October 28, 2008

The Chronicle possibilities

Women’s group put on hold

Provost returns from 10-day Shanghai trip

Some say hiatus slows progress on issues

Lange visit

Dreami

of an ideal raduate

charts MBA

by

Julia Love

by

THE CHRONICLE

THE CHRONICLE

Provost Peter Lange and Blair Sheppard, dean of the Fuqua School of Business, returned to the Gothic Wonderland Monday after a 10-day exploratory trip ofChina.

Lange and Sheppard surveyed potential programming for all of the University’s schools. In particular, they explored plans for the Cross-Continent site in of five lated to

President Nan Keohane’s legacy of discussing women’s issues on campus lives on

details the trip, an in-

ering ur options, but not coming down to final decisions,”

Lange said.

Administrators have not yet determined a location or a partner for the Shanghai program and —unlike Fuqua’s future outpost in New Delhi—an internal Duke advisory board has not been named for the site,

this day, but recent efforts to further the discussion appear to have slowed down.

Members of the President’s Council on Women have not convened this year, but President Richard Brodhead said the program is still in place and is currently being evaluated.

“These are subjects that I care about and Duke cares about,” Brodhead said. “The set of issues is pretty clear, and we’ve been following them quite conscientiously. It’s about what you can create as an oversight structure that you can provide, and that’s still in a process ofevolution.”

But when Duke Student Government received an e-mail this year from Deborah Copeland, administrative manager for the Office of the President, with a list of committees requiring student representatives, the President’s Council on Women was no longer included, said DSG Executive Vice President Sunny Kantha, a senior. Copeland declined to comment on the issue. to

August

*eter iange

COURTNEY DOUGLAS/THE CHRONICLE

Students and staff members discuss public-focused career possibilities with a graduate degree at the ldealist.org Durham Graduate Degree Fair for the Public GoodMonday at the Fuqua School ofBusiness.

SEE COUNCIL ON PAGE 6

SEE LANGE ON PAGE 5

Fin. Aid Initative DUU nears S3OOM goal by

s for Devil’s Eve by

Near the final stretch of its $3OO million Financial Aid Initiative, the University is within $2 million of its goal.

Fundraising for undergraduate aid, however, has lagged behind efforts for graduate and professional schools and athletics, according to the initiative’s Web site. Undergraduate aid is $l2 million short of its $230 million goal, while all other efforts—including $l5 million for athletic scholarships and $55 million for graduate and professional student aid—have met or surpassed their targets.

“We hope to hit the $3 million in the next few weeks, but we are determined to reach the $230 million mark which is the core of this campaign,” said Susan Ross, assistant vice SEE INITIATIVE ON PAGE 8

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Jinny Cho

THE CHRONICLE

The recently peaked autumn foliage on the Main West Quadrangle will soon be festooned with hovering ghouls as Duke University Union and Campus Council step up

Christopher Ross THE CHRONICLE

03018

Emmeline Zhao

SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

This year's Devil's Eve, sponsored by DUU and Campus Council, will feature a barbeque, gamesand musicFriday on the MainWest Quadrangle.

preparations for the annual Devil’s Eve like never before.

Junior Gabriela Borges, DUU vice president of programming, said the festivities will be “bigger and better than ever” in its second year. The expanded programming for the event comes on the heels ofDUU’s decision to withhold funding for buses to Franklin Street, which was a response to Chapel Hill’s move to limit the annual celebration to locals thisyear. Duke Student Government discussed the possibility of sponsoring one or two buses to Franklin Street at its meeting last week, but no plans had been finalized as of Monday, said DSG President Jordan Giordano, a senior.

DUU’s decision not to charter buses to Chapel Hill has freed up about $4OO to supplement the on-campus SEE HALLOWEEN ON PAGE 8

THE

2 I TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28,2008

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Civilians attack UN offices

Thousands of civilians GOMA, Congo threw rocks at four United Nations offices in eastern Congo Monday, expressing outrage at the organization's inability to protect them from rebel forces advancing on the provincial capital of Goma.

Peacekeepers opened fire at one downtown office and people may have been injured, a U.N. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

People in eastern Congo are angry that a 17,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force has been unable to protect them from a rebel attack just 25 miles north of the city. Tens of thousands of civilians have abandoned their homes.

A

US raid kills Syrian fighter head

UKKARIYEH, Syria A cross-border raid by U.S. forces killed the al special Qaeda-linked head of a network that Syrian smuggled fighters, weapons an American counterterrorism official said and cash into Iraq,

Monday.

Blood stained the earth in this border village as anguished Syrians buried relatives they said were killed in the U.S. helicopter attack Sunday. Some shouted anti-American slogans and carried banners reading "Down with Bush and the American enemy."

Today at Duke

TORONTO Charles Dubin, a former top Canadian who was best known for heading judge f an inquiry into drug use in amateur sport, died Monday. He was 87.

The former chief justice of Ontario died of pneumonia, said his longtime friend, Ontario Court of Appeal Justice Robert Armstrong.

Dubin was appointed to the province's top court in 1973 and was tapped to head several inquiries, most notably the high-profile commission that formed after sprinter Ben Johnson was stripped of his gold medal for testing positive for anabolic steroids at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Dubin's groundbreaking report exposed one of the darkest secrets in the sports world and helped restore Canada's reputation on the world stage, said Canadian Olympic official Dick Pound.

-

Brazilian Popular Music: In Cultural, Historical, and Political Context

More info: clacs@duke.edu (Center for Latin American &■ Caribbean Studies)

Stevens found guilty of lying

WASHINGTON Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens was convicted of seven corruption charges Monday in a trial that threatened to end the 40-year career of Alaska's political patriarch in disgrace.

The verdict, coming barely a week before Election Day, increased the odds against winning what already was a difficult race against Democratic challenger Mark Begich. Democrats hope to seizethe once reliably Republican seat as part of their bid for a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.

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Hudson identifies nephew's body CHICAGO

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name.

Jim Cavanaugh, special agent in charge of ATF's Nashville field office, said the two men planned to kill 88 black people, including 14 by beheading. The numbers 88 and 14are symbolic in the white supremacist community.

The men also sought to go on a national killing spree after the Tennessee murders, with Obama as its final target, Cavanaugh told The Associated Press.

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Chicago police say singer and

Jennifer Hudson has identified the body of her 7-year-old nephew, who was found dead actress

Monday morning in an SUV. Julian King had been missing since Hudson's mother and brother were found shot to death in the home they shared a Skinhead murder plot disrupted Friday.

WASHINGTON Law enforcement agents Julian had been the subject of a frantic search since the have broken up a plot by two neo-Nazi skin- killings, which Chicago police have characterized as"domestic heads to assassinate Democratic presidential -related."

Authorities have been questioning William Balfour, the escandidate Barack Obama and shoot or decapitate 88 black people, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explo- tranged husband of Hudson's sister Julia. sives said Monday.

In court records unsealed Monday in U.S. District Court in Jackson,Tenn., federal agents said they disrupted plans to rob a gun store and target a predominantly African-American high school in a murder spree that was to begin in Tennessee. Agents said the skinheads did not identify the school by

TODAY

...

DukeEngage 2009 Group Programs McClendon Commons, 5:30p.m. 7 p.m.

Learn more about the 2009Duke Engage group programs. For detailed schedule of topics, visit http://dukeengage.duke.edu/events

Former top Canadian judge dies

CHRONICLE

EDUC 1445.01: Literacy/ Photography EDUC 151S, Literacy & Service Learning EDUC 1525: Civic Engagement & DukeDurham Partnership EDUC 160S: Early Childhood Intern EDUC 162T: Freshman/Sophomore Tutorials EDUC 170S.01: Writing/Performing the Self EDUC 1705.02: Social Psychology of Education EDUC 172T: Junior/Senior Tutorial EDUC 190S: Secondary School Issi EDUC 215: Secondary School Te: EDUC 216: Secondary Internship *

Most Education courses have a

learning experience included

—compiledfrom wire reports

sunny

Itis well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed ofothers.

