turnovers, allowing the Tar Heels to jump out to a quick 11-3 lead. “People aren’t starting and they have to keep earning it,” Krzyzewski said. “We have all these young guys, and you have to keep earning [starting roles]. That’s been a part of our program.” There’s always plenty to play for when North Carolina comes to Cameron Indoor Stadium, but Saturday night’s contest had additional importance for Duke: It was a borderline must-win game if the Blue Devils want to make the NCAA tournament. They will have two chances to reverse their fortunes next week, taking on Notre Dame Tuesday and N.C. State this upcoming Saturday.

Courtesy of Nat LeDonne/Duke Athletics

Love cemented his name in Duke-UNC lore.

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Crossword ACROSS 1 Run ___ (go wild) 5 Channel for renovators and remodelers 9 Flat-bottomed boat 14 Sleep-inducing pill? 15 Smallest Great Lake by volume 16 Japanese watch brand 17 Website for craftspeople 18 “___ No Mountain High Enough” 19 African animal that charges 20 What a last true believer might believe in

33 Get rid of, as pencil marks 34 Took a chair 35 Bogus 36 Georgia’s capital: Abbr. 37 Founder of the McDonald’s empire 41 Tar Heels’ sch. 42 Cuisine featuring drunken noodles 44 Home of Montreal: Abbr. 45 Teeming throng 47 “There was no choice but for me to say yes!” 51 Smog-monitoring org. 52 Medieval worker

24 “To thine ___ self be true”

53 It “cannot stand” per 1-Down … or a hint to 20-, 25and 47-Across

25 “Don’t clap yet”

59 Poles or Czechs

23 Pantry pests

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE S P C A I M P E L P O T S

O A H U

I R A N

W A R T H N C O E D G A R L O E M M D O U R P N I T I V O T E P

A S L I C H U T L A T A D E L U E N T R O A R E V E L I P E A N A Y E U P L E H A P A L S W I I N F

K E N T L E T U S Z I T I

E U S N S F A B U Y U R S L R S E T S A I N D C O M E I N D R C H E E L D

S C A R T I S S U E

P A C K

S A T E

N I E C E

K N E E D

M O R E

A M O R

C E O S

60 Dress that ends above the knee 61 Israeli submachine guns 63 [So funny!] 64 Head: Fr. 65 What may descend before the moon? 66 What tree rings represent 67 Put in a plane’s overhead compartment, say 68 Ball that might attract a cat

Edited by Will Shortz 1

21 23

33 36

5 Radio noise

15 City that shares an airport with Seattle

35 40

19 Point of no return?

20 I.C.U. test, maybe

21 MSNBC host Melber

58 62

22 Office or schoolroom furniture 24 Tested, as 26-Across 26 Casual Friday wear

PUZZLE BY ED SESSA

25 ___ bar (Hershey 32 Show host toffee confection) 38 Light blue shades 26 Lead-in to 39 Brynner of stage -dontist and screen 27 1980s-’90s NBC 40 Dear: Fr. legal drama 43 Freeze, as a pond 28 Popped the 46 Not on the clock question 48 Grand works 29 Four, on many a golf hole 49 Really digs 30 Swahili for 50 Go over again, as “freedom” notes 31 Smooths the 53 Opposite of surface of, as aweather, to a wood sailor

16 Uncooked 17 The sitcom writers met at a …

52 55

32 Expressed exasperation … or relief 35 Spider-Man, for Peter Parker 36 Suffix with serpent 37 Like some humor 38 Trio in elem. school 39 Neither a believer nor a disbeliever 43 Value highly 46 The pharmacists met at a … 48 Top-notch 49 “Methinks” 53 “The Bells of St. ___” (Bing Crosby film and song) 55 Telecom of old 56 Sports tiebreakers, for short 57 Shocked reaction, online 58 The Google employees met at a …

11 Dude

ACROSS 1 Killer whale

14 “Awesome!”

