March 29, 2021 by Duke Chronicle

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ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTEENTH YEAR, ISSUE 26

RAs try to build community in pandemic Durham public schools adapt to hybrid classes By Katie Tan Staff Reporter

Simran Prakash | Photography Editor Shari Tian and Alex Kintzer are resident assistants in Brown dorm and Edens quad, respectively. They’ve had to adapt their RA events in an effort to keep building community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

night for his residents that was “pretty well attended,” he said. On the other hand, sophomore Shari Tian, an RA in Brown, prefers to plan in-person events, which she finds tend to draw a Thanks to online classes, students spend much more time better turnout than virtual events. in their residence halls than they would in an ordinary year, “Last semester, I held a Cookout milkshake and coloring but because of COVID-19-related restrictions, fostering event for my residents to chill outside as a way to destress for community within dorms has been an uphill battle for the first round of midterms. It went really well. I also held resident assistants. a stress watercolor painting event where we had Insomnia Not to be deterred, many RAs have worked especially hard Cookies. This semester, I held a movie night in the common to build safe, welcoming and tight-knit dorm environments. room,” Tian said. “It’s a lot more difficult than it has been before. There is a Kintzer noted that in previous semesters, RAs often felt required element of creativity and resourcefulness now,” said stressed about meeting a required number of events and tended senior Alex Kintzer, an RA in Edens. toward choosing to host easier events with fewer logistical details. Kintzer noted that safety restrictions However, now more than ever, RAs are related to food and common room It’s a lot more difficult prioritizing “quality over quantity” for capacity have been particularly than it has been before. their events, Kintzer said. challenging obstacles for event planning. “In previous semesters, when there “RAs are no longer able to simply put a There is a required have been quotas to meet in terms of pizza in the common room,” he said. numerical number of events, it was easy element of creativity and While these rules have certainly made the to fall into a ‘pizza in the common room’ RA job more difficult, they have encouraged resourcefulness now. event, or sending people to an event RAs to be particularly intentional with their hosted by someone else. That is no longer alex kintzer acceptable. People need the connection to programming, Kintzer said. RESIDENT ASSISTANT IN EDENS QUAD “I don’t think that the restrictions are each other. It needs to be quality at this necessarily even a hindrance,” Kintzer said. point,” Kintzer said. “It has forced RAs to think more and to have more engaging Kintzer and Tian said that they’ve had to lower their events. In general, we have risen to the challenge to create more expectations in terms of event turnout this year. However, engaging events.” they’re both grateful that they’ve had fairly good turnout to all Kintzer added that RA-sponsored events are more varied of their programming. than ever, with hybrid and online events in addition to the “I’m really grateful that my residents are very involved. The typical in-person gatherings. turnout is pretty good, with low expectations. I have a total of “I held some online events for Kahoot games, Spotify 12-13 residents and at least three residents show up to each playlists and music vibe nights … We were also lucky to be event. Everyone has super busy schedules, so it warms my heart able to do outdoor in-person events. Residents were able to see when people come to my events and is part of the reason I love each other and understand themselves as a community. Having this job,” Tian said. the variety of programs was definitely helpful for building Several RAs reflected that students are far more likely to community,” Kintzer said. turn out to events when there is food involved. “The more Kintzer added that he has created gift packages for his food, the more people come. Of course, the food is individually residents on several occasions this year, including a wellness kit wrapped to follow COVID guidelines” Zhang said. and a Halloween gift bag. Interim Dean for Residence Life Deb LoBiondo wrote Junior Andy Zhang, an RA in Trinity, said that he has also experimented with online events this year. He held a virtual game See COMMUNITY on Page 2 By Amy Guan

Staff Reporter

INSIDE — Build community by reading this paper together | Serving the University since 1905 |

After nearly seven months of complete virtual instruction under the state’s Plan C, Durham Public Schools teachers and administrators are making every effort to safely prepare classrooms for hybrid in-person teaching on a tight deadline. Durham Public Schools’ instruction was originally supposed to remain virtual throughout the rest of the school year. However, the board of education decided during their March 2 meeting for a return to hybrid inperson teaching. “Strategically, staying in Plan C is not realistic anymore,” wrote Michelle Burton, president of the Durham Association of Educators, in a social media post. “The COVID infection rate is less than 5% in Durham County. The majority of the school districts in NC are on either Plan A or Plan B ... DAE will be asking that all school buildings reopen on April 8 to allow enough time for as many DPS staff to get fully vaccinated and to make sure plans are in place for a smoother reopening.” Nine days later, Governor Roy Cooper signed Senate Bill 220 on March 11, requiring school districts to offer inperson instruction to K-12 students. This decision came after Cooper vetoed Senate Bill 37 Feb. 26, arguing that it did not observe public safety guidelines surrounding social distancing. The Senate failed to override the veto on March 1. Elementary school students in Durham Public Schools returned to schools on March 15, and middle and high school students will begin returning April 8. Families can still choose to remain learning virtually. See SCHOOLS on Page 12

Joyce Huang | Staff Photographer Durham’s school buildings will all reopen by April 8.

INSIDE Duke’s aggressive trademark defense A study by Duke professors criticized how the University defends its trademarks. PAGE 2

A food lover’s guide to college in a pandemic Eating together is an important part of how Recess columnist Maddie Menkes connects with friends. PAGE 6

Editorial: Support Asian communities Asians and Asian Americans face racism at Duke and beyond, the Community Editorial Board writes. PAGE 10

@dukechronicle @dukebasketball |

2 | MONDAY, MARCH 29, 2021

Why Duke changed the young trustee selection process By Madeleine Berger Staff Reporter

Ibrahim Butt, a current Young Trustee, was eating at Au Bon Pain on a Sunday morning when he got the email announcing that he was a Young Trustee finalist. “My mind went into overdrive,” Butt, T’20, said. “All of us YT finalists, regardless of how happy we were that we became a finalist, our immediate thought process was, ‘Oh god, this is going to be two weeks of hell.’” The undergraduate Young Trustee election used to resemble a full-blown political campaign: Candidates built a networking team, sought endorsements from organizations and broadcast their platforms across social media. This year, the process will look radically different. Previous Young Trustee candidates say that’s a good thing. “Having been around the position and around the nominating committee for a few years, I felt like the campaign that happened with the finalists wasn’t the most congruent process with the nature

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of the position,” said Tim Skapek, a previous finalist who campaigned largely on reforming the young trustee election process. “Being a young trustee is, in its nature, not meant to be a political position where individuals are running on policies or issues in particular. It’s not a political campaign, but it’s a selection process,” Skapek, Pratt ‘20, said. This year’s changes to the selection process were developed by Duke Student Government, previous Young Trustees and the Duke Office of the Secretary to the Board of Trustees. In lieu of an election process, students will submit a written application; finalists will participate in an open forum with students who can provide feedback to the Young Trustee Nominating Committee; the YTNC will recommend a Young Trustee; and finally, President Vincent Price will approve the recommendation. The process is led by Margaret Epps, secretary to the Board of Trustees and Price’s chief of staff. Epps wrote in an email that over the See YOUNG TRUSTEE on Page 12

Chronicle File Photo Duke’s undergraduate Young Trustee serves a term of two or three years on the Board of Trustees, the first year as a nonvoting observer.

Professors reveal University’s aggressive trademark defense By Paige Carlisle

legitimate opposition on Duke’s part. Jim Wilkerson, Duke’s director of trademark licensing, wrote in an email to The Chronicle What do “Dude Diet,” “Little D” and that unlike other universities, “Duke” is a fairly “DBag” have in common? Duke thinks they common word with associations of names, could hurt its trademarks. royalty and others, “all of which can create A recent study by two Duke Law professors, public confusion as to whether such uses refer James Boyle and Jennifer Jenkins, argues that to Duke University or not. In addition, Duke’s Duke is a “trademark bully,” as it has more fame means there are more counterfeiters than trademark oppositions than any other university is the case with less renowned schools.” The Office of Trademark Licensing “reviews from 2015-2018. Trademark oppositions involve trademark holders trying to block others from over 4,000 requests for permissions to use Duke registering trademarks that they believe infringe marks each year, ranging from requests for product approvals to projects, on their own—and Duke’s may go above and According to a new study, sponsorships, contracts, events, advertising,” he beyond usual practices. Duke filed 39% more wrote. “As we have tried “In 2020, the to demonstrate, many trademark oppositions from Patent and of Duke’s trademark 2015 to 2018 than 28 other U.S. Trademark Office oppositions are universities combined. published thousands expensive, legally of applications but we ungrounded and, while interfering with the legitimate businesses of only found 221 that we thought were potential others, produce little for Duke beyond bad problems, and we ended up filing only 12 publicity,” Boyle and Jenkins wrote in the opposition proceedings,” Wilkerson wrote. “Most were taken care of through amicable study. Entitled “Mark of the Devil: The University correspondence or agreements to avoid as Brand Bully,” their study is the first confusion.” On the trademark search engine Trademarkia, empirical examination of Duke’s protection of its trademarks. Some of Duke’s registered Duke consistently ranked as one of the “Biggest trademarks include the words “DUKE”, Bullies” out of all trademark owners during the period of the study, coming in second after “Duke University”, and “Blue Devils”. From 2015 to 2018 alone, Duke filed Monster Energy from 2014-17. Duke has filed oppositions against more oppositions than the top ten academic institutions, top ten basketball programs businesses attempting to register marks by revenue and top ten athletic programs such as “The Dude Diet”, “Little D”, “devils by revenue—39% more than the 28 other advocate”, “Beach’d”, “The Cameron”, “Goluke”, “Bluefood” and “#MakeDUfunagain.” universities in the study combined. The attempted trademark registrations Duke’s trademark oppositions generally object to usage of “Duke”, “Devil”, “Blue”, or the may be from a small business which, although letter “D” alone, despite Duke not possessing an likely to win an opposition case against Duke, cannot afford the tens of thousands of dollars absolute property right to any of these terms. “We’re very much in favor of Duke defending in legal expenses to defend their trademark. As its marks when they’re genuinely threatened,” a result, many of these companies will change Boyle noted in an interview. Jenkins said that their names to avoid the fight against Duke. “In many of these cases, we’re sorry to say, incidents like an apparel company attempting to register “Cameron Krzyz”, a play on the registered trademark “Cameron Crazies,” is a See TRADEMARK on Page 12 Staff Reporter

