August 27, 2009 by Duke Chronicle Print Archives

THE INDEPENDENT DAILY AT DUKE UNIVERSITY

The Chronicle Hundreds DUHS unveils S7OOM expansion pi ans

mourn UNC junior

New cancer center, MedicinePavilion adds needed B47,ooosq. ft. capacity

CourtlandSmith was shot by police Sunday by

Emmeline Zhao THE CHRONICLE

A memorial service was held at The Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill Wednesday afternoon for University ofNorth Carolina at Chapel Hill junior Courtland Smith, who was shot to death by police early Sunday morning near Greensboro. More than 200 members of the UNC community took part in the service, including much of the university’s greek community, The (Raleigh) News & Observer reported Wednesday. Smith was president of UNC’s chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. He dialed 911 just before 4:45 a.m. Sunday and asked the emergency dispatcher for help. Smith sounded distressed and admitted to drinking “a little.” He told the dispatcher he was carrying a 9 mm pistol in the 911 recording released Wednesday. Archdale police responded to the 911 call and shot the Houston native at approximately 5 a.m. after Smith confronted the officers, The (Raleigh) News & Observer reported Wednesday. The two officers inSEE SMITH ON PAGE 4

SPECIALTOTHE CHRONICLE

The new Cancer Center, part of the $7OO million expansion that Duke University Health System officials announced Wednesday, will consolidate DUHS cancer services under one roof. Together with the eight-story Duke Medicine Pavilion, the expansions will add 847,000 sq. ft. of space to satisfy future demands. by

Rachna Reddy THE CHRONICLE

Duke University Health System formally announced plans Wednesday morning to build a new cancer center and medical pavilion—a total of approximately 850,000 square feet—at Duke University Hospital for a cost of more than $7OO million. The Cancer Center will combine the services offered to cancer patients, currently scattered across several outpatient

clinics, into one seven-story building with 140 exam rooms, DUHS administrators said. The health system envisions a building that is welcoming to those seeking cancer treatment and to their families, said Monte Brown, vice president of administration for DUHS and associate dean of veterans affairs for Duke’s School of Medicine. The Duke Medicine Pavilion will stretch eight stories high and contain 16

operating suites and 160 beds, including 96 for critical care, according to a DUHS statement.

“We have so much patient demand... we are running short of capacity,” said Victor Dzau, chancellor for health affairs and president and CEO of DUHS. “Looking to the future, our current facility is not enough to serve all our patients.” SEE MED CENTER ON PAGE 4

DUKE STUDENT GOVERNMENT

Termites delay ICC plan proposed infirst meeting Central eatery by

Christina Pena

THE CHRONICLE

MELISSA YEO/THE CHRONICLE

Executive Vice President Gregory Morrison formally proposed eliminating the position of vice president for the Intercommunity Council during Duke Student Government'sfirst meeting Wednesday evening.

Duke Student Government got down to business at its first meeting of the year Wednesday. Executive Vice President Gregory Morrison, a junior, presented the proposal to eliminate the position of the vice president for the Intercommunity Council. Junior Andrew Brown, who was elected to the post in April, resigned in July to study abroad in the Spring. If approved by the Senate in the coming weeks, a referendum in the general DSG elections will put the proposal to a vote by the student body Sept. 14. At least 25 percent of students must vote in the election and a majority must favor the amendment for it to pass. “There was an expression offrustration at DSG involvement in the ICC,” Morrison said. “What makes more sense is to separate them and let the ICC do what it does best and set its own agenda... and let DSG continue with what it does best, which is policy. To do that we have to get rid of the VP for the ICC.” Much ofthe meeting was spent discussing the 12 vacancies in the Senatefor the Class of 2010 and the Class of 2011. “That doesn’t feel like democracy to me. It doesn’t feel

ontheRECORD "We are going to find what our strengths are. Is it in the passing game? Or is Re'quan [Boyette] going to be our strength?"

—Duke Football's Kurt Roper on his team's offensive prospects. See page 11

Fences lights will be added to make Central ,

’

Toni Wei

THE CHRONICLE

Hungry Central Campus residents looking for a nearby source of food may be out of luck for the foreseeable future. The restaurant intended for the former location of Uncle Harry’s General Store has been delayed several months after engineers inspecting the building this summer found extensive termite damage, said Steve Nowicki, vice provost and dean of undergraduate education. He added that as a result, the decision was made to demolish the building and start over, rather than simply renovate it as previously planned. Many of the structures in the Mill Village complex—which will house the new Uncle Harry’s store as well as a series of common spaces—have also been deemed un-

SEE DSG ON PAGE 4

Researcher: appendix is useful Contrary to Charles Darwin's 150-year-old theory, Duke scientists found that the appendix helps the body fight bacteria, PAGE 3

SEE CENTRAL ON PAGE 3

Field Hb^lfey: MillSr leads young, Blue Devils, Page

THE CHRONICLE

2 I THURSDAY,AUGUST 27,2009

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PM Aso faces first real battle in typically stable region

Dem. donor charged with Home sales rise 9.6 percent lying about financial assets Sales of new single-family homes in the U.S. jumped 9.6 percent in July from the month before, the Census Bureau reported Wednesday, increasing for the fourth consecutive month and providing more hope that the housing market is firming. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of new-home sales rose to 433,000 in July from a June rate of 395,000, census data showed, propelled by relatively low prices and a governmenttax credit. Although month-to-month numbers have been marching up for the last four months, July's number is still 13.4 percent below the July 2008 estimated rate of 500,000 new homes sold,the Census Bureau said. July's sales total wasbigger than many analysts had expected. But the new-home market is so glutted that it would take about 7 1/2 months at the current sales rate to sell the supply of new homes,the Census Bureau said.

Before God we are all equally wise—and equally foolish. Albert Einstein

WASHINGTON

Just 11 months ago,

Hassan Nemazee ranked as one of the Democratic Party's premier money men—hosting a $28,500-a-head fundraiser in his luxurious home on Manhattan's Upper East

"The political winds are blowing against us," acknowledged Tatsuo Fukuda, the candidate's son."This is my father's most difficult election in the last 20 years." In the run-up to Sunday's balloting, support for the Liberal Democrats has plunged at an unparalleled rate nationwide, prompting what many predict will be a historic shift of power. After 54 years of nearly uninterrupted rule, the party faces widespread unrest—if not a downright revolt—among voters who say they want change at any price. Prime Minister Taro Aso, known more for his bumbling use of language than for his leadership, has seen his approval rating dip below 20 percent. Many voters view the Liberal Democrats as bureaucrats who remain out oftouch with a changing Japan.

TAKASAKI, Japan Veteran voters here have rarely witnessed a gloves-off election battle—or political campaigning of any kind, for that matter. In this regional transportation hub of 350,000 residents, confident incumbents from the nation's ruling Liberal Democratic Party had only to list their names on the ballot virtually to guarantee a landslide victory. But all that has changed in this city 90 minutes north of Tokyo, the home district offour previous prime ministers. This year, former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda faces the political battle of his life to win re-election to the lower house of the Diet, Japan's parliament. His biggest hurdle does not appear to be his opponent—a former television reporter and political novice—but voter discontent.

Side for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. On Wednesday, Nemazee returned to the same $2O million Park Avenue apartment under house arrest,charged with lying about his assets in order to secure a $74 million loan from Citibank. He is required to wear an electronic security bracelet to ensure he doesn't leave the building. The charges prompted a scramble among top Democrats to distance themselves from Nemazee, 59, who together with his wife has contributed more than $750,000 to federal candidates and committees over the last 15 years, including Obama, Vice Pres. Joe Biden and Secof State Hillary Clinton,records show.

