Blue Devils look to bounce back
Q&A with Jerry Hough
Duke football hosts Pittsburgh Saturday at noon on senior day | Sports Page 13
The former James B. Duke Professor reflects on his May comment and future classes | Page 2
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ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVENTH YEAR, Issue 49
Martese Johnson discusses student activism Jerry Hough to teach 2 courses in Spring 2016 Amrith Ramkumar The Chronicle *See full Q&A with Hough on Page 2*
slammed to the ground and bloodied while being arrested outside a bar by state Alcoholic Beverage Control officers. In the wake of this incident, Johnson has been spreading his message of awareness and student activism. “My assault by police officers on a college campus was an injustice,” Johnson said.
After inciting controversy in May with a comment on a New York Times editorial titled “How Racism Doomed Baltimore,” Research Professor Jerry Hough—formerly James B. Duke professor of political science—will teach two undergraduate courses next spring. Hough, 80, commented that “every Asian student has a very simple old American first name that symbolizes their desire for integration. Virtually every black has a strange new name that symbolizes their lack of desire for integration” in response to the editorial about how the isolation of the AfricanAmerican community led to the riots that took place in the city. The comments, which were perceived as racially insensitive, caused a flood of discussion among students on social media and received national media attention. Following a two-year leave—which was planned well before his comments—Hough, an expert on the Soviet Union, is set to teach courses
See JOHNSON on Page 6
See HOUGH on Page 5
Richard He | The Chronicle Martese Johnson, a senior at Virginia, reflected on his experience as a black student at the university.
Likhitha Butchireddygari The Chronicle Martese Johnson, a senior at the University of Virginia who had to go to the emergency room after been arrested by police in March, gave a talk Wednesday about race relations and student activism on college campuses. The Duke Ethiopian/Eritrean Student
Transnational Association, Mi Gente and Duke chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People hosted Johnson to talk about his experiences regarding minority rights and advocacy. Johnson grew up on the south side of Chicago, where he witnessed violence, poverty and discrimination. He talked, however, about being able to overcome these barriers and attending Virginia. On March 18, 2015, he was
Back in action: Blue Devils open season Friday Meredith Cash The Chronicle After more than half a year of anticipation following its fifth national championship, Duke will finally begin the Siena 2015-16 campaign vs. facing the same expectations despite No. 5 sporting a drastically Duke different roster. FRIDAY, 7 p.m. The No. 5 Blue Cameron Indoor Stadium Devils will take on Siena at Cameron Indoor Stadium Bryant Friday at 7 p.m. before hosting vs. Bryant Saturday at 8 p.m. in a rare back-toNo. 5 back as part of the 2K Duke Classic benefitting SATURDAY, 8 p.m. Wounded Warriors Cameron Indoor Stadium Project. Although
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this season’s team has the same end goal as every Duke squad that has come before it, this young group is starting with the basics—getting comfortable on the court and establishing team chemistry as it heads into the regular season. “I can relate more than anyone to what the freshmen are going through in terms of learning how to slow down and how to think through things,” graduate student Marshall Plumlee said. “It can be a frustrating way to play when you’re going too fast and you’re not producing anything for the amount of energy and effort you’re going through. Sometimes you’re trying to run through a wall and you should just take the door, as Coach says.” After losing its top four scorers and 71.4 percent of its offense from last season, the Blue Devils clearly have some rebuilding to do. Adding the No. 1 recruiting class— headlined by four top-25 prospects— certainly helps, but restoring last year’s team chemistry will be a much more difficult feat.
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INSIDE — News 2 Sports 13 Classified 17 Puzzles 17 Opinion 18
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The freshmen have put their potential on full display through a cumulative 80 minutes of exhibition play. Luke Kennard and Brandon Ingram combined for 30 points in Duke’s first contest against Florida Southern Oct. 30, and Derryck Thornton—who had the most catching-up to do after reclassifying from the Class of 2016 to join the Blue Devils and arriving later in the summer than his classmates— led all scorers with 22 points in 29 minutes. In Duke’s 119-54 rout of Livingstone Nov. 4, Kennard notched 25 points after draining six shots from beyond the arc and Ingram followed suit with 24 points and five steals of his own. Chase Jeter recorded his first double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. “One of the good things about the freshmen is that the effort is there for them every day,” sophomore Grayson Allen said. “They are going really hard. A lot of times they’re not going too hard, but just too fast, See M. BASKETBALL on Page 20
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Khloe Kim | The Chronicle Grayson Allen and Duke take the first steps on the road to a repeat with two games this weekend.
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Hough reflects on comments, DSG reinstates student
upcoming 2016 courses newspaper readership program Amrith Ramkumar The Chronicle
Jerry Hough, former James B. Duke professor of political science, caused controversy in May with his comment on a New York Times editorial that compared the ability of black people and Asians to integrate into society. Hough will teach two classes in political science next semester. The Chronicle’s Amrith Ramkumar spoke with Hough Wednesday about his return from a two-year leave, the comments he made in May and his classes.
Q & A
The Chronicle: Can you talk about how the reaction to your comments in May has affected what it is like to come back and teach next spring?
Jerry Hough: I’ve been on leave last year, I’m on leave this fall. I have no idea whether this is a University of Missouri campus, or whether it’s the nice, old stodgy campus I’ve known for 40 years, and therefore this will have no impact at all. You can always say that any professor should teach anything that you want them to teach, so if someone says that I’m not teaching enough about x, y and z about minorities, they have the right to say that. TC: Did you have any reactions to what happened in May? JH: I have two reactions. One is annoyance at myself because I said it was a peripheral comment. I essentially believe what I said there, but I phrased it in a very bad way. The trouble with these blogs is they’re 250 words, and since they virtually all disappear that day, you’re just not as careful as you should be. It was talking about the New York Times, the way they treated the riots in Baltimore. I was talking about the Democratic party and I was talking about the New York Times, which is nothing really but an
organ for the Democratic National Committee and the President. I throw in about 25, 30 words, that no doubt I should not have thrown in. It wasn’t on theme, really. I’m annoyed with myself for causing trouble that I didn’t even intend to cause. The second thing that surprised me was when the president of the University speaking through his official communications agency— you don’t attack a James B. Duke professor... without clearance at the higher level—that [Richard] Brodhead came out and said both in public and in private and said there should be no freedom of speech on this sort of issue. If he wanted to say I’m wrong, fine—I knew he didn’t agree with me—if he just said, “This is Duke. Duke professors say strange things on all sides of Jerry Hough issues, and Duke is great because we permit freedom of speech,” but he said, “No, we don’t permit freedom of speech here, that what was said was totally inappropriate for a professor to say.” It turns out that it was quite an appropriate issue to discuss and two major articles in The New York Times [covered the issue]. We’re not even supposed to have the freedom of speech of The New York Times. I was happy that at The New York Times, maybe I did generate a debate. If it does a generate a debate, then it was worth it. TC: Have you had to do bias training or anything else before returning to teach? JH: No. I had to go through what everybody has to go through on sexual harassment, which generally says it’s really not good for me to harass undergraduates or graduates. I did one thing that I think was only on sexual harassment, which was required by the federal government by some new law. Once [the controversy] was over, the See HOUGH Q&A on Page 6
Frances Beroset The Chronicle Duke Student Government voted Wednesday to instate a new version of their previously defunded readership program that provided The New York Times, USA Today and the Durham Herald Sun. The new program will provide free online access to The New York Times for all undergraduates, and 120 hard copy papers around campus. The program will cost between $18,400 and 19,000 annually, with half of the funding coming from DSG and the other half paid for by the DeWitt Wallace Center for Media and Democracy. The program will begin in January. The previous DSG newspaper program, which was first implemented in the early 2000s, cost $20,000 per year. The authors of the statute creating the program—junior Tara Bansal, vice president for academic affairs, senior JP Lucaci, vice president for services
and Policy Advisor Michael Pelle, also a senior—explained that approximately 400 students regularly using their online subscription would make the program cost-effective, and plan to reassess it at the end of the year. The original DSG student readership program was introduced in 2002 and continued for 13 years without change, Bansal noted. “DSG was funding a really inefficient program for 13 years,” Bansal said. “Last year it seemed like... we could look for a better deal and reach out to administrators and faculty members to craft a better program, so it took a lot of time—we spoke to the library, we spoke to a lot of different departments.” Bansal expressed excitement about the new program because she said it allows DSG to pay half of what it used to for more student access to news content. She also noted that the change came in response to student concern. After the program was canceled in August many students said that an online See DSG on Page 6
Julia Li | The Chronicle Among the many topics discussed at Wednesday’s DSG meeting was a new newspaper readership program with online access to The New York Times.
MAKE A DIFFERENCE ABROAD Apply by January 1 for hundreds of Peace Corps Volunteer openings departing next summer.
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Vegetarian community growing rapidly in Durham Anupriya Sivakumar The Chronicle While Durham’s vegan and vegetarian community flourishes, Duke’s campus may not be as friendly a place for vegetarian students, vegan students or students who just want to eat healthy. The vegan scene in Durham has become increasingly prominent, with organizations, nonprofits and social events bringing supporters from around the area together and motivating others to consider healthy lifestyles. Programs in Durham, such as the Triangle Vegan Social Club, Vegan Carolina, Food for Life and Triangle Vegetarian Society— which puts together one of the nation’s biggest vegan Thanksgiving dinners with almost 3,000 people last year—have catered not only to steadfast vegans, but also to people who are trying to eat healthier even a few days a week. These organizations and events have grown in size with the help of social media, and now serve as places of community support and awareness, said Eleni Vlachos, co-head of Triangle Meatless Monday, an organization that encourages local people to skip meat one day a week. On campus, however, a scarcity of vegan dining options may also mean the absence of a supportive community for vegans and vegetarians. “It’s just not sustainable to be a vegan. Vegans don’t have many options on campus, and very few of those options have protein in them,” sophomore and vegetarian Savannah Lynn said. “There’s definitely a lack of a cohesive
Darbi Griffith | The Chronicle Some are concerned that Duke’s campus is not as vegetarian-friendly as the surrounding city of Durham.
vegetarian community, but I don’t know that it would be validated on campus— so many people actively hate vegetarians and vegans.” Although Duke does not have an official group advocating for vegetarian or vegan lifestyles, certain campus eateries have participated in Meatless Mondays during October’s National Vegetarian Month, highlighting their vegetarian dishes. Students may also expect to see more vegetarian and vegan options with the opening of West Union. Vlachos added that students can turn
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to new eating options off campus at the many vegan and vegetarian restaurants in Durham. Her organization, which organizes meet-ups and promotes more than 20 restaurants in Durham that serve vegan food, also works on providing support for its members. “It takes more character to stand up for something that a lot of people don’t feel is worthy at this moment because that’s not what the mainstream is doing”, Vlachos said. “The social aspect is important because I’ve seen that when people go vegan they get pushback. The vegan
community gives you a chance to find [veganism easier] to stick it out.” Susan Power, the owner of the Deliicious food truck, also said that young people and particularly students have helped the movement gain momentum in Durham by increasing awareness of healthy eating. “The vegan and vegetarian community is strong here,” she said. “Especially as students become graduates and end up working for these businesses that may not be catering to these special needs.” The increased number of vegans in Durham can be attributed to more people realizing what a positive effect going vegan has on a person’s health, Vlachos said. Studies have also shown that going vegan not only reduces the risk of Type 2 diabetes and other diseases, but also helps attenuate the harmful effects of global warming, she added. Consuming vegan food reduces the amount of fossil fuels used in both transportation and production of meatbased goods, since vegan foods are often locally produced. Veganism is the most effective way to make a positive impact on the environment, added Dilip Barman, who is certified by Food for Life to teach sustainable cooking in Durham and is host of the Triangle Vegetarian Society’s Big Thanksgiving dinner. “The whole country is becoming more vegetarian,” he said. “Surveys have shown that people looking for vegan food are in the double digits. I don’t think the argument of ethics has made a big difference in these numbers; I think the health argument is becoming stronger and stronger.”
