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September 27, 2017

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No. 14 Miami set to take prolific offense to Durham Page 11

T H E I N D E P E N D E N T D A I LY AT D U K E U N I V E R S I T Y

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017 DUKECHRONICLE.COM

ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTEENTH YEAR, ISSUE 17

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How Duke stacks up to its peers By Nathan Luzum Health and Science News Editor

Being a resident assistant can take up plenty of time and energy, so how are RAs compensated for their contributions at Duke versus other universities? Resident assistants at Duke receive better or similar benefits to those offered to RAs at peer institutions around the country, according to analysis by The Chronicle. The stipend, food point allotment and free housing guaranteed to RAs at Duke equals or outperforms compensation offered at other universities. “Essentially, it’s out of recognition that this is a critically important leadership role on our campus and that RAs have a significant impact on their communities, so the compensation identified was trying to recognize that,” said Joe Gonzalez, interim assistant vice president of student affairs and dean for residential life. Gonzalez said resident assistants at Duke receive a stipend ranging from $1,250 to $1,750 depending on their tenure. RAs in their first year of the job receive a $1,250 stipend for the year, whereas second- and third-year RAs are See PERKS on Page 3

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2 | WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017

LOCAL AND NATIONAL

UNIVERSITY

LGBTQ+, Jewish community members DUSDAC considers plan to boycott NC Pride Parade new sandwiches, delivery for Il Forno By Jake Satisky

NC Pride nor those in addiction recovery, Lynn added. Junior Max Bernell—co-president of Blue Devils United, the largest student LGBTQ+ group on campus—said he believed more should have been done to address the needs of LGBTQ+ individuals with different backgrounds. He added that his club’s official statement encouraged people not to attend the event in order to hold NC Pride accountable for historically neglecting queer people of color and now, queer people who are Jewish. In response to the backlash, NC Pride released a statement this summer on its website asking for forgiveness from the Jewish community, explaining that the pride event

Contributing Reporter

Typically, the NC Pride Parade and Festival is day of enthusiasm and acceptance. So why are so many North Carolina LGBTQ+ community members not attending this year? This summer, the Pride Committee of NC scheduled the annual parade—traditionally held on East Campus—for Sept. 30. But there was one problem. Saturday is Yom Kippur—the holiest day of the year for the Jewish faith. After outcry from local LGBTQ+ and Jewish groups, NC Pride rebranded the parade as “NC Pride @ Night,” and rescheduled it to be held on See PRIDE on Page 3 Rigsbee Street in downtown Durham, starting at 4 p.m.—still on Saturday. For many in the North Carolina LGBTQ+ community, the scheduling mishap and subsequent handling of the issue underscored a pattern of discriminatory behavior from the state’s pride committee. Notable LGBTQ+ and Jewish organizations published an open letter titled #LiberateNCPride that denounced the committee’s decision to keep the event on Yom Kippur. “NC Pride has a history of demonstrating a lack of transparency and accountability and an underrepresentation of historically marginalized communities,” the letter stated. Some students echoed the sentiment displayed in the letter. Senior Savannah Lynn, a student programming assistant at the Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity, said that NC Pride does not represent the entire LGBTQ+ population. “I think the NC Pride committee as a whole has been basically lacking in viewing queerness and gender nonconformity through any lens except for a white, cis[gender], male, gay lens,” Lynn said. Lynn criticized the committee’s “blatant disregard for their Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons Jewish members,” as well as their choice to relocate the festival to an area surrounded by bars. By choosing that location, the The NC Pride Parade and Festival was rescheduled to 4 p.m. committee was not cognizant of the young people who frequent Sept. 30 after criticism from Jewish and LGBTQ+ groups.

By Katherine Berko Senior News Reporter

Craving pasta after the Brodhead Center closes? Il Forno may soon be delivering to dorms after 8 p.m. At its Tuesday meeting, Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee heard from Kyle Rosch, director of operations for Il Forno, and Caroline Bretherton, who organizes the Chef ’s Kitchen cooking course. Rosch said Il Forno is open to extending its hours, offering delivery or both. “We’re willing to either stay open a little bit later if there’s a need for it,” he said. “There’s also a potential that we may want to deliver pasta [or pizza] after 8 p.m. oncampus, from here.” Members of DUSDAC said that since many students have labs or classes that end around the time the Brodhead Center eateries close., students would take advantage of the extended hours and delivery option. “I’ve had multiple times in the last few weeks of people saying ‘Oh my God, it’s 7:50,’ and sprinting to [the Brodhead Center],” said senior Julia Leuchtenburg, a committee member in favor of Rosch’s potential changes. DUSDAC members also sampled a potential new Il Forno menu item—an open-faced focaccia sandwich. One open-faced sandwich was inspired by margarita pizza with sun-dried tomatoes and mozzarella, although the other sandwich was a play on Il Forno’s prosciutto pizza with a pesto-ricotta base, prosciutto, tomatoes, arugula, shaved parmesan and balsamic glaze. “It’s a quick snack, somewhat light but a lot of bread,” See DUSDAC on Page 3

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FROM PAGE 1

FROM PAGE 2

given $1,500 and $1,750, respectively. Resident assistants are also provided with a free single room and a meal plan that differs in value depending on the campus where the RA is based. West and Central Campus RAs receive $2,800 food points for the academic year, and those located on East Campus are allotted $2,200 food points plus 30 meals per semester at the first-year dining location, Marketplace. Current Duke RAs interviewed for this story had favorable views of the benefits plan, but noted that there was room for improvement. “Compared to the type of per-hour wage you would do in another on-campus job like a work-study, I would say that we’re definitely in line—if not doing a little better— than that,” said senior Ismail Aijazuddin, a third-year RA on East Campus. Senior Vinai Oddiraju, a third-year RA on West Campus, added that the benefits of the job were necessary when accounting for the time that is required RAs devote to their duties. “Overall, I’d say the benefits an RA receives are substantial but no less than necessary,” Oddiraju wrote in an email. “If they were any less, I believe many would leave the role. The job requires significant paper work and documentation that isn’t advertised, and all these tasks eat away at much more time than people who are starting as RA’s expect to commit.” RAs and Gonzalez also commented on the reasoning behind various aspects of the meal plan. Gonzalez explained that the Marketplace swipes for RAs of first-year students were designed to foster RAstudent interaction. “We wanted the RAs to be able to engage in those opportunities without really expending their own personal finances, so that’s why we felt having a food point element was important to support that,” he said. Both RAs added that they found the Marketplace swipes to be useful. However, Aijazuddin questioned whether the additional swipes were really part of the benefits awarded to RAs or just another aspect of the job to interact with students.

Rosch explained. Rosch also noted that Il Forno received its first shipment of whole wheat pastas this week, which it is currently testing in its kitchen. He said he hoped the whole wheat option would be made available by next week.

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STUDENT INFORMATION SESSION

Cooking Courses Students who took the free, six-week long Chef ’s Kitchen cooking course last semester will be happy to hear that an advanced cooking class will be added in addition to the beginner cooking class that already exists. Bretherton, the chef who organizes and teaches the class, said she thought that last year’s pilot course was a success, with the exception of timing. “By the end of the six weeks, the [students] were cooking three course meals,” she said. “It was really nice to see the difference from week one to week six.” This year, the classes will go from 6 to 8 p.m.—an extra half an hour from last year—and last five weeks,

Ian Jaffe | Photography Editor DUSDAC heard from Caroline Bretherton, who teaches the Chef ’s Kitchen six-week long cooking class, about adding an advanced version of the course.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017 | 3

Bretherton explained. She added one class will run on Mondays and the other on Wednesdays. Bretherton decided that she wants to teach an advanced class in addition to the beginner class because many beginner class students mentioned that they wanted to learn more. Lessons in the advanced course might include a sushi week, an advanced baking week and a “Chopped” competition week. “We’re going to try to do a block from October the 16th to November the 13th,” Bretherton said. She also hopes to do another course from January to mid-February. Bretherton also shared some ideas for future pop-ups, including a great holiday cooking bake-off. She added that she might even be able to get a friend of hers—who is a judge on The Great British Baking Show—to award the prizes.

PRIDE FROM PAGE 2 is normally held on the last Saturday of September, so there was little they could do. As of Sept. 25, their site claimed that “NC Pride @ Night” is accessible to anyone who wishes to attend. However, Josh Orol—Wake County chair of the Carolina Jews for Justice— indicated that this statement was not true, highlighting the fact that Yom Kippur requires 24 hours of fasting. “I will be abstaining, whether I wanted to or not, because I’ll be fasting all day until it’s dark, and will certainly not be going out and partying after that,” Orol said. Rebecca Simons, director for Jewish life at Duke, noted as well that the opportunity for Jews to celebrate their identities has been “eliminated” by scheduling Pride on Yom Kippur. Furthermore, the rescheduling of the event signified the loss of the parade on East Campus this year. Since the 1980s, Duke has provided Pride with a space to celebrate. “[It was a] wonderful opportunity for students to go to a parade and festival on campus and to be celebrated the way that they are,” said Nick Antonicci, director of the Duke Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity. “As first-years, it’s really amazing to walk out of your residence hall and a few feet away is the pride parade—for not just Durham, but all of North Carolina.”