TODAY IN HISTORY 1984: USSR performs under-

Pictured above is theview from threeflights up the spiral staircase of Duke Chapel's gallery during Convocation 2009. President Richard Brodhead greeted theClass of 2013 in hisannual address last Tuesday.

ground nuclear test

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 27,2009 | 3

THE CHRONICLE

Scientists refute Darwin’s theory

CENTRAL from page 1 recoverable and will be rebuilt from scratch, meaning a new grocery store may not be open until the Spring semester, Nowicki said. While students living on Central said they were excited for the new restaurant to open, in the interim, Central residents will have nowhere to buy food and supplies with their DukeCards without taking a bus to either East or West Campus. “It’s terrible, one of the reasons we chose our apartment was because it was in front of Uncle Harry’s—now we have to buy groceries on regular money and it’s really an annoyance,” said junior Kiley Samz. “I think that it’s kind of irresponsible to let Uncle Harry’s close and leave Central Campus students with no alternative.” Nowicki said while one early model for the renovation was to keep the old Uncle Harry’s store running until the new one opened, he said he argued it was more important to get the new restaurant in place as soon as possible. “I understand that frustration,” he said. “Unfortunately, wheneveryou build something there’s going to be displacement and Duke has been building things for almost my entire time here—there’s always someone who has to have the jackhammer in their ear for a while.” Kernel Dawkins, vice president for campus services, said the University is still working on getting permits from the city for the new food venues. He added that they are considering opening a temporary location on Central for Uncle Harry’s until the Mill Village complex is completed. “What it boils down to is a cost-benefit analysis,” Nowicki said. “If [a temporary Uncle Harry’s] costs a heck of a lot, that’s less to spend on the rest of Central.” As part of the effort to overhaul the middle campus, the University had planned to add fencing and lighting to the campus as well as to resurface the athletic courts, which are also incomplete. Nowicki said he emphasized these projects as away to provide a connection to the overall campus. “You could drive through Central now and not know that Duke had anything to do with it,” he said. “The point is not to close Central off physically but to actually identify it as being more Duke—both in reality and perceptually it makes it more safe.” Administrators also hope to unify the isolated campus with the rest of the University by boosting its social core.

on appendix by

FRANCESCO

LAROCCA/THE CHRONICLE

Workers put up newfences around thetennis court on AndersonStreet Improvements to Central Campus suffered a setbackafter administrators realized that theformer Unde Harry's building wouldneed to be demolished Nowicki said he will be working with the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life in an effort to bring more groups to Central, where they would join current resident selective living groups SHARE and Übuntu. Übuntu President Ryan Echtemacht, a junior, said the group was provided with apartments for use as common rooms, as well as extra programming funds to make it easier to deal with the smaller social scene. “So far everything’s great —we’ve met with facilities people and [Terry Lynch, Residence Life and Housing Services’ assistant dean for staff development and Central Campus], and they’re very supportive and excited about us being out there,” Echtemacht said. “In away we understand we’re kind of a trial project. We’re doing the best we can, and in the future, the more groups that come out the better for us as well.” The University has also set aside two Central campus apartments this year to be renovated as models for an aggressive campus renovation beginning next summer. Gary Thompson, director of facilities, planning and operations for RLHS, said the work will be contracted out once the designs are complete. Thompson estimated the renovations will be finished before winter break.

OURSES

2009

79.01

Dating and Mating at Duke

79.02

Technology & International Development

79.03

Ayn Rand's Morality of Selfishness

79.04

Beyond Duke Engage

79.05

Undocumented America

79.06

Resolving a Healthcare Crisis

79.07

Identity and Violence

79.08

Intergenerational Ethics

79,09

Understanding China

79.10

Duke News

Course descriptions and

Jinny Cho

THE CHRONICLE

After a century of denigration, the appendix has been redeemed. Two years after proposing that the organ serves as a “safe-house” for beneficial gut bacteria, Duke researchers and collaborators from Midwestern University and Arizona State University have discovered that the appendix is not an evolutionary remnant, as Charles Darwin once concluded. The findings will appear in the next issue of the Journal of Evolutionary Biology. “We know Darwin was right about a lot of things the whole field [of evolutionary biology] was built on his work-hut we found that his idea of the appendix is wrong,” said William Parker, assistant professor in the department of surgery. “The widely accepted idea was that the appendix was a vestigial organ that was not as important as it had been.” Darwin concluded that the appendix likely served a purpose in leaf-eating primate ancestors, but became reduced in humans due to a change in diet, said Heather Smith, assistant professor in the department of anatomy at Midwestern University. But the appendix has evolved independently at least twice, according to the study. Furthermore, the organ has been maintained in mammalian evolution for at least 80 million years. When the intestine becomes infected, the appendix houses good bacteria that quickly reestablish normal gut flora, Parker said. This defense response is particularly critical in the absence of modern health care. “If you’re a teenager in the U.S., you probably don’t —

SEE APPENDIX ON PAGE 4

THE CHRONICLE

4 I THURSDAY, AUGUST 27,2009

APPENDIX from page 3

William Parker, assistant professor in the department of surgery at the Medical School, found that the appendix is not a vestigal organ.

need it,” Parker said. “But if you don’t have access to clean water and other resources, the appendix is a different matter.” The research team used a modern approach called cladistics, compiling data on the distribution of traits across a wide range of species. A complex computer algorithm then calculated the most likely explanation given several important evolutionary principles, Smith said. “The [computer] program gives you an output indicating the more likely evolutionary pattern, including where on your phylogenetic tree the trait first evolved and how many times it has changed and appeared or disappeared,” she said. Darwin lacked these modern tools 150 years ago, Smith noted, adding that Darwin’s conclusion that the appendix served no function was a “very valid hypothesis given the data available to him.” “Darwin didn’t have the advantage of having histologi-

cal data on the appendix, so there is no way he could have known about the biofilm that indicates a layer ofbeneficial bacteria housed in the appendix,” she said. Furthermore, Smith advised caution in comparing the results of the study with Darwin’s ideas. “In my opinion, and that of most evolutionary biologists, it’s not really fair of us to say ‘Darwin is wrong,’” she said. “He made incredibly keen observations about the natural world, and revolutionized the way that biology was considered.” Smith added that scientists typically “recoil” from comparisons of recent research with work done 150 years ago. She advised scientists to evaluate their results in light of newer findings on the topic. “It’s part of the scientific process that future research always reassesses previous claims once new evidence is available,” she said. “It’s better to appreciate what we learned from the previous studies—they did the best they could, basing their conclusions on the data that was available to them at the time—than to point out their shortcomings.”

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The Cancer Center is set for completion in 2012, and the pavilion will be finished in 2013, he said. The new center will also include amenities such as a resource library, a cafeteria, comfortable waiting rooms and a rooftop garden, as well as facilities to conduct clinical research, Brown noted. “These patients are very much in need of healing support,” Dzau said. “Our goal is to give cancer patients the very best care.” Upon completion of the construction project, the additions to the hospital will employ about 1,000 workers, Brown said. Officials hope to earn a U.S. Green Building Council silver level Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification, which designates buildings that are energy efficient and environmentally friendly.

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like a representative student government,” Morrison said. DSG is planning to hold a special election concurrent with freshmen elections to fill the open spots. “Everyone is doing some pretty aggressive recruiting,” Morrison added. “We will have many contested Senate seats.” The sparse number of upperclassmen in DSG may have contributed to the unanimous consent of all of the items presented on the agenda at Wednesday’s meeting, said Student Affairs Senator Daren Miller, a sophomore. “Right now everyone is pretty comfortable with each other and so we all go in the same direction,” Miller said. “But you need new ideas to come in to stir things up and make the most informed decisions.”

In other business: Sophomore Price Davidson, an athletics and campus services senator, was elected president pro-tempore. House rules for the Senate were also approved to include the ban of laptops and the institution of a dress code for meetings. In addition, Morrison proposed the creation of a Presidential Select Committee on Minority Recruitment Weekends to be voted on at a later date.

SMITH from page 1 volved have been placed on paid administradve leave. The State Bureau of Investigation is investigating the incident. Speakers at the service described an aspiring neurosurgeon who loved outdoor sports and was a positive leader for others. A funeral service will be held for Smith in his hometown of Houston Friday. Although members of Duke’s DKE chapter did not attend the memorial service, the brothers on the Gothic campus are sending a letter of condolence and making a charity donation in Smith’s name. The Duke chapter has not visited the UNC DKE house in order to allow the UNC DKEs to mourn in private, said Duke DKE President Jason Jennings, a senior. Jennings added that Duke DKE members knew Smith fairly well, but mostly in a brotherly sense within the fraternity. “I had never honestly seen any evidence that Courdand would act in that way. I had only met him face-to-face once, [but] the whole thingjust surprised me to begin with,” Jennings said. “We knew him and he was a great DKE from what we knew.”

volume 12, issue 2

ist 27, 2009

it was for freedom

picasso

wale

beyond beauty

The Nasher takes a new look at the master's work

"The biggest event at Duke since Trajan Langdon"