The Earth juggles and brings to life proteins, nucleic acids, lipids, and zillions of other molecules...
Applications of Mathematics to Physiology and Medicine Course Number: Math 89S.01 Instructor: Professor Michael C. Reed TTH, 10:05-11:20, Physics Building, room 205. Prerequistes: Math 112 or the equivalent, high school biology, and an interest in human physiology. Trinity Curriculum Requirements: Math 89S.01 fulfills NS, QS, R, W. This seminar, open only to freshmen, will be offered in Spring 2016. Topics include: the heart and circulation, heat and temperature regulation, oxygen uptake in the lungs, the immune system and infectious diseases, nephrons and the kidney, ovulation number in mammals, chemistry and cell metabolism, sensory neurobiology. Other topics may be substituted depending on the interests of the students enrolled. Questions? Email: reed@math.duke.edu
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Duke professor doubles as historical romance novelist Samantha Neal The Chronicle
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It’s not that history doesn’t have stories and it’s not that history doesn’t have emotion, but I wanted it to be a different kind of story than a lot of academic writing. The history is what inspires most of the plots from my novels. The novels that I’ve published mostly take place in the early 19th century in the British Empire and a little bit in France.
Katharine Dubois, visiting assistant professor of history and religious studies, has published nine romance novels and three novellas with HarperCollins publishers under the pen name Katharine Ashe. She has independently published three novels and two novellas also under her pen name. Dubois, Trinity ’89, will be TC: Why did you decide to write teaching a history class on the billion-dollar under a pen name? Do your colleagues romance novel industry in the Spring. and students at Duke know about your The Chronicle’s Samantha Neal recently career as a writer? sat down with Dubois to KD: When I was discuss her career as a brand-new as a romance novelist and the professor, I decided industry. that I didn’t wish people I barely The Chronicle: knew in academia to When did you decide judge me according to start writing to their stereotypes romance fiction? of the [romance] Katharine Dubois: I genre, so I decided always wrote romance to keep these two fiction. Even when Katharine dubois lives separate. I I didn’t know I was did tell people in writing romance, I was the romance industry that I was a writing romance. Ever professor, but I didn’t tell people since I was writing in academia that I was a romance actual stories with novelist. Then, I decided I wanted to beginnings, middles be a full-time novelist and part-time and ends, there was teacher, and I started to tell people always a romance in in the summer of 2012. Now, I don’t the stories I was writing. care—I love what I do and I’m proud When I graduated from [Duke] of what I do. I reach a lot of people was when I wrote my first full-length with my novels. I’m still a teacher of novel and it was really a young adult history in some ways with my novels. I novel. The characters were people get fanmail from people who say they who were roughly my age and it was learn things from history with my set in contemporary United States of novels, so that makes me happy and America. It was when I was working I’m really happy with what I do. on my Ph.D. in the late [1990s] that My colleagues here at Duke and in I wrote my first full-length historical academia in general are wonderful. romance. Their bias usually comes through in ways they don’t even realize. People TC: What is your process for will say things like, and this is very, writing a novel? very common since academics takes KD: The first thing that comes to years and years to write a book, “so me is the romantic dynamic between how many of those do you crank out the hero and the heroine. I will a year?” It’s that sort of language— already know one... of them first churn out, crank out— it’s an insult and then the other one will occur to to the art because writing fiction is me relatively quickly along with the an art, whether people recognize it romantic dynamic— meaning, what is or not. it that draws them together and what... In academia we often tend to think keeps them apart for the length of that popular entertainment is not art the story. Then a plot presents itself or it’s not hard to create. In fact, if to me around that romantic dynamic. it’s good, it’s really hard to create. It Because I write historical fiction, it’s takes skill, it takes talent, just because usually history books that I’m reading we do it quickly because that’s the that present the plot to me. expectation, doesn’t mean it’s not My books are principally set written well. There’s a long history in the British Isles, at least in the of misogynistic bias against women’s British empire of the era. I travel for fiction and certain kinds of fiction and research at least once every three therefore popular women’s fiction months. The last couple of trips gets the short end of the stick. I’ve gone on have been to Scotland, England, Wales and France. TC: With the incredible popularity We’re supposed to produce books of “Fifty Shades of Grey,” how do you as swiftly as you can because that’s think the public’s perception of and what your readership expects now. openness to the romance genre has I’m writing the fifth book in a five- changed? book series—that I conceived of in KD: The “Fifty Shades of Grey” January 2011 and I’m finally finishing phenomenon is interesting to those it. A novel—just the writing process of us within the romance community to write the first draft—can take me because “Fifty Shades of Grey” is from two to six or eight months, but a classic Cinderella story—it’s just I mostly have my books scheduled dressed up with whips and chains. roughly [every] six months. It’s the poor girl who has nothing going for her—except maybe she’s TC: How does your knowledge of beautiful—and needs a guy, and he’s history impact your novels? rich and handsome, and she has to KD: There are so many spectacularly fun stories in history. See DUBOIS on Page 6
Q & A
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HOUGH from page 1 on the American presidency and a senior seminar on party strategy and presidential elections. As of Wednesday, 10 of the 35 spots in the course on the American presidency and six of the 18 spots in the senior seminar had been filled. “I have two reactions [to the situation],” Hough said Wednesday. “One is annoyance at myself because I said it was a peripheral comment. I essentially believe what I said there, but I phrased it in a very bad way. The second thing that surprised me was when the president of the University speaking through his official communications agency, that [President Richard] Brodhead came out and said both in public and in private and said there should be no freedom of speech on this sort of issue.” Following Hough’s comment in May, Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for government affairs and public relations, stated that the comments were “noxious, offensive and have no place in civil discourse,” while noting that Duke’s Faculty Handbook protects against institutional censorship. On Wednesday Schoenfeld noted that Hough returning to teach has been handled within the political science department, and deferred comment to Jack Knight, Frederic Cleaveland professor of law and political science and chair of the political science department. “As always, the political science department expects Professor Hough to meet the same high standards for teaching excellence that all of our faculty are held to,” Knight wrote in an email. Hough noted that he hopes the controversy does not affect his future experiences on campus. He is scheduled to teach again in Fall 2016 and has signed an agreement to retire in 2018. “The statement I made was very peripheral and it’s not something that I really teach about. What I teach about is presidential strategy,” he said. “I’m not going to be talking about racism one way or another. It’s just not my theme.”
A faculty member at Duke since 1973, Hough also cited two New York Times opinion pieces that have been published since his comment as the type of dialogue he meant to inspire with his thoughts. He said he was “pro-integration,” noting that he previously assigned the book “Black Like Me” as a professor at the University of Illinois. Hough also said that he has not been asked by the University to go through any additional bias training since the comment beyond the sexual harassment training mandated under federal law. “People are going to find it hard to attack me for any kind of racist comments I make in the class, and I don’t think what I said was racist,” he said. “I made [a statement] that probably wasn’t polite. If you’re given a name by your parents, it generally is not polite for you to change it. I was really speaking to the students [saying], ‘Don’t name your children this way,’ and for the perfectly good reason that The New York Times gave—it leads to discrimination.”
HOUGH Q&A from page 2 University has essentially dropped it, which strikes me as politically wise from their point of view because the reaction I got was overwhelmingly negative to Duke. I don’t think this did Duke any good. So far as I can tell, they’ve dropped it. It seems wise to me because I’ve signed my letter of resignation. I teach for this academic year and next and then I get a half-pay sabbatical, so it is a generous standard retirement. It would be crazy from them to try to do anything more since I’ll be moving on in any case. I’m hoping that the students won’t really care, and if they come to my class, they’re going to find very little that I say that’s going to offend anybody on racism. As I said to various people at the time, I was born in 1935. My hero was Martin Luther
King, the Montgomery [bus boycott] and the sit-ins in Greensboro and the like. Those were my heroes. I love King. The first course I taught at the University of Illinois I assigned “Black Like Me,” and I was all for affirmative action at that time. People are going to find it hard to attack me for any kind of racist comments I make in the class, and I don’t think what I said was racist. I made [a statement] that probably wasn’t polite—if you’re given a name by your parents, it generally is not polite for you to change it. I was really speaking to the students [saying], “Don’t name your children this way,” and for the perfectly good reason that The New York Times gave—it leads to discrimination. TC: What do you think your interaction with students will be like? JH: One of the awful things about teaching something like political science, is I was one of the country’s top specialists on the Soviet Union, that’s how I got a James B. Duke [professorship], so you’d love to be able to say in class ‘Do you remember how it was under communism?’ Then you suddenly remember they know no more about communism than they do the pharaohs, that it’s ancient history. What’s striking if you’re teaching the presidency is that [students] know something about Bill Clinton because of Hillary [Clinton], but if you start talking about Michael Dukakis to them, heavens knows how many even know the name. I don’t think [Marco] Rubio has a chance this year, partly because he has the same problem as Dukakis being a secondgeneration American, and we’re not ready for it, rightly or wrongly. Wrongly maybe, but we’re not. I’d love to be able to say that “the trouble with Rubio is he’s like Dukakis.” It’s a total waste of breath because nobody remembers Dukakis. They probably didn’t even read about him in class.
Thursday, November 12, 2015 | 5
You probably remember something about 9/11, because that was dramatic and that was visual, but my guess is that you probably don’t remember much about the disputed election of 2000. I’m hoping that they’re coming in here to learn something about this presidential election and the presidency, and hopefully about where the America from 2020 until 2050 will go. The issue of racism is not my issue. I’m totally prointegration. I’m hoping that was Hough an unfortunate sloppy writing further on my part that alas is going to describes live forever on Google. When his classes I’m gone [in] 200 years, people will say “Oh, yes, he only did one thing in his life, a Donald Trump on racism—that’s who Hough was.”
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TC: Can you talk about the courses you will be teaching? JH: I’ll be teaching two courses, a lecture and a seminar on presidential strategy in the first term, which by the nature of things has to concentrate more on the primary. In the Fall semester it’ll be about what happened in the whole year. I’m not going to be talking about racism one way or another. It’s just not my theme. TC: What sort of perspective do you think you’ll bring to classes given that you’re planning to retire? JH: It’s not only that I’m planning to retire, I’ve signed a paper. By the time I officially retire, I’ll be 83 years old, which may be a bit old in any case. I think it makes a great class because [the students] see the world from an entirely different perspective. Not everybody on the faculty now actually remembers Pearl Harbor very well or did his first political activity for Dwight Eisenhower in [1952]. I teach a course that’s political strategy. I have a historical perspective.
Dean’s awarD for InclusIve excellence In GraDuate eDucatIon We are pleased to announce the Class of 2019 Baldwin Scholars Vanessa Agudelo Sini (Nina) Chen Meng-Chen (Kelly) Chung Daniela Flamini Ines Jordan-Zoob Mumbi Kanyogo Mia King Natalie Le Marie Li Moreen Njoroge Christiana Oshotse Rachel Rubin Claire Stout Jasmine Tan Edom Tilahun Alejandra Uria Sofiya Volobuyeva Karley Whelan
N
ominate a Duke department, program, or interdisciplinary initiative that has demonstrated a commitment to creating an environment of inclusive excellence within the Duke University Graduate School. Inclusive excellence is reflected not only in student or faculty demographics, but also in the departmental program and climate; curriculum; intellectual discourse; and the recruitment, retention, and graduation of individuals underrepresented in the discipline, field, or area.