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4 | WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017

PERKS FROM PAGE 3 Aijazuddin noted that although he doesn’t eat at Marketplace frequently, he tries to dine with his students—on a one-on-one or group basis—once a week. Regarding the meal allotment given to RAs as a whole, Oddiraju noted that the funding could be improved. “I don’t understand why Duke provides RA’s with a ‘Meal supplement’ rather than a ‘Meal plan.’ Relative to the amount of money Duke has as an institution, I don’t think giving RA’s a couple hundred more food points is too much to ask,” he wrote. Other universities The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill furnishes its resident advisors with a $4,500 stipend for the academic year and $200 food points per semester, according to the UNC Student Affairs website. However, there is no guarantee that RAs will receive a single room at no charge. The page notes that RAs will pay no more than $710 per semester for their room and that a roommate may be assigned in the case

of housing shortages. The University of Pennsylvania—which recently overtook Duke for the eighth spot in the U.S. News and World Report University rankings—provides no stipend whatsoever for its resident advisors. “All get a room and a 120 meal plan that includes $400 dining dollars,” wrote Martin Redman—executive director of college houses and academic services at the University of Pennsylvania—in an email. Additionally, the Penn College Houses and Academic Services website noted that the meal allotment “is not intended to meet any RA’s daily nutritional needs.” Princeton University has a similar benefits package that provides housing and a dining plan but excludes a stipend. Princeton’s adviser application website indicated that residential college advisers receive a 180-meal plan and a room, and the $850 residential college fee is waived. Columbia University leans in the other direction, however, providing housing and a modest stipend but giving a dining plan only to RAs who work with first-year students. All resident advisers receive $600 stipends and free housing. Aaron Hukari, a

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The Chronicle residence hall director at Columbia, wrote in an email that RAs of first-year students receive three meals per week, which are intended to be used to dine with their students. Likewise, Cornell University provides a free single room and stipend benefits that vary depending on experience—$500 for first- or second-semester RAs to $900 for fifth- or sixthsemester RAs. Laura Davis—associate director of residential and new student programs at Cornell—declined to comment regarding the additional benefits provided. Financial aid Because of the compensation they receive from HRL, RAs at Duke who are on financial aid see changes to their financial aid packages. Jackie Alford-Hewitt, senior financial aid counselor said the value of the stipend and housing—but not the food plan— was incorporated into the recalculated financial aid package. Additionally, RAs do not receive options for work-study or loans, as any aid awarded comes in the form of a grant. To provide an example of how becoming an RA can affect financial aid, she described a hypothetical student with a $2,200 work-study, $5,000 loan and $10,000 grant. If the individual becomes an RA and receives a stipend of $1,500 in addition to $7,000 worth of housing, the grant would decrease. The cash value of the benefits—the $1,500 stipend plus $7,000 in housing—would be compared to the amount of work-study and loans the RA would be initially eligible for— in this case the $2,200 plus $5,000. The difference between the sum of the benefits—$8,500—and the work-study plus loans—$7,200—comes out to $1,300. This is the amount that the grant is reduced by—$1,300 would be deducted from the $10,000 grant to yield a new grant amount of $8,700. “The first thing to remember is that being an RA is always beneficial to students that are on financial aid,” AlfordHewitt said. Although Aijazuddin said that he was not aware of exactly how RA financial aid was computed, he knew that someone working in the Financial Aid Office would walk him through the details if he wanted to see them. Looking forward Gonzalez explained that the concept behind the current benefits plan has been in place for more than a decade. “The approach has been essentially the same for over 15 years,” he said. “The amounts change occasionally, where the stipend might get increased a little bit or the food points might get increased a little bit.” Although the benefits have remained constant for the past two years, Gonzalez added that there is a possibility “that something might get increased for the coming year” but that the decision had not officially been made. As far as potential improvements, Oddiraju wrote that he would like East Campus RAs to receive swipes to the Freeman Center for Jewish Life just as first-years do. Aijazuddin also indicated that taxes on stipends is another important factor to consider. “I think one thing that’s probably helpful with having a plan that’s geared more toward something like meals or housing rather than a direct stipend is taxes, from the student’s perspective,” Aijazuddin said. “I don’t know how taxes work from the University’s perspective, but for us, whatever I get as a stipend is earned income that I have to report and have to file taxes for.” Gonzalez noted that the benefits allotted to RAs are designed to reflect the vital role that they occupy on campus. “The students that take on those leadership experiences do outstanding work and really do make a big contribution to our communities,” Gonzalez said.

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Jim Liu | News Photography Editor Duke RAs get a stipend between $1,250 and $1,750 depending on how many years they have been in the RA role.


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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017 | 5

recess

VOLUME 19, ISSUE 17

SEPTEMBER 27, 2017

Celebration Concert

Wind Symphony welcomes Price, page 7

Carrboro Music Fest Scenes from its 20th year, page 8

Humanities at the end of life Workshop addresses death and healthcare, page 7


R 6 | WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017

recess editors What are you most excited about this

Will Atkinson ....... sweater weather!1!! Nina Wilder .........seasonal depression Georgina Del Vecho........... olaf merch Dillon Fernando .......... pumpkin spice Christy Kuesel .................. oktoberfest Jessica Williams ....... daylight savings Likhitha Butchireddygari.... perk cider

On the cover: Ellen Lanyon, “Horse and Riders,” 1965. Now on view at the Nasher Museum of Art.

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I’m pretty sure this is my final staff note for Recess — not that I’ve written many — and I’m going to use this soapbox to advocate for country music, and, more specifically, Townes Van Zandt. Country music was alien to me growing up, the kind of music that I’d complain about when my parents put it on. My parents would occasionally play it, but always in the form of classic stuff like Johnny Cash, more progressive modern artists like the Cowboy Junkies or Lucinda Williams or soul-influenced country such as Lyle Lovett. Like every white dad in the 1990s, my father also had a copy of Neil Young’s 1992 return to form “Harvest Moon,” which also was kept in steady rotation. When I started developing my own (in retrospect, horrific) musical taste in middle school or so, country music was pointedly left out, along with most genres that weren’t more or less dad rock. This continued as I grew to like more and more types of music, and I intentionally left country out of my evolving mix. That changed when a friend introduced me to Townes Van Zandt. The greatest American songwriter of all time, he released six classic, largely acoustic studio albums in addition to a wide variety of sublime live collections. Markedly simple songs, they more often than not consist of elegant guitar picking and a plaintive voice singing lyrics characterized by melancholy, solitude and stories of characters living brutal lives — though not necessarily the lonely type. “Aloneness is a state of being, whereas loneliness is a state of feeling. It’s like the difference between being broke and being poor,” Van Zandt once said. Van Zandt died in 1997 at age 52 after a lifelong struggle with

heroin, alcohol and about every other substance known to cause bodily harm. Despite his renown among songwriters and his few avid fans, he lived most of his life bouncing between cheap gigs and living in shacks. His songs have been covered by countless bands and solo musicians, and Van Zandt counted fellow outlaw country stars Guy Clark, Steve Earle and Jerry Jeff Walker as his friends during his life. Van Zandt blew the doors off of country music for me. While a little bit of the stigma I once assigned to the genre still figures in my library, I’m working towards educating myself. While the sheer size of some artist’s back catalogues is intimidating (sorry Willie — I’ll

staff note probably never get around to most of your albums, as great as “Phases and Stages” and “Red-Headed Stranger” are), I’ll now say that I can at least try to appreciate the subtlety and depth of the oft-maligned genre. Country is more than Van Zandt tragedies or Cash outlaw ballads(though the best songs are always the saddest ones). It’s people like Gram Parsons, one of the earliest to synthesize country and rock both as a solo act and with the Flying Burrito Brothers, a synthesis led him to fall in with the pre-“Exile” Rolling Stones before he died at age 26. It’s well-known acts like Wilco, one of the more universally liked bands

still making music, and the Drive-By Truckers, who subvert stereotypical countrified politics over fiddle, rangy guitar and tight harmony. It’s Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings, acoustic guitar pros who write songs that make the sad characters in Van Zandt’s finest tunes sound like trivialities. It’s Phosphorescent’s Matthew Houck, who channels the usual clichés (his “Song for Zula” manages to quote Cash and Midler classic “The Rose” in its first line) while combining psychedelia and traditional country tropes. It’s musicians like Jason Molina who, like Van Zandt, have posthumously come to rely on their tragic stories to add sincerity and authenticity to their already heartbreaking songs. And of course, it’s Willie, Merle, Dolly and the rest — all so distinct that the definition of country all but fails to exist. For me, no one will ever live up to the standard set by Van Zandt, but there’s definitely an asymptote. Artists have approached his status, but as of yet he’s untouched. Not only is his music uniquely stirring and affecting, but it opened a gateway into a whole group of musicians I previously couldn’t have been bothered with. It’s a genre with remarkable emotion behind its best work, and the storytelling is unparalleled by anything that isn’t hip-hop (the similarities in stories told by those genres is striking, with many of them focusing on down-ontheir-luck protagonists rising against all odds or successful ones falling in the face of life’s various burden). Van Zandt is the archetype of all of this, and I can’t recommend him enough. Give Van Zandt’s “Our Mother the Mountain” a spin, and next thing you know I’ll be seeing you at Bill Callahan on Oct. 14. —Alex Griffith

Playground

Godspeed You! Black Emperor shift sound on ‘Luciferian Towers’ By Ajay Dheeraj Contributing Writer

Godspeed You! Black Emperor is no stranger to build-up. Since releasing their 1997 debut “F# A# ∞ ,” the group has thrived on swelling crescendos and slow escalation over the course of their often multi-movement songs. After taking an eight-year hiatus, the group released their fourth album “Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!” to critical acclaim and the 2013 Polaris Prize. Now they’ve returned with their first album since 2015’s “Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress,” the ominously titled “Luciferian Towers.” “Luciferian Towers” starts off how you’d expect. The liner notes on the album sleeve speak of recording on a burning motorboat and grandly demand that “the expert f---ers who broke this world never get to speak again.” “Undoing a Luciferian Towers” addresses this rage with high string pitches and droning noises throughout the first half, bursting into one of the most unnerving sections the band’s ever produced. Harrowing saxophones and chaotic screeching dominate the space in an almost anxiety-inducing affair. By this point, it’s clear that the album will be among Godspeed You!’s most harrowing works. But right before the noise in “Undoing” threatens to completely consume, it retreats and a melody breaks through.

Kmeron | Courtesy of Flickr Experimental group Godspeed You! Black Emperor, pictured in 2011, released their sixth album Friday.

