October 10, 2019

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See Inside Duke to take on limping Georgia Tech Page 8

T H E I N D E P E N D E N T D A I LY AT D U K E U N I V E R S I T Y

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2019 DUKECHRONICLE.COM

Parents jailed for inflating daughter’s test scores for Duke

ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTEENTH YEAR, ISSUE 16

Trustee wins Nobel Prize

By Bre Bradham Investigations Editor

Marcia Abbott graduated from Duke in 1981, and she and her husband went to illicit ends in an attempt to help their daughter follow in her footsteps.

Marcia Abbott and her husband Greg Abbott met William Singer in 2018, amid “one of the worst chapters of their lives.” The couple shelled out more than $100,000 to him from a family foundation as part of a scheme to inflate their daughter’s standardized test scores in hopes she could go to Duke, which admits about 7% of overall applicants.

“My husband and I were both motivated by good intentions...but this does not excuse our actions,” Marcia Abbott told the judge Tuesday before their sentencing hearing, NBC Boston reported.

Now they’re going to jail for a month each for mail fraud as part of the largest college admissions case ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice.

Operation Varsity Blues involved more than 200 agents and entangled more than 30 parents who have now been charged, exposing a hotbed of high-powered elites paying off coaches and test prompters to get their children into elite colleges through the “side door.” A “Desperate Housewives” star will soon be behind bars while a “Full House” actress and her fashion designer husband have pleaded not guilty to allegations of paying to get their daughters into college through the crew team.

Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Christoph Guttentag declined to comment on the Abbotts’ sentencing specifically.

“In general, I think it’s important to remember that this case represents a very small number of the millions of students applying to college each year,” he wrote in an email Tuesday night. “Admissions offices, secondary schools and families overwhelmingly go through the process with integrity.”

The Abbotts paid $125,000—less than two years’ cost of attendance at Duke—to have their daughter’s ACT and two SAT subject tests corrected by a proctor.

They both pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud in May, and a court sentenced them each to one month in prison, one year of supervised release, 250 hours of community service and a $45,000 fine.

In the wake of the national scandal, Guttentag’s office reviewed admissions See PARENTS on Page 4

Special to The Chronicle William Kaelin also received his bachelor’s degree and medical degree from Duke before embarking on his research career.

By Jake Satisky Editor-in-Chief

William Kaelin Jr., Trinity ‘79, Medical School ‘82 and a member of the Board of Trustees, has won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.

He shares the award with Sir Peter Ratcliffe and Gregg Semenza for “their discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability,” according to the Nobel Prize press conference. Semenza, C. Michael Armstrong Professor of Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, completed his residency in pediatrics at Duke Medical Center.

Kaelin works as the Sidney Farber professor of medicine at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. He is also a senior physician at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a Howard Hughes Medical Investigator.

He researches tumor-preventing proteins

with the goal of discovering new strategies to fight cancer.

His Nobel follows his Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research, which is not unusual: 40 Lasker Award winners have won a Nobel Prize in the last thirty years.

Kaelin has also won the AACR-Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Prize for Cancer Research and the 2007 Duke School of Medicine Distinguished Alumni Award.

The National Academy of Sciences elected Kaelin as a member in 2010.

Kaelin was elected to the Board of Trustees this past July as one of five new members.

His appointment came on the heels of Duke awarding Kaelin with an honorary degree in 2018. On the Board, he currently serves on the Graduate and Professional Education and Research Committee.

Semenza works as the director of the vascular program at the Insititute for Cell Engineering. He studies varying oxygen levels

in cells, and is known for finding the HIF1 protein that controls genes in response to oxygen availability. Ratcliffe is a professor at Oxford University and the Director of Clinical Research at Francis Crick Institute, London.

Before Kaelin, Ratcliffe and Semenza’s research, scientists did not understand the mechanisms that controlled how cells adapted to changing levels of oxygen. The three discovered how genes and proteins respond to varying oxygen availability—”one of life’s most essential adaptive processes”—and how that availability affects cellular metabolism.

Thanks to their work, scientists have new strategies for fighting cancer, anemia and other diseases.

Thomas Perlmann, secretary of the Nobel Committee, announced the award at 5:30 a.m.

EDT in Stockholm, Sweden. The Karolinska Institute chooses the recipients for Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which has been awarded since 1901.

Chronquiry: Why doesn’t Duke have a full School of Education?

By Anna Zolotor Contributing Reporter

James B. Duke had a clause in his endowment’s Indenture of Trust mandating that Duke University eventually include a “School for Training Teachers.” It hasn’t entirely gotten around to fulfilling that clause.

The University known today as Duke was once Normal College, which had the primary purpose of training teachers.

Today, Duke’s academic offerings in the field of education are limited to its Program in

Education, which was downsized from a full department in 1981. The program includes an undergraduate minor in education, a year-long Master of Arts in Teaching and two joint degrees with the Nicholas School of the Environment.

James B. Duke’s 1924 Indenture of Trust included his plans for what is now Duke, with a handful of specific requirements and provisions.

“I advise that the courses at this institution be arranged, first, with special reference to the training of preachers, teachers, lawyers and physicians, because

these are most in the public eye, and by precept and example can do most to uplift mankind,” Duke wrote.

The Indenture of Trust was among the documents that formally established the $40 million Duke Endowment, which James Duke founded to support certain universities, hospitals and the N.C. Methodist Church. Duke University has benefited greatly from the Duke Endowment, as it marked the beginning of Duke’s transition from the small, See CHRONQUIRY on Page 4

Second time’s the charm

A NUT in the window

Highlights from ACC Media Day

A Duke employee shares her Jeopardy! experience after getting rejected once before.

PAGE 2

Learn about the students behind the NUT spelled out in sticky notes in a Crowell window.

PAGE 3

Coach K and Duke’s captains talked about everything from Australian accents to amateurism. PAGE 8

INSIDE — Articles so very entertaining they will drive you nuts | Serving the University since 1905 |

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2 | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2019

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Take two: Duke employee details her Jeopardy! journey

By Nathan Luzum

winning streak that netted him more than $2.4 friends and co-workers for helping her out million. One way Holzhauer prepared was by along the way. studying children’s books, and Grubbs decided When she was called out to film in Los Duke employee Abby Grubbs took her first to follow suit.

Angeles, Grubbs was scheduled to be one of online Jeopardy! test in 2016. Three years later, “My mom actually bought a set of children’s the contestants appearing on the first day she finally made it on the show. books especially for me,” she said. of taping. Jeopardy! films shows in two-day Grubbs, a program coordinator for Duke’s Turning to an online Jeopardy! clue taping periods, with five shows per day, she Global Education Office, appeared on the Oct. 1 archive and listening to podcasts featuring explained.

Jeopardy! taping, finishing with the second place former contestants, Grubbs began studying What surprised her most was that a familiar prize of $2,000. As someone who watched the for her appearance. She credited her husband, face remained behind the champion’s lectern. show “off-and-on” since she was young, Grubbs had her first in-person Jeopardy! audition in 2016 but didn’t make it on. Her second attempt in 2019 was a different story.

“I was actually on vacation at the time when I got the call [that I would be on the show], so I don’t think it really sunk in until I was back at home in North Carolina, and I was like ‘Oh my gosh, I really need to study,’” she said.

Her goal to appear on the show began around 2012, she recalled, after returning from a stint abroad to the United States, where she could finally watch Jeopardy! again.

Grubbs added that it was her husband who encouraged her to try out for the program, pointing out that she usually knew the answers to most questions.

When her first attempt to get on the show didn’t pan out—which is fairly typical, she noted—Grubbs took the online test again in April 2019 and was invited to an in-person audition in June. A month later, she learned that she’d have the chance to compete on Jeopardy!

Grubbs’ attitude transformed from “disbelief to work mode” shortly after getting the call, and she kicked her preparation into full swing.

She took a page from the book of Jeopardy!

Courtesy of Jeopardy Productions, Inc. champion James Holzhauer, who dominated Duke employee Abby Grubbs took a page from former champion James Holzhauer’s preparation the show earlier in 2019 with a 32-game strategy by reading children’s books before the show.

Managing Editor

“The most shocking thing when I arrived on the first day was that Jason Zuffranieri was still there, and he was the champion from last season,” she said. “So I knew he was on a really long run.”

