September 15, 2009

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THE INDEPENDENT DAILY AT DUKE UNIVERSITY

The Chronicle

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2009

WWW.DUKECHRONICLE.COM

ONE HUNDRED

AND FIFTH YEAR, ISSUE 18

Students vote to eliminate

YP for ICC

Turner elected to YT special secretary post by

Audrey McGowan THE CHRONICLE

Despite concerns that low voter turnout would render the results of Monday’s Duke Student Government election invalid, all four of the referendums on the ballot were affirmed. The referendums approved dissolve the office of Vice President for the Inter-Community Council, restructure the DSC Judiciary, establish the Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee as a part of DSC and replace mascuH line pronouns in the DSC J constitution with genderI neutral ones. ■ In addition, junior I Amanda Turner beat out junior Ben Getson for the position of special secreJ tary to the Young Trustee process. Turner, president Amanda Turner of the Black Student Alliance, will be charged with reforming the Young Trustee selection process in the next six weeks. She will resign from her position on the Executive Committee of the ICC. “I want to figure out how students want to be involved in the Young Trustee process,” Turner said after her election. “1 also want to talk about how, as a campus, we can put the measures in place to follow up with the Young Trustee once they’re ap-

S_, Students give UnitedHealth poor reviews by

Jinny Cho

THE CHRONICLE

Zack Brown was jogging on East Campus last August when he suddenly lost hearing in his right ear. “No loud noises, no trauma, it simply cut out,” he recalled. Brown, a fourth-year graduate student in environmental sciences and policy at the Nicholas

Part 2 will investigate

UnitedHealth's introduction to Duke and the causes of complaints.

Part 3 will look into the University's response

and United Health at other institutions.

School of the Environment, said he went to Student Health the next day and was referred to an ear, nose and throat specialist, who classified the condition as “a medical emergency.” Brown said he then underwent a brain magnetic resonance imaging to rule out the possibility of brain cancer. With two weeks of steroid treatment, Brown’s inexplicable problem went away, and the MRI results were negative for cancer. But with medical bills of about $1,200, Brown said his problems were far from over. “I called [UnitedHealthcare Studentßesources] to check about coverage and they informed me that

pointed.”

hearing problems were not covered unless they were related to a ‘disease process,”’ he said. Brown added that phone calls with UHCSR representatives were “hopelessly unproductive,” leading him to question why he has health insurance. “What good is insurance if it doesn’t cover something like this?” he said. Many other students have raised similar complaints online and in interviews with The Chronicle, bringing sharp criticism of UHCSR to the fore. UHCSR replaced Blue Cross BlueShield of North Carolina as Duke’s Student Medical Insurance Plan’s provider in 2008. UHCSR officials said the company is in daily contact with the Duke Student Health Center to refine the plan as requested by University administrators. “We continue to work with Duke University representatives to adjust the [Student Medical Insurance Plan] according to their guidance,” said Susan Barry, director of marketing at UHCSR, adding that “large plans often have transitional periods of adjustment But in times of medical need, University students said confusion and frustration with the new health plan have overshadowed what should be at the forefront of their attention—their health. “What’s remarkable to me in all this is that my wife and I are

omtheRECORD "We were doing well even before the stimulus. These new grants are icing on the cake."

—Vice Provost James Siedow on the SSSM stimulusresearch funds. See story page 4.

SEE DSG ELECTION ON PAGE 9

SEE UNITED

HEALTH ON PAGE 9

Football: Schedule Troubles Technicality means N.C. Central game won't count toward bowl berth, PAGE 10

A student votes in DSG's onlineelection Monday aftemoon.The election saw 27 percent turnout and students voted to approveall proposed referendums.

Duke scientists mayjget for 'antibiotic

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Page;


THE CHRONICLE

2 I TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15,2009

90P

TODAY:

WEDNESDAY: /^st

ILK. terrorists get life in prison

'olice raid N.Y. homes due Mono treatment discovered to suspected terror threat LOS ANGELES

Mononucleosis, the

curse of high school and college students,

does not have to bring social and academic lives to a screeching halt, researchers reported Monday, Instead, the disease can be treated to shorten the duration ofthe illness and reduce the chance oftransmission. In a study presented Monday at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy in San Francisco, University of Minnesota researchers found that students who receive an antiviral medication early in the course of the illness become less sick than those simply offered the standard advice to rest for several weeks. The results are similarto a previous study by the same researchers on a different antiviral drug. But whether doctors embrace treatment of mononucleosis may depend on how they view the illness.

Eighty percent ofsuccess is showing up. Woody Allen

WASHINGTON New York authorities raided several homes early Monday as part of an effort to dismantle a suspected cell of locally based Islamist militants, according to law enforcement officials and a U.S. lawmaker. There were no arrests in the raids, which took place in Queens,and authorities would not comment on whether they were seeking suspects to question or charge. Local and federal officials said that they do not believe any specific terrorist plot was disrupted by the action. They said officials had been monitoring a small group that espoused radical ideologies aligned with al-Qaida and other jihadist groups. Suspicious behavior by at least some of the men over the weekend prompted authorities to go to court to seek search warrants.

Check out the new Chronicle LONDON In a victory for the most exonline—a beta site develtensive counterterrorist investigation in Britoped entirely by students. ish history, three men who plotted to blow up trans-Atlantic airliners in a massive attack beta.chronicleblogs.com were sentenced Monday to life in prison. The maximum terms were handed down in London's Woolwich Crown Court a week after the men were found guilty ofconspiring to smuggle liquid-based explosives onto several North America-bound jets. The plot, which authorities said was close to fruition, could have killed hundreds of people and prompted new security measures at airports worldwide. "The intention was to perpetrate a terrorist outrage that would stand alongside the events of Sept. 11,2001, in history,"Justice Richard Henriques told the court. He called it "the most grave and wicked conspiracy ever proven within this jurisdiction." Sentenced were Abdulla Ahmed All, 28, Assad Sarwar, 29, and Tanvir Hussain, 28, British-born men of Pakistani descent. Under Britain's judicial system, the men will be eligible for parole, but not before serving a minimum of 40 years for Ali, the ringleader, 36 years for Sarwar and 32 years for Hussain. Their plot, uncovered in 2006, entailed smuggling volatile hydrogen-peroxide solutions, injected into plastic sports-drink bottles, onto seven planes bound from London to cities including San Francisco,Toronto and New York.

TODAY IN HISTORY 1928:Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin.

Ben Planner, an entrepreneur from New York, works on a 6,000 sq.-ftfarm atop aroof in the industrial Greenpointsection of Brooklyn, New York City. Green roofs have recently gained enthusiasm. Harnessing rainwater helps keep buildings warmer in thewinterand cooler in the summer,lowering electricity use.


THE CHRONICLE

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15,2009 I

New group to focus on Int criminal law by

OIT offers ePrint reprint

Jessica Kim

by

THE CHRONICLE

Allison Schulhof THE CHRONICLE

This month, Duke law students launched the nation’s first chapter of the International Criminal Court Student Network. The group sponsored a training session last Friday. The event, sponsored by the Center for International and Comparative Law, Duke School of Law and Duke Bar Association, featured speakers from the International Criminal Court’s Office of the Prosecutor. The ICCSN was founded in 2006 at the London School of Economics to serve as a means of communication and education for students around the globe to learn about the ICC, a United Nations judicial organization to which the United States is not yet committed. “There is a huge interest among law students in most schools in the field of international criminal law. You can see it at Harvard [University], McGill [University] and now you see it starting at Duke and the students seem to be taking initiative and generating a lot of momentum in the field,” said Noah Weisbord, visiting assistant professor of law who has assisted Duke’s ICCSN chapter in connecting with experts in the field. Law students and professors filed into a classroom in the Law School Friday for ,

SEE CRIMINAL COURT ON PAGE 9

Director of'Khirbet Khizeh' Ram Loevy (left) discusses the Israeli-Palestinian conflict depicted in the film with Shai Ginsburg (right), assistant professor ofAsian and Middle Eastern studies, afterthe film'sscreening Tuesday night