COMMUNITY FROM PAGE 1 in an email that “despite a truly unique and challenging year, our RAs continue to do a wonderful job of building an intentional and inclusive community, while working within all COVID health and safety guidelines.” In addition to community-building duties, this year’s RAs are responsible for enforcing COVID-19-related safety precautions among their residents. Several RAs reflected that this adds an additional stressor to their job and has the potential to strain relationships between RAs and their residents. “It is scary in terms of COVID. The job has become more ethical than it has in the past,” Kintzer said. “On rounds, I usually hear noise. In previous years, I made the judgement call that the resident is fine, but now I have to think about whether the room could be a potential COVID hotspot.” Zhang added that it’s tough because being an RA is to serve “as a mentor and person of support for the residents,” rather than “just someone who enforces the rules.” Despite the challenges associated with hosting community-building events during a pandemic and enforcing COVID-19 guidelines, Kintzer reflected that he still feels appreciated by students. “The student population has, at a base level, understood that RAs are doing their job, supporting the community responsibility that the Duke Community Standard is putting forward,” Kintzer said.

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Meet Duke’s student YouTubers

ON DUKECHRONICLE.COM

By Connor Booher

BY CHRIS KUO | 03/27/2021

Contributing Reporter

Catalyzed by a desire to document an unprecedented college experience—and often to occupy newfound free-time during the beginning of the pandemic—Duke students have turned to YouTube to share their content. The college YouTuber is a popular genre. One of the most successful of such creators, Nicolas Chae, details his life at Princeton University to an audience of over 125,000 subscribers. These videos often take form as a day-in-the-life or admissions overview and can rack up millions of views. This genre, though, often presents a rosy side of college life that lacks the day-to-day challenges students go through. Some students, like sophomore Joanne Gabriel, work to present the most accurate version of Duke possible. “I want to give people an opportunity to know Duke,” Gabriel said. She added that everyone knows Duke is a good school, but there are many things she wished she knew before she came. In one of Gabriel’s most-viewed videos, “*WATCH THIS BEFORE PICKING DUKE* | the cons of duke university,” she talks about some of the things she dislikes most about Duke. In the description, she noted that the video is “not intended to discourage anyone from applying to or accepting Duke.” “I’m just here to inform you guys,” she wrote. One of junior Andrew Nguyen’s most popular videos, “A rEaLIsTic WeeKeND aT dUkE uNiVErSitY (during covid),” depicts a typical, “semi-productive, semi-fun weekend” at Duke. Viewers turn to this type of content to learn about being a student at Duke, as well as to gain insights into the admissions process. One viewer of Gabriel’s “DAY IN THE LIFE OF A DUKE UNIVERSITY STUDENT” video remarked “I’m literally 13 and duke is my dream school.”

Another commenter wrote, “Duke’s been my dream school since kindergarten and I have 2 years to go! Please keep these vlogs up!” Gabriel and other student YouTubers said that they receive many direct messages and comments asking how they got accepted into Duke. They also noted how aspiring Duke students sometimes request feedback on admissions essays or applications, and they are often happy to assist their viewers in any way they can, even though they have no official capacity within the admissions process. However, many student YouTubers also use the platform as purely a creative outlet, independent of their academic and professional lives. “When you make it into a career, it adds a lot of extra pressure,” said first-year Christina Yoh. “I kind of post anything I want to post.” Yoh went on to say that she enjoys documenting this phase of her life in a way that’s accessible for family and friends. She posts on her own schedule, and says she’ll continue to create content until it becomes a burden. Nguyen hopes to use his channel to advance science communication to the broader public and foster community. “My channel is pretty small, but I’ve already met more people through YouTube than I have in real life since November,” Nguyen said. He hopes to attend medical school and says that YouTubing complements this pursuit while at Duke. Some students, like sophomore Shawna Wu, say that balancing YouTube and schoolwork can be challenging at times. “I’m still trying to figure out how to better manage my time,” she said, joking that she’s “currently hanging by a thread.” Wu, like others, began her channel as a way of preserving memories and having fun but quickly realized she enjoyed the viewer engagement. Like other student Youtubers, one of Wu’s most popular videos pertains to student life at Duke.

East Campus Union closed due to COVID-19 outbreak among staff East Campus Union, which includes Marketplace and Trinity Cafe, will be closed until further notice after several Marketplace dining staff tested positive for COVID-19.

Students who graduated early told they cannot attend May commencement ceremony BY LEAH BOYD | 03/27/2021 Some recent graduates are frustrated after being told that students who are not participating in surveillance testing this spring cannot attend the May 2 in-person commencement ceremony Duke hopes to hold, although the decision may not be final.

Bella Bann | Staff Photographer Sophomore Joanne Gabriel works to present the most accurate version of Duke possible in her YouTube videos.

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march 29, 2021

recess

life in a pickup truck

Staff writer Jas Santos reflects on growing up on the road, page 5

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a devil’s bookshelf Bates Crawford reviews Marilynne Robinson’s book ‘Gilead,’ page 6

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recess How will you spend #whiteboysummer?

Sarah Derris ... jordan peterson

Stephen Atkinson ..indie music

Sydny Long .............beer pong

Skyler Graham .............. fishing

Kerry Rork ......... with the boys

Jonathan Pertile .....jeep mods

Tessa Delgo .......backyard bbq

Eva Hong .... martha’s vineyard

on the cover:

Installation of MFA EDA graduate Lauren Henschel’s film “Fibers of Being” courtesy of Duke Arts.

staff note My earliest memories are those tagging along with my mom on her delivery trips from city to city. Riding in a white Grandia under the friendly glow of clip lamps, I learned my mom’s elegant cursive script between stop signs, and acquired a taste for ‘80’s music, mostly by accident, while shuffling through the playlists of an impudently snatched Nokia N90. I wore Spandau Ballet’s suave bravado wherever I went, and prayed that whenever I belted a track, the fogged-up glass would be enough to shield the world’s ears. “Sorry that the chairs are all worn I left them here I could have sworn.” The slick groove of “Gold” kept me in the mind of a madman orchestrating an ingenious city heist

under the moonlight shimmer. I would pause only to play my first make-believe game, “Astronauts,” where I hoisted myself up to moonwalk on the car ceiling. The stunt, of course, was heavily inspired by no other than the Prince of Pop himself. I knew all of Jackson’s lyrics by heart and inhabited his carefully curated character through the catchy responsibility of “Man in the Mirror” and the smooth swagger of “They Don’t Really Care About Us.” Had my mom not heeded the stories circulated by sleep paralysis, we could have dozed off in the mobile for nights and ridden on for weeks, perhaps even months, unnoticed. The makings of home kept us busy. We had a life in the awkward space between school supplies boxes, decor packs and a healthy nuisance of cousins who would carpool for school. If we were lucky, we had all five rows of seats to ourselves, and more than a

MONDAY, MARCH 29, 2021 | 5

few potty jars and pillow forts under the seats, in case the traffic got bad. Everything essential was already right here. The rest we outsourced with takeouts and laundry services like any typically busy household. The long drive through the gentle slopes of the old metro highway made me forget that we were needed somewhere. It would only pull me back much later, with the sudden dim of the mall’s tunnel entrance, or the clang of a metal gate while we back into a customer’s driveway. Once we arrived, the ride’s lethargy slowly dissipated, eclipsed by the frenetic energy that would preside over anyone operating under a tight schedule. Mom was a woman on a mission, meticulously going through school supply racks when she frequented shopping malls and bookstores. And I, ever the dependable sidekick, took the ever important task of reporting all the wonderful takeout places around, after we successfully captured the hottest items available. We would reach our last destination shortly after 9 p.m., and somehow, we found the time to fuss over the unprecedented delays in our many trips together. “....Birthday balloons?” — as I eyed her purchase, with my “Are you kidding?” expression, challenging its logic and untimeliness. As far as I knew, the next family birthday was still far down the year, which meant that mom was picking up the slack again for a near stranger or a distant relative. “Mom, you can just say you don’t have a spare.” I reminded her. Mom would insist on helping. If an argument were laid out, her thoughtfulness, sense of initiative and uncompromising grip on the item would win out upon check-out. Our simple life on the road ushered in an era of happiness on the go. Months after I started junior year, we finally parted ways with the aging white Grandia. I spent most of my latter adolescent years with friends, while mom tended to my youngest sister entering third grade.