During the first day of taping, however, Zuffranieri’s 19-game winning streak came to an end. Grubbs’ name also wasn’t called, so she’d need to come back for the second taping period.

Grubbs got her chance to play the following day, but was unable to time her buzzer speed correctly and was beaten to the punch by other contestants.

“That was my huge weak point,” she said.

“I just got off the rhythm, and it’s really hard to correct when you’re in that high-pressure situation.”

And although they might appear to be competitive on camera, Grubbs noted that her fellow contestants were friendly and supportive during the taping.

“I thought that with the other contestants, things would be super competitive,” she said. “I guess in some sense they were, but everybody was so nice. And we all got along really well and were super supportive of each other.”

For those aspiring to appear on Jeopardy!, Grubbs explained that studying common clues and weak spots is the most important step. Practicing buzzer timing, however, is also essential for success. Grubbs added that the process of auditioning is “really fun” and that she was disappointed she wouldn’t have the chance to go through it again.

Even though Grubbs might not have become a Jeopardy! champion, her appearance on the show was still a memorable moment.

“It was a really fun game, and I’m glad I got to have the experience,” she said.

Dean’s Awards October ’19 1 TU: MT JOY w/ Susto (sold out) 5 SA: ELECTRIC SIX 6 SU: BUILT TO SPILL 7 MO: LUNA performs PENTHOUSE 10 TH: WITT LOWRY w/Xuitcasecity ($16/$18) 11 FR: VIOLET BELL - Album Release show ($10/$12) 11 FR: EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY @ The Ritz (Raleigh) 12 SA: LANGHORNE SLIM & THE LOST AT LAST BAND w/Katie Pruitt and Kate Rhudy ($18/$20) 16 WE: MELVINS / REDD KROSS w/Toshi Kasai 16 WE:

WILCO

w/ Soccer Mommy @ Booth Amphitheatre, Cary 17 TH: Watch What Crappens ($25/$28) 18 FR: RA RA RIOT ($17/$19) w/Bayonne 19 SA: MOONCHILD ($22/$25) 22 TU: NOAH GUNDERSEN ($17/$20) 23 WE: OH SEES w/ Prettiest Eyes, No Whammy 24 TH: KISHI BASHI 25 FR: STIFF LITTLE FINGERS w/The Avengers 26 SA: Knocked Loose NOVEMBER ’19 8 FR: THE DIP ($15/ $18 ) w/Erin & The WildFIre 9 SA: INFAMOUS STRINGDUSTERS w/Kitchen Dwellers 12 TU: Cursive / Cloud Nothings / The Appleseed Cast 13 WE: KIKAGAKU MOYO w/Minami Deutsch ($15/$17)

shows at Cat’s Cradle back room September ’19 26 TH: PALM PALM (J Roddy Walston’s new band) w/Secret American 27 FR: Leslie Stevens ($10/$12) w/Michael McArthur 28 SA: ELLIS DYSON & THE SHAMBLES / Noah Adams & the Louisiana Natives (FREE SHOW/ CMF Kickoff) 29 SU: CARRBORO MUSIC FESTIVAL HIP HOP STAGE 30 MO: JONAH TOLCHIN October ’19 Oct 1: THAT 1 GUY 2 WE: B BOYS w/ Family Vision 3 TH: BLANCO WHITE w/Shey Baba 4 FR: VEGABONDS 5 SA: TYRONE WELLS w/Dan Rodriguez 8 TU: ELIZABETH MOEN OCT 9: Elder Island w/ Dirty Nice 10 TH: CHARLIE PARR ($15) w/Josh Moore 11 FR: HANK, PATTIE & THE CURRENT 12 SA: O’Brother ($14/$16) 15 TU: Mike Watt & the missingmen ($15) 16 WE: Cactus Blossoms w/Esther Rose ($15) 18 FR: SWERVEDRIVER w/Milly 19 SA: John Howie Jr & Rosewood Bluff 23 WE: CITY OF THE SUN w/Old Sea Brigade 24 TH: Driftwood 25 FR: Hovvdy, Kevin Krauter, and Caroline Says ($12/$14) 26 SA: CAT CLYDE ($12/$15) w/Jamie Drake

Visit catscradle.com for complete concert LISTINGS 300 E. Main St, Carrboro / 919 967 9053

Nominate graduate students and faculty for The Graduate School’s Dean’s Awards: Excellence in Mentoring

Faculty who consistently serve as effective mentors to graduate students Graduate students who excel in mentoring undergraduates and early-stage grad students

—— Excellence in Teaching

Graduate students who best exemplify the characteristics of effective college teaching

—— Inclusive Excellence

Extraordinary achievements by departments and programs that help create an environment of inclusive excellence in graduate education

Nomination Deadline: November 15 gradschool.duke.edu/awards

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2019 | 3

The ‘nut’ that’s inspired a movement

By Ben Leonard Features Editor

If you’re walking to campus from Cameron Indoor Stadium or Wilson Gym, you can’t help but notice it: the “nut.”

Yellow sticky notes spell out “N-U-T” on the second-floor window of one Crowell Quad dorm overlooking Towerview Road.

The message has left some people cackling, been the subject of a meme and sparked a “movement”: other West Campus residents have made their own sticky note messages on windows on the main quad, from “BJ” to “HBD” to “HI.” The “nut” sign’s creators, sophomore roommates Mohammad Khatami and Seun Oguntunmibi, don’t take responsibility for the “movement” they created. As of Wednesday evening, “BIG” was spelled out in sticky notes in a window just to the left of theirs.

But they hope their message can motivate people, whether that be on the way to the gym or in the classroom. It’s in the best spot on campus, Oguntunmibi explained, saying the notes can reach football fans and alumni.

“This ‘nut’ unites all of Duke—past, present and future,” Oguntunmibi said, donning a bright pink bucket hat.

Oguntunmibi originally intended the message to read “TGBTG,” an abbreviation standing for “To God Be The Glory” used by former Duke men’s basketball player and No. 10 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft, Cam Reddish.

The roommates—who became fast friends at Duke and later found out they were born at the same hospital—needed a three-letter word to fit the three visible windows, so they settled on “nut.”

“Nut has been a pretty defining word for the past year,” Khatami said. “It’s an exclamation of success that all at Duke should be acquainted with.”

The message has been the subject of a meme in the Duke Memes for Gothicc Teens Facebook page—the post reads “Duke: We’re a world-class university Also Duke:” with a photo of the message directly below.

They think some people are missing the point.

“These things aren’t mutually exclusive— having at a lighthearted and inspiring message at a high ranking university,” Khatami said.

“There are a lot of racy messages across

campus…[this is] inspiring.”

“Everyone is extra about being correct,” Oguntunmibi said. “Sometimes you need to bring childish energy to the masses.”

The message has certainly brought laughter to some.

On Saturday, Oguntunmibi said he was watching Netflix in his room when a “70-yearold” woman looked up and saw the sign. She tapped a younger man—who Oguntunmibi guessed was her son—and pointed to the sign.

He cracked up.

They also hope it helps Duke’s basketball program.

“I hope it reaches the basketball recruits,”

Oguntunmibi said. “We’re playing our part in helping Duke.”

Gym-goers are another key target audience, especially those lifting at “huge o’clock,” around 6 p.m, Khatami said.

Khatami and Oguntunmibi hit the gym themselves, but they go around 7:30 a.m.— the “Chad Hours”— to avoid the “losers” that lift just a few reps and leave.

They eventually hope to switch up the message, so people will keep going to the gym in order to see if the message has changed.

They’re accepting submissions, Khatami said. “[The nut] will be up until someone submits a better one,” he said.

Mary Helen Wood | Photography Editor The message is visible to those walking from Wilson Gym or Cameron Indoor Stadium toward Duke’s main quad.

GALLERY TALK & OPENING RECEPTION

EAT A BURRITO

Thursday, October 10, 6 – 7 PM Join Mark Antliff, Anne Murnick Cogan Professor of Art History and Visual Studies at Duke, and Robin Klaus, a Ph.D. student in Art History at Duke, for a gallery talk about the exhibition they co-curated, Anarchism and the Political Art of Les Temps Nouveaux, 1895 – 1914.

Admission is always free for Duke students.

nasher.duke.edu/anarchism

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4 | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2019

PARENTS

government relations, declined to comment on the couple’s sentencing.

