January 31, 2008

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French-themed outdoor cafe to open next to the Marketplace in March, PAGE 3

Newcoach requires players to lose collective 1000pounds,PAGE 7

The Tower of Campus Thought and Action

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MX. STATE vs. DUKE Cameron Indoor Stadium TONIGHT 9 p.m. ESPN2 •

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ACC Town loss motivates Duke

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Trustee makes S2OM gift for international aid Funds go to need-based aid, research scholarships by

David Graham THE CHRONICLE

WEIYITAN/CHRONICLE FILE PHOTO

Duke was knocked out in the first round of the ACC Tournament by North Carolina State in overtime last season. Duke looks to avenge that loss against a struggling Wolfpack squad tonight in Cameron Indoor Stadium. See story on PAGE 7.

Durham women host mock caucus Ryan Brown THE CHRONICLE

by

Mandy Carter was on a mission She had three minutes to convince a room full ofDurham Democrats that they should support Hillary Clinton

for president.

“We’ve had 43 male presidents,” she told the

M

crowd. “It’s time for a woman, for a change. This is our moment.”

Carter was one of about 100 participants in a mock Democratic caucus held at the Durham g County Public library Wednesday night Sponsored by the Durham SEE CAUCUS ON PAGE

5

University Trustee Bruce Karsh and his wife Martha will give |2O million in permanent endowment to Duke to fund financial aid for internationalundergraduate students, the University announced Wednesday.

The majority of the Karshes’ gift—sls million—will provide need-based grants for international students. The remaining $5 million will be split between a fund to cover student expenses such as travel and the Karsh International Scholars Program, which will provide research funding to approximately five international students per year.

Bruce Karsh, Trinity ’77, is chair of the Duke University Management Company, a member of the Board’s Executive Committee and president of Oaktree Capital Management based in Los Angeles.

“A university should be a stimulating environment, where there’s a lot of give and take,” he said in an interview with The Chronicle Wednesday. “I think it’s great for kids at Duke to have the diversity of meeting kids from all around the world and for kids from all around the world to be at one of this nation’s top universities.”

Although the University has a need-blind admissions policy for domestic students, neither that policy nor sweeping increases in aid passed by Trustees in December apply to international students.

The Karshes have previously made several donationsfor need-based aid, both for domestic and international students.

Karsh said that in addition to helping to promote goodwill toward the University and toward the United States, the new gift will help to make Duke competitive in the

global race to win the best students.

The third component, the Karsh International Scholars Program, will provide a select number ofinternational students on aid with three summers of funding for research orresearch-service in Durham, elsewhere in the United States or abroad. The program will be administered through the Office of Undergraduate Scholars and Fellows.

In addition to providing support for travel, the benefit fund will expand international orientation programs.

Karsh said President Brodhead Richard played a major role in Bruce Karsh developing the contours of the program.

“President Brodhead has a deep commitment to need-blind financial aid and takes a strong personal interest in seeing the University achieve its Financial Aid Initiative goal and was deeply influential in our decision to make this particular gift,”Karsh said.

In a statement, Brodhead applauded the Karshes’ effort to increase aid for international students.

“The Karshes understand the importance of a robust financial aid program and the advantages to all Duke students if the best in the world are among them,” he said. “We will •now be able to admit many more [international undergraduate students] who require financial aid, enriching our community and advancing Duke’s global connectivity.”

The Karshes’ gift also adds to the ongoing Financial Aid Initiative, which is scheduled to SEE DONATION ON PAGE

6

THE CHRONICLE

2 I THURSDAY, JANUARY 31,2008

Weather

Edwards, Giuliani drop out ofrace

ENTERTAINMENT WORLD Australia apologizes to Aborigines Production for 'Montel' stops

Democrat John EdNEW ORLEANS wards bowed out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination Wednesday, saying it was time to step aside "so that history can blaze its path."

"With our convictions and a little backbone we will take back the White House in November," Edwards said.

Rudy Giuliani, who sought to make the leap from New York mayor to the White House, bowed out of the Republican presidential contest Wednesday and endorsed front-runner and longtime friend John McCain.

As a girl, MOUNT DRUITT, Australia Mari Melito Russell felt out of place. She was darker than the other kids at school and she felt more comfortable in the forest than her suburban home.

Russell is among thousands of Australian Aborigines who were forcibly removed from their families under policies that lasted for decades until 1970.

Australia's government said Wednesday it would formally apologize to the so-called "stolen generations" as the first item of business of the new Parliament, on Feb 13.

Military teen drinking considered

Reports leave Olmert unhurt

u.s.

A state lawmaker wants members of the armed forces younger than 21 the right to buy alcohol even though it's in contrast to the military's efforts to reduce underage drinking.

"I really don't think it should create a problem for the military. It might even enhance their morale," Rep. Fletcher Smith said COLUMBIA, S.C.

to give

—

Syndicated talk show NEW YORK host Montel Williams is being replaced by a younger version of himself.

CBS Television Distribution announced Wednesday that "The Montel Williams Show" will cease production after this television season, his 17th on the air.

Instead, stations that carried his show will be offered a series of Williams reruns."Best of Montel" will be 52 weeks worth of "some of the most exciting episodes" from the show's history, the producers said.

Throughout the afternoon, expect increasing cloudiness,and there isa chance of rain beginning in theevening. On Friday,there should be

Madonna tops Forbes music list

Madonna is the richest NEW YORK music.

JERUSALEM Prime Minister Ehud 01- woman in The 49-year-old entertainer leads Forbes, mert emerged relatively unscathed from the final report Wednesday on his handling of corn's list of the top 20 "Cash Queens of MuIsrael's 2006 war in Lebanon, even though the sic," earning $72 million between June 2006 inquiry criticized both the government and and June 2007.

The pop star's "Confessions" world tour the army for "serious failings and flaws."

The report stopped short of blaming 01- pulled in $260 million. She also made money mert personally for what many Israelis saw from album sales, her fashion line with H&M acle that emboldened the and a deal with NBC to broadcast her concert performance at London's Wembley Stadium. mies.

Forbes.com compiled the list by examining concert grosses, merchandising revenue, ECH album sales and other revenue from clothing :ury photos puzzle lines, fragrance deals and endorsements.

The first pictures IGTON mseen side of Mercury reveal ODDS & ENDS ikies of an aging planet with Chocolate room unveiled in NYC ;om volcanic eruptions and a NEW YORK Don't lick the walls, imark shaped like a spider.

An all-chocolate room was unveiled in »ome of the 1,213 photos Manhattan Tuesday—a pre-Valentine's Day ;en by NASA's Messenger creation complete with furniture and artwork >be and unveiled Wednesmade of the sweet stuff. ly help support the case Chocolate "pearls" were dripping off the at ancient volcanoes dot chandeliers above the dining table, which lercury and that it is shrinkwas a sea of stars, truffles and crescents—all ig as it gets older, forming chocolate, of course, under glass. dnkle-like ridges.

Rachel Shtier, associate professor at The Theatre School, DePaul University, will present "Gypsy Rose Lee: the striptease intellectual."

News briefs

from wire : way

real

THURSDAY, JANUARY 31,2008 | 3

the chronicle

East Campus cafe slated for March opening by

Marisa Siegel THE CHRONICLE

24/7, year-round, with space heaters in

the wintertime, tables with umbrellas and to soon have a new reason a canopy to shelter the entire potentially will Students on East from poor dining space weather, Wulforst said. to Campus. bon appetit say “I think [Le Marche] would be amazPlans are underway for a French-themed outdoor dining area to open this March in ing,” freshman Taylor Burke said. “I would the patio area next to the Marketplace, said go out there, especially during the spring.”

Freshman Zack Isaacs, however, said he Director of Dining Services Jim Wulforst.

Freshman Duke Student Government is skeptical that students would fully utilize Senator Michael Lefevre came up with an outdoor eating space year-round.

“I think if the weather is bad, [Le the idea for the outdoor dining space, Marche”—French Marche] be “Le probably won’t fare very well,” called which will Isaacs said. for “the market” —and began collaboratLefevre said ing with Wulforst the in completion the on project “I envision this as a place where of Le Marche November. is taking longer “I really wantstudents could go on a Wednesthan expected. something ed from day night with little tables and Although it will different open in March, Trinity and the French chairs and strung lights.” there are still sevMarketplace,” Lefevre said. “So I Mike Lefevre eral obstacles that will need to be thought, wouldn’t DSG senator solved regarding to have it be neat the dining space, a French atmoWulforst said. sphere.”

One major issue is how to let students Students will first swipe into the Marketwho have already paid for their Marketplace, then get their food and take it outside to eat. place meal back inside if they want more food. Until a better solution is thought up, In March, students will be able to access the outside eating area through an students will need to take as much food as emergency exit door off the Marketplace, they think they want from the Marketplace Wulforst said. Eventually a sliding glass and not be able to go back inside once seatdoor leading to a deck will be built as the ed in the Le Marche area, Wulforst said.

Another issue is the cost and time it will entrance to Le Marche as a replacement take to build a glass canopy to cover Le for the door.

Marche in order to make the area weather“I envision this as a place where students could go on a Wednesday night with friendly, Wulforst said. little tables and French chairs and strung “We’re exploring every opportunity for solutions to make it possible to have an outlights,” Lefevre said.

The outside eating space will be open door eating area for students,” Wulforst said.

freshman

MAYA ROBINSON/THE CHRONICLE

DSG Senator Mike Lefevre, a freshman, sits in the area next to the Marketplace whereLe Marche, a new cafe that he has worked to create with Director of Dining Services Jim Wulforst, will be located.

The opening of Le Marche is part of a greater plan to expand dining on East Campus, including a juice bar in Brodie Recreation Center and a possible diner or von der Heyden Pavilion-like eating space above the Marketplace, Wulforst said.

The Duke University Student Dining Advisery Committee is working to create more dining options for the currently limited East Campus, Wulforst said.

The hope is that Le Marche will attract more students to eat and hang out on East and eventually be a venue for live music, Lefevre said.

Although Lefevre does not expect the opening of Le Marche to attract upperclassmen to East for dining, Burke said she believes that it may keep upperclassmen that are already on East for class there to eat.

PROVOST’S LECTURE SERIES 2007/08:

ON

BEING

HUMAN

provost. duke. edu/speaker_series As we come to understand the role of genes in neuronal

granwp WmM

wiring—and neuronal wiring in the production of behavior—we

are newly confronted with

questions about choice and responsibility, and about the neural platform for moral behavior. Although

questions concerning what free choice really amounts to have long been at the center of philosophical reflection,

new discoveries—especially from neuropharmacology and neuropsychology—have lent them a special and very

practical urgency. Against the backdrop of evolutionary

biology, we are beginning to learn about the role of specific neurochemicals in regulating social behavior, and about the role of the reward

system in acquiring social skills. Professor Churchland will discuss some of the broad issues arising from these recent developments from the perspective of

neurophilosophy.