Nomination Deadline: December 4, 2015 Details: gradschool.duke.edu/InclusiveAward
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6 | Thursday, November 12, 2015
DUBOIS from page 4
women, even in historical romance... basically doing anything to give women a role of authority and power. It’s true move into his world in order to get that historical romance authors are him. And of course the BDSM stuff, more limited, but now contemporaries people have been writing that for can write almost anything. more than a decade. The popularity of it though and from page 1 the perception that that is what romance really is—that’s interesting to me. That is one particular type of Johnson described his experiences romance and it’s not representative with both systematic and interpersonal of what the genre is. I do think a racism, noting how the public school lot more people are talking about system in his community failed its romance now since the “Fifty Shades students. He said he felt that his of Grey” books. community was “hardened and disillusioned” by the hardships it was TC: Traditionally, romance novels constantly facing, which resulted in a have been known for reinforcing lack of action being taken to fix these gender roles by portraying the issues. Johnson also talked about having female heroines as delicate virgins to adjust his way of being to fit into and their male counterparts as strong the majority white culture at Virginia heroes. How do your works and other and about how he thought he was safe books in the genre balance modern from the discrimination he faced in his feminism and common tropes? former home. When the police attacked KD: It’s a balance. Some authors him, however, Johnson said he felt that fall into the traditional tropes and his feeling of “sanctuary” was taken like to tell stories based on the from him. traditional tropes with a modern When asked how his peers responded post-feminist flair. Some authors are after the incident, he noted that in many actually writing feminist romance ways, his experience united his peers, where the woman has agency and she but that there were racist and ignorant is not going to turn herself upsideresponses as well. down and submit to the dominant As an example, he pointed out alpha male. how some students talked about his I will say that alpha heroes are still the experience as if it were an anomaly—as most popular kind of hero in romance if race relations were otherwise good at fiction without a doubt. The alpha hero Virginia. Another anecdote he discussed now is paired with a strong, successful was from Yik Yak months after the actual woman who has agency and is actually event, where false posts that he had making decisions based on her life and gotten into another infraction with the what she needs, but that was always the police surfaced. The false posts indicated case. What she thinks she needs used that Virginia students should not trust to be finding a husband and quitting his innocence and painted him as a her job—there are still people writing stereotype of a black male that is always that—but there are a lot more career
JOHNSON
Courses with Openings for SP16 AMI 101.01 Intro to AMI
M10:05-12:50, W 10:05-11:20 Carr 103 Instructor: Kaul Examination of critical concepts in arts of the moving image from various perspectives. Spanning both traditional cinema and emergent fields. Emphasis on technology in relation to history and viewership. Exercises in film and digital production as well as theoretical writing.
AMI 199.01 LGBTQ/Queer Cinema and Cultural Production
M 10:05-1:05 Carr 135 Instructor: Polish This class investigates LGBTQ identities, communities and relationships pre, post, and during the Stonewall era through cinema, television, and new media. We will also explore constructions of sexuality, gender, class, race, and nationalism within the context of LGBTQ transnational film cultures and scholarship.
AMI 201.01 Intro to Film Studies
Tu 3:05-6:05, Th 3:05-4:20 Carr 103 Instructor: Landesberg Basic film theory and history of motion picture technology. Introduction to experimental, documentary, and narrative forms of Third World, European, and United States cinemas.
AMI 210.01 Film Genres: Punk Rock Films
Tu 10:05-1:05 Smith 101 Instructor: Brown In this course, we consider the ways punk-- the musical, social, and subcultural force that we’ll date from the dawn of the Sex Pistols in 1975 through the hardcore 1980’s and into the post-punk and Riot Grrrl years of the early 1990’s-- informed a series of films and filmmakers. We will look at, read about, and discuss films that document the punk scene or that extend punk principles into the act of filmmaking itself.
http://ami.duke.edu
causing trouble, Johnson explained. Johnson also discussed how students can take action to combat racial injustices on campus, based on his experience. “I heard [from Johnson] that we have to stay united,” freshman Jonathan Salazar said. “We have to be the ones that make sure that everyone is equally represented.” When asked about the role of youth in the civil rights movement, Johnson said that youth were at the forefront of activism. This message resonated with several students. “I really appreciated what he had to say about the power of students and student activism. I think often times we might not see the strength that we have, but we honestly are the one of the most powerful forces when it comes to reforming administration,” said sophomore Chandler Phillips, secretary of the Duke chapter of the NAACP. Students at the event asked questions about how to deal with Duke’s recent incidents of racial prejudice on campus. “Minorities are underrepresented here at Duke and their voices often overlooked,” Salazar said. “The administration chooses to ignore the issue as if it doesn’t exist. I think that black, Latino, all minorities, all students of color, everyone at Duke matters. When one of us is ignored, it’s an issue for all of us, not just a certain group of students.”
DSG from page 2 version was preferable. Bansal noted that an issue with the old program was that although many people using the program were not undergraduates, DSG was paying for it out of an undergraduate fund.
The Chronicle “Now we can exclusively cater the program to undergraduates,” she said. In other business: Provost Sally Kornbluth addressed the Senate regarding her role as provost and her work to develop a relationship between students and administrators. She also explained the University’s “people-focused” plan to deepen the student experience, work towards diversity and inclusion for both faculty and students, link Duke’s global presence with its local presence in Durham and work with faculty to improve teaching and research. She mentioned Duke Kunshan University’s ongoing financial negotiations with “partners” as well as the crossdisciplinary programs Duke has been working to launch, particularly the health policy center that was announced in October of this year and is set to open in January. She then fielded questions from the Senate and invited them to help develop solutions for diversity issues on campus and to help address recent incidents of hatred and racism. “I thought it was a great opportunity to engage with the student body, especially in the wake of several unfortunate events that have happened at University of Missouri, Yale and here,” Executive Vice President John Guarco, a junior, said. “It was a great way to engage students in not only those types of conversations on incidents but also areas of our school relating to health policy and academic life. DSG voted to charter one new group, the Capoeira Crazies. Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art that incorporates dance elements and has a popular class at Duke. Freshman Michael Gulcicek was sworn in as a senator for equity and outreach.
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recess
Volume 17, issue 12
NoVemBeR 12, 2015
An Experiment with an Air Pump Theater dept. on ethics and science, page 11
AWAAZ The lowdown on the 600-student show, page 10
Girlpool, Alex G, Eskimeaux, oh my Power lineup at the Coffeehouse, page 10
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recess editors Wht would you do if you met Joe Jonas? Georgia Parke ...........ask about his tat elizabeth Djinis ................ been there, done that, but it was super awkward, but I did hug him, so there is that ian Jaffe.. midterm tommorrow, 2 busy Jesús Hidalgo .................take a photo Christy Kuesel ...........sing ‘Year 3000’ Amrith Ramkumar ................not care Gautam Hathi ...tell him he’s a parasite Abigail Xie ................................. who? Dillon Fernando ........ wish it was Nick Ryan Hoerger ............................shrug Natalie Huffman ..................... tweet it melissa letzler ................... be happy
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I got out of work on Monday at about 4:30 p.m., just as the day was on the cusp of turning dark. It was not quite raining, but dripping, and warm. I remember thinking that I didn’t need the added warmth of the hat I had on and that it was too late in the day for another coffee. On my way to the timeless Von Der Heyden Pavilion—known to friends as “Vondy,” “le vond,” my mailing address—I had to stop in front of the Languages building. Someone was blasting classical music out of a second floor window facing the quad. With one window from the room propped open despite the damp weather, I had to assume that the person playing the music did not intend it to be contained. Besides being fodder for an editor’s note, this was a thing I knew would be worth remembering for purposes poetic or otherwise. Part of this was because of the way the scene had been designed by whatever universal forces were at play at that moment—the leaves, the fog, the specificity of five tall lamps in a row, the old music. Laren Stover published a piece in The New York Times last week called “The Case for Melancholy” where she posed to readers the need for that quiet bluesy feeling “which requires reflection: a sort of mental steeping, like tea.” My roommate posted it on Facebook, her only added commentary a smiley face. This was an article that I read in Vondy, the place with its eternal glass windows that welcome the dark when it arrives and provide a surround sound of the rain. How perfectly appropriate. Melancholy is fun. You get to play with your feelings, try something different from the default of cheerful/neutral. It’s helpful for stopping you, and making you look around at where you are. Mostly you get to enjoy the output of other
people’s melancholy more in things like subtle songs or long, difficult books. It can also take you mentally to someplace else. Standing outside Perkins, I thought the long outer wall of the Gothic Reading Room looked a lot like a library in California I haven’t seen since I was seven, and the lamps took me to that little spot of Narnia. None of this is sad or weepy. These symbols just appear and you can sink into them freely. The other part of why it was necessary to stop beneath the window was that it seemed like a fixed point in time (see: Lake Silencio). This is my last year here and, and while that could mean it is making the last chunk of time fly, it is
editor’s note slowing things down for me. I am trying to taste each day one at a time since so few sips are left. This is tricky when only five hours are available for sleep for days at a time and the homework won’t upload and Recess is due and “do I really deserve to be here” resurfaces again. It is nearly impossible to always be successful at being appreciative and reflective and active about enjoying time in a certain place—if you did that, you wouldn’t be in the middle of it all. But if I catch myself really liking a piece of a day here and there, it’s a sign that I am on the right track to keep things at a slower rhythm and savor it before it slides away in May. I don’t journal regularly and I don’t keep track of every moment like this that
happens around me, so what often works is to layer the fixed points in time on top of each other so that there is more weight to each and they are harder to forget. So I go to Vondy every day and I watch the people there just to feel in the middle of it all. I stop and listen to music when it happens, and I love the long nights of creating a new Recess issue. I try to have really good lunches all the time and stay up too late laughing about animals that are too small. These things blessedly get to happen again and again. So the ephemeral music-out-thewindow-in-the-rain feeling helps because it’s reflective and sticky and makes you stop next to a tree and try to hear something. It helps you slow down and read a book for fun when you really shouldn’t. It means it’s cold—it’s the fall! “You may as well enjoy it reclining with a pot of green thunder tea as you watch the rolled leaves unfurl their poetic fury as it steeps,” Stover writes with the same subtle angst of the concept she describes. I don’t want to go anywhere yet. I want to stew and to brew and to steep. —Georgia Parke
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Readings by undergraduate, graduate and faculty poets including Duke students Georgia Parke, Dimeji Abidoye, Brenna Casey and faculty member Nathaniel Mackey, the Reynolds Price Professor of Creative Writing.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20TH RUBENSTEIN LIBRARY: HOLSTI-ANDERSON ROOM 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM • FREE
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‘Daily Show’ co-creator to perform at Cat’s Cradle Lucy Zhang The Chronicle
Q & A
Lizz Winstead, cocreator of the Daily Show and its former head writer, is a comedian, blogger and founder of Lady Parts Justice, an organization that raises awareness of legislative attempts to block women’s reproductive freedoms. She will perform at Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro Nov. 20 at 8 p.m. The Chronicle’s Lucy Zhang talked with Winstead about her career in comedy, cynicism in humor, politics and calling out the hypocrites.