I trained well after school, to trade school days for province-bound road trips, where the next big science competition awaited us. By design and force of habit, I would be in transit. I would go through the decorated alleys of Chinatown to grab a full-belly meal after a tiring calligraphy showdown in Liberty Hall, or wait in line in the nearest cafe with friends. Before sunset, my phone filled with messages from mom, telling me that my ride back home was on its way to me, carrying my favorite takeout. She loved to surprise me even on the most mundane days. Sometimes I would be caught off-guard by the change between her warm presence to distant text exchanges. With time, I learned to lean into it. Even curt messages were a reminder that she continues to journey with me. My nineteenth year of existence was unceremonious and daunting. For a while, I thought it was an impossible situation — life in dusty quarters, unmoving, unchanging. But as it is, I am grateful that this unfavourable situation has regaled me with a new form of travel. I am now in the front seat of my own delivery truck, picking up curious discoveries every so often: Who would have thought that those Statistics exercises I did in high school now involved coding? And that there is an actual gene that dictates which side of your hand would be the pinky and the index finger! As a student, a journalist in Durham and a language instructor for Jiangsu hospitals on the weekends, I try to live abundantly. And then I unload. Everything from sustainable living during a pandemic to rocking a winged eyeliner — I would share what I’ve learned with new-found appreciation. I sit down with students and leaders of different start-ups to impart my own research stories, hoping that it would one day be a gateway to future collaboration. Every day, I am riding through town, tagging along again. —Jas Santos, staff writer

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The Ciompi Quartet commissions Duke Graduate Composers 2020 Last summer, the Ciompi Quartet commissioned four graduate students in Duke Music’s Composition program to create new, short pieces conceived to be rehearsed and performed remotely as a response to the Covid pandemic. This video premiere features the Ciompi Quartet’s performance of: Maximiliano Amici: Mirage James Chu: mk

James Budinich: Rotation Study Ryan Harrison: Disconnected

Friday, April 9 @ 7:30 pm EDT View for free online at https://sites.duke.edu/bestofbiddle/

6 | MONDAY, MARCH 29, 2021

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Life at Duke during COVID-19 from a food lover’s perspective By Maddie Menkes Staff Columnist

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind. Ironically, my personal chaos coincided with a physical whirlwind as Durham was nearly struck by a tornado. If this doesn’t sum up the past few weeks of the second semester of my freshman year at Duke, I don’t know what could. Through all this discombobulation and stress, I felt as though the one thing I could rely on was the delicious food I could eat during meal times with friends. However, social dining ceased on March 13 when the Duke administration called for us to go into lockdown due to the extreme rise of COVID-19 cases. It was the same date a year ago that my high school announced that in-person classes would cease. Since the beginning of February, it seemed as though one by one my friends were being plucked from their dorms and put into Jarvis —the COVID-19 student isolation dorm — and this began to frighten me. As a passionate “foodie”, I could not imagine the disappearance of my taste buds and sense of smell. What would I have to write about? What would happen to my enjoyment of food? Luckily, as seen in my previous article, Duke student Alanna Peykar, has found a successful way to still somewhat enjoy her meals. However comforting that may be, I still did not want to lose my taste. As Duke publicized the increased COVID-19 numbers, I myself started to feel sick. It is hard to distinguish between psychosomatic symptoms and actual COVID-19 symptoms, but to play it safe, I clicked “Sore throat” on my SymMon app and

was immediately directed to The Lodge. Part of me was excited that I was finally going to see the inside of this quarantine chamber for myself and truly judge the quality and variety of the snacks. I packed up a large brown suitcase that was definitely three times my size and was shuttled in Duke’s notorious black Mercedes Sprinter. If you could ask a Duke freshman about the one image that frightens them the most, I think the majority would say seeing the black van pull up in front of the Bell Tower dorm one too many times. Now I was the one sheepishly entering the black van: luckily for me, my double mask hid most of my blushing face as I passed by other freshman students who were completely aware of my fate. After a short ride, it was time to get tested. This was no three times around nose swab; this was the “legitimately up to the back of my brain and stay there for 15 seconds” type of nose swab. My fate was determined by a few particles on a long white stick waiting to be transported and categorized as either positive or negative. Two words that can alter the path of someone’s future. Until then, back in the van I went! Waving good-bye to Darryl, my “chauffeur” (as named by Duke Student Health), I trudged into my new home for what would be at least one or two days. As soon as I opened the door to the grey and eerily quiet building, I was hit with snack city central. On my right side, a wide array of teas were placed in a wooden box and by its side was a white container filled to the brim with different types of Swiss Miss hot chocolates (there were even little bags of mini marshmallows too — score!) On my left hand side, there were a few measly bags of Snickers and Chips Ahoy! surrounded by the largest amount of microwaveable soups and mac n’ cheese

containers I had ever seen. But, to me, the jack-pot was the big glass refrigerator filled with large bottles of Smart Water. Yes, I said Smart Water. Now before you question my excitement, think about how nice it is to have a buffet of bougie water brands at your disposal. Goodbye to the Alspaugh metallic-tasting dorm water fountain, hello to luxury. Originally, there were no gluten-free snacks; however, after a simple request to accommodate my dietary restriction, Duke generously provided me with around 30 different allergy-free snack options as well as a gluten-free pizza from Mellow Mushroom. After a night of munching on some inedible “glutenfull snacks”, I received an alert from MyChart that my test results had been updated. My eyes focused on the powerful words “Coronavirus (COVID-19) SARS-CoV-2 PCR Value Not Detected” which felt like they leapt from the screen and provided a congratulatory hug. As soon as I read those words, my sore throat and runny nose disappeared. I thought to myself, “Yay! normalcy — well what has

become normalcy — can resume again!” Less than a month later, Duke called for a lockdown. From midnight on March 14 to 9:00 a.m. March 22, Duke was under a “Shelter-InPlace” order, meaning that students could only leave their dorm for essentials, in-person classes were canceled, socializing was limited to three people outside six feet apart and (the most hard-hitting, in my opinion) meals had to be eaten alone. The most important type of communication is interpersonal face-to-face communication and that is something that I was not able to do over the lockdown. During lockdown, I realized the value of eating meals with others. I have immensely missed catching-up with my friends during lunch and dinner time. Although I tried to find new virtual ways to connect with friends during mealtimes, it had not gone according to plan. An abbreviated version of this article appears in print. For the full version, visit https://www. dukechronicle.com/section/recess.

Chronicle File Photo

The campus dining experience has changed dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic.

recess Marilynne Robinson’s ‘Gilead’ is a lesson on aging and family

playground By Bates Crawford

a while later, he is left unmarried and childless for many years. At this time of these losses, nothing fulfilled him beyond his commitment to his Books are hidden pathways. Like Russian church. However, in a turn of events, Ames’s nesting dolls, several books interconnect — childhood best friend Boughton had a child and oftentimes unexpectedly. Last spring, at the start names him after Ames. Young Boughton became of the pandemic, when I read Lily King’s “Writers like John Ames’s own son and he became & Lovers” is a perfect example. In one scene, his second father. Throughout the novel, this the protagonist Casey Peabody (a writer) shares relationship is taxing and exhausting for Ames, as her favorite authors and books with another the boy grows up to be rambunctious, disrespectful, character: two are Shirley Hazzard’s “The Evening and simply mean. However, Ames never questions of the Holiday” and Marilynne Robinson’s his appreciation for his existence. Before Ames finds “Housekeeping.” Sure, I understood that this was his own family, Boughton provides him with a a fictional list of book recommendations, but second, youthful version of himself: a gift. perhaps this was also an encoded message from When the book begins, Ames’s health is King herself. I took her advice, purchasing a copy deteriorating. Approaching eighty, he is often of both, and to this day I highly recommend these exhausted, and his bones are growing weak. However, two classic choices. he won’t let this be a barrier to being a dedicated After reading Robinson’s “Housekeeping,” father. The style of the novel mirrors his intent: it a Pulitzer Prize finalist, I was fascinated by her is a letter entirely addressed to the “you” of Ames’s ability to make a very simple storyline both vivid seven-year-old son. In it, he investigates his own and vulnerable. It was one of my favorite books identity and experiences. By doing so, he hopes of 2020. Left interested and invested in Robinson’s that his vulnerability in sharing his own story will writing, I decided to pick up a copy of “Gilead,” her be appreciated. When his son when he can no Pulitzer Prize winning novel, originally published longer spend time by his side, these words will in 2004. This is the first book in a series of four actively teach and guide him. In this way, this diary novels, all set in the same fictional town of Gilead, becomes like a bible of fatherhood for Ames, sacred Iowa – a quiet place where not much happens, but in its own meditation on life. This style makes the the perfect place for Robinson’s attentive, intricately novel deeply personal. While reading, I often felt as detailed and meditative reflections. I usually don’t though I was part of a conversation not meant for think categories or generalizations of books serve a me. I don’t regret the intrusion, however, and plan purpose in reviews, but this may be one of my all to reread it again. time favorites. In it, she explores the questions: what As Ames gains a newfound hope through his do you include in a diary about your life? What gets family, he must navigate between a life that will passed onto future generations? What should be soon disappear, and two that are just beginning. He hidden and what can be shared? reconciles with his decline and limitations while The majority of Reverend John Ames’s watching his son and young wife experience their adulthood, prior to the start of the novel, is filled own seemingly endless opportunities. His wife with significant loneliness and tragedy. As the encourages him to look back at old sermons tucked novel’s narrator, he tells us that he has never left away upstairs in their home, deeply aware of the Gilead, even after his father, mother and brother time constraints on their life together. However, Edward did many years ago. After losing his wife in Ames encourages her to understand that he is not a devastating childbirth, and his newborn daughter outrunning a clock. Although he wishes for more Contributing writer

Courtesy of Flickr Robinson’s novel “Gilead” is the first of three in her series, telling the tale of Reverend John Ames and his family.