Decisions, Morality, and the Brain 5 pm Tuesday February 5, 2008 Love Auditorium Levine Science Research Center Patricia Smith Churchland UC President’s Professor of Philosophy University of California, San Diego

THE CHRONICLE

4 I THURSDAY, JANUARY 31,2(X)8

DUKE STUDENT GOVERNMENT

DSG discussespeer advising,

committee appointments by

Diana Sheldon THE CHRONICLE

Duke Student Government discussed

plans to increase awareness of the peer advising system and recruit peer advisers at its weekly Senate meeting Wednesday night.

Junior Sunny Kantha, vice president

for athletics and campus services, also announced that the validadon system will be indefinitely suspended due to high student attendance at the men’s basketball games

against

Virginia

Tech and Clemson which —during the validation system was temporarily suspended Aaron Todd, assistant dean for pre major advising, attended the meeting to advocate for the peer advising system.

peer advising,” Todd said. “Students are looking for information beyond what the academic adviser can provide them.”

Senators encouraged the Academic Advising Center to look into promoting interaction between advisers and incoming freshmen during the summer and also to add a link on ACES to the peer advising program.

Todd said the program would have a larger presence in print publications.

Additionally, Todd said he has personal plans to make students aware of the

“I really want you to be my disciples for peer advising. Students are looking for information beyond what the academic adviser can provide them.”

—Aaron Todd, assistant deanforpremajor advising

Acknowledging that some students do not have the best advising experience, Todd said he hopes peer advisers will fill the void in the system and answer the questions that faculty advisers cannot.

“You are the best advisers to each other because you’ve been there,” Todd said.

He encouraged senators to apply and to push their friends to apply for positions as peer advisers.

“I really want you to be my disciples for

program.

“I plan on riding the bus and harassing students to talk to

me about it,” he said.

Senior Gina Ireland, vice president for academic affairs, proposed an amendment to changes in the Intercommunity Council bylaws. Her amendment forbids ICC to have representatives on the ad hoc committees that select students for the presidential and Board of Trustee committees. She said members of the ICC rarely have committee experience and are not representative of the student body.

“The ICC is an ad hoc creation of a certain situation,” Ireland said. “It is not systemSEE DSG ON PAGE

6

SARA GUERRERO/THE CHRONICLE

Aaron Todd, assistant dean for premajor advising, promoted a one-year-old major advising program in which juniors and seniors help freshmen and sophomores choose their majors.

CHANCELLOR FOR HEALTH AFFAIRS REVIEW The Faculty Handbook states that if the Chancellor for Health Affairs of the University is eligible for reappointment, in the fourth year of the Chancellor's term a committee will conduct a performance review and submit a confidential report to the university President. Such a review committee has been appointed by President Brodhead to review Chancellor Victor Dzau, who has served in his post since 2004.

Christopher Willett, chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology, will serve as committee chair. Other members include: David Beratan (Chemistry), Blanche Capel (Cell Biology), Anthony Means (Pharmacology and Cancer Biology), Hof Milam (Finance), Joe Moore (Medical Oncology and Cell Therapy), Barbara Turner (School of Nursing), and Phail Wynn (Durham and Regional Affairs). Frank Emory and Rebecca Kirkland will serve as trustee members.

An important part of the review process is the gathering of input from the University's many constituencies. Comments on performance and suggestions for the future are important to the committee's work. The committee invites you to share your thoughts by email or letter, or communicate orally to any committee member. Communication should include the nature of your interactions with the Chancellor in order to understand the context of your comments as fully as possible. The committee will discuss responses and a summary will be included in the written report to the President. All communications will be kept in confidence by the committee.

The Committee would appreciate receiving your thoughts by February 29 Thank you in advance for your participation in this important process.

Christopher Willett, MD, Chair Chancellor Review Committee Box 90030

Durham, North Carolina 27708 admin-review@duke.edu

the chronicle

THURSDAY, JANUARY 31,2008 | 5

was another round of open discussion—a last-ditch effort to win the most fickle of voters.

Surveying the room, Dan Democratic Women, the “Raucous Besse, a candidate for lieutenant Caucus” drew a crowd eager to governor, said he was excited by make their political voice heard in the caucus dynamic. a state whose late primary reduces “People who come out to an its sway in choosing the presidential nominee. event like this are the ones who make the democratic system “People feel like they don’t have work,” he said. “Their involvement a vote,” said Diana Palmer, first vice chair of the Durham County Demshapes the atmosphere for the rest of a campaign.” ocratic Party. “We wanted Some, however, doubted an event that would give ev“People who come out to an the fairness of the process. eryone a meaningful way to “It’s definitely easier to express theirvoice.” event like this are the ones game [than voting by balCaucus-goers began the lot],” said DCDP Chair Kevin who make the democratic night by fanning out to separate comers of the room, Farmer. “Often the candidate system work.” with the best-trained crew is each labeled for one of —Clinton, candidates the Dan Besse, the one who prevails.”

Barack Obama or Mike But for “Raucous Caucus” Lieutenant Governor candidate participants, the competition Gravel. A fourth corner hosted the undecided. was friendly. At the end of Votes in a caucus are dethe night, the entire crowd cheered loudly when Munger antermined by the number of people cluster of high schoolstudents diseach candidate has in theircomer at cussed their support for Obama. nounced that Obama was the victor. the end of the night, and the batde “Instead of just acting like a When theexcitementdied down, for support is won and lost largely by Democrat, he wants to bring everyMunger reminded participants that one together to change the nation,” theirrole in the political process was person-to-person persuasion.

“Undecideds, if they want your said Alex Revelle, a sophomore at not limited to a mock caucus, and the Durham School of the Arts. their voice could prove crucial in vote, make them come to you,” said After the initial round of minthe real national primary.

Munger, president of the DDW and an organizer of the gling, supporters of each candi‘With the vote so divided, [the event. “This is your chance to get date were given a chance to speak race] may last until May,” she said. “It to the heart of why someone sup- to the entire room. Finally, there could very well come down to us.”

CAUCUS from page 1

,

ports a candidate.”

Then the campaigning began.

In the Clinton corner, supporters talked up their candidate’s experience and track record.

“She’s authentic on the issues,” said Cathy Moore, a voting precinct chair for the Durham Democratic party. “And she’s proven. She has workedfor theissues she cares about even when they weren’t popular.”

Meanwhile, across the room, a

ZACHARY TRACER/THE CHRONICLE

An mock Democratic caucus sponsored by Durham Democratic Women held at the Durham Public Library drew around 100 people Wednesday night.

Duke science blogs reach out to students, public by

Karen Schroeder THE CHRONICLE

Education and entertainment are the goals of the newly launched online publication Duke Research, which presents a collection of blogs highlighting scientific research at the University.

“We’re trying to get people in the Duke community talking about science research, and what’s interesting to them,” said featured blogger Tom Burroughs, a freelance science writer who posted his first entry last

Monday.

He writes each of his blog entries on a different piece of research happening at

Duke.

The Duke Research Web site links to Burroughs’ blog as well as other science blogs from around Duke. Karl Bates, the editor of Duke Research and manager of research communications for the Office of News and Communications, said the publication is looking to add more blogs from the Duke research community as they are created.

Currently most of the content is written by graduate students, and there are only a

handful of links to blogs outside the site.

One leads to a group of graduate students in the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences writing about their summer research internships, and another leads to a Duke staff member covering genomics-related news items. But Bates said he hopes more faculty will

begin to blog.

“Somebody who loves to teach ought to love blogging because it’s the same thing,” he said The advantage of reading a blog

increase public support for scientific research,

instructor.

“It’s a constant battle—research has always relied on taxpayer money, so we have to be in front of the people explaining why it’s important,” he said, A class of graduate students from the Nicholas Schoo has exSomebody who loves perienced blogmg first-hand tQ teach ought tO § love 0 during the past two weeks. blogging because it’s the The course same c tbina L 11 o* Marine ConserKarl Bates, vation Biology - was taught en77 editor ojrr\ Duke Research t [ re \y i n th e field .

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searcher instead of a journalist is “authenticity,” Bates said.

“The blog allows you to hear the researchers speak in their own voice,” he said. “You get a much better sense of connecting and feeling like you’ve met them.”

Bates added that he hopes the site will

rine conservation biology and the course’s

ern Hawaiian Islands at the largest marine conservation site in the world. The students blogged daily about their fieldwork.

“The fundamental purpose was to make the students’ experiences available to a wide variety of readers,” said Andrew Read, Rachel Carson associate professor of ma-

The entries and photos in the blog were intended to make readers think about marine conservation, he said.

Read added that comments and questions posted by readers allowed for real-time dialogue about what was hap-

pening.

“People’s reactions affected us and into think what more we might be able to do,” he said.

In addition, Read said he had been contacted by an outside group interested in increasing awareness about marine plastic debris after one of the students posted an entry on the subject.

Burroughs said, though, that the goal of his writing is not the promotion ofresearch to the public. For now, at least, he wants to find out what the Duke community enjoys hearing about.

“The hope is that interest in science will increase, but right now the ambitions are not lofty—we want to see what gets people excited,” he said. “We are exploring the possibilities.”

spired us

THE CHRONICLE

6 I THURSDAY, JANUARY 31,2008

DSG from page 4 representative ofDuke.”

The conversation was tabled and will be discussed further in two meetings.

In other business: Kristen Manderscheid, a sophomore, responded to student suggestions to improve opportunities to speak with high-profile deans on campus. After meeting with administrators last semester, Manderscheid said several prominent administrators—including President Richard Brodhead, Vice. President for Campus Services Kernel Dawkins, Dean of Undergraduate Education Steve Nowicki and Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta—will hold office hours open to students interested in voicing what they think about Duke.

Kantha also announced the proposal of a glass awning over the new East Campus outdoor dining location, Le Marche, to protect the spot from inclement weather. He said the awning would cost approximately $40,000.

SARA GUERRERO/THE CHRONICLE

DSG members discussed whetherthe Intercommunity Council should have representation on committees selecting the Board of Trustees committees.

DUKE UNIVERSITY STORES*

MARKDOWN MADNESS

IT'S THE BIGGEST SALE OF THE YEAR!

2 MORE DAYS The Computer Store portion of this sale is being held in the Computer Store.

Sam 6pm -

Sam 2pm -

Don't forget to register for prizes.* Raffles will be held daily. *Duke Stores employees are not eligible to enter raffle.

Additional 20% OFF Marked Price!

For your shopping convenience, all clothing will be separated by size.

JACKETS ARE AVAILABLE! Discount cannot be used in conjunction with any other discounts. 20% off is the maximum discount allowed

The University Store, the Duke Computer Store and the Terrace Shop

are

conclude at the end of 2008. With the help of the donation, the initiative has raised $260 million ofits $3OO-million goal.

Duke currently provides aid to more than 40 percent ofthe undergraduate population. Of the 416 international undergraduates at the University, approximately 60 are on aid, with 15 to 18of them receiving full aid. With the gift, officials expect to have a total of 90 aided international undergraduates.