Neither Guttentag nor Schoenfeld would comment on the decisions for recruited athletes from the last five years and Abbott’s individual admissions case, including whether or not found no anomalies, he explained. All the athletes were on their the daughter applied to Duke. respective rosters and legitimate participants.

“To some degree the admissions process is dependent on trust among all parties—schools, teachers, colleges, counselors, students and testing agencies,” Guttentag wrote. “We always keep our eyes open for things that don’t add up, but unfortunately there’s no perfect way to detect or eliminate fraud.”

The dean wrote that, although his office is always looking for ways to improve the process, he does not foresee any major How much the Abbotts paid to have their changes in the wake of the scandal. daughter’s standardized test scores illegally When asked how the scandal has changed his view of raised to boost her chances to get into Duke admission as someone who oversees the process at an elite university, Guttentag wrote that he tries not to let unusual cases color his view of the process as a whole.

Singer has pleaded guilty to a handful of crimes, including “Well, I’m disappointed of course, but these are outliers,” racketeering conspiracy and money laundry conspiracy. he wrote.

Greg Abbott was the Chairman and CEO of International Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and Dispensing Corporation before stepping away in March. Marcia FROM PAGE 1

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Abbott was previously a magazine fashion editor.

According to the Washington Post, the two were separated at the time of the incident, and they say that their daughter did not know about the fraud. CNN reported that she was diagnosed with Lyme disease and her brother was battling a drug addiction.

The fraud boosted their daughter’s ACT score to a 35 out of 36, and she was given a 710 on the English literature SAT Subject Test and a perfect 800 in math.

“To all those souls who struggle every day to put food on the table and get their kids access to college, I apologize for any sense of resentment or inequity my actions provoked, and humbly ask forgiveness,” Greg Abbott wrote in a letter to the court, according to the Washington Post.

CHRONQUIRY FROM PAGE 1 regionally-based Trinity College to the internationally known research institution that Duke is today.

Trinity College founded its department of education in 1907, and according to Duke Archives, its training programs “enrolled many students.” It was only when Trinity College became Duke University in 1924 that it began establishing specific schools like the School of Religion, the Medical School and the Graduate School—but a school of education never made the cut.

Duke is unusual in this respect, as many other top-tier institutions, including Harvard, Stanford, Northwestern and Vanderbilt, feature official schools of education.

However, the terminology Duke uses to name academic bodies is not completely clear-cut. According to Kathryn Kennedy, executive director for communications for the Trinity College of Arts and Sciences, “most of the designations for academic units are historical,” based on decisions that were made when the units were created.

It may be that Duke’s early department of education was so named because it was founded before the college became a university and began creating schools.

However, Duke’s department of education was eliminated in 1981 after the 1970s saw a decline in undergraduates wanting to pursue teaching certifications. It was replaced with the Program in Education that exists today.

“At Duke, departments generally offer undergraduate majors and/or Ph.D. programs,” Kennedy said. “Programs often encompass more narrow educational offerings like a certificate or minor only.”

David Malone, director of undergraduate studies for Duke’s Program in Education, said that the decision to cut the department was part of Directions for Progress. “[Directions for Progress was] a strategic plan about ways to move the University forward in terms of its perception as a major research university nationally and internationally,” Malone said.

The education program initially offered elective courses as well as opportunities for students to become certified teachers.

In 2008, though, after Program in Education faculty members had discussions with the Duke administration, the program began offering the education minor based primarily on student interest, Malone explained.

As one of the indicators of student interest, Malone cited the fact that for many years Teach for America was the highest single employer of Duke students immediately post-graduation.

The education minor at Duke has experienced general positive growth since it was started, averaging 32 students in each graduating class. Malone said that psychology is the most common major to pair with the minor.

Duke’s Program in Education offers students the chance to become licensed teachers through its Elementary and Secondary Teacher Preparation Programs. Students who earn their licenses through these programs automatically earn a Minor in Education. “[The Program in Education] probably has about 35 students per year who are earning teaching licenses,” Malone said.

At universities that offer full schools of education, students spend most of their four years taking education classes. Malone said that although these students may have more educationrelated resources available to them, they will not necessarily be able to bring the same unique liberal arts perspectives that a Duke student can bring to teaching jobs.

Even for students not going into the education field, picking up a minor in the subject could turn out to be beneficial.

“If a student here at Duke is a public policy major interested specifically in educational policy, I think their combination with [the Program in Education] adds an important perspective,” said Chair of the Program Susan Wynn.

Wynn also recognized the advantages that come with the smaller size of a program, saying that many education students come back to visit whenever they get the chance.

“Though program in education is a smaller unit at Duke, our faculty and staff offer lots of opportunities for one-to-one and small-group interactions with students. We are high-touch, high-impact,” Wynn said.

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2019 | 5

VOLUME 115, ISSUE 16 | OCTOBER 10, 2019

mean zine machine D.I.Y. festival returns to

Durham for fifth year, page 6

fascist-killing tacos Documentary showcases the power of immigrant stories, page 7

‘fleabag’ is a triumph The hit television show is both agonizing and magnificent, page 7

dukechronicle.com

recess

6 ||THURSDAY, THURSDAY, OCTOBER OCTOBER 10, 10, 2019 2019

recess

Who is the real Joker?

Nina Wilder ................... neoliberals

Kerry Rork .............. mental illness

Will Atkinson ............. steve miller

Sydny Long .............................jack

Miranda Gershoni ........capitalism

Jack Rubenstein ......................me

Sarah Derris ............. bill de blasio

Selena Qian ..........................news

Alizeh Sheikh .................... fascists

Eva Hong ........................... cloons

On the cover: Nashville at night. Photo by Nina Wilder.

staff note Recently, I was having a conversation with a friend who asked if her baseline mental health was abnormal. This word “baseline” stood out to me. A baseline seems to me to be something so foundational to identity, a requirement for daily survival. It is the normal, the unaltered state of existence you occupy.

And when this baseline is out of whack, it impacts every waking moment of your life.

Our contemporary American culture has generated a fascinating paradox: an awareness of mental health struggles that simultaneously normalizes the problem.

Most would consider this generation

the most willing to acknowledge mental struggles, but often at the cost of recognizing the reality of them. And when, according to the American Psychological Association, 41.9% of college students live with anxiety and 36.4% with depression, this normalization leaves a large proportion of the student body to fall through the cracks.

Our culture creates a binary “us”versus-“them” in the mental health world.

Historically, this binary has always existed between those who face mental health issues and those who don’t, isolating mentally ill individuals from the bulk of society. But now the proportions have changed. Today, the “us” is the seeming 99% of the population who struggles with mental health, whereas the “them” is the

extreme 1%, the most shocking cases of mental health issues. The only time our culture seems to acknowledge mental health as a reality is when it operates within this extreme realm, be it anything from suicide attempts to the recent mass shootings around the country.

When external factors, language and even jokes continually universalize mental struggles, people are culturally conditioned to disregard their disrupted baseline. It establishes a false acceptance of mental health problems as typical. It seems to complicate the classic nature-versus-nurture argument, changing what someone feels into something widely environmentallydependent. This culture has thus transformed the attitude of “doing what everyone else is doing” to “feeling what everyone else is feeling.” We’ve made it hip to be mentally ill.

I read a philosophy book recently, titled “Heidegger and a Hippo Walk Through those Pearly Gates,” by Dean Martin Klein and Thomas Cathcart. In the novel, Klein and Cathcart write, “Jokes are funny that way: they can make a devastating point while defusing anxiety at the same time.” However, there is a danger to gallows humor, comedy used to alleviate the tension of taboo that is found all over social media and other online sources, which ultimately has the power to universalize negative thoughts as standard emotions.

The discourse seems to perpetuate and welcome the worst baseline. And when the baseline is disrupted, it feels nearly impossible to reset. Your normal is the world’s normal. Your bad thoughts are the world’s bad thoughts.

Perhaps it is cultural nihilism and, to

The Chronicle some extent, defeatism that is promoting our normalization of mental health problems. We see the environmental issues, the earth burning, our political situation, and we take on this externally created feeling of doom as routine.

Yet when our cultural baseline slips, there is no way to check our individual baseline — what was once the normal is lost to new cultural struggles and opinions. We are left to create internal baselines dependent on cultural norms and values.