time with his family, he is never envious of their position. Instead, he uses his wisdom from a lifetime of preaching to carefully dissect his own memories, extracting the lessons he wants his son to learn. Robinson’s narrative through the character of Ames is exploratory and challenges a typical plot structure. He writes in an awe-inspiring stream of consciousness, and I often would finish a paragraph and reread it, finding a new gem each time. Robinson does not use any chapters, but often makes use of significant white space on the page. Visually, the effect of this negative space is like a breath for the reader. She allows us to become momentarily overwhelmed with sensory details, but then encourages us to pause, sparking our own curiosity and reflections. The book itself is not a chaotic adventure, whodunnit chase, passionate romance or hilarious comedy, but it reinvents these expectations we often have for stories. In a world of constant stimulation, we expect books to be or do something elaborate. Sometimes, though, the most elaborate explorations are those that force us to do nothing at all. Throughout the novel, Ames negotiates his feelings through the language of the heart. This organ is the root of his sickness, and on days when

he feels tired and failing, it is heavy. He shares that it aches and throbs with occasional grief, but it also makes him feel an inexplicable love for the world. Observing, listening and experiencing the seemingly inconsequential miracles of life allow for his heart to temportaily outcompete its failures. Sensations like the morning light, his son emerging from the cold with rosy pink cheeks and fingers, and his wife grasping his hand between hers, make him appreciate the momentary flashes of wonder that fill each day. By writing down his memories, Ames hopes that his son will resurrect them, letting them take on a new life after his ends. In Gilead, Marilynne Robinson lets language wander. Her descriptions twist and turn about the page, and she provides readers with a reinvention of life’s simplicity, which undoubtedly deserves 5/5 Blue Devils. Inverting light and darkness, and life and death, Robinson shows that our ephemerality is not something we should compartmentalize. Shying away from our ultimate end, she suggests, inhibits us from understanding the power of the present. After finishing this novel, I had a hundred more questions than answers. Robinson puts readers to work, and I encourage you to join me in reading — and rereading—this book.

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MONDAY, MARCH 29, 2021 | 7

march 29, 2021

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SAVED MEN’S LACROSSE: THWARTS SYRACUSE COMEBACK BID • BASEBALL: OFFENSE COMES ALIVE

8 | MONDAY, MARCH 29, 2021

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MEN’S LACROSSE

Duke edges past Syracuse in ACC opener By Sasha Richie Staff Writer

With just a second on the clock, Duke clinging onto a one-goal lead and Syracuse on the man-up, Orange All-American Stephen Rehfuss launched a CUSE 14 rocket at the net. For a brief moment, DUKE 15 confusion settled over the field as it seemed Rehfuss scored and pushed the game into overtime at the buzzer. But then, celebration erupted on the Blue Devil sideline. Goalie Mike Adler had made the save, and Duke snagged the win in its ACC opener. It was a dramatic moment at Koskinen Stadium, a fitting end for the Blue Devils’ most dramatic game of the year. After finishing nearly two months of nonconference play undefeated, No. 2 Duke took down No. 4 Syracuse 15-14 Thursday in a nailbiter that wasn’t decided until the final milliseconds, keeping the Blue Devils’ perfect record intact. The game marked the seventh time in the two teams’ last nine meetings that the winner has triumphed by a single goal, including the fourth straight. “It’s funny, like when you’re a kid, right? These are the games you dream about playing in your backyard,” graduate transfer Michael Sowers, who led the Blue Devils with three goals and three assists, said. “You just kind of feel a different enthusiasm, a different intensity.” Those watching felt it too. After a tense start that saw the game tied at five early in the second quarter, Duke (9-0, 1-0 in the ACC) took off running and scored seven unanswered

Courtesy of Nat LeDonne/Duke Athletics

Michael Sowers led the Blue Devils with three goals and three assists in Thursday’s win. goals to make it 12-5 with three minutes to go until halftime. But the Orange then held the Blue Devils scoreless for 12 minutes and 43 seconds, clawing their way back into the game with six unanswered goals of their own to cut their deficit to 12-11. By the time there were seven minutes left in the contest, Syracuse (4-2, 1-1) led 14-13, and Duke was looking at its first late-game deficit of the season. “[The key is] falling back on our fundamentals, and we did the opposite,” Sowers said. “And I think you saw the results—12 goals in the first half, three goals in the second half.” However, after over 20 minutes of Orange domination, the Blue Devils caught a lucky break—Syracuse committed a penalty, and Duke went on the man-up. Sophomore Dyson

Williams, the Blue Devils’ leading scorer last season, then promptly found the back of the net to tie the game. Now, it was just a race to the go-ahead goal. And who better than Sowers to end up scoring that goal, notching what ended up being the game-winner with 3:25 remaining. The Pennsylvania native, who entered the season ranked second in NCAA Division I history in points per game, came to Duke for these moments. And Thursday night, he delivered. Another storyline of the game was the battle of the freshmen, with Duke and Syracuse boasting the No. 1 and No. 2 recruits of the incoming class in Brennan O’Neill and Owen Hiltz, respectively. O’Neill secured his fifth hat trick of the season Thursday, while Hiltz scored

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a goal and two assists for the Orange. The lynchpin for Duke’s victory, however, was another freshman: face-off specialist Jake Naso. Naso won 16-of-20 face-offs in the first half, a huge factor in Duke’s seven-goal tear in the second quarter. He finished the night 24-of-32, his highest number of total face-off wins in a game this season. The performance moved him into a tie for second in the country in that department. To top it off, Naso scooped up a season-high 14 ground balls and scored a goal after rushing the net off a face-off win. Put simply, the Blue Devils don’t get enough possession of the ball and don’t win without Naso playing arguably his best game of the season. “We’re as surprised as anybody,” head coach John Danowski said of Naso’s incredible play this season. “First game of the season, he took one draw, and he violated...he wasn’t in our plan…. But playing in the bright lights, playing in a big game...he continues to evolve his progress.” Overall, despite a rocky middle stretch, Duke closed the night with a good team win. Four separate players posted multiple goals— Sowers, O’Neill, Williams and senior Joe Roberton—and other players like Naso, Adler and graduate student defenseman JT GilesHarris came up big in critical moments to carry the Blue Devils to the finish line. And while this game was certainly many things—nerve-racking and scrappy come to mind, and a signal of what’s to come for the rest of ACC play—perhaps Danowski put it best: “It’s exciting. It’s so much fun.”

BASEBALL

Blue Devil offense wakes up in series finale By Jake C. Piazza Blue Zone Editor

Not all .500 records are created equal. If you take a glance at the gauntlet that has been Duke’s schedule, you will understand why. The Blue Devils faced off against yet another ranked opponent this past weekend, hosting No. 10 Georgia Tech in a three-game series at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. After being soundly beat Friday and Saturday night, Duke clung on to win 9-7 Sunday behind the bats of Peter Matt, Wil Hoyle and Michael Rothenberg to avoid being swept for the first time this season. “We talked about embracing discomfort. I don’t think anybody felt great with the way we played the first two games and the way our offense had performed,” head coach Chris Pollard said. “But I told our team I wanted us to lean into that, to be comfortable being uncomfortable, that going through this would make us better and that there was no doubt in my mind we would break out of it.” As difficult as the Blue Devils’ schedule has been thus far, there does become a point when Duke (10-10, 5-7 in the ACC) will have to figure out how to come out on top in some of these high-profile series, and Rothenberg’s offensive display Sunday against Georgia Tech (13-7, 10-5) is as good a place to start as any. After being named a third-team preseason All-American by D1baseball, the senior catcher has struggled at the plate and came into Sunday’s game hitting below .200 on the year. Rothenberg has not been the only Blue Devil struggling with the bat, though, and it

appeared Pollard was ready to try something new when he opted to shake up the batting order Saturday and Sunday. “I can’t tell you that this is the lineup we’re going to use for the next 20 games or even the next five games, but it worked for today,” Pollard said Sunday. “We got great production out of the bottom for whatever reason, Rothenberg out [of] the eight-hole, and that’s what he needed to get hot.” Pollard’s decision did indeed pan out Sunday, with Duke’s offense exploding across the board. Rothenberg paced the club with his three extra-base hits, and whether or not he can use this performance to jumpstart his offense for the rest of the year will factor heavily into how well Duke fares as a team. “Obviously I’ve been struggling a little bit through the start of the year, not really feeling myself in the box, but just stuck with it, focused on the things I could control—keep trying to be a good teammate, keep catching well, helping my guys on the mound and just knowing it’ll come,” Rothenberg said. “Just tried to feel really loose in the box today, tried to just not press and not get too tight and let rhythm take over for me. While Rothenberg used this weekend to get himself on track, Matt and Hoyle continued their hot starts. The former went 5-for-11 on the weekend and the latter recorded a hit in every game as well as a team-high three RBIs Sunday. “[Matt] just hits the ball so hard,” Pollard said. “He just consistently produces the loudest exit [velocities] of anybody on our team. And when you hit the ball that hard consistently, a lot of those are gonna fall for hits.”

Courtesy of Reagan Lunn/Duke Athletics

Michael Rothenberg homered and hit two doubles in Sunday’s series finale. In contrast to Sunday’s impressive offensive performance, the Blue Devils only managed to scratch two total runs across in the first two games of the series. An even bigger concern for Duke was the secondinning departure of ace Cooper Stinson due to muscle tightness Friday night, though Pollard said after Sunday’s game that Stinson is “on track to make his start on Friday at Miami.” Elsewhere in the Blue Devils’ pitching staff, sophomore Henry Williams logged his best outing of the season in Saturday’s loss, going 7.0 innings and giving up two unearned runs. Duke’s bullpen also performed well all weekend outside of a couple runaway innings. Something that plagued Duke throughout the series was taking care of the baseball. Rothenberg and Hoyle may have lit it up with their bats, but the two failed to connect on

two separate stolen base throwdowns, and Saturday’s mishap cost Duke a run in what was then a one-run ballgame. “We’re on time to the bag in both situations. We just have to handle the baseball better. We just have to execute the catch. The rule there is ball first, tag second,” Pollard said. “You have to have ball security before you execute the tag and both those should be outs and so we’ve got to do a little better job handling the baseball in that situation.” Sunday’s showing was overwhelmingly encouraging for Duke’s future, but the same could have been said after the Blue Devils blanked Notre Dame in last weekend’s finale. All the tools are there, but Duke is going to need to bring it all together for a full series as it prepares for a Tuesday matchup with Liberty and then a three-game set at No. 18 Miami this upcoming weekend.

