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
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2011
ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTH YEAR, ISSUE 12
WWW.DUKECHRONICLE.COM
Patients sue Zarate questions treatment of Muslims Duke over Potti trials by Julian Spector THE CHRONICLE
Former patients of discredited Duke cancer researcher Dr. Anil Potti have filed a lawsuit against the University. The lawsuit was filed in Durham County Superior Court Wednesday on behalf of eight patients who underwent clinical trials based on Potti’s work. The lawsuit was filed against the University, Duke University Health System, Potti, Dr. Joseph Nevins—who co-authored many papers with Potti—and five other defendants. The 73-page filing alleges that the defendants subjected the patients—who are asserting claims jointly—to fraudulent and dangerous clinical trials and improper and unnecessary chemotherapy, among other complaints. Only two of the eight plaintiffs named in the lawsuit are still living. The University received the lawsuit Thursday, said Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations, adding that this is the first lawsuit filed against Duke related to Potti. “We are going to decline to comment on pending litigation,” Schoenfeld said. Potti resigned from Duke last November after accepting responsibility for the faults in his research. SEE POTTI ON PAGE 6
JUSTINE HONG/THE CHRONICLE
Juan Zarate speaks in the Sanford School of Public Policy. Zarate urges Americans to embrace different cultures. by Leena El-Sadek THE CHRONICLE
As the 10th anniversary of 9/11 approaches, the largest threat to the nation may be a sense of otherness, not a threat of terrorist attacks. With a speech entitled “9-11: After a Decade and After bin Laden,” Juan Zarate, senior adviser to the Center for Strategic and International Studies and senior national security consultant and analyst for CBS News, addressed a packed auditorium Thursday in the Sanford School of Public Policy about national security concerns in the aftermath of 9/11 and the death of Osama bin Laden.
Focusing on the racial targeting of Muslim Americans in the years following the attacks, Zarate said further discrimination of the community will only assist al Qaeda in its mission to further fracture the American identity. “Bin Laden tried to create an Islamic identity as he identifies it,” Zarate said. “In some ways, bin Laden wins, al Qaeda wins, if we start to view each other as others, if Muslim Americans are viewed with suspicion, feel targeted and feel not to be American. That’s disastrous.” Serving as the deputy assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser for combating terrorism from 2005 to 2009, Zarate was responsible
for the development and implementation of the U.S. government’s counterterrorism strategy. “We were looking for someone who would cover the issue in a broad context, to be able to speak of the nittygritty,” said Peter Feaver, Alexander F. Hehmeyer professor of political science and co-director of the Duke American Grand Strategy Program, an interdisciplinary program focusing on U.S. foreign policy. In his speech, presented by the Terry Sanford Distinguished Lecture series, Zarate said despite anxiousness surrounding the SEE ZARATE ON PAGE 7
REMEMBERING SEPTEMBER 11
Muslim life at Duke sees growing acceptance, opportunity by Yeshwanth Kandimalla THE CHRONICLE
Before Ebrahim Moosa walked into his Introduction to Islam class on Sept. 11, 2001, he already knew this discussion would be different. That morning, a group of hijackers claiming to represent his religious faith orchestrated the deadliest terrorist attack in the history of the United States. “The students were very distraught and concerned, as some had family members in the area,” Moosa, associate director of research and professor of religion and Islamic studies, said. “We canceled the class, students talked about their feelings…. I tried to inform them of the lay of the land and who some of these actors were.” Though he did not experience prejudice in the immediate aftermath, Moosa recalled how the attacks suddenly brought his faith under a microscope.
“Everything, my culture, my faith and my history just became subject to scrutiny,” he said. “I was alarmed but also encouraged to begin the process of education.” In the 10 years since the attacks, Moosa has spoken in many different forums across the nation. In his courses about Islam at Duke, 9/11 sometimes became a theme, especially in the direct aftermath. “In the beginning it did come up,” he said. “You would have students who are not well informed make very bizarre and outrageous statements about Islam as identifiable with terrorism.” But Moosa acknowledged that the Duke community has remained far more open to discussion about Islam than the American public as a whole and noted that the administration has made efforts to accommodate Muslim students, including hiring Abdullah Antepli as the University’s first Muslim chaplain in 2008. “9/11—for all the wrong reasons—brought Islam as a religion and Muslims as a people to the center of
attention,” Antepli said. “For many Americans, their introduction to Islam came in this barbaric, heinous act.” Antepli noted that as the media began to subtly equate Islam and terrorism, the Duke administration realized that a Muslim chaplain’s work would extend beyond providing religious guidance to Muslim students. “From the very beginning, they knew... they needed [a chaplain] not only for Muslim students but for the entirety of this community,” he said. “[Community members] need resources where they can process this information about Islam and Muslims to figure out this confusion.” Phil Bennett, Eugene C. Patterson professor of the practice of journalism and public policy and former managing editor of The Washington Post, added
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SEE MUSLIM LIFE ON PAGE 7