In “Bosses Hang, Pt. 1,” the first of three parts, a rush of guitars and strings lift the entrancing melody, while “Pt. 2”’s central motif is a five-note rhythm that sharpens and quickens as the sounds coalesce, finally climaxing in “Pt. 3”’s triumphant return to the initial melody. The song is a lovely release from the group, even if the pulsing ostinato starts to wear on the listener in “Pt. 3” and the track never truly explodes. “Fam/Famine” works well as a spacer between the two three-part songs on this LP, reprising the melody with an atmospheric feel. One of the greatest

strengths on this album is that even the interlude tracks offer interesting melodic experiences, something that 2015’s “Asunder” had difficulty maintaining in its middle two tracks “Lamb’s Breath” and “Asunder, Sweet.” The highlight of this record is easily the three-part “Anthem for No State.” “Pt. 1” and “Pt. 2” build beautifully, and the last minute swell of “Pt. 2” leads into an intense “Pt. 3.” The four-note ascension from “Pt. 1” is coupled with a vicious descent, and this vigorous rising and falling is accompanied by a wall of sound that wails and trembles.

Just like in the opener, this wall is pierced with guitars for the last minute and a half, offering a resounding conclusion to the album. Godspeed You! does a fantastic job at shifting their sound into this morepositive focus. Their interludes are more striking than ever before, and they continue to be the best post-rock band in the world at making motifs stay fresh far longer than any simple refrain should. Yet, for all of its charm, there is a certain sadness that I feel when I see Godspeed You! walk away from their greatest strength — their ability to completely flood your senses with dark and unnerving sound (yes, I miss the bleak spoken word vocals on past albums) and the impeccable crescendos and dynamics that graced “F# A# ∞ ” and “Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven.” The lacking dynamic output can be partially attributed to the muddy production, but that’s never been a strong point of Godspeed You!’s output. The weaker crescendos can also be traced to the album length. Clocking in at 44:54, “Luciferian Towers” is among the band’s shortest albums, and it shows in the often jarring transitions between songs. “Anthem for No State” deserves the droned intro that graced its original form “Railroads,” and the songs’ abrupt endings often break the immersive See GODSPEED on Page 10


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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017 | 7

Campus Arts

Workshop to address end-of-life care through the lens of humanities

By Sydny Long Contributing Writer

There is no easy way to discuss death. Even when couched in pleasant language or harmless euphemisms, the topic is universally repulsive for its uncomfortable connotations, its alarming inevitability, its dreadful uncertainty. People do not want to talk about death, especially their own. However, in a world where medical advances have extended the arduous task of dying from a matter of days to years, death and the end of one’s life have become subjects that demand conversation. Fortunately for the students of Duke University, this is not an endeavor that has to be undertaken alone — three professionals are preparing to facilitate this difficult discussion in an interactive workshop that will likely be more enlightening than depressing. “People don’t think, ‘How can a degree in English help me in medicine?’” said Professor Jehanne Gheith, one of the workshop’s three key speakers and the organizer of the event. Gheith is well-acquainted with the complexities of end of life care: In addition to being an associate professor of Slavic Studies at Duke, she is a licensed social worker who has extensive experience with hospice. However, it is her background in Russian literature that she feels best equipped her for the challenging workshop. “Stories about our lives and health help create meaning. … Humanities, stories and art all inform end of life medical care,” she said. Gheith’s paper, which will serve as the point of reference for her component of the workshop,

explores how “novels, the humanities, and our relationships with our pets can contribute to better outcomes for people who are sick or suffering.” Gheith’s proficiency in literature has provided her with an additional dimension of insight into medicine, suffering and dying that most healthcare professionals lack. The use of stories to contextualize the end of one’s life is a seemingly simple method of coping that is often overlooked in favor of more logical, clinical approaches. While there is obvious merit to viewing the process of dying through a purely scientific lens, there are innumerable benefits to combining the humanities with the more technical aspects of end of life. This holistic perspective draws from art, poetry and literature to foster an environment in which death and aging can be honestly discussed and examined from a variety of angles to ease the transition from life to death. “It means a lot to me, bringing my two professional worlds together,” Gheith said with an anticipative smile — she is clearly excited about the potential of this workshop to change people’s minds regarding the place of humanities in medicine. The third speaker is MK Czerwiec, a nurse and cartoonist whose graphic novel “Taking Turns” has garnered praise for its intriguing exploration of the intersection between art and death during the 1980s AIDS epidemic. Czerwiec in particular brings a fascinating point of view to the end of life conversation, having worked as a nurse in an AIDS ward and experienced firsthand the power of marrying medicine and the humanities. Her passion for art allowed her to develop

MK Czerwiec | Courtesy of Pennsylvania State University Press Czerwiec, whose comics draw from her experience as a nurse at an AIDS unit, sits on Saturday’s panel.

more meaningful relationships with her suffering patients and express herself in a healthy way when she ended up losing these same patients. “Taking Turns” is a cornerstone for the emerging field of graphic medicine, which utilizes art as a tool to craft engaging narratives about suffering and death. Czerwiec’s presentation of this topic will likely be just as intriguing, humorous and inventive as her graphic novel — perhaps even more so, given she will be sharing the stage with two fellow proponents of combining the humanities with end of life care. When asked what she hopes Duke students will gain from the experience, Gheith replied: “I want people to start thinking about how [the end of life] can

improve your life now, how it can improve any profession you pursue.” The workshop promises to be more than just a brief glimpse into the world of dying — it will be an interactive, stimulating exploration of the facets of aging and how different narratives can improve the experience. It may not be easy or simple — the ethical minefield of end of life care is one of the most frustrating topics one can study — but it is necessary to start thinking about death now and decide how one wants his or her story to eventually end. “Poems, Prose, and Panels: The Work of the Humanities in End of Life Care” will be held Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in The Edge Workshop Room in Bostock Library.

Campus Arts

Duke Wind Symphony’s Celebration Concert welcomes new

Courtesy of Duke Music Department To mark the inauguration of President Vincent Price, the Duke Wind Symphony’s Celebration Concert will take place Thursday.

By Eva Hong Contributing Writer

The Duke Wind Symphony will celebrate the beginning of a new season, the arrival of new students and the inauguration of President Vincent Price all in one with the Celebration Concert Thursday in Baldwin Auditorium. The free concert will begin at 8 p.m. and will be followed by a reception with refreshments. All of the performance pieces have been carefully chosen to best highlight the exceptionally celebratory nature of the concert. Selections include “You Are Cordially Invited” by Michael Markowski, “Hymn to the Fallen” by John Williams, “Let the Amen Sound”

by Travis Cross, “October” by Eric Whitacre and “Libertadores” by Óscar Navarro. Of course, such celebration would not be considered complete without some invigorating fanfares to capture the hope and excitement of the occasion. Thus, the audience will also be able to enjoy an elegant and lyrical fanfare from the ballet “La Peri” written by the French composer Paul Dukas, which is juxtaposed by the lively “Olympic Fanfare and Theme” of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. Each piece will paint a unique smudge of color onto this canvas of celebration. “We are doing a piece by Eric Whitacre called October. I know it’s a little bit early — we’re still in September. But he actually did October because it’s his favorite month,”

said Verena Mösenbichler-Bryant, Director of the Duke University Wind Symphony and Associate Professor of the Practice of Music at Duke. But even though we are not quite there yet, October is just around the corner, playing the prelude of the holiday season marked by Halloween, Thanksgiving and, finally, Christmas. “October is my favorite month. Something about the crisp autumn air and the subtle change in light always makes me a little sentimental, and as I started to sketch [the music] I felt that same quiet beauty in the writing,” Whitacre has written of his piece. “The simple, pastoral melodies and subsequent harmonies are inspired by the great English Romantics (Vaughn Williams, Elgar) as I felt that this style was also perfectly suited to capture the natural and pastoral soul of the season.” The vibrant “Libertadores” will also lend vividity to the concert. The piece is structured in two parts — one part is about the Amazon River, and the second part captures Simón Bolívar and José de San Martín, leaders of South America. “You can hear different aspects of the landscape in the music,” Mösenbichler-Bryant said. “You can hear tribal sounds — there are actually some singing in the piece and lots of usage of hand percussion. So you hear lots of drums and many many beautiful colors.” Perhaps what’s more fascinating than the music is the symphonic group itself. Founded in 1906, the ensemble is composed largely of non-music majors who come from such diverse academic backgrounds and interests that it was only possible for them to meet each other through their shared passion for music. Regardless of their different academic pursuits, the students can always find common comfort and inspiration in playing See SYMPHONY on Page 4


8 | WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017

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The Chronicle

Local Arts

scenes from the carrboro music festival

photos by bre bradham

By Jake Parker Contributing Writer

On a peculiarly hot September day, a circle of drummers dressed in intricate patterns of red, black and white dance in the middle of West Weaver Street, intermingled with grooving children, teenagers and a handful of gregarious adults. A crowd encircles the celebration, sporadically cheering. If it were another day, the scene would be a source of uncommon spectacle. But today, Sept. 24, it is to be expected. The Carrboro Music Festival, in its 20th year, has taken over the streets. The festival began Saturday with a handful of performances at Town Commons, and a couple hours into Sunday’s festivities, the merriment and music are still going strong. Batalá Durham, one of more than 150 groups scheduled to play the festival, pounds on in a crescendo of movement and music, culminating in a seemingly abrupt stop. Onlookers begin to glance around, looking for the next performance to watch. Just up the street, past throngs of festival-goers and a few protesters — apparently concerned with the safety of fluoride — Boom Unit Brass Band plays to a large crowd outside Pizzeria Mercato. Across the street, a

group of children and their parents wait by a small tent giving away free popcorn, balloons and prizes. As the band launches into an arrangement of “Movin’ On Up,” the theme from The Jeffersons, two golden balloons go flying towards the sky. A long-haired sousaphone player with an expressive face lays down a commanding bass line for the group, aided by the handheld microphone taped to the bell of his horn. Back in the opposite direction, Batalá Durham has dispersed. In the parking lot of Carrboro Family Vision, the Doug Prescott Band plays to a small group of onlookers that seems to skew older. Three or four of the band members are wearing some manner of Hawaiian shirt, and the music, which the festival guide characterizes as “Funky Americana,” is, well, vaguely funky. Farther down the road, just off East Weaver Street, festival-goers stretch out across a patchwork of picnic blankets laid over the mulch and grass outside Weaver Street Market. Children duel with balloon swords or climb trees as their parents lounge in the shade, waiting for the next musical act to start. Fifteen minutes later, Project Mastana begins its set. The woman leading the group introduces the tune and then jumps in herself,