Crossword

DOWN 1 President Lincoln, informally 2 Closet pest that loves wool 3 Approximately 4 Features of touch-tone phones and A.T.M.s 5 Physical wellbeing 6 Dolphins Hall-ofFame QB Bob 7 Metal food containers 8 Docs for dogs 9 Illegible writing 10 Big cheeses 11 Egyptian goddess of life 12 Parking ticket penalty 13 Rock’s ___ Fighters 21 Input, as data 22 Acknowledge as true

No. 0323

54 [So funny!] 55 CPR experts 56 Insects, berries and worms, for a robin 57 Old Testament book next alphabetically after Ezekiel 58 Designer Christian 59 Where pigs wallow 62 Center of the solar system

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.

28 The mathematicians met at a …

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE A M O K B O R E E T S Y H O P A H O L D E R A S A T L T H A I H O W C E A H O S L A V T E H E Y E A R

H E A E L N T T H E R A Q O U P A U S S E S

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63 Place for a sensory deprivation tank 64 Trying experience 65 Many a TikTok user 66 Recipe amt. 67 Property in buildings and land 68 Designer Jacobs DOWN 1 Maids a-milking, e.g. 2 Explorer on Mars 3 Welsh dog breed 4 Ginger ___ (soft drink) 5 Many an antiinflammatory medication 6 Radio studio session 7 Not just stand there 8 Informal “you,” en français 9 “As I would say,” in a text 10 Bushnell who wrote “Sex and the City” 11 Garment with a French name 12 Billiards accessory 13 Is shy, in a way 18 Group of officers 23 ___’acte 25 Biblical verb ending 26 Part of the calendar named for Caesar 27 “The Lord of the Rings” tree creature 29 Wacky comedy

Edited by Will Shortz 1

19 22

47 48

No. 0324

54 59

62 65

PUZZLE BY OLIVIA MITRA FRAMKE

30 Dungeons & Dragons monster 31 Societal expectation 32 Setting for “The King and I” 33 “Picnic” playwright William 34 Male/female pay differential, e.g. 37 “A constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy,” per Benjamin Franklin

40 Lubricated 41 Word with kick or cut 42 Palindromic bird 43 Terrestrial 44 Undercover activity? 45 That special touch, for short

52 Boy band with the 2000 hit “Bye Bye Bye” 53 ___ likely to succeed 54 Roadies’ equipment 59 Bard’s “before”

47 Lion or tiger

60 Mathematician Lovelace

50 Pyongyang’s peninsula

61 Seminary subj.

51 River frolicker

62 Dough dispenser

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.

10 | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2021

opinion dukechronicle.com

The Chronicle

Love at first algorithm: Finding my gay soulmate

o kick off Duke’s second unconventional semester, an exciting way to meet other Duke students was presented to the

This trendy algorithm has made its way through universities across the U.S., giving students a psychology-backed way to meet their back-up soulmate.