Some universities—including Harvard, Princeton and Yale—have extended need-blind admissions policies to international students, but on the opposite end of the spectrum, others offer no aid to foreign students, said Director ofFinancial Aid Jim Belvin. He added that because international aid is a new frontier, it is hard to assess Duke’s position relative to the rest of higher education.

Karsh said he is happy to be able to make a difference in the Duke community and the lives of undergraduates.

“Martha and I have been very lucky in our lives and we’re delighted to be able to give back in this way. I just hope if other people are fortunate to be in a similar position, they too will give back,” he said. “I’m convinced that 20, 30 years from now, this will be the proudest thing I’ll do.”

DRUNK from page 1

Everything is 50% to 75% off on selected merchandise from the University Store and the Terrace Shop.

Thursday, January 31 Friday, February 1

DONATION from page 1

departments of Duke University Stores®

shocked to see the magazine endorse Durham’s safety given the recent spike in violent crime.

Men’s Health gave Durham the best grade of 100 cities analyzed, an ‘A-plus,’ for what it found to be safer-than-average alcohol consumption. A’s were also awarded to Miami, Fla., and Buffalo, N.Y. The magazine recommended membership in Alcoholics Anonymous to the cities of Denver, Colo., Anchorage, Alaska, and Colorado Springs, Colo.

Ofall cities analyzed, the magazine found Durham to have the fifth-lowest numberof binge drinkers—a surprising given the region’s high concentration of college students.

“Duke kids will drink as much as a kid at a state school would drink throughout the day in a short period of time,” senior Warren Davis said. “Everyone here drinks a lot.”

But Jean Hanson, administrative director of the Student Health Center, said although student drinking often does not come to administrators’ attention unless it has reached a dangerous level, she thinks the majority ofDuke students consume alcohol responsibly.

“I think the perception is that there’s a lot more unhealthy drinking going on than there actually is.”

Freshman Gregory Morrison said the Durham PoliceDepartment should spend less time worrying about students’ alcohol consumption, given the findings of the study.

“I think this proves that DPD should be protecting graduate students from crime as opposed to monitoring off-campus parties,” he said.

But Robert Foss, senior research scientist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Highway Safety Research Center, advised against reading too much into Durham’s rating. He noted that such judgments require complicated data analysis that magazines are rarely equipped to conduct Foss said a city’s drunk-driving arrests numbers are a reflection mostly ofhow much such laws are enforced, and resources are often focused on more violent types ofcrime.

“A conclusion based on [these figures] is vacuous,” Foss said. ‘You may actually see numbers lower in Durham, but what does that mean?”

arts&entertainment

recess

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Sundance Him Festival reviewed SEE SUNDANCEPAGE 4

volume 10, issue 19

January 31,2008

Soul giant delivers the wisdom of Solomon ahead ofPage set by

David Graham THE CHRONICLE

Try to interview Solomon Burke.

Try to get straight answers out of the man when you can’t talk forall the laughing you’re doing.

Try to gain the upper hand over the King—the King of Rock ’n‘ Soul.

Try to follow a neat question-and-answer template, to trace his career from his youth in West Philadelphia, to his first record contract in 1954, to his improbable comeback in 2002.

Try to stop the momentum of the more-than-300-pound singer, as he effuses happiness, soul, swagger, Christian rhetoric and charisma in a deep, mellifluous preacher’s baritone.

Yeah, try to interview Solomon Burke.

It’s enough to make you wonder how Page Auditorium will contain him during his appearance Saturday night, part of Duke Performances’ SoulPower series.

“We’re going to take it from one end of the spectrum to the other, from the gospel to the country, and you can’t ask for any more than that,” Burke promises. “We’re just gonna spiritually rock that place.”

We? He’s referring to himself and soul-gospel singers the Dixie Hummingbirds, who not only are the other half of this weekend’s twinbill, but were the group backing Burke when he won his first record deal, 54 years ago.

Burke’s set will consist mostly of audience requests (he’s taking them through his Web site, which invites you to “send a message to the King.”), he says, because “without my audience, I’m nothing.”

In fact, Burke argues that the only thing that makes him different from the man on the street—aside from his imposing visage—is the fact that people will pay to listen to him sing.

‘You know how many ‘artists’ there are at home, who Legendary crooner King Solomon Burke will be performing with the Dixie Hummingbirds as part ofDuke Performances' Soul Power series. no one’s ever heard? That’s why American Idols, so popuall need to come together. We’ve been through enough lar,” he says. “We all have soul inside us. We release it and with sermon-like exhortations. But for him, there is a continuum from his work God’s word to in this great country. We believe in the dollar; we should it becomes a star. We all need light!” spanning preaching believe in the Holla—the word of God, that is—not just even the most sensual soul strain.

Burke’s own star rose in the 1960 s when he was record‘in God we trust,’ but if we believe in God, then we must [lt’s the same as] myjob is as a minister, to communiing for the Atlantic label. Although he never so much as believe that he can do things that are impossible, to on a nonsectarian he of his “Not says songs. basis,” cracked the Top 20, he produced a steady stream of music, cate, including “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love”—covered condemning people to hell or making sure everyone has make the world a better place for our children and your by everyone from the Rolling Stones to the Jerry Garcia wings, but making sure everyone has understanding and children.”

Long pause.

Band, but perhaps best known for appearing in The Blues a sense of love in their hearts. And once they get that in “Now I’m preaching, and I wasn’t supposed to preach, Brothers. their heart, they realize that God is love. To sing these but I can’t help it, it’s natural,” Burke chuckles.

The gritty, soul side of his music has always been leavsongs, these songs are important, because without exLike his music, he explains, it’s a product of an ened with a healthy dollop of gospel. When he’s not on the pressing these songs, without reminding people of the magic of these songs, we don’t have an opportunity to road, Burke is a minister (he’s also worked as an underSEE BURKE ON PAGE 3 taker) and even on the record, he often introduces songs express that God is love and love is God. That’s why we “

,

UNC Playmakers bring Doubt and Topdog to Triangle by

Braden Hendricks THE CHRONICLE

The Triangle is known as an area teemwith art and creativity, a perception strengthened by the fact that not one but two Broadway plays are now playing at Chapel Hill’s Paul Green Theatre. Presented by the PlayMakers Repertory Company, the two Pulitzer winners offer viewers a chance to experience some of the finest contemporary American drama to be produced in recent years, all at the same time. Returning to their roots, Play Makers is showcasing the two plays on alternate nights on the same stage, the very definition of repertory.

It happens more rarely, but it’s one of the real thrills of theater-going.” said Joseph Haj, the artistic director at Play Makers. ‘[We are] rotating shows so you can watch two plays within a close time of one ing

another.”

Winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt: A Par-

COURTESY PLAYMAKERS REPERTORY

COMPANY

Doubt:A Parable covers many controversial issues including pedophilia and cover-ups in the Catholic church. able is the story of a divided Bronx Catholic school over the issue of pedophilia. At the helm for PlayMakers Repertory is the experienced Drew Barr.

“This play definitely uses and establishes this Catholic school as a setting and a springboard for larger ideas that certainly speak to the concerns of non-Catholics, and

the world outside the Catholic Church,” he said.

Set in 1964, the play features Father Flynn, a priest who has developed a perhaps inappropriately intimate relationship with one of his pupils, Donald Muller. Muller never actually appears in the play, but the battle between Flynn and Sister Aloysius, the stern archetypal teacher/nun, more than makes up for the absence.

Aloysius, a strict and watchful headmistress, is determined to bring Flynn down, and most of the play revolves around this highly-charged feud. Sister James, a newcomer to the school, gets caught in the middle and becomes the voice of moderation. Sister Aloysius’ stern interrogation of Sister James, who is friends with both Floyd and Muller, adds to her heavy-handedness as a character.

Although the boy himselfis not seen, Mrs SEEP]

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7

January 31,2008

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Editor’s Note 19: Superstars! tions—ranging from bizarre to the occult— were made known. Through skill that would make James Bond cry and cunning that puts Batman in the same room as Mr. Bean, our own Andrew Hibbard elevated investigative journalism to its finest hour by uncovering the secrets of the man who, of all things, was once engaged to Kim Kardashian. Prepare yourself.

Besides the items above, Lil Wayne had: 3 midgets 5 rabbits’ feets 448 grams of Star-

World-renowned rapper Lil Wayne was recently arrested with felony charges for possession of drugs and weapons. Having skyrocketed to fame for such hits as “Stuntin’ Like My Daddy” and “Hit ’Em Up”, the star was brought back to earth with a loud thud in an Arizona courtroom last Friday morning.

According to police, a search of Lil Wayne’s tour bus revealed such interest ing items as: 4 ounces of marijuana more than 1 ounce ofcocaine 41 grams of ecstasy drug paraphernalia (the police left this one to the imagination) $22,000 cash 1 .40-caliber pistol.

The rapper had this to say, “A junkie can’t do what the f— I do. I try to tell them.”

Unbeknownst to the police or the judge, the items listed above are just the beginning of what was on that tour bus.

It took a special reporter from recess to find the true extent of Lil Wayne’s addictions. It was a daunting task, to say the least, filled with trials and tribulations, but we think you’ll agree our agent did a fine job when the rapper’s true addic-

bucks coffee 2 copies of Dr. Phil’s book GettingReal: Lessons in Life, Marriage and Family 5 heads of cabbage 1 oversized poster ofDavid Graham 1 botde of Dasani Lucie Zhang’s mirror 8 strobe lights 3 15th century katanas 1 printed copy of Baishi Wu’s Facebook profile 9 love letters from former Republican Congressman Mark Foley Charlie McSpadden’s purple, laced unicorn diary There it is. Far be it from me to tell rappers what to put in their tour buses, but seriously? Charlie’s unicorn diary? Is nothing sacred anymore?

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I like to hug celebrities Now put down the phone and don’t call the police... let me explain myself. Charlie McSpadden’s celebrity sight-seeing at this year’s Sundance Film Festival reminded me of my experience with superstars while at Duke.

I always try to slip in a hug any time I meet a celeb because it is something that most people aren’t willing to do. Our A-list and B-list celebrities in America are essentiallyroyalty to the “average” person. I guess getting a hug is my ego-greedy way of hoping that their fame and status will rub off on me. I like to think it is more away to show that celebrities are normal people. Normal people who just happen to have their face in newspapers and on television.

There are the eclectic celebrities that have made an appearance here—people that are huge... to a niche crowd. I have doled out hugs to two Davids (Eggers and Sedaris), Mo Rocca and Chuck Palahniuk. I think in these

Our favorite Vanin Leila Alex Warr...

Baishi Wu...

Irem Mertol Bryan Zupon Bryan Sayler Andrew Hibbard..

Nancy Wang...

Lucie Zhang...

David Graham

cases my hugs aren’t desperate attempts for me to grab fame, but rather a hope that I will become smarter and wittier by osmosis.

The other category of celebrities is what I will call name celebrities—the ones people have actually heard of. Getting the chance to meet Ben Folds, Andy Samberg of “Dick in a Box” feme, cult-film director John Waters and Lewis Black. Sure they may give you an annoyed “Not this crap again” look when you tell them you love their work, but you always feel slightly more important after meeting them.