—John Andrew Holmes

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28,2008 3 |

the chronicle

LocoPops to hibernate this winter by

Lyell McMerty THE CHRONICLE

Business at the Plaza’s LocoPops cart will go temporarily cold for the upcoming winter.

The Loco Pops cart will close this Saturday, but Loco Pop-addicts need not fret—the stand will reopen in March, said Loco Pops manager and co-founder Sumner Bicknell.

She explained that the closing was not due to a lack of interest from the Duke community but rather a “seasonality thing.” Bicknell said management had predicted a decline in sales and staff because of the cold season, adding that business for the stand, which is in its first year, has been strong.

Director of Dining Services Jim Wulforst said he had not yet been informed of the closing. He added that he believed that the cart’s decision to cease operations for the winter might have to do more with staffing issues.

“There are students here that, whether it’s January or June, they want Loco Pops.

It’s always hard to find [employees] to stand out in the cold,” Wulforst said.

Loco Pops employee Jamie Sneeringer said he was told only a few weeks ago about the closing.

“I knew it was going to be a seasonal thing, but it was kind of a surprise,” he said.

Although the closing has not been publicized, several students said they think the business decision is reasonable, adding that the cart’s reopening will be welcome.

“I think it’s fair that being a popsicle stand they close for the winter. Part

Court adds

charges to Atwater case One of

two

suspects indicted in the

shooting death of Eve Carson, student body president at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was charged with additional crimes Monday.

Demario Atwater, 22, was indicted by a federal grand jury for taking Carson’s Toyota Highlander in addition to caijacking related to the murder, both of which are punishable by the death

penalty if prosecutors

ZACHARY TRACER/CHRONICLE FILE PHOTO

choose to seek it. He is also being charged with having an unregistered sawed-off shotgun. The crimes were a violation of Atwater’s parole for r Demano Atwater . breaking into and entering a Raleigh home in 2005.

Atwater and Laurence Lovette, then 17, were indicted for Carson’s murder in July.

Orange County District Attorney Jim Woodall said he would seek the death penalty against Atwater, The (Raleigh) News & Observer reported Monday. Because ofLovette’s age at the time of the murder, he is ineligible for capital punishment. The county has not sent anyone to death row since 1970.

Pursuit of the death penalty requires approval from the U.S. attorney general, and The N&O reported that he had not yet ruled on the matter. _

The Loco Pops cart on the Plaza will closefor the winter Saturday and reopen in March. of the joy of a Loco Pop is eating it in hot weather,” sophomore Carol Cheng said.

But some Loco Pops fans said they are distraught by the news.

Geoff Silver, a sophomore who enjoys a Loco Pop once or twice a week, said he will miss the stand. Senior Jane Zhao said that although she does not buy Loco Pops often, she has many friends who will likely feel the loss during the winter.

Bicknell confirmed that Loco Pops will continue to be available in the Refectory Cafe throughout the winter. Wulforst also

said the freezer from the stand may be moved to Joe van Gogh if the coffee shop

complies.

“We’re not going to let students be without LocoPops,” he said.

Some students, however, like sophomore Amanda Morrall, expressed no desire for a Loco Pop in the middle of winter, even with the warmth of an indoor vendor.

“I probably wouldn’t get one anyway, unless I was really craving one,” she said, adding that she prefers her LocoPops in the summer.

.

,

~

,

—from staffreports

THE CHRONICLE

4 | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28,2008

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bythenumbers:

Naureen Khan THE CHRONICLE

talking points

Imagine a recurring national catastrophe that leaves 18,000

50.9% 43.5%

SOURCE: POLLSTER.COM; AS

OF

10/26/2008

campaianbriefe Former GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee will campaign on behalf of GOP presidential nominee John McCain in Raleigh and Charlotte Wednesday.

Michelle Obama, wife of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, will campaign in Rocky Mount »

»

Wednesday.

Both presidential candidates will make appearances this week in the state.

John McCain will speak in Fayetteville Tuesday, while rival Barack Obama will rally in Raleigh Wednesday. Both candidates campaigned in North Carolina last week as well. »

elections

JJealthcare pushes some res ents to vote by

OBAMA MCCAIN

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week left tin

dead ever)' week.

Such is the scale of the healthcare crisis facing the country today, policy experts say. The Institute of Medicine attributes 18,000 deaths a year to lack of health insurance.

“If you take those numbers seriously, ajumbojet load ofuninsured is dying per week,” said Christopher Conover, director of Duke’s Jim Bernstein Health Policy Scholars Program. “Eighteen-thousand uninsured die each year because of lack of coverage, but they don’t have ‘uninsured’ stamped on their death certificates.”

Existing problems with the healthcare system exacerbated by the slumping economy have made for a perfect storm in the realm of health policy.

Democratic Sen. Barack Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain have dedicated considerable space in their platforms to address health care reform. Yet despite the severity of health care deficiencies in the country, the issue has taken a backseat in the minds of many voters.

•

Calls for insurance firms to preexisting conditions.

Wants to create a Small usiness Health Tax Credit jo small business can provide healthcare to their employees.

Supports lowering costs by $2,500 for the average American family.

•Wants to form a Nainal Health Insurance Exnge offering private and lie plans for individuals firms to choose from.

•

“The economy has overwhelmed

everything else —it’s the pressing matter on people’s minds,” said Elizabeth Vigdor, a research scholar at the Center for Health Policy.

She cited the estimated 45.6 million Americans who are uninsured as the biggest problem with the current system.

Dr. Victor Dzau, chancellor for health affairs and president and chief executive officer of the

healthcare Calls for using more generic drugs to reduce the •

drug costs.

Seeks to move toward ordinated quality-focuse care and away from volume-focused care.

•Believes the government can save money in Medicare without having to reduce benefits or eligibility. houseEncourages hold choice in decidin how to allocate tax credits •

•

Duke University Health System, recently signed the “Open Letter on Health Reform in the 2008 Presidential Election” in support of Obama, along with more than 9,000 physicians and medical students. Dzau has applauded both candidates, nonetheless, for their careful consideration of the issue.

“Both candidates have fundamentally the right idea,” he said.

“They have different means and

different ways to approach the issue but it is certainly my hope, we will have a better situation for health care in this country.”

Those in the waiting room of Lincoln Community Health Center in Durham said Monday they hoped healthcarereform would be a priority for the next president.

The community clinic offers SEE HEALTHCARE ON PAGE

Duke in Israel SUMMER STUDY ABROAD / Duke Engage program

Bioengineering Applications to Address Global Health

Information

meeting: Wednesday, October 29th from 5:30 to 6:lspm in McClendon Commons.

Learn more about this exciting summer program based in •

Jerusalem! Six weeks of study abroad courses and excursions, followed by an optional five-week Duke Engage service

November 6-7,2008 Fitzpatrick Center Duke University

learning component Join faculty, students and leaders from around the nation for this two-day conference to address global health and biomedical engineering issues of technology, therapeutics, diagnostics, and drug delivery in the developing world.

Ask questions and find out more from the faculty directors of this program, as well as staff •

members from both the Office of Study Abroad and Duke Engage.

FREE for Duke Faculty, Staff and Students

www.globalhealth.duke.edu/bioengineering-conf2ooB

Summer scholarship funding is available either through the Office of Study Abroad (Babcock Scholarship) or through the Center for Jewish Studies.

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the chronicle

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28,2008 | 5

Professors back Ayers in petition by

Jessica Kim

THE CHRONICLE

Duke Law professor Michael Tigar and more than 3,800 other academics have signed an online petition protesting what they call the “slander of Bill Ayers,” a 1960 radical and current professor whose ties to Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama have been a contentious matter in the presidential campaign.

“I think that the McCain campaign’s desperate attempt to tag Sen. Obama with Ayers’ conduct, back when Sen. Obama was 8 years old, is a discreditable attempt to divert attention from the serious issues we face,” Tigar wrote in an e-mail.

The petition argues that Ayers—who in the 1960 founded the Weathermen, a group responsible for a series of nonfatal bombings in protest of the Vietnam War —deserves credit for his educational and civic contributions.

“He is today a respected teacher and author who focuses on reforming the educational system in constructive ways,” Tigar said, noting that he has known Ayers for many years.