Bre Bradham | Staff PhotograPher The 20 th an nu al Car r b oro Mu si c Fe st iva l wa s h e l d S at urday an d Sun day, f e at ur in g a var ie t y of lo cal mus ic ian s .

singing in Hindi. A few people dance in front of the performers, including a broad-shouldered man in a cowboy hat. In the middle of a closed-off street, Ed Tostanoski, a volunteer at the event, warmly greets festival-goers as they pass by, handing out guides and maps to those who need them. He describes himself as a people-watcher, the kind of person who enjoys interacting with others as they move from performance to performance. A firsttime volunteer, Tostanoski’s favorite part of the festival is the variety it offers. “The ability for people to step into a venue, enjoy it for a while, and then say ‘I really like this, but let me try something different,’ just go down the street and try something else,” Tostanoski said. “You don’t have to pay cover to go into it, you can try it, you can go into the restaurants, into the bars, any place else here.” One such place is Tyler’s Restaurant and Taproom — only the spot to be isn’t in the actual restaurant, but behind it, in the parking lot. There, a stage is set up against a brick wall painted with an American flag, and, as musical groups set up, festival-goers wander between tables serving beer and barbecue, smoked then chopped by a large man with a cleaver. Twilight begins to settle in over Carrboro as Funktion, the last group to play outside the Pizzeria Mercato, makes its way through its final couple songs. A few of the Boom Unit Brass Band players are in this group too, most visibly Brannon Bollinger, on alto and baritone saxophone, and Jeremy Boomhower, the sousaphone (now electric bass) player with long hair. The two musicians, along with a few of their bandmates, have been rotating through a series of varied groups, configurations and styles since 1 p.m. The festival is an ideal fit for their brand of musical variety. “What we like about the Carrboro Music Festival is exactly what we do,” Bollinger said. “It’s a variety of music all over town, so you get to go from one place to another and just hear different kinds of music, and that’s really the best thing about Carrboro Music Festival, in general. Aside from the fact that it’s free, because there’s free shows all the time, here, there and everywhere, but you don’t get the mass-variety of music like you get at the Carrboro Music Festival.” Boomhower, idly listening nearby, reiterates, “Free don’t hurt either. One hundred fifty bands free, yeah.” And as Funktion begins to pack up its equipment, the sounds of music being played just down the block echo throughout the streets, drawing the remaining festival-goers in the direction of another tune, another style, for no cover charge.


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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017 | 9

Playground

The overlooked symbolism of Darren Aronofsky’s ‘mother!’

By Likhitha Butchireddygari Editor-in-Chief

Note: The following review contains spoilers of the film “mother!” Despite polarized reviews from audiences and critics alike, Darren Aronofsky’s “mother!” is one of the best films of the year. Perhaps the negative reaction can be attributed to a widespread confusion about the film’s message. Few movies are as vividly and meticulously rendered as “mother!”— indeed, almost nothing in “mother!” feels gratuitous or incidental. Every sound, every image, every symbol seems significant. Aronofsky, whose previous films have been intentional with sound editing, expertly employs sound — specifically accentuating the sounds of an old house creaking and the movement of air within it — in his newest film to create suspense, one of the few traits that defines “mother!” as a so-called “thriller.” Aronofsky and Jennifer Lawrence, whose character represents Mother Nature in the film, have alluded to the fact that the movie is a metaphor for environmental destruction through a Biblical lens. Javier Bardem plays the creator, Him, with Michelle Pfeiffer as Eve to Ed Harris’s Adam. If you are aware of this fact, the movie is a cinematic achievement filled with intention. At the very least, reimagining the relationship between Mother Nature and God as a fragile marriage between a man and woman is ingenious. But for most viewers, this metaphor was either insufficient or absent altogether. Only when the end credits roll does it become truly clear that Bardem’s character is meant to represent the

Courtesy of Paramount Pictures Darren Aronofksy’s latest psychological thriller ‘mother!’ has met with polarized reactions since its release Sept. 15 despite its dense symbolism.

Christian deity. Although all other words in the credits remain uncapitalized — even the names of characters — Javier Bardem’s character is noticeably named “Him.” However, even if you could not view Aronofsky’s film through the lens he intended, you can still observe a strong message. Contrary to what many critics have claimed, this message is not about fame. We are predisposed to focus on the film’s male lead and to assume that his motivations and actions are the most significant, causing us to derive the film’s message from his behavior. This may be why many reviews call the film a satire on fame and criticize Aronofsky for his self-obsession. But this interpretation overlooks the fact that the movie is

named after the female lead, that most of its marketing focuses on Lawrence and that she has the most screentime. In its purest form, Aronofsky’s 7th feature film is about destruction — specifically, the slow and painful destruction of a woman. The viewer doesn’t need to understand what the woman stands for to feel her pain. Aronofsky gradually takes away everything this woman holds dear in his psychological thriller. Throughout that grueling process, the woman doggedly tries to support and nurture that which she loves — her husband, her house and the baby growing inside her — despite everyone and everything getting in her way. She is a force of nature, expertly played by Lawrence, whose vulnerability

and frustration effectively make the viewer feel compassion for her. One of her most prized possessions is her house, which was destroyed in a fire before she could live in it. It would be easy to assume that the film emphasizes the importance of the house because it’s the childhood home of Bardem’s character, or that the reason the mother restoring the house is for him. However, the true significance of the house lies in the mother’s relationship with it. It is clear that there are parallels between the well-being of the house and that of the mother, although it is not initially clear why this is the case. Aronofsky is not subtle about how See MOTHER on Page 10

Local Arts

Indie rock act Jay Som brings ‘Everybody Works’ to Chapel Hill

By Jennifer Zhou Contributing Writer

Jay Som performed Sunday at Chapel Hill’s Local 506, and for the entire show, Melina Duterte, the 22-year old frontwoman in round glasses and stripes, wore a pink cowboy hat. The band kicked off the set with the title track from Duterte’s latest album as Jay Som, “Everybody Works.” The intimate verses — “My folks they don’t think it’s right to be living in a shell / I’ll just bite hard on the luck” — accompanied by haunting beach instrumentals swelled into a choral chant repeated over and over: “Everybody works, everybody works.” This style of poppy repetition guides the structure of most tracks on the album — Duterte has openly proclaimed her deep love for Carly Rae Jepsen — encasing the various complexities of life into powerful mantras, creating atmospheres at once desperate and hopeful. Throughout the show, songs transitioned without interruption from one to the next, the band only taking breaks every three songs or so. Duterte or the other guitarist would break the silence with a slight joke as they set up their pedals and modulators for the next set of songs. They arranged themselves with the drummer in the back and the other three in an evenly spaced row: the guitarist, the bassist and Duterte on both vocals and guitar. All four lashed

at their instruments with all their might, but they still complemented one another to produce a unitary tremor. This balanced relationship was visually present as well; as they played in a line with the singer off to one side and no one standing too far in the front, they exchanged regular smiles over the blaring melodies, fostering warmth that emanated throughout the venue. Duterte didn’t draw out the song with indulgent guitar riffs and prolonged belts. Instead, she immediately peeked under the rim of her hat to thank the audience, then nonchalantly joined her band backstage. It seemed as though she was completely accustomed to the spiritual effect that her lone vocals, sustained and emergent, had when they reverberate hypothermic waves of California melancholy through a room of 50 people. Less than two minutes and just a few lines of verse: “I like the way your lipstick stains the corner of my smile / How you brush my hair aside … I pray it lasts a while.” Beyond her voice, what stands out in Jay Som’s aural dreamscape is Duterte’s lyricism, which has been critically lauded for its poignant nature. Loaded with simple yet potent “I” statements (“I just want,” “I can’t,” “I’m tired,” “I breathe again”), Duterte’s songwriting doesn’t describe the physical world, but rather its feelings, which take the form of personal and impressionistic bursts: “Why don’t we take the bus? / You say

Leslie Kalohi | Courtesy of L.A. Record Jay Som, pictured in Pomona, Calif., earlier this year, is grounded in the poetic lyricism of Melina Duterte.

you don’t like the smell / But I like the bus! / I can be whoever I want to be.” Duterte references others but speaks to herself. She lets us into vignettes of her mind’s moods, her desires and her fears. Her work is the profoundly personal poetry of who she is — and she accepts its vulnerability. Duterte’s project has evolved. After the release of her first album, “Turn Into,” she told Rookie that it was the result of “a collection of finished and unfinished songs.” She had spent two years producing a huge collection of songs, playing every instrument herself, then she picked nine of those songs. After touring with Japanese Breakfast and

Mitski, she began the process of creating “Everybody Works.” In an interview with She Shreds, Duterte revealed the stress of recording her sophomore album: Right before she wrote the would-be title track, she checked her bank account to find “negative 10 dollars.” While “Turn Into” captures the growing impatience that makes you want something bigger, “Everybody Works” invokes fighting the fear that prevents you from moving forward. Duterte has grappled with the paralysis of work and love that scares everyone to produce something cathartic and deeply personal. Now that she has given life to this work, we keenly await what’s next.


MOTHER FROM PAGE 9 important the house is to the mother, and yet many reviews of the film have left out any mention of it because they’re so focused on Bardem’s character. This isn’t to say that Bardem does not play a significant role in the film. Many of the conflicts in this film occur in the first place because of Bardem’s character’s occupation. As he is a famous author, many people come to visit him throughout the film; however, these visitors are seemingly intent on destroying the house and robbing it of its contents. In these scenes, the mother becomes exhausted from looking after everyone and trying to keep her home intact. Yet her husband refuses to make them leave, ignoring her needs—an all too familiar scene as many of us ignore our own mothers and take them for granted.