I think the “coolness” of the opportunities we have to meet important people while at Duke didn’tfully hit me until today when I had lunch with American Psycho-director Mary Harron and then had a class with a guest appearance by a Grammy award-winning producer. I guess its enough to make you realize where the wonder of the Gothic Wonderland comes from.

—Vanin Leila, Editor

dances... ram

soulja boy safety ....polish folk the waltz .awkward white boy the foxtrot asian folk also asian folk .doesn’t dance, just pulls up his pants, does the rockaway

Janui lai

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31, 2008

CHRIS WALLA

MARS VOLTA the

FIELD MANUAL

bedlam in goliath

universal/'strummed �����

PAGE 3

BARSUK RECORDS

recordings

�����

The Mars Volta manage to bring a new and more bizarre meaning to the word “excess” every time they make an album.

Their fourth LP, The Bedlam in Goliath, is no different. The album 4s so steeped in self-indulgence and masturbatory instrumental theatrics that, over the course of issue lies with the sheer absence of coheits far-too-long 76-minute run time, it is sion that is consistent throughout. rendered unlistenable. The music is overThe two best “songs” on the record are stuffed by Omar Rodriguez-Lopez’s heavthe only ones that really have their own ily electronic production, which layers so identities. “Wax Simulacra” (the second many careening guitar riffs and crunching, shortest, at 2:38) is a burst of sheer energy, whirring synths over one another that any focused and channeled by its brevity and semblance of melody is non-existent. The livened by thick guitar noise. “Goliath” is songs average an absurd 6:20 length, and the other passable piece, benefitting from to even refer to these individual pieces as tumed-down production that actually alsongs is a charitable gesture. lows the listener to discern the various Despite these apparent ineptitudes, the instruments tearing up scenery. Unfortualbum’s failure is certainly not due to a lack nately, the rest of the songs are torturous of talent. Rodriguez-Lopez, who plays guicollisions between guitars and electronics, tar in addition to producing, and his bandand the length of the album is used more mate, singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala, are both for repeating the cacophony of each song ex-members of revered punk band At the over and over than for breaking new sonic Drive-In, and Red Hot Chili Pepper John ground. Bedlam would be a,drastically betFrusciante lends his guitar skills as well. The drummer is wunderkind Thomas Pridgen, whose fearsome and powerful drumming is easily the best thing about the album. The

ter record if it was half as long, as there

might be enough ideas on this disk to fill 38 minutes. But 76? Not even close.

—Kevin Lincoln

BURKE

If you’ve been eagerly awaiting the first solo release from Chris Walla, odds are you’ve been waiting a little longer than expected. In late 2007, the Department of Homeland Security confiscated a hard drive containing master copies of Walla’s work, in transit from Canada to the US. Field Manual is the final product of that dangerous material. The Death Cab producer/guitarist’s debut is politically charged, featuring songs about Iraq, Hurricane Katrina and contraception. Coincidence that it was mistaken as a threat to our security? I think not.

Walla shows his versatility as he switches back and forth between quick-paced power-pop—such as in “Everybody On”— and modern, ambient pieces similar to his group’s latest releases. Tracks like “TwoFifty” entertain, but fail to define Walla’s individual style.

Halfway through the album he finally finds a sound that fits him as a musician.

“Our Plans, Collapsing” has a personal quality; Walla is no longer trying to emulate the Death Cab sound. His lyrics fuse with the desolate atmospherics to produce a genuinely identifiable sense of

from page 1

upbringing in the church. But instinct alone couldn’t sustain Burke’s career during the bleak musical decades of the 1980 and ’9os. Although he continued releasing records, Burke’s career had lost some luster.

That all changed in 2002, when singer-songwriter Joe Henry gathered a group of Burke’s fans to write songs for him to perform on a new record. Those fans? Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Brian Wilson, Van Morrison and even Bob Dylan. The critically acclaimed disc, Don’t Give Up On Me, launched a new period in

s

loneliness, rather than mere uninspired whining. From there, Walla transitions seamlessly into the drum-driven “Archer V. Light,” which does well in juxtaposing styles without jarring.

The solo album is often difficult for musicians that have experienced so much success in a group. While Field Manual shows some glimpses of personal development, it’s mostly nothing new—which is either a very good or very bad thing, depending on how you feel about Death Cab. Either way, just be ready to hear it at Starbucks.

—Liz Tramm

Burke’s career.

Burke then immediately sings The King’s most recent reback a scatted—and greasy—verlease, Nashville, delivers 14 sion of his own. country songs, including duets “Just taking what you give with Emmylou Harris and Gilto me and giving it back—you lian Welch. What’s a soul man just sang to me what you felt doing crooning country? Burke in your soul,” he says. “Soul is traces a lifelong appreciation something coming from withfor the genre to a childhood in, It doesn’t matter if you’re a enthusiasm for the music of soul cook or a soul singer or a soul dancer or a soul producer, Gene Autry.

Besides, he reasons, “Soul” you’re going to be expressing isn’t really a genre. When asked that. Soul is not just a packto define it, he asks that a reportage—it’s something that you’re er name a song he likes. When born with, something that’s the reporter foolishly names a real within you.” fast Charlie Parker bebop line, Burke demands that he sing it.

Solomon Burke and the Dixie After three minutes of back and Hummingbirds perform Saturday forth, Burke gets his way and the night at 8 p.m. in Page Auditorium. reporter makes a lame attempt. See www.dukeperformances.org for

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SUNDANCE ILM FESTIVAL 2008 CHARLIE MCSPADDEN/THE CHRONICLE

GOOD DICK DIR. M. PALKA MORNING KNIGHT

irk'k'k'& Writer, director and lead actress in her first feature film, Marianna Palka won the hearts of Sundance audiences this year with her deadpan comedy Good Dick. The film, candid in its tone, examines the relationship between love and sex in our desensitized society.

Good Dick follows the grueling courtship of two anonymous twenty-somethings (Jason Ritter and Marianna Palka), both haunted by abusive pasts. Ritter’s character takes an immediate interest in the shameless vulgarity of Palka’s character when he happens upon her perusing the

erotica section of the run-down video he calls home.

From that moment on, Ritter’s character forces his way into Palka’s heart, refusing to heed her menacing threats in hopes of eventually uncovering the girl beneath the gritty exterior. Ritter’s touching portrayal ofmasculine maternity seals his place alongside his triple threat co-star, unearthing the tender side of the much frownedupon art of stalking.

While Palka’s performance is at once crass and undeniably enchanting, her character undergoes a stunning metamorphosis from fast-food guzzling cave monster to a free and fragile beauty. In today’s numb world, Palka’s offbeat love story serves to remind us that Good Dick can be great, but a great friend is invaluable.

—Emily Ackerman store

THE MYSTERIES OF

PITTSBURGH DIR. R. THURBER ARCUGHTFILMS

����� As thrilled as I was to see Sienna Miller back on the silver screen since her stunning performance in Factory Girl, director Rawson Marshall Thurber’s ( Dodgeball)

written during his time between camera set-ups on the show.

The story of a starving artist in Los Angeles, Evan (Wes Bendey) finds a creatively morbid way to pay the bills by writing suicide notes, or the last word, for people on the verge of jumping. While working and hearing his own words spoken at a client’s funeral as their last, he encounters one of the victims of his work, a sister of the cli-

THE LAST WORD DIR. G. HAIJLY DEVIANT FILMS

For the first dine since his 2002 win for the 35mm short film The Parlor, writer/director Geoff Haney entered the cpmpetidon at Sundance. As a camera operator for the HBO television program Six Feet Under, Haney has had more than enough exposure to dysfunctional Los Angeles types.

The darkly comic approach to death that his bleak romantic comedy The Last Word manifests this interest as it was practically

ent, whom he comes to know. Because its a romantic comedy This relationship begins to affect his bland life. Charlotte (Winona Ryder) encourages him to reevaluate the apathetic way in which he has lived his life. He then has a “newfound zest” in his life, which is most evident in his relationship with one of his clients, a symphonic composer (Ray Romano) reduced to hold music for corporate companies. Struggling with the blurred lines of being a professional and being a boyfriend and a friend, Evan is confronted with everything that he has attempted to ignore for a majority of his career and life.

With a subject as taboo as suicide, this film could have failed, being not only too morbid, but offensive. Instead it is empathedc with its intelligent humor. With Bendey’s ability to outwardly express his character’s introversion, and Romano’s surprisingly honest portrayal of a man left with nothing to hold onto, this ensemble cast proves that everyone should hold onto something because it may just be die only thing that can keep you alive.

—Michael Woodsmall

THE GUITAR DIR. A. BEDFORD APPLE CREEK PRODUCTIONS

����� In times of desperation, how do we look to love? If these were our last hours on earth, would the superficiality of form dictate our chance at happiness? These are the questions posed in the ephemeral wonderland of Amy Redford’s The Guitar.

Mel (Saffron Burrows) is an inconspicuous New Yorker, who, within the first five minutes of the film, is left jobless, single and with only two months to live. Is this the end? It would seem so. But returning to the depths ofher dismal apartment, Mel’s silent distress is fatefully transformed into her last chance at the life she never lived.

film version of Michael Chabon’s debut novel, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, left me dissatisfied, with its overuse of coming-ofage cliches.

The film is set in Pittsburgh in the early 1980’s, and college has just ended for Art Bechstein (Jon Foster), son of an infamous gangster. It is his last summer before he enters the real world, and unsure of his plans, Art consigns himself to a dead-end job at the Book Barn where he simultaneously sentences himself to a dead-end relationship with his sexcrazed manager, Phlox (Mena Suvari).

One night at a party, however, he is introduced to Jane Bellwether (Miller), a wealthy wild-child who, along with an unstable boyfriend, Cleveland (Peter Sarsgaard), takes a striking interest in this cautious intellectual. For reasons that are never made clear to the audience, the self-destructive couple take Art under their wing of revelry where his eyes are opened to the world of sex, drugs and “love,” a word that harbors about as much meaning to these Pittsburgh natives as it does on Tila Tequila.

The ultimate problem with Pittsburgh is Thurber’s tendency to race his characters through the revealing moments he should savor and indulge in episodes of unwarranted intimacy and gore. He reduces Chabon’s love triangle to one big, hormonal mess. Thurber should either stick to dipping, ducking and dodging or look into curling. We hear its all the rage in Finland.

—Emily Ackerman

Through breathtaking cinematography and sound design, we follow Mel on

a love affair with the material (hence the dde) and the taboo, where words are few but emotions are resounding. Burrows dazzles in this factually-based urban fairy tale of a woman with terminal cancer and no shoulder to cry on but her own.

Screenwriter Amos Poe’s Deus ex Machina of an ending is perhaps the film’s most unsatisfying point. However, the visual style of The Guitar is undeniably original in its use of the mise-en-scene as a window into the human emotional process. This style explores the potential dialogue in every frame and proves that color and location can serve as characters in themselves.