ring, and trust in both the matchmaking It’s easy to forget that gay marriage was abilities of a fifty-question survey and the only legalized across the U.S. five years previous selection by Duke admissions. ago, but this is the context many of us Faced with this exciting semi-dystopian grew up in. My earliest states of denial were largely influenced by my desire for a normal life and family, and my internalized belief that being gay would detract from that. COLUMN With rapid increases of acceptance of gay marriage, the dream of a homonormative socially distanced student body: the Duke With a few thousand other Duke prospect, I was left thinking about domestic life has never felt more attainable. Marriage Pact. students, I decided to toss my hat in the everything most twenty-one-year-olds Gay love is just like straight love now, think about: marriage, sex and death. right? Marriage itself is a heterosexual Now, you are probably thinking— invention. With the primal intent of hot take of the week ”Nathan, why would you want to do the creating a nuclear family unit, the union marriage pact? Don’t you already know of marriage for a while had no room for every other gay on campus?” And I would queer people. “I honestly don’t know what my title means.” answer, “Yes, but like every other dating And as many members of the LGBTQ —Jake Satisky, Digital Strategy Director, on February 6, 2021 app, I am simply bored and curious.” community argue, it still doesn’t leave I don’t expect to be paired with a room for most queer people—only those complete stranger, as the gay community who blend in. As a gay middle class male, on campus feels small, but I recognize the it’s easier for me to assimilate to the mold possibility of being matched with a first- of monogamy, but it doesn’t feel quite like year (they wouldn’t do that to me, right?) queer liberation. I can’t help to wonder if that I’ve never seen in the flesh. the ingrained values of Catholicism and And with around 400 extra heterosexual other institutions of socialization have led women, it seems that no bisexual men will me to seek a soulmate, not my romantic be paired with men, further reducing the inclinations. Monogamy is often presented Direct submissions to: man loving man pool. But maybe, just as not only the societal expectation, but The Chronicle welcomes submissions in the form of letters to the editor E-mail: maybe, I’ll have the Duke Chapel gay the morally just action. Promiscuity and or guest columns. Submissions must include the author’s name, signature, chronicleletters@duke.edu department or class, and for purposes of identification, phone number and local wedding of my dreams. sexual deviance are threats to that sanctity. address. Letters should not exceed 325 words; contact the editorial department As a five-year gold star member of the For many queer people, we are taught that Editorial Page Department for information regarding guest columns. The Chronicle LGBTQ+ community, I have had my fair our sexuality or gender are deviant from The Chronicle will not publish anonymous or form letters or letters that are Box 90858, share of online dating. what is socially acceptable. By adhering promotional in nature. The Chronicle reserves the right to edit letters and guest Durham, NC 27708 As a gay youth in Texas and North to standards of monogamy we are able to columns for length, clarity and style and the right to withhold letters based on Carolina, dating apps have been the lessen that experience of deviance. This Phone: (919) 684-2663 the discretion of the editorial page editor. primary way I’ve met potential suitors. is why a happily married Pete Buttigeig Fax: (919) 684-4696 I would much prefer going to a bar or is much more politically appealing than a playing in a queer volleyball league, but less conformist counterpart. these opportunities are scarce in one of the So when I fill out the Marriage Pact as worst gay dating regions of the country. a gay person, I address a lot of different Est. 1905 Inc. 1993 Even before the pandemic, Grindr and fears. I don’t want to feel unloved when Tinder felt like the only watering holes for I grow older. And since I am conditioned MATTHEW GRIFFIN, Editor gays. These apps use a few algorithms, but to view monogamy as the righteous goal, EVAN KOLIN, Sports Editor mostly let users