SYMPHONY FROM PAGE 7 in the symphony that daubs a layer of artistry on their often-stressful academic life. “I think it’s really, really beautiful that students that are in biology, physics, pre-med, engineering find the time to come and make music,” Mösenbichler-Bryant said. “For them it’s a wonderful creative outlet, and they are dedicated to the music making. And you always can hear that passion in their music making.” Ryan Culhane, a sophomore playing bass clarinet in the symphony but planning to major in chemistry and physics, confirmed the relaxing effect of music in his life. “I love [my experience in the Wind Symphony]. It’s so much fun. It’s a really nice release from the stress of school,” Culhane said. “You are able to get together and make music with other people who also want to make music with you.” For most other students who do not have such a creative outlet but are trapped in the library all week writing papers and studying for midterms, going to a

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10 | WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017

In the final, painstakingly nightmarish sequence, Aronofsky gradually escalates the chaos taking place in the house and crowds of strangers surge inside, demanding attention from Bardem’s character. The mother is pregnant with his child and there is too much commotion for her to deliver her baby; she begs him to make the crowds leave. Again ignoring her request, he somehow is able to take her to his empty study, where she delivers the baby. At this point, her house is destroyed and it’s clear to her she is the only one looking out for the child’s interests. She fights to prevent her husband from taking her child, but her weakened state compels her to momentarily close her eyes. Seconds later, we see that her child has been ripped from her arms by Bardem, in a moment filled with suspense and horror, demonstrating Aronofsky’s powerful direction. Bardem’s character holds the baby up while his fans cr y in practical worship. They take the baby

from him, another moment saturated with horror, and the mother chases after her newborn through the crowd. She screams and yells for her child, to no avail. Then, we hear a loud crack. The crowd has accidentally killed the baby, and because they are so obsessed with the desire to “consume” Bardem’s character’s belongings, they proceed to literally tear the infant apart and eat it. It’s shocking imagery, but it’s not gratuitous. It is at that moment that we truly feel the mother’s immense shock and rage, and understand her eventual decision to light her house on fire. Bardem’s character, God, survives and he is able to start anew. The movie starts with an image of woman engulfed in flames, a single solitary tear escaping her eye. This image repeats itself at the end of the film, representing the profound sacrifices she has made throughout her life, once again, not unlike those made by our own mothers or mother earth.

concert and getting lost in some colorful music can do the job of stress relief. Besides, it is a promising new school year that is worth being celebrated by everyone, especially the first-years who have just embarked on the transforming journey of college life. Moreover, President Price’s inauguration will bring more special and exciting hues to this new season. The musicians in the Wind Symphony are also looking forward to attendance and support from their peers, as Culhane pointed out: “If they come out and hear us, they’ll want to come back.”

GODSPEED

Interested in writing for Recess? Email inquiries to william.atkinson@duke.edu.

R

FROM PAGE 6 experience that Godspeed provides. If “Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress” was too long, then “Luciferian Towers” is too short — a little bit more room to breathe would have improved the listening experience and the pacing within the songs themselves. Yet on the whole, “Luciferian Towers” is executed well and represents a new direction for the band. The album’s spirit of positivity and hope is especially powerful considering the group’s well documented radical leftism and the world’s current political climate — right now, hope is something we all need. Twenty years ago, Godspeed You! Black Emperor opened “F# A# ∞ ” with this ominous tiding: “The car is on fire, and there’s no driver at the wheel / And the sewers are all muddied with a thousand lonely suicides”. With this new release, they’ve become the drivers, and their music, once furious and cold, has become an uplifting call to their listeners. The liner notes close with “much love to all the other lost and wandering ones” — we hear you, Godspeed. Loud and clear.

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Sports

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017 | 11

THE BLUE ZONE

DUKE IN THE NFL: WEEK 3 ACTION FOR BLUE DEVILS sports.chronicleblogs.com

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017

FOOTBALL

COLUMN

A BREWING STORM

Mark Walton, No. 14 Miami bring high-powered offense to Durham By Michael Model Assistant Blue Zone Editor

Despite being ranked 14th in the nation, Miami has been relatively untested prior to entering conference play this weekend. The Hurricanes storm into Durham looking to defend their status as one of the top teams in the nation. Although most teams are playing their fifth contest this week, Duke will just be Miami’s third opponent of the season. After handily beating Bethune-Cookman in week one, the Hurricanes were unable to play Arkansas State the next week due to the impact of Hurricane Irma and postponed their Week 3 game against Florida State. Miami returned to play last weekend and used a 42-point second half to get past Toledo 52-30. Duke struggled against the Hurricanes last season in their 41-20 loss in Miami, and Blue Devil head coach David Cutcliffe sees the Hurricanes as a big obstacle in the way of the team’s first 5-0 start since 1994. “Miami may very well be the most talented team that we will see this year,” Cutcliffe said. “I don’t see a weakness. They have it at both lines of scrimmage, they have it at receiver, they have it at DB, they’ve got it at running back, they’ve got it at linebacker, they’ve got it at quarterback and in their kicking game. It’s a challenge, but it’s certainly an opportunity for us.” Offensively, Miami (2-0, 0-0 in the ACC) gains the most yards per game in the ACC with 568.5 and is led by junior quarterback Malik Rosier, who took over following Brad Kaaya’s departure to the NFL. Rosier was outstanding in the victory against Toledo, throwing for 333 yards and three touchdowns—all of which came in the second half. Prior to this season, the Mobile,

This one matters

it takes to contain deep balls downfield. “They’re definitely a great team in every aspect of the game,” Gilbert said. “They’ve got an amazing back and they have top-tier wideouts. But we’re a very confident defense, so we’re going to come out Friday playing just how we’ve been playing the first four games.” Although Duke has been one of the nation’s best defensive teams this season—holding opponents to just 261.5 yards per contest—the Blue Devils have been vulnerable to big plays both in the air and on the ground. Duke has allowed five touchdown plays of more than 35

If there’s one thing you should have circled on your calendar this week, it should be at 7 p.m. Friday. No, I’m not talking about a dinner reservation or a party or whatever else you might have had planned. Clear your schedules for a night at Wallace Wade Stadium. It has been more than two decades since Duke football began a season 5-0. How did the Blue Devils follow up on that start? Two more wins before stumbling to a 1-4 finish. This team, however, is not likely to crumble in the same way. Duke will still have to overcome a trio of top-25 teams remaining on its schedule, but then-coach Fred Goldsmith—who has just 40 career Division I wins to his name—pales in comparison to David Cutcliffe. And don’t forget who is coming to town—a Miami team that snatched a win from the Blue Devils in Durham just two years ago. If the knee being down is still seared in your memory, this is the opportunity to wipe those nightmares away in the span of a few hours. It’s certainly not gone from the minds of the Duke players that were on the field that fateful Halloween night 2015. “It was a real gut-punch,” redshirt senior center Austin Davis told me. “I remember the day after it was disbelief.” Davis, fellow offensive lineman Gabe

See SCOUTING on Page 16

See COLUMN on Page 13

Mitchell Gladstone

Chronicle File Photo

The last time Miami came to Wallace Wade Stadium, the Hurricanes won on a controversial kick return for a touchdown on the last play. Ala., native’s only career start was in Durham in 2015, a game the Hurricanes won on a controversial kick return for a touchdown on the final play. In order for the Blue Devils to remain unbeaten, they will need to defend the playaction passes Rosier and the Hurricanes use frequently. Miami uses its play action to confuse the defense and free up leading receivers Braxton Berrios and Christopher Herndon IV, who both hauled in touchdown passes in Saturday’s victory. Duke (4-0, 1-0) has yet to face a play-action heavy team this season, but cornerback Mark Gilbert believes the Blue Devil defense has what

WOMEN’S TENNIS

Chen takes US Open juniors experience to Duke By Spencer Levy Contributing Reporter

Photo Courtesy of Brad Penner

Kelly Chen played against top-tier competition in the U.S. Open qualifying draw this summer and made it to the third round of the Junior Girls tournament.

Growing up in Cerritos, Calif., Duke freshman Kelly Chen always dreamed of one day playing on the biggest stage in American tennis: the U.S. Open. That dream came true not once, not twice, but three times in her successful junior career. Most recently, the dream continued as Chen made her way into the third round of the Junior Girls Tournament this past summer. After two successful outings in the first- and second-rounds, Chen was upended by Emiliana Arango, the eventual U.S. Open junior semifinalist and current No. 11 junior in the world. However, her play up to that point was a journey in itself. Chen successfully made her way through the first seven rounds to advance to the USTA Girls’ 18 national championship. Though the incoming Blue Devil freshman lost a grueling three-set match, there was no time to look back on her run—she had to prepare for the next

match against one of the top players in women’s tennis. With the runner-up finish, Chen was rewarded with a wild card into the women’s singles qualifying draw. She was matched up with the No. 1 player in her draw: Su-Wei Hsieh of Chinese Taipei. Chen, a player who had yet to step foot on a college campus, was taking on the former No. 23 singles player in the world. “These pros are really great out there and [in] the qualifying as well,” Chen said. “Honestly, I just wanted to have fun, try my best.” Although all Chen really wanted to get out of playing in the qualifiers was a memorable experience and a good time, she received something greater that could serve her well throughout the next few years in college and beyond. In her defeat to the No. 1 qualifier, she discovered that she could play at the next level. Chen fought hard, but eventually lost in three sets 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(3). Chen found herself in an unusual situation See CHEN on Page 12


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12 | WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017

WOMEN’S SOCCER

Blue Devils raise awareness with first Pride Game Meredith Cash Staff Writer

When almost every team in the NFL protested President Donald Trump’s suggestion that players kneeling during the national anthem this weekend should be fired, it displayed the powerful role sports can play in bringing awareness to social issues affecting the country. Nearly 4,000 miles from the first NFL protest of the day in London, the Duke women’s soccer team used its own platform to take up a different cause—sponsoring the program’s first annual Pride Game. Senior captain EJ Proctor, redshirt senior Rebecca Quinn and sophomore Mackenzie Coles spearheaded the effort with the hopes of “creating an inclusive space for all coaches, players and fans to come enjoy a game,” according to the event’s Facebook page. “Sports are a common language, a uniter between everyone,” Coles said. “People look up to athletes, so if an athlete stands up for something that they believe in, then maybe people will try to change their minds if they don’t agree with equality.” The Blue Devils took the field for warmups before their 2 p.m. contest against Pittsburgh