—Emily Ackerman

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Sundance Insight by

Charlie McSpadden THE CHRONICLE

The best moments of Sundance were the minutes just preceding the films: the audience had already rushed into the theater and grabbed . . up the best seats cntianotebook a lld removed heil third or fourth layer of Patagonia or North Face. An energy pulsated between the walls of the theatre. Some audience members paid upwards of $lOO dollars for their tickets, and others waited in the ticket tent with waitlist numbers. Others bargained outside in the cold. They were all here for one reason: the films.

The audience became hushed, and a familiar scratchy voice reverberated through the audience.

“I’m Jeff Gilmore, the director of the Sundance Film Institute.”

Gilmore introduces the film’s director, and soon the film began.

One of the most stunning effects of Sundance, what makes the festival, or any festival for that matter, special, occurred the end of the screening. Watching the actors with whose characters you have been emotionally entranced for the last two hours walk on stage is both unforgettable and transcendental.

Much of the festival itself proved striking. Seeing celebrities without the '

,

BE KIND REWIND DIR. M. GONDRY

PARTIZAN

����� Michel Gondry, best known for his direction of the critically-acclaimed Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind, departs from his fantastic visuals, the integration of special effects and use of editing, for the new comedy Be Kind Rewind. In doing so, he abandons the attributes that make him the creative genius that he is, leaving the audience with a world much too small for his out-of-this-world vision.

The film is like a bigger budget, star-studded version of Clerks, video store and all.

Mos Def delivers a convincing performance as Mike, an energetic yet shy sales clerk determined to maintain the uneventful nature of the Be Kind Rewind, a video store/Fats Waller museum in Passaic, New Jersey. The store, which is on the verge of being demolished if it doesn’t get adequate

repairs, is run by Danny Glover.

But Glover’s on-screen charisma can’t save the film from Jack Black’s overplayed exuberance as Jerry. Black’s character is Mike’s friend who becomes magnetized when attempting to sabotage the local power plant, which he inexplicably holds a vendetta against. His magnetization leads to the consequent erasing of all of the video tapes in the store. Their effort to restock the shelves requires them to reshoot or “swede” the movies, casting themselves and the community in their roles.

This film is easily Gondry’s most accessible. The film makes the apt point that people watch movies in order to find an onscreen representation of themselves, often in lives unlike their own. The quirkiness of this comedy is difficult to dislike. However, without the guidance of Charlie Kauffman, the writer of his first two films, Gondry’s screenplay is a dream—imaginative in its vision but too elaborate to be translated onto the big screen.

—Michael Woodsmall

VHI and E! gloss and in everyday situations like at coffee shops (Super Size Me’ s Morgan Spurlock), the hotel (50 Cent) and on the street (Robert Redford), dismantled celebrities from their otherworldly pedestals and brought them down to reality.

Smaller details, like listening to the mayor of Park City talk at a few of the film’s premieres and meeting and talking to smaller time stars while waiting in line for the next film reminded me that the festival is an experience that both fans, actors and writers can all enjoy.

Exploring Park City was as equal a part of the Sundance experience as seeing the films. While traveling down Main Street—where everyone you passed looked eerily familiar—we saw a sign for The Filmmaker’s lounge outside one of the buildings.

After venturing up a rickety set of stairs, we found ourselves in a makeshift cafe. Polaroids of celebrities who had visited the lounge—Johnny Depp, Jennifer Amiston, Sienna Miller—adorned the wood-paneled walls of the lounge.

It was an accurate symbol of the festival itself: celebrity mixed with a down-toearth flavoring.

The glitzy and superficial nature of Hollywood, though slowly coating the streets of Park City with each coming year, still somehow remains buried beneath the snow.

not premiering in park city RAMBO DIR. S. STALLONE ROGUE MARBLE

Like a sniper’s bullet ripping though flesh and bone, Sylvester Stallone’s latest avenging kill em’ all man-movie, Rambo, tears a hole though all sensibilities and artistic pretenses, making them explode in a shower of blood.

Written and directed by the aging action star, Rambo picks up 20 years after where the third installment of the series, appropriately titled Rambo 111, left off. John Rambo, Vietnam War vet and walking dispenser of death, is living a peaceful life near the Thai-Burmese border. (Note, in real life the country is called Myanmar now, but somebody forgot to tell Stallone.)

Having kept himself in spectacular shape for two decades by catching snakes and shutding people in his boat, Rambo is less than pleased when a group ofAmerican missionaries requests he take them upriver into Burma.

Possessed of saintly intentions, but operating on a level of common sense lower than Jessica Simpson, missionary cutie Sarah (Julie Benz) keeps at Rambo until he does what any slightly creepy, older man would do—turns to putty in her hands and agrees.

Interspersed throughout the first half of the film are scenes of unspeakable cruelty and violence on the part of the ruling military junta in Burma. By now, the audience is eager for good-old fashioned comeuppance—and Rambo delivers.

Having left the missionaries to their own devices, Rambo returns to the border, hut his stay is temporary. Inevitably, their mission is ruined by a government attack.

The missionaries still alive are kidnapped, causing Rambo to switch *to kick-ass mode.

Teaming with a group of heardess missionaries, Rambo does what he does best: infiltrates, annihilates and proceeds to

blow Burma to hell The violence in this film is sickening.

I’m your normal guy as far as movies goes, and as such I feel Braveheart, Saving Private Ryan and 300 were all masterpieces of cinematography. The violence in those films served a point, and it does in this one as well. Even so, this one is hard to watch. Stallone wants to show that sometimes idealism and peace don’t work and that violence is the only recourse against evil and oppression. Sparing no thought for those faint of heart, he takes that message to the extreme.

Rambo won’t win Academy Awards. It is, however, decent for what it is. On one level it has merely cinematic appeal from an older male action star to his aged fans, but on another it serves as a nauseating reminder of the evil that is out there.

—Braden Hendricks

OVER HER DEAD BODY DIR. J. LOWELL GOLD CIRCLE FILMS

Desperate Housewives fans may be eager to see Eva Longoria Parker in her new film, Over Her Dead Body. Unfortunately, fans and hormone-raging males will be disappointed to learn the temptress dies within the film’s first 10 minutes.

Over HerDead Body opens as an atypical romantic comedy. On her wedding day, Kate (Eva Longoria Parker), an ill-tempered perfectionist, meets her death at the hands of an ice sculpture shaped into an angel. After Kate’s abrupt and ironic death, her fiancee, Henry (Paul Rudd) becomes so devastated that he doesn’t leave his apartment for over a year. His sister, Chloe (Lindsay Sloane), desperate to help, finally decides to intervene by taking him to see a psychic, Ashley (Lake Bell), who communicates, mosdy unsuccessfully, with the dead.

Ashley and Henry predictably hit it off, but Kate’s ghost effectively communicates with Ashley. The ghost threatens to unrelendessly pester Ashley until she leaves Henry. Kate’s entertaining antics, albeit poorly conceived by the writers, compose much of the film’s humor. These include

tricking Ashley into thinking there is an emergency during her shower at the gym, causing her to run outside in the buff, ending in total embarrassment. Parker, as a vengeful ghost, is unsurprisingly similar to her TV role as the ultra stubborn Gabrielle Solis, showing little range for the actress.

Ashley’s not-so-gay best friend, Dan (Jason Biggs), an over-the-top but lov-

able character, adds the most humor to the film. He is easy to empathize with as he gets tortured throughout the movie. Surprisingly, Biggs eclipses Rudd’s charm and humor, which are well played but fall flat.

The unconvincing plot makes it difficult to imagine Kate as a ghost who only Ashley can see. Also, Kate’s wicked ways make it hard to imagine she was ever with the considerate Henry in the first place.

Ashley and Henry clearly make the better couple, yet it’s amusing to see Kate complicate their relationship.

Overall, the movie is entertaining, but not the best choice for a Valendne’s Day film. By no means is Over Her Dead Body your usual cutesy romantic comedy, but its revenge-themed twist on the genre may be inspiring for those looking for ideas on how to get back at their exes come Singles’ Awareness Day. —hem Mertol

January 31,2008

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Pastoral photography brings Perkins Near the Cross by

Braden Hendricks THE CHRONICLE

Everyone has heard about the

Nasher, but great, evocative art can be found in unlikely places if one knows where to look. Tom

Rankin, Director of the Center

for Documentary Studies here at Duke, expresses himself not only through film but also through the art of photography. Rankin’s exhibit, Near the Cross: Photographs from the Mississippi Delta, is currently available for perusal in Perkins Library.

Presented strictly in black and white on gelatin-silver prints, the photographs capture perfecdy the essence of the relationship between rural black Southerners and their faith. From austere churches standing isolated in a seeminglyvirginal country untouched by man to portraits of wise stalwart pastors, Rankin’s camera explores a place unchanged since the time of our grandfathers and beyond.

“I’ve always had a real interCOURTESYTOM RANKIN est in the way the sacred and the safe get articulated visually in the Near theCross: Photographs from the MissipiDelta features photographs that explorethe relationship of black Southernersand religion landscape and through interiors indication of their origin in time, dom and give testimony to the transby things like outdoor baptisms,” use it for a baptismal pool sacred—- and it is instead the captions that power of sacred spaces, while forms it into something Rankin said. the more recent photos reflect not only religious but with great give it away.

Indeed, the intimate pictures the artist said. down the hallway, the fact that even in today’s age Walking meaning,” capturing idyllic baptisms in the The oldest photographs in the one gains the sense that the people live as they did many deexhibit convey a raw connection exhibit date back to 1989, while photos converse which each cades ago. Needless to say, the between faith and the land. time encompassed in his work the most recent are from 2007. other across the aisle. The “Something ordinary like the The themselves give no older photos seem to share wisis a sign of Rankin’s bond with photos bank of a pond, the way people

the Delta “I’m interested in following what happens and how these spaces change over time,” he said.

The actual location of the exhibit is often overlooked by busy Duke students. As a part of the Rare Book, Manuscript and Special Collections Library, the exhibit doesn’t exactly scream fine art.

“Basically, we only showmaterials that we have in our collection,” Visual Materials Archivist Karen Glynn said. “The collecting guidelines we follow with photography is documentary work.”

Such collections are not only art to be enjoyed by the public, but also visually-stimulating resources available for Duke students to explore.

“The purpose is to inform the faculty and inform the students of what we have and that they can be used,” Glynn added.

The South represented in Rankin’s exhibit serves as a counterpart and complement to this familiar environment and is a solid reminder of the commonalities between all people.

Near the Cross will be on display at the Special Collections Gallery in

until March 23.

There will also be an artist talk on Feb. 27 from 5:30 to 7:30p.m. in the Rare Books Room ofPerkins Library.

first floor Perkins

Cummins Wide brings Duke and prisoners together by

Claire Finch

THE CHRONICLE

When artists as varied as Johnny Cash and Akon choose the same topic to sing about, you know it must be of some cultural importance. In this case, it is prison life that commands public fascination.