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FOOTBALL

New-look offense, sturdy defense highlight spring game By Shane Smith

the run. I think that’s big for us, just keeping an open mind that not everything has to be done in the pocket. If things break down, we have a really This weekend finally marked the first athletic quarterback group.” opportunity to see the new faces and future of the Holmberg finished the scrimmage with 107 Duke football program. yards and a score on 5-of-9 passing attempts. The Blue Devils got back to a semblance The Blue Devils’ offense certainly looked like of game-like action with their annual Spring a conservative one Saturday morning, mostly Showcase Saturday morning at Wallace Wade operating with quick throws and designed runs. Stadium. Head coach David Cutcliffe’s squad had However, Duke will be well-suited to establish its two-hour practice broadcasted live on the ACC a solid offensive foundation that takes care of Network as Duke ran through individual, special the ball a year removed from leading the FBS teams and situational drills before ending the day in turnovers. with an intrasquad scrimmage. The headliner for that offense in 2021 will The biggest storyline heading into the event undoubtedly be running back Mataeo Durant, was how things would shake up under center after who dazzled in a shared backfield role last year to the departure of last year’s starting quarterback the tune of 817 yards and eight touchdowns on Chase Brice. Signs appear to be pointing toward nearly seven yards per carry. The rising senior saw soon-to-be redshirt junior Gunnar Holmberg limited action throughout the day, though, with as the heir to the position with two promising backup Jordan Waters getting a chance to show assets behind him in Luca Diamont and midyear why he is primed to take on more carries with the freshman Jordan Moore. departure of 2020 starter Deon Jackson. “It feels good to be with the guys that I’ve been Duke’s offense faced a 4th-and-short midway here for the past three or four years with and to through the scrimmage and decided to hand the finally be with the ones with them,” Holmberg said. ball off to Waters on a sweep. The North Carolina “I think confidence-wise, we’re all building that, native promptly broke an initial tackle at the line especially me. Being able to build off the last few of scrimmage and left the defense in his dust for years that we’ve been here, continuing to learn the a 51-yard score. offense and continuing to expand on that—put in With new pieces still trying to fit together on things that we know work for our guys.” offense, it was still a day in which the Blue Devil Once the 11-on-11 portion of the practice defense made its presence known. Even with began, Holmberg wasted no time getting the stars Chris Rumph II and Victor Dimukeje off to offense rolling, as he fired a quick slant to junior the NFL, the defensive line should be the strong wideout Jalon Calhoun for an 80-yard touchdown suit of the team thanks to its depth. Co-defensive on the first play of the scrimmage. A year after coordinator Ben Albert has had a massive Duke quarterbacks were sacked 37 times, Cutcliffe impact on the program since his arrival in 2016, now turns to a much more mobile signal caller, as as Duke’s pressure upfront—and a returning the Heritage High School product found ways to linebacker corps—should lead a strong group escape pressure and throw on the run. on that end of the field. “We put in a lot of things, reading a defensive “We’re all expected to do the same thing, no end, that we kind of took out last year just matter how old you are or whatever your depth is with the personnel we had,” Holmberg said. on the team,” defensive lineman DeWayne Carter “So things that are not necessarily real triple- said. “The one thing about Coach Albert, he’s very options, but give you a lot of options.... We do intelligent and he imparts that knowledge on us. a lot of scramble drills now that we haven’t done So as young defensive linemen coming up, maybe in the past just from watching guysYork likeTimes Patrick when Sales we’re Corporation not getting many snaps, we can still The New Syndication 620they Eighth Avenue, N.Y. 10018 Mahomes and how many plays make on New goYork, in and play that same scheme and still know Sports Managing Editor

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Crossword ACROSS 1 Not be heard from anymore 7 Tom who created Jack Ryan 13 Shakespearean fairy king 14 Something to practice percussion on 15 Humorist Ambrose who once defined “alone” as “in bad company” 16 Fans that jeer the home team, informally 17 Quick attack groups 19 Club booklet 20 Blind followers 24 Tennis star Nadal, to fans 27 Like the leftmost stripe on le drapeau français 29 Deli loaf 30 “There you are!” 31 Like many TV news interviews

35 Emmy nomination number for which Susan Lucci finally won for playing Erica Kane on “All My Children” 37 Little bit 38 Comic actress Rudolph 39 Went 0 to 60, say 43 Producer of jingle-jangle in the pocket 46 “Good for the earth” prefix 47 Horror film director Aster 48 Grasp 49 Coffee or beer, informally 50 Coke and RC 53 Mom on “Modern Family” 56 Aid for a Thanksgiving chef 61 Reverse course, slangily 64 Wing it?

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65 Cry at a revival 66 Kind of sale 67 Clicked the double vertical bar on a YouTube video 68 Precipitates unpleasantly, in a way

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18 19 25

46 49

26 Gushing letters 28 On drugs, say 31 Bump on a lid 32 Beaut 33 Driving test obstacle 34 GPS suggestion: Abbr. 36 What may have a ring to it?

40 10/24 celebration of global cooperation 41 Makeup of Elsa’s castle in “Frozen” 42 Drag 43 Kind of fly 44 Whiz 45 Pawned 49 Next to 51 Part of some encyclopedias 52 Smooth

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Crossword ACROSS 1 Cry from a card holder 4 ___ Kelly, Democratic governor of Kansas starting in 2019

32 Late 1970s 35 Show that Betty White hosted at age 88, informally 39 Tear 40 Trick to increase one’s efficiency, in modern lingo

17 -able

43 “That one’s on me”

20 Singer Turner’s memoir

24 Frost formed from fog

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31 Added some color to

16 “Old Town Road (feat. Billy Ray Cyrus),” for one

23 Actress/singer Kravitz

54 Certain building beams 55 Get tangled up 57 Had some second thoughts about 58 ___ Modern 59 Division politique 60 Rules and ___ 61 One of 21 on a die 62 Actress Thurman 63 Sch. whose newspaper is The Daily Reveille

30 Group HQ’d in Ramallah

36 Op-ed

21 Alley sight

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25 Fish on a sushi menu

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19 Nickname for an instructor

24 Was in charge of

“flamingo vans”:��thepizzaman “Buddy Boeheim”: �� tothemax

9 Yoga pose

48 52

Things we’ve trademarked:

15 Putin ally in the Mideast

Courtesy of Reagan Lunn/Duke Athletics

Gunnar Holmberg took over QB1 duties.

“I’m picking Gonzaga”: �� mattyg

14 World view?

29 33

together,” defensive lineman Ben Frye said. “If you’re out here dwelling on 2020 and what’s to come in 2021, that was a huge point of emphasis, was just to be together and to have fun. We’re doing what we love—it’s still football. I think that showed today.” The Blue Devils kick off their 2021 campaign this fall with a Sept. 4 battle against Charlotte.

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No. 0408 7

DOWN 1 Oodles 2 Dead space? 3 Howl : wolf :: bell : ___ 4 Exuberant cry south of the border 5 Title film character who declares “Nobody owes nobody nothing” 6 Show obeisance 7 Gator’s cousin 8 Some garage jobs 9 Eschewers of military service 10 “Ask Me Another” airer 11 Scoundrel 12 Fabric measures: Abbr. 14 Real English county on which Thomas Hardy based the fictional Wessex 16 Where you might roll the starts of 17-, 31-, 43- and 56-Across 18 George Orwell’s “Animal Farm,” e.g. 21 Nook, e.g. 22 One of eight on most spiders 23 Part of an animal farm

how to play off of each other just due to our attentiveness in the film room.” Duke began spring practices Feb. 26 for its allotted 15 workout dates, though things came to a screeching halt two weeks ago as in-person activities were shut down due to a COVID-19 cluster within the program just three practices into the schedule. Nevertheless, the Blue Devils are still the first ACC team to hold its spring game this year. “When we had that little COVID stop, it wasn’t anything that we hadn’t faced before due to the adversity that we faced in the summer, being one of the last teams to come back and everything else,” Carter said. “One thing about us as a team—we’ve got grit, we’ve got heart and we’ve got workers. We found ways to work out safely, mitigated and still get our work in. So that way when we were allowed to come back, we could hit the ground running, and there was no drop off.” While the program has missed postseason play each of the last two years, and will try to improve on a 2-9 season with some key names leaving the program for NFL or other collegiate opportunities, there still seemed to be a high level of excitement to hit Brooks Field and get back to some normalcy. “It’s been a hard year for everyone all around the country, and playing football brings people

47 Sailor 48 Bond or bind 49 Mil. post, say 51 Soul singer Gray 52 Bit of reproach 53 Updo hairstyle

25 Big nos.

54 NBC drama that won 15 Emmys

29 Connecticut collegian

55 Tree that’s one of Athena’s symbols

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58 Method of communication needed to understand 17-, 25-, 36- and 49-Across 61 Target 62 Hybrid fruit 63 ___ in Nancy 64 Figures in academia 65 Unlikely Christmas gifts in tropical areas 66 Is written in old Rome? DOWN 1 Worked from home, say 2 Sea creatures that move by jet propulsion 3 “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade” outlook 4 Singer ___ Del Rey 5 Grateful? 6 Tour letters 7 “Invisible Man” author Ellison 8 Berries, for breakfast cereal, e.g. 9 Intriguing discovery in a cave 10 Date 11 Second-largest private employer in the U.S., after Walmart 12 Cartoonist Hollander 13 Log splitter 18 Prime factor

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36 39

35 37

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22 “Up to this point, no” 25 Where to get a polysomnogram 26 ___ Crawley, countess on “Downton Abbey” 27 More off-the-wall 28 Nada 30 Talking point 33 It might be shot on a winding seaside road 34 Part of the knee, for short

37 Shere who wrote “Sexual Honesty: By Women for Women”

45 Daughter of Muhammad 46 One-ups 50 Small hill

38 Eschew dinner company

51 Big ___

41 Large, noisy insects

54 Gives permission to

42 Route 1 terminus

56 Camper, e.g.

43 “The Wind in the Willows” character 44 “That’s not true!”

