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
THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2012
ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTH YEAR, ISSUE 6
WWW.DUKECHRONICLE.COM
DSG
Event marks start of major renovations
Tailgate postponed DSG reschedules first event, amends group tabling policies
by Margot Tuchler THE CHRONICLE
The construction of the Events Pavilion will mark the start of major campus changes, administrators said. Spectators gathered on the Bryan Center Plaza as Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs, senior Alex Swain, president of Duke Student Government and Steve Nowicki, dean and vice provost of undergraduate education, spoke to mark the upcoming construction. Construction on the pavilion—which will house dining and event venues during West Union Building renovations—is scheduled to be completed summer 2013, at which point West Union construction will begin. The University’s larger construction project will also include renovations to the Bryan Center. “This heralds the start of three years of work,” Moneta said. [The pavilion] really is the lead project on behalf of a dramatic revitalization of the student experience on campus.” Although the University is waiting for formal building permits from Durham, city officials are well-aware of the project, and there is little doubt that the
by John Barker and Tiffany Lieu THE CHRONICLE
SEE PAVILION ON PAGE 6
Endowment leader Neil Teenage marijuana use Williams dies causes mental deficit
CHRONICLE GRAPHIC BY RITA LO AND THU NGUYEN
A Duke study has found that adolescent marijuana use leads to irreversible mental deficits, including a point decline in IQ.
Duke Student Government solidified its infrastructure and began discussing its approach to issues pertaining to student life and social policies at the University. Because the inaugural meeting occurred before the Sept. 11 DSG elections, in which a large bulk of senators will be added to the governing body, much discussion centered on electing several committees to oversee the election process. Senators discussed the many transitions they will be overseeing in upcoming months, including student feedback to the house model, West Union Building renovations, changes in the statute of limitation on reporting sexual misconduct and the highly anticipated plan for replacing Tailgate. “This summer we’ve been working on a number of issues regarding several big changes to the University,” said DSG President Alex Swain, a senior. “We are transitioning to an interesting time for our country and for the relationship between students and universities in general.” The replacement for Tailgate was touched upon briefly. The first New Tailgating event has been postponed to SEE TAILGATE ON PAGE 5
from Staff Reports THE CHRONICLE
by Danielle Muoio
The head of the Charlotte-based Duke Endowment died Sunday, leaving behind a legacy of support and loyalty to the University. Chairman Neil Williams, Trinity ‘58 and Law ‘61, died of a heart attack at age 76 in Winston-Salem Sunday. Williams served as head of the Charlotte-based foundation—started by James B. Duke but separate from the University—since January 2011.
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SEE WILLIAMS ON PAGE 5
A nearly four decade study led by Duke researchers holds harrowing implications for adolescent marijuana users. The study followed more than 1,000 people from the time they were born and found that individuals who used marijuana regularly in early adolescence suffered on average an eight point IQ decline by the time they reached age 38. Not only is this drop in IQ irreversible, but it is enough to knock a person of average intelligence from the 50th percentile to the
Duke arts goes gospel, Recess Page 7
29th percentile. “Those who started to use cannabis a lot between 16 and 18 were the kids who experienced a lot of the IQ decline,” Avshalom Capsi, an Edward M. Arnett professor of psychology and neuroscience and co-author of the study, said. “Even among people who had quit…if they started very early and used cannabis for many years, their neurological test scores didn’t seem to rebound.” An IQ drop of eight points has a variety SEE MARIJUANA ON PAGE 12
ONTHERECORD
“I hopelessly tried to hold back the big grin that had overtaken my face....” —Philip Doerr in “Every week is O-week.” See column page 11.
KAYLA FALK/THE CHRONICLE
DSG President Alex Swain announced that the first tailgate of the year would be postponed at the group’s meeting Wednesday.