Film keeps PalestineIsrael dialogue ‘alive’ by

Elizabeth Beam THE CHRONICLE

Despite the Israeli-Palestinian conflict it portrays on screen, and the conflict provoked by its initial intended screening on Israeli television, a film by Director Ram Loevy had the reverse effect last night by bringing together the Duke and Durham communities. Co-sponsors Brit Tzedek and Triangle Tikkun opened the doors of the Griffith Film Theater to Loevy and about 50 viewers for a presentation of the 1978 film ‘Khirbet Khizeh’ and a subsequent panel

discussion with the director and Shai

Ginsburg, assistant professor of Asian

and Middle Eastern studies. “The discussion is alive,” Loevy noted as justification for the film’s lasting significance. “I hope that this film had something to do with that.” ‘Khirbet Khizeh’ revives the story first conveyed in 1949 by S. Yizhar’s novella of the same title. It realistically depicts the young Israeli soldiers who drove Palestinians, from their homes throughout the

Students frustrated with losing print jobs because of broken ePrint stations will no longer need to run back to their computers. Through a new Office ofInformation Technology service, students can reprint a job without having to resend it from a computer, according to information from OIT. After students swipe their DukeCards and release their jobs from ePrint, a copy will be saved on their print queue for an additional 15 minutes. OIT Senior Communications Strategist Steve O’Donnell said student feedback requesting ePrint improvement led to the reprint service. “Every once in a while, there is a glitch in the system—the printer does not work or, for some reason, you can’t find your job in the print queue,” he said. “[ePrint reprint] allows students to reprint a job without going back to their computers.” Students were notified of the OIT service update via a Duke Student Government e-mail Sept. 11. According to OlT’s Web site, however, the service has been available since Aug. 7. “I used to have to send important documents multiple times just to be

SEE SCREENING ON PAGE 9

SEE EPRINT ON PAGE

DEFAST18

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Free dinner In the Great Hall after the fast, from 6:30*9:30 PM.

fot healtheau. nd make an optional nation at dukemsa.org.

o to the Mariam Clinic, a free medical clinic that serves

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THE CHRONICLE

4 (TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15,2009

Duke’s stimulus Group considers MOP additions funds flowing into medical research

DUKE UNIVERSITY STUDENT DINING ADVISORY COMMITTEE

by

Brandon Metra THE CHRONICLE

Members ofthe Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee evaluatefood samples from Backyard BBQ Pit andRed Sea Fish and Chicken at its meeting Monday night. Campus Council PresidentStephen Temple advocated for a CC liaison to DUSDAC to improve the groups' communication. by

Jessica

Chang THE CHRONICLE

Students may soon have more options for ordering on food points. At its meeting Monday night, members of the Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee sampled food from Backyard BBQ Pit, a potential addition to the Merchants on Points program and a family-owned restaurant offering authentic barbecue and homemade sides. The group also introduced a possible future collaboration with Campus Council. Membersraised concerns that Backyard BBQ might be too similar to Tommy’s Rubs and Grubs, which is already on campus and a part of the MOP program. Six of 10 members approved the restaurant’s proposal with the condition that it agrees to stay open until midnight Monday through Saturday. DUSDAC will contact the eatery about changing its hours before making its final decision. Red Sea Fish and Chicken also submitted samples to DUSDAC for consideration to join the MOP program. Members were once again concerned that there would be little demand for this type of eatery, which serves mosdy fried fare. “One thing that I think would be good is if they delivered until 4 a.ra„ then I’d be much more encouraged to maybe bring this on,” said DUSDAC Co-chair Jason Taylor, a senior. “Considering that, and all the other merchants we’ve been adding recently and the others we have... I don’t think that, because of volume reasons, this is the best place to let on right now.” Other members agreed, and Red Sea Fish and Chicken received only one vote of approval.

Campus Council President Stephen Temple, a junior, proposed the addition of a Campus Council liaison to DUSDAC to

facilitate dialogue and serve as an informational link between the two organizations. The liaison would lookfor opportunities where Campus Council and DUSDAC could partner together to provide a more unified voice to the administration. If DUSDAC votes to approve the proposal, the liaison would be a current voting member ofCampus Council and would have to receive a majority vote from the Campus Council General Body to be approved as the liaison. “The impetus for creating such a position initially came out of conversations at the end of last year between myself and Sarah Ramig [T’O9 and former DUSDAC co-chair] as well as some informal conversations with [Vice President for Student Affairs] Larry Moneta.... Dining is an integral part of living on campus,” Temple wrote in his proposal. , Temple added that this partnership would be mutually beneficial, as Campus Council would be more informed and DUSDAC would have a stronger student voice and the backing of a “residential viewpoint on things.” DUSDAC members were concerned that there would be no flexibility with the arrangement and postponed a vote on the proposal until next week to maintain its control over the decision. The student dining committee also announced it will send out a questionnaire this week surveying students about certain vendors in the MOP program. The survey is intended to gauge student opinion regarding their interest in lower volume locations in the event that an oncampus vendor is considered for removal.

“Making the

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Save the Dates;

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Provisions included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 have allocated more than $55 million in research funding for Duke’s scientists, stimulating innovation and broadening financial support, said Vice Provost for Research James Siedow. Duke has submitted 893 proposals for review by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, and 143 of those have been awarded, totaling $55,891,811, Siedow “The University is the locus of basic research,” he said. “We’re seeing riskier proposals [receive funding] that would not have been funded in the past.... We’re really building a foundation for innovative projects and further improvement.” Of the $787 billion made available by the ARRA, $13.4 billion have been allocated to both the NIH and NSF, the two organizations responsible for this research funding at Duke. The grant has allowed the NIH and NSF to clear a backlog of approved but unfunded proposals, supplement existing projects and begin programs like the NIH Challenge Grants for new ventures. Since a 2003 doubling in the NIH budget, that grant levels had been slightly decreasing, making the stimulus funding a “huge bolus” into university research nationwide, Siedow noted. Vice President for Human Resources Kyle Cavanaugh said competition for ARRA grants is keen, noting that Duke researchers have been “incredibly aggressive in campaigning for these funds and, by any measure, highly successful.” Siedow said the funding has been awarded across all scientific fields, but at Duke, the awarded proposals have fallen into an 80-20 split, with 80 percent going into medical research and 20 percent into other fields. Rick Hoyle, professor of psychology and neuroscience, received an NIH grant to investigate brain proresses for analyzing the effectiveness of anti-drug public service announcements. “Hopefully, in finding new ways to see if these PSAs are registering, we can inform the bodies of knowledge for both public service and brain processing,” he said. Siedow noted that the funding has enabled younger investigators to pursue independent research, citing SEE STIMULUS ON PAGE 7

RnKpil PH rHIwJ?

Gale Boyd Bill Brown Bob Clemen Deb Gallagher Gary Gereffi Joe Knight Brian Murray Lincoln Pratson Tim Profela Jim Salzman Dan Vermeer Jonathan Weiner Erika Welnthal Norman Wlrzba

hmm Itar! Keynote speaker Chad Hi former CEO of DuPont: Sunday, January 10th at

in Love Auditorium

(LSR

Applications are due October 7th and can be found at:

jrgraduatedean.duke.edu/winterforum


THE CHRONICLE

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15,2009 I 5

NIH grant could yield Duke SIIM Will Hyung THE CHRONICLE

by

The National Institutes of Health have given Duke researchers a grant, that coujd be worth up to |ll million over the next six years. Dr. Vance Fowler, an associate professor of medicine at Duke University Medical Center and the primary investigator for the project, said the research addresses the issue of antibiotics and resistance. “We’re sort of in the worst possible storm in regards to antibiotics because the need is growing and the number of available antibiotics is dwindling,” he said. “While there are a number of reasons for this, one big factor is that big pharmaceutical companies are getting out of the development because it is not sufficiently profitable.” Fowler hopes to prove that using his algorithm, doctors will be able to determine the amount of antibiotics a specific patient will need, instead of the current system which he believes overprescribes the method to treat intravenous infections. Although antibiotics have worked well in the past, their utility is diminishing because they are being used too often, Fowler added. “Tens of thousands ofkilograms of this is being used in the United States ofAmerica and in Western Europe,” he said. “Subjecting the bacterial population to 20,000 kiloSEE NIH ON PAGE 7