At universities like Duke, even simply keeping a library open for 24 hours a day encourages students to obsess and live within this burnout culture, a world filled with anxiety, tension and stress as the norms. And when such a large quantity of the student body is facing these same problems, the negativity is interpersonally enabled.

Anxiety and depression become a part of academic culture, intrinsic to its environment and success, rather than a problem to be solved.

More than anything, this question of a baseline made me examine my own sense of normalcy. I realize it has transformed into something that is so difficult to check and examine. My own mindset and perspective is overrun by the cultural acceptance of unhealthy selftalk and cynicism. It is difficult to set a new baseline when the culture of this generation promotes pessimism guided by a general cultural awareness, but it is only when these cultural norms are addressed that setting a new baseline becomes a possibility.

—Kerry Rork

local arts

Printed matter matters: Zine Machine Fest comes to Durham

By Tessa Delgo Contributing Writer

From “Friends” to scrunchies, our obsession with ‘90s popular culture is no secret, but the steady rise of zine festivals in the past few years suggests that the era’s counterculture is in resurgence, too. Triangle residents need look no further than Durham’s fifth annual Zine Machine Fest, taking place Sunday at the Durham Armory.

The festival started in 2015, after co-founders Bill Brown, Everett Rand and Bill Fick re-tooled a rejected grant application for a make-your-ownzine truck — a literal “zine machine”— that would have allowed them to bring zine-making supplies to locations around Durham.

“We didn’t get the grant but we thought, ‘We shouldn’t just give up on this,’” Fick said. “So the genesis was this mobile studio, but it just kind of morphed into a festival.”

Focusing on do-it-yourself, noncommercial publications, Zine Machine celebrates zines and the broad spectrum of printed matter, encompassing all forms of printmaking, independent comics and more.

The “nebulous” definition of zines is part of what the festival aims to celebrate, according to Brown, who teaches a seminar at UNC-Chapel Hill entitled “Make a Zine! Do-It-Yourself Writing, Publishing and Distribution.”

“The question is really not what are [zines], but what aren’t they?” Brown said. “The better way to describe zines is that they all adopt this spirit of uncompromising creativity. Even though they take on a range of subjects … they’re all about being self-generated, self-published and non-commercial. They’re a place where you can be completely authentic and honest.”

Zines first took form as “fanzines” in the 1930s, wherein fans of sci-fi used zines to review and discuss the ideas of their favorite sci-fi novels

and to share what we now know as fan fiction.

The medium found its heyday in the 1990s as a staple of punk-rock subculture, specifically in the feminist-punk “riot grrrl” movement.

“Growing up in a small town in west Texas, I was cut off from the culture that was happening in big cities,” Brown said. “I was in various bad punk-rock bands, so in the days before the Internet, [zines] became my window into the wider world. Through zines, I learned about art and interesting musicians and ideas — stuff that was … not happening in my small town.”

During the early 2000s, online blogs became the popular DIY medium, ostensibly leading to the demise of zines. But according to Fick, Brown and fellow co-organizer and visual artist Tristin Miller, today’s zine revival stems from a renewed desire for physical connection in an increasingly digital world.

“I think the newer generation is interested in this handmade approach,” Fick said. “Kind of like the boutique food movement — people are learning how to become butchers or farmers.

I think it’s the same thing with zines and printmaking — people are really interested in tactile objects.”

The connection to the physical world that zines enable drew Miller, who was brought onto Zine Machine’s organizing team in 2018, into the culture. First discovering zines at Durham’s Regulator Bookshop, Miller found that the unrefined juxtaposition of images and words in zines she purchased mirrored the contents of her sketchbooks, which she describes as the “foundation of her creative breakthroughs.” “[In art school, I was] being told to make Art with a capital ‘A’. I felt like zines showed me how I could … make art with a little ‘a’, and be more interested in the process rather than the finished product,” Miller said.

After publishing her first zine in 2009, Miller

Special to The Chronicle Zine Machine has quickly become the largest printed-matter festival in North Carolina.

focused on other creative pursuits until 2015, when a friend encouraged her to respond to a call for vendors at the first-ever Zine Machine Fest. Tabling at the festival, Miller was inspired to start the Greensboro Zine Fest, a workshop-andeducation-focused festival now held every July in celebration of International Zine Month.

“Arts are just what a lot of people are really hungry for. They don’t always see their creativity as having a direct impact on their survival, but it really does,” Miller said. “A lot of people don’t see themselves as an artist, but anybody can make a zine. Everybody has a story to share.”

Zine Machine has quickly become the largest

printed-matter festival in North Carolina, but according to the organizers, the increased popularity has not changed the spirit of the event. Vendor spots are open on a first-come, first-served basis, and the event is free and family-friendly.

“We never turn anyone away,” Brown said.

“There are so many creative people [in the area].

I think that’s the point of [Zine Machine]; it’s a way to be a showcase for this awesome cultural life that’s part of our community. It really is a celebration of uncompromised creation. For all of us, it’s really important to support that and to show it off.”

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2019 | 7

campus arts

‘This Taco Truck Kills Fascists’ shows the power of immigrant stories

By Alizeh Sheikh Campus Arts Editor

How do we responsibly depict marginalized peoples’ narratives, particularly those of immigrants, who by necessity must often remain anonymous? It’s a question that concerns journalists and filmmakers alike, and it is one that viewers should critically ask of the media they consume, whether it is a New York Times mini-doc or Netflix’s “Living Undocumented.” In “This Taco Truck Kills Fascists,” screened Sept. 27 at the Rubenstein Film Theater, director Rodrigo Dorfman addresses this question head-on in his profile of an immigrant artist who must bear the burden of migrant narratives.

The documentary, which won the best Louisiana Feature Award at the New Orleans Film Festival, follows New Orleans-based artist Jose Torres-Tama as he prepares for and ultimately institutes the Revolutionary Taco Truck Theater, an immigrant-activist performance-based project with the motto, “No guacamole for immigrant haters.” Dorfman splices together scenes from over a year’s worth of material into a mosaic that depicts an artist and activist charged with the heavy history of a marginalized people. In a Q&A after the screening, Dorfman emphasized the documentary’s non-linearity, calling it a “performative narrative” that’s “told the way the person is.”

In fact, the narrative’s circumvention of linearity is but one aspect of the documentary’s larger engagement with simultaneity, particularly the repetition of struggle across time. For TorresTama, black and brown struggles of the past are part and parcel with those of the present, and he actively braces his sons Diego and Darius for a future where they must continue to resist.

The film opens with Torres-Tama drawing a link between today’s immigration issues and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which required citizens of free states to cooperate in returning runaway slaves. His connection is not tenuous, but is in fact our lived reality: In November, federal prosecutors will be retrying humanitarian aid worker Scott

Warren on two charges of “harboring illegal aliens,” after he provided shelter and sustenance to two Central American migrants. This case, which United Nations human rights officials have called to be dropped, could threaten humanitarian aid at the border for years to come.

Though Torres-Tama explicitly invokes the Fugitive Slave Act, other historical continuities exist that inform a present-day viewing of the film: When immigrant activists refer to immigrant detention centers as “concentration camps,” they are not referring to the Nazi death camps, but to the camps that existed in the 40 years before World War II, during the Spanish-American and Boer Wars, as well as throughout recent history in the former Soviet Union, Bosnia and Cambodia.

And let’s not forget how the historical delousing with DDT of migrants at the border evokes conceptions of immigrants today as “dirty,” or how ICE’s increasing use of solitary confinement for minor offenses, such as hiding a banana under a mattress or insulting a prison guard, mirrors the indiscriminate use of this veritable form of torture at Guantanamo. As struggle is copied and pasted throughout time, a nonlinear narrative becomes

not only a creative decision, but the most intuitive one as well.

“History repeats itself” seems like an adage that should apply here, but by itself it’s too passive a phrase to associate with the film. Rather, TorresTama politicizes it, turning it into a call to action that reaches into the future. By teaching his sons about “alternative” histories, he equips them to be critical of the typical, to become what he calls “people of conscience.” At one point in the documentary, he takes his sons on an outing to New Orleans’ Jackson Square, where he tells them about Andrew Jackson’s contentious history as a slave owner and ethnic cleanser and informs them that the historic square was once the site of public slave executions. His hypothetical “Taco Truck Resistance Network,” which reappropriates Marco Gutierrez’s infamous remark that Mexican immigration would generate “taco trucks on every corner,” finds inspiration in the Rebel Alliance of “Star Wars.” Identifying himself as Obi “Juan” Kenobi, Torres-Tama urges the viewer to be atrevido, or daring, through resistance.