Duke Med addresses Rwandan health system, Page 3
2 | THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2012
THE CHRONICLE
Health care inaccessibility Duke Med to train plays role in Arab Spring Rwandan doctors by Nourhan Elsayed THE CHRONICLE
For people living in the Middle East and North Africa, the current health system holds political ramifications. In a lecture Wednesday, Dr. Enis Baris, health sector manager for the Human Development Department for the Middle East and North Africa at the World Bank, focused on how frustrations with the lack of health care accessibility in the Middle East was a contributing factor to the Arab Spring—the revolutionary events that swept through the region starting December 2010. Baris emphasized that marginal improvement have been seen in health care since the Arab Spring because more people in the region are taking initiative in improving the health care system. “Arab people [are frustrated] with their health care systems, corruption, inequalities in health, financial barriers... people in the education and health sector,” Baris said. “There are some key words—if you do a discourse analysis of what they say, they are pretty much fed up.” Delving more specifically into health care concerns, Baris noted that huge socioeconomic discrepancies within the region contribute to poor health. For example, Egypt has both the highest occurrence of child malnutrition and one of the highest rates of obesity, adding that the wealthiness of an area is one factor in this disparity. The World Bank is currently trying to address this issue by finding ways to improve the health of adolescents. “We are looking at how to take the youth and keep the youth healthy and productive... in order
to avoid the issues with long term non-communicable disease,” he said. Baris went on to say how health care and education were the major concerns for Arabs, with 54 percent of people interviewed in Egypt claiming that it was a pressing issue they wish the government would address. Corruption in the government, however, has prevented these issues from being addressed. Political corruption, patronage and nepotism are among the factors that perpetuate the issues in the region, Baris said. He noted, however, that there is hope for improvement. “The World Bank is taking initiative,” Baris said. “[There is] a $75 million project which aims at improving the institutional capacity, which is responsible for buying health services for the white collared and blue collared average person in Egypt.”
Students who attended the session commented on Baris’ ability to break down how health is influenced by political issues in the area. Freshman Mousa Alshanteer— who also writes a column for The Chronicle—commended Baris’ presentation on the various health standards in the region, whereas Freshman Julia Mikhailova was struck by the health disparities within a single country. “I was most interested in that they had such high levels of female obesity contrasted with such high levels of malnutrition,” she said. Despite issues prevalent within the area, Arabs taking initiative have allowed for the possibility of future improvement. “Local people are more expressive,” Baris said. “People are expressing openly what they think of health services, and the governments are paying attention to what the people want.”
ELYSIA SU/THE CHRONICLE
Enis Baris, who works for the World Bank, spoke Wednesday in Trent Hall about the health implications of the Arab Spring.
by Zubair Akram THE CHRONICLE
The Duke School of Medicine and School of Nursing will soon join a consortium of American universities in structuring a viable health system in Rwanda. The Rwanda Human Resources for Health Program will last for seven years. Addressing the low numbers of medical professionals in the povertystricken African nation, Duke medical experts ranging from nurses to general practitioners will help train health care professionals there. The goal is to train enough Rwandan doctors and nurses to create a sustainable Rwandan health system. “President Paul Kagame wants to make Rwanda the new African Singapore,” Dr. Nathan Thielman, associate professor of medicine, said in an interview. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, an advocate of healthbased initiatives, formally announced the launch of the program in July. Rwanda has made major strides since 1994 to rebuild and reunite a country ravaged by genocide, Thielman said. In the health sector, it has established a strong community-based insurance system to which around 90 percent of the population has now subscribed, and Rwanda is promoting innovative incentives for improving quality of care with performance-based financing schemes. “[Rwanda’s] health gains in the last decade are among the
most dramatic the world has seen in the last 50 years,” Dr. Peter Drobac, director of the Rwandan branch of Partners in Health, told the New York Times in July. One of the most important remaining challenges in the Rwandan health sector is strengthening the medical education system. Medical personnel at Duke and several other leading institutions across the country are excited to join their counterparts from the National University of Rwanda to help improve the quality of medical education, Thielman wrote in an e-mail Monday. The work will be done in hospitals and treatment centers located throughout the country. Most Duke faculty will be based in the capital city, Kigali. “This is the way to teach the next generation,” Thielman said. “Our goal is the same as the Ministry of Health, Rwandan health care providers and educators.” While on the ground, special medical teams from Duke will have the opportunity to augment their medical education, particularly in clinical endeavors, said Dr. Maria Small, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology. This program has drawn participants from several departments. At least five faculty members specializing in pediatrics and obstetrics and gynecology, as well as six officials from the School of Nursing are engaged in this program, Thielman said.