'Cirque Dreams’ show debuts at DPAC BY

SHAOLI CHAUDHURI THE CHRONICLE

Starting tonight, audience members will be able to witness the creative and often death-defying feats of an eclectic cast of acrobats and performing artists—all at the Durham Performing Arts Center. The downtown Durham theater is set to host the opening world tour of “Cirque Dreams Illumination” Sept. 15 through Sept. 20. The show, which is an offshoot of the Broadway hit, Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy, comes from a long line of colorful circus-inspired shows created by Director Neil Goldberg and his Florida-based company, Cirque Productions. “Illumination is based in the ‘City of Illumination’ where everyday normal people do extraordinary things,” Cirque Productions Director of Marketing Erik Alden said. The show features 26 performers and more than 200 different costumes, with the acrobats and athletes performing stunts that prompted Alden to say, “I can only imagine how you can bend your body that way.” The show’s producers chose DPAC as the site of the tour’s world premiere after Alden “did a little convincing,” he said. Alden noted that in February, Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy showed for one night at DPAC, and the “high demand [and] really great relationships with everyone involved with DPAC” prompted the company to continue its connection with the Center. “The facility is beautiful. It’s brand new. It meets our sound needs, our technical needs,” Alden said. DPAC’s Assistant Director of Marketing Rachel Gragg, said the center has made

The Durham Performing Arts Center will host the opening world tour of"Cirque Dreams Illumination" starting today through Sept 20. The show is an offshoot ofthe Broadway hit CirqueDreams Jungle Fantasy. solid progress since it opened in December 2008. “We sold out over 25 shows in our past season, including [shows for] Steely Dan, Harry Connick Jr., Willie Nelson and...The Color Purple,’” Gragg said. She added that the Center already has 9,000 season ticket subscribers—a 50 percent increase from last year—and hopes to reach 10,000 by the end of the Cirque run. Gragg also emphasized the importance of looking beyond the statistics. “I think we‘ve exceeded our goals as being known as a venue with great customer service.... We want [our customers] to have a good experience, and hopefully with a great experience, that will bring

them back,” Gragg said. On campus, the Center’s popularity precedes itself. Several Duke students have already purchased DPAC tickets at the newly opened Hub, which offers students discounted tickets to programs and events around Durham. Some students have already visited DPAC to see The Fray this past week. “It’s a really nice venue,” said sophomore Jason Klein, who attended a Sept. 8 concert. He added that he was considering returning to DPAC for future performances. Senior Chinwe Atkinson said she might eventually attend a show at DPAC, but added that it depended On her level of interest and the price. Still, Atkinson said she thinks DPAC is “already a success.”


THE CHRONICLE

6 I TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15,2009

ROTC from page 1

SHXKE YOUPv STRESS CAPS CMXTIV6 DXNCE CLXSS Thursdays Upstairs, East Campus Marketplace 6:oopm-7:oopm Oct Ist,1st 15th 29 th Nov 12th -

,

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You Must Register at our website: http^/ca

s.studentaffairs.duke.edu

On our Home Page the link to the right will take you to the Class Page to Register.

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Mangan said. “It’s about students who are leaders, students who want to serve their country, students who are looking for something that’s bigger and better than themselves, because that’s really what Duke’s about, too.” Sophomore Sarah Brubaker, one of the ROTC cadets shown in the video advertising ROTC through Duke alumni and faculty, said she thinks Duke was chosen for the video for its “well rounded” qualities, and because it showsrecruits that' they can be in ROTC and be a regular college student too. The approximately three-minute clip includes shots of Perkins Library, von der Heyden pavilion, Hudson Hall, Main West and the East Campus Main Quadrangle. “I wasn’t completely sure what I was getting into when I was approached about being in the video, but I hoped I would be a part of something that will help others make decisions that are right for them,” Brubaker said. “Representing Duke was just an added bonus.” The Army has joined in on the social networking trend by creating blogs as well as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter accounts. Potential officer candidates can use these sites to peek into the daily life of an ordinary cadet, gather different perspectives from real soldiers more quickly than through e-mails and contact recruiters about becoming officers. “In the past, the Army hasn’t done a lot of advertising around becoming an officer, so if you watch TV. or look at billboards or ads in the papers or-in magazines, usuallytheyTe ads for enlisting in the Army, and so not as many people know about the ROTC college program and that’s something that the Army is looking at changing a little bit,” Mangan said. Although the worsening economy and poor job market has contributed to a good recruiting year, the increase in numbers may also be attributed to social media ventures. The Army’s MySpace page has more than 90,000 friends. “They’ve really kind of engaged in the Web 2.0 advertising strategy which I think is a good idea and can only lead to more informationabout the Army being exposed to the everyday layperson,” said senior Philip Cotter, Duke’s ROTC battalion commander. Duke’s own numbers have gone up too. This year was the ROTC program’s largest incoming freshman class in recent history. “We’reabout wherewe’d like to be, because our program is small enough that our cadets really have a chance to get to know each other,” Mangan said. “But we’re big enough at this point where the cadets are able to fill different leadership roles and positions and take turns leading each other.” The Army ROTC program is also attractive because it offers a path toward recieving a commission as an officer in the U.S. Army, Army Reserve or National Guard and its offers offull tuition scholarships for qualified applicants, which is appealing to students like Brubaker. “I’ve always been interested in ROTC and wanted to go to Duke, but I wouldn’t be able to afford to go here without the ROTC scholarship, so it kind of just worked itselfout,” Brubaker said. Although Duke was Brubaker’s top choice, Mangan estimated that about half ofROTC students at Duke knew they wanted to attend prior to arrival. But others only knew they wanted to participate in an ROTC program and they selected a college later. Brubaker said Duke’s ROTC cadets enjoy being a part of the program and their experiences may help foster its growth. Cotter said he recently suggested the introduction of a forum where commanders of the ROTC units at Duke— Air Force, Army and Navy—can discuss allocating resources and methods to improve recruiting and training efforts. “I feel like the creation of that kind of joint environment will allow us to all kind ofbounce ideas off of each other and become more effective organizations together both with respect to recruiting and with respect to actually training our underclassmen,” Cotter said. Although the Army has embraced new forms of communication, the social networking push is relatively new. The Army ROTC program is still promoted mostly through high school guidance counselors and conversations with interested students. In addition, the most useful method still remains the age-old one-on-one conversation, Mangan said. “What we’ve found to be most powerful for us is just having that honest conversation with prospective students and their parents.... When it comes right down to it, our program is not here as a recruiter,” Mangan said. “We’re here to help develop future leaders of the U.S. Aimy, so we want people who want to be in the program, but we’re not in the business of pulling people in or trying to recruit people in.” Despite the development of social networking on the Web, Cotter said he thinks word ofmouth is still most effective for recruiting. “Interacting with people, talking to people are great techniques to get the word out about one of the best programs Duke has to offer,” he said.


THE CHRONICLE

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15,2009

NIH from page 5

Students' print jobs will be saved with the ePrint reprint feature, recently introduced by theOffice ofInformation Technology. The service will preserve the print queues for 15 minutes after a studentfirst swipes.

EPRINT from page 3 safe,” junior Henry Jiang said. “Now, it is convenient not to have to walk back to the

[computer] to reprint.” In addition to the reprint service, the OIT Web site now features an ePrint status monitor that is updated every 10 minutes. This allows students to check on the condition of campus printers, as the site categorizes stations as “in full working order,” “are ready to print but have non-critical issues” and “currently inoperable.” O’Donnell added that several ePrint stations are managed by libraries and graduate schools and thus are not tracked by the Web site. ePrint stations are frequently down across campus. As of Monday at 6 p.m., 20 of the 58 OIT-managed ePrint stations were in full working order, according to the ePrint Status Web site.

A

Most of the issues, however, are noncritical concerns like paper jams, low ink or low paper, O’Donnell said. But sometimes ePrint stations are inoperable. O’Donnell said the status monitor will save students time and trips across campus “If you have two ePrint stations that are close to you, you can check to see what the status is at each one,” he said. “You can go to an ePrint station where you know you are going to be able to get your print [job] right away. This gives students the opportunity to pick and choose where to go.” O’Donnell noted that OIT maintenance staff members also monitor statuses of print stations online to detect which printers need service. “There may be some technical bugs,” said senior Jared Blau. “But compared to other institutions, we are way ahead of the pack.”