Documentary photography hits big at the Nasher

PAGES

PAGE 4

PAGE

duke,H

I am a screamer. After years of waking up to awkward and inquisitive glances from strangers down the hall, I could no longer tune out this truth. I guess it all started in the early nineties. It was a different time back then, and everyone was more accepting. In those days, I could scream all the way through Thunder Mountain Railroad, and the worst punishment was a cough drop to soothe a half-day of laryngitis. Pleased with these experiences, I gradually applied this logic to more mature diversions. Neighboring friends created sound-proof pillow forts and cruise-ship security made concerned phone calls. I lived in this state of denial until my boyfriend’s hallmate casually asserted, ‘Your girl is loud.” ‘You can hear her across the hall?” my boyfriend queried, a little too proudly. “No, actually I heard her from my room...four doors down” Yep, I am a screamer. Despite the public embarrassment of screaming, I would still rank ear-splittingyells low in the hierarchy of awkward sex noises. Consider the Golden Retriever Method. This tactic denies years of human development by reverting back to animalistic panting and breathing. The effect is as if the individual has been chasing tennis balls across the yard all day. Further up the totem pole of sexual cacophony, Labored Moanersredefine the mixed message. When you encounter a Labored Moaner, it will issue an agonized sigh and leave its partner confused as to whether the moaner is at the height of orgasm or suffering from a flesheating virus. Forgoing intelligible phrases, they create sounds suggestingevery thrustisbringing

The pinnacle in men’s fashion magazines, Gentleman’s Quarterly, dubbedDuke the second “douchiest” college in America (let’s just forget about that U.S. News slip) in its September issue. GQ named Duke the home of “The O.D. (Original Douche),” but I like to think it takes more variety to rank so highly. Here are some of the classifications they missed. The Cameron Crazy Douche: Everyone had their phase as freshmen, but those few upperclassmen who begin tenting during finals week up the ante. All nine of them are the reason the Blue Devils are so universally loathed. The Pseudo-Hipster Douche: After a summer internship in New York, this person comes to Durham with armfuls of Am Appy and “have you heard of this store called Uniqlo?,” bragging about the amazing Ra Ra Riot shows. News flash: Ra Ra Riot’s not cool. The Back-From-Europe Douche: Ever present in the spring semester, this type gallivants around in leather boots—they’re from Milan, by the way —smoking tightly

rolled cloves. Main characteristic? Disaffected. The Political Douche: Take a public policy and/or political science class. That kid self-righteously waxing poetic about the macropolitical taxonomy of the Sandinista Revolution—that’s the type. Think Dennis Miller, except douchier. The Pratt Douche: We all know your restrictive BME schedule and future medical school careers are difficult. Stop complaining and transfer over to Trinity. You can gripe with the rest of the econ majors. The Frat Douche: Salmon shorts. Blue polo. Busch Light. You’ve got your man. The Sorority Douche: However rude it is to call ladies douches (it is an adjective derived from a feminine hygiene product, after all), anyone that BBMs about her “Big Big” and only drinks clear liquor deserves this designation. Sorry girls. It might not be clear to everyone, especially the first-years, but it takes a lot of work to be a Duke douche. So get working and find your niche, kids. —Andrew Hibbard

[recesseditors]

why Duke should be No. 1 douche

“I don’t eat fried food.” 10,000 hits on YouTube KTL’s monogrammed backpack Tucker Max: 09/25/09 Replacing the Dillo with Pinkberry 2nd degree relation to Lady Gaga Lisa Du is not a douche. Even in Japan, “boatshoe douche” beats Brown

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Sufferers of Broken Record Syndrome seem to get off by repeating themselves with ever increasing fervor and enthusiasm. Females are particularly susceptible to the syndrome because repetitive sounds are easy to fake without interrupting mental replays of Gilmore Girls. Finally, Dirty Talkers have become infamous for their unusual and uncomfortable bedroom demeanor. A vocal minority, Dirty Talkers provide the primary source of fodder for fraternity listservs and sexual tall tales. With few unifying characteristics, they are difficult to identify outside the bedroom. Faced with the alternatives, I’ll gladly embrace my screamer lifestyle. That being said, I should probably respect the bedroom (or the cruise ship) as the only social arena where we can say whatever we please. Given that our public lives are circumscribed by a code of political correctness that censors our basic instincts, the things we express with our clothes off may be the only real things we say all day. So, I plan to keep screaming. You, on the other hand, should buy some ear

plugs.

Brooke Hartley is a Trinity junior. Her column runs every other Thursday.

August 27,

2009

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Nasher offers fresh art for fall semester Picasso explores ne w dimensions of the master's influence by

Claire Finch

THE CHRONICLE

Pablo Picasso’s work emerges from the

opening of Picasso and the Allure of Language at the Nasher Museum of Art. An impressively informative exhibition, the show packs the intellectual titillation of a critical essay and casts a fascinating new light upon the master’s much-belabored visual work. Featuring a selection of Picasso’s paintings, sculptures and illustrations, the exhibition traces the impact of language on the artist’s aesthetic. Words shape the works on a visible surface level and, more importantly, propel the subtle process of artistic innovation. The exhibition is divided into four sections, guiding visitors through the earlier, more obvious engagements with writers and the written word before dropping Picasso and theAllure of Language explores the Spanisl them in the midst of more conceptual terJacob and their influence on his work.The exhibit is th< rain. Near the entry, the theme is “Conversations,” depicting the interchange of the fragmented image ofmother and child ideas between Picasso and his contempoare lines from earlier versions of the work, raries. One wall hosts a series of works by demonstrating a unique glimpse into his Picasso and fellow cubist Georges Braque, artistic process. the styles and compositions of the pieces The full impact of the show, however, mingling and overlapping in fast-paced is not complete until its finale. The last visual banter. area of the exhibition houses prints from Other works highlight Picasso’s vibrant Le chant des marts, a 1948 book of poems friendship with prolific French poets Guil- by Pierre Reverdy emblazoned with Pilaume Apollinaire and Max Jacob, who casso’s bold red lithographs. Picasso’s together made up the self-described “Pidense sweeps of color shape and surcasso’s Gang.” An enclosed area at the galround Reverdy’s hand-written text, the lery’s heart is devoted to Picasso’s corre- enigmatic printed forms mirroring the spondences with Gertrude Stein; the focal slashes and inkblots of the lettering. An point is an audio track of Stein performing ultimate synthesis of Picasso’s engageher “literary portrait” of Picasso. Stein’s ment with art and writing, Le chant des distinctively lilting voice ricochets around marts succeeds in rendering the exhibithe gallery, adding an aural affirmation of tion surprisingly fresh. Picasso’s place at the center of a dynamic, creative aristocracy. Picasso and the Allure of Language runs Farther into the gallery space is an area through Jan. 3, 2010 at the Nasher Musedevoted to Picasso’s almost authorial proum of Art. Tickets are $lO for adults, $5 cess of revising his paintings. The section children and free for members and Duke for gains its momentum from his 1943 paintstudents. For more information visit www. ing “First Steps.” Discernible underneath nasher.duke.edu.

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Sanette Tanaka THE CHRONICLE

kitschy depths of cultural recognition to take on a new highbrow sheen with the

At Carolina Theatre (Durham), Sept. 18:

Beauty highlights doc. photography “Because my brain, not my camera, is my instrument, beauty isn’t enough.” Author of the above quote, Paul Kwilecki wanted his works to represent a higher meaning. The documentarian is one of dozens of photographers showcased in Beyond Beauty: Photographs from the Duke University Special Collections Library, one of the Nasher Museum of Art’s most thought-provoking exhibitions to date. The exhibit features more than 80 original photos, films and historical objects selected from the Nasher and Duke’s Special Collections Library. The works illustrate photographic development from the 1860 to the present, emphasizing documentary photography. With such a plethora of artists and pieces on display, the showcase initially seems overwhelming. But the photographic gems in the collection offset any spatial confusion. The nineteenth century AmericanWest is masterfully shown in seven albumen prints by Timothy O’Sullivan. Civil War photographer Matthew Brady’s famed “General Grant on Lookout Mountain” is also on display. Archaic films supplement the still art The transition of China from a dynastic to modem state is illuminated in a slideshow of 5,000 photos by Sidney Gamble. In addition, a wall-sized movie of 16 mm footage features a three-day pilgrimage in early China. Although many of the images are picturesque, the intrigue of Beyond Beauty lies in its concentration of documentary photos that serve to disconcert viewers and raise awareness of the invisible and the disadvantaged. Beyond Beauty is poignant but authentic, reminding us that making a dynamic statement requires works whose meanings run deeper than their pretty surfaces.