But where “This Taco Truck Kills Fascists” finds its niche is in addressing the question, “How

Rodrigo Dorfman “This Taco Truck Kills Fascists” screened at the Rubenstein Film Theater Sept. 26.

do you tell the story of another person’s pain with respect and integrity?” It’s both an ethical and personal inquiry, and it’s one that Dorfman makes no attempt to answer. Rather, the film depicts a man who grapples with the question for a living, and in doing so it tells us the possibilities that arise when we ourselves engage it.

As a Latinx immigrant artist, Jose TorresTama describes what he sees as a “responsibility to speak the people’s pain.” He views his art as tied up with a larger lucha de la gente — a people’s struggle — and disdains the “gringos who do experimental theater about nothing.” His Taco Truck Theater is equal parts outraged, vivacious and unapologetic in a way that captures this philosophy, as its actors’ chanting, yelling and singing arrive wrapped up in drum beats and loud cries of affirmation. The other actors involved in the project are asked to draw on their “personal truth,” one of whom speaks to the power of her pain being witnessed –– and nearly understood, for a moment –– by the audience.

“There’s a lot of lessons in this film about how one deals with pain and with witnessing,” Dorfman noted after the documentary screening. “You are witnessing other people’s pain, but you are also witnessing someone else witnessing it for you and processing it, so it gives you a slight critical distance that allows you to not be overwhelmed.”

Torres-Tama’s immense emotionality is, in its own way, a means of paying respect to the migrant stories he carries with him and performs for his audiences. In one particularly effective part of the film, Dorfman cuts between an interview with Raul, a migrant who recounts a time when he was “11 seconds from death” at the hands of a pollero, or human smuggler, and Torres-Tama’s impassioned performance of that story. By visualizing and vocalizing stories such as these through intense, raucous reenactments, Torres-Tama approximates Raul’s and others’ pain in a way that allows a glimpse of comprehension. This is where the Taco Truck Theater realizes its potential, in manifesting the power of witnessing and being witnessed.

playground

Emmy-winning ‘Fleabag’ is inappropriate, agonizing and magnificent

By Megan Liu Contributing Writer

Several weeks ago, I made the glorious choice to show my friend the very first episode of “Fleabag,” the British comedy-drama written by and starring Phoebe Waller-Bridge as the eponymous Fleabag.

The show recently won six Emmys, including surprise win “Outstanding Comedy Series.” Sitting in the back of Marketplace, the two of us watched Fleabag get a little too comfortable with a video of Barack Obama giving a speech. As we were sans earbuds, other people may very well have heard it too — though, quite honestly, it’s far more likely they heard our gasps and cackles.

Sharp, self-destructive commentary is one of the hallmarks of “Fleabag,” which follows the struggles of a young woman living in London.

Who is Fleabag? She says it herself: “I’m a greedy, perverted, selfish, apathetic, cynical, depraved, morally bankrupt woman who can’t even call herself a feminist.” Throughout the show, Fleabag proves these traits several times over — yet her poise, charm and dark wit make her an utterly compelling protagonist. At the heart of it, Fleabag’s story is so magnetic because it is entirely hers, including all of her terrible decisions and dark secrets. The twisted autonomy of “Fleabag” is refreshing, powerful and inherently feminist. Rarely are women allowed to display such ribald, aggressive and independent behavior, in real life or television.

Another distinction of “Fleabag” is its liberal use of fourth-wall-breaking. A genuine rapport is established between Fleabag and the camera, a

Courtesy of Amazon Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s “Fleabag” released its second season earlier this year.

natural proxy of the audience, through humorous and quick-witted asides. We come for the funny antics that Fleabag puts on, but we stay because of remorse: The intimacy between Fleabag and the camera is what makes her seem like a redeemable character. In reality, the camera simply serves as a defense mechanism, a strategy for Fleabag to manipulate her reality in order to defend against her deep-seated anxiety and shame.

Just as with season one, the supporting cast fills out the series wonderfully, with strong acting and writing bringing to life some of the most distinctive personalities to ever grace the television screen.

Olivia Colman continues her sublime turn as the passive-aggressive godmother to Fleabag, with Bill Patterson as Fleabag’s timid father. Sian Clifford and Martin Gelford, who play Fleabag’s uptight sister Claire and Claire’s deadbeat husband respectively, continue to struggle in their failing marriage. Two

brief but brilliant performances are given by Fiona Shaw and Kristin Scott Thomas, both of whom were nominated for an “Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series” Emmy. “Fleabag” continues in the tradition of featuring repulsive, strange or severely flawed characters, all of whom speak to the pain of being profoundly scared of society’s expectations in the wake of unequivocal failure.

Then, of course, there’s the Hot Priest...

“Fleabag” was initially meant to be a single season. In a interview on Jimmy Fallon’s “Tonight Show,” Waller-Bridge stated that she hesitated to reopen Fleabag’s story for a second series because, after the twist of the first series is revealed, Fleabag’s relationship with the camera closes. Waller-Bridge didn’t know how to reopen the channel — until the introduction of the “Hot Priest,” played by Andrew Scott. The Priest, as he is officially known, is the only character who notices Fleabag’s asides, much

to her surprise. Clearly, Hot Priest is special: is he the only person to see Fleabag’s soul?

Hot Priest is introduced in season two as the charming and tempting officiant of Godmother and Dad’s wedding. Season two plays with Catholicism in the dynamic between Fleabag and Hot Priest, who find themselves dangerously attracted to one another, yet separated by the Priest’s vows of celibacy. Whereas season one culminates in an avalanche of emotion, season two seeps under your skin, slowly wrenching your heart out between the laughs. WallerBridge explores Fleabag from a different angle — unattainable love. Similar to Fleabag’s relationship with Claire, imperfection is a central aspect of her relationship with Hot Priest.

Ironically enough, it becomes necessary for their relationship to further develop.

In an interview with The Cut, Waller-Bridge states that, above all, “Fleabag” is about “the glory of being a woman.” Fleabag is a rare insight into the mind of a woman troubled by modern issues — sexual taboos, paying rent, running a business — who struggles to define herself in the midst of grief, sin, and pain.

Is it possible for Fleabag to end her selfdestructive behavior, both in-story and metareferentially? Many are clamoring for a third series, but personally, I believe Fleabag’s story is over.

The last scene of season two makes this decision unquestionable. If we truly care about Fleabag, we need to let her return to her life. Maybe, just maybe, we’ll be able to peel ourselves away from our screens and return to ours.

Sports 8 | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2019

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Krzyzewski supports ‘Fair Pay to Play’ Act

Highlights from ACC media day

By Shane Smith Blue Zone Editor

CHARLOTTE—With the new proposed California bill aiming to increase compensation for collegiate athletes, the movement now has one very notable backer.

At Tuesday’s ACC men’s basketball Media Day in Charlotte, Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski came out in support of California Senate Bill 206, commonly known as the “Fair Pay to Play” Act, which would permit collegiate athletes to gain compensation for endorsements and sponsorships while still competing in the NCAA. Krzyzewski released an official statement at the conclusion of his press conference: “The Fair Pay to Play Act that was recently signed into law in California will likely lead to far-reaching change. We’ve already seen similar bills introduced in several states. I don’t— and won’t—pretend to understand all the complexities of such a change. However, it is a sign of the times that we in college athletics must continually adapt, albeit in a sensible manner. While we have made significant progress in recent years, we have not always responded to the needs and rights of our players swiftly, and frankly, we’re playing catchup after

years of stagnant rules. I hope and trust that not only will there be a plan to put the student athletes’ best interests at the forefront, but that we’ll also have a firm plan for implementation at the national level. College athletics provides an amazing option for hundreds of thousands of talented men and women who choose to attend institutions across the country. We must adapt to ensure it stays that way.”

The five-time national championshipwinning coach said he expects “dozens” of states to pass the same bill before the end of the season.

Krzyzewski emphasized that the situation should be seen as “the total package of what’s right for the student and how it compares to students who don’t play basketball.”

The Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, made headlines around the collegiate sports world when he appeared on LeBron James’ platform UNINTERRUPTED to sign the bill in September. The act builds on the efforts of former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon, who led a class-action lawsuit against the NCAA to provide compensation for using athletes’ likeness. The bill would also allow student-athletes to hire agents.