The Chronicle: How did you get into satirical writing and comedy? And how did it become a professional career? Lizz Winstead: It wasn’t like I was one of those people who started growing up. It was more I looked at the world around me and growing up in the 80s when you have role models that were really a mess—people worshipped Margaret Thatcher. I was trying to find women’s voices that were strong and kind of reflect my values. I watched comedy on TV but I only saw mostly Phyllis Diller, etc. While they were funny, they didn’t mention life experience. I remember connecting with George Carlin and was like, you know, I
grew up Catholic and see the hypocrisy in that. I think that what he did was awesome. I got into comedy more just so I could be able to say something uninterrupted. I came from such a big family that I think that I wanted a place where nobody could stop what you were saying. Someone just dared me and I thought it’d be fun. TC: What was it like creating the Daily Show? LW: It was pretty incredible to be able to have a show that I had only dreamt could happen be the first opportunity that I was ever given in my career. I had never been a head writer and I hadn’t written anything like it before in my life, so to be able to craft a show that responded to the world five days a week, especially with my passion for calling out how bulls*** the media was, was a very unbelievable experience. I had to learn how to be leader. I had to learn to reject the leadership roles that women were expected to have—I’m not your mom, I’m the person who’s trying to make you work better. That was the relationship: me nurturing your word, nurturing your ego. TC: How did the Daily Show change and evolve with the news media? LW: When the show launched there was only CNN. The tone of cable news was literally trials all the time—OJ Simpson, the Menendez brothers—it was unending. They would spend hours on celebrities and there wasn’t any news. At night, it was Dateline. There were literally only 7 news magazines out when we launched. So when we launched the show, we were satirizing the new media that existed at the
transitioning to something serious is perfectly organic because you’ve proven yourself to be a credible narrator. The Daily Show isn’t just a bunch of jokes about politics. It tells truth and exposes controversy. Not only was Stewart funny, but he was trusted and respected to bring a perspective on serious things that were important as well. It always felt natural, never forced. It felt like he chose those passions that he needed to speak of.
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time. A lot of people like to say that when the Daily Show started out, it was very pop culture-y and then it changed. No, actually when the Daily Show launched, the news media was talking about pop culture all the time until we s*** all over them by talking about pop culture all the time. With more cable channels, the media became a bunch of other things and so the Daily Show followed suit. The show follows the trends and news and satirizes them. It’s kind of nice to have your content laid out for you. TC: There are a few times when Jon Stewart was serious in the show. How does that work and affect the audience? LW: Great comedy is smart and has depth and layers to it. When you present that and create that bedrock for yourself,
TC: What are your thoughts about the current presidential race? LW: I think the current presidential race is insanely farcical. We’re watching a Democratic primary that’s really fascinating because one of the most unreported stories is that Bernie Sanders is beating the Republican frontrunner in almost every poll and no one’s even reporting about it. I find that really fascinating. With the divisiveness of the Democratic party with how people should feel about Hillary, how people should feel about all of it—it’s like I was always very wary of having this coronation. So I’m really glad that there are actual candidates talking about actual substance so that people can get acquainted with how they feel about the Democratic party platform. Conversely, when you just look at the Republicans, it should tell you everything about the state of the party, that they’re screaming at the Wall Street corporate people who are now the enemy of those who have zero ideology other than what seems to be denying science and women a kind of autonomy. See WINSTEAD, page 20
The Fannie Mitchell Expert in Residence Program features accomplished professionals sharing specialized knowledge and providing career advice to Duke students.
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MONday, NOveMber 16
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What to see this weekend Recess previews the hottest upcoming events on campus
Girlpool at the Duke Coffeehouse AWAAZ: Started from a Rickshaw Georgina Del Vecho The Chronicle East Campus should be crowded this Thurs., Nov. 12 as the Duke Coffeehouse brings in artists Girlpool, Alex G and Eskimeaux to perform at the venue—one of the Coffeehouse’s two largest shows of the semester. Although Girlpool is not exactly a household name, this show is a big deal for the Coffeehouse. The duo, consisting of Cleo Tucker and Harmony Tividad, hails from Los Angeles, California and formed in 2013 when the two were teenagers. They self-released their debut EP Girlpool on their Bandcamp in 2014. With their unique and entrancing sound, which some have cited as reminiscent of the early-90’s artists Shampoo and Liz Phair, it was just a matter of time before the duo got some recognition. Since the release, the folk punk band has paired up with British label Wichita Recordings, with whom they released their second album Before the World Was Big June 2. They’re currently on tour and have performed internationally as well. Accompanying Girlpool will be upand-coming solo act Alex G, a lo-fi indie multi-instrumentalist and bedroom singer/ songwriter who, like Girlpool, got his start through DIY releases on Bandcamp, and Eskimeaux, a dreamy-sounding indie band hailing from New York, New York. The venue’s main concern is not if people will come—it’s in making sure the Fire Marshal will not as well, a very real possibility if the show goes over capacity. “We have plenty of experience running shows,” said Coffeehouse manager Sharrin Manor, a senior. In the past the venue has brought in acts like Mac DeMarco, Mykki Blanco and Kool A.D. “We will need to have a tighter door policy and will have to limit the number of tickets we sell… but I’m sure it will be an awesome night overall.” Even though these artists are more popular than
the typical Coffeehouse act, Manor said that this does not mean that Coffeehouse will be focusing on bringing in a higher amount of well-known artists. “The Coffeehouse will continue to concentrate on bringing a wide range of artists that vary significantly in terms of their current level of fame. It’s good to have a balance because the larger shows are a lot of work to put on and the smaller shows are an awesome way to support smaller yet equally talented artists,” Manor said in an email. Despite the fact that these large shows require more planning and work on behalf of the venue’s staff, both Manor and Lauren Feilich—the Coffeehouse’s booking manager, a senior and former Recess editor—agree that the end result is worth it. “It’s an awesome feeling to make cool things happen, and it’s an awesome feeling to see people having a great time in your own venue,” Manor says. “It’s an amazing gift to be able to see our favorite bands live playing shows that we booked.” So if you’re not up for Thursday night Devine’s but want to experience that same level of closeness with your fellow Dukies and Durhamites with an added bonus of great live music, the Coffeehouse will be where to go. “There’s always this sort of all-or-nothing ‘teamwork makes the dreamwork’ vibe among staff when there’s a really big event going on,” Feilich said. “I think it’s going to be cool to experience the chaos that goes on when you have so many people in such a small room.”
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Melissa Letzler The Chronicle If you have never heard of Duke’s Awaaz, the person beside you should be able to help. More than 600 Duke students contribute to the production, and as the largest studentrun performance through the combined efforts of more than 13 student groups, it will be shining an even bigger, brighter light on South Asian culture than in years past. Additionally, the injection of pop culture, namely rapper Drake, into the show is hinted at in the theme—Started from a Rickshaw—as well as ads posted around campus in Drake album-style: “If you’re reading this Awaaz is coming.” Awaaz, which is the Hindi word for voice, showcases music, dance and other art forms in one performance. Diya, Duke’s South Asian student association, sponsors the production and uses Awaaz as an opportunity to share their culture, bring together all of Duke through arts and support a cause outside of the Duke bubble. Attendees can expect to see performances from On Tap, Rhydun, Lasya, Nakisai, Nishka Mittal, Dhoom, Momentum, Dhamaka, Sangeet, DBS Raas, Shakti (a small group of senior girls), Sabrosura, Duke Chinese Dance, Duke Swing, Felix Kung and Defining Movement. “[It] provides an immersive learning experience for performers, who have to incorporate South Asian elements into their piece,” said sophomore Diana Joseph, Awaaz co-chair and member of Dhamaka. The finale performance, Senior Bhangra is one of the most disctinctive— albeit imperfect—acts and an unusual rite of passage for students in their final year. Any senior can participate and some have never danced in a performance setting when they sign upe. Bhangra, a traditional dance that originates in the Punjab region,
is a high-energy, energetic dance suited for celebration. For those who had performed in Awaaz as underclassmen, senior Bhangra holds a special significance, as their swan song in the annual production. “Finishing the show with Senior Bhangra is the perfect finale for the entire celebration that is Awaaz,” Joseph said. Given that last year’s Awaaz also had to accommodate size issues in the small Reynolds Industries Theater while Page Auditorium was renovated, this year’s return to Page should allow for the larger, energetic performances seen in years past. “This year the show is going to be even bigger,” Joseph said. “In terms of performances, we’re hoping to present a wider variety of high-energy acts.” “It’s usually the first full performance of the year for my dance team,” said senior Raj Sikaria, who is a member of DBS Raas. “It’s cool to have everyone cheering for you.” The proceeds generated from the cover charge will be donate to the charity Light One Path’s Foundation, which helps underprivileged young adults to complete their education and have access to health care. Awaaz will be taking place Friday, Nov. 13 and Saturday, Nov. 14 at 6:30 pm in Page Auditorium. Tickets are $3 and are available for purchase online, at the box office and at the door.
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Theater dept. mainstage show questions scientific morals Natalie Huffman The Chronicle The Theater Department’s fall mainstage play presents one simple question—what price would you pay for knowledge? “An Experiment with an Air Pump,” by Shelagh Stephenson, examines two communities of scientists who are each struggling with the morals and ethics of medical research in their respective time periods. Joseph Fenwick of 1799, for example, is torn over the question of the dissection of cadavers, while Ellen of 1999 struggles with the decision to accept a job in genetic engineering that would require her to work with human embryos. The characters, all played by Duke students, embody the liminal space between centuries—as the calendar ticks down toward the new year, the characters have to come to terms with their changing worlds. They live at a point of flux, times in which popular opinions were shifting away from traditionalism and toward more scientific-minded views. These evolutions in viewpoint are reflected in the turning century. Director Jules Odendahl-James, director of academic engagement in the humanities, pointed out the continual relevance of such issues. “The two families become connected in surprising ways, and the weight of that connection is something that reminds us of how far we have come in debates regarding ethics, equity and equality but very much how far we have to go,”
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she said in an email. The inspiration for the play comes from “An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump,” a 1768 painting by Joseph Wright of Derby. The piece depicts a group of scientists crowded around a table lit by candlelight, examining the efforts of a bird struggling to fly under the reduced air pressure created by the air pump. In the play, Ellen finds a fascination with this particular piece because of the way it replaces the traditional depiction of God with a scientist, subverting traditional beliefs for the pragmatism of science. Conversely, the play subverts traditional views about the pragmatism of science in order to show scientists struggling with many of the same ethical
and moral issues as the rest of the population. “An Experiment with an Air Pump” deconstructs the false dichotomy that separates science and the arts to reveal a common core and a shared humanity. “More than just the ethical and moral questions, the play also delves into relationships between humans and how far an individual is willing to go for what they want,” said Harmony Zhang, a senior who plays Ellen. Because of the split narrative style between 1799 and 1999, the set of the play is constructed in a particularly unique way. The stage is set up in the style of a curiosity shop, featuring scientific props and displays in a way that blends creepy with fascinating. By
choosing a stage with roots in one time period but influences in the other, the actors are more able to embody the cohesive full-circle sentiment of the play. “Even as we pursue progress, the tendrils of where that progress draws its history and the individuals upon which that progress is built remain a part of how we move forward and... how that movement forward can never escape its past,” Odendahl-James explained. The show feels particularly relevant on a college campus, where moral and ethical issues are allowed to play out in real time. The race-related incidents at Yale University and the University of Missouri as well as incidents on Duke’s campus remind us that our actions are in many ways inextricably linked to our history. We cannot separate ourselves from our predecessors, and “An Experiment with an Air Pump” reminds us of that. As Fenwick and Ellen act in reflection, moving together though two hundred years apart, the Theater Department reminds us how important it is to keep such questions ubiquitous. “Seeing different viewpoints is so important, and realizing that there are people who will support you and people who think differently than you,” Zhang said. “I think the goal is to help individuals ask themselves, ‘Where do I draw the line?’” “An Experiment with an Air Pump” runs Nov. 12 until 14, Nov. 19 to 21 at 8 p.m. and Nov.15 and 22 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 for the general public and $5 for students, seniors, youth and Duke employees.
Spring 2016 Seminar Course
Math in Genetics and Genomics
Ø Course Number: Math 168S Ø Instructor: Nihal Ezgi Temamogullari Ø Prereq: One term of Calculus or AP equivalent How is mathematics used in biological research? In this seminar course, we will learn how mathematics is answering some of the most important questions in genetics.