MADDIE LIEBERBERG/THE CHRONICLE

master's relationship with writers such as Max first to explore this aspect of Picasso's work. The Nasher’s new tagalong exhibition Africa and Picasso presents a simulation of Pablo Picasso’s African art collection—with a didactic aftertaste. The masks and figures on display are not in fact from Picasso’s collection, but rather examples of pieces he is known to have owned. Replete in all the works are the angular, rough shapes that famously inspired Picasso to break from European painting traditions. Politically charged documents comprise an unexpected addition to the exhibition. For example, a 1908 cartoon of Belgium’s King Leopold II reclining amidst a crowd of mutilatedAfricans is simultaneously anticolonialist and pseudo-racist. The variant combination of works is, in the end, opaquely thought-provoking. Nevertheless, it provides an essential criticism of Picasso’s fascination with African art. —Claire Finch

Beyond Beauty runs through Oct. 18 at the NasherMuseum ofArt.

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August 27,

2009

Midtown Dickens let go of past, begin anevy by

Andrew Hibbard THE CHRONICLE

Between the blaring horns and drums, there’s a quiet moment when most of Midtown Dickens and the orchestra of friends practicing along with them settle on the floor of their living room. Before going into “The Road Pt. II,” Catherine Edgerton announces, “I feel like it’s campfire time.”

In many ways, her assessment of the band’s pracdce for their upcoming CD release party —tomorrow at the Duke Coffeehouse—is accurate. As the sun sets outside, Christmas lights adorning the house’s blue walls stand in for stars and a friendly, almost familial energy radiates around the room as the songs flood the space. They radiate a fun energy reminiscent of their 2007 debut album, Oh Yell! But when Edgerton breaks into song, things instantly seem more somber. “We’re not scared ofanything/Although it’s dark we have let our lanterns go,” she sings. This is the Midtown Dickens of their second album, Lanterns, more mature and a bit darker. Originally the duo of Edgerton and Kym Register, the band has changed a lot since Oh Yell! In addition to growing the roster 150 percent —they added Will Hackney, Jonathan Henderson and Michelle Preslik—as well as leaving Durham label 307 Knox Records in favor of self-releasing their sophomore album, the past two years have been a trying time for Edgerton and Register. The name Lanterns, conceived last summer during a walk along the Eno River, reflects the revelatory experience of recording the album and their difficulties. “An objective correlative,” as Hackney describes it. “[We] realized how when you let go of something you’ve been depending on for a really long time—like a light- i-everything feels really dark and scary and there’s no details,” Edgerton said. “But then after. . .getting through that, stuff starts coming into focus and you realize you haven’t been seeing anything around you because of this light that you’ve been clinging to which...you don’t actually need it.”

“It’s something that’s lost on so many records nowadays because everything is so digital,” he said. be it a relationship, person or job. When the band fi“If one thing messed up at the end of the take and nally got around to recording the album, something everything else is perfect, we just did it again. It they initially felt ready to do years ago, Register de- made it feel like a more classic, traditional record scribed it as “a cathartic plunge.” experience.” “It was a hard year and the idea of recording He added that it creates a sense of personability, those [songs], it was like, ‘OK, this is it. All this stuff which is something that pervades the whole packthat meant so much to us back in the day, all this age. Lanterns is very much a multimedia experience; stuff that was like heartache and crazy s—, is now the album includes both a CD and vinyl version as well as 16 pages of collages done by Edgerton, one whatever,”’ Register said. And if the songs represent tribulations, the rerepresenting each song, expanding their meanings. But the biggest difference on Lanterns is the socording process was a resurgence of spirit. Recorded Each song, most written over two years ago, represents a sort of lantern for Edgerton and Register,

cial aspect of the record. If Oh Yell! was a fun go

learning how to record and make music together [We] realized how when you for Register and Edgerton, Lanterns is a collaboralet go of something youVe been tive, do-it-together effort. “It was really amazing to have the influences of depending on for a really long other people.. .just learning other ways of playing and time—like a light—everything listening to other people’s opinions,” Register said. The record is something the band is visibly proud of. feels really dark and scary and “It has a message behind it with a lot of messages we’ve learned over the past couple of years. It’s less a there’s no details.” collection of songs on a record and more of a piece Catherine Edgerton, itself. It’s something I’m super excited about,” Edgsaid Midtown Dickens erton The “

over six days in Charlotte with producer Scott Sober, who has worked with the Mountain Goats and John Vanderslice, the band praised the creative environment he fostered. The fivesome lived in the studio during recording, playing with instruments and tweaking songs deep into the night. The result is a 12-track album with 20 instruments as varied as spoons, saws, banjos and, yes, lanterns. All of it recorded on tape. That’s right —Lanterns is an analog effort. The band played each song in the studio, straight through, until they got it perfect, often requiring over 20 takes. While making Midtown even tighter with the songs, Hackney said recording on tape provides the record with a vintage warmth.

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whole experience for Midtown is one of great change and growth, and one they hope listeners will embrace. “I [hope] that people still get the essence of what Midtown Dickens sounded like when it was justKym and Catherine and can appreciate it in its new form with me, Will and Jonathan,” Preslik said. “They can follow that transition, appreciate the old and embrace the new.” If the album marks a turning point for the band, a journey down a new, unlit road, it doesn’t seem like this duo-turned-quintet has anything to be scared of at all.

Midtown Dickens plays the Duke Coffeehouse tomorrow, Aug. 28, with MountMoriah andDes Ark. Doors are at 8:30 and the show begins at 9. Entry is free. Midtown Dickens have grown

ale to bring D.C. soun In advance of Wale's performance tomorrow night on East Campus, recess' Kevin Lincoln got on the phone with the rising DC. rapper to talk sports, the state of hip-hop and the basketball parallels of his upcoming Duke concert. Do you play a lot of concerts at colleges? Last spring we did about 20 schools.” A decent amount It’s got to be different than playing the smaller

clubs, right?

I mean, it’s different, but we kind of do it like—we know colleges, the way you structure a college show is different than a club show, you know? Right So you use a lot of sports references in your lyrics. How big of a sports fan are you? Ahh... [laughs], I think Fm probably one of the biggest sports fans in the music business. You know, diehard sports fan; football, basketball, pretty good track fan Mostly D.C. teams? Nah, not at all. When it comes to football, I’m a diehard Redskins fan, but I’m enough of a football fan that I can appreciate a good game and root for a—l always have a team I’m rooting for in every game, or a player I’m rooting for in every game. I can’t stand homers. They don’t watch football enough that their opinion, like they’re not—they’re stupid. That makes sense. Would you be interested in doing something like Lil Wayne did last year for ESPN, writing a column or something about sports? Yeah, I’m kind of trying to do that with ESPN now. I think I’m supposed to be interviewing some of the Redskins tomorrow, so that’s something I’m doing. That’d be great Alright, so I know you come mainly from —

the DMV (D.C.-Maryland-Virginia), so how is your stai do there, how does that compare in terms of import tional status is? My D.C. appeal, my D.C. local appeal is way behind i I don’t get radios to play at all here. I get a lot ofNew and like, Chicago, stufflike that. Here there’sjust some? hatred or something, I don’tknow. So you haven’t been getting that much support from Nah. But the people riding with me. I can sell out a with six days promotion nowadays. Gotcha. So it’s the people in the D.C. area that’s sup media isn’t supporting you. Yeah—l mean, the media is, like the [Washington] I on me once in a while. Everybody pretty much but the ra the role of the rap version of Erykah Badu. So is it important for you to be the mouthpiece of D. Nah. I’m Just trying to make good music for people I’m not really trying to assume the role of, you know, piece ofD.C. because I speak for such a small piece of You don’t pretend to be for everbody. Right, everybody’s—there’s so much different I knew you grew up and went to a lot of different sch ing up and moving around like that affect your developn as a musician? I just learned how to deal with different environment of people. I wasn’t only around black kids or only arounc a pretty good balance. You think you’ve been influenced by a lot of differen That was more because of my father who drove D.C. c to different things throughout the day. What would your father listen to when you were your Every genre. Reggae, hip-hop, rock, African music, t' And do you think your music shows a lot of different *

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lust 27, 2009

recess

with sophomore album

*■

PAGES

MUSIC REVIEWS

4* I

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HUMBUG

Stead

DOMINO

�� What do “pirouette,” “cracker factory,” “drip” and phrases such as “oil up those sticky keys” have in common? Well, nothing, aside from being lyrics off of Arctic Monkeys’ third album, Humbug. Somehow, songwriter and frontman Alex Turner found away to string these non sequiturs into what can only loosely be described as lyrics, proving there’s still a job somewhere

SIMEON LAW/THE CHRONICLE

from a duo to a five-person band in two years.The band celebrates therelease of theirsecond album Friday at the Coffeehouse.

for Gavin Rossdale. Turner seems to think there are certain words that you can really wrap your lips around and suck on, aspirating every vowel and biting every consonant, so that the ultimate result is a deeply satisfying—oh wait, am I still talking about singing? Actually, I am. There is just no room for interpretation. Musically, the seething guitar

JAY REATARD WATCH ME FALL

to East Campus

there and how you to how your na-

ice

my national. Locally, York and California sort of weird, inner...