“There are a number of people who don’t want to change anything in the collegiate model, and I think we need to look at that as

By Evan Kolin Assistant Blue Zone Editor

CHARLOTTE—Coaches and players from around the ACC gathered at the Charlotte Marriott City Center Tuesday for the conference’s men’s basketball media day, including Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski and Blue Devil captains Jack White and Javin DeLaurier. The group touched on a variety of topics, from California’s “Fair Pay to Play” Act to White’s try at an American accent. Check out some of the highlights:

Henry Haggart | Assistant Sports Photo Editor

Krzyzewski called the act “a sign of the times.”

a whole issue, not just this one thing for image and likeness, but what is best for these kids,” Krzyzewski said.

FOOTBALL

Scouting the opponent: Duke to host new-look Georgia Tech week,” Duke head coach David Cutcliffe said.

“You see them morph and find the right mix with their offense…. They’re building a brand at Georgia Tech. This is going to be a team that gets better by the week and we’re a team right now that needs to get better by the day and then ultimately by the week.”

Let’s take a look at five key questions for the Blue Devils’ matchup with the Yellow Jackets:

By Derek Saul Sports Editor

For more than a decade, head coach Paul Johnson’s Georgia Tech squads gritted their way to consistent success on the gridiron, winning games with an effective triple-option attack that looked as if it was from a different century than the pro-style and spread offenses that their opponents ran.

After Johnson stepped down from his post last November, the Yellow Jackets, now led by former Temple head coach Geoff Collins, have opted to abandon the triple-option in favor of a more traditional offense. To put it nicely, Georgia Tech has experienced some growing pains in Collins’ first year at the helm.

The Yellow Jackets currently rank 111th out of 130 FBS teams according to ESPN’s Football Power Index, the second-lowest mark among all Power Five teams. Though Georgia Tech is coming off a respectable showing against North Carolina in a 38-22 loss last week, the Yellow Jackets will head to Durham Saturday as heavy underdogs yet again. Duke, reeling from a devastating loss at Wallace Wade Stadium against Pittsburgh, will look to

Bre Bradham | Associate Photography Editor

Duke has used the triple-option at times. bounce back and take care of business against a Georgia Tech group that’s still searching for its identity.

“You can see [Georgia Tech] grow week by

Will Duke give Georgia Tech a taste of its own triple-option medicine?

Though its glory days at Georgia Tech are gone, the triple-option is not dead in the ACC. Duke ran an option offense for much of its season-opener against then-No. 2 Alabama, a contest that was coincidentally played in the Yellow Jackets’ home city of Atlanta.

The Blue Devils have largely abandoned the triple-option in favor of a more passheavy attack, but the old Georgia Tech staple has still been a part of Cutcliffe’s playbook.

When leading by a wide margin against Middle Tennessee, Duke turned to the triple-option to let time run down. The Blue Devils using the triple-option to kill clock against the Yellow See SCOUTING on Page 9

DeLaurier on how Duke will function without a top-three recruit on its roster for the first time since 2012: “We’re just going to have to rely on each other a little bit more in order to function as a team, score the ball...it’ll help bring us closer together, knowing one guy’s not going to be able to do it by himself.”

White, when asked if he could try talking in an American accent: “Can I get a double cheeseburger meal with fries and a shake,” White said in his best attempt at an American accent. “But I’ll tell you what, when they try to do an Australian accent, it’s even better—because they suck.

They sound British. I’m not British.”

White on the Blue Devils’ defensive prowess this season: “I think we can be the best defensive team in the country if we keep working at it...we could go small, we can play two bigs, we can play [Jordan Goldwire] and [Tre Jones] in the backcourt and pressure the hell out of people full court. It all just depends on the situation.”

DeLaurier on how the Blue Devils maintain a culture with so many moving parts each season: “Culture is built every day. It’s not the big games that we play in, when we win, that’s not it. It’s every day coming in and working your butt off day after day after day. It’s a grind, and it’s not always fun, I’m not going to lie to you.

But it’s so rewarding when you do see it pay off in those big moments.”

Krzyzewski on Matthew Hurt: “He has a feel for the music of the game.

He can kind of dance to whatever. He feels it naturally. I think he’s totally immersed in the game. He can make multiple plays—he can pass, he can shoot, he can dribble, rebound.

The ball doesn’t stick in his hands, so he’s an See MEDIA DAY on Page 9

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MEDIA DAY FROM PAGE 8 easy guy to play with.”

Krzyzewski on the leadership of White and DeLaurier: “The two kids that are right there are very, very important for us, because they’re good players, and they’re seniors. This freshman class is talented but it needs them...I want them to know how important they are.”

Krzyzewski on the challenges of a young roster: “Although it hasn’t happened, a kid that knows that he’s going pro can start looking ahead...so there are a couple things there that with a veteran team that wouldn’t happen, because they’ve

Juan Bermudez | Staff Photographer

White will serve as one of Duke’s captains.

invested maybe three years or four years. Again my guys have been really good, but it is tougher for a young group. How old can you get in nine months? Hopefully real old. Hopefully you wear shoes that don’t break—trying to make sure that doesn’t happen this time.”

Krzyzewski on the G-League and players going pro at a younger age: “If and when high school players are brought in right away the G-League has to improve...and they are investing [in it]. You can see them having more rounds in the draft, because if I’m an owner of an NBA team and I have a G-League affiliate I don’t want to just protect two guys, I want to protect everybody... don’t be shocked four or five years from now where there’s G-League on TV, and maybe our collegiate product is being challenged.”

Sujal Manohar | Associate Photo Editor

DeLaurier and Jones will join White.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2019 | 9

SCOUTING

players,” Duke defensive end Victor Dimukeje said. “Of course, they played the triple-option, so they have a lot of explosive guys. They run a lot of speed option, so we kind of know what to expect.”

FROM PAGE 8 Jackets would be cruelly ironic.

Who will start behind center for Georgia Tech?

It’s often said that if a team has two quarterbacks, then it has none, but what if it has three?

Three different Yellow Jackets have started as quarterback for Georgia Tech in 2019—Tobias Oliver, Lucas Johnson and James Graham—all with limited success.

Graham, who started against the Tar Heels, seems to be the likely starter behind center against Duke, but Cutcliffe will not be preparing his team differently in preparation for the quarterback uncertainty.

“There are a lot of ways they can go at [quarterback]. But the thing you have to be is sound. You have to have people where they’re supposed to be. If you’re going to run a quarterback more, if you’re going to throw a quarterback more, if you’re going to play action pass, none of that changes by the person doing it. You still have to be sound. You have to play your defense. Every defensive call should have answers.”

Will Duke run all over Georgia Tech?

Georgia Tech allows an astronomical 245.8 yards per game on the ground, the third-most among all FBS teams. Clemson thrashed the Yellow Jackets for 411 rushing yards, including a mind-boggling line of 12 rushes for 205 yards and three touchdowns for Travis Etienne. Even FCS Citadel got in on the fun, running for 320 yards in its matchup against Georgia Tech.

The Blue Devil running back duo of Deon Jackson and Mataeo Durant should have this game circled on their calendars, a great opportunity to bump up their season stats.

Does this have the makings of a trap game?

This is the only game remaining on the schedule that Duke is favored to win by more than 70 percent according to FPI. As such, it’s easy to overlook a cupcake matchup against Georgia Tech in favor of a season-defining three-game stretch against No. 20 Virginia, sworn rival North Carolina and No. 9 Notre Dame. But such a trying slate means that bowl eligibility is no given for the Blue Devils and Can Duke continue to stop the run? that beating the Yellow Jackets needs to be the Duke’s defense has held up well in the top priority right now. interior, allowing just 3.5 yards per rushing “We have a tough stretch with five straight attempt. Although Georgia Tech lacks in [ACC] Coastal games before our second bye offensive weapons, Jordan Mason and Oliver week, but we’re really not thinking ahead both have 275 yards rushing or more on five- to anything after this week, we’re really plus yards per carry. Something needs to give, focusing on Georgia Tech this week,” Duke Times Syndication Corporation and theThe BlueNew DevilYork defensive line seems to beSales a quarterback Quentin Harris said. “You can Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10018 strong bet in620 this Eighth matchup. never overlook an opponent to think of other For Information Call: 1-800-972-3550 “Georgia For Tech has a Thursday, lot of explosive future matchups.”