Simple

grams of these antibiotics raises significant concerns as the bacteria population will eventually evolve to develop resistance.” In order to test his hypothesis, Fowler will run a six-year trial that will be located in five sites in the United States and one in Spain. The trial, which he hopes to start next year, will enroll 600 volunteer patients with identified bloodstream infections who have signed an informed consent document to be treated either normally or algorithmically to test which is more effective. His research focuses on a specific infection most commonly caused by an infected IV catheter, which is the leading cause of blood stream infections in hospitals. These infections, he said, can range anywhere from clinically insignificant colonization all the way to life threatening. The patients he is concerned with are those who have come into the hospital for treatment and while in the health care system have developed an infection through an IV catheter. “Currently, there is no standard way to treat these patients,” he said. “We want to use an algorithm that we have developed to define treatment decisions based on a search criteria that helps clinicians make

STIMULUS from page 4 a study by Assistant Professor of Biology Meng Chen that analyzes the nuances of plant cellular responses to light. “These funds are recruiting people into the research pathway,” Siedow said. But Siedow added that he is concerned about some limitations to the stimulus funding, including the requirements to disclose spending more frequently and to spend all funding within two years. Many scientific projects take up to four or

decisions on when to stop treating the infections with antibiotics.” Fowler added that this algorithmic approach will provide a non-inferior standard of care while reducing the total number of antibiotic days in treating the bloodinfection. “The reason NIH is paying $ll million is because there is no way to figure out who to treat and who not to treat,” he said. “We are figuring out away to do just that.” Sophomore Brandon Pierce said he believes the grant is appropriate for this research, especially given that the grant will be received over time as specific milestones are met. He added that it is a valuable investment that may yield long-term benefits. This development will not only lower the total cost of antibiotics, but will also reduce global selection—giving bacteria less of a chance to evolve and develop a resistance to treatment. Fowler believes that if this method is shown to be a good standard of care, it will rapidly be adopted by practitioners everywhere, reducing the use ofantibiotics. “It seems that there have been discrepancies in providing treatment for this blood stream infection,” said junior Mays Ali. “This research, if successful, will lead to better and more standardized patient care.” five years, Siedow and Hoyle noted, meaning that funding would have to be renewed after this two-year period. If more funds are not made available, Siedow said his team will “hit a cliff, and all the people funded will drop off.” “There’s certainly no lack of proposals to fund,” Hoyle added. Although Siedow said the stimulus funding was a boon for Duke researchers, he noted that Duke had maintained support for its scientists even before the ARRA “We were doing well even before the stimulus,” he said. “These new grants are icing on the cake

“Hello”

In an effort to maintain good health and minimize the potential spread of the flu and other viruses among Career Fair participants, both students and employers, we recommend you abstain from the traditional handshake greeting in favor of a simple “hello.” In the Career Fair setting where many greetings are exchanged, one infected hand can spread a lot of germs. This small change to a common practice can go a long way toward reducing the spread of infectious germs.

Remember, your health is our concern. Wash your hands, eat healthy foods, and get plenty of rest. We’ll see you at the Career Fair on Wednesday, September 16.

Duke Career Center 111 DIVISION OF STUDENT AFFAIRS

DUKE UNIVERSITY

17


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8 | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15,2009

Global Education Fair Today ■ Bryan Center

11:30-3:30

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global.duke.edu/geo

DUKE UNIVERSITY

Global Education OFFICE FOR UNDERGRADUATES SMITH WAREHOUSE, 114 S. BUCHANAN BLVD., BAY 6, 2ND FLOOR

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919-684-2174 GLOBALED@DUKE.EDU HTTP://GLOBAL.DUKE.EDU/GEO -


TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15,2009 | 9

THE CHRONICLE

SCREENING from page 3

a one-day program that marked the ICCSN’s first event. They attended three consecutive panels to discuss the dayto-day workings of the OTP, a broader overview of the court and opportunities for students to become involved in the field ofinternational criminal justice. Guest speakers were Antonia Pereira de Sousa, an associate cooperation officer within the jurisdiction, complementarity and cooperation division of the OTP and Horejah Bala-Gaye, an assistant trial lawyer for the Prosecution Division of the OTP. During her presentation, Bala-Gaye emphasized the importance ofuniversal involvement in the court. “Everyone’s involvement is necessary to end impunity and prevent further crimes around the world,” she said. A UN body signed the Rome Statute in 1998 to found the ICC, an international court that could try war crimes and crimes against humanity. Although the United States is not one of the 110 countries currently part of the ICC, its relationship with the court has evolved since the statute went into effect in 2002, said Matthew Smith, secondyear law student and president and founder of Duke’s chapter of the ICCSN. “In the beginning of the Bush administration, it was a relationship of outright opposition because of concerns that are not totally legitimate, that are based on lack of understanding over how the Court actually works. So a big part of our mission with ICCSN is to serve a public education role so there aren’t misconceptions about how the Court works,” he said. “We don’t necessarily endorse or oppose the idea of the U.S. signing onto the Rome Statute. We would like to see the US support the work of court, but the primary goal is [to ensure] that debate about the court’s work is based on correct information rather than politicized information.” Smith said he decided to found Duke’s ICCSN chapter after meeting Pereira de Sousa at a conference about Darfur held at the Law School last year. She encouraged him to contact ICCSN leaders at USE and the University of Cambridge, following which he assembled the executive board for Duke’s chapter this Fall, composed of mostly first and second-year law students. “It’s... an excellent opportunity for these students to lead a movement because the fundamental point is that because the court is a permanent court, it will need confiddnt, committed people from every generation to support its work and we are sort of the next wave of people working foir the court,” Smith said.

Israeli-Arab war of 1948 “The most important thing about the film was that it broke something. It was a hidden thing that nobody would talk about, and suddenly it was out in the open,” Loevy said of how his film exposed the truth behind the expulsion of the Palistinians. He added that they did not necessarily leave their villages freely, as the Israeli public was led to believe at the time. The on-screen controversy beget protests on the streets of Israel when Loevy tried to debut it on Israeli TV. The government had prohibited the film from being aired, and the network responded defiantly by displaying a blank screen for the duration of the film. Silver screens everywhere are now free to shed light on the story of ‘Khirbet Khizeh’, which remains significant in light of the persistent Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

3

CRIMINAL COURT fro. pa ge

UNITED HEALTH from page 1 among the lucky ones—we have medical insurance,” said Matthew Whelan, a first-year graduate student in the Divinity School. “And when we needed things to go smoothly—both being graduate students, expecting and then receiving our first child—it was quite overwhelming to have to deal with UHCSR in the way we did.”

Pregnant and insured? Whelan said he and his wife, fourth-year Divinity graduate student Natalie Carnes, found fighting for maternity coverage to be taxing. Originally told that the birth center at which his wife delivered was in-network, Whelan said the couple was surprised to later discover that the service was out-of-network. “It literally felt like a part-time job dealing with them over the phone this summer in order to resolve the manifold bills we kept on receiving from providers, fightingjust to get UHCSR to cover the things their policy states that they cover,” he said. Carnes noted that health care providers seem to be facing difficulties under the new plan as well. “One thing that has surprised me in this process is how frustrated I have seen health care providers get with UHCSR, too,” Carnes said, adding that two hospitals she has visited have expressed confusion and frustration with the current

plan.

second-year graduate student in medical his wife’s UHCSR insurance to said he expected physics, cover the majority ofher pre-birth care, but then the couple was billed $721 for a fetal ultrasound. Upon probing further, Wells said the details he unearthed were surprising. “I found out that Duke had billed my second ultrasound as an X-ray,” he said. “Being as I am a student in the medical sciences, I should know that an x-ray is certainly not equivalent to an ultrasound. My inquiries to [UHCSR] indicated that, due to the mix-up in billing, [UHCSR] was unable to cover the cost of the procedure unless a full prenatal workup and ultrasound results could be provided by the hospital.” Wells said the insurance company paid the ultrasound

Jered Wells, a

DSG ELECTION from page 1 Twenty-seven percent of students—1,889 out of 7,004 undergraduates —cast ballots in the election, DSG Attor-

ney General Var Shankar wrote in an e-mail. In order for the election results to be valid, at least 25 percent of the student population needed to vote. All four referendums passed by margins of at least 1,000 votes. Shankar, a senior, said he was pleased with the number of students who participated, noting that the numbers were higher than they had been in past elections. “I think the student body responded really well to the call for special elections,” he said. The dissolution of the position of DSG vice president for the ICC—the most contentious proposal on the ballot— formally cuts ties between the two organizations. Both DSG and ICC endorsed the referendum prior to the election. “That was an amendment that I started working on over the summer... that was subject to a lot of very public debate,” said junior Gregory Morrison, executive vice president of DSG. “The vast majority felt it was a good thing.” At a meeting before the election results were announced, the Executive Committee of the ICC discussed what the role and structure of the organization should be in coming years.