Contemporary Art, New Orleans & the Nasher Museum SemanS Lecture thursday, november 19, 2015, 7 Pm
Introduction to basic mathematical methods in genetics and genomics: Mendelian segregation, population allele frequencies, sex-‐linked traits, genetic recombination, sequence analysis, phylogenetic trees. Necessary background in elementary probability, statistics, and matrix algebra will be provided. Necessary background in elementary probability, statistics, and matrix algebra will be provided.
Brooke Davis Anderson, executive director of Prospect New Orleans, the country’s largest international triennial. Introduction by Chief Curator Trevor Schoonmaker, artistic director of Prospect 4.
2001 Campus Drive, Durham I nasher.duke.edu Tavares Strachan, You belong here, 2014. Video recording of blocked out neon sign on the Mississippi River and Industrial Canal. Courtesy of the artist. A project for Prospect.3: Notes for Now, a Project of Prospect New Orleans, October 25, 2014 - January 25, 2015. Photo © Vincent Gray
Questions? Email ezgi@math.duke.edu
12 | ThuRsday, Thursday, NovembeR November 12, 2015
Jessica Williams The Chronicle From the outside, the Nasher Museum of Art looks not unlike an iceberg with its white, angular architecture. And also like an iceberg, the majority of the museum’s assets are only visible below the surface. With about 12,000 works in the Nasher’s current collection, it is not surprising that not everything can be put on display at once. Currently, there are around 300 works that are actively displayed in the galleries, representing only a small portion of the art the Nasher actually possesses. “The statistic that I generally hear in museums is that 5 to 10 percent of any museum’s collection is on view,” said Marianne Wardle, the Andrew W. Mellon
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curator of academic programs at the Nasher. Comprised now mostly of gifts but also a few museum purchases, Duke’s art collection was started in 1966 with the acquisition of the Ernest Brummer Collection, containing mostly medieval pieces. The art was moved into the basement of the Chapel, where a graduate student was brought in to catalogue it all. Today, the collection has found its home in the now 10-year-old Nasher Museum building, with a small number of works kept off-site. Far from dusty and boxed-up, the collection storage area of the Nasher Museum of Art is open and exciting. “We just doubled the number of works from our permanent collection that are out on view when we opened the newly renovated Wilson Pavilion,” said Erin Hanas, coordinator of academic programs. With the new Wilson Pavilion and the current
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exhibition The New Galleries: A Collection Come to Light, more works from the Nasher’s permanent collection have been brought to the public’s attention. Ranging from works from ancient Egypt to European art from the last few centuries, the exhibition features the various areas of the collection, as well as its depth. “Different curators went through and assessed works in the collection to highlight the best things that we have,” Hanas said. In addition to viewing the parts of the collection that are displayed in the galleries, Duke students as well as the general public can easily access the collection in its on-site storage spaces. With a room for prints, a room for paintings and a room for objects like sculptures and pottery, the storage areas at the Nasher are welcoming and open. Each room has an area where groups can congregate to view and discuss works. “When the museum was built, they built storage on purpose to have space to bring classes in. A lot of museums have storage, even on-site storage, but they don’t have any place where people can go into storage,” Wardle said. With an open, collaborative space inside of storage, the Nasher provides an in-depth view of the collection that’s more personal than just walking through the galleries. People can get closer to the works, allowing them a more detailed viewing of the art. “It’s very intimate. You see details you may not have seen before. It’s almost like a private interview with the art,” said Germain Choffart, a lecturing fellow of French and a French cultural advisor, who took a group into collection storage last week to view Frenchthemed works. In order to give students a different view on their studies as well as to incite conversation about artistic and thematic elements of their academic subjects, the Nasher welcomes classes into storage to view works relating to material being covered in class. “Italian classes come to look at Surrealism, for example,” Hanas said, “German classes come and look at German Expressionism.” When a class or department signals their interest in seeing the collection, the professors work with Nasher staff to pick works that would be relevant yet interesting to students. The French group last week, for example, saw works by Degas, Manet and other French artists, and then discussed what exactly in each piece followed the French style. “[The students] have to browse around and take notes, then turn that into something they apply, generally like an assignment or a class discussion,” Choffart said. “It’s generally very well received by students because it’s a way to get out of class and do something different.” In addition to classes, Duke students and the public can contact Erin Hanas or Marianne Wardle to request to see a work in storage. A large amount of the collection is catalogued online, so students can browse what’s available for them to view before making an appointment.
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the blue zone
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Football
DEFENSE SEEKING TO REBOUND Sam Turken The Chronicle
A year ago, Duke sat at 8-1 with three games remaining, in control of the ACC Coastal Division. In 2013, the Blue Devils were also in the driver’s seat, and ultimately went on to clinch the Coastal with a win against North Carolina. This year, though, the storyline reads differently. Duke will try to end its current twoPittsburgh game skid on Senior vs. Day Saturday at noon against Pittsburgh Duke at Wallace Wade Stadium with a SATURDAY, 12 p.m. quality bowl bid at Wallace Wade Stadium stake. Following a dramatic defeat against Miami on a walkoff kickoff return two weeks ago, the Blue Devils were embarrassed by Tobacco Road rival North Carolina 66-31 last weekend. With the loss to the Tar Heels, Duke no longer controls its destiny for the Coastal title before mid-November for the first time in the last three years, giving head coach David Cutcliffe and his staff plenty to ponder in the days that followed. “It’s an interesting thing when you face Sundays that aren’t pleasant. When you do it back-to-back, you really look at yourself, you look at your team,” Cutcliffe said. “We’ve tried to take a realistic view of what we have to do better. You don’t go changing everything that you’ve done. We’re working back in the right direction one day at a time.” Six games into this season, Duke (6-3, 4-2 in the ACC) appeared to have its best defense
Eric Lin | The Chronicle Safeties Jeremy Cash (left) and DeVon Edwards will help the Duke defense try to rebound Saturday against Pittsburgh after giving up 66 points to North Carolina last weekend in Chapel Hill.
in the past three years. Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles’ unit held opponents to 9.3 points per game in the Blue Devils’ first six contests, which included shutting down a highly touted Georgia Tech rushing attack. All of the offseason questions about the size of Duke’s defensive line and the loss of junior cornerback Bryon Fields to a season-ending ACL injury went to bed. But suddenly, after subpar showings in its last three games, Duke’s defense is facing questions and doubt again. North Carolina picked Duke’s secondary apart for 537
passing yards. The Blue Devil defensive backs struggled with communication and were routinely out of position as the Tar Heels capitalized on several blown coverages. Stopping explosive plays against talented, fast offenses has especially been problematic for the Blue Devils. North Carolina averaged 8.8 yards per play, and against the Hurricanes, Duke surrendered nine plays of 15 yards or more. Cutcliffe also wants his defenders to create more turnovers to end opponents’ drives sooner and give the Blue Devil offense more scoring opportunities.
Despite the recent struggles, a strong performance against Pittsburgh (6-3, 4-1) could quickly turn the tide for the Duke defense. The Panthers have exposed Knowles’ unit in the teams’ last two meetings, scoring 53.0 points per contest and netting 1,192 total yards. Slowing down a Pittsburgh offense that features All-American wide receiver Tyler Boyd and averages 368.6 yards per game could restore the defense’s confidence. “All of the mistakes were based on See FOOTBALL on Page 16
WoMEN’S baSKEtball
Blue Devils head to Palestra to take on Penn Jake Herb The Chronicle After months of watching summer league games, streaming international tournaments and sifting through off-season headlines, sports fans can finally rejoice—college No. 14 basketball season is Duke vs. here. With the Penn momentum of the topranked freshman class FRIDAY, 8 p.m. behind them and the The Palestra untold possibilities of a new season in front Winthrop of them, No. 14 Duke opens its season on vs. the road, traveling to No. 14 the historic Palestra in Duke Philadelphia to face SUNDAY, 6 p.m. Pennsylvania in an Cameron Indoor Stadium
8 p.m. Friday matchup before returning to Cameron Indoor Stadium Sunday for its 6 p.m. home opener against Winthrop. Duke had two opportunities to shake off some offseason rust last week, winning a pair of lopsided exhibitions against Division II Pfeiffer and Saint Leo. The Blue Devils racked up a combined 229 points and will look to carry over some of that offensive efficiency into their opening weekend. “There’s lots of room for improvement… but what I like about the team is that we’re playing hard, we’re playing pretty smart basketball, trying to reduce our turnovers and we’re trusting each other more,” Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “And those are all the right indicators.” Both the Quakers and Eagles head into their season openers without having played a single exhibition contest, forcing the Blue Devils to go back to last year’s film in order to See W. BASKETBALL on Page 17
Jesús Hidalgo | The Chronicle Sophomore Azurá Stevens will lead the Blue Devils in the post this season, beginning Friday night at the Palestra, one of the game’s historic venues.
14 | ThurSday, Thursday, November 12, 2015
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WoMEN’S SoCCER
Blue Devils host Dukes in NCAA first round Friday Jesús Hidalgo The Chronicle Despite playing on opposite thirds of the pitch, attacker Imani Dorsey and goalkeeper E.J. Proctor will share something in common Friday evening—they will look to show the Dukes that there is only one Duke. Dorsey and Proctor are two of the 14 Blue Devil underclassmen who will get their first taste of NCAA tournament action James Madison as third-seeded Duke battles James Madison vs. Friday at 7 p.m. at No. 3 Koskinen Stadium. Duke The Blue Devils FRIDAY, 7 p.m. return to the national Koskinen Stadium stage after being left out of the postseason in 2014 and will face the Dukes for the first time in program history. “I’m really excited and of course there are nerves there too, but I’m just approaching it like another game,” Dorsey said. “I’m really confident in the way we have been playing and what we can do. Getting at JMU from the start and showing them that this is a game that they’re not going to win right from the opening whistle is going to be important.” Duke (10-5-4) enters Friday’s contest averaging 1.8 goals per game, and its attack relies heavily on those underclassmen. Six of them have netted 24 of the team’s 34 goals this fall, with Dorsey and classmate Ashton Miller combining for nine and freshmen Kayla McCoy and Taylor Racioppi scoring 11 more. The freshmen and sophomores have also delivered 18 of the squad’s 31 assists. “It just adds to the excitement knowing that we get to be home for the first game,” Proctor said. “Especially playing on a Friday night, [we will] hopefully get a good fan base, [which] makes it even sweeter.”
Carolyn Chang | The Chronicle Sophomore Imani Dorsey and several other Blue Devil starters will get their first taste of NCAA tournament action Friday at home.
In the Blue Devils’ last regular-season duel—a lopsided 5-0 victory against N.C. State Nov. 1—Dorsey, Miller and Racioppi scored a goal apiece and another freshman, defender Chelsea Burns, added two strikes—her first two goals wearing a Duke uniform. Defensively, the Blue Devils allowed only 13 regular-season goals and held 11 opponents scoreless. Proctor has shined throughout the fall, posting eight solo shutouts and pulling off 60 saves. “Overall, we’re a very good defensive team,” Duke head coach Robbie Church said. “[But] the main thing for us now is the ability to score goals. I think that we’re on an upswing on attacking. I like the mentality and aggressiveness of our attacking players. I like our mindset and I
love seeing how hungry they are.” But James Madison (14-6-2) will give the Blue Devils a run for their money. The Dukes captured the Colonial Athletic Association title Sunday after beating William & Mary 3-2. The Blue Devil defense will have to pay particular attention to James Madison’s Ashley Herndon, as the junior forward leads the Dukes’ offense with 14 of the team’s 32 goals. Herndon is joined by weapons in the midfield in junior Allie Bunner and senior Kelly Kerrigan, who have combined for eight goals and 10 feeds. On the other end of the pitch, James Madison has posted 10 shutouts this season and goalkeeper Ellen Forrest has made 108 saves in 22 matches. The Dukes did not play as difficult a
schedule as the Blue Devils, facing off against just two ranked teams. James Madison lost both contests—a 4-3 decision against thenNo. 23 Georgetown Aug. 21 and 2-1 against then-No. 9 Virginia Tech one week later. Duke finished the season 2-3-2 against squads inside the top 25. “It’s definitely important to get this first win,” Dorsey said. “It’ll calm the nerves going into such a huge tournament like this. We have the confidence because we have played through the season together and we’ve grown together. That first win will definitely reassure us.” A win Friday night would send the Blue Devils on to the second round Nov. 20, where they would face either South Florida or Florida Gulf Coast.