Other academics in the Triangle area are also supporting Ayers—today referred to as a “domestic terrorist” by critics—citing his academic contributions to progressive causes.

“Bill Ayers has been my colleague for over 20 years and before this all started he had already been elected to the highest position in [the] American Educational Research Association, so I’m not the only one who holds him in high esteem, which is what the petition shows,” said Lynda Stone, a philosophy of education professor at the University of North Carolina School of Education. “He’s worked in teacher education and curriculum studies. He’s written many books and articles that have had an influence on the vision that teachers have.”

Ayers faced federal charges for rioting and conspiracy in the 1970 but was never prosecuted. He has since worked as a education reformer and professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, publishing 15 books and securing over $5O million in grants for Chicago schools.

For a time, Obama and Ayers lived in the same neighborhood in Chicago and worked on the same charity board for educational reform. In 1995, Ayers hosted a coffee meet-and-greet for Obama when he first ran for the Illinois Senate. Ayers also contributed $2OO to Obama’s re-

s

s co-

s

SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

s

1960 radical Bill Ayers has been criticized for his alleged terrorist acts.

More than 3,800professors have signed a petition backing Ayers. election campaign in 2001.

The campaign for Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain has alleged that Obama has not been forward about his relationship with Ayers, circulating a mailer in North Carolina and other states that says Obama is “not who you think he is.”

“Sen. Obama and Mr. Ayers know each other and have worked together in the past on several boards,” N.C. Republican spokesperson Brent Woodcox said. “Sen. Obama has previously referred to Mr. Ayers as a friend. The relationship calls into questions both his judgment and his truthfulness with the American people.”

Obama has denounced Ayers’ past activities and denied any sort of close connection with him.

“Sen. Obama strongly condemns the violent actions of the Weathermen group, as he does all acts of violence. But he was an eight-year-old child when Ayers and the Weathermen were active, and any attempt to connect Obama with events ofalmost 40 years ago is ridiculous,” Obama spokesperson Bill Burton said in a statement earlier this year.

LANGE from page 1 Lange said. The city of Shanghai houses 42 universities, according to the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission—potential partners with which Duke may collaborate on the Fuqua outpost.

Lange explained that plans for a site in New Delhi, which President Richard Brodhead visited earlier this month, are more developed than those for the Shanghai location “just because you can’t be everywhere at once.”

“With this trip, we’ve accelerated the China site a little bit, and that means that it’s not as less developed [than the India site] as it was before,” he said.

Lange said China’s communist government has not hindered the University’s plans to establish a presence in Shanghai, noting that each of the five countries targeted for Fuqua expansion has a political climate that administrators must accommodate.

Brodhead visited China about a year and a half ago, and Lange said Duke administrators will travel to Shanghai and New Delhi again before the Cross-Continent MBA sites open. Exploratory visits to other Fuqua sites in St. Petersburg, Dubai and London have not yet been scheduled, Lange said.

Ties between Duke and China have been in place for more than a century. The University’s first international student—Charlie Soong, Trinity 1881—was of Chinese descent, and Duke students have studied abroad in China since 1982 through Duke Study in China.

In recent years, Duke has fortified its relationship with China, home to more of its international students than any other nation, through DukeEngage and student-driven philanthropy. Lange and Sheppard’s visit also comes on the heels of a Duke publicity blitz in China. Men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski brought gold home from the Beijing Olympics, and Duke was a fixture in the Chinese press when some perceived sophomore Grace Wang’s attempt to mediate a Tibet-China protest as a gesture of support for Tibet.

Although Lange’s visit was noted in China Daily, a nationally circulated newspaper, he explained that he did not aim to make headlines with his visit.

“I wasn’t there to generate a lot of publicity... because it was still an exploratory trip,” Lange said.

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THE CHRONICLE

6 I TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28,2008

COUNCIL from page 1 Challenges with the Council Since Keohane published the findings of the Women’s Initiative in 2003, the study has received widespread attention, as it examined various aspects of the lives of female students, faculty, staff and alumni, and brought women’s issues such as childcare and mentorship to light. Its comprehensive nature helped pinpoint certain issues to monitor, leading to the creation of the President’s Council on Women in 2006.

Addressing all the issues presented by the Women’s Initiative is a challenge, said Donna Lisker, associate dean for undergraduate education and former co-chair of the President’s Council on Women, because the Initiative was a research project that incorporated women of all roles and backgrounds across the University.

“We were all over the place —part of the challenge in a body like this is that those issues someway overlap, but are distinct by constituency,” she said. “In a committee like this, it’s, ‘How do you talk about issues of specific groups ofworn-

en without ignoring the issues of other groups of women?’”

Brodhead said the University has worked over the last five years to determine the ideal way to support the ambitions and aspirations of women on campus. Subsequendy, various constituencies of University women —including graduate and professional students, faculty and staff—were brought together through the council.

Junior Lucy McKinstry, a member of The Chronicle’s independent Editorial Board, was a member of the council last year as a DSG representative. She noted, however, that her participation on the council proved incongruent with issues addressed in the Women’s Initiative, and said there was a lack of organization and communication within the committee as well as a dearth of discussion on topics surrounding the Initiative.

“I think work at the presidential level on this issue undoubtedly has potential—it’s just a matter of how it’s done,” she said. “If it’s business as usual as last year, probably not. But hopefully they’re coming up with a plan to make it function better, have more direction and, overall, just make it a better use of everyone’s time and energy.”

DEFENDER OF FREE SPEECH OR OFFENDER OF RELIGION? In September, 2005, a small newspaper in Denmark published cartoons of Muhammad decked out in symbols of terrorism.

Protests and violence followed. What should we make of this?

On October 30,2008, the publisher himself, Mr. Flemming Rose, will come to Duke University and explain his decision to publish these controversial cartoons.

?

9

9

Page Auditorium, October 30, at 7:00.

Lecture followed by Q&A. Come and ask the man yourself: why did he publish these images? What was the result? What does this mean for freedom of speech? Would he do it again?

The council met about twice last year, and the purpose of the meetings was vague, McKinstry said. She added that targeting certain topics—such as allotting space for sororities and female campus groups—would be a good first step toward more effective discussions. An executive body may also be necessary to ensure various changes are instituted, keep dialogue alive and oversee a process of re-evaluation and execution, she said.

Student-initiated change A chart on the Women’s Initiative Web site—documenting the University’s response to steps taken toward reaching the goals of the Initiative—shows that many of the undergraduate objectives presented in the report have been discussed, but have not been acted on. Groups such as the council, the Baldwin Scholars program and the Women’s Mentoring Network were created and supported in response, but only some of the groups have made a lasting impact on campus, WMN co-chair Bethany Hill, a junior, wrote in an e-mail.

“The council is an institutionalized attempt to check off another box of the Women’s Initiative’s checklist and lacks active student support,” she said. “It does hope to

"If the council wants to improve campus culture, it must look beyond theoretical discussions and instead focus on active programming.”

Bethany Hill, junior and co-chair of the Women’s Mentoring Network improve the state of gender relations on campus—a very valiant and ambitious goal. However, this council lacks the support of the undergraduate community. While organizations like WMN rely heavily on student input and involvement, the President’s Council has yet to reach out to the entire female community. These aims may be in progress, but they aren’t reaching the students fast enough.”

Lisker and Steve Nowicki, vice provost and dean of undergraduate education, supported the creation of WMN because it is student-led, Hill said. And campus organizations that are student-initiated are more successful, because “student leadership breeds student interest,” she added.

Other campus groups also have the “right idea,” Hill said, because large-scale, active programming for the entire undergraduate body—such as Joe College Day and Freewater Films —can promote gender-based campus equality.

“Shared experiences like these events allow students to establishinterpersonal relationships beyond their pre-established social groups,” she said. “It gives the students an opportunity to form relationships beyond the barriers of gender, race, Greek affiliation or Trinity and Pratt. If the council wants to improve campus culture, it must look beyond theoretical discussions and instead focus on active programming.”

The council is just that—a group led by administrators to discuss women’s issues across campus, not necessarily implement them. Although current campus groups like WMN are working to engage all students in gender-based activities, Hill said she looks forward to seeing the tangible results of the council’s discussions via active programming.