CHEN FROM PAGE 11 immediately following her tiebreak defeat: she was walking off the court at U.S. Open, and right into her freshman year. She missed playing in the main event against the best in the world with the loss in the qualifying draw, but had a mere week to prepare for her third and final U.S. Open Junior Girls appearance. Chen made the most of her minimal, yet valuable time. “A lot of match plays. A lot of sets,” the freshman said. “[I] needed to work on some stuff here and there, but very little practice, an hour or two here and there.” After taking down Italy’s Monica Cappelletti 6-2, 7-6(4) in the first round, Chen faced the sixth-seeded junior playing in this year’s Open, Xin Yu Wang of China. In Chen’s two previous appearances at the U.S. Open—2014 and 2015— she was not able to make it past the second round. Her previous struggles getting over this hurdle gave Chen a no-quit mentality in her third attempt. In the end, all she could do was smile after a 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 win over Wang. “I kind of surprised myself in the second set. Actually, in the third, I was down 3-0, I was like, ‘Oh great, I’m going to lose 6-0 in the third,’” Chen said. “I just wanted to fight out there. I never made

sporting rainbow tie dye sweatbands, multicolored sunglasses and black “Be True” t-shirts with rainbow Nike swooshes on the front. Coaches Robbie Church, Erwin van Bennekom, Carla Overbeck and Lane Davis wore the t-shirts throughout the game, though the players changed into their regular jerseys just before kick-off. Proctor, Quinn and Coles were also featured in a special halftime message displayed on the Koskinen Stadium scoreboard. The trio discussed what pride means to them and explained motivation for starting an annual Pride Game within the program. “It’s something the girls felt very strongly about,” Church said. “Our captains approached us and we discussed it after they had touched base with their teammates, so they knew it was something they would like to have. They know some other teams at Duke have had pride games, so we decided to have one too.” Proctor, Quinn and Coles all serve on the executive board of Duke’s Athlete Ally chapter. According to the Athlete Ally website, the nonprofit organization “provides public awareness campaigns, educational programming and tools and resources to foster inclusive sports communities” on more than 80 college campuses.

Duke’s Athlete Ally chapter has been involved in various on-campus initiatives for promoting safe and inclusive spaces for all, including celebrations for Coming Out Day, marching in the Durham Pride March and picking an “Ally of the Month” among the Blue Devils’ club and varsity

sports teams. “Our team is always really active with Athlete Ally, so we’re kind of using [the Pride Game] to promote Athlete Ally as well,” Proctor said. “We’re

it past second round in juniors.... I wanted to get past [the] second round, get out of that secondround thing.” With that win, Chen cleared the hurdle and advanced to the third round in her last year of eligibility at the event. Although Chen was defeated 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 in a match that lasted nearly two hours, her coach found many positives in her play. “It was awesome,” Blue Devil assistant coach Matt Manasse said. “For her to be in her last grand slam, or at her last junior match, was a great experience for her, and to be able to guide her and kind of learn her game, because that was my first real week coaching her, was awesome to do it in such a big stage.” For Manasse, it wasn’t his first time coaching a player at the U.S. Open. “Last summer, I coached Alison Riske. She’s top-40 in the world,” Manasse said. “I coached her the first round the opening night on [Arthur] Ashe [Stadium] against Madison Keys.” Some of Chen’s run can be attributed to the individuals in the stands supporting the new Blue Devil: alongside Manasse sat Chen’s father and other family members. “It is always great to have family support you.” Chen said. “They come all the way out from California, taking their time, so I really

appreciated that.” With the U.S. Open now in the past, Chen and Manasse, who is in his first year on the Blue Devils’ staff, can look forward to a freshman year for both of them at Duke. Although the freshman was ranked No. 4 in the ITF Freshman/Newcomer poll, she knows that it is only the beginning. “It’s great to be ranked that high, but a number is just a number,” Chen said. “There’s other great freshmen out there.” Chen is only in her first few weeks in a college environment, but her adjustment will likely be seamless relative to most first-year players. Her recent success in the USTA Championship and the U.S. Open has accelerated her timeline to thrive at Duke. But there is still a lot to improve for the selfdescribed “counter puncher” on the court. “The last two months, she’s been put in a ton of high-pressure situations in the juniors and at the pro level, where she played [qualifiers] at the Open. I think anytime when you can come through when all the chips were down, which she’s done repeatedly, is just going to give her more confidence and I think now being in a college environment, it’s added another level of pressure.” Manasse said. “The more times she’s put in that situation, the more times it is going to be normal for her and I think you’ll see the results

getting better and better.” For many successful junior players in today’s professional tennis atmosphere, the prospect of delaying one’s pro status and losing a year to gain valuable WTA points seems daunting. For that reason, many aspiring pros bypass college and start to play in professional events regularly before their 18th birthday. But, for Chen, Duke offers the opportunity to develop into a higher-level player as well as a better teammate, as the college mindset differs drastically from the professional individual mentality. The Tennis Recruiting Network’s No. 4 player in the Class of 2017 committed to play for the Blue Devils after hearing from several top-tier programs. “Honestly, out of all the schools I visited, when I came here, it really felt like family. Everybody here was so nice,” Chen said. “They were really supportive so I think that was overall why I chose Duke.” The Blue Devils embark on their season coming off a Round of 16 loss to North Carolina in the NCAA tournament last spring. The Blue Devils added Chen and London native Ema Lazic to a strong returning core as they look to advance even farther this season. “Hopefully, I want our team to place in the top eight.” Chen said. “Overall, for me, [I want] to do the best I can freshman year.”

Henry Haggart | Contributing Photographer

Senior EJ Proctor and her Blue Devil teammates wore tie-dye sweatbands, multicolored sunglasses and rainbow swooshes on their warmup shirts Sunday.

See W. SOCCER on Page 16

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Sanjeev Dasgupta | Sports Photography Editor

Daniel Jones started the year with impressive performances against N.C. Central and Northwestern before leaving most of the offense to his running backs the last two weeks.

COLUMN FROM PAGE 11

Brandner and Cutcliffe, too, would all say the same thing—that night was a game they have long put to bed. But sophomore Mark Gilbert, who didn’t play in that contest, was in the stands as a recruit, and he admitted that those memories remain “a chip on their shoulder.” I am confident that he isn’t the only one who feels that way. This game matters. It matters because this is the first chance to see if this Blue Devil team is on par with the squad that won the Coastal Division in 2013 and blew out a ranked Hurricane team at home to do so. Miami is no cupcake, especially with a potential All-ACC firstteamer in running back Mark Walton, but a

win would catapult Duke into the top 25, and maybe even the top 20. It matters because Daniel Jones is exceeding expectations, and he alone is worth the price of admission. Remember two years ago when he was redshirting and it was Thomas Sirk plunging in for the goahead score against the Hurricanes? This kid is the real deal, and even though Jones’ numbers the last two weeks have not been as eye-popping as they were against N.C. Central and Northwestern, the development, maturity and leadership of a co-captain of a 4-0 team are there. It matters because Duke’s defense is playing lights out. Go check the ESPN defensive efficiency rankings. Is it Georgia, Michigan, Alabama, Auburn or Clemson atop the list? No. They’re all in the top 10, yet it’s the Blue Devils who are No. 1.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017 | 13

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against North Carolina last November and Miami two years back. But I’ve also seen days like the last two home contests when there are maybe 500 students at kickoff and less than half of that after halftime—even when the result of the game is still a toss-up. I get it. This is a basketball school and will always be one. Nothing riles me up more than packing into Cameron, but if there were ever a time to show your Blue Devil pride, it’s now. Duke’s fall sports teams have just six combined losses thus far. Am I calling out those who don’t regularly show up for football games? Yes, and I do not care who you are. This Friday night is about more than football. It’s about donning your blue and white and being a part of something bigger than yourself. I want Wallace Wade Stadium rocking. And I hope you’ll choose to join me in making that happen.

And while you’re at it, name a better linebacking duo than Ben Humphreys and Joe Giles-Harris—two guys that, although infrequently mentioned in big-time college football circles, have been among the best in the nation both this year and last. Perhaps most importantly, it matters because this is Duke’s biggest home game this season. The lights will be on Wallace Wade Friday, and with ESPN televising, the Blue Devils will have as big an audience as any. But it goes beyond just the players on the field and those watching from their couches all across the country—Duke fans have a role in this all. The team lists an average of 26,000 fans per game through its first three contests. Those numbers, however, are beyond deceiving. I would know. Not only have I been at every home football game this season, but each of the last two years as well. I’ve seen packed houses

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precursor a sched. 29 Smartphone Undergraduate 31 law deg.image screen 32 bad 30 Deplorably Nothing 34 of 31 Results Clumsy fellow abrasions 32 Egg ___ yung 36 Henhouses of ill (Chinese dish) repute? 33 Newborn horses 39 Book between 35 Daniel “This instant!” and Joel 37 Make an 40 Gardener’s approach like a spring purchase bird of prey 41 Nascar’s 39 Yarborough Common churchyard 42 “Mangia!” conifer 43 Whodunit game 42 Destiny 45 Overdoes it 43 onstage Spiritual center, in yoga 47 Mother of Chaz 44 Bono Look for 45 Agenda ___-Man 48 48 particular “Nothing for me, thanks” 49 The “I” and “o” “I do”? 49 of Adm. Horatio Nelson, forhunter one 55 Celestial 52 Key Superexcited 56 with four Abbr. 55 sharps: Glowing bit in a 57 Do fire flawlessly

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PUZZLE BY JOE TIMOTHY KIDD POLIN

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Online subscriptions: Today’s puzzle and more than 7,000 past puzzles, nytimes.com/crosswords ($39.95 a year). Read about and comment on each puzzle: nytimes.com/wordplay.