FIElD HoCKEY
Duke out to avenge loss to Stanford in NCAA tournament Ali Wells The Chronicle After a disappointing early exit from the conference tournament, the Blue Devils have a chance to extend their stay in postseason play by avenging their first loss of the regular season. Nine days after falling to No. 3 Virginia in the quarterfinal No. 13 round of the ACC Stanford tournament, No. 4 vs. Duke will face No. No. 4 13 Stanford in the Duke first round of the NCAA tournament FRIDAY, 2 p.m. University Hall Turf Field Friday at 2 p.m. in Charlottesville, Va., at the University Hall Turf Field. The Blue Devils will look for redemption both for their 3-2 overtime loss to the Cardinal Aug. 30 and their 0-2 record at the Cavaliers’ blue turf field this season. “It’s a new season when postseason comes,” Duke head coach Pam Bustin said. “All the work they put in this fall, all the hard-fought games they found a way to win,
we have to come together and take all that and that energy and take that pride and go and put it on our opponent.” Stanford (13-6) fired the game-winning shot in sudden death against the Blue Devils (12-6) in August, but Bustin was more disappointed by Duke’s failure to defend the goal against the Cardinal’s Fran Tew in the final minute of regulation. The junior’s game-tying goal was the first of three that Duke allowed in the 60 seconds before the buzzer for three straight games. The Blue Devils had held the lead for nearly 48 minutes after scoring twice in the opening period, but were unable to weather Stanford’s attacking surge at the end of the second half. “We do have the memory of that game, and when we left that game, we felt like we had given the game away,” Bustin said. “We have to make sure that we take care of our game and take care of the things that we learned from that first game. We are definitely working on how we come out, expecting a high-energy, fast-tempo game See FIELD HOCKEY on Page 16
Carolyn Chang | The Chronicle Senior Hannah Barreca advanced to the national championship game in 2013, and will try to help the Blue Devils return to the Final Four in her last NCAA tournament.
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ThurSday, Thursday,November November12, 12, 2015 2015 | 15
VollEYball
Duke hosts Orange in rare 11 a.m. Friday contest Hank Tucker The Chronicle The Blue Devils are on a roll, and they have to keep winning this weekend if they want to improve their chances of making the NCAA tournament. Duke faces off against Syracuse in a critical conference game Friday at 11 a.m. at Cameron Indoor Stadium before hosting Boston College Sunday afternoon at Syracuse 1 p.m. After a slow start to the season, vs. the Blue Devils have Duke won five of their last six games and look FRIDAY, 11 a.m. to continue moving Cameron Indoor Stadium up into the top half of the ACC standings Boston this weekend. College “Luckily, we’re in vs. a tough conference, and we’ve got Duke some really strong opponents coming SUNDAY, 1 p.m. Cameron Indoor Stadium ahead of us here that make it better for us, as opposed to not being able to play tough competition between now and the end of the season,” Duke head coach Jolene Nagel said. “I want to make sure we’re prepared for both of these opponents and that we’re really playing with a sense of urgency…because that’s what it takes in
the ACC in order to be successful.” The Orange (18-7, 9-5 in the ACC) sit a game ahead of Duke in the conference standings, and they will be a formidable opponent Friday morning. Syracuse’s roster is filled with impressive athletes that have helped the Orange win several points per game with successful blocks. Syracuse has 300.5 blocks so far this season and averages 3.1 blocks per set, the fourth-highest mark in the nation. The Blue Devils (13-11, 8-6) average just 2.0 blocks per set. The Orange do not rely on one player to carry the defense, either—four players all have double-digit solo blocks this season, led by sophomore middle blocker Leah Levert with 18. Freshman Leah Meyer leads Duke with seven solo blocks, but would be sixth in this category at Syracuse. “They’re a really physical team,” Nagel said. “They’re experienced and they have great timing, so that’s really helped them be strong at blocking as well.” The 11 a.m. start to this contest is an unusual time for a Friday match, which would usually take place in the evening. But since the Duke men’s basketball team plays its home opener Friday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium, the volleyball match got bumped to earlier in the day, and the Blue Devils decided to hold the game in the morning, close to the time players would normally be at practice anyway. “They have classes in the afternoon and we’d like them to get to some of their
classes at least, because it’s tough to miss it when you’re home for an ACC weekend,” Nagel said. “[The preparation] is certainly adjusted a little bit, but we’ll still do many of the same things that we would do before a match that starts much later in the day.” The Eagles (11-15, 3-11) come to Durham for Sunday’s match near the bottom of the ACC, but they have shown major signs of improvement in recent weeks. After failing to win a set in seven straight matches during the month of October, Boston College rebounded to win two of its last four and took the first two frames against North Carolina last Sunday before losing the match in five. “They don’t necessarily have the record… that Syracuse does, but they’re always a formidable opponent for us,” Nagel said. “I expect them to be a very scrappy defensive team like they always are and to fight really hard, so we have our work cut out for us.” Duke has not faced either of these opponents yet this season, but it is 2-0 against the Orange and 16-1 against the Eagles since each team joined the conference, with the lone loss coming at home to Boston College in 2012. Blue Devil co-captains Emily Sklar and Jordan Tucker must keep making a major impact if Nagel’s squad is to continue its success against these conference foes. Sklar has been consistent all season and led Duke with 29 combined kills last weekend against Georgia Tech and Clemson, but the Blue
Sanjeev Dasgupta | The Chronicle Senior Emily Sklar and the Blue Devils can climb up in the ACC standings with a pair of wins this weekend.
Devils suffered their only hiccup in almost a month when they were swept by the Yellow Jackets. After an early-season lull, Tucker’s resurgence sparked Duke’s recent winning streak, though she endured a setback with six attack errors during the loss in Atlanta. “We just need them to continue to be the people that they are for us out there on the court and the leaders that they are for us,” Nagel said. “They’ve done a good job not only in their game…but also emotionally for our team as well.”
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16 | ThurSday, Thursday, November 12, 2015
FIELD HOCKEY from page 14 right from the beginning and knowing that’s the kind of game we want to play anyway.” Aside from the upset victory against Duke, the Cardinal have defeated only two out of five other ranked opponents this season, then-No. 15 Iowa and then-No. 14 Northwestern. The Blue Devils enter Saturday’s match with a 9-6 ledger against ranked opponents. Stanford has dropped two matches to squads outside the top 25, falling 2-1 to California in overtime Sept. 18 and 1-0 to Pacific Oct. 16. Tew and senior Maddie Secco lead the Cardinal on offense with a combined 14 goals and 73 shots this season and will look to find the back of the cage early in the game Saturday. Redshirt senior goalkeeper Lauren Blazing and sophomore midfielder Alyssa Chillano—who have tallied 96 saves and six defensive stops, respectively—anchor the Duke defense and will look to deny Stanford a second upset. “We are definitely excited to get them as a bid because it’s always fun to get redemption,” senior back Hannah Barreca said. “We luckily know their game, and there are some things that we can fix from when we lost to them early in the season. We are going to adjust our game to take it to them.” Barreca and classmates Blazing, Amanda Kim, Aileen Johnson and Sarah Urdahl will compete in the third NCAA tournament during the course of their four years at Duke, with hopes of improving on last season’s second-round loss to North Carolina and their 2013 run to the championship game against title-winner Connecticut.
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“There’s no better way to end your senior year than to play in the biggest tournament for Division I hockey,” Barreca said. “I’m really excited, and there’s definitely a different energy that you bring into it as a senior, a little bit more urgency.” If the Blue Devils defeat Stanford, they will face the winner of the matchup between No. 3 Virginia and No. 14 Delaware Sunday at 2 p.m. The Cavaliers have beaten Duke twice this season on their home turf by a combined score of 9-3—once in the regular season and again in the first game of the ACC tournament—and the Blue Devils downed the Blue Hens 5-1 Sept. 25. With two wins this weekend, Duke would punch its ticket to the NCAA semifinal round for the sixth time in program history.
Eric Lin | The Chronicle Senior running back Shaquille Powell will play his last game at Wallace Wade Stadium Saturday, a week after rushing for 98 yards on 13 carries at North Carolina.
FOOTBALL from page 13
Carolyn Chang | The Chronicle Redshirt senior goalkeeper Lauren Blazing will look to contain Stanford’s offense Friday.
The Chronicle
fundamentals. Everyone wasn’t on the same page,” redshirt senior safety Jeremy Cash said. “We trust one another. We understand that we have one another’s back no matter if time gets tough. We just have to have a nextplay mentality. We’ve put so much into this program [not to let just] two games tear all of that down.” Offensively, Duke will look to its recharged running attack against a Pittsburgh defense that surrenders 142.8 rushing yards per game. Since redshirt junior quarterback Thomas Sirk led the Blue Devils in rushing against Virginia Tech three weeks ago, Duke’s running backs have increased their production. Against the Tar Heels, redshirt junior Jela Duncan rushed for a career-high 115 yards on 13 carries,
which included a 52-yard touchdown. Senior Shaquille Powell also contributed 13 carries for a season-high 98 yards. Speedster Shaun Wilson sat out against the Tar Heels with a leg injury—the sophomore’s return could help Duke create more explosive plays, though his availability is unclear. “There were a lot of good things [running the ball],” Cutcliffe said. “I thought Shaquille and Jela ran the ball extremely well. We’ve seen more consistency. Our blocking was better than it had been in recent times. That is something that we maintain a real desire and hunger for.” Duke’s seniors need one more win to create the winningest three-year stretch in program history. For them, there is no better time to reach that milestone and end a two-game losing streak than on Senior Day.
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W. BASKETBALL from page 13
Duke’s five newcomers racked up 88 points in preseason play. Shooting guard Haley Gorecki paced the group, notching 16 points in both contests, while international sharpshooter Angela Salvadores’ debut turned into a cold shooting night, finishing 3-of-9 from the field against Saint Leo. The Leon, Spain, native chipped in five assists in 16 minutes of floor time, showing glimpses of what fans can expect from her as she eases back into the game after being rested following her involvement in multiple international tournaments this summer. The expedition contests were just practice, though, and with Friday’s opener looming, McCallie will finally get a look at how her group matches up against Division I competition. “[The team] plays really well together, and I think that’s shown throughout the games,” redshirt sophomore Rebecca Greenwell said. “We have a lot of weapons…and I think we enjoy playing with each other, and it shows out there. We always are getting the open player and just having a lot of fun and scoring a lot.” The Blue Devils will not have time to waste after playing the Quakers, returning home to defend their house against Winthrop less than 48 hours later. The Eagles are led by versatile junior Erica Williams, who led her team in scoring last year, averaging 16.4 points per game. The Eagles were picked to finish second in the Big South Conference this season after losing two of their starters from last year. “It’s a little bit of a quick turnaround,” McCallie said. “But when it’s time, we will be very excited to be at home again with our fans—hopefully coming off of some really good things that we learned from [Friday].”
get a look at the kind of competition they can expect to meet this weekend. Pennsylvania—which returns three starters from last year’s squad, including Ivy Rookie of the Year in sophomore forward Michelle Nwokedi—will test Duke’s defensive fortitude, especially in the post. Nwokedi and junior center Sydney Stipanovich combined for an average of 20.7 points per game last season and hauled in a combined 14.5 boards per contest. Duke will look to sophomore Azurá Stevens and junior Kendall Cooper to corral the Quakers’ dangerous duo on the inside. For Cooper—who made the majority of her contributions last season coming off the bench—the early season challenge will be an opportunity to put up big minutes against some of the best competition in the Ivy League. The Blue Devils will also need to keep a watchful eye on Pennsylvania’s point guard, sophomore Anna Ross. A quick and talented passer who can also shoot the three, Ross started all 30 games for the Quakers last year as a true freshman. The Syracuse, N.Y., native averaged 6.2 points and 3.7 assists per game last year, hitting her mark from beyond the arc at a 39.4 percent clip. “It’s a nice challenge early,” McCallie said. “They do a very good job feeding from the middle of the floor from post to post, so your one-on-one defense in the post is very important.” Friday’s game at the Palestra will also provide the Blue Devils’ highly touted freshman class an opportunity to showcase their talents on one of college basketball’s greatest stages. sudoku_505B
Motin Yeung | The Chronicle Freshman Haley Gorecki scored 16 points in each of Duke’s exhibition contests last week and will look to carry that sharp shooting into Friday’s season opener.