Identifying new issues Brodhead said he is considering launching a Web site that oudines the University’s progress on the Initiative and clarifies what needs to be donefor the future. The launch would mark the fifth anniversary of the Women’s Initiative.

“There’s no perfect administrative form to preside over this set of issues,” he said. “Rather than locking ourselves into something eternally, we’re trying to figure out what is the structure of oversight that puts us in the best position to continue to pay attention to this set of issues and identify new issues as they emerge.”

A number of task forces have been created to identify new issues, one of which met last Monday, Brodhead said, adding that the University can take pride in how much ithas improved on issues such as childcare, family leave and tuition benefits.

Although the University has made strides toward improving the lives of women, many of the issues stem from social norms, and are larger in scope than Duke can control, Lisker said.

“There are things Duke can do and tries to do and is doing, but that’s not something that we can fix at Duke because it doesn’t originate at Duke—all we can do is try and make it better,” she said. “So one of the challenges for this group and the president is, ‘Where can Duke intervene in ways that are useful and practical, and where do we recognize that there are bigger societal pressures that we can overcome?”’

the chronicle

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28,2008 | 7

healthcare from page 4

Coming down The Wire

primary health care to all patients regardless ofinsurance or legal status. It charges on a sliding fee scale that takes into account income level. Seventy-eight percent of Lin-

coln Community Health Center’s patients were uninsured in 2006, according to the 2007 Durham County Community Health Assessment. Eighty-two percent lived below the federal poverty level.

Patients Luette Owens and Wanda Justice agreed that healthcare will be a salient issue in the upcoming election.

“It used to be cheaper, even here,” said Justice, who unemployed, noting still that the clinic has currently is been helpful to her in obtaining affordable health care.

“Things are getting tougher now.”

When asked who their pick for president was, manypatients named Obama.

“Older people, we need health care,” said 63-year-old Molly Brown. “To me, Obama is for people who can’t afford to have insurance and don’t know where they’re going to get the money to just pay the bills.”

Health policy experts said there are benefits and drawbacks to both proposals. Obama’s plan maximizes the number of people who can obtain coverage, but it is more costly.

McCain’s plan provides a more efficient system to disperse healthcare, but in away that covers fewer Americans.

But the Durham community is not holding its breath for government solutions, health experts said.

The lack offederal programs to ensure quality, affordable care has caused a search for community solutions, said Dr. Evelyn Schmidt, director of Lincoln Community Health Center.

The Duke University Medical Center has partnered with Durham Regional Hospital, Lincoln Community Health Center and Durham County Emergency Medical Services in Project Access —a program involving Duke physicians to provide uninsured Durham residents with specialized care.

Vigdor suggested that Americans may prefer communitybased health care solutions to government interventions.

“Americans have a deep distrust of the government,” Vigdor said. “They have a much more collective anxiety about that. We’re very fearful of government.”

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(from second on the left) Jamie Hector, Chad Coleman and Dierdre Lovejoy, who play characters on HBO'sThe Wire, campaign for Barack Obama Monday on the Main West Quadrangle.Actors from The Sopranos will appear on campus today to encourage students to vote.

THE

8 I TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2008

HALLOWEEN from page 1

DUU officials said they think more students will attend this year's Devil'sEve celebration, in part because students are not invited to the Franklin St party.

INITIATIVE from page 1 president for the initiative.

According to the initiative’s Web site, the University received $2lB million toward undergraduate finances as of Oct. 3, and $l9 million and $6O millionfor athletic and graduate and professional support, respectively. Due to the current financial cri-

sis, however, donors have felt the squeeze on their wallets, Ross said.

“People have said, ‘Let’s let things settle out in a month,”’ Ross said. “I have been fundraising for three decades and have seen financial downturns. We trust that we

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festivities’ original budget of $5,000, Borges said.

Though the promenade on Franklin Street has traditionally been the Triangle’s top Halloween destination, Campus Council President Molly Bierman, a senior, said on-campus programming will provide an “exciting alternative’’ for students who cannot make it to Chapel Hill.

DUU President Chamindra Goonewardene, a senior, predicted that Devil’s Eve festivities would have a big boost in attendance this year.

“It’s on a Friday night—a lot of people will be on campus, and it’s convenient for them to attend and also do other stuff after,” he said.

Devil’s Eve 2008 will feature free burgers from the grill, four kegs, a costume contest, a cookie decorating table and entertainment from Shooters IFs disc jockey.

Sophomore Alex Reese, a member of DUU’s programming committee, said one of the highlights of the night will be a large-screen display of Michael Jackson’s Thriller music video.

But Jackson will not be dancing alone—he will be accompanied by back-up dancers from two dance clubs and three dance department courses.

Dance Slam Co-president Katie Mahon, a senior who is coordinating the routine, said Duke’s towering

can close it out successfully.”

The majority of the funds were brought in before the financial crisis—and no one knows how the current circumstances will play out, said Michael Schoenfeld, vice president of public relations and government affairs.

“This is now more important than ever,” he said. “We could not have known several years ago when we started the financial initiative just how vital it would be to have those sources offunds.”

The funds have already been put to use. This academic year Duke introduced enhancements to its financial aid program that target students from low- and middle-

Omega sorority presents:

Mocktail

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CHRONICLE

Gothic spires will set the perfect mood for the performance.

“The Gothic background at Duke is really going to make this performance creepier and more entertaining,” she said.

Students can expect decor along the lines of fog machines, bright spotlights, theatrical-quality props and an animatronic Hannibal Lecter who will offer words of wisdom to students.

“There’s not going to be little pumpkins and Christmas lights,” he said.

Senior Konrad Dudziak, who had never heard of Devil’s Eve before, said he may attend simply because of the convenience of the location.

But many students said they welcome the expansion of Halloween festivities on campus.

“There’s no reason why Duke can’t have its own awesome event on the residential quad,” Reese said. “We can have our own Halloween happenings on campus.”

Mahon said she was also pleased to see the University taking ownership of the ghoulish festivities.

“With people being discouraged from going to Franklin Street this year, I think this might be a sweet way to make Halloween our own at Duke,” she said.

And though the party may not match the scale of Chapel Hill’s bash, Devil’s Eve should be what Reese called a “fun night of dancing, eating, drinking and getting everyone in the Halloween spirit.”

income families, The endowment is a permanent fixture that is meant to help students in both good and bad financial times, said William Conescu, public relations specialist for the Office of Development.

PresidentRichard Brodhead also affirmed the importance of the initiative in his annual address to the Academic Council Oct. 23.

“Duke’s longstanding commitment to need-blind admissions, and to meeting the full demonstrated financial need ofall students admitted and enrolled, remains unchanged,” he said in a message to the Duke community. “The imminent completion of the $3OO million Financial Aid Initiative

is tangible proof of our dedication to this

promise.”

Duke’s financial aid endowment only covers one-fifth of need-based aid offered, so the rest of the money comes from limited pools of operating funds, according to a Development document called “Affording Opportunity: The Final Year.” Duke’s spending on need-based financial aid increased from $39.5 million in 2003-2004 school year to an estimated $65 million in 2008-2009.

“Some of the money generated will establish scholarships that will not mature until years to come,” Director of Financial Aid Jim Belvin said. “There will certainly be other enhancements in the future.”

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SHOWING at the GRIFFITH THEATER TONIGHT! October 28, 2008 Film Begins at 7:00 P.M. Discussion with the Film's Director to Follow Visit http://caps.studentaffairs.duke.edu for more info Sponsored by: ESTEEM, Baldwin Scholars, Pi Beta Phi, CAPS, Women’s Studies, the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, the Women’s Center, and the Duke Film Society.

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TUESDAY October 28,2008

Duke commit and Durham native Desmond Scott has lit up competition this year Check out videos and photos from UNC's equivalent of Midnight Madness

Soulja Roy s night shames Duke s Blue-White Forgive

me readers, for I have sinned. It has been one week since my last confession.

Friday night, I went to Chapel Hill, ascended the upper deck of a Dean Dome filled with 20,000 frenzied fans and took part in the annual season kickoff party known as Late Night with Roy. And Friday night, for two hours, I sat in a sea of baby blue, struggling to fight the ugliest of feelings.