bill six months later. Searching for doctors in Beaufort Students at the Marine Lab in Beaufort, N.C. said they have been frustrated with UHCSR guidelines they feel are unfair to those who spend their time outside Durham. Myriah Cornwell, a fourth-year graduate student in the Nicholas School living at the Marine Lab, said BlueCross BlueShield of N.C. provided students with more health providers in the area than UHCSR does. She said she and her fellow students in Beaufort brought their concerns to UHCSR, which asked for a list of all providers in Carteret County. Michelle Blickley, a sixth-year graduate student in the integrated toxicology program at the Nicholas School, said she and other students at the Marine Lab then submitted 10 names of medical providers near Beaufort to UHCSR. “Out of the 10 or so names we submitted, only two have been added to the program,” she said. Blickley noted that the lack of access to physicians has been very inconvenient for her. “When Duke switched to UHCSR, I had to change all my doctors because none of them accepted UHCSR,” she said. “Even more upsetting is that the physician list on the [UHCSR] Web site only lists 39 doctors within a 30 mile radius [of the Marine Lab] that accept our insurance.” Blickley said UHCSR representatives told students to look within a 50-mile radius. Cornwell also said a clause in the health plan that limits students to one medical visit a day is unfair to those in Beaufort. “Many of us Marine Lab students schedule doctors’ appointments in Durham—since our coverage in Beaufort is so dismal—and we like to do them in one day since it’s out of our way,” she said. UHCSR is re-examining the clause, said David Kahler, Graduate and Professional Student Council treasurer and Student Health Insurance Advisory Committee member. Miscommunications Other problems stem from—as Brendan Nyhan puts it—“administrative incompetence.” Nyhan, who graduated last year with a doctorate in po-

“The novella and the film are still relevant,” Ginsburg said. “In Israel, people have seen the film as commenting about Israel’s present relationship with the Palistinians.” The medium in which ‘Khirbet Khizeh’ represents this unfolding story also marks a turn in Israeli history. Loevy said the film’s $BO,OOO budget was the highest allocated to any in Israel at the time. Loevy took those funds and applied them to revolutionizing Israeli cinema, Ginsberg said. “Duke decided to bring Ram Loevy because he is one of the most important and influentialIsraeli filmmakers, making some 60 dramas, documentaries and mini-series,” Ginsberg said. “Without him, one cannot imagine contemporary Israeli cinema.” Duke students will have another opportunity to hear Ram Loevy’s perspective on Middle Eastern affairs and cinema when he presents clips from his films at a workshop Oct. 12. “ICC is a forum for uniting student opinion,” said Duke University Union President Zach Perret, a junior. “The structure that we choose depends on the way we think.” The newly structured Judiciary will give DSG the power of judicial review over student groups. Seven justices, including a chief justice—selected by the Senate and confirmed by a student vote—will compose the Judiciary. DUSDAC will now fall under the umbrella of DSG, continuing to evaluate dining options and recommending venues to be added or removed from campus. Seventeen new DSG Senators were also elected, although eight seats remain vacant. “It’s a very high number of elected senators, the highest involvement since my involvement in DSG—which started in 2007,” Morrison said. The new senators for Academic Affairs are freshmen Ari Ruffer and Kenneth Gould, juniors Dimitri Jean and Matt Stansky and seniors Kristen Yang and Daniel Lewin, a former Chronicle columnist. Freshmen Cameron Oswalt and Douglas Hanna and juniors Ben Bergmann and Kendyl Tash are the new senators for Athletics and Campus Services. The new senators for StudentAffairs are freshmen Molly Superfine and Gurdane Bhutani and senior Steven McAlpine. Freshmen Chris Brown and Gordon Wilson and juniors Lauren Kottis and Danielle Starks were elected as senators for Durham and Regional Affairs. litical science and now researches health policy at the University of Michigan, said he was billed for his two-year-old son’s vaccination—a charge UHCSR did not cover because his son was listed as his spouse. “We determined that I was being charged higher premiums than I should have been, since insuring a spouse is more expensive than a child,” he said. “Apparently the fact that my son was two years old didn’t tip them off.” Other administrative problems arose from confusion on Duke’s end about where claims should be sent. Cornwell, who does research at the Marine Lab, said that initially, every medical claim she filed was denied. “Every time I contacted the UHCSR help line, it was as if I was talking to a wall,” she said. “I explained my situation, and they denied ever receiving a claim and offered no help in dealing with the hospital or paying my bill.” Jean Hanson, administrative director of Duke Student Health, said that from August to October of last year, the Duke Patient Revenue Management Organization sent student insurance claims to the main UnitedHealthcare office instead of the college-specific subdivision of UHCSR. But Cornwell said she believes the problems could have been resolved quickly. “At no point did anyone at either United branch figure this out or pass along my claim to the right office.... It was as if they were forbidden from talking to each other,” she said Hanson added that the error was not unique to Duke. In a November 2008 message posted on the GPSC insurance forum, Hanson wrote that because the problem was so prevalent among other schools, UHCSR developed an information sheet about claims submission, which is now posted on the Student Health Web site. She said in an interview that claims submission problems have been addressed and are in the process of being resolved. For some students with other options, changing insurance providers appears to have been the simplest choice. Wells said he and his wife decided to leave UHCSR six months into her pregnancy. “My wife and I abandonedthe Duke system... in order to avoid the hassles with the insurance,” Wells said. “Needless to say, the remainder of the pregnancy was worry-free.”


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The Chronicle

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TUESDAY September 15,2009

comerback Leon Wright was named ACC Defensive Back of theWeek for his two-interception performance in Duke's 35-19 win over Army Saturday. Senior

FOOTBALL

TWitter, Swine Flu and K-Ville

N.C.C.U. not an

FCS school

At Duke, basketball never fully escapes the spotlight. In just over a month—October 16, to be exact—the Blue Devils kick off the college basketball season. It’s too early to say how far Duke can go in the Tournament, how quickly the freshmen can contribute or how significant of a void Gerald Henderson and Elliot Williams leave in their absence. It’s probably too early to accurately speculate about play ■fc on the court, but there are a nurn■Bp ber of Duke Basjfr y ketball subplots worth noting. Taylor Here are four i ■pv U stories to follow as the season nears:

Duke win Sept. 26 wouldn’t push team toward bowl count

onerty -

1. “Countdown to Craziness”: Duke’s Own Midnight Madness? A simple Blue-White game may soon be in the past. In 1970, Maryland head coach Lefty Driesell looked to get an edge on everyone else when he started pratice a minute after midnight on the first day NCAA rules permitted it. The symbolic gesture laid the foundation for an NCAA tradition:The concept of“Midnight Madness” was born. Other programs now use that time to host pep rallies, scrimmages and interactive fan events. And sometimes, Midnight Madness can even involve the “Soulja Boy.” On October 12, 2009, top high school recruit Greg Monroe visited Georgetown for Midnight Madness. At the time, recruiting experts pegged Duke and Georgetown as the favorites for the 6-foot-10 forward. And then, in front of a packed McDonough Arena, something special happened. Patrick Ewingjr. taught former NFL receiver Jerry Rice the “Crank Dat” dance,

FOOTBALL

Avoiding swine flu in K-Ville is one of Taylor Doherty's biggest things to watch during basketball season. the students’ delight. ESPNU covered the event live, and three days later, Monroe committed. If the night didn’t solidify the foward’s pick, it certainly didn’t hurt. It wasn’t a scrimmage like Duke’s BlueWhite game, it was a celebration of Georgetown sports. “The Countdown to Craziness”— though the specifics are unclear —might give the Blue Devils something similar. “It’s going to build off of the BlueWhite game that we’ve had in the past,” Associate Sports Information Director Matt Plizga said Monday. “There will still be that aspect of it, but there will be a lot of other smaller activities going on around that. Nothing was wrong with the [Blue-White game], but we are just trying to build on that, make it a bit more interactive for the students and the fans.” 2. Nolan Smith’s Twitter Feed. Duke players are often noted for to

their ability to deal effectively with the media. Some years, the team recieves training from professionals: A few years ago, Seattle Mariners play-by-play commentator Dave Simms was brought in to speak to the team about interacting with the media. Much of the advice consists of simple reminders; stand up straight, look people in the eyes, don’t mumble. Being smart with the media protects Duke’s program and public image. Sometimes, though, this comes at a cost An interview veteran can dodge questions and pass stock answers offfor geniuine thought Candid responses are traded for sports cliches. There’s something funny, though, about Twitter. The medium is generally less formal and gives public figures an opportunity to throw out offbeat and