Duke’s Center for Documentary Studies is currendy offering a rare opportunity to observe prisons’ interior workings, thanks to Bruce Jackson’s photographic exhibition Cummins Wide. The show displays Jackson’s 1975 photographs of Cummins Prison Farm in Arkansas, which has a sordidly unique claim to fame—in 1970 the dismal living conditions of the Cummins prison inspired a judge to deem the entire prison system unconstitutional.

Jackson’s black and white photographs, which chronicle daily life within Cummins’ confines, are meant to reveal an otherwise invisible institution.

“Each states’ prison system is pretty much closed to everyone but the people that

work there and the people that are locked up there,” the artist said. “So I thought it might be useful to show people what they look like, or what one looks like.”

It isjackson’s insight into the seldom-visible lifestyle of prisoners that also appealed to Courtney Reid-Eaton, the exhibitions director for the Center for Documentary Studies.

“I have personal interests in prison life and prison reform, because my father was in prison when I was a child. So it’s an issue that is of particular interest to me,” Reid-Eaton said. “I’m really curious about what it looks like to live in that kind of environment.”

In addition to being documentary, the photographs are aesthetically noteworthy due to Jackson’s unusual use of a Widelux camera. The Widelux produces panoramic prints that span 140 degrees, making them nearly twice as wide as traditional photographs and allowing them to approximate the human visual field. The resulting prints provide a more complete understanding of the scene being photographed, capturing details that are lost in

conventionally-sized images.

Jackson explicidy highlights the specific advantages of Widelux pictures by pairing a normal-sized photograph with its pan-

oramic counterpart, a combination that is displayed at the entrance of the exhibition.

The two photographs display a prisoner getting a haircut and were taken almost simultaneously. However, the smaller picture shows only the prisoner and the people direcdy surrounding him, while the wider panoramic shot reveals previously hidden groups of people who are gathered on the sides of the central action. [ln the Widelux image] you see the convicts close by looking at him, and some are “

COURTESY BRUCE JACKSON

COURTESY BRUCE

JACKSON

Bruce Jackson's Cummins Widefocuses on daily life in Cummins Prison Farm in Arkansas during the 70s.

looking at me, and you get a sense of what his predicament is,” Jackson said. “Here, he’s a young guy and he’s raw meat for these guys. What’s going to happen to him?

What are they going to do to him? How is he going to survive there? You don’t get a sense of that from the smaller picture.”

Jackson’s ability to convey the social and emotional intricacies of his subjects is enhanced by the arrangement of the pieces.

The works are grouped in horizontal columns of corresponding photographs, giving the viewer the perception that he or she is watching a scene progress.

“He is a filmmaker, and I think that these images and the way that they’re put together as an exhibit are particularly cinematic. There’s a lot of movement in it....

It’s really narrative,” Reid-Eaton said. ‘You see these little stories on the wall, rather than a series of images.”

The combination of close attention to detail and a film-like-movement serves to fully capture the actuality of prison condi-

tions, which the artist aims to bring to the viewer’s attention.

“Prisons are improved now and then... but the changes are all cosmetic,” Jackson said. “Prison is still an awful place... a place in which very few people are helped to improve themselves, a place which costs society dearly in money and human consequences. We still haven’t figured it out.”

The photographs featured in Cummins Wide exemplify a successful fusion between form and content. Still, one of the show’s most compelling aspects is that it allows a glimpse into an otherwise inaccessible world. On a recent visit to Arkansas, Jackson was denied entry into the Cummins prison, indicating that exhibitions such as Cummins Wide constitute one of the sole ways for contemporary viewers to observe prison culture.

Cummins Wide will be on display at the Center for Documentary Studies until April 6 in the Kreps Gallery.

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31,2008

PAGE?

INTERN works East Duke Jessie

Tang THE CHRONICLE

by

“You’ve got to be a star to be a star.”

That’s what showbiz seems to be telling main character Lainie, the aspiring Broadway actress of INTERN the musical, which is playing in East Duke 209 today, Friday and

Saturday.

COURTESY PLAYMAKERS REPERTORY COMPANY

PLAYMAKERS

from page 1

Muller is featured, and her support of Flynn complicates the delicate situation for

both the characters and the audience.

The original New York version of the play ran in one act for 90 minutes, to very good reviews. Aside from its Pulitzer win, Doubt: A Parable won the 2007 Tony Award for best play. The product of a skilled writer, it does not give the audience an open-shut case of good versus evil. Instead, the gray areas that permeate the reality of life will leave more questions than answers.

“It [applies] great specificity and order to a place and time and looks to how that very regimented society deals with change and challenges of accepted beliefs,” Barr said.

Also running during this time is Suzan Lori-Parks’ Topdog/Underdog.

“We use the same set, set designer, light designer and costume designer for each show,” Haj said. “It’s really fascinating because they are entirely different imaginative voices, two entirely different kinds of writers, Shanley and Parks.”

The 2002 Pulitzer winner of the same category, Topdog/Underdog explores the struggles two African American brothers encounter while making money and dealing with their past. This rendition is directed by PlayMakers’ newest addition, Raelle Myrick-Hodges who worked on the original Broadway mn in 2001.

Named Lincoln and Booth (their father’s joke), the two were abandoned first by their mother and then their father. Now living together in a room at

a boarding house, the former attempts an honest living as an Abe Lincoln impersonator at an arcade (complete with white face paint) while the other tries to further his husding ambitions.

This difference is a point of contention between the two brothers. Lincoln, a former hustler of the card game “Three Card Monte,” swore off the practice upon the death ofhis partner, but reconsiders once he is fired from his legitimate, albeit ironic, job. Booth, a gifted shoplifter, intends to take advantage of this change and tries to form a partnership with Lincoln—something Lincoln doesn’t think is viable due to Booth’s lack of talent for the card game.

Topdog/Underdog is an inquiry into the cause and effect ofblack-on-black violence, and under Myrick-Hodges’ direction, it presents the same questions to Triangle audiences as Broadway theater-goers.

“I have not made any substantial change at all,” Myrick-Hodges said. “What we have done is made little changes to the setting, so there is a greater sense of alienation with the two brothers.”

Such alienation prompts questions concerning the role of the modem African-American man in the familial setting and in society as a whole. As Lincoln and Booth attempt to find an answer, the audience plays witness to comedic moments of sibling affection, feels compassion for the brothers’ plight and shares in the horror of the inevitable conclusion.

Topdog/Underdog is accomplished, both as a commentary on modem black life and as a revisiting of the tragedy of the real-life emancipator of slaves .

Each work has its separate power, but together, they offer the Triangle area a unique theater experience.

However, the musical itself goes against that very notion—everything from the script to the musical score has been an organic project of Duke students, and it is nothing less than spectacular.

The two talents behind the project are seniors Sarah Ellis and Julia Robertson. Ellis wrote the music while Robertson penned the book and lyrics. The two have been friends since the first week of freshman year, but it was not until their Duke in New York experience in 2006 that they collaborated and conceived of the idea to write a musical.

“We were both intending to do separate [Duke in NY] projects at first,” Ellis said.

“We discussed collaborating and decided to work on a complete musical instead of two separate ones that wouldn’t have the potential to get anywhere.”

INTERN has evolved from a few scenes to a full musical complete with 17 scores, which the two are submitting as their senior distinction project.

According to faculty advisor John Glum, INTERN is the first full-length student musical in a very long time.

“During much of its history, Hoof ’n‘ Horn produced original musicals every year like Princeton’s Triangle Club or Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Club,” Clum wrote in an email. “Alas, Hoof ’n‘ Horn gave that up in the sixties. However in recent years, the Musical Theater Workshop class has had presentations of original student work, and musicals that began in that class have been expanded and developed.”

The musical revolves around the life of Lainie, a high school graduate who has her eyes set on Broadway. Her stern parents are not willing to fund her, so she decides to intern for a casting company in New York City.

She soon realizes that this world of song and dance is hardly glamorous. After a series of calamities, she begins to lose hope in the business.

However, Lainie finds out her boss is

putting on a musical about an office intern (sound familiar?). Thinking she is perfect for the job, she decides to stand firm and impress her boss.

INTERN employs some predictable facets of the over-the-top boss and the overwhelmed-and-discouraged assistant caricatures. However, because musical theater often requires exaggerated emotions, this feature is fitting.

“All your characters have to have really comical elements about them to make them be able to lift up into song without it being really strange,” Ellis said. “There has to be an element of the absurd about all of the characters.”

The premise of the play is simple, and Robertson hopes viewers will connect with the characters on their own terms.

“Because [INTERN is] a simple and family-friendly show, it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have a lot to say because it’s just about the human spirit, more than anything,” Robertson said. “I want people to come out thinking that the show has heart.

[That] would be the greatest compliment.”

Passion has driven the two to create an original play that aims to be uplifting for both audience members and the theater community at large.

“What I love is when a new musical comes out that is completely fresh with a new story line, new music—not Mamma Mia, [something] based on popular songs that have existed for decades,” Ellis said. “I love seeing something completely original. I want people to go out of their zone of familiarity and [know that] you can enjoy yourself.”

JOHN INGALIS/THE CHRONICLE

INTERN stars seniorsSarah Ellis and Julia Robertson.

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January 31,2008

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Blue Dev ils seek to avenge postseason loss by

Archith Ramkumar THE CHRONICLE

Amid the frustrating memories from last season, that of the Blue Devils getting knocked out of the first round of the ACC Tournament for the first time in nine years remains one of the most bitter.

The seventh-seeded Duke squad was eliminated by tenth-seeded N.C. State in overtime, as Wolfpack forward Brandon Costner torched Duke for 30 points.

This season, a lot has changed for Duke, as the No. 3 Blue Devils (17-1, 5-0 in the ACC) stand alone at the top of the conference.

Duke hopes to keep its momentum going when it clashes with N.C. State (13-6, 2-3) tonight at 7 p.m in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Though theirconference tournament loss came nearly a year ago, current Blue Devils still remember it as if it were yesterday.

“They just came out and were the hungrier team in the ACC Tournament,” forward Lance Thomas said. “They’re not going to give any team a game. They’re going to bring their all. We have to go out there and fight them.”

A major factor in this contest will be Duke’s ability to contain the Wolfjpack’s inside tandem of Costner and freshman JJ. Hickson. The freshman leads N.C. State in scoring with 15.3points per game, while also pulling down eight rebounds per contest.

Costner, meanwhile, has already demonstrated he can the pose problems to the Blue

Devils, particularly in the post.

Although Duke’s 2008 roster is still undersized, the Blue Devils have shown improvement against talented frontcourt players. In the first half of Duke’s road win at Maryland Sunday, Terrapin big men James Gist and Bambale Osby were rebounding machines, pulling down five and 15 boards, respectively. In the second half, however, the Blue Devils limited Gistand Osby on the glass on their way to pulling out the victory.

“In the second half, we made tough plays when we were outsized,” Thomas said. “James Gist is an amazing player and Osby, too. The combination is really good.

It’s good that we were able to play against them and see how we matched up.”

A major change since the last time the Blue Devils and Wolfpack met is Duke’s current style of play. Last season, the Blue Devils’ offense was lethargic and flat, stalling at critical times.