For two hours, I wished I were a Tar Heel.

Because Late Night mm jeTtflp? with Roy is good. Really Meredith good.

Before you stop reading, let me assure you, I am proud to be a Dukie. But I firmly believe we don’t have to be so blinded by our deep hatred that we can’t see something good when it’s right in front of our faces (or on YouTube, for that matter... do a quick search and you’ll see what I mean).

It’s the one night a year when the Dean Dome’s doors are flung wide-open and the poor, tired, huddled masses of Chapel Ilillians yearning to breathe in basketball after a long offseason can come together to celebrate their team. It’s the biggest bash of the year,

Shiner

ACC favorite North Carolina kicked off its season with Late Night with Roy Friday in Chapel Hill.

and everyone’s invited.

There’s dancing, singing, scrimmaging, laughing (at Duke’s expense), reminiscing (also at Duke’s expense) and, of course, emcee and punster extraordinaireStuart Scott.

For the record, the Baron of Booyah’s jokes about Dukies were so unfunny that even the most spirited ofTar Heels couldn’t muster up a cheer. Then again, maybe they were saving their voices for one of 15 times the clip of Danny Green posterizing Greg Paulus in Cameron played on the jumbo screens.

But Scott’s routine is child’s play compared to the real show.

The lights in the arena are killed, leaving only the glow of the stadium’s giant screens, the fans’ light-up necklaces and a spodight pointed at the mouth of the UNC tunnel. One by one, each player is announced in class order.

You can just feel the energy building, knowing who will be last.

Tyler Hansbrough walks onto the floor, his arms pointed in a V toward the sky, and the stadium erupts so loudly you would have sworn Oprah had just surprised the audience with 20,000 new cars.

Even my disdain for Psycho T couldn’t keep SEE SHINER ON PAGE 10

FOOTBALL

MEN'S SOCCER

With captains sidelined, Cutcliffe’s experience Duke looks for leaders affects mediarelations by

Joe Drews

THE CHRONICLE

A team that was supposed to be winning gameswith its prolific offense is suddenly stifling its opponents with overpowering defense.

And the wins have followed.

Duke has not given up a goal since a 2-1 loss to Florida Adantic OcL 14, and its back line has led the way to a tie with top-ranked Wake Forest Oct. 18 and a much-needed victory over No. 19 Saturday.

Colgate Virginia But the most impressive aspect of the Blue Devils’ current Duke 296-minute shutout streak may not be TUESDAY, 7 p.m. the caliber of oppoKoskinen Stadium nents against which it has come, but who exactly has done it—or, more precisely, who

hasn’t Senior captain Graham Dugoni has been sidelined for all of those contests with a broken foot, which he suffered Oct.

10 against North Carolina and which will

beep him out for the rest of the season.

And tonight against Colgate (8-4-3), the defense will face yet another challenge:

Fellow

captain Darrius Barnes is

out

after

receiving a red card against the Cavaliers.

Its obviously a loss for us with our two leaders out, but we have some real capable players that are comfortable back there and have played there before,” head coach John Kerr said. “Whoever’s going to

be in the back there is going to be fine.”

Duke (8-5-2) has not decided who will start on the back line at 7 p.m. tonight in Koskinen Stadium. Defender Matthew Thomas and forward/defender Trae Harrison came off the bench Saturday to help the Blue Devils’ defensive effort, which held the Cavaliers at bay long enough for Mike Grella to tally the game-winner on a penalty kick in overtime.

Duke will need a similar contribution from its reserves against a low-scoring Raiders squad that has had eight of its games decided by one goal or less.

“Darrius being out is definitely a big loss for this team, but I think we have a couple players that are willing to step up,” Thomas said.

The Blue Devils were just beginning to gel defensively, as evidenced by their two-week shutoutstreak. The loss of their senior leader at this critical point may require an adjustment period that Duke does not have time for.

“It definitely puts a lot of pressure on us,” senior goalkeeper Brendan Fitzgerald said.

“It will be a new group. We haven’t had much consistency on the back line due to injuries, and now with Darrius’ red card, it’s going to fall on me and Pav [Castaneda] to just really make sure we’re communicating well.”

Kerr has tried several of his players at different positions at various points this season—whether in games or in practice—so finding a capable replacement for Barnes SEE M. SOCCER ON PAGE 10

CHASE OLIVIERI/CHRONICLE FILE PHOTO

David Cutdiffe has embraced his relationship with the local media partly because ofhis experience at Ole Miss. by

Ben Cohen

THE CHRONICLE

Football was not at the forefront of David Cutcliffe’s attention when he stepped up to the lectern waiting for him in Yoh Football Center Oct 21. Instead, he opened his weekly press conference with a five-minute briefing to the media on current events.

“Do y’all not watch the news?” Cutcliffe said, clearly entertained. “Anybody pay attention to what’s going 0n?... Good gracious guys, you have your heads buried in the sand.”

The lighthearted back-and-forth that followed between reporters and Cutcliffe would have been highly unusual in a Tuesday media luncheon last year and would have also surprised some in Cutcliffe’s first head coaching gig at Mississippi.

But Cutcliffe’s comfort with the local

media and the forthcoming tenor of his press conferences are changes as marked as Duke’s progress on the field.

“Point blank, he’s media-sawy,” said Art Chase, Duke’s sports information director who handles Cutcliffe’s media responsibilities. “He understands the role of the media.

He acknowledges that members of the media have a job to do, and that’s what’s really helpful and enables him to interact in such a positive manner with the media.”

Tuesdays in Yoh are just as different as Saturdays in Wallace Wade Stadium this year.

The head coach looks crisp in a button-down shirt, tie and sports jacket—contrary to his predecessor, Ted Roof, who only traded his Duke Football threads for more formal attire SEE CUTCUFFE ON PAGE 10

THE CHRONICLE

10 1 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28,2008

SHINER from page 9 me from being taken by the energy of the stadium, the crowd’s ability to show its lovefor the All-American and the All-American’s ability to relish in itand return the appreciation.

After the whole team came out dressed in Carolina blue formalwear and did a number to Sammy Davisjr.’s “Hello Detroit” (the home of this year’s Final Four), after watching senior guard Bobby Frasor star in six filmed sketches lampooning his Hall of Fame coach, after seeing the custom T-shirts with Roy’s face blown up huge and donning sunglasses that said “Soulja Roy,” I felt this gnawing, longing feeling.

I wanted to be able to celebrate Duke basketball like this. Why should Tar Heel fans have all the fun?

I’m not saying Duke should rip off Late Night—we couldn’t even if we tried.

But I am saying the Blue-White game is horribly out of date, unexciting and does not do justice to either the team or its fans. I was there this year, and the upper bowl was half empty. Maybe it’s time to consider a change—because if Late Night with Roy made me feel as ifI wanted to be a Tar Heel, I can’t even imagine what recruits must have thought.

At one point, the UNC senior class, clad in caps and gowns, sat in chairs at center court and told “Remember when?” stories as video highlights played of the events they discussed. Basically, it was Carolina’s sales pitch to recruits: “Look how awesome we are, how

M. SOCCER from page 9 could end up being relatively easy.

The harder part may be accounting for the leadership that he and Dugoni provide. The suddenly stalwart Blue Dev-

much fun we’ve had, how we’re going to win a national title and stay four years doing it!”

It was also a time for players to interact with the fans who give up time, money and even their hearts to support the team. And perhaps most importantly, it was a time to show that the one of the most powerful programs in the country can have fun.

Duke can do this, too. And its players don’t even have to hula dance in coconut bras and grass skirts.

Blue-White should be moved to the first Friday night of the season in line with Midnight Madness celebrations at top programs across the country. Coach K should address the fans in a truncated version ofhis talk before the UNC game. Each player should be announced individually to the crowd, giving seniors a chance to begin absorbing their final year in one of the nation’s most storied programs. And before the scrimmage starts, there should be a montage of highlights on those spiffy new video screens we have in Cameron.