Plenty ofBlue Devil fans consoled themselves after Duke lost to Richmond with the idea that the team could only count one win over an FCS opponent toward bowl eligibility, anyway, and N.G. Central was still on the schedule. Unfortunately, that premise wasn’t exacdy correct. Even if Duke beats the Eagles Sept. 26, the Blue Devils will still need six other total wins to reach bowl eligibility. The (Raleigh) News and Observer’s J.P. Giglio, who covers the ACC, reported last Thursday that the NCAA “does not technically consider N.C. Central a full-fledged FCS team”. The Eagles are a “reclassifying” team that is still making the transition from Division II to Division I, which includes both the FCS and FBS divisions. DukeFootball spokesman Art Chase confirmed that the program was aware of N.C. Central’s status when the game was scheduled. As such, the Blue Devils needed to go 6-5 against the remaining 11 opponents on their schedule—including Richmond. Duke’s Homecoming matchup with N.C. Central was scheduled very late, and replaced a scheduled game with Louisville that Duke backed out of in 2007. The new information makes the loss to the Spiders much more gut-wrenching for Duke supporters. Now, the Blue Devils will have to go 5-4 against their remaining FBS opponents, which include five teams ranked in the top 25.

—from staffreports

SEE DOHERTY ON PAGE 11

MEN'S BASKETBALL

Cameron changes to impact student seating By Dan Ahrens THE CHRONICLE

Cameron Indoor Stadium has undergone some renovations in hopes of improving the Blue Devils’ already imposing homecourt advanatage, renovations that will change the viewing experience for some Duke students. Most directly affecting the student body are the changes to the seating configuration. Unlike in recent years, graduate students will now occupy seats at both the north and south ends of the stadium, allowing some of Duke’s most clever fans to disrupt opponents’ free throw shooting and offense all game long. Seating capacity will change only slighdy—2s more graduate students received tickets at this year’s GPSC Campout than last year, but capacity is dependent on Durham County’s fire safety code. Previously, graduate students were concentrated CHASE OLMEI

FILE PHOTO

Seating rearrangements in Cameron Indoor Stadium mean that undergraduates will be concentrated almost entirely in Section 17 next season.

SEE CAMERON ON PAGE 12


THE CHRONICLE

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15,2009 I 11

DOHERTY from page 10 unconstrained remarks On Sept. 5, Smith (@ndotsmitty) tweeted, “At southpoint mall, just saw a midget and he came up to me and said ‘what up lil man ima big duke fan!’ Smith followed up with the punchline: “Are you a big duke fan or little duke fan!” The junior’s joke—a little edgy, maybe—shows Smith is a part of that trend. For now, it seems as though the tweets ofDuke players—senior Jon Scheyer uses the site as well—are relatively unfiltered. The players that have chosen to have an account on Twitter have done so by their own accord and have not been formally encouraged to do so by the program. But it’s something to keep an eye on. As soon a player embarrasses Duke Basketball, expect free-spirited tweeting to come to a sudden end. 3. A diminishedUNC squad. As the old saying goes, “If you can’t beat ‘em, wait until they graduate or leave early.” Having lost Tyler Hansbrough and Danny Green to graduation and Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington after the pair bolted early to the NBA, the Tar Heels look to replace their top four scorers who combined for 66.2 points per game. A season in transition could benefit Duke. The BlueDevils haven’t defeated their rival in Cameron Indoor Stadium since February 9, 2005. Duke will get its chance to end that streak March 6 to finish off the regular season. 4. Surviving K-Ville 2010. Take last year’s K-Ville, add about a month to the tenting period, and then—most importantly—sprinkle in some swine flu. I thought the C-l and the communal utensil buckets in the dining halls would be the main carrier of the flu until I remembered that Duke students sleep shoulderto-shoulder in tents during two of the coldest months of the year. But hey, you get grace if it’s below 20 degrees or snows two inches, right? It sounds to me like what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) calls a “Swine Flu Party,” an event during which “people have close contact with a person who has 2009 HINI flu in order to become infected with the virus...in the hope of having natural immunity [to the] 2009 HINI flu virus that might circulate later and cause more severe disease.” These parties are not recommended. I wonder what the CDC would have to say about K-Ville. ”


THE CHRONICLE

12 I TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15,2009

CAMERON from page 10 behind the basket on the south side of Cameron. Spillover graduate students who last year occupied the corner of the undergraduate section will' now be seated behind the north basket, where ticketed fans used to sit alongside the Duke University Marching Band. Though the number of undergraduate students allowed in each game will not change, the Cameron Crazies will have a more contiuguous seating area. Some students, though, might be upset about that unity. For the last several, bleacher seats behind the scorers’ table were available to students, but this season they will be sold as premium seating for sponsors, alumni and distinguished guests. Buffer zone seats will not be affected, but seats in the center of the section—between the two teams’ benches—will be relocated to the corners of Section 17. Duke spokesman Jon Jackson wrote in an email that the last row of section 19, which spans the courtside bleachers opposite the undergraduate section, will still be open to students. A new press row area will also be constructed, giving reporters and students in the first row more space. The new press table will include 90 feet of LED technology. In addition to seating changes, Cameron received some aesthetic transformations as well. The once bland, grey upper bowl was injected with life in the form of a blue coat of paint over every seat. Power washing of the seats/ concrete, railings and tunnels help revive the famed venue. “-Getting the graduate students behind both baskets, while keeping our undergraduate student section courtside, will create even more of a home court advantage for the team,” head coach Mike Krzyzewski said in a statement. “Personally, I love the new look of the stadium and can’t wait to see it full of Cameron Crazies and Duke fans throughout the 2009-10 season.” The changes will first be on display at the Countdown to Craziness Oct. 16.

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THE CHRONICLE

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15,2009

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THE CHRONICLE

commentaries

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A loud and eventful sion may have subsided. The situation last Spring Spring off East Campus may have given way to a calm and was unfortunate for both parquiet Fall thanks to ■'-open ties involved. The THNA did communication between have legitimate complaints. Some student off-campus stuhouses were dents and their editorial guilty of lessneighbors behavior. In the second semester of than-neighborly lastacademicyear, complaints Students, too, were treated abounded from residents of unfairly, as the large majorthe Trinity Heights neighbority of undergraduates who hood. Led by Christine Westlived in Trinity Heights and fall, president of the Trinity behaved themselves were painted as out ofcontrol and Heights Neighboorhood Association, they railed against disrespectful. Each side misjudged the so-called “party houses” occupied by University students other, and lines ofcommuniguilty of noise violations and cation were shut down. Over the course of a few unruly behavior. Now, with the election of months, the issue became another student to the Trina full-blown controversy. ity Heights Neighborhood THNA, upset by what they Association board this past perceived as a lack of progweekend, it seems the ten- ress, took their demands for

I remember my campout weekends; brutal! I don’t know how the undergrads do their week of camping. Sneaking away for a shower: priceless. —“Chris S” commenting on the story “Thousands camp for basketball tickets.” See more at www. m m dukechronicle.com. Jr m

LETTERS POLICY purposes of identification, phone number and local address, letters should not exceed 325 words; contact the editorial department for information regarding guest columns. The Chronicle will not publish anonymous or form letters or letters that are promotional in nature. The Chronicle reserves the right to edit letters and guestcolumas for length, clarity and style and the right to withhold letters based on the discretion of the editorial page editor.