57 H.S. exam org. 59 Regret 60 Cover some ground

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10 | MONDAY, MARCH 29, 2021

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It’s past time to support Asian communities

ollowing the murders of Xiaojie Tan, Delaina Ashley Yaun, Paul Andre Michels, Daoyou Feng, Hyun Jung Grant, Soon Chung Park, Suncha Kim, and Yong Yue in Atlanta, Georgia, Duke remained silent. Social media has been flooded with

shooting for discrimination against Asian Americans to be recognized? And why has Duke failed to release a full statement in solidarity with Asian Americans after an attack affecting one-fifth of its student body, instead referring to a statement President Vincent

first arrived in the United States. In 1854, the California Supreme Court “reinforced racism against Asian immigrants in People v. Hall, ruling that people of Asian descent could not testify against a White person in court.” In 1871, 500 White and Hispanic rioters lynched at least 17 Chinese males in Los Angeles. In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act banned Chinese immigration for 20 years. In 1989, a gunman opened fire on a Stockton, CA EDITORIAL schoolyard full of Cambodian and Vietnamese American children, killing 5 and wounding 32. activist posts relating to the shooting. Some Price made before the attacks? Most recently, 3,800 anti-Asian racist incidents people are finally beginning to acknowledge Hate crimes against Asian people are not a were reported in the past year, 68% of which the struggles that the Asian American recent phenomenon. Asians have been battling were committed against women. And yet, the community faces. But why did it take a mass racism and discrimination ever since they rampant Asian American racism has never been at the forefront of our nation’s conversation around discrimination and equal justice. hot take of the week Positive stereotypes about Asian Americans built largely off of the model minority myth obscure the legacy of “I think Monday Monday has been killed and replaced by a double agent. I can’t discrimination endured by Asians and allow prove it. But they look totally different, which feels relevant.” their ethnic counterparts to diminish the racism that they experience. People conflate —Mihir Bellamkonda, Opinion Editor, on March 28, 2021 the fact that many Asian students are highachieving with an assumption of privilege. However, these positive stereotypes do not shield the Asian American community from experiencing harassment online and in-person, institutional exclusion, and Direct submissions to: America’s longstanding problem with mass The Chronicle welcomes submissions in the form of letters to the editor E-mail: shootings. Moreover, no one speaks about the 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 issues behind the high-achieving facade. The address. Letters should not exceed 325 words; contact the editorial department intense pressure to perform, the expectation Editorial Page Department for information regarding guest columns. The Chronicle to “advance the generation,” the guise of The Chronicle will not publish anonymous or form letters or letters that are Box 90858, effortless perfection, and the inability to talk promotional in nature. The Chronicle reserves the right to edit letters and guest Durham, NC 27708 about being discriminated against because columns for length, clarity and style and the right to withhold letters based on of the backlash and invalidation they will Phone: (919) 684-2663 the discretion of the editorial page editor. receive; it all takes a tremendous toll on a Fax: (919) 684-4696 person. Suicide was the “8th leading cause of death for Asian-Americans, whereas it was the 11th leading cause of death for all racial groups combined.” Mental struggles are often Est. 1905 Inc. 1993 discounted because they are invisible. Even worse, many Asian individuals have no outlet MATTHEW GRIFFIN, Editor for their struggles due to lack of support and EVAN KOLIN, Sports Editor recognition of their experiences. How dare MARIA MORRISON, Managing Editor they talk about their own problems when MONA TONG, News Editor other minorities seem to have it worse? CARTER FORINASH, Editor-at-Large ROSE WONG, Senior Editor Duke itself has been reluctant to JAKE SATISKY, Digital Strategy Director accommodate Asian Americans. Despite SIMRAN PRAKASH, Photography Editor students advocating for an Asian American MIHIR BELLAMKONDA, Opinion Editor Studies major since 2002, Duke did not SARAH DERRIS, Recess Editor add this program to Trinity College until CHRISSY BECK, General Manager 2018. Duke has lagged behind other top universities in taking action; dozens of other SHANE SMITH, Sports Managing Editor REBECCA SCHNEID, Sports Photography Editor comparable universities implemented Asian MASON BERGER, Video Editor JACKSON MURAIKA, News Photography Editor American studies programming years before MARY HELEN WOOD, Audio Editor AARON ZHAO, Features Photography Editor Duke conceded. Although Asian Americans NADIA BEY, University News Editor BELLA BANN, Photography Social Media Editor comprise 21% of Duke’s undergraduate LEAH BOYD, University News Editor MARGOT ARMBRUSTER, Opinion Managing Editor population, the institution has not provided PRIYA PARKASH, University News Editor NICHOLAS CHRAPLIWY, Opinion Managing Editor a specific cultural center for Asian students PREETHA RAMACHANDRAN, University News Editor VICTORIA PRIESTER, Opinion Managing Editor for its largest minority group on campus. YUEXUAN CHEN, Local and National News Editor SYDNY LONG, Recess Managing Editor Finally, members of the Duke community ANNA ZOLOTOR, Local and National News Editor BEN WALLACE, Community Editorial Board Chair have also exhibited racism and carelessness ASHWIN KULSHRESTHA, Health and Science News Editor RYAN WILLIAMS, Community Editorial Board Chair towards Asian American students without MICHAEL LEE, Health and Science News Editor SHANNON FANG, Equity and Outreach Coordinator STEFANIE POUSOULIDES, Investigations Editor the administration taking steps to reduce NADIA BEY, Recruitment Chair JAKE SHERIDAN, Features Editor JAKE SATISKY, Recruitment Chair these incidents in the future. Two years CHRIS KUO, Features Managing Editor TREY FOWLER, Advertising Director ago, Duke faculty members complained JULIE MOORE, Creative Director about Chinese students being “impolite” by speaking Mandarin in the student lounge, The Chronicle is published by the Duke Student Publishing Company, Inc., a non-profit corporation independent of Duke University. The opinions causing Duke professor Megan Neely to send expressed in this newspaper are not necessarily those of Duke University, its students, faculty, staff, administration or trustees. Unsigned editorials represent an email reading, “To international students, 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 PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep unintended reach the Advertising Office at 2022 Campus Drive call 684-3811. consequences in mind when you choose to One copy per person; additional copies may be purchased for .25 at The Chronicle Business office at the address above. speak Chinese in the building.” More recently, @ 2021 Duke Student Publishing Company two weeks ago, Duke’s Sanford School of

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LETTERS POLICY

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Public Policy also sent an email regarding the Atlanta shootings and left “(name all 8 victims)” instead of taking the time to send an email appropriately acknowledging the victims. Despite student backlash, the dean who sent the email attempted to ignore the mistake by pretending that leaving the names out was intentional. She acknowledged the mistake two days later, but this action was too little and too late. This lack of support for Asian American students and the disregard towards the struggles that Asian Americans face demonstrates Duke’s neglect of this part of the student body. Duke’s disappointing history of discrimination against Asian students is a reflection of a larger, national pattern: the overlooking and minimization of discrimination against Asian Americans. For instance, the North Thurston Public Schools in Washington decided that Asians are not people of color by grouping Asians together with whites when measuring academic achievements. However, this is an inaccurate representation: White people have not experienced the same type of racism and discrimination that Asian Americans face, nor have they been violently blamed and attacked for supposedly starting a global pandemic. Asians and whites do not belong in the same group, for one simple reason: Asian people do not experience white privilege. However, people are also hesitant to group Asians with people of color under the notion that Asians don’t face the “same level” of oppression as other minorities. So if Asians aren’t white, but they also aren’t people of color, where does that leave them? Most of the time, it leaves them overlooked and forgotten. This is why it is so important for Asian students at Duke to have their own cultural center where they can be supported by a community that knows what they are going through. This is why it is so important to engage in conversations about Asian American racism instead of invalidating these experiences under the guise of their being “model minorities.” Recently, several student organizations on campus have spoken up about Duke’s lack of action to support Asian students. Their demands include pushing Duke to establish Asian/ American and Diaspora Studies programs, provide a Cultural Center for Asian students, revisit past demands for Asian ethnic group data disaggregation, and establish a hate and bias policy. These are the first steps toward recognizing and finally prioritizing the needs of Asians. It shouldn’t have taken a mass shooting to garner attention towards the rampant discrimination that Asian Americans face. However, now that these issues are spotlighted, pay attention. Ask questions. Learn about the history of Asian Americans in the United States. And finally, advocate on behalf of this population–their struggles have been discounted for too long. Read Asian Students’ Demands, and hold Duke responsible for providing Asian students with the resources they need.