We’re Duke. We’ve got a lot of highlights to choose from. We also have a lot offantastic former players who already reconvene in Durham annually for K Academy. Why can’t some of them return on a Friday night in October to generate excitement for the team and give back to Duke’s highly-touted “sixth man?”

If the people around the Blue Devil program don’t think change is necessary, I urge them to send someone to Late Night next year. I’d bet my Duke tuition they wouldn’t leave Chapel Hill feeling the same way. ils won’t just be missing two of their best defenders tonight. A relatively young team will also be without its two leaders.

“We’re going to miss them, there’s no getting around it,” Kerr said. “When you have Pav and Mike Grella to roll onto as vice captains, for example, we’re going to be fine.”

CUTCLIFFE from page 9 on special occasions—and stands behind a podium, unlike Roof, who was a sitter. The

Tuesday press conference also isn’t the first time since Saturday’s post-game news conference that Cutcliffe has spoken with the media. He holds a 30-minute teleconference every Sunday, which Roof did sparingly.

If Roof was softspoken, Cutcliffe is gregarious. If Roofs weekly press conferences were gloomy, Cutcliffe’s are refreshing. If Roof sidestepped tough questions after blowouts, Cutcliffe embraced them after Duke’s two-game losing streak last week.

But part of his comfort with the media comes from an experience Roof never had.

After all, Cutcliffe wasn’t as loose with the media in his early years at Ole Mis. “Compared to his first year and his last year, the way he dealtwith the media was dramatic,” said John Davis, the sports editor of the Oxford Eagle in Oxford, Miss. “Probably what you’re seeing with Cutcliffe is a different perspective because it’s his second time.”

That is, Cutcliffe has endured losing streaks and has been criticized by a mass of football fans as rabid as Duke basketball’s base. He was more scrutinized at Mississippi, where he was fired just one sub-.500 season after leading the Rebels to a 10-3 record and a Cotton Bowl appearance.

‘You can really attribute a lot to just having been there,” Chase said. “It’s tough to say having not been in Coach Franks’ or Roofs or Cutcliffe’s shoes.... When you do walk up there and your team’s struggling, the only difference is that experience. He said when we hired him that he felt like he would be a much better head coach now at Duke than he was at Ole Miss because of that.”

The short stretch ofhis life when he was not coaching might have altered Cutcliffe’s view on media relations, as well. Sidelined in

the aftermath of triple-bypass surgery in 2005, Cutcliffe learned to appreciate even the most tedious parts of the job—and, in addition, ripened his chops by yapping on radio shows and television stations about SEC football.

“I’ve had a good relationship with most of the media,” Cutcliffe said. “You get a lot of good people, intelligent people that you work with, and I admire talented people.”

Cutcliffe went through a media frenzy last year, hyping his new program to almost anyone who would listen. The head coach turned down few interviews because he wanted to fully leverage the attention his hiring had garnered, Chase said.

The public relations tour worked. Not only did the Blue Devils start 3-1, but some media outlets predicted they wouldn’t finish in the ACC’s cellar. Cutcliffe’s willingness to express his optimism almost assuredly played a role in shifting public opinion.

“He has an ability to engage any audience he’s in front of, whether it’s the media, alumni or student body. He would be fabulous in front of a sixth-grade classroom,” Chase said.

“People say a professional athlete has ‘it’— whatever ‘it’ is—to be successful. In public speaking, Coach Cutclifife has ‘it.”

Still, he has taken some precautions to limit the media’s access to his program. Only the very end of practice is open to the media, and reporters must be ushered into the practice field —a standard Cutclifife likely picked up at Tennessee and enforced at Ole Miss. Cutclifife closed the post-game locker room when he was in Oxford and upheld that policy in Durham, where it was already in place. Although he brings more players to the weekly Tuesday luncheon than Roof did, Cutclifife barred reporters from talking with freshmen.

But Cutclifife hasn’t drawn any ire for limiting media practices, probably because he has been so transparent in other ways.

A small dose of humor, humility and hobnobbing doesn’t hurt, either.

Trouble Sleeping?

Addressing Dengue Ecological and Evolutionary Dynamics of Dengue and Genetic Strategies for Controlling Mosquito-Borne Diseases

Katia Koelle and Alun Lloyd Assistant Professor of Biology, Duke University Associate Professor of Mathematics, NC State University

4:3opm, October 29,2008 John Hope Franklin Center 2204 Erwin Road, Room 240

Doctors at the Duke Sleep Center are currently

conducting a research study involving an investigational drug for the treatment of primary insomnia. If you take at least 45 minutes to fall asleep and wake up frequently during the night, you may qualify for this study.

Volunteers who qualify will receive study drug and study related medical care free of charge. You do not need medical insurance in order to participate. You will be compensated for your time and travel.

We are looking for people ages 18-64 who: •

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For more information, please contact Mark Mayo at 919-681-8392.

IRB# 4631

THE chronicle

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28,2008 | 11

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and a Minor League Baseball Fan Experience and National Museum on the site of the old Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

Continuing the city’s recent efforts at downtown editorial revitalization, these projects will all enhance Durham’s image and make the Bull City a more pleasant place to live. Best of all, the tax doesn’t apply to campus eateries, and the county government estimates that 40 percent of the revenue produced by the tax will come from tourists or commuters from other cities.

Although the tax will generate an estimated $5 million in revenue per year, it will only cost an average Durham family $2O annually.

What’s more, the cost to Marketplace or Great Hall-

Durham wishes to become an attractive destination for students, tourists and businesses, the city must improve its cultural and natural amenities. The proposed i per cent tax on prepared food within Durham County, which appears on this year’s ballot, will take a tiny bite out of local pocketbooks and fund a smorgasbord of projects that promise to improve our community’s quality oflife.

The majority of the revenue generated from the tax will fund projects including a new trail connecting North Carolina Central University to the Hayti Heritage Center (both pillars ofDurham’sblack community); a Parrish Street museum commemorating the city’s historic Black Wall Street;

oUtlftrecord The [President’s Council on Women] is

tutionalized attempt to check

an

insti-

off another box of the

Women’s Initiative’s checklist and lacks active student support.

—Junior Bethany Hill, co-chair of the Women’s Mentoring Network. See story page 1.

LETTERS POLICY The Chronicle welcomes submissions in the formof letters to the editor or guest columns. Submissions must include the author's name, signature, department or class, and for

purposes ofidentification, phone number and local address.

Letters should not exceed 325 words; contact the editorial department forinformation 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 guestcolumns for length, clarity and style and the right to widrhold letters based on the discretion of the editorial page editor.

es,

rocs

Direct submissions to Editorial Page Department The Chronicle Box 90858, Durham, NC 27708 Phone; (919) 684-2663

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The Chronicle

>™

1993

CHELSEA ALLISON, Editor

EUGENE WANG, Managing Editor SHUCHI PARIKH, News Editor BEN COHEN, Sports Editor MAYA ROBINSON, PhotographyEditor LISA MA, Editorial Page Editor JULIA LOVE, University Editor EMMELINE ZHAO, University Editor SEAN MORONEY, Online Editor JONATHAN ANGIER, GeneralManager JOHN HARPHAM, EditorialBoard Chair NAUREEN KHAN, Local& NationalEditor KRISTEN DAVIS, Health & ScienceEditor NATHAN FREEMAN, Features Editor ZACHARY TRACER,News Photography Editor AUSTIN BOEHM, Editorial Page Managing Editor LISA DU, Wire Editor ROB COPELAND, Towerview Editor ALEX KLEIN, Editor forNew Media BAISHIWU, Recess Managing Editor GLEN GUTTERSON, RecessPhotography Editor GABRIELLE MCGLYNN,Recruitment Chair WENJIA ZHANG, Recruitment Chair CHRISSY BECK, Advertising/Marketing Director MONICA FRANKLIN, Durham Ad Sales Manager STEPHANIE RISBON, AdministrativeCoordinator

be the county’s top priority when the economy is in a recession and the community is underpoliced?

The tax has earned the fierce opposition of many groups because it does not address Durham’s most basic needs. Critics are right that this proposal is a sign that local politicians are not spending enough time and effort addressing the needs of Durham’s most depressed and least safe neighborhoods.