decide who they speak to be unmarried is to feel unaccomplished MARIA MORRISON, Managing Editor to based on physical appearance and a as well. To be alone and gay would be to MONA TONG, News Editor short bio. The Marriage Pact presents fail, proving the traditionalists of society CARTER FORINASH, Editor-at-Large ROSE WONG, Senior Editor a refreshing departure from superficial correct. It would just be further evidence JAKE SATISKY, Digital Strategy Director formats of other apps, blindly pairing us that happiness requires a normative path. SIMRAN PRAKASH, Photography Editor with our personality compatible soulmate. Each day, I understand more that MIHIR BELLAMKONDA, Opinion Editor And although physical attraction is feeling loved is more than a lifelong SARAH DERRIS, Recess Editor foundational for most relationships, promise or a picture-perfect Notebook CHRISSY BECK, General Manager this matchmaking is for when we’re old story. It is present in every aspect of anyways. my life, with every person I cross paths SHANE SMITH, Sports Managing Editor REBECCA SCHNEID, Sports Photography Editor Taking the fifty-question survey with. As a romantic, I am of course open MASON BERGER, Video Editor JACKSON MURAIKA, News Photography Editor spanned subjects of background, to sailing away into the sunset. But as a MARY HELEN WOOD, Audio Editor AARON ZHAO, Features Photography Editor personality traits and opinions. Recently Catholic-raised gay person, I must detach NADIA BEY, University News Editor BELLA BANN, Photography Social Media Editor I received a fun “Hot Takes” fact sheet, my lingering guilt from what I view as an LEAH BOYD, University News Editor MARGOT ARMBRUSTER, Opinion Managing Editor showing my responses that were drastically ideal life. A happy ending to life is nice, PRIYA PARKASH, University News Editor NICHOLAS CHRAPLIWY, Opinion Managing Editor differently than most Duke students. but there can also be plenty of happy PREETHA RAMACHANDRAN, University News Editor VICTORIA PRIESTER, Opinion Managing Editor The first one was: I would much rather endings along the way. YUEXUAN CHEN, Local and National News Editor SYDNY LONG, Recess Managing Editor be left at the altar than leave someone I am excited for this fun experiment of ANNA ZOLOTOR, Local and National News Editor BEN WALLACE, Community Editorial Board Chair at the altar. This was a no-brainer, as the Duke Marriage Pact, and hope it leads ASHWIN KULSHRESTHA, Health and Science News Editor RYAN WILLIAMS, Community Editorial Board Chair I have had the pain of being a heart- to new friendships and a few romances MICHAEL LEE, Health and Science News Editor SHANNON FANG, Equity and Outreach Coordinator STEFANIE POUSOULIDES, Investigations Editor breaker and having my heart broken, and here and there. For the queer folks who NADIA BEY, Recruitment Chair JAKE SHERIDAN, Features Editor JAKE SATISKY, Recruitment Chair I prefer the latter (It’s easy to pursue your also get scared every now and then that CHRIS KUO, Features Managing Editor TREY FOWLER, Advertising Director own happiness when the other person is you’ll be unloved: you will always find love JULIE MOORE, Creative Director finding theirs). from your people. And hopefully you will The second one was: flirting is experience romance along the way, but The Chronicle is published by the Duke Student Publishing Company, Inc., a non-profit corporation independent of Duke University. The opinions harmless, which I was surprised to see don’t panic if your story doesn’t match expressed in this newspaper are not necessarily those of Duke University, its students, faculty, staff, administration or trustees. Unsigned editorials represent that other people did not agree with. the ones we have been told from birth. 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 1517 Hull Avenue call 684-3811. To The survey overall made me wonder a bit Soulmates are for straight people. reach the Advertising Office at 2022 Campus Drive call 684-3811. more about how being gay affected my One copy per person; additional copies may be purchased for .25 at The Chronicle Business office at the address above. responses, and at a deeper level—how I Nathan Heffernan is a Trinity senior. His @ 2021 Duke Student Publishing Company viewed monogamy and marriage. column runs on alternate Thursdays.