Est. 1905

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

The Chronicle

Inc. 1993

WILL ROBINSON, Editor

HON LUNG CHU, Managing Editor

EMMELINE ZHAO, NewsEditor GABE STAROSTA, Sports Editor MICHAEL NACLERIO, Photography Editor SHUCHIPARIKH, Editorial Page Editor MICHAEL BLAKE, Editorial Board Chair ALEX KLEIN, Online Editor JONATHAN ANGIER, General Manager LINDSEY RUPP, University Editor SABREENA MERCHANT, Sports Managing Editor JULIUS JONES,Local & NationalEditor JINNY CHO, Health & Science Editor GLEN GUTTERSON, News PhotographyEditor ANDREW HIBBARD, Recess Editor EMILY BRAY, Editorial Page Managing Editor ASHLEY HOLMSTROM, Wire Editor CHARLIE LEE, Design Editor CHELSEA ALLISON, TowerviewEditor EUGENE WANG, Recess Managing Editor CHASE OLIVIERI, MultimediaEditor ZAK KAZZAZ, Recruitment Chair TAYLOR DOHERTY, Sports Recruitment Chair MARY WEAVER, Operations Manager BARBARA STARBUCK, Production Manager

rowitz, elected to the THNA last April. And now that he has graduated, we are glad to see that another undergraduate living in Trinity Heights, senior David Hershey, has stepped up to the plate to take a spot on the THNA board. A student serving on the THNA board brings with it a number of benefits. Not only does it encourage students to take ownership of the community they will be living in for the duration of the academic year, it can also help lead to more grassroots dialogue and a kitchen table approach to handling complaints when and if they arise. In future years, if conflict between students and neighbors die down, it will be easy for student participation in the THNA to wane. Students

are busy, they are'temporary residents, and without any conflict, there is little incentive for them to volunteer to participate in the association. Therefore, the Duke Student Government should build into the responsibilities of the vice president for Durham and Regional Affairs the maintenance of quality relationships between students and neighbors by soliciting off-campus students to serve in THNA and similar neighborhood associations. A proactive strategy in times of relative tranquility can prevent an outbreak of antagonism and avert the breakdown of communication we saw last Spring. Sustained conversation is a good thing, and hopefully, this is just the beginning.

Activism and aliens

onlinecomment

The (Ihmnide welcomes submissions in the form oflelters to the editor or guest columns. Submissions mast include the author’s name, signature, department or class, and for

stricter control of Duke students to the City Council. The Council, led by Councilwoman Diane Catotti and others, then turned to President Brodhead for answers. Letters, petitions and harsh words were exchanged as the' higher-ups thrashed out their demands and demanded solutions. But in this conversation, one fundamental stakeholder was missing: Duke students. By taking their cause to City Hall and the University administration, THNA missed a crucial opportunity to involve students in a level, evenhanded conversation that could have produced change and better behavior from the bottom-up, not the top-down. To this end, it was encouraging to see a student, Joe Meye-

ZACHARY TRACER, University Editor JULIALOVE, Features Editor TONI WEI, Local & National Editor RACHNA REDDY, Health & Science Editor COURTNEY DOUGLAS, Sports PhotographyEditor AUSTIN BOEHM, Editoridl Page Managing Editor REBECCA WU, Editorial Page Managing Editor NAUREEN KHAN, Senior Editor SWETHA SUNDAR, Graphics Editor BEN COHEN, Towerview Editor MADDIE LIEBERBERG, Recess PhotographyEditor LAWSON KURTZ, Towerview PhotographyEditor CAROLINE MCGEOUGH, RecruitmentChair' ANDY MOORE, Sports RecruitmentChair CHRISSY BECK, Advertising/MarketingDirector REBECCA DICKENSON, Chapel Hill Ad Sales Manager

The Chronicle is published by theDuke Student Publishing Company, Inc, a non-profit corporation independentof 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. Toreach the Editorial Office at 301 Flowers Building, call 684-2663 or fax 684-4696.T0reach 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. C 2009 The Chronicle, Box 90858, Durham, N.C27708. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any formwithout theprior, written permission ofthe Business Office. Each individual is entitled to one free copy.

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fter afewyears at this school, I’m still trying to figure out what student activism means. And if we show any.” -K, ;oTrinity TO. After sitting at the West Campus bus stop for a total of three hours over the past two weeks, I have two observations: kousha navidar first, I’ve learned holy diver that umbrellas are natures way o preventing heat stroke; second, I’ve found that not many people want to talk about social activism on campus (except for K). Activism, to me, is defined as the type ofinvolvement thathas an impact on social causes. K raises an important question. It would seem that we take pride in exhibiting leadership that makes a positive difference in the world. But think about it this way: Would a friendly alien visiting Duke for one day be able to tell that students care about social causes in their communities? I offer the interpretation that student activism is not a visible part of our campus culture (gasp!), for two reasons. Firstly, the majority of our activism takes place outside of campus. Secondly, there is a dichotomy of how involved individual students are in social issues. But I do think the resources and passion for change exist. Duke students have many chances to work for social causes. I moseyed on over to the Duke Center for Civic Engagement’s Web site and did a general search for all thevolunteer opportunities in Durham. Holy diver! In this search alone were exacdy 381 postings (trust me—l counted). I was so overcome with activist spirit that I couldn’t help but mouse-click to DukeEngage’s website, where I found 31 immersion programs. Add that to an infinite variety ofindividual programs with full funding, and it is clear that we’ve got the goods to make a difference. Most of these opportunites, however, are physically removed from the Duke community. Of the 381 postings on DCCE’s Web site, only eight were on Duke’s non-medical campus (that’s 2 percent, or an F-). Almost all of DukeEngage’s immersion programs are outside of Durham. I’m not saying that this is bad, or that we need to start protesting for an 8-week program called “DukeEngage: The Bryan Center.” The numbers simply show that the vast majority of student vdlunteerism happens away from the Duke community. The dichotomy of student involvement also detracts from the visibility of activism on campus. Only one student of roughly 30 I talked to even mentioned activism to me at the bus stop. Try it

yourself: Next time you’re at The Loop just sit and listen to others (as if you don’t already). Everyone talks for an hour, but that hour is devoted entirely to either their night on Saturday, their test on Wednesday or the new non-profit that they’ve been starting since birth. We lack a middle ground. Taken together, these two factors result in a campus where most activists don’t publicize their work. I tutored with America Counts my sophomore year, and though I spent a lot of time offcampus doing fulfilling work, once I got back I didn’t share my experience with anyone besides my fellow tutors. Perhaps if the University were to offer more opportunities for service projects on campus, students could make a visible change with a more flexible time commitment. If the University then offered more programs that celebrate and connect causes that students work for, the necessary dialogue will happen to make activism more apparent in our daily lives. But most importantly, students need to be encouraged to offer their time as much as their money. It needs to be that in-your-face kind of inspiration that lasts beyond a week and without the presence of a tangible incentive. Let’s take the case of Purple. The new student organization’s mission reads, “Purple is a social enterprise that uses music and fashion to inspire activism.” Last week the group raised funds for different causes through T-shirt sales and a concert. They plan to host opportunities after last week to continue connecting students to non-profits and to each other. Purple’s idea is great, and everyone who is a part of the organization should be commended. It is a creative way to raise money for worthwhile causes. However, Purple’s ability to inspire student activism is still unknown. Students need to understand that Purple, and activism itself, is more than a concert and T-shirts. To be successful, the organization must continue to bring students together who would not otherwise care to work towards a social cause. In fact, Purple’s future efforts may be even more important than the work they have already done. If Purple fails to actually connect students, then something that began with tremendous potential will become just another week-long fundraising initative. I think it is capable ofmuch more. As of right now, I would have to agree withK’s busstop fear that student activism is not a visible part of our campus culture. However, we have the student passion and University resources necessary to make any alien realize the great work our fellow students do. Until then, I’ll still be sitting at the bus stop listening to your stories (and starting my application for a DukeEngage program in the Bryan Center). Kousha Navidar is a Trinity senior. His column runs every other Tuesday


THE CHRONICLE

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15,2009 I 15

commentaries

More than a trend

lettertotheeditor SOFC monitors student groups with care I wanted to express my concern over the misconceptions in the Editorial Board’s Sept. 11 editorial, “More groups, more money, more problems,” regarding the Student Organization Finance Committee and Duke Student Government. Firstly, the new group proliferation does not, as implied by The Chronicle, thin out the annual budget. While it is true that 30 groups have been chartered over the course of last year, this does not guarantee them funding. These groups are welcome to apply, but are not automatically entitled to the annual budget. Furthermore, 19 groups have failed to reapply to the annual budget; in addition, 30 more groups have had their accounts deviated due to inactivity. All of the leftover funding from these 49 groups was therefore promptly transferred back to SOFC. Thus, the 30 new groups do not, after all, divert funds from established groups.