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The Community Editorial Board is independent from the editorial staff of the Chronicle. Their column runs on alternate Mondays.

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MONDAY, MARCH 29, 2021 | 11

The bus ride: A scene for the breadth of knowing

ne of my favorite performances of campus choreography shows several times a day and requires no ticket or fee to attend, or even to participate. The Bus Stop Passenger Exchange is possibly one of the most diverse junctions

money machines, spending and earning unaware of how they are managing, or rather being managed, to do both. If you think this reading is too harsh, you must not be pursuing a degree in economics because if you were, you would not find it harsh enough.

Nicholas Chrapliwy COLUMN students engage with generally, and I am struck every time I do by how many perspectives I get to ride between campuses with. So many pairs of eyes and so many different ways of experiencing the same object, namely the bus itself and riding on it—the event never gets old or mundane for me, but even more elaborately informed the more people and perspectives I meet. So in this column I want to explore this curious confluence of so many minds through another series of archetypes, each a major program of study at our university. While most of the time the bus ride is a distracted experience of transition rather than arrival, necessary only because our minds are tied to our space-bound bodies, my hope is that by sketching out the scope of thought and character contained in its confluence, you will be able to make the journey with more awareness of the people and their ways of knowing that you encounter while on it. Take your eyes in your hands now and exchange them with those of the following characters, seeing as they see, and let yourself experience the inescapable awe at the canyons of breadth they fill.

NEUROSCIENCE: Looking usually through thinly rimmed circular glasses, the mind full of neuroscience sees an elaborate performance of coordinated circuits running up and down the concert hall of the bodies around them.

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The Bus Stop Passenger Exchange is possibly one of the most diverse junctions students engage with generally, and I am struck every time I do by how many perspectives I get to ride between campuses with.

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The vestibular lumbo-sacral pathways mediating the tensing of the lower extremities by those standing up make POLITICAL SCIENCE: You’ve already listened to the crown jewel of our National you think of all the cerebral pathways downstream of the sensorimotor event. Public Radio’s programming, “Up First,” Someone bumps their elbow on a pole and so you take out your phone to listen to lets out a cry, and you can’t help but think Michael Barbaro tell you what you need... of the brilliant cooperation of afferent and toknowtoday. You think about the campaign speeches efferent signals that let that person retract you’ve studied and how none of them come their elbow from the source of pain without close to the comforting drone of someone a single explicit command. You remember very close to a microphone who asks you have a midterm in molecular neuro tomorrow, and excellent questions. You remember you have a quiz on Latin pull away from observing the organic American Wars of Independence, so you supercomputers moving around you to unclasp the constituent’s hand you were review your notecards for a third time this shaking in your head and open up your morning. STATISTICS: The models in your mind study notes for one last look. BIOLOGY (VIROLOGY): It’s blanket the world around you, swirling incredible, isn’t it, how many vectors for normal distributions and probabilities into disease there are. This hand on that metal your interpretation of every person and bus bar, then another hand unaware that it event you come across. You think of the people around you sitting was touched before. Before the pandemic there were on a certain side of the bell curve and cast high-fives, handshakes, hugs and other a thousand lots a second behind your eyes unthinkables, but even now the air we thinking about the odds of everyone being breathe is stopped by a mere 60% effective here at once in this very bus. Everything disposable mask or 76% effective cloth one. fades from your vision as a problem you’ve Just a few little spiky protein balls filled with been working on all week surfaces in your disastrous genetic material lodged in the mind, and you can’t help but pick at the nasal epithelium which expresses receptors knot of solving it. By the time you get to your stop it has much more susceptible to infection than the ones on the pulmonary epithelium, and the loosened, but only slightly. ANTHROPOLOGY: The advanced naked nose peeking through the mask ten feet away from you has planted the seed of primates all around you are a never-ceasing stream of field data, unprocessed by any a positive case. You look away to avoid thinking about it. supercomputer other than the starch-fed ECONOMICS: Avoid looking through one jiggling in between your ears as you these eyes at all costs. You will no longer yourself act using impulses that are no less see human people around you but mobile than two hundred thousand years old. ***

You think about how far removed the activities of the bus are from our evolutionary forebears caravanning across a savannah or herding domesticated species at every rung of the latitudinal ladder across the globe. Minds and bodies that host adaptations still suited best to hunting and gathering sip sweet sodas that take advantage of our formerly-advantageous proclivity to sugar binge when we would find wild honey or a rare cluster of berries. You notice how the environments around you are all twisted into such different shapes than the ones that we originally adapted to, and you think in passing that if we put back the fruit from the tree right where we found it, perhaps we will be allowed back into the garden we inhabited in the beginning. The

agricultural revolution of ten thousand years ago ruined everything. VISUAL MEDIA STUDIES (ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN): The buildings pass in a blur from left to right as your bus driver speeds precariously past them, but you’ve determined by now which is which. There are the American Collegiate Gothic structures framed by steelreinforced concrete beams and blanketed in Hillsborough-quarried stone stained seventeen different shades of seven primary tones. Nearly impossible to deconstruct, they’ll be here at least a thousand years into the future. With West Campus behind you, you notice the former endowed professorship houses along Campus Drive that now house various departmental offices. Wood framing, probably, but most with a brick or vinyl siding exterior. There’s that one Tudor revival structure diagonally across from the Ruby that you’ve marked as your favorite, and you wonder who lived there first when it was built. Finally you’re on East, that quiet Georgian revival sanctuary with the greenroofed neoclassical yard close to Main Street. You pick up the document cylinder that holds some of your larger designs and hope the next dorm to be built on campus has at least a few ornamental flairs. MECHANICAL ENGINEERING: While most of the devices around you contain some circuitry and electrical controls, the mechanical concert entertaining you as the bus has no lack of the simplest machines. From the wheels themselves to the pulleys used to request a stop, and then much farther up the scale of complexity when you

contemplate the engine moving those wheels by controlled explosion, you consider what a wonderful age we live in when the most transcendentally functional machines are a mundane part of everyday experience. Then the bus hits one of the many keep potholes on Campus Drive and you snap out of your rapture to wonder whether the vehicle’s suspension needs some maintenance work done. (It almost certainly does). PHILOSOPHY: Deleuze, Guattari, Derrida, Althusser and Lacan have all been belligerent this week. You’re not sure whether they’ve spun a brilliant web to connect ideas a thousand miles above the sky or whether they’re all peddling sewage—you change your answer every other week. Your mind is replete with a network of writers and thinkers and petulant questioners that comprehend the canon as far back as Socrates and as recently as Zizek. You laugh thinking about something that absurd Slovenian said in his most recent talk, but then laugh harder when you remember Badiou’s response. You’ve spent the entire week trying to make transparent one tediously opaque paragraph of Hegel, and you’re tired, but at least you’re on your way to a seminar you don’t really have to listen to since it’s about Kant and you can never compel yourself to care about the German Idealists. You relax by pulling out the enormous volume of “A Thousand Plateaus” you’ve been re-reading, and you escape into another cloud of words you’ll have to reread ten more times before comprehending. ***

At this point your mind’s eyes might be happily worn from so many exchanges between perspectives. But my hope is that you have seen the worth of considering what goes through the minds of the people around you during the common and seemingly mundane activity of riding the bus. I must provide the disclaimer that there are many perspectives not accounted for here, and even the ones I do account for are done with the limited scope I am able to muster from the testimony of friends and my personal experiences. Computer scientists, ROTC students, public policy writers, biomedical engineers, student athletes, pre-law and pre-med students and more—you too are all part of this place and make it great. Duke University is a community of incredible breadth, and like most institutions of higher learning it benefits immensely from stirring its pot of thinkers so that they interact and create previously unknown worlds of knowledge and innovation. Think about how wide is the scope of this community’s excellence, and even in the most unexciting moments of your time at this place, remember to be aware of how we can all converge to experience the same object, like the bus, and even then experience it in a myriad of ways from an array of perspectives. Remember that your world at Duke is full of very deep thinkers besides yourself, and consider often the benefit of entering into others’ ways of knowing. Nicholas Chrapliwy is a Trinity senior. His column usually runs on alternate Fridays.