D.C. radio stations? 2,500 capacity club (porting you, but the does something idio. I kinda took on

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C. area hip-hop? /ho like good music, he ultimate mouth).C.—D.C.’s huge. Itur' within D.C. tools. How did grownent as a person and and differentkinds white kids, so it was it music types then?

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'verything. i*enres?

Yeah—I mean, I’m definitely influenced more on music with, like, heavy percussion because of the go-go influence, just the direct influence on me musically. I definitely take a lot from the go-go culture. Are you going to bring a go-go band to Duke Friday? Yeah. Well, we travel, that’s my show. That’s good to hear. So, how do you think coming up with close ties to a lot of other young rappers—you and Kid Cudi and Drake and J. Cole are talked about at the same time a lot How do you think that affects your rise as a rapper versus ifyou didn’t have those guys to compare yourself with and challenge you? It’s interesting to me because I don’t really remember any time in history that there’s been a buzz for like, four or more artists at the same time without an album, you know? So it’s definitely interesting. It could play out a lot of different ways, but as long as the energy’s good in the genre. And we’re all very competitive, those are three of my friends, you know, Cudi, J. and Drake, all of these guys are people that I’m cool with. So, it’s very competitive, but at the same time everybody’s making good music, so you’ve got to be happy about that—the hip-hop community—and I’m just hoping that the fans come out and support, you know? Right, that’s the important thing. So, how have you evolved since your first big mixtape, 100 Miles and Running, through The Mixtape About Nothing and Back to theFeature and now Attention Deficit [Wale’s fdebut LP], which is out in two months? I feel like I just continue to reinvent, you know? I have a mission and I know what I want to do sonically, and I just kind of stick to that. And I don’t rush it. I just do what I’m doing. Well, we’re looking forward to having you on Friday. I’m glad to be there, we’re gonna tear it down—this is gonna be the biggest event at Duke since Trajan Langdon. ,

Wale -will perform on the East Campus Quadrangle tomorrow at 7 p.m. For the complete transcript of this interview, znsitplayground.chronideblogs.com. > .

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MATADOR

�� Jay Lindsey currently releases solo albums under the stage name Jay Reatard, though former iterations of his work have been produced as the Reatards. The eyebrow-raising self-deprecation of this pseudonym is telling; his music deals in the dry witticism, morose lyrics, and tongue-incheek humor paramount to British punk bands like the Sex Pistols. Though the Reatard style pays lip service to such British punk, the actual music on his latest full-length release, Watch Me Fall, takes on a more American incarnation of the garage rock ofLindsey’s native Memphis, Tenn. Power chords and tambourines open “It Ain’t Gonna Save Me,” the album’s lead single, which pairs optimistic guitar jangle with a chorus of: “All is lost/There is no hope for me.” “Before I Was Caught” continues the album’s M.O. —matching up-tempo music with downtrodden lyrics.

riffs and ominous use of hihats are clearly striving for some sort of sexual tension to bolster the lyrics, but the result is still less than alluring. To put it politely, Humbug is an extended lesson in how to fellate your vocabulary. “My Propeller” is about as subtly seductive as when Fergie flosses parts of her body with her microphone cord in concert maybe less so. I didn’t know what it felt like to be a woman in a bar full of drunk perverts until I listened to this album. Now I do, and I can’t sleep at night. In any event, by the end of closing track “The Jeweller’s Hands,” the Monkeys are hoping their listener is craving a cigarette. Instead, you just want a cold shower. Humbug proves that an album which consists only of sweet nothings —no matter how sweedy told—still winds up being nothing at all. —Alex Fankuchen —

Add muddied production a la Iggy Pop, and it all begins to reek offormulaic 1970

ARCTIC MONKEYS

retrofitting. But Reatard stays one step ahead of retread. “Faking It” deceptively pays homage to the canonical Buzzcocks single “Orgasm Addict”—faux-British accent and all—but delightfully, isn’t about sex. “I’m Watching You” ends a six-track adrenaline rush, before Reatard slows the tempo to a more languid pace. Generally enthused about tapping into new styles, Reatard branches out from the muscular pop-punk into dreamier songs like “My Reality” on the second half of the album. While he doesn’t exactly wallow in these later tracks, they are less successful embodiments of his creativity. It seems like these experiments are an effort to capture some of the mad brilliance of Jay Reatard’s noisy live show. He succeeds on epic closer “There Is No Sun,” and by ending on this note, points toward an even brighter future for his next full length. —Brian Contralto

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INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS DIR. Q. TARANTINO THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY

�� The first sign of Quentin Tarantino in Inglourious Basterds —barring the subtitles—was a nervous giggle from the audience during an otherwise reverent Holocaust scene. After I heard it, I knew I was in for a ride. The Basterds, a group of eight Jewish-Americans led by walking caricature Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt), go to France to exact gruesome revenge on the Nazis. They find out that all of the Nazi central command will (naturally) be at a film premiere of the latest propaganda war film from Joseph Goebbels, the chief Nazi propagandist. If their plan to blow up the theater succeeds, they could bring the war to an end. In perhaps his most daring film yet, Tarantino deconstructs the classic cinematic representations of the Second World War. Much as Death Proof did to horror films, Inglourious Basterds takes on both the somber Holocaust

August

27, 2i

movie and the war epic in one swing, compositing two genres that, although they depict the same conflict, rarely share screen time. The result is a remarkably holistic, albeit over-the-top, look at cinema’s characterization of war. The fusion allows Tarantino to make audiences react the “wrong” way. The Nazi torture scenes are the most disturbing, even though the Nazis are the enemies. Through SS Col. Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz), Tarantino is able to both terrify and amuse, juxtaposing the character’s keen (and villanous) sensibilities for hunting down Jews with his caricatured quirks like his oversized pipe. In the film’s final scene, Tarantino symbolically and physically burns down both the concept of the nationalistic war film and the cartoon-like characterizations of Adolf Hitler and Goebbels. He torches the cinema’s notion of war, leaving only the gruesome and the ugly. As we watch the theater burn, we get to look into our own eyes and see if we too are trapped inside. —Andrew O’Rourke

TAKING WOODSTOCK DIR. A. LEE FOCUS FEATURES

�� Our parents were there, daisies in their hair, sure we got the iPhone, but a genius playlist don’t compare. Still

deciphering?

Yes, it was Woodstock, a landmark event hangover-hippies couldn’t wait to relive this summer with Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock. Hold the celebratory tokes, however, because

Lee’s reimagining is about as potent as a clove cigarette. Based on the autobiography Taking Woodstock: A True Story ofa Riot, a Concert, and a Life by Elliot Tiber and Tom Monte, the film tells the tale of Elliot Teichberg (Demetri Martin), an aspiring interior designer who returns to his parents’ home in Bethel, N.Y. when mortage problems arise on their run-down motel. When Elliot gets word that a nearby music festival with headliners such as the Who and Janis Joplin has lost its permit, he offers to host the event on his family’s farm to bring in business. The organizers agree, and Elliot transplants the rapidly expanding event to the backyard of a naive milkman (Eugene Levy) with one innocent request: “Just clean up after yourselves.” And you thought the Tailgate crew had it rough. Soon Bethel is transformed into a countercultural Mecca, host to a half million hippies, draft dodgers and a cross-dressing veteran named Vilma (Liev Schrieber). Lee’s visual recreation of the 1969 “center of the unvierse” is brilliandy manifested throughout the film. Most notable is a moment when post-acid trip, Elliot first looks down on the undulating Woodstock crowd below him, a heady tribute to the “high and beautiful wave” once described by the hippie herald himself, Hunter S. Thompson. Unfortunately, the film’s masterful cinematography is bogged down by James Schamus’ hackneyed script, where even the sober characters reach astronomical conclusions such as “perspective is what shuts out the universe, man.” Those hoping for a glimpse of Jimi, Janis, Joan and Jerry should look to the original documentary, as the film focuses on Elliot’s coming ofage rather than the concert’s historic performances. Props to Lee for tackling a legend, but in the shadow of the center of the universe, this film is ultimately a casde made of sand. Happy 40th, Woodstock.