Secondly, SOFC works with the Office of Student Activities and Facilities to meticulously audit groups throughout the year. “Red-flagged” groups are closely monitored and sanctions are immediately levied against groups at the first sign of dubiousfinancial activities. This year, the first auditing sessions will begin in October. Thirdly, SOFC and DSG do carefully evaluate new student groups. Only groups that add a distinct, unique purpose to Duke will be supported. With that said, I personally do not believe having too many groups on campus is a negative. The number of student organizations on campus is a true testament to the innovative spirit and leadership ability of Duke students. SOFC’s main priority has been, is, and always will be promoting the growth of student organizations, not limiting their potential. David Hu Chair, Student OrganizationFinance Committee

Love lost in translation

Remember

that super-cute story line from Love

Actually in which Colin Firth’s character falls in love with his Portuguese housekeeper despite the fact that they don’t speak the same language? Yeah, well, in real life,

love really isn’t like that at all—at least it hasn’t been in my life or the lives of my amigos. Actually, love—or its watered-down derivatives of flirting, dating, kissing and so on— i aura J doesn t quite translate. eurotrip Let’s face it, love connections aren’t even the norm between two English speakers at Duke smashed together in the hallway of a section party. So thoughts of it working abroad are idealistically dreamy at best. Speaking of idealism, I don’t think the language and cultural barrier necessarily makes the expressing of feelings more difficult; it just makes it 1,000 times more hysterical when something goes awry. And I have the evidence to prove it. Take for example, Exhibit A; a French guy in his early twenties and my friend, let’s call her Sydney, in a club this past July 4 in Oxford, England. Now, like any good Americans, my fellow Duke-in-Oxford companions and I were ringing in our first night out in England by celebrating a great American holiday. Sydney met this guy on the dance floor (clearly the place love blossoms best in any country), and they danced, talked and exchanged names at the end of the night to facilitate easy Facebook-friending and communication. They parted ways with an agreement to maybe see each other the next week. True love, obviously. Fast forward a few days, and she has an official dinner date invitation to “The MacDonalds” (yes, he and other non-Americans tend to give it a title). After actually laughing out loud, she accepts. However, when the day of her date actually rolls around, she gets cold feet and backs out with a classic excuse (“I’m really tired, sorry”) and figures that’s the end ofit. But this is “Great” Britain, not America, so this love affair plows forward. Frenchie, who clearly has the love bug bad, messages her, “I really want to have sex with you, meet me at The MacDonalds tomorrow and you can pick the time.” And cut. Sorry French Don Juan, at least a minor at-

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tempt at getting to know a girl is required. And to think he had so much promise. Poor Sydney is not the only female Dukie to narrowly avoid a swine flu-esque love potion. Exhibit B involves a similar setting in a different European country, this time Spain. All dance floors, whether Western-themed in Durham or seedy American-themed in Spain, all tend to give off a universal vibe of “come hither.” Picture three girls from my program—l’ll call them Chelsea, Meghan and Sara—in one of the seedy American clubs we went to in Madrid our first week, standing near the bar in a typical girl-conference, attempting to decide what to do next. Suddenly, they are surrounded by a couple Spanish men in their mid-to-late thirties that look like they have just found love at first sight. “jEstan borrachas!” one said to his amigos. Now, maybe if my friends didn’t know any Spanish whatsoever, they might have thought the men said, “You girls are beautiful.” But, unfortunately for the three aging Spanish men, we here in Duke-in-Madrid do know Spanish and, as a result, did know that he had just announced (with a grin on his face similar to a kid in a candy store): “They’re drunk!” Wrong on all counts. Strike two for love. Now onto Exhibit C, and this time we have a language match-up but a wide cultural gap. Another friend of mine in Spain—we’ll call her Nancy—was in the famous downtown district ofMadrid. She was slightly near the gay district, but what college-aged girl doesn’t like hanging out with gay men? As Nancy was walking, an English-speaking woman approached her. Figuring she was probably going to ask a question, Nancy turned and gave her full attention to this new potential friend. After a few seconds, it became clear that she would not be a new friend—she was actually a lesbian prostitute trying to encourage Nancy to get to know her a little better. Panic ensued, and potential-friend-turned-love-failure was left in the dust. And that, ladies and gendemen, is my perspective of attempted love, European-style. Love may be all around us wherever we are, but normally it gets lost in translation, Maybe those section parties are the best place to find love after all. (Names have been changed to protect the guilty.)

Laura Keeley is a Trinity junior. Her column runs every other Tuesday.

The Law of Free Food: Food Taste

Food Quality x Hunger =

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Cost

Issues

that threaten basic rights surround us everyday. not they are in plain

They are everywhere, whether or sight.

Despite the decreased media coverage of the Sudan, the Darfur crisis has all but been resolved. Refugees on every continent are forced to live in duke human treacherous conditions, and rights Coalition sometimes, in severe cases, SOCial justice separated from their entire

Column

family. On a level closer

to

home, members of our own communities are living without the basic necessities to survive. Race discrimination, gender inequalities and socioeco-

nomic barriers are still very much alive. With all of these prevalent issues, it is becoming increasingly difficult to turn a blind eye to the apparent problems across the country and around the globe. The aftereffects sparked by the presidential elections in Iran demonstrated the ability for information to travel at a rapid pace. Social networking sites are becoming a useful tool, allowing us to stay connected with not only our friends or our favorite celebrities, but also with those who wish to let their voices be heard. As thousands took to the street to protest the re-election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the world saw the powerful images, both filtered through the media as well as first hand from those demonstrating. With the government taking relentless measures to suppress the amount of information leaving the country, citizens were forced to spread their dissent through innovative measures. Never before had video blogs and instant messaging been used for such revolutionary causes. With this technological advancement, awareness of global issues of human rights violations has never been greater. Despite the seeming proximity of problems, the task of trying to achieve a difference may seem daunting. Whether the problems are half a world away or justaround the block in our community, many may find the problems to be an abstract conundrum without a simple solution. This complexity can often lead to pessimism towardaction. Not knowing what to do or where to begin can often prove to be an insurmountable obstacle. What can one person actually accomplish anyway? Will spreading awareness on a college campus really bring about change on a global scale? Every individual may have a different answer to these questions. We all can be certain, however, that the collective action of doing nothing can only exacerbate the problems to a greater degree. Everyone has the potential to take action. Take it from someone who had minimal exposure to human rights issues before coming to Duke. My three years here culminated in opportunities that have given me exposure to facets of life that I had never before contemplated. I had practically no knowledge about these problems, only having very little awareness of the major human rights violationsbeyond the cursory display of information by the media. Since then, I’ve attended collegiate regional conferences for genocide intervention, met three Burmese monks who were the key architects of the Saffron Revolution and helped to organize and participate in a controversial vigil for the lives lost in the Tibetan conflict. Only on a college campus could such a drastic switch oflife events take place. It was apparent by the overwhelming support of Purple last week that this is a campus that wishes to be active. We are a community that has the ability to focus on causes beyond our individual life goals. Last week was a true testament to the spirit ofcivic engagement and social responsibility. Let us, however, make sure that this does not become a fad. The lives of human beings are worth more and need greater support than the mere participation in a social trend. And though we all looked good in our American Apparel T-shirts and we all enjoyed the Posner concert, it is our responsibility to ensure that this desire for a more socially acdve community does not die young. These four years in our comfortable bubble ofacademia provide us with opportunities to create a foundation that can lead us to influencing greater good in this world. It is never too soon or too late to act. As abstract and distant as the problems may seem, one additional voice can make all the difference.

Ryan O’Connor is a Trinity senior. He is president Human Rights Coalition.

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16 | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15,2009

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THE CHRONICLE

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Events Wednesday, September 16 MUSIC. Jazz at the Many Lou with Professor John Brown and his house band. 9:30 pm. Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture. Free.

Friday, September 18 MUSIC. Rare Music: It*s in the bag! The history and music of the bagpipes with Bruce C. Wright. 4 pm. Rare Book Room, Perkins Library. Free. MUSIC. Americana night! Puritan Rodeo/Firehouse Rhythm Kings/Shipwrecker. 6:30 pm unless otherwise noted. Dillo. Free.

MUSIC. The Sian Alice Group with Polite Sleeper and Distrails. 9 pm. Duke Coffeehouse. Free for Duke students; $8 for general public. Saturday, September 19 MUSIC. The Future Kings of Nowhere with Birds & Arrows. 9 pm. Duke Coffeehouse. Free for Duke students; $5 for general public.

Great art, great architecture. NASHER MUSEUM OF ART AT DUKE UNIVERSITY

www.nasher.duke.edu

|

919-684-5135


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