T H E I N D E P E N D E N T D A I LY AT D U K E U N I V E R S I T Y

The Chronicle

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Tweeter-in-chief

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arlier this week, Editorial Board covered Donald Trump’s personal and public assault on professional athletes and the entire National Football League for their stance on protesting during the national anthem. The bulk of this public tirade took the form of virtual attacks sent from his personal Twitter. In fact, the account has been both a battleground for numerous outlandish statements as well as a consistent leading headline in international news ever since he announced his candidacy for the White House. Twitter announcements have become such a common element of any major policy decision that it’s now relatively routine for Americans to simply check his latest online outbursts in order to see the next scandal or controversy developing. However, despite how familiar it may now seem this far into the administration, there’s an imperative to critically examine how Trump’s reckless social media use doubles as a platform for political declarations. After the election, Donald Trump quickly converted his personal Twitter account into an official means of disseminating White House information and updates. He did not, however, convert the content of his Twitter to reflect

the tact, competence or dignity that an official White House social media outlet should have. Scrolling down the page, viewers will find Trump retweeting insensitive memes, flinging insults and tweeting weighty policy decisions all side by side. Trump’s tweets dilute the integrity of his office, blurring the line between the unfiltered opinions of a reality tv star and what

Editorial Board should be expected rhetoric from the leader of a politically powerful nation. It’s clear that the tweets bypass proper advising channels, and have therefore become great liabilities not only for those in his administration, but also for the citizens of this country. Even though he wields the power with little regard to consequences, there’s no debating that Trump’s tweets hold much more importance than 140 characters can bear. His tweets have become the main method of communication with those inside the United States as well as international

onlinecomment “Thanks so much for publishing this highly informative piece. Have had many questions over the years about both the Jantz house and the evolution of Campus Drive. You’ve answered them all.” —Jane A. de Vos, responding to “The last resident of Campus Drive”

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.

Est. 1905

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

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LIKHITHA BUTCHIREDDYGARI, Editor HANK TUCKER, Sports Editor KENRICK CAI, News Editor SAM TURKEN, Managing Editor VIR PATEL, Senior Editor ADAM BEYER, Digital Strategy Team Director IAN JAFFE, Photography Editor JACKSON PRINCE, Editorial Page Editor ALAN KO, Editorial Board Chair SYDNEY ROBERTS, Editorial Board Chair CHRISSY BECK, General Manager ISABELLE DOAN, University News Department Head JOYCE ER, University News Department Head BRE BRADHAM, Local & National News Head NATHAN LUZUM, Health & Science News Head SHAGUN VASHISTH, Health & Science News Head JIM LIU, News Photography Editor WILL ATKINSON, Recess Editor NINA WILDER, Recess Managing Editor SUJAL MANOHAR, Recess Photography Editor SANJEEV DASGUPTA, Sports Photography Editor MITCHELL GLADSTONE, Sports Managing Editor LEAH ABRAMS, Editorial Page Managing Editor CARLY STERN, Editorial Page Managing Editor NEAL VAIDYA, Audio Editor JAMIE COHEN, Social Media Editor JEREMY CHEN, Graphic Design Editor CLAIRE BALLENTINE, Towerview Editor JUAN BERMUDEZ, Online Photography Editor NEELESH MOORTHY, Towerview Editor NEELESH MOORTHY, Investigations Editor ABIGAIL XIE, Investigations Editor CAROLYN CHANG, Towerview Photography Editor CAROLINE BROCKETT, Recruitment Chair CLAIRE BALLENTINE, Recruitment Chair SHAGUN VASHISTH, Recruitment Chair SARAH KERMAN, Senior News Reporter KAT BERKO, Senior News Reporter SAMANTHA NEAL, Senior News Reporter LEXI KADIS, Senior News Reporter MEGAN HAVEN, Advertising Director JULIE MOORE, Creative Director The Chronicle is published by the Duke Student Publishing Company, Inc., a non-profit corporation independent of Duke University. The opinions expressed in this newspaper are not necessarily those of Duke University, its students, faculty, staff, administration or trustees. Unsigned editorials represent the majority view of the editorial board. Columns, letters and cartoons represent the views of the authors. To reach the Editorial Office at 301 Flowers Building, call 684-2663 or fax 684-4696. To reach the Business Office at 1517 Hull Avenue call 684-3811. To reach the Advertising Office at 2022 Campus Drive call 684-3811. One copy per person; additional copies may be purchased for .25 at The Chronicle Business office at the address above. @ 2017 Duke Student Publishing Company

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leaders. These short, often misspelled and poorly punctuated messages to the world outside of the oval office even have the power to provoke warfare. The world continues to watch in horror and fear as the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, spars with the president in a war of words spurred further by offhanded comments that the small nation “won’t be around much longer”. These tweets don’t only paint Donald Trump as an impulsive caricature of a man, they also put millions of Americans and North Koreans at risk. No one is contesting that Twitter can have democratizing effects in terms of information access and is an incredible tool for global communication. There’s even a case to be made that it also has sizable benefits concerning efforts to more efficiently connect leaders and policymakers to their constituents. However, Twitter, along with other forms of social media, have proven dangerous and potentially deadly in the hands of Trump. Restrictions on his ability to fire off threats and personal attacks are long overdue. His staff and other members of his administration should prioritize reigning in their president with an itchy Twitter finger now, before it’s too late.

Inclusivity on an exclusive campus

y first year, I tried to so, so hard, not to tie myself to any one identity. I didn’t want to be identified by my potential major, dorm, hometown, race, MyerBriggs personality type, extracurriculars, or any other affiliations. In groups, I laughed at things when other people laughed, because hey, I could

Amy Fan FANGIRLING see the humor, and I tried to match the energy of whatever conversation was happening. Not exactly in the name of conforming, but in the name of understanding, of wanting to deeply understand people, in an attempt to focus more on others and not myself (or could it be out of a belief that I had nothing to contribute?). One of my favorite Rookie Mag articles notes: “I have lived my whole life swearing there’s no truth more complete than Walt Whitman’s parenthetical line in the poem “Song of Myself ”: “I am large, I contain multitudes.” I believe we are capable of anything—that anyone can be driven to do extreme harm; that anyone could be moved to radiate extreme love. I believe a person could switch from open-hearted tenderness to cruelty. I believe in nuance. I believe in contradiction. I believe in mistakes, and giving people the space, and the right, to make them.” In retrospect, my behavior could arguably mean acting inauthentically or going against my values at times. Or it could be following what my academic advisor later noted was the moral code of most Duke students: “Do what you want, as long as it doesn’t harm others.” Is this in the name of being inclusive? Is this the sacrifice for being able to understand different perspectives, to push those boundaries, to be completely out of one’s comfort zone? And just as it’s hard to figure out what to major in and what subjects interest us, doesn’t it take adapting to different personalities and spending time around other people to know what true authenticity is? But what about being uncomfortable in the name of being inclusive? And at what point does being uncomfortable become changing oneself? The tour groups that have been flooding campus recently remind me of a harsh reality: Across the past 4 years, over 100,000 people have applied and been rejected from this school. By merit of being a student here, we likely have benefitted from some type of exclusive program – whether it be a gifted

program, a teacher who took special interest in us, the neighborhood we grew up in, or access to specific privileges in our hometowns. Now that we’re here, clubs are exclusive, social groups are exclusive, pre-orientation programs and merit scholarships provide certain students with communities before they even stepped on campus, and the exclusivity is not only a must (as is the case with SLGs which only have a limited number of beds) but almost becomes a source of pride. But while this exclusivity may offer a seductive sense of belonging for some, it comes at the cost of harming a far greater number of others, with the rationale that “they’ll just fit in better.” Performance groups in particular often require that people have some prior skills and training beforehand, which in some cases implicitly send the message that only those with certain privileges can practice their art and deserve to be seen. O-week in Marketplace was arguably inclusive – you could sit down at any table, and for a while, everyone got equal time during the conversation. Even if conversations were awkward and forced and overwhelming, they at least were equally so for everyone. And when we’re completely settled in and comfortable and have the time and energy and willingness, making everyone feel included is simply the nice thing to do. But what about that in between time, where things are likely still meshing, before we reach that 100% comfort zone? And will that period ever end, particularly at a busy and bustling place like Duke where being comfortable supposedly means that we’re doing it wrong? Georgina Del Vecho, in a Recess Editor’s note a few weeks ago, notes that her problem with “reinventing oneself ” involves the fact that it “usually becomes change from the outside in. You change your appearance; you’re now suddenly extroverted and optimistic. It just doesn’t happen that way. Just because you’re forcing an identity on yourself doesn’t mean that identity will stick.” Does inclusion mean spending time around people who are likely not going to be lifelong friends? Is it sticking with that group of o-week friends? Is there something wrong with choosing to spend more time with people with whom things simply “click” better? Or is inclusion only for specific times and places, within specific boundaries, or is it a constant goal to strive for? If you have any thoughts, let’s talk- af192@ duke.edu. Amy Fan is a Trinity sophomore. Her column, “fangirling,” runs on alternate Wednesdays.