SCHOOLS FROM PAGE 1 For Durham Public Schools educators and administrators, this was short notice to begin preparing their schools for students. “The board basically said, ‘Well, whether [Senate Bill 37] happens or not, y’all are going back to school, so saddle up your ponies and go,’” said Annie Harrison, a teacher at Forest View Elementary School in Durham. Harrison said that every school in the DPS system is allowed to make its own plan for in-person instruction— the only guideline was that in-person instruction must be offered four days a week. Harrison began teaching in-person last week with a split classroom: A portion of her students were in the classroom and a portion were on Zoom. She said that the elementary school teachers got better with this new medium quickly, adapting in ways like using wireless microphones so students on Zoom can hear her better. Harrison has signals she uses with her students to let them know when she’s answering a question in the classroom or on Zoom. She puts a toy dinosaur in front of the camera to let students on Zoom know she’s answering a question in the classroom. “It feels a little bit like being a game show host. You’re talking to the studio audience, but you’re also talking to the folks at home,” she said. She noted that the hybrid learning model students have told her that “this isn’t how school used to be.” The model has also split up friend groups. Harrison was still very thrilled to see her students, and she wanted very badly to hug them. “We have been through so much together. It’s like being soldiers in the same war. But you know, of course, we can’t hug.” Harrison also wanted to denounce the stereotype that teachers are “chickens” and do not want to go back to work. She said that teachers want to return in-person, but safely. Many would have preferred to wait a few more weeks and be fully vaccinated before returning to school. She expressed that teachers have been working hard all year, and she’s never worked this hard before. “This whole week has just been redline stress. And it’s being managed, I think exceptionally well, at our school. But there are still things that change three or four times a day. Buses, for example, are still a hot mess,” she said. Neal Middle School Principal Michael Fuga has been rigorously preparing for Neal’s reopening. Over the past couple weeks, Fuga has visited schools in Chatham, Granville and Wake counties to see how each county is preparing their schools for in-person instruction. He has held countless meetings with Neal staff and his leadership team. He also met individually with 35 staff members who expressed concerns about reopening. “The teachers are the ones that are going to be in the classrooms with these kids. We can’t return in person and provide a quality education unless the teachers feel safe,” he said. Despite the many challenges associated with reopening, Fuga expressed its benefits for Neal students. One hundred percent of Neal’s student body qualifies for free and reduced lunch, he said, and many of its families do not have access to help their children grow academically outside of Zoom. Hybrid instruction, he said, is “the best we can do.” Brogden Middle School Principal Anthony White is serving his first year as principal. This year has been a “very different experience” for him, he said, and he is excited about reopening and building stronger relationships with students from being in-person. “We’re ready for the kids to come back. It’s been a tough year on everyone. And I’m happy to be seemingly on the other side of things while we’re returning to some sense of normalcy,” White said. Brogden has a planning committee that consists of administrators, counselors, instructional coaches, and teachers who have been discussing reopening procedures over the last month. “It’s very, very important to have teachers’ input in these decision making processes,” White said. The committee has created an infographic and a series of TikTok videos to share with the Brogden community to ensure a safe reopening. White calls himself and his principal colleagues the “pandemic principals.” There is no blueprint for being a principal during a pandemic, he said, but he thankful to be a part of such a strong school community. “I’m thankful for my teachers, I’m thankful for my students, and their parents, because they have made this transition so smooth for me. Everyone has been willing to offer a helping hand,” he said.

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12 | MONDAY, MARCH 29, 2021

YOUNG TRUSTEE

TRADEMARK

FROM PAGE 2

years the Office of the Secretary heard concerns about the old Young Trustee process related to campaigning and perceptions of the role. The campaign process raised concerns that students were expecting candidates to deliver on specific promises once they were elected, Epps wrote. The Young Trustee is meant to be a “steward of the whole university,” rather than a representative of students, she wrote. Each Young Trustee serves a term of two or three years on Duke’s Board of Trustees, the first year as a nonvoting observer. There is also a graduate Young Trustee, chosen separately. Epps explained that the revised process was approved by the Board of Trustees, the board’s Governance Committee and the 2019 and 2020 Young Trustees. The process was also developed in “close collaboration” with DSG and the Graduate and Professional Student Government. “Feedback from current and former Young Trustees was instrumental in shaping the new process,” Epps wrote. DSG President Tommy Hessel, a senior, wrote in an email that there were three main reasons the old election process needed to be altered: It was “1) at odds with the YT’s role as a fiduciary responsible for preserving the long-term health of all of Duke (e.g. university, medical center, international campuses, etc.), 2) divisive in that it ended up dividing the campus strongly (fractured communities and friends), and 3) was physically draining for the candidates as well as the student body.” Butt agreed that the old “daunting, taxing” process needed changes. Having worked on friends’ Young Trustee campaigns in previous years, Butt was well aware of the journey he was about to embark on when he became a finalist. He began building his team of friends, cognizant of the reality that winning the election was about “who you knew and how many people you knew,” he said. “You’re one individual trying to talk to over 6,000 students. One individual can’t do it,” he said. Unable to even walk across campus without someone stopping him, Butt remembers becoming one of the mostknown people on campus. “So many of the YT finalists were exhausted from doing this campaign, and we didn’t want our pictures out there across campus as much as people didn’t want to see us either,” he said. “But then also you know there are people on your opponents’ teams who are waiting for you to fail, or looking out for you in the wrong ways, and that creates a wrongful student dynamic.” Butt now serves on the YTNC along with the student who was elected Young Trustee the year before him, Trey Walk, Trinity ‘19. Walk’s description of his campaign experience was similar to Butt’s, reflecting a concerning pattern of stress and toxicity inherent to the old process. “You make it out of the YTNC, you become a finalist, and then everything really breaks open. For about three weeks of your life, it really is—I don’t even know a word to describe it— it’s an intense few weeks,” Walk said. “My year I had a campaign team of around 60 people.” “It would be a Sunday—there would be a lot of group meetings happening—and you would sprint across campus to run to get to these group meetings on time, you would talk for a few minutes, answer a few questions, and then sprint to another part of campus for your next meeting ... You’re out there trying to meet students and find out what they care about, but you’re also trying to get endorsements.” Walk said. Walk described being a finalist as being a “public personality on campus,” which led to many students forgetting the fact that these finalists were simply students, just like anyone else. “People would read about the candidates in The Chronicle or they’d see a funny satirical piece about them or they’d see their picture posted on social media, and they’d lose context. And then when you interact with them in a group meeting or walking by on campus, people start to relate to you differently,” Walk said. When asked if he felt that his campaign process was draining, Skapek said: “Yes. Emphatically yes.” However, he did try to “stay away from creating a whole political campaign team,” Skapek said, and instead focused on his background experience rather than a platform. Three weeks of missing classes and “going through the wringer publicly” isn’t what Walk believed the process should have to entail, as it discouraged many people from applying, he said. Butt noted that he’s spoken to women who have felt that they are more heavily scrutinized in the public sphere, perhaps explaining the fact that there have only been two female young trustees of the most recent nine. The new YTNC is bringing in “campus leaders from different identity groups to help ensure that the committee is filled with a pretty broad spectrum of students who can help to eliminate as much of that bias as possible,” Skapek said. Butt noted that he is already seeing a more diverse applicant pool than in previous years. Before becoming a Young Trustee finalist, Skapek served on the YTNC in his sophomore and junior years. He said he felt that the

Duke wins not because its arguments are correct, but because it has more money and more resources and more lawyers,” Boyle noted. Wilkerson wrote in an email that the Patent and Trademark Office publishes a list of trademark applications before approving them and Duke then reviews those trademark applications via an automated process, “to determine whether third parties are trying to claim exclusive rights in marks that Duke already is using.” “We have found from experience that doing this lets us take more amicable and less expensive steps to ward off problems, instead of letting problems occur and then spending money on after-the-fact lawsuits and creating (avoidable) angst,” wrote Wilkerson. Of the 136 trademark oppositions detailed in the study, 80% reached results that could be described as favorable for Duke, with 67 marks being abandoned. As noted in the paper, scholar estimates of the legal costs associated with pursuing a trademark opposition through every stage of the legal process range from $90,000 to $500,000. However, since trademark oppositions are often settled quickly, the professors estimate that the actual cost of each of Duke’s trademark oppositions is likely far lower. However, the process does have costs. “Over the period of our study, which is four years, Duke could have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars and avoided considerable reputational harm,” Boyle estimated. The professors believe Duke should pledge to conduct a full and transparent review of their trademark opposition process and change these practices going forward. Boyle and Jenkins emphasized that they assume good faith on the part of Duke, and that their research aimed to discover why Duke is such an outlier. “We wanted to point out how out of sync we are with other similarly situated universities and also how legally groundless a lot of the oppositions are so people will realize what they actually are doing,” Jenkins said. “Duke should be public both about reexamining what it’s doing and disavowing bullying,” Boyle said. “If anyone should be against bullying, it’s universities. This is against everything that a university should stand for. We feel particularly passionate about this because we actually, as we say in our paper, we love our university while the converse may no longer be true—they may no longer love us quite as much.” Boyle noted that trademark law does not bestow the ownership of a word to a business, which is why there are products from different industries, like Dove Chocolate and Dove Soap, that can coexist without infringing each other’s trademark. “There are 193 federally registered marks with “Duke” in the trademark that are not owned by Duke University and that’s the way trademark works,” Jenkins noted. “Duke owns “Duke” for educational services, for our medical facilities, but not for any use that involves the word “Duke”, much less for anything like the “Dude Diet.” To illustrate what they say could be the reputational harm of trademark oppositions, the law professors cited an example of Duke opposing the trademark “DBag” last year. “There are lots of Duke-haters out there and we are sorry to see Duke giving them a club to beat us with. UNC fans everywhere are going to say ‘Duke is such a d-bag that it thinks it owns the word ‘DBag’,” Boyle joked. nominating committee has done well in being fair to candidates, identifying and avoiding conflicts of interest. Walk has a different opinion about the fairness of the nominating committee in previous years: “There was sort of this whisper network of people who would have their friends apply to be on the YTNC if they knew they were going to run for YT so that their friends could sort of influence the process. There are conflict of interest policies within YTNC, but the committee was student run, so it was hard to enforce that, whereas the new process is run by the Office of the Secretary who works regularly with the Board,” Walk said. The former Young Trustee candidates agreed that the old process created unhealthy expectations about the role. “We’re really hoping that these changes clarify that this position is not a student representative—that’s your DSG president,” Butt said. “As a Young Trustee, it’s really about being a fiduciary on the board. You represent the young perspective as a young member of the Duke population compared to a lot of the Trustees who are much older and went to a very different Duke than the Duke you and I went to.” Walk shared a story where he went to give his pitch to first-years in their dorm, and a student said, “I’ll vote for you if you get the Dankery on food points,” to which Walk comically replied, “Um, I don’t think that will come up at the board meeting.” “I think the changes are positive, and like any change, you’ll see the results of it. If there’s anything that needs to be tweaked, we can make changes. We’re learning as we’re doing it,” Walk said.