Now, Duke’s scheme—inspired by head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s time with the national team—has enabled the Blue Devils to flourish, especially when they force a large number of turnovers. The team hopes that pressure defense in the post can lead to easy opportunities in transition, particularly given the lackluster defensive effort against N.C. State in the ACC Tournament loss last season.

SYLVIA QU/CHRONICLE FILE PHOTO

SEE M. BBALL ON PAGE

8

Freshman Nolan Smith comes into tonight's gameagainst N.C. State after scoring 14 points in Duke's last outing.

Cutcliffe’s cut-throat conditioning challenge Newly-hired head coach wants his team to lose a collective 1000pounds by

Will Flaherty THE CHRONICLE

In one of his first meetings with his n head football coach David Cutcliffe dropped a bombshell that seemed more befitting of reality TV shows such as The Biggest Loser or MTV’s True Life: Fm Going to Fat Camp.

“He said collectively we needed to lose at least 1,000 pounds,” junior defensive lineman Ayanga Okpokowuruk said. “When he first got hired, he

ht up told us that we need to be able to run, and order to be able to run, we need to be in good ape and well conditioned.”

Cutcliffe said his first goal in turning around a team that has struggled to win games in recent seasons particularly in late-game situations—is conditioning.

With the team’s 15-day spring practice period beginning March 19, Cutcliffe already has set weight-loss and endurance goals for his players.

“We’re not going to have a fat football team,” Cut' ht now.” liffe said. “And One of th Hue Devils >ut games. >urth quarainst Navy and UN ies players such as Riley find hard to “It’s games las. could tell year, we that we st :ting lazy,* came down Riley said. to the last se getting lazy, dropping pr >ig thing.”

In contras ogram of former hu emphadiffe’s sized gain; is fostrength cused p' though —

his full pre-spring program has yet to be fully implemented, Cutcliffe recendy hired Noel Durphy to serve as the team’s strength and conditioning coach. The new head coach has stressed to Durphy and his staff that they should do whatever it takes to get their players in great running shape by establishing a base program for the team to follow.

“If I have to get out there on that field and run them myself, 100 100-yard sprints, then they’ll start losing weight and moving better,” Cutcliffe said.

Cutcliffe’s belief in heavy running and conditioning goes back to his high school playing days, when his coach would assemble the team on Saturday SEE CONDITION ON PAGE 8

“

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY CHASE OLIVIERI/THE CHRONICLE

THE CHRONICLE

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CONDITION

from page 7

mornings after games to run anywhere from 75 to 125 50-yard windsprints.

Although Cutcliffe did not say that he would do the same with Duke, he did refer to the words of his former coaching mentor, legendary Alabama head coach Bear Bryant, when explaining his deep personal belief in the importance of conditioning.

“Coach Bryant convinced me that if you can’t run, ifyou can’t move your feet, you have no chance to play this game,” Cutcliffe said.

In Cutcliffe’s eyes, losing unnecessary weight is key for his players to improve their foot speed and conditioning. In his previous coaching stops at Ole Miss and Tennessee, Cutcliffe implemented weightloss benchmarks for the offensive line, but his early analysis of the Blue Devils and their fitness has led him to favor a teamwide standard for shedding pounds.

“We can’t put players on the field that can’t nm, or if you can’t run great,” Cutcliffe said. ‘Why would you want to be out there running worse than what you were before?”

Considering the number of players on the team’s roster in spring practice will probably be somewhere around 75 players, a blanket benchmark of 1,000 pounds lost would average out to at least 13 pounds per player—a number that might seem like a lot to ask for smaller skill-position players such as wide receivers and cornerbacks.

But even for lighter players, Cutcliffe said he feels it is vital for everyone on his team to drop extra weight.

“If anybody doesn’t understand [why] sometimes I want a guy at 205 instead of 215, they should strap on a 10-pound weighted belt, or put a 10 pound vest on

and jog around campus and just find out how much 10 pounds makes a difference,” Cutcliffe said.

With these measures, Cutcliffe hopes to downsize a Duke roster, which in many respects is already the smallest in the ACC. For example, the Blue Devils boasted only one starter last season on the offensive line who weighted over 300 pounds.

Still, Cutcliffe said he feels the gains in speed and quickness derived from a lighter team will better serve his no-huddle offensive scheme, which counts on linemen to trap, move and double-team effectively.

On the other side of the ball, Okpokowuruk acknowledged that although the team-wide benchmark will probably put extra pressure on bigger players such as himself, the benefits of a lighter playing weight are significant.

“I feel good being lighter,” Okpowowuruk said. “It’s going to be tough getting down to that weight, but I like the idea of losing weight, being able to move better and just feeling faster and in shape.”

With the offseason program soon to kick into high gear, Cutcliffe knows that results won’t be immediate, but that when he sees his team competing consistendy, he will know his efforts have paid off.

“The biggest thing is just getting where they can compete —two hour practice, 60minute game, whatever it takes,” Cutcliffe said. “It would be like you and I going out right now and trying to run a Marathon. We may want to, but we’re not going to finish.

“These guys have wanted to win—they really have. And those coaches really wanted to win. The difference is preparing to win and going and winning. The only way to do that is to compete for 60 minutes and see if you can win.”

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Sophomore Gerald Henderson and Duke face off against N.C State tonight at 9 p.m. in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

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“The way we play, guys are able to just make plays all over the place, not just on the offensive end but defensively,” sophomore Gerald Henderson said. “We’ve really turned our defense into fast-paced offense.”

Although the Wolfpack return four starters from last year, only one—senior guard Gavin Grant—has clocked significant minutes at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Tonight

also marks the first appearance for head coach Sidney Lowe in Cameron since his senior year with the Wolfpack in 1983.

N.C. State’s relative inexperience with the noise in Cameron could be another major factor in the game. Playing in front of a boisterous home crowd, Duke is anxious to perform better than it did last March.

“We just remember the scoreboard,” Thomas said. “That’s something that we don’t want to have happen again.”

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10 I THURSDAY, JANUARY 31,2008

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promote and facilitate water night, Cameron Indoor Stadium conservation. Tavey McDaniel, environmental sustainis going green. Crazies attending the basketball ability coordinator, should be game have been asked to don commended for her outstandining efforts in green coordinating stead of their editorial the recent usual Duke Blue in support of Focus the changes with Residence Life Nation, recognized across and Housing Services and the country as a day devoted Dining Services. to promoting dialogue on Concrete changes inclimate change. Organized clude more efficient flush here by Duke Students for handles, shower heads and Sustainable Living, the event hand sanitizers installed in bathrooms across campus. coincides with the most severe drought in recent memCampus eateries have tradand it is ed stainless steel for disposSoutheast, the ory in able paper and plastic, and a welcome opportunity to fodorms are being stocked cus on environmental awarewith water-efficient washing ness at Duke. machines.

We are in a state of emerSuch changes have made gency. On an institutional levit impossible for Duke stuel, the University has madevisible and impressive efforts to dents to remain oblivious to

Soul is something comingfrom within, it doesn’t matter ifyou ’re a soul cook or a soul singer or a soul dancer or a soul producer, you ’re going to be expressing that.

Soul singer Solomon Burke, who will appearing Saturday night in Page Auditorium as part of Duke Performances’ “Som Power” series. See story, page

1.

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

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

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

Esi. 1905

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

The Chronicle

Inc 1993 .

DAVID GRAHAM, Editor SEAN MORONEY, Managing Editor SHREYA RAO, News Editor MEREDITH SHINER, Sports Editor SARA GUERRERO, Photography Editor LESLIE GRIFFITH, Editorial Page Editor WENJIA ZHANG, News Managing Editor JONATHAN ANGIER, GeneralManager CHELSEA ALLISON, University Editor SHUCHIPARIKH, University Editor LAUREN KOBYLARZ, OnlineEditor TIM BRITTON, Sports Managing Editor HEATHER GUO, News Photography Editor KEVIN HWANG, News Photography Editor NAUREEN KHAN, City& State Editor GABRIELLE MCGLYNN, City & State Editor JOE CLARK, Health & ScienceEditor REBECCA WU, Health & ScienceEditor VARUN LELLA, Recess Editor LAURA BETH DOUGLAS, Sports Photography Editor RACHEL RODRIGUEZ, Online Design Editor KATHERINE MACILWAINE, Features Editor LISA MA, Editorial Page Managing Editor RYAN MCCARTNEY, Editorial Page Managing Editor EUGENE WANG, Wire Editor LYSA CHEN, Wire Editor ALEX WARR, Recess Managing Editor IREM MERTOL, Recess Photography Editor MICHAEL MOORE, TowerviewEditor SARAH BALL, TowerviewEditor PAIKLINSAWAT, TowerviewManaging Photography Editor PETE KIEHART, TowerviewPhotography Editor MINGYANG LIU, Senior Editor ADAM EAGLIN, Senior fd/tor MOLLY MCGARRETT, SeniorEditor ANDREW YAFFE, SeniorEditor GREGORY BEATON, Sports Senior Editor MARY WEAVER, Operations Manager NALINIAKOLEKAR, University Ad Sales Manager BARBARA STARBUCK, Production Manager YU-HSIEN HUANG, Supplements Coordinator DAWN HALL, Chapel Hill Ad Sales Manager MONICA FRANKLIN, Durham Ad Sales Manager STEPHANIE RISBON, Administrative Coordinator The Chronicle is published by the Duke Student Publishing Company, Inc., a non-profit corporation independent of Duke University. The opinions expressed in this newspaper are not necessarily those ofDuke University, its students, faculty, staff, administration or trustees. Unsigned editorials represent the majority view

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2008 The Chronicle, Box 90858, Durham, N.C. 27708. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the prior, written permission of the Business Office. Each individualis entitled to one free copy. ®

are in a unique position to capture and sustain student concern about what is far from a short-term problem.

Since November, North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have worked together to maintain student interest with their water conservation challenge. Tapping into students’ competitive drive may also prove effective at Duke. The University could try to join N.C. State and UNC in their challenge or create a Duke-wide conservation competition, perhaps by quads or dorms.

Furthermore, Duke students are given few day-today statistics about the grim reality of the water shortage. Beyond the occasional

flyer factoid, students taking four-minute showers have no idea if their efforts really make an impact. Providing students with some means for monitoring their own efforts will likely give them more incentive to actively save water. Keeping tabs on and publicizing water conservation efforts at Duke may not be logistically simple, but if the annual Eco-Olympics model is any indication, it is far from impossible. There is no better time than now to keep Duke students accountable for their water use and abuse.

In short, students must be encouraged to recognize that when it comes to innovative conservation, extreme drought conditions demand extreme measures.

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the water crisis, and many have changed their habits accordingly. But it appears that no amount of flimsy paper plates can keep water conservation at the top of students’ priorities for long. Though the University continues to do its part in Durham’s water conservation efforts, student commitment to the cause is uneven. To put it simply, running taps and 30-minute showers are not the rarity they should be.