STheport Chronicle

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August 27,2009

Come join The Chronicle! No experience needed in any area. Email Gabe Starosta at gs3l@duke.edu

Check out John Wall's dunk over Jerry Stackhouse

SEASON PREVIEW: FIELD HOCKEY

Unheralded Blue Devils lean on Miller by

Dan Ahrens

THE CHRONICLE

On paper, it seems like preseason cham-

pionship hype should be swirling around

the upcoming Duke campaign. The Blue Devils return eight starters from a team that was regularly ranked among the top programs in the nation and reached the second round of the NCAA tournament. Head coach Beth Bozman and her team certainly believe this could be their year. It appears, however, that no one outside ofDurham gives the Blue Devils much credit. In a preseason poll, coaches around the league predicted that Duke will finish in sixth place in the ACC—dead last. Bozman has grown used to low outside expectations during her time as Duke’s head coach. “I think almost every year we’d probably be picked last. Have we ever finished last? Not since [my coaching staff and I] have been here,” she sad. “The academic standards and responsibilities here are different than at some schools, and for some reason that goes with respect in their minds.” An ACC championship would go a long way toward earning that respect for the No. 10 Blue Devils.But standing in theirway is the premier conference in the NCAA Wake Forest, the defending national champion, didn’t even crack the top three in preseason league rankings. Last season five of sixACC teams qualified for the 16-team NCAA tournament. Another significant obstacle Duke faces is a lack of upperclassmen. The Blue Devils only have five juniors and seniors returning, and will look to work a number of freshmen into the rotation. Building team chemistry as quickly has possible has been of primary importance this offseason. “From thevery beginning, we’ve been talking about leadership throughout the team, that team strength comes from sharing leadership and sharing responsibility,” Bozman said.

FOOTBALL I

While leadership will be shared to some degree amongst everyone on the roster, se-

nior Lauren Miller figures to be one of the team’s more influential members. The lone Blue Devil selected to the preseason All-ACC team, Miller led the team in assists last year. Duke’s roster looks notably different than that from 2008. Seven players have left the team early, including former captain Brooke Patterson. Without Patterson, Miller and her two co-captains, AmieSurvilla and Sarah Schofistall figure to have an even more crucial role. So far, Miller seems confident thatthe team is coming together despite the turnover. “We’ve really bonded fairly quickly as a team,” she said. “Even though there are only five upperclassmen, you look a lot to the sophomores and freshmen even to step up into their own roles.” Luckily for the Blue Devils, their sophomores are among the most talented in the nation. Following a successful freshman campaign, Midfielder Rhian Jones was the alternate for the U.S. U-21 World Cup team. “It was a disappointing summer for [Jones] being the first alternate,” Bozman said. “I think she came here and it gave her this newfound drive on the team.” Another sophomore, speedster Megan Deakins, will move from midfield to forward this year in an effort to boost Duke’s attack. “When you have someone with Megan’s speed driving at you as a defender it can be a little nervewracking,” Bozman said. Thanks to Duke’s wealth of talented underclassmen, budding team chemistry and senior leadership, the Blue Devils seem primed to surprise their ACC doubters and challenge for both a conference and national title. “Everybody on this team came back in incredible shape,” Bozman said. “There’s a newfound commitment on this team that we don’t want to finish eighth in the nation we want to finish No. 1 in the nation.” —

All-American defender Lauren Miller (top) and forward Amie Surviila (bottom) are Duke's only seniors.

Q&A WITH

Roper: Balanced offense the key to success Head coach David Cutcliffe gets most of the attention for Duke Football’s improvement last year, but offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Kurt Roper is the man actually calling the plays for Thaddeus Lewis and the offense. The Chronicle’s Gabe Starosta chatted with Roper after Duke’s intrasquad scrimmage Tuesday to talk about the Blue Devils’ offensive prospects. The Chronicle: I caught the second half of the scrimmage tonight and saw a lot of short plays turn into long plays. Should we expect that kind ofoffense? Kurt Roper: Well, that’s what you always hope. You hope for your playmakers to generate offense on their own. You design things that have a lot of timing to them and design plays that are going to get first downs in systematic ways, but when you’ve got a great player turning plays into big yards, it always makes your offense better. TC: What should we look forward to with this offense? KR: We will find our identity as we go. We are always going to be a balanced team. We feel like you have to be able to [run and pass] but we are going to

find what our strengths are. Is it in the passing game? Or is Re’quan [Boyette] going to be our strength? He did some good things today, so we’ll have to lean on those things as we go. But we are always going to be very balanced. TC: How has Thaddeus Lewis looked this preseason? KR: He has done a good job, he really has. His understanding of the offense has grown, and that’s what you expect in a guy in his second year [in the system], and with as much experience as he has playing football games, I’m excited to see him play. TC: What is he doing better this year? KR: Because he understands the offense so much more, when your base thought changes, he is able to adapt to the changes. That’s not easy to do, when you have to apply all the things that could happen defensively or offensively. He’s just able to think faster and play better. TC: Is he missing having Eron Riley out there? KR: I think you always miss good football players, but that’s collge football. What you do is you develop more and bring others along. And Johnny [Williams] has been doing an excellent job at X [the lead receiver spot], and Austin [Kelly] has been doing a good job at that spot, and the young freshmen—Tyree [Watkins] is going to be

a heck of a player. That’s what fun about college football, you get new faces. TC: And what about the offensive line? It’s a big question mark coming into the season. KR: We feel great. I think they are coming together, and it is always a work in progress. We are trying to replace three starters from last season, guys that were good football players, and when we are as balanced as we are, pass protection is a premium. You learn more as the season goes on but the guys are coming together as a group. TC: Sean Renfree has been getting a lot of time in the preseason. What can we expect out of him this season, even though he’ll start behind Lewis? KR: I don’tknow exactly the situation. Our thoughts as a staff is that you want the guy who’s the backup to get some playing time so that in case something happens and he becomes the starter, it’s not brand new

him. But to sit here and say that we know the exact formula yet, I don’t know, but we have confidence in him coming along. He’s still just a redshirt freshman, so we’ll see. Hopefully we can get him some work and some experience. to

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Durham family seeks enthusiastic, loving student(s) to play with/care for adorable girl, 6, and energetic boy, 4. $l2/ hr. Must have own transportation, prior experience and references. Experience with developmental delays a plus. Non-smokers only. Allison 919401-8641

AFTER SCHOOL CARE seeking after school care/driver for 14 year old, 1-3 days/week, 3 6pm. references required, call 537-8455, -

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AFTER SCHOOL CHILD CARE Alum looking for fun and responsible person to watch my 9 & 7 year olds. Brier Creek CC area -4-6pm, 2x/ week (M, Tu or W). e-mail spate l@nc.rr.com or call 684-1826. AFTER SCHOOL CHILD CARE/ DRIVER needed for two elementary school age children M-W every other week 3-6PM. $3O per day. Call 971-8772 or 812-9157. References required. AFTERNOON CHILD CARE. Afternoons, 2.5 3 hours, days flexible, for pickup and care of fun and energetic 6-year old. Close to Duke campus. Must have own vehicle. Call Susan. 919-357-6205 -

BABYSITTER/MOTHER'S HELPER

Needed for 6 month old. 2-3 shifts per week. Close to campus. Infant care experience, CPR, and references essential. $l2/ hour. (919) 627-7396 or emmajfs©hotmail.com

MOTHER'S HELPER NEEDED Morning ride to school (7am) M-F, from Southpoint area home to Immaculata Catholic School off Chapel Hill St. and hwy#l47, $l5/ day. Afternoon care, hours vary, $l5/hour. 919-484-8560

HOUSE FOR RENT 3 BR, 1 1/2 BA, 5 minutes from Duke. Appliances furnished. Hillandale Comm. 919-

HOMES FOR SALE

wk! For family near Duke M-F 3-6pm. Child care experience and excellent references req'd. Email nebr.99@alum.dartmouth org for more info

SUNDAY MORNING NURSERY WORKER Local United Methodist Church is seeking a responsible and committed child care worker for one of its Sunday morning nurseries to begin in early September. Hours are 8:15-12:15,

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TWO YEAR OLD 25HRS/WK Sweet, smart boy seeks care 25hrs/wk just off East Campus; flexible hours;

ROOM-MATE WANTED: Townhouse in SW Durham; HopeValley Farms; separate bedroom/ bathroom. Share living room, dining area, back deck and kitchen. Rent is $450/ month plus utilities. Gas log fireplace, back deck, washer/ dryer, beautiful kitchen with great appliances, and a half bathroom downstairs. I am a female 31 year old elementary school teacher with 2 indoor cats. My ideal roommate would be a professional or grad student willing to go 50/50 on household chores, has no pets, and isn't a smoker or big partier. Please email: Anna Larson bananner@gmail.com if interested

ROOM FOR RENT 52 year old male, health care professional has upstairs one bedroom, private bath and bonus room for rent in Butner. 20 minutes from Duke. Seeking nondrinker, nonsmoker. $6OO per month. Utilities included. 919. 730.6768 for appt.