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18 | THURSDAY, Thursday, novembeR November 12, 2015
Equal concern for reporters and safe spaces
T
ensions flared on Tuesday between student activists and the media on the University of Missouri’s campus. A widespread video shows a crowd of activists physically blocking a student journalist, Tim Tai, from ESPN from taking pictures of their tent encampment. The angry crowd insisted on their right to be left alone by the media. Tai stated his First Amendment right to document the event. The clash is a flashpoint of the larger debate on the borders between safe spaces and free speech. Legally, Tai had an indisputable first amendment right to photograph an event occurring outdoors on public property. Yet in the video, an Assistant Professor of Communications at Missouri is shown confronting Tai and telling him to “get out.” This failure to be a well-informed role model is disappointing. While students protesting should on the one hand have informed themselves of their rights and the rights of the media, the expectation on faculty members is obviously higher. Since, the student demonstrators, called Concerned Student 1950 after the year Missouri first admitted black students, has posted signs addressing freedom of speech and welcoming media, calling the confrontation a “teachable moment.” But the debate over media bias and historical misrepresentations of black experiences has more
“I hope this isn’t being done on live parrots. Not only can they talk, but they speak intelligently in context and respond with phrases in context of a situation.” — “Patzilla” commenting on the Nov. 9 article “Duke researchers study vocal learning using parrots”
Letters PoLicy The Chronicle welcomes submissions in the form of letters to the editor or guest columns. Submissions must include the author’s name, signature, department or class, and for purposes of identification, phone number and local address. Letters should not exceed 325 words; contact the editorial department for information regarding guest columns. The Chronicle will not publish anonymous or form letters or letters that are promotional in nature. The Chronicle reserves the right to edit letters and guest columns for length, clarity and style and the right to withhold letters based on the discretion of the editorial page editor.
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to offer. Despite standards of journalistic ethics, major outlets from MSNBC to Fox News have been repeatedly cited for titling and framing stories along ideological lines. In the past decade or so, smartphone cameras and social media have placed storytelling in the hands of individuals, granting activist movements greater control over their own messages. One rationale, tweeted by an activist at Missouri, for
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turning on Tai was to protect their community from the media’s “twisted insincere narratives.” Whether out of desire to retain agency over their message or fear of media misappropriation, the activists’ desire for a safe space was well-intentioned even as their actions were indefensible. Obviously this is not to say the mainstream media has no role. In this case, the photojournalist later communicated in an interview that he had wanted to document the “historic” event of the activists’ victory as “a personal issue that people all over the country can connect with.” The same professor who confronted Tai actually called in previous days for greater media coverage. Activists may find that their goals and the goals of well-intentioned journalists
align. The issue of safe spaces, then, becomes a question of communication and a balancing act between telling one’s own stories and allowing the regular channels to use their network power. How, then, should media and activists navigate the boundaries of safe spaces, in light of their own goals and the rights of others? First, activists must have a clear grasp of the legitimate and illegitimate ways of asserting their rights to a safe space. Here, the cordoning off of public spaces to media was obviously wrong. But activists also have a valid claim against media attempts, intentional or not, to twist and misrepresent their stories. In any case, activists and well-intentioned journalists certainly share the goal of not detracting from the movements and stories themselves by getting bogged down in conflicts like these. The treatment of Tai was deeply disappointing to the Board, and though we are glad the activists have spun away from their actions, the fact that it is so easy for desires for safe spaces to overpower free speech through a mob is concerning even as the media is reminded of where these groups are coming from in criticizing coverage. Tuesday’s incident and activists’ subsequent revision of their stance towards media represents a moment of growth and learning for both sides.
In defense of indignation
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here is an incident I always think about whenever people tell me that it must have been easy to adjust to Duke after coming from a Western country. As an overly enthusiastic first-year, I found myself standing in front of the hundred members of Duke Student Government trying to explain why I would be most appropriate for a representative role on SOFC, the school’s funding committee. It was a job that sounded appropriately glorious, and I thought about how best to portray myself to the Senate at large. “Well,” I joked. “I’m Asian, so I know how to use money well.”
ingrained respect for faculty, it is disarming to watch students yelling expletives at a professor. Certainly, there are students resorting to more aggressive behaviors than others, and I question the incidences of verbal or physical force. Yet what disturbs me is seeing and hearing so many publications chalk up the crux of the matter up to over-sensitive and over-privileged students lashing out in inappropriate ways. If you would believe the media, it seems that Yale students these days have been so lulled into their own victimization that a single email was enough to cause pandemonium. But it has never been just about the use of a word, a
Isabella Kwai truth or Dare I was certain that I would get a big laugh, which may indicate the sheer extent of my naivety back then. What I got instead was silence. Some people tittered and glanced at each other, and the Executive Vice President told me in a cool voice that, thank you, I could sit down now. Confused and embarrassed, I did. An older student leaned towards me in pity. “That was probably a mistake,” he whispered. I didn’t understand. It was the kind of joke we made often to each other in Sydney, ribbing to each other about the stereotypes associated with our cultural backgrounds. Wasn’t I Asian myself? How could such a joke be harmful? That was my first brush with political correctness, and truthfully, I first chalked it up to a cultural difference that I did not quite understand. I thought that Americans seemed a little too sensitive. Yet at the time, I had little concept about the pervasiveness of systemic racism or the dangers of cultural appropriation or the existence of micro-aggressions. I only came to understand these concepts later—first through classes that confronted the unfolding of discrimination in history and then in the reality of the everyday where classmates told me about their personal experiences. I watched the effects of the subconscious discrimination that we all live in. I saw then how my little joke played a part in reinforcing a very clever narrative, where Asians must act a certain way in order to be accepted into Western society. What I had thought was over-sensitivity was, in fact, tied to a systemic issue bigger than my younger self could ever appreciate. We come, then, to the question of sensitivity and the recent events at Yale University and Missouri, where student activism attacking the administration for ignoring systemic racism has reached such heights, national news outlets have begun chiming in. The reaction was doubleedged, but many publications criticized students for radically overreacting. The Atlantic ran an article titled, “The New Intolerance of Student Activism”, while USA Today’s Glenn Reynold wondered whether, in light of such “childish” behavior, the voting age should be raised to 25. I will not deny that, as a college student who has an
professor’s carefully worded email or a bad joke. If we isolate individual incidents without the heavy background of centuries of historical precedent, it certainly may appear that we are nitpicking about futile details. A noose on a tree may be a noose, until we realize it was only some forty years ago that the KKK still hung innocent people like dead birds from the limbs of trees. A derogative word may be a word, until we remember that in many areas of the world, members of the LGBTQ community, people of color and women are being called these very words by others who have no problem with acts of violence. We may have progressed into a better place, but there are still many glaring equalities in the hidden crevices of the day-to-day that scores of people must quietly endure. Knowing even a fraction of this, how can we attribute people’s real hurt and anger to being overly sensitive? As someone who has been on both sides of this debate, I am not saying that we must censure all opinions that cause offence to someone. Indeed, that is both impossible and unhelpful to the end goal, which is presumably one of knowledge. But if we are not receptive to the ways people tell us they must struggle, would that not cause more censure? If we do not even let people express the extremes of their emotion, how might we even begin sharing? Being indignant is not a bad thing. By characterizing it as such, we are assuming that sensitivity derives from an individual’s emotional weakness rather than a larger societal issue. We lay blame at the feet of the feeler rather than at the issues that cause them to feel. We insinuate that one must accept things and “get over it” because that is the way things are. Of course that hurts. It does hurt to be dismissed. It hurts to choose the safety of quiet acceptance over being vilified. And it hurts, most of all, when it seems that nothing will ever change and our world will always be in this little space of rules and norms, when we should know that isn’t true. History has proven otherwise. Isabella Kwai is a Trinity senior. Her column runs on alternate Thursdays.
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The power
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we possess
n a Duke Rival article outlining recent events at the University of Missouri, a provocative final thought caught my attention. “This [case] begs the fundamental question we must ask ourselves: What do I expect from my University? If my University is not meeting my expectations, what changes must occur?”
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Safe words and violent spaces
discourse? There’s so many here on campus. ou do not respect our space.” It also troubles me that saying or publishing “She does not want to talk to you. these types of thoughts, which don’t sound She does not even want to see you ... so radical to me, could result in major you better back up.” backlash. Our conversations are stifled right “Do you fundamentally stand behind now. People are afraid to engage, and there what she said... even when it’s offensive ... are people who want to learn but don’t know even when it denigrates me?” how to participate without inadvertently “It is not about creating an intellectual space.”
Carly Stern
Tyler Fredricks
short anD sweet
patricians etc.