The Chronicle

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017 | 15

The American media’s credibility crisis

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ince President Trump assumed office in January, his administration’s relationship with the press has been, in the kindest possible terms, acrimonious. President Trump has not been shy to express his disdain for the media, and it is safe to say that the feeling is mutual. As I have previously written, President Trump’s attitude towards the press is disheartening and unprecedented. That said, the national media is by no means free from culpability and currently suffers from an undeniable crisis of credibility: Americans do not trust the media to achieve its highest ideal of fairly informing the people on the weightiest issues of the day. Today, the media suffers from two notable shortcomings that must be remedied to improve an institution that is so essential to American democracy. According to a Harvard-Harris poll, nearly two thirds of Americans, including 53% of Democrats, said they believe the mainstream media publishes fake news, a damning allegation that is indicative of current public distrust. While distrust of the mainstream media often emerges from the right, the survey’s results suggest it would be inaccurate to define this skepticism as simply a Republican issue. The first shortcoming of the contemporary press is its tendency to publish stories backed predominantly or solely by anonymous sources, who are often leakers, which has led to blatant misreporting on critical issues. Although it would be irresponsible to characterize most or all media coverage as “fake,” even a small number of factually inaccurate stories surely erodes the public’s trust in the media. In June, three CNN reporters were forced to resign after the network retracted their story linking the now-infamous Trump surrogate, Anthony Scaramucci, to a Russian investment fund being investigated by the Senate. The three reporters cited just a single anonymous source, and their shoddy work led to the publication of a story that was essentially incorrect on

all fronts, masquerading as real journalism. Similarly, one of the most shocking moments from former FBI Director James Comey’s testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee was his strong condemnation of a February article from The New York Times, also based on anonymous sources, that ostensibly exposed connections between members of

Ian Buchanan LET FREEDOM RING the Trump campaign and Russia. “In the main, it was not true,” Comey said. Although The Times stood by the story, the former-FBI Director’s sworn testimony asserting its falsehood casts significant doubt on the story’s credibility. While these two examples are obviously isolated instances, the public’s concern with this trend is entirely understandable. In both cases, stories were presented to the public under the guise of objective, fact-based journalism, only to be challenged or refuted after further inspection. An increasing utilization of notoriously unreliable anonymous sources has led to the dissemination of false information and dampened the public’s confidence in the press. A second fundamental problem that the media faces is an utter lack of representation of conservative voices. According to an Indiana University survey, only seven percent of journalists identify as Republican, and that number has never eclipsed 26 percent since the survey’s inception in 1971. During the 2016 general election, a whopping 96 percent of journalists’ campaign contributions went to Hillary Clinton rather than Donald Trump. Conservative news outlets certainly do exist – Fox News quickly comes to mind – but overall,

the American news media is a bastion for liberals and the Democratic Party. The issue of conservative representation in the media is so important, for such an overwhelmingly homogenous press corps essentially ensures the production of biased coverage, or at the very least the perception of it. Even if all reporters approach their work with the genuine intention to cover everyone fairly, including those with whom they disagree, that hope is more of a lofty ideal than an achievable reality. Studies from institutions such as Harvard, Carnegie Mellon and Wharton all agree that implicit bias towards our own proclivities is a reality, despite anyone’s best intentions, and an overwhelmingly liberal press corps all but ensures a liberal bent in popular media, which undermines the institution’s fairness and objectivity. The detrimental effects of both factors are clear, as evidenced by media’s meager 36% approval rating. According to pollster Frank Luntz, the most highly rated response ever in a Republican primary debate came when Ted Cruz blatantly ignored a policy question about the debt ceiling to rail of the prevalence of liberal media bias. Rather than criticize Cruz for his evasion of the question, Republican voters instead applauded his willingness to challenge an institution they so vehemently distrust. At its best, the media represents a critical aspect of any democracy by accurately reporting the news of the day to the public, but the media in its current form falls far short of that highest ideal. Going forward, the press must regain an unwavering adhesion to truth and ensure diverse political representation among its ranks to regain the trust of the American people.

Ian Buchanan is a Trinity sophomore. His column, “let freedom ring,” runs on alternate Wednesdays.

Adjusting to extroversion and elitism

L

ike any college freshman, I had a hard time adapting to college. Although I knew college was going to be much different than high school, I was taken by surprise by the difficulty of the transition. I was more emotional the first semester of college than I had been in my last two years of high school. I didn’t realize until winter break of freshman year that I took my home for granted. Besides the comfort and familiarity that my home provided, my home gave me a strong sense of my identity, which I realized had become completely dependent on my familiarity with my surroundings. I came to this realization when I saw my sense of self dissolving at Duke. I found myself surprisingly embroiled in a Disney Channel TV show about high schoolers when I came to Duke. I found myself feeling more pressure from my social life than I ever had before. The ridiculous discomfort that came with sitting alone at marketplace was unexpected, especially because I usually cherish being alone. The pressure to meet new people constantly because being friendless at any moment in time was uncomfortable took a toll on my well-being. The strong need to meet new people was an annoying emotion and a tedious task that I knew deep down I didn’t have to do and was not how I wanted to make friends. I found myself going up to people and talking to them, even though I knew I would prefer to be in my room taking a nap. The comfort I found being alone in my room for several hours at home suddenly disappeared, and I felt the need to be around people constantly. I found people who I loved seeing constantly, and I had the desire to be around them a lot. However, those isolated hours I spent day after day in my home were how I developed my self-awareness. My foundation of self-awareness dissolved when I came to Duke, as I thought about others’ concerns, others’ opinions of me, and what others wanted from me constantly, neglecting my own desires. The neglect of myself took a toll on me. Coming to Duke, I thought I was stepping into a world of opportunities, but I quickly found myself believing that I was not suited for Duke and that I was not on par with the rest of my peers. This was due to several factors including the stereotype threat. By

falling trap to the stereotype threat, I felt I was holding back because I was limiting my potential due to my fear of taking risks or asking questions that would portray me as unintelligent to people.

Coming to Duke, I thought I was stepping into a world of opportunities, but I quickly found myself believing that I was not suited for Duke and that I was not on par with the rest of my peers.

Maram Elnagheed HERE WE GO AGAIN As a result, I often did not ask questions when I was confused in classes or even in extracurricular settings out of the fear of being seen as an unintelligent black student “who was only at Duke because of affirmative action.” Another reason I felt that I was inferior to my peers was because of my educational background. I attended average public schools my whole life, and I did not see this as a deficit in my preparation for college until I came to Duke and was surrounded by many students who had attended private schools and top ranked boarding schools, charter schools, and public schools. I would hear students casually mention they went to the number one school in their state, and I would immediately understand where they learned their extensive jargon usage that I could not comprehend. Because of this, I would not often participate in classes because I believed that I could not come up with responses that were as articulate and intelligent as those of my peers. When I arrived at Duke’s campus as a first year student, I felt that I had adequate preparation. I had looked through the blue book, I was aware of the

academic departments that sparked my interests, and I was aware of the different centers and clubs in which I knew I would want to attend and participate. Of course, I felt there was a lot I still needed to learn when arriving to Duke, but I believed that I could handle college pretty well. This of course changed when I allowed others to influence my confidence in the academic and social worlds so heavily. Coming to terms with succumbing to peer pressure and the stereotype threat at the age of eighteen was difficult to comprehend. Although eighteen is still a very young age, I thought that by that age I should be way above peer pressure – that was a problem that middle schoolers went through, not college students. In addition, I thought I was beyond the stereotype threat, since I told myself that I had brushed off comments made by high school peers about affirmative action’s role in my life. The bottom line is that although Duke stands for inclusivity and is meant to give students from all backgrounds a chance to climb up the ladder of success, some students will struggle more in their first year than others will. This can be due to being a racial minority – especially an underrepresented minority – a non wealthy student, a student with a less than stellar educational background, a student who is introverted, a student who is an LGBTQ community member, among other things. As much as we would all love to believe that we can accomplish as much as the next person, we cannot hold this belief without recognizing that some of us will struggle more and have to work harder than others because of who we are and where we come from. It’s not to say that we won’t achieve as much as everyone else, but we will have to put in some extra work because although we have equality in the sense that we all attend Duke University, we do not come from equitable backgrounds and have equitable experiences.

Maram Elnagheed is a Trinity sophomore. Her column, “here we go again” usually runs on alternate Mondays.


16 | WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017

SCOUTING FROM PAGE 11 yards in its last two games and will face another explosive threat in Hurricane running back Mark Walton. Walton is coming off a career-best 204yard performance Saturday, when he broke out for long rushes of 44 and 82 yards, and will be looking to continue his recent success against the Blue Devils. The Miami native totaled 106 yards and a touchdown in the Hurricanes’ victory a year ago, and Cutcliffe had high praise for Walton’s ability to run the ball. “He is a tremendous football player, fiercely competitive at running the ball and plays fast,” Cutcliffe said. “He explodes through holes and he comes out on the other side of it, sometimes untouched. He can break tackles and outrun you. You don’t really see any weakness. He’s a big-time player.” The Hurricanes have dominated offensively,

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but their defense has yet to reach its full potential. Miami lost four key defensive players to the NFL last April and struggled against Toledo last weekend. The Hurricanes trailed by six points at halftime and allowed 429 yards in the game, including 344 through the air. Miami will need its defense to get back on track against a Duke team that gains 470.0 yards per contest, including 227.0 on the ground. Hurricanes head coach Mark Richt feels his defense has what it takes to be at its best Friday. “In our defensive backs, there’s always a sense of urgency,” Richt said at his weekly press conference Tuesday. “If you’re a defensive back, you have to be resilient when things don’t go well on a play or in a game. You might get beat on a touchdown, then you have to come back and defend again. People say you have to have a short memory as a defensive back, and its true. They’re put on the spot. They’re getting coached extremely well and they’re getting better.”

Aaditya Jain | Contributing Photographer Redshirt senior Rebecca Quinn helped organize Duke’s Pride Game Sunday.

W. SOCCER FROM PAGE 11

Chronicle File Photo Junior running back Mark Walton ran for more than 200 yards last week against Toledo and will test Duke’s effective front seven.

hoping to get more athletes involved and spread pride games or races or matches to other teams.” Women’s soccer is not the first team on campus to sponsor a pride event. The field hockey team has had a pride game every season in recent years, and the women’s rowing team plans to host a pride event for one of this season’s races. As a Bronze Medalist at the 2016 Summer Olympics with the Canadian National Team, Quinn noted that professional women’s soccer players have often been at the forefront of social activism. Both the men’s and the women’s U.S. National Teams and the National Women’s Soccer League have sponsored LGBT pride initiatives. The Toronto native said it was important for her and her teammates to extend the trend established by professionals to the collegiate level.

“Sports have a huge platform in speaking out on certain issues, especially in athletics and within women’s soccer,” Quinn said. “Players have a voice...There are some predominant roles in terms of LGBTQ equality specifically in sports, so this is the first step in where Duke athletics, and specifically Duke soccer, is heading.” Proctor, Quinn and Coles, along with the rest of Athlete Ally, are turning their efforts to adding more Blue Devil teams to the list of programs who have pride events and continuing the legacy within the women’s soccer program in future years. But beyond scheduling events and promoting Athlete Ally membership, the three players are most committed to creating a dialogue and increasing inclusivity around Duke’s sports. “Now that we have a foundation for it, there are going to be Pride Games for many years to come,” Quinn said. “Hopefully there will be a time when we won’t need to have a Pride Game, and it’ll be an inclusive environment and everyone will be accepted for their gender and sexual identity.”

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