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net or call 336-249-0296

edu

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The Chronicle

P/T CHILD CARE NEEDED

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HOMES FOR RENT EAST CAMPUS DUPLEX 3 Bedrooms, 1 Full & 2 half Baths. Trinity Park. 2 blocks from campus. $l,lOO/ mo. 383-3115

TOWNHOUSE FOR RENT TOWNHOUSE FOR RENT

Woodcraft Townhouse $950/ month, $6OO deposit, 1-level, 3 BR, 2 BA, all appliances including washer and dryer. Catherine.craver@duke.edu or 919-604-5289. 919-604-5289

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 27,2009 I 13

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis

ACROSS 1 Type of largeTV 7 Erwin of 'sos TV 10 With 13-Down, opportunity for better luck? 14 Swinger in a box making a list 15 Christmas

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14 I THURSDAY, AUGUST 27,2009

Give credits where credits are due With 3

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the first week of quiry and Areas of Knowledge classes well undercourse requirements that every way, myriad students Trinity undergraduate must are swimming through an complete prior to graduation. Under the current system alphabet soup of course codings, searching for the elusive regulated by the Arts and combinadon of Sciences Council, when professors classes that will editorial create a course, satisfy their academic interests and serious they are required to submit deficit ofALPs and CZs. a form detailing the Modes But as undergraduates shift of Inquiry and Areas of around their own schedules, Knowledge covered by their perhaps the University should class. The Arts and Sciences consider some drop/add of its Council Courses Committee then approves or amends the own, especially with regard to the process of course coding. courses’ coding. The coding Nearly a decade ago, when remains unchanged for futhe University instituted Cur- ture offerings of the course riculum 2000, the adminis- unless the professor applies tration codified its desire to for a change. This policy creates a passive expose students to a broad, diverse and wellrounded edusystem without accountability cational spectrum. or flexibility, a fatal problem On paper, this ideal manifor a curriculum that hinges fests itself as the Modes of Inon the correct coding of

”

—’’John” commenting on the editorial “Replace Hull

now.” See more at www.dukechronicle.com.

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 editletters and guestcolumns for length, clarity and style and the right to withhold letters based on the discretion of the editorialpage editor. to

Esl. 1905

Direct submissions to E-mail: chronicleletters@duke.edu Editorial Page Department The Chronicle Box 90858, Durham, NC 27708 Phone: (919) 684-2663 Fax: (919) 6844696

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Inc. 1993

WILL ROBINSON, Editor HON LUNG CHU, Managing Editor EMMELINE ZHAO, News Editor GABE STAROSTA, Sports Editor MICHAEL NACLERIO, PhotographyEditor SHUCHI PARIKH, Editorial Page Editor MICHAEL BLAKE Editorial Board Chair ALEX KLEIN, Online Editor JONATHAN ANGIER, GeneralManager LINDSEY RUPP, University Editor SABREENA MERCHANT, Sports Managing Editor JULIUS JONES, Local& NationalEditor JINNYCHO, Health & ScienceEditor GLEN GUTTERSON, News PhotographyEditor ANDREW HIBBARD, Recess Editor EMILY BRAY, Editorial Page Managing Editor ASHLEY HOLMSTROM, WireEditor CHARLIE LEE , Design Editor CHELSEA ALLISON, Towerview Editor EUGENE WANG, Recess Managing Editor CHASE OLIVIERI, Multimedia Editor ZAK KAZZAZ, Recruitment Chair TAYLOR DOHERTY, Sports RecruitmentChair MARY WEAVER, Operations Manager BARBARA STARBUCK, Production Manager

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TheChronicle is published by the Duke Student Publishing Company, Inc., a non-profit corporation of Duke University. The opinions expressed in this newspaper are not necessarily thoseofDuke 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. To reach the Editorial Office at 301 Flowers Building, call 684-2663 or fax 684-4696.T0 reach the Business Office at 103 West Union Building, call 684-3811.T0 reach the Advertising Office at 101 West Union Building call 684-3811 or fax 684-8295. Visit The ChronicleOnline at http://www.dukechronicle.com. 2009 TheChronicle, Box 90858, Durham, N.C27708. All rights reserved. Nopart ofthis publication may bereproduced inany formwithout the prior, written permission ofthe Business Office. Each individual is entitled to one free copy. ©

gage its faculty to regularly examine which coding designations best fit the content of their course. Though the vast majority of classes at Duke probably carry the correct course codes, to a certain degree, students—the mobilizing most important stakeholders in this process—is another mechanism to ensure that the University has it right. Take the example of a professor who decides to “try something new this semester” with their existing course and ends up teaching quantitative mathematical research methods to a social science class. Students in this class end up with extensive exposure to quantitative studies, but are still left without a QS credit. Duke would do well to implement a formalized pro-

cess that allows students, up until the course withdrawal deadline, to petition for the addition of course codes if the

professor gi ants approval. By no means should students have the right to set the University’s curriculum or requirements, but they should have some ability to ensure that they are given the credit—and course codes—they deserve. The goal of Curriculum 2000 is to broaden minds and foster a complete educational experience. Integral to thisprocess is an honest, accountable and accurate course coding system that allows students to follow their academic interests, not graduation requirements. We hope that the incoming chair of the Arts and Sciences Council, Ruth Day, makes this a reality.

“The needfor a quick replacement for RLHS is clear, but thefault not having onefalls squarely on the shoulders of our absent Vice President.

courses for students to fulfill distribution requirements. It is particularly troubling that, once assigned, the University does not require an ongoing review of course coding, and it denies students the ability to petition for a coding change. Though a course’s name and number may remain the same from year to year, the content and style of a repeatedly offered class varies from teacher to teacher and from semester to semester. As it stands now, there is no requirement for professors to re-examine their course codings after initial approval, and there is no incentive to undertake the rather lengthy process of filing for a coding change that reflects changes in course content. For this reason, the University should proactively en-

The boy who cried pig

onlinecomment

independent

THE CHRONICLE

commentaries

There once was a boy who needed

fill pro-

gramming gaps for his 24-hour cable news channel. The boy cried out, “There is a mad cow coming to your family’s dinner

table! Throw away your red meat!” The villagers turned on his channel to hear his message. In a frenzy of panic they hurried to jordanrice 9 their refrigerators real talk and with their 12foot tongs, cast their meat into the darkest corners of the earth. So, tasteless tofu it was, as the nation trembled, afraid the disease would invade their homes. But the Mad Cows never came, and the villagers (along with the U.S. beef industry) shook their fists at the boy and said, “Don’t cry cow!” Two years later, the boy once again needed to fill some airtime on his cable news station. “The bird flu is coming,” the boy screamed. “Run for your lives!” With the famous phone booth scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds playing in their heads, the villagers went into hiding, waiting for the End to come. But the birds never came and the villagers shook their fists at the boy and said, “Don’t cry bird!” Four years later, the boy cried, “The swine flu is coming!” Now, dear reader, choose your own adventure! The first option goes much like the story of the Mad Cows and the birds. The pigs never come, and the villagers shake their fists. The second option reads as follows: The villagers, already fooled twice by the boy, ignored his warnings. But this time the pigs did come, and all the villagers took the HINI bus to Duke Hospital. The moral of this story: Each time the media portrays a potential health crisis as the coming of the End of Days, we take one step closer toward that end. Media hype—both of the next big plague and of the minor “hazards” that local news stations feel the need to warn us about each night