The boycott by the University of Missouri’s varsity football team demonstrated tangible, effective impact: the resignation of thenPresident of the University of Missouri, Tim Wolfe. In our world, it’s easy to feel that endless problems exist with few immediate solutions, so this feels like an encouraging victory in an uphill battle. Such a triumph marks a landmark that can accelerate momentum and set a precedent for other students to act. When reading an article for a public policy assignment yesterday, I came across the sentences, “Another important insight from behavioral economics is default bias— what most of us might simply call laziness or inertia. Default bias suggests that people are much more likely to stick with the status quo than what we might expect given the benefits of switching to another option.” This concept may be obvious, but it holds true in nearly every facet of life, particularly regarding social issues at Duke. Currently for many students, the default is inaction. We need to change that default bias. We have intentions, but we do not always act on them. The disturbing homophobic and racist events that have occurred on campus have pushed me to think more deeply. What would I do, right now, if I had the power and impact of those football players? What would we demand as a student body? What can we change and what would we change? I posed these questions to some friends and received responses ranging from administrative issues to cultural nuances. Sophomore Jessie Petrow-Cohen said she feels the administration puts on a public relations show in regards to caring about the scandals that occur. “There is no sense of urgency over the fact that some students feel unsafe here. As long as the administration can turn it around to say, ‘But look at the strength of the Duke community supporting the people who were hurt,’ that’s enough for them. Yet we still don’t see any policy change. A boy’s life was directly threatened, but mandatory sensitivity training to sexuality and gender issues still doesn’t exist. Instead, an email was sent saying, ‘Look how much Duke cares!’” When asked about a small-scale issue that could be easily addressed, sophomore Dylan Gambardella cited the dangerous robberies that have already occurred twice this semester on Central Campus. “Students feel uneasy when walking around, especially late at night. Knowing security cameras exist would at least reassure residents, as such systems dissuade potential crime.” Certainly Duke’s massive $2.3 billion 2015-2016 budget would allow for these small concessions, which could immediately make on-campus residences safer. Sophomore Amanda Gavcovich cited the way Duke students engage in conversations about race. “We aren’t having effective conversations. People get angry and feel victimized (rightfully so), but this hurts their effectiveness. The Brodhead conversation is noble, but why don’t we bring in professionals on race that could add to the
offending others.” Sophomore Hope Arcuri pinpointed a societal trend she feels undermines Duke culture. “People prioritize school so much that they don’t take care of themselves or others. We don’t give 100 percent to anything; instead, we offer 70 percent to too many things. Relationships are placed on the back burner, and as a result, we don’t show people our authentic selves. We don’t prioritize other people within relationships so we’re afraid to share our difficulties, which prevents us from truly connecting with those around us.” Sophomore Callie Fry dislikes how we expect the administration to issue top-down instruction about how to behave regarding culturally sensitive issues. Examples she cited include how to dress on Halloween and the gendered Greek power imbalance that can be associated with sexual assaults. “While repeated episodes of oppression merit a top-down plan to ensure that threats, racial slurs or assaults don’t happen again, it’s not just the administration’s duty to dictate how students should behave. This change also must come from within the student body and the culture we create. The administration is only as effective and knowledgeable as the students they represent.” Before we can translate intent to action, we must define what we care about. The diverse opinions expressed here demonstrate that, no matter what that is, it’s important to care about something. It is difficult to make the leap from intangible to tangible when it comes to addressing problems. Change takes time and momentum is essential. When small injustices are remedied, people grow confident they can attack larger ones. Perhaps I am an idealist, but I hope one day the default will be to act on these desires rather than to remain compliant with the status quo. Elie Wiesel once said the opposite of love is not hate; it’s indifference. I refuse to believe that Duke students are apathetic. The responses I solicited emanated from a small subset of voices among Duke’s undergraduate population. There is a huge force of energy here to be channeled. “Our student body doesn’t realize how much power and influence we have on this school,” Amanda said. “We think it’s hard to change the university, and it is, but we forget the capacity we have for change. The school relies on us for donations in the future. If we aren’t happy, future Duke won’t be happy when we don’t donate.” It is essential to ask ourselves every day what we care about, what we would change and what we are willing to fight for. I don’t have the answers; I am simply daring everyone to think a bit harder. We all so fervently want to leave our marks upon our respective fields when we leave Duke, but I challenge us to contemplate the power we possess right now and how to use it in order to leave a lasting mark on this community. Carly Stern is a Trinity sophomore. Her column usually runs on alternate Fridays.
Thursday, novembeR THURSDAY, November 12, 2015 | 19
If you are not familiar with these statements by now, you should be. The first and second were made by students at the University of Missouri and directed towards an Asian-American student freelancer who was taking photographs for ESPN. The third and fourth were made by students at Yale University directed towards a white professor of psychology, Nicholas Christakis. Both scandals made national headlines this past week, just as we experienced controversy relating to a death threat right here in Durham. “Safe spaces,” along with “trigger warnings” originated within the feminist movement. The idea was to protect sexual assault survivors suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and to create areas where people can feel comfortable. Research shows sudden exposure to triggering events can have a negative effect on those with mental health issues, and being cognizant of this can help those on their way to recovery. It is built on the notion that “buried memories ... lie just below the surface of consciousness, ready to be triggered.” Safe spaces are meant to allow everyone in a physical area to feel comfortable. In this respect, the roots of safe spaces are in generally accepted (although contentious) science. For me, trigger warnings are appropriate to help those suffering from PTSD, and the concept of the “safe space” as described above is appropriate in allowing vulnerable people to speak genuinely. Yet, when I watched the video of the freelancer at Mizzou trying to photograph the safe space students had created in the middle of a public quad, I was repulsed. A mob of students, infuriated at the thought someone could enter the public quad after they were already standing there, tightened together. After a heated exchange, they began walking forward, physically pushing him out. This mob of more than one hundred people genuinely felt this one photographer was the one oppressing them. Safe space for whom? An oddly similar event happened on our own campus several weeks ago. During a Black Lives Matter rally at the Chapel in response to racial slurs defiling flyers on campus, a woman asked Zeta Tau Alpha sorority to halt their philanthropic event. This event, in a public space on campus, and where there had likely been months of logistical planning, was seen by the woman not only as intruding on the hastily planned rally, but perpetuating racial intolerance. The BLM movement does not necessarily share this reaction, but I later saw numerous people “liking” her article, indicating this sentiment is widespread. Safe space for whom? Watching Christakis address 30 or more angry students, who questioned his assertion that speech shouldn’t disrupt classrooms and who told him he shouldn’t be able to sleep at night, likewise repulsed me. Students were upset his wife had sent an email contending the administration shouldn’t dictate what students should
or should not wear for Halloween, and they were adults who needed to be able to make their own decisions on how to dress themselves. Activists say some costumes are orientalizing ethnic traditions, culturally appropriating customs and doing so in a context of systemic racism. They say they are offended.
An ironically similar contention was made on this campus at the beginning of the year. The Tab, a new publication at Duke, ran an article about the freshman who refused to read the graphic novel Fun Home with the statement “I’m totally against the bikini” in its title. I saw numerous statements calling him paternalistic and misogynistic at Duke and on external media. The socially conservative argument he makes is that revealing clothing objectifies females and violate his religious beliefs. He said he was offended. Less than a year ago, students on this campus sought to have the Editorial Page Editor of the Chronicle removed because of his political beliefs. This petition gained nearly 1,000 signatures. These students sought to extend the “safe space” to Duke University’s independent student newspaper, generally a bastion of free speech and a public forum for ideas. Students were upset. This past Halloween, some also voiced concern over “slutty soldier” costumes, which did not prompt backlash although this segment of society is often directly associated with PTSD. There are servicemen and women, students in ROTC and exsoldiers on this campus. If safe spaces originated to protect those who have suffered trauma, this should, theoretically, unleash a massive campaign censoring these costumes. Students were not upset. This baffles me. Why are students, and society at large, selectively offended? Who decides what is offensive? Can anyone decide? Who decides which spaces are safe? Is a university supposed to have offensive and challenging ideas? Is a student newspaper? Is a university an intellectual space or a safe space? Are these mutually exclusive? Can words be violent? I do not have these answers. As the Duke community knows, some speech is not tolerated. This includes writing “Death to all F*** @ Jack” on a dormitory, which combines bigoted language, targeted death threats and hate speech. This includes defiling a Black Lives Matter poster with racial slurs. Slander, libel, harassment, death threats and similar types of speech shouldn’t be tolerated. We should be proud to have strong students who publicly show solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ and the people of color communities on campus. Bracketing these despicable hate crimes aside, I am left wondering if the idea of a “safe space” has strayed from its goal. I am left wondering if student activists have “weaponized” and appropriated safe spaces. I am left wondering if safe spaces are systemically shutting down dialogue on campuses around the country. I am left wondering if student activists, through the controversial Yale Halloween email and otherwise, are trying to institutionalize safe spaces. If words can be violent, I am left wondering if safe spaces can be too. Tyler Fredricks is a Trinity senior. His column runs on alternate Thursdays.
20 | Thursday, November 12, 2015
M. BASKETBALL from page 1
Sanjeev Dasgupta | The Chronicle Veterans Amile Jefferson (above) and Matt Jones were injured in the preseason but have practiced this week.
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a little bit out of control, and at this level you have to stop and think sometimes. They’re getting a lot better at that, where it just flows smoothly.” Although several of the newcomers are expected to be key scorers, the four returning Blue Devils—Plumlee, Allen, Matt Jones and Amile Jefferson—must take on bigger roles than they played during last year’s title run. Jones and Jefferson both started in roughly half of last year’s contests. Although Allen did not start a single game during his rookie season, the Jacksonville, Fla., native added 16 critical points in the national championship game against Wisconsin to bring the banner back to Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Blue Devils were tested early in exhibition play when both Jones and Jefferson sat out of Duke’s contest against Livingstone with injuries. Jones hurt his groin in the Blue Devils’ first tune-up game, and Jefferson left early in the second after tweaking an ankle. Although both
are now practicing again, the Blue Devils were forced to consider a scenario in which four freshmen were regularly taking the floor at the same time. Despite the abundance of talent evident in Duke’s freshman class, adapting to the speed and rigor of the college game will take time, but the young Blue Devils will have veterans to guide them. “It’s exciting to see how much better we can get over the course of the year,” Plumlee said. “I think we can get a little sharper, but it’s early in the season and we’re going to keep on working and taking a step forward every day.” Duke’s biggest challenge in taking on the Saints Friday night will be containing freshman guard Nico Clareth, who is coming off a 24-point showing Monday night in Siena’s contest against 2015 Division II runner up Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Clareth was one of four Saints to record double-digit scoring in the win, but Siena committed 16 turnovers and was out-rebounded on the offensive boards, which could prove to be a problem come Friday night. Bryant will open its season Saturday night in Durham after losing two of last season’s three leading scorers in Dynami Starks and Joe O’Shea. Now, head coach Tim O’Shea will look to junior Dan Garvin to improve on his 10.9 points per game from last year to lead the Bulldogs. Bryant made headlines this offseason after assistant coach Chris Burns became the first openly gay coach in Division I men’s basketball. Burns will find a familiar face at Cameron Indoor Stadium, as Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski called to congratulate him after he came out in October. The Blue Devils will take these home games against Siena and Bryant as opportunities to get some regular season experience under their belts and to further establish their roles before a tough matchup against No. 2 Kentucky Tuesday night in the State Farm Champions Classic in Chicago. Starting Friday, the Blue Devils will play five games in 10 days, meaning they must overcome their preseason jitters quickly if they hope to start their season on a strong note.
WINSTEAD from page 9 TC: There’s a lot of cynicism in American politics right now. Do you think satire has contributed to that? LW: I don’t think that the satire causes the cynicism. I think the satire responds to the cynicism. People have been cynical because corporate greed and politics have been dominating the landscape and our shitty media has not called it out at all. TC: Do believe that satire may trivialize certain issues? LW: If satire is trivializing an issue, I’d like someone to tell me when that’s happened. Satire has been around since there has been information to be told. I feel like satire is an amazing tool and arsenal of information and if you can use humor to get someone interested in it and if your humor’s good, they’ll continued to be interested and they’ll look up more stuff. Part of the reason I left the Daily Show was because you can’t do a call to action. You can present the information and you can get the audience riled up, but you can’t say: here’s what you should go do. My love of calling bulls*** and hypocrisy was equal to my love of producing comedy, and I really wanted to meld those things together and add the call to action so that I didn’t always feel like some kind of political fluffer. I think it’s hard to talk about certain topics and if you’re only using humor to get your message across. TC: Are there any topics that are too sensitive to satirize? LW: ....Any kind of creative person who works in politics needs to understand that the second you say a joke or something passes your lips, every other person gets to hear it and interpret the way they want and have feelings about it. And so for me, someone who likes to push buttons, you need to be able to defend your material, understand that people may come after you, and you have to make decisions about what that means. Preparing for that is part of the job if you’re going to be someone who talks about the world we live in. It’s really racist, sexist, homophobic and terrifying world. To confront those issues through humor means that you’re going to confront the belief systems of people who are really invested in staying that way and perpetuating that belief system. TC: What do you think about the women are not funny stereotype? LW: Every time that we say that it’s embarrassing. It’s like saying, oh you think that women aren’t funny... except when they are. You know what, men aren’t funny either except for when they are. And so when you look at the comedy that is making us laugh and what people are talking about right now—it’s all women. I’m so tired about people getting away with that saying women aren’t funny. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.