The drought is real and ongoing, and sporadic rainfall is unlikely to alleviate the current water deficit. But students currently have little incentive, beyond their own goodwill, to conserve drastically. The keys to this are motivation and information.

RLHS and Campus Council

9

My inability to function in society is not a symptom of being thrust into college, a new environment where I am the awkward turtle in a big Tact, charm and a certain level of intelligence are among such attributes, and an air of pond. Rather, it is a perpetual state of being.

I have gone through life making friends with grograce is necessary to integrate oneself seamlessly into the masses. cery cart seat buckles (half inserted, they look a bit like ninjas); being afraid of butterflies (sort of 2D Unfortunately, and alive, like evil paper); and talking to my food I lack any and all of (dear soggy croutons, I hate you—youruined my salthe abstract nouns ad, and my life). The list ofpersonal defects goes on, listed above—not that I haven’t put but that’s enough socially damaging trivia for today. forth an effort.

Having earned a degree in social ineptitude via life experience, I can appreciate (and exacerbate) I attended a social gathering last a good awkward moment more than most.

For instance, five minutes before the start ofmy which was Friday, hi, society economics class Monday, acquaintance “R” entered a pretty im •resthe lecture hall and, seemingly ignoring my attempt sive bit ofprogress and to I all, there, itself.

After other were wave him to the seat next mine, sat in the row diin people was there, being with other people. My self-conrecdy in front of me and two chairs over. A normal fidence wasn’t shattered until a full five minutes person would shrug that off. I panicked.

My brain: Why did he do that? Did he ignore the of standing in the corner, where an acquaintance wave? Had I messed up the wave? Had I accidenapproached me.

“Hi,” he said. I wasn’t prepared. tally raised my arm in a Nazi salute while preparing What wit!

“Nnng,” I responded. my arm for the wave? I’m not a Nazi, but it could This isn’t a rare occurrence when Duke parhappen and people tend to not like Nazis. Great, R ties and I collide. Crammed into a narrow hallway probably thinks I am some sort of Nazi. Maybe he coated with beer and filth is not the setting in doesn’t. If he does think I’m a Nazi, he probably which I shine, and meeting people at such parties shouldn’t have chosen to sitwithin six feet ofa Nazi.

Poor taste. And now I’m thinking aboutNazis. usually requires small talk or drunken slurs.

At the very least, a normal person would not have I am more likely to ramble nonsense about a slice of garlic bread shaped like a shadow than had fascists on the mind, and a normal person, unpartake in either of those activities, and I typically fazed, might have even moved up a row and said hi. end up frightening those who favor the first and Ofcourse, ifR did think I was a Nazi, encroaching on his row would not be the best way to make friends. confusing those who favor the latter.

Made uncomfortable by such an incomplete But even if combining letters to make real words isn’t one of my strongest suits, I like to think proximity, I did consider relocating to the other that I am at least a connoisseur in the realm of all side of the lecture hall to avoid R’s turning around only to see my sitting nearly direcdy behind him. things awkward and embarrassing.

It is a lonely little world. I know I cannot be the But worried that standing up would only draw atonly person on campus who is plagued by blank stares tention to my predicament and cement the possiand disapprovingly raised eyebrows, but where the bility of that happening, I practiced looking slightrest of you are, I have no idea. If anybody out there ly to the left and acting surprised when I “finally” suffers a similar plight, I only hope reading about my noticed his presence own experiences will show you are not alone.

Unfortunately, R decided to turn around as I was rehearsing surprised faces. I froze mid-face.

(Actually, if you are anything like me, you prob“Nnng,” I said. He turned back around. ably are alone—in your room, reading a book, filling out a crossword puzzle, spying at other students through your blinds. But at least we are Lysa Chen is a Trinity sophomore and a wire editor of alone together. How cheerful!)

The Chronicle. Her column runs every other Thursday.

To

successfully function in society, one equipped with a few basic skills.

must be

lysa chen

THE CHRONICLE

Letter from an

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frustrating.

But it all comes down to this: do you want to repeat the mistakes of our parents and grandparents and leave your children with an-even bigger mess to clean up, or do you want to be responsible for beginning the necessary process of mitigating the effects of our impact on the environment?

Taking on such a task gives our generation the potential to be one of the greatest in history; it also opens up the possibility that we could try and fail, letting down the future as much as the past has let us down.

What students need to realize, however, is that not acting is equivalent to admitting that we are failures who are too daunted to even try. I don’t know about you, but the label “failure” has never been one I aspire

achieve.

Hopefully, you now better understand why it is that someone who wants to spend most of her adult life doctoring animals is concerned about the environment. I hope you also see how these issues apply to your future life as a partner at Goldman Sachs, or your roommate’s career as the head of neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins.

As informed youth, we are not the future. We are the present, and we can be empowered to create the change we want to see in the world, if we only choose to be. to

Kelsey Shaw is a Trinity sophomore. She is a member of Students for Sustainable Living and the vice president of Environmental Alliance.

111

My shoes

environmentalist The have always wanted to be a veterinarian. I’m not a hippie, a tree-hugger or even an environmental science major—not that there is anything wrong with those who give themselves these labels. It’s just that in my work for environmental causes, I’ve often been astounded by how many people have the misconception that you have to be a member of one of these categories to be concerned about environmental issues. kelsey shaw An “environmentalist,” quest column by my definition, is someone who takes an interest in their natural surroundings because of the services they provide, whether they are resources or aesthetic pleasure, and who wishes to maintain those surroundings for future generations.

I initially began to investigate environmentalism because I thought nature was pretty.

When I first discovered that nature was pretty and, almost simultaneously, that human influence often turned pretty to ugly, I was incensed. That was my prettiness that people were spoiling, and I didn’t approve. As I matured from middle-schooler to college student, however, my self-righteous indignation gave way to genuine concern about the future of my generation and especially the effects of drastic global climate change.

Granted, the human influence upon global warming and the true future consequences from it are up for debate, as is any scientific theory or law.

I cannot convince you that my position is the right one in a short article, and nor would I want to. I hope instead that you begin to consider environmentalism and sustainability in a bigger picture: how forest destruction endangers traditional cultures; how airborne particulates from industry are closely associated with greatly increased risks of asthma; how our dependence on foreign oil could put us at the mercy of the whims of another nation.

Most of the students here are lucky and privileged enough that they may be able to live out the rest of their days without any of the above problems having a major effect upon them.

As with many other environmental issues, global climate change will hit the poorest and most disenfranchised people on the globe first and hardest.

But if you accept the fact that any of the environmental concerns I’ve listed are valid, then you must realize that at our current rate, these things will affect your children.

Personally, this realization makes me feel an enormous burden. It doesn’t seem fair that I not only have to consider the responsibility of being in charge of someone else’s life for 18 years, but that I also have to ensure they have a nice planet to live on.

Well, it isn’t fair. Our generation faces challenges unfathomable to those of older age groups, even though many of our problems are caused by their lifestyle habits. Working to overcome these obstacles is going to be tough, scaryand often

THURSDAY, JANUARY 31,2008

commentaries

day I was alerted that I wouldhave a weekly column this semester I also received an e-mail from Elliott Wolf. As you probably know, Wolf wrote every Thursday last semester. His message was simple and sarcastic: “Enjoy being the only weekly people,” with a smiley face added for effect I am now entering week four, and I am starting to hear his point loud and clear. As atestament to my new lovely ■ lifestyle—and because ■ ■ “311 OeiZer I couldn’t come up with anything better—l w.w.j.d. thought I would take all of you who have made it past the first paragraph on a journey through an average week as a columnist.

Thursday: I have class on West. I make sure to grab at least three copies of the paper to ensure that I can force as many of my friends as possible to read my column.

I walk around campus on edge as I pass mostly nameless strangers. Did they read my column? Did I finally redeem myself in their mind as something more than an emotionless self-centered pig? Will someone, for the love of God, get the flickin’ sarcasm?

Odds are the answers are a resounding “no” to all of the above.

As the day progresses, enough people mention to me that they enjoyed my column for my nerves to relax a bit. IfI see a close friend on campus, I immediately grill them on whether or not they’ve read my masterpiece. If not, I demand to know why.

Yes, I am aware that this is a bit annoying. However, my annoyingness should already be an accepted part of our friendship, so I don’t feel bad about it.

Friday: I feel content about the week’s column. By this point enough people have expressed praise that my confidence in the piece has reached an acceptable level. And those who express resentment have unknowingly proven themselves intellectually inept by doing so (OK, well, sometimes).

Friday night-Sunday morning: My column is now an afterthought. The only time it ever crosses my mind is if some drunk girl decides to come spark a conversation with me about it. I do enjoy those. Usually.

Sunday night: The realization that Tuesday evening is approaching fast begins to dawn on me. I disregard the fact that I have absolutely zero clue what useless topic I am going to try and mangle into an entertaining 500-to-700-word piece of writing. My head still hurts. I’ll start on Monday.

Monday: I go to golfRE. Still nothing. I head to work and spend the down time coming up with and discarding mediocre, useless potential topics. Heavy caffeinating ensues as I struggle with the prospect of a late night of writing and pretending to do the reading for my history seminar (just kidding).

I return home from work at around 10 p.m. and set myself a rough draft ultimatum for before I go to sleep. Stare at my laptop for an hour. Write nothing.

Desperation sets in.

In a last-ditch effort to spark some creadvity, I attempt to channel my friends, my parents, Jesus, Satan and L. Ron Hubbard for inspiration.

Speaking of which, was anyone else existentially touched by Tom Cruise’s Scientology video? I’ve already purchased the Dianetics beginner books package for $475 (that’s right, I saved $7O off the actual price)!

There’s nothing like 10 minutes of celebrity gibberish backed by the “Mission Impossible” theme song to ignite that religious spark inside us all. Don’t tell my parents, but I think I am converting.

Tuesday Morning: At around 1 a.m., out of mostly a lack of a better idea, I commence writing. I am wholly unconvinced that the column has any legs. In an effort to compensate for a potentially lame showing, I deliberately push the line of acceptability usually surrounding the topics ofanal sex references, illicit drug use and potty language.

Tuesday: I wake up in the morning with an entirely inappropriate and un-publishable excuse for a Chronicle column. I take my laptop to class. The slow and painful process of trying to “tone it down” ensues. I cut about three words that were only included in the original draft out of principle.

After sending the column to a few peers to make sure they think it could potentially get published, I sack up and e-mail my editor. I spend the next few hours in an internal state of panic, expecting an e-mail any minute saying I need an entire new column done in three hours.

Wednesday; Copyediting. The moment I am reminded that (a) The Chronicle does not support Oxford commas and (b) The Chronicle lacks balls.

At this juncture I am informed which words are not going to fly. I whine, sometimes, but it’s pretty much a guarantee my favorite line will not make the morning’s paper.

Thursday Morning: Ladies and Gendemen, I present you this week’s useless column.

Dan Belzer is a Trinity senior. His column runs every Thursday.

12 I

THE CHRONICLE

THURSDAY, JANUARY 31,2008

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