(“Is your [insert common household product here] giving you cancer?!?”) —desensitizes the public to health crises. The final verdict on swine flu is not yet out. So far, the virus has spread rapidly, but it does not seem to pack more of a punch than the standard seasonal flu. However, whetherswine flu turns out to be a second coming of the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic that killed over 50 million people worldwide, or another instance of the many plagues that never were, how can we expect the public to react with an appropriate level ofurgency when the phrase “public health crisis” is thrown around with reckless abandon? Washington Post blogger Doug Feaver read through online comments for an article on swine flu and then wrote that only a minority of those who posted appeared concerned with the vims. Comments that downplayed the potential severity of the current pandemic were common. For instance, one woman declared, “Y2K all over again. The press is justblowing this out of proportion.” This “too-many-false-alarms-so-now-I-don ’t-care” phenomenon is not unique to health scares. Last year, Few Quadrangle had a few too many fire drills, false alarms and microwave popcorn-induced alarms. The students who actually left the dorm did so with exasperation and without urgency. Others preferred to brave the screeching noise and stay in their rooms rather than indulge the fire marshal. There is no doubt that had there actually been a large fire, those students wouldcome to regret their decision to roll their eyes at the alarm rather than leave the building. Nevertheless, their actions indicate that the alarm has lost meaning in the same way that the old adage “run for the hills, the flu is coming” now falls on deaf ears. Just as the Few Quad fire drills made the residents of the quad less safe, the annual health scares make us in away more susceptible to the alleged threat. Perhaps we should just all take a hot shower (with anti-bacterial soap), a deep breath (through a surgical mask) and get back to what is truly important (Michael Jackson’s death ruled a homicide!?.... I mean, wars and all that stuff).

Jordan Rice is a Trinity senior. His column runs every other Thursday.

The Chronicle Editorial Board is accepting applications from freshmen and sophomores. Contact Michael Blake at mtbl2@duke.edu for more information

THE CHRONICLE

The cause of Ted Kennedy’s life WASHINGTON “This is the cause of my life,” Ted Kennedy wrote. “For four decades I have carried this cause from the floor of the United States Senate to every part of this country. It has never been merely a question of policy; it goes to the heart of my belief in a just society.” Kennedy was talking about health care. But then, Kennedy was always talking about health care. He was talking about it when he helped pass Medicare and Medicn P7r ezr<l Juem aid in the ‘6os. When he _ featured Column tried to reach a deal with Richard Nixon in the ‘7os When he made it the center of his challenge to Jimmy Carter in the ‘Bos. When he created the Children’s Health Insurance Program in the ‘9os. When he directed his staff to begin educating senators and stakeholders for President Obama’s effort late last year. There is an impulse to honor the dead by erasing the sharp edges of their life. To ensure they belong to all of us, and in doing, deprive them of the dignity conferred by their actual choices, their lonely stands and their long work. But Ted Kennedy didn’t belong to all of us. He didn’t even belong to all Democrats. He was not of the party that voted for more than a trillion in unfunded tax cuts but cannot bring itself to pay for healthcare reform. He was not of the party that fears the next

The cause of Kennedy’s life was not, after all, praise or compliments. It was, as he said, to “guarantee that every American

will have decent, quality health care as a fundamental right and not just a privilege.”

election more than the next failure to help America’s needy. Rather, he belonged to the party ofMedicare and Medicaid, the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, the Civil Rights Act and immigration reform. He belonged to the party that sought to advance the conditions and opportunities of the least among us. He was, as columnist Harold Meyerson says, “the senior senator from Massachusetts and for all the excluded in American life.” And he still is. In recent weeks, the illness that would lead to Kennedy’s death was being invoked to stymie the work of Kennedy’s life. “It’s huge that he’s absent,” John McCain, R-Ariz., told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, “not only because of my personal affection for him, but because I think the health-care reform might be in a very different place today.” But for Kennedy, there were no excuses. Year after year, decade after decade, he labored to pass health-care reform. He sought deals with Republican presidents, with Democratic presidents, and even pursued the office himself. He tried to cut out the health-care industry and bring them to the table, to move forward on a bipartisan fashion and on a Democratic platform, to pass single-payer and to promote incrementalist approaches. The process wasn’t the point. Nor were the people. Nor, even, was Ted Kennedy. Universal health care was the point. Helping the excluded, and the endangered, was the point. And there are still no excuses—least of all his death. The loss of one man does not deny the moral urgency of achieving a “just society.” Those who would use Kennedy’s absence to explain their failure do terrible injury to his legacy. The cause of Kennedy’s life was not, after all, praise or compliments. It was, as he said, to “guarantee that every American... will have decent, quality health care as a fundamental right and not just a privilege.” That dream will never die. But by being realized, it can finally rest in peace. Ezra Klein is

THURSDAY, AUGUST 27,2009

opinionated blogger for The Washington Post.

commentaries

More than just numbers In Martin Luther King’s famous speech “I have a dream,” he yearned for the day when people of all races could “work together, pray together” and live together harmoniously. In line with this vision, Duke Admissions officers have worked to create a racially and culturally diverse student body, Duke also has an entire Web site devoted d«iyO OShilftjcl to its diversity initiacan’t we all get tives, which include its «uu ig. various faculty initiatives as well as a statement referring to Duke’s determination to create a “diverse, inclusive and engaged community that affirms difference.” The University even sponsors events such as Common Ground, run by the Center for Race Relations, which is a four day retreat that attempts to show students of all different racial, cultural and ethnic backgrounds their points of com-

Even cultural events that are advertised as away to express Duke’s multicultural student body are mostly attended by members of that specific ethnic group, with only a select minority of other students present. For instance, enter Page Auditorium for the Homecoming Step Show, you will see a predominantly black audience. My freshman year, I attended Lunar New Year run by the Asian Student Association only to feel vaguely uncomfortable at being one of the few nonAsian people in the audience. So the question is: 46 years after MLK’s speech, 55 years after Brown v. Board of Education and almost 40 years after the end of the Civil Rights Movement, why do students at Duke remain so racially and culturally isolated despite our physical proximity? The bottom line is because people are lazy and want to be as comfortable as possible. There is no denying the fact that it is much easier to associate with people who look, think and generally act the way you do. It’s more comfortable to be around people who share your race, culture and socioeconomic class because you share a common experience. You understand the intricacies and idiosyncrasies of your race or culture or religion that outsiders just wouldn’t understand. It is comfortable to monality. On the surface, we appear to be fulfilling King’s be around people who understand your point of view ideal. The ethnic breakdown for the undergraduand your opinions. Take a look at your own social circle. ate student body in Fall 2008, the last time data was I’m sure a majority ofyour friends are of the same racial, socioeconomic or religious group as yourself. publicly available, runs as follows; 10 percent African American, 22 percent Asian American, 6 perThis in and of itself is not a problem; the problem cent Hispanic/Latino, 51percent Caucasian and 6 occurs when you exclusively associate with those people similar to yourself and don’t make the effort to get to percent international students, according to the Office of News and Communications. know others. The whole point of being on a college But even though Duke sports such diversity in campus is so that you can learn new ideas and associate numbers, what actually happens when everyone arwith people that you might never get a chance to interrives on campus? Are the “sons of former slaves and act with ever again. Part of Duke’s mission in bringing the sons of former slave owners” sitting down tous all together is so we can branch out of our comfortable ethnic and racial enclaves and actually get to know gether “at the table of brotherhood?” Yeah right! Walk into any on-campus eatery—The one another. Of course, this requires effort. It takes courage to Loop, The Marketplace, Grace’s Cafe—and you will see homogenous clusters of students merrily chatstrike up a conversation with a random stranger sitting ting away about the myriad problems and concerns next to you on the ever-crowded C-l. And often these that we college students face on a daily basis. In case cross-racial and cross-cultural dialogues are difficult. They can be tense and awkward moments when you will you haven’t noticed, Duke is a very separated campus, and with the advent of selective living groups, struggle to get to know a person who on the surface fraternity housing and blocks, students manage to appears to be completely different from yourself. But isolate themselves in ethnic and racial enclaves that as my mother has consistently told me for the past 19 are rarely breached. years, nothing worth doing comes easy. Duke students even socialize separately—if you So, in the coming weeks as you struggle to get back walk into a section party on Friday or Saturday into the hectic rhythm of Duke life, take time out and night, you will probably find mostly white students get to know different people. Let’s make Duke a campus that is more than just diverse in numbers. laughing and drinking in the narrow halls and overcrowded rooms. On the other hand, parties thrown at Club 9, Devil’s Den or the Great Hall are usually Dayo Oshilaja is a Trinity junior. Her column runs every other Thursday. populated by black and Hispanic students. °

„

16 | THURSDAY, AUGUST 27,2009

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