Nathan Heffernan

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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2021 | 11

Confessions of an exercise addict

ince I can first remember, I’ve been fascinated with water. At age four, I was briefly obsessed with the sinking of the Titanic; I’d recall the temperature of the ocean during the sinking while voraciously chewing my pizza lunch in preschool.

I skip a day, I’m filled with guilt. Over quarantine, I ran—against the advice of my physical therapist—six to seven miles per day and strained, nearly tearing, both of my hip flexors. The reason I engage in these behaviors, I tell myself, is to stay in shape. But

Lily Levin COLUMN I loved the way my arms and legs felt in the pool or the lake or the sea. This intrigue led to joining a summer swim team, which, in turn, led to competitive year-round swimming at age eight. From an early age, I discovered that if I could push my body to its limit, I’d see improvement in speed, in endurance, in affirmation. However, I also visited the doctor for my yearly check-up and was time and time again told that I was borderlining obesity, that I needed to eat more fruits and vegetables, that my active lifestyle was somehow “unhealthy.” Because of the way I looked, I internalized the idea that I could never be good at most sports. My handeye coordination was—and still is— nonexistent, I hated sprinting and I couldn’t throw a ball more than a few feet. Swimming was different. Despite my belief I wasn’t athletic, I succeeded in swimming for years, receiving invitations to more selective meets and moving up levels quickly. I still felt that I had something to prove; even as I became taller and stronger, I couldn’t stop shaming myself for my “fat”— my body’s stored fuel source and protective layer for vital organs. My relationship with swimming became more about proving my worth and less about love for the water. I’d burst into tears if I didn’t set a personal record, believing the problem was with my body. When I reached high school, I did not understand why I was continuing to gain weight even though I’d stopped growing. This, of course, was a natural part of maturing into an adult body, which I refused to recognize as my swimming times suffered. During one of our routine meetings, my swim coach sighed exhaustedly, took a large swig of diet soda, and told me that I was slower because I’d gained weight in the absence of strength. My male teammates further invoked deep-rooted body image insecurities by ranking each girl on our team by physical attractiveness. In response, I poured more and more of myself into the sport, hoping I’d see results on the scale and stopwatch. I hated every single minute of swim practice. At the peak of my swimming career—during my sophomore year of high school—I was engaging in grueling exercise twelve to fourteen hours per week, and yet I had never been more unhealthy. I overworked myself to the point of injury multiple times. This sport was probably the most major stressor in my life. It also became my life. I share this journey because now, in my second year at Duke, it’s still inescapable. No, I’m not a Varsity athlete. I’m an exercise addict. I plan my entire day around my workout, whether it be swimming or HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), and feel anxiety if my routine falters. When

in reality, I’m exercising in large part because I fear reverting back to the little kid who was once fat-shamed at the doctor’s office. It’s well-known that eating disorders run rampant at Duke, but we barely acknowledge that female undergraduates at Duke exercise more than their counterparts, or that overexercise and eating disorders or disordered eating often coexist. I could write pages upon pages about eating disorder culture—the normalcy of ‘pulling trig’ after drinking, the twomeal day, the skinniness (and whiteness)

When I tell others I sometimes exercise upwards of five times per week, I’m met with universal praise and the occasional comparison: you’re so healthy. And some part of me enjoys these reactions. I’ve been conditioned since my younger doctor’s-appointment days to view fitness as the opposite of fatness; to view fatness as amoral, wrong, a failure. I had fully both internalized and externalized countless messages of fatphobia, which is defined as “the fear and/or hatred of fat bodies.” In 2017, the American Academy of Pediatrics published a study advising healthcare providers not to directly talk to children about their own weight, as these stigmas can affect children for years. There’s also evidence to support the theory of a body weight set point, or a natural weight that our bodies may gravitate toward depending upon our genetics. Even if I lift weights for five hours per day, it’s genetically impossible for me to look like Kayla Itsines. The message that hard work will

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It’s well known that eating disorders run rampant at Duke, but we barely acknowledge that female undergraduates at Duke exercise more than their counterparts, or that overexercise and eating disorders or disordered eating often coexist.

” nearly a requirement in exclusive social circles. But addiction to exercise is often unnoticed, often more subtle. Why? Because exercise is a good thing. The National Institute of Health reports that “exercise improves mental health by reducing anxiety, depression, and negative mood and by improving self-esteem and cognitive function.” We’ve heard it in probably every physical education class ever. And even when exercise becomes disordered, it is intensely encouraged. Mega-fitness trainers like Kayla Itsines advertise “6-week sweat challenges” to become a part of the Bikini Body Community. Before-and-after pictures of white Bikini Body Guide women with chiseled, surreal muscles seem to accessorize her website. HIIT workouts gain thousands more viewers for each potential calorie burned. Countless times, friends and peers have told me that “they’d get to the gym more” if only they weren’t so “lazy,” as if laziness were synonymous with rest.