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PUZZLE BY TRENT ALEX EATON-SALNERS H. EVANS

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52 “Where Floweringthe plant 48 that’sThings also a Are” Wild continuous 37 sponsor ___ particle woman’s name author of the 39 Olympics ___ Sports(since 51 54 Spooky 2009 Nobel 1928) Bureau (stats laureate 53 Parts of record keeper) earrings 40 Court players 55 Printed again 40 “Isn’t this fancy?!”

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

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

T H E I N D E P E N D E N T D A I LY AT D U K E U N I V E R S I T Y

The Chronicle

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Trump labor policies will hurt grad students—and the University

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s a graduate student and organizer with the Duke Graduate Students Union (DGSU), when I heard about a rule change proposed by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that would prevent undergraduate and graduate students from being considered employees, I felt sick. But the decision should also turn the stomachs of everyone who cares about workers or is an ally to labor.

Chris Huebner GUEST COLUMN This decision, supported by three board members appointed by President Trump, reverses a decision made in 2016 that allowed undergrad and grad students to form unions and collectively bargain for better working conditions and benefits. It’s a decision that we should all oppose because it will negatively affect the labor rights and working conditions of

hot take of the week “It’s no longer Hot Girl Summer; it’s Freshman Plague Fall.”

”

—Leah Abrams, Editorial Page Editor, on October 10, 2019

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demonstrating that all kinds of marginalized workers can be denied critical labor rights.

Duke, as a leader in higher education, should show that it stands against the Trump administration’s attacks on workers’ rights. Duke should, like NYU, voluntarily recognize and enter into negotiations with DGSU. Only then can the Duke community of students, faculty and staff have faith that the University is what it says it is: a school that attends “not only to [students’] intellectual growth but also to their development as adults committed to high ethical standards and full participation as leaders in their communities.”

Since forming a little more than two years ago, the DGSU has organized tirelessly for better conditions for all graduate students on campus. Because of DGSU actions, we at Duke have better maternity and paternity leave. We have increased pay caps for non-departmental earnings. We don’t have to pay continuation fees in our sixth year. We have continued gym access in our third through fifth years, which the administration once tried to revoke. And, regardless of what the administration says, DGSU’s Pay Campaign was instrumental to changing Duke’s pay structure to a twelve month stipend worth at least $31,000 per year by the fall of 2022.

While the Trump Administration’s fight against labor rages on, DGSU is fighting for a Fair Contract for grad workers at Duke. Grad students across all disciplines and departments deserve a contract guaranteeing fair pay, good benefits and protections against workplace harassment and discrimination.

Chris Huebner is a graduate student in the English department and the Director of Communications for the Duke Graduate Student Union.

Columnist’s note: If you are a current graduate student at Duke, please join us! We have a lot of work to do, but we’ve shown—in a short time—that we are stronger together and that when we fight, we win! Please visit our website and check us out on social media @dukegradunion to learn more, and join us at dukegradunion.org/join.

Finally, if you oppose the rule, please comment and make your voice heard. Learn more about the decision and fill out a comment in opposition to the proposed rule.

Letter: Faculty urge Duke to ban vaping

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The Chronicle

CONNER MCLEOD, Sports Managing Editor CARTER FORINASH, University News Editor MATTHEW GRIFFIN, University News Editor PRIYA PARKASH, University News Editor MONA TONG, Local & National News Editor ROSE WONG, Local & National News Editor MARIA MORRISON, Health & Science News Editor EMILY QIN, News Photography Editor ERIC WEI, Sports Photography Editor MICHELLE TAI , Features Photography Editor AARON ZHAO, Features Photography Editor MIHIR BELLAMKONDA, Editorial Page Managing Editor MAX LABATON, Editorial Page Managing Editor SELENA QIAN, Graphics Editor BRE BRADHAM, Video Editor

students and other workers around the country.

The proposed rule is currently undergoing a sixty day review period, during which the NLRB will review comments received from the public.

This decision will affect graduate students across the country. Over twenty thousand grad students have organized and held union elections since the 2016 ruling. The NLRB’s reversal puts all of that work at risk. Additionally, it jeopardizes contract negotiations between unions and administrators at Columbia University and the University of Chicago, where graduate students have a real chance of winning fair contracts that guarantee better conditions—from improved insurance benefits to increased stipends.

The NLRB argues that grad students should not be considered employees because our relationship with the universities is “primarily educational.” This is nothing more than creative doublespeak that attempts to obscure the important labor we perform for our employers.

Just because our work also involves educational tasks—our own research and coursework for example— does not mean we don’t work, and it doesn’t mean we don’t deserve a right to organize for fair compensation and better working conditions. We serve as TAs in classrooms, grade papers and exams, do important research in labs and out in the field. Without this labor, universities would not be able to function. This decision lets the university profit from our labor while denying us our rights as workers.

We deserve the right to organize for fair compensation and better working conditions, and better working conditions for us means better learning conditions for Duke’s students.

And make no mistake. This is not a decision that just affects graduate students. This is part of the Trump Administration’s efforts to undermine the rights of workers around the country. There are hundreds of thousands of workers around the country who, like graduate students, are in precarious positions and unable to organize for better working conditions.

These include healthcare workers, homecare workers, drivers for Uber and Lyft and other workers participating in the gig economy. By determining that graduate students are not “employees,” the NLRB is

A

s practicing clinicians and scientists, we write to express our concern regarding the use of electronic cigarettes on campus, and to urge Duke University to join almost 2,000 US colleges and universities in taking a proactive stance by banning these products on the campus. Our university and its

for Disease Control (CDC) strongly recommends that young people not use e-cigarettes or vaping products, particularly those containing THC. Thus, we urge the University to move quickly to acknowledge the health crisis linked to vaping and ban the use of all e-cigarette products on our campus.

Concerned Faculty LETTER TO THE EDITOR host city Durham have navigated a long and fraught relationship with tobacco, and we now face a new opportunity to impact the tobacco industry’s threats to local and world public health.

Vape manufacturers and marketers have made excessive claims of benefit in smoking cessation while targeting youth, who are especially vulnerable to addiction. They have delivered unhealthy and misleading information about the safety of these products, which the FDA has failed to regulate. The most recent Duke policy of April 2019 has deferred a decision regarding e-cigarettes and vaping on campus. In our opinion, the clear and strong recent local and national evidence of the highly addictive and life-threatening effects of vaping should motivate students and staff to abandon vaping and the University to implement a ban.

While the specific chemical exposures causing this outbreak remain unknown at this time, the Centers

Signed, Sven-Eric Jordt, PhD Cynthia E Kuhn Peter S. Kussin, MD Patty J. Lee, MD Timothy J. McMahon, MD, PhD Joel Meyer Claude A. Piantadosi, MD Loretta Que, MD

The Chronicle

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2019 | 11

Does the house meal make the home?

n January 2017, Tamar Adler, contributor to Vogue and author of An Everlasting Meal, wrote an online essay for Bon Appetit magazine called “Everyone Should Have a House Meal.” This article has since become a foundational and irreplaceable part of how I understand and value home cooking.

the season or reason. And when I’m home, nothing makes me happier than the first night we have chicken pot pie or noodle soup. Sometimes, you just need to make (and eat) some chicken goo.

But college is a strange period of rootlessness that interrupts all sorts of routines and favorites. One of my

But as Adler writes, the best part of the house meal is its versatility.

There is no golden standard for Wright Family Chicken Goo. For variety, it might be done with sweet potatoes or parsnips or sautéed kale from our local farmshare. There’s no recipe, and it’s never made the same way twice, and sure, there

favorite Tweets reads, “College is weird bc home doesn’t feel like home and college doesn’t feel like home so you’re basically like homeless ya know?”

When I returned home for the first time, during winter break of my first-year, I absolutely experienced that unsettling feeling of foreignness and distance in my own house. My younger sisters were closer and had a dozen inside jokes that I hadn’t experienced; my parents had sold the trusty Toyota Sienna minivan I had driven for all of high school; friends I had known since fifth grade were oddly unrecognizable.

But if this is no longer my home, is home now at Duke?

If I can no longer claim “chicken goo,” then what is my new house meal?