Some of the amenities that are supported by this tax, such as trails along the Eno River and the Carolina Theatre, are disproportionately enjoyed by the upper middle class. (At the same time, though, the people who visit the Carolina Theatre often eat multicourse dinners at Piedmont

or Rue Cler before the show, and thus they also bear a disproportionate burden under the prepared tax.)

Even our neediest neighbors may benefit from investments near NCCU and downtown Durham, as well as job training programs funded by the tax and any increases in tourist spending.

But again, we join the tax’s critics by calling on Durham’s leadership to refocus its efforts on emergency services, healthcare, infrastructure spending and other bread and butter issues that are as essential to quality of life as any museum or trail.

The Chronicle Editorial Board formally endorses the proposed 1 percent tax on prepared food within Durham County.

The most (and least) wanted columns

fi

■

dependent Duke underclassmen will be much less. Deeppocketed visitors and Chapel Hillians who spend hundreds of dollars at Pop’s or The Magnolia Grill will subsidize social projects that we Durhamites will all benefit from.

Also, unlike an increased property tax, the prepared food tax is relatively avoidable for local families. Any Durham resident could avoid paying the tax entirely by eating fresh fruit and vegetables or simply cooking at home.

The tax does raise some questions about the spending and political priorities of Durham’s government.

These are all worthwhile projects, and Durham should not reject them out of spite; however, should a minor league baseball museum

MATTHEW ILES, Sports Managing Editor WILL ROBINSON, Local& NationalEditor JESSICA LICHTER, Health & ScienceEditor DAVID GRAHAM,Recess Editor CHASE OLIVIERI, Sports PhotographyEditor REBECCA WU, Editorial Page Managing Editor ALEXANDRA BROWN, TowerviewEditor HON LUNG CHU, Design Director NANCY WANG, Recess Managing Editor ALYSSA REICHARDT, TowerviewPhotography Editor LAWSON KURTZ, Online Photography Editor GABE STAROSTA, Recruitment Chair MARY WEAVER, OperationsManager BARBARA STARBUCK, Production Manager REBECCA DICKENSON, Chapel Hill Ad Sales Manager

The Chronicleis 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 thoseof Duke University, its students, faculty, staff, administration or trustees. Unsigned editorials represent the majority view of the editorial board. Columns, letters and cartoons represent the views of the authors.

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C 2006 The Box 90858, Durham,N.C 27708 Allrights reserved. Nopart ofthis publication may be reproduced in any formwithout the prior, written permission of the Business Office. Each individualIs entitled to one freecopy

In

1997, musician Dave Soldier, collaborating with Russian artists Vitaly Komar and Alex Melamid, published results from a survey to find out what types of music peopie most most dislike and combined them into “The Most Unwanted Song” and “The Most Wanted Song.” According to them, the most popjeff ditzler ular song is a sappy, saxophone-infested

the big ditz

pop number, while the most unpopular song possible features operatic rapping and a children’s choir urging you to do all your Ramadan shopping at Walmart. Their experiment inspired me to do something similar by taking an unscientific survey of the most and least popular column topics and combining them into two mini-columns. As it turns out, the most popular topics included sports, Batman and the Olympics, while the economy, Iraq, student apathy and American Idol were less well-received.

The Most Wanted Column: John Kilgo, the president ofDuke University when the basketball program was established, would be surprised at the spectacle the program has become. An old cliche has it that no matter what happens in an athletic event, a billion people in China just aren’t going to care. Those Chinese may not care aboutobscure games like Northern South Dakota taking on Directional Michigan in some place where you can see Russia from your house, but they care enough about Coach K’s success for him to be one of the highlights of the Beijing Olympics.

Coach K, of kourse, doesn’t just view himself as a basketball coach, but as a “leader who happens to coach basketball.” So what does the Men’s Basketball Head Leader Who Happens to Coach Basketball have in store for the upcoming season?

We can only hope that the tenters in K-Ville, who assure us that they’re there to draw attention to the game, not themselves, won’t be disappointed with another home loss to Carolina. In fact, Tyler Hansbrough can expect to be about as successful in beating Duke as King Lear was in keeping his daughters in line, or as Harvey Dent would be in

winning a beauty contest after the Joker left his face slightly less attractive than Hansbrough’s.

Those ofus who take a more cynical view, though, may question why a University that doesn’t have any decent parking spends so much time on basketball.

The coach himself, however, has marked out a specific, detailed plan: “Discipline is doing what you are supposed to do in the best possible manner at the time you are supposed to do it” The Most Unwanted Column: In 1792, Jebediah Durham led 60 Belgian settlers into the North Carolina countryside where they could practice Scientology in peace. Since that foundation, the city of Durham has not faced a crisis as serious or as avoidable as the one it feces today: the fact that Duke students are not paying enough attention to American Idol.

The rise of Sanjaya was a tragedy of monumental proportions, demanding no less than prosecution of those responsible for the travesty. A generation that actually cared about its popular culture would be out in the streets daily, organizing boycotts of American Idol sponsors and staging sit-ins at FOX affiliates. Instead, our collective ignorance and apathy has let another mediocre season ofAmerican Idol go by since Sanjaya, and there are still no safeguards in place to prevent this grim history from repeating itself. Hang your heads in shame.

This apathy permeates our pathetic studentbody.

Nobody stands against such travesties as the war in Iraq, the endless “farewell tours” of the Mcßib and especially the economy. Do you realize that, at its current rate of decline, the Dow Jones average will be worth zero by the end of November (which, of course, is the result of President Bush’s inability to pronounce theword “nuclear”)? In the face of these and other challenges, our generation is as paralyzed as Odysseus was when he was bound so he couldn t swim toward the sirens, or as futile as Duke basketball was against West Virginia last year.

Perhaps Barack Obama will change this situation, even if he turns out to be a closet Muslim.

However, the damage may already be done. To cite just one of many examples, can lazy Duke students ever be forgiven for allowing the relentless decline of The Simpsons? every JeffDitzler is a Trinity senior. His column runs

other Tuesday.

IMNISTAPPLICATIONS Applications for columnists, cartoonists and bloggers are available from lms4@duke.edu.

the chronicle

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28,2008

commentaries

letterstotheeditor Please do vote I was unpleasantly surprised by John Schneider’s Oct. 22 column, “Please don’t vote,” encouraging members of the Duke community to purposely pass up their opportunity to vote in the upcoming election. I’m not contesting that the American democracy isn’t a flawed system at times, but when people who can make an imperfect system better choose to disengage with it instead, the only logical result is that the system gets worse because the people who are left have no intention of improving it And for this presidential election, the prospect of the system getting worse is something I simply cannot passively allow to happen.

I’m about to have an ulcer following the presidential race; the stakes are very real and they’re very high. Who becomes the next president determines, in a concrete way, how long it’ll take me to pay off my student loans (because of tax plans), what kind of job I can get in research when I graduate next May and how much it’ll pay (because offederal funding for grants), whatkind of residence I’ll eventually be able to afford (because of the mortgage crisis), whether my children will be able to get a good education if I can’t afford to sendthem to private school (because of public school funding), how much money my parents will have to retire on (because of the stock market and economic downturn), whether my gay friends will have equal rights as citizens, whether I and the people I care about will have comprehensive health care, whether people ofcolor will get justice in the criminal system, whether women like myself will get equal pay for equal work... the list goes on and on and on.

I envy Schneider for being able to be

so unconcerned about this election; I can only assume these concerns do not weigh as heavily on him as they do on me. It would be a luxury if I could relax for just a while without worrying about whether my rights and future and the rights and futures ofmy loved ones and the rights of futures of millions of Americans will take a turn for the better or the worse depending on who is elected Nov. 4. But I can’t, and I suspect I’m not the only one. And so I urge all of you reading this, if there are any issues that affect you and that you care and worry about, go vote! Vote, vote, votel This is your only shot, however flawed, to make a difference.

Soyee Li Trinity ’O9

Hagan endorsement fibs and offends The Chronicle Editorial Board continues to discredit itselfwith its election commentary, most recently in its Oct. 22 endorsement of Kay Hagan for Senate.