outsource culpability to the individual in the name of health, are rooted in colonialist ideology. The racism in antiobesity rhetoric dates back to centuriesold pseudo-science, blaming Black women for having “animal appetites.” Fatphobia, alongside racism, has been used to justify state-sanctioned killings: Darren Wilson “felt like a five-yearold holding onto Hulk Hogan [Michael Brown].” In this world, we are taught, often violently, that some bodies have more value than others. At the top of this imposed hierarchy are people with white, skinny, tall bodies. As someone without a physical disability; as someone who inhabits a white body that adheres to most societal beauty standards, I possess immense privilege and a limited perspective in crafting this article. And I understand that fat liberation is essential not only for my own sake, but to stand in solidarity with BIPOC, to build a more just society. I want to embrace fat liberation as it relates to my Jewish culture, too. Jewish people are often seen as wild: our lives embrace food, savor it, enjoy it; antiSemitic fatphobia is centered around this so-called “lack of control.” We place Biblical importance on the fat body. We are not ones for regulation; on Chanukah, we feast on latkes and jelly donuts; on Purim, hamantaschen. Meals I’ve shared with other Jewish families consist of kugel, kugel, more kugel, some lox, an entire refrigerator of matzo ball soup, and ten or so plates of regulach and babka. Additionally, in my life, body neutrality is a recent concept in which I’ve found sanctuary. Although neutrality itself will not end body-based oppression or pave the way for liberation, focusing on my body’s functions rather than its looks allows me to think of my physical self as a vehicle, rather than an object of performance. I know that healing begins at the initial site of the wound, and my own internalized fatphobia, which is why I’d like to revisit my 8-year-old self and tell her that I am sorry. I’m sorry that I felt you needed to shrink. All of your body was okay then. I’m sorry that sometimes you still feel this way. All of your body is okay now. I’m also finding that healing comes through allowing myself to be angry, that anger is a secondary emotion to pain, so I’ll say this: I’m angry at the obesity industry. I’m angry at swim coaches. I’m angry at the boys at swim practice who taught us to become compliant with the male gaze before we even knew what it meant. And I’m also, rightly, angry with the world. I am working toward reclaiming my relationship with exercise; recovery comes in bits and pieces that sometimes shatter. I am working toward seeing swimming as something for myself, only. I’m grateful that it brought me some of my closest friends and equipped me with important values. Regardless, I’ll always love the water. It’s a moving, drifting, ever-changing substance that affirms the fluidity of our experiences. Water connects who I am now to who I want to be, to who I am continuing to become.

produce a certain body type espoused by doctors or coaches is not only false; it’s extremely harmful. Moreover, fatphobia, through its personalized blame, fails to consider the impact of capital in categorizing “health” and “obesity.” Diet-culture is designed to make marketers and corporations rich at the expense of the consumer. Political scientist J. Eric Oliver wrote, “it is difficult to find any major figure in the field of obesity research….who does not have some type of financial tie to a pharmaceutical or weight-loss company.” Similar to other -isms and phobias, fatphobia has most directly asserted itself when intertwined with white supremacy. As we’ve seen increasingly during COVID, inequitable access to medical care and treatment by healthcare professionals affect health extensively, disproportionately harming Black, Latinx, and Indigenous communities. This phobia ignores the implications of often racialized poverty; it is possible to be both food insecure and fat. Policies Lily Levin is a Trinity sophomore. Her such as SNAP restrictions, which column usually runs on alternate Thursdays.