Even with senior year already settled uncomfortably but unshakably on my shoulders, there are plenty of times when I feel like this place cannot possibly be my home: when I spent my Friday night watching The Great British Baking Show but everyone in Vondy is talking about which parties they attended and what boys they kissed; when yet another wave of business-casual suits and dresses parades past and I know it’s consulting recruitment; when I see classmates not just passing but outright excelling on a level far beyond me. I have spent years wondering if I could claim this place as my home, and some days it feels like I’m the only one doubting.

Maybe I simply do not have a Duke house meal.

are some iterations of chicken goo that I like more than others.

Part of what makes chicken goo so surprisingly delightful is how it’s different from meal to meal, and chef to chef.

Maybe it’s not that I don’t have a Duke house meal. Maybe (and I’ll admit I like this possibility better) it’s not a single dish but a combination of every experience, class and meal I have had here. It’s the endearing awkwardness of Marketplace dinners and picnic lunches in the Gardens. It’s a hot dog at Wallace Wade, a falafel wrap from Gussy’s during P-Checks, an LDOC snow cone on the Chapel quad. It’s equal parts Cookout milkshake and Chick-fil-A nuggets (briefly leaving politics far, far to the side). It’s absolutely anything from Div Café or The Loop.

I still feel out of place sometimes, both in my childhood and college homes. I still wonder if I’m doing “the Duke thing” right, talking to the right people, taking the right classes. But having studied and laughed and cried and loved and eaten in this place for the last three years, I do know that like any family’s house meal, there is not one way to make your four years at Duke. Chicken goo changes every time, and is all the better for it.

Gretchen Wright CAMERON CRAVINGS

But what is a house meal? Adler lays out the essentials: “A house meal must be adaptable as a chameleon, made of basic ingredients, fast, culinarily undemanding, and seem neither a sin nor a charity to consume.”

We return to the house meal again and again, night after night. When the whole family is plagued by the flu, or it gets dark at 4 p.m., or there is hardly time enough to eat, much less prepare a full supper, the house meal is the only dinner that will suffice. Perhaps entirely subconsciously, this meal is decided upon, prepared and consumed more than any other because it fills and satisfies more than just hungry bellies.

I can easily identify my family’s house meal: the dish my sisters and I affectionately deemed “chicken goo” when we were little. The essential ingredient is in the title, but of course there are also carrots and celery. Onions and garlic, maybe chopped parsley or thyme and plenty of salt and freshly-cracked black pepper. There must be a broth or a gravy, something saucy to offset my parents’ most minor of sins: occasionally leaving the chicken in the oven for a few moments too long. The chicken is roasted with potatoes, ladled with egg noodles, poured over leftover Chinesetakeout rice or scooped up with a crusty hunk of that temporarily-forgotten loaf of bread.

Without a doubt, my family ate some variation of these essential components more than once a week, no matter

Gretchen Wright is a Trinity senior who is very much hoping her mother is not offended by calling her cooking “goo.” Her column, “cameron cravings,” runs on alternate Thursdays.

E-Scooters: The ADA’s worst nightmare

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ne. Two. Three. Four. Five.” On a Friday drive from East to West Campus, I tracked how many e-scooters I saw abandoned in the middle of sidewalks and on street corners. Since the semester began, I’ve lost count of how many parking offenses I’ve seen, but five illegally parked in a single cross-campus trip? Aren’t Duke students better than this?

Maya Miller GUEST COLUMN Ever since the e-scooters invaded Durham streets (and sidewalks) back in June, students have jumped all over this convenient and cheap transportation. An e-scooter can turn the trek from Gross Hall to Biddle into a 12-minute trip, instead of a race to the bus stop only to find the C1 pulling away. And the ride costs less than $3.00! A win-win for riders and vendors, right?

Think again. I see the world through a different lens—though not by choice. My late father relied on mobility devices during his long battle against a rare neurological disease.

So instead of viewing the new e-scooters as empowering and eco-friendly alternatives, my first thought was, “Wow, this is an ADA nightmare.” E-scooters parked in the middle of sidewalks and curb cuts violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). At best, they’re a nuisance. At worst, they’re a danger, especially for people who live with vision and mobility disabilities. Even for people like me who aren’t differently abled, carelessly parked e-scooters are annoying and hazardous.

The root problems are student ignorance, apathy and lack of accountability. Duke’s Scooter Operations and Parking Guidelines

explicitly say, “Scooters must be parked upright adjacent to a bicycle rack and not impede pedestrians,” and then decree that parked e-scooters shouldn’t block pedestrian pathways, doors or access ramps, and fire hydrants. But,

at its base and swing it, then move myself and grab it and swing it again.” It took five minutes to move it. “There have been all sorts of small instances like that. It’s been a pain.”

In fact, even members of the Duke

At best, they’re a nuisance. At worst, they’re a danger, especially for people who live with vision and mobility disabilities.

as students have already demonstrated, it’s pretty easy to not give a damn.

There’s no convenient way in real time to track down an illegally parked e-scooter’s last user and hold them accountable, which means there’s no incentive to park responsibly.

Laziness and convenience win the day and e-scooters get left everywhere. Without an enforcement mechanism that holds users themselves accountable for their careless parking, things won’t get any better.

Students might frown at an e-scooter left in the middle of the sidewalk, and then just walk around, figuring it’s someone else’s responsibility. But when Duke senior Bryan Rusch, who uses a wheelchair, found a diagonally parked e-scooter blocking the sidewalk one day, he didn’t have time to wait for PTS to impound it. “I was just like, ‘I can’t do anything!’ Thank goodness I’m slightly ablebodied, [because] I had to get down and grab it

Disability Alliance (DDA) have been slow to grasp the scale of the issue. No one had raised it yet. “Oh, dang, I didn’t realize how true this is!” DDA’s treasurer, senior Trent Lau, told me after I asked the group to weigh in. It’s a hassle even for people who don’t live with a disability, for whom an e-scooter parked in the middle of the sidewalk still presents a safety hazard. “Last night I was running, it was dark, and I turned the corner and had to jump out of the way because there was a scooter right in the middle of the sidewalk,” said Kevin Solomon, a Duke junior and a member of DDA. “It affects everyone.”

So, how should we fix it? Dr. Marion Quirici, DDA’s faculty advisor, suggested a public shaming campaign, a strategy that president Symon Ma, a senior, agreed could work. “I think advocacy always starts with awareness, or like, you know, publicity,” Ma said.

Most Duke students aren’t heartless. In

fact, they probably think they’re doing the right thing by using an “eco-friendlier” mode of transportation. “Some people really just don’t care.” says Duke’s ADA Facilities Program Director Tony Galiani. “But they [also] might not even realize what they’re doing.” Most people don’t view life through “disability goggles.”

Rusch believes people need to open their eyes to how people with disabilities need to use space differently. “You could walk on the grass, I can’t.

You can do this, I can’t. You could move that scooter two steps over and help me save five minutes of my day. It only takes two seconds of yours.” He said he’s even had to compete with e-scooter users for space on ADA-mandated ramps. Everyone—Duke, student activists, the e-scooter companies—has a responsibility to raise awareness around disability.

Increased awareness needs to be the first step of a larger action plan. Durham could follow Raleigh’s lead, where city officials ran Bird, Spin, and Lime out of town in favor of Gotcha, whose business model enforces greater accountability. In contrast to the others, Gotcha’s e-scooter wranglers are trained employees instead of part-time contractors. If you don’t park your e-scooter in one of their designated parking zones, expect a fine to be charged right to your phone. By switching exclusively to Gotcha, and ending business with other companies, Duke and Durham could declare a commitment to responsibility over convenience.

Change could start right now. But if students can’t be held accountable for careless e-scooter parking, Duke should simply take away the privilege of having them on campus. So, students: step it up, give a damn, or one day soon, you might wake to find your precious e-scooters gone.

Maya Miller is a Trinity sophomore.

The Chronicle

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CAN’T MISS EVENTS OCTOBER 10-NOVEMBER 17

ART, ART HISTORY, VISUAL STUDIES

Centering Art History & Visual Culture in the Digital Humanities: A Symposium Celebrating Ten Years of the Wired! Lab for Digital Art History & Visual Culture, Duke University Friday, October 18 | 9 am-6 pm

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NOVEMBER DANCES 2019 Friday, November 22 & Saturday, November 23 7:30pm Reynolds Industries Theater