The board, composed I suspect of largely state transplants, has theaudacity to question the “state loyalty” of a sitting U.S. Senator. Could an endorsement be any more simplistic or dishonest?

Readers should not stand to have their intelligences so outrageously insulted.

The most compelling inaccuracy, by far, is as cringe-worthy as it is laughable. The board informs us that Sen. Elizabeth Dole lacks an “issues” section to herWeb site (a facetious and capricious claim). Clearly, the board’s recent blunder was a combination of lazy, deceitful and otherwise unconcerned fact-checking. Dole does discuss her “issues” positions, though the board refuses to take an occasion to notice that the senator, true to form, lists

her positions under a tab labeled “accomplishments”—a tab which perhaps this board is unwilling to read into, or selective enough to ignore wholesale.

In this revealing slip, The Chronicle captures the superficiality of their endorsement process. The senator’s “accomplishments” speak for themselves. ■ Should I even suggest the possibility that this argument turns in on itself: that Hagan lacks an “accomplishments” tab to which she should aspire. In the spirit of such comedy, I ask, how many editorial board members does it take to navigate Dole’s campaign Web site? The apparent answer more than 13.

Among the board’s claims against Dole, the most unbelievable is its assertionthat the “Senator sat on the sidelines as Wall Street... plunged the economy into crisis.” This is utterly false. When it comes to the recent Wall Street bailout, it was Hagan who remained silent and “inert.” The News and Observer’s Rob Christensen seems to agree here, as “Hagan... refused to commit [or even comment], saying she didn’t want a rush to judgment. At 5:13 p.m. Wednesday, Republican incumbent Elizabeth Dole sent out a release saying she would vote against the bailout” and stand up to the insiders and lobbyists.

Hagan’s opinion to the media “followed at 10:16 p.m.,” 54 minutes after the Senate vote itself... too little, too late.

Uninformed board members, why the hype and misinformation? When it comes to Hagan, the emperor (or, rather the empress) has no clothes.

Justin Robinette Chair, Duke Students for Elizabeth Dole Trinity ’ll

Slap n tickle 9

My

parents are traditional. They’re Chinese. (That should cover just about all of it.) They’re conservative, not progressive, and certainly not bohemian dreamy and, to my hopeless exasperation, not happy-go-lucky.

Everything’s all fine and dandy between us, though, since I am older, and they’ve (finally) realized that they can’t possibly monitor everything that I do.

One thing that we’ve always disagreed on is the subject ofsex.

Actually we’ve hardly ever talked about it I hate watching television with them because there’s inevitably a kissing scene. I pretend to be blind. I didn’t get the sex talk until August of this year.

My mom called me from the airweigan port after I’d dropped her off, small potatoes and her tears ended with something rather anticlimactic: “It’s going to hurt.” That was her big piece ofadvice. (Thanks mom!)

It really surprised me last year when she asked me about boys at school. Even now I feel incredulous when I talk to my parents (dad included!) about my boyfriend. Sometimes I let myself forget about those hours of agonizing, gut-wrenching, eye-gouging arguments about dating we had in high school. My dad used to say that he’d disown me if I ever brought a boy across the threshold of our ,

house. Well, they haven’t-really changed.

My mom called over the weekend to talk about winter break. I gave her a rundown of my plan,,which involved me spending the entire time with my boyfriend. Somewhere in there my voice got small and mousy and I said, “I was thinking he could fly home with me for a couple of days.”

We 11... we’re old-fashioned, we know, but that’s the way we are,” she said. And she kept saying it, as if hoping I could find it in my heart to understand. She pushed most of the response onto my dad. You’re his precious gem. He wants to see that a boy is up to par before he can give you

away. You know him. No matter who the boy is he must show that he’s responsible and has family values, that he

will carry on the task of protecting you. OK? I understand. Protective parents letting their little baby go. But it’s more than that. They would be appalled if they knew all that goes on at school. Sex is so taboo. It’s something that should be experienced for the first time in a gauzy wedding dress, a flowering bloom on snowy sheets.

What if I were a son instead of a daughter? Why do I need protection? Who said that I could be given away?

I’ve always wondered if they thought it was something to be enjoyed, because to them love and lust are mutually exclusive. Or why we never talk about it, why we act as if it doesn’t exist. Even here at Duke (infer what you will) sex is something a little dangerous, something mysterious, something around which one must tread carefully. It’s just a part of life, a part of ourselves, a part of our lives. It doesn’t need to be hidden or controlled. It shouldn’t have a set of value judgments attached to it. Why does someone else get to decide what we can or cannot do with our bodies?

Traditionally, sex is gendered and associated with a set of prescribed meanings. In our acts and practices today, we’ve long gone past the point of transgressing and transcending those narrow definitions. Why do they still hold?

Why is it so unthinkable to suggest that maybe it’s okay to ascribe our own meanings to sex, that it’s a (deeply) personal thing and should not be the focus of regulatory discourse?

I’m a girl. I’ve apparently been swept up by the rush of youth culture. People ask, so how would you raise your own daughter? You’d think differently once you’re a responsible woman and a mother. I don’t have an answer. I’m guilty, too, of passing judgment on little eight-year-olds with midriff-baring tank tops that I see in the mall. But I think it’s something we can all talk about. Sex doesn’t and shouldn’t have a right or wrong; it’s a lot more colorful and a lot more nuanced. Sex exists, and people like it, and we should be able to talk about it.

That’s not to say I’m going to call up my mom and start chatting away about my sex life. I think that door is closed.

Wei Gan is a Trinity senior. Her column runs every other Tuesday.

I 15

Gossip girls When

reflecting on my romantic trysts over the past few years, the degree to which a relationship with my boy-

friend depends on my re lationship with my best girl friend

m.

amazing

Take, for instance, the several occasions on which my megna raksit former roommate saved my sex an( J buU c Jty current relationship from my (allegedly) irrational temper tantrums.

Her unwavering support, and the ability to seek her insight at any time, really put my ,

mountains/molehills in perspective.

As opposed to male friendships, which appear (to an outsider) to be based on Super Smash Brothers and beer pong, the relationships girls have with one another are largely based on talk. But as we all know, words can get ugly. Imagine if you and your best friend

had a little too much in common—such as the same man.

So how can friendships between women have such an incredible effect on relationships with men? The answer, my friend, is gossip. It seems to be the social currency in Girl World, and if my mother’s phone calls are any indication, it’s not something we grow out of.

Trading social information dominates many a conversation, and can easily be used to tarnish

reputations.

For a term that originally meant to engage with your god-sibs, or peers, gossip has taken on a life of its own. It is condemned in the Bible: “Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly, I will destroy” (Psalm 101:5), and warned against in proverbs: “Whoever gossips to you will gossip about you” (Spanish proverb). So why haven’t women taken heed?

Perhaps we’ve been raised to look at gossip as a fun pastime to fend off boredom. I still remember how much fun I had playing Telephone in school, and the rules of gossip haven’t changed much since then. Start with an interesting message, repeat the message as you interpret it and whisper for confidentiality. But the stakes have changed a bit, as have the players. Given that gossip is associated with multitasking and depends on language and spending time talking with peers, it isn’t surprising that the fairer sex is better at it.

Surprisingly, it seems that men have caught on and begun to capitalize on gossip girls.

Benjamin Franklin’s strategy “To find out a girl’s faults, praise her to her girlfriends” is tried and true. Although the ramifications of slander are well advertised, there must be some perks to gossiping for it to be the guilty pleasure that it is today. Even if the inquiring gentleman hears that his lady of interest is of the table-dancing free-loving variety, this is a good thing to know! If he was looking for a one-night partner in crime, then he knows this is the girl for him. On the other hand, if he was pining for the first butterflies of love, learning about this girl’s reputation the easy way saves our Romeo much time and heartache.

That’s all well and good, but what about the little girl in kindergarten who changed the Telephone message along the way because it was not juicy enough? I have no answers, but I hope she’s not changing any messages about me!

Perhaps gossip is here to stay, sinful or no.

All we can do is choose our boyfriends wisely and our girlfriends... even more wisely.

Megnaßaksil is Trinity junior. Her column runs every other Tuesday.

16 I TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2008

THE CHRONICLE