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MENTAL HEALTH FROM PAGE 4 Weeks wrote that the results provide concrete evidence supporting a need for “opportunities for meaningful social connection with friends, peers, and others at Duke...within the significant constraints of pandemic public health measures.” The survey also found that mental health was a large concern for students. According to the survey results, many participants reported experiencing “moderate (23.5%) or severe (20.5%) symptoms of depression and anxiety over the past two weeks.” Nearly a fifth of respondents reported feeling “overwhelmed and unable to handle the demands of life fairly often or very often over the past month,” compared to just under 4% in the previous SRWBP results. Academic engagement levels and feelings of belonging at Duke, however, did not decline as a result of the pandemic, “suggesting that students are still connecting with their academic work and the institution as a whole,” Weeks wrote. Approximately 61% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they felt like they belonged at Duke, and just under 77% of respondents reported high levels of academic enthusiasm and engagement. These percentages did not differ significantly from those in the SRWBP study. The study also looked at contextual and demographic effects, including living arrangements (students living on campus versus students living in off-campus in Durham and students living outside of Durham), race and ethnicity, identification as first-generation or low-income, identification as LGBTQ+, gender identity, and being a student-athlete. Weeks wrote that since most on-campus students were first-years and sophomores, attributing differences between the groups to class year or location is difficult. Nevertheless, “being away from Durham has made it more difficult for students to develop or sustain a

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strong sense of belonging to Duke, and made it more difficult to develop or sustain friendships with other Duke students,” Weeks wrote. First-generation or low-income students, underrepresented minority students, and LGBTQ+ students generally had higher levels of stress and mental health concerns than other students. According to the survey results, however, these findings are “consistent with the literature generally and are not necessarily specific to the pandemic.” Weeks noted that stressors strongly rooted in the pandemic, including worries about health and safety and government responses to cases, may begin to diminish quickly. Others, such as stress related to the toll that the pandemic has taken on the economy, may persist. “A key question is what the trajectory of recovery will look like for issues related to social connection and isolation,” Weeks wrote. “In some ways [it] could go back to “normal” fairly quickly, but in other ways could potentially show lingering effects.” DSG is using the findings from the survey to “assess how we can best support Duke students’ mental health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic and moving forward,” wrote first-year Nicole Rosenzweig, co-chair of the DSG mental health caucus, in an email. One significant change that came from DSG’s efforts was the addition of the two-day break and wellness day to the spring semester, she wrote. “The process began with advocacy surrounding the need to have Election Day off in 2020, which eventually transitioned to a larger discussion about mental health and break days for the spring semester,” Rosenzweig wrote. She wrote that DSG’s Executive Board sent an email to Provost Sally Kornbluth and other stakeholders outlining the degradation of student well-being and consequent need for scheduled break days. The change came “after various email exchanges, presentations, meetings, and the recommendation of specific dates,” Rosenzweig wrote.

AMBASSADORS

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a workload. If you’re really good at scheduling your events and managing your workload, this is an easy job for you,” Patel said. While the students are compensated for their work as brand ambassadors, all three reflected that they have created meaningful connections through their roles. “My favorite part of being a Bumble ambassador is the people that I get to meet. Bumble has allowed me to form meaningful connections with so many inspiring people all around the country who are passionate about empowering women and spreading this mission in a creative way,” Do wrote. Patel, who is on the pre-medical track, said that while she doesn’t want to go into marketing or communications, she has still learned valuable professional skills through her role as a TikTok college representative. “By marketing the app, I’m also kind of learning to market myself, which is really valuable. I wouldn’t change this experience,” Patel said.

in our class can spread out safely and we can all still come and see the lecture with other people and not on Zoom.” Way is optimistic that the Wilkinson building will not be known as just another engineering building, but as a place for everybody. “I do think [the space] will help bring people together,” she said. “I hope it will be a place that will feel welcoming for everyone, I’m not sure just yet if it is going to end up being somewhere where only people in Pratt come.” Aside from the environmentally-friendly design and spacious classrooms, the building might also soon feature a Cocoa Cinnamon. The University plans to open a branch of the local coffee shop on the first floor. “[Bellamkonda] specifically stated that he wanted the ‘best coffee on campus’ to be in the Wilkinson Building,” Vann said. “Due to the pandemic, the opening will need to be delayed, but we look forward to that happening as soon as we can safely do so.”

Bre Bradham | News Photography Editor Junior Binisha Patel is a college representative for the social media platform TikTok.