Women’s Lacrosse Team Manager The Women’s Lacrosse team is looking for a Video Coordinator to assist in filming lacrosse practice, scrimmages and games. They will prepare video for staff/team as well as coordinate video exchange with opponents in the Spring. Other responsibilities and opportunities may include traveling with the team and maintaining film inventory, video equipment, archives, and library. Estimated hours for the Fall Semester are 10-15 Hours/Week. Estimated hours for the Spring Semester are 10-20 Hours/Week. Pay is TBD, WorkStudy Awards is preferred but not necessary.
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THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2012 | 3
Spirits, interest high At convention, Ryan calls as Paralympics open Obama presidency ‘adrift’ by Anthony Faiola THE WASHINGTON POST
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LONDON — With an ode to science, human perseverance and the disabled physicist Stephen Hawking, this host city raised the curtain Wednesday on what is set to be the world’s biggest and most-watched Paralympics Games despite receiving relatively limited attention in the United States. Two and a half weeks after the close of the extraordinarily successful Games of the XXX Olympiad, the Paralympics opening ceremony marked a homecoming for an event that had its beginnings in the vision of Ludwig Guttmann, a Germanborn British doctor who, from his base at Stoke Mandeville Hospital at Aylesbury, sought to use sports as a physical and emotional balm for injured troops after World War II. The expensive theatrics and brilliant pyrotechnics Wednesday underscored just how far the event has come, with London staging a multimillion-dollar pageant drawing on everything from Shakespeare to the Big Bang. Performers with disabilities soared in the air on zip lines as Hawking, arguably the globe’s most celebrated living scientist,
used his trademark voice box to deliver a metaphorical message: “Look upon the stars, and not down at your feet.” On a day in which the Paralympic flame en route through London was delayed by two hours because of weather, the ceremonies—far more sober, if occasionally just as esoteric, than the Olympic opener last month—paid lengthy and elaborate homage to the umbrella. The assembly of 4,300 athletes from 164 nations included renowned South African “blade runner” Oscar Pistorius, Britain’s Martine Wright, who lost her legs in the 2005 London bombings, and Afghanistan’s sole paralympian, the cabdriver-cum-weightlifter Mohammed Fahim, a landmine victim who opened the parade as his nation’s flag-bearer. “The Games are returning to the country where they first began more than 60 years ago,” Queen Elizabeth II, who presided over Wednesday’s opening, said in a statement. Prince Harry, nude photos of whom were recently leaked, was noticeably absent. “We look forward to celebrating the uplifting spirit which distinguishes the Paralympic Games.”
had failed and his opportunity had been squandered. TAMPA, Fla. — Rep. Paul Ryan said that Obama’s is Ryan (R-Wis.) accepted the “a presidency adrift, surviving Republican Party’s nomina- on slogans that already seem tion for vice president on tired, grasping at a moment Wednesday with a declaration that has already passed.” that President Barack Obama, Ryan’s selection was a elected only four years ago on big gamble for presidential a promise of hope and change, nominee Mitt Romney, given the House Budget Committee chairman’s authorship of a controversial budget that would overhaul the federal Medicare program--the preservation of which is an issue where Democrats have frequently bested Republicans in the past. “Our opponents can consider themselves on notice,” Ryan said. “In this election, on this issue, the usual posturing on the left isn’t going to work. Mitt Romney and I know the difference between protecting a program, and raiding it. Ladies and gentlemen, our nation needs this debate. We want this debate. We will win this debate.” Ryan’s nomination will put more pressure on the RepubliTOR SANDYS/THE WASHINGTON POST can ticket to articulate and dePaul Ryan accepted the Republican fend its own economic vision, Party’s vice-presidential nomination on rather than simply stoking Wednesday at the group’s convention. the electorate’s disappoint-
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ment and dissatisfaction with Obama. Ryan, however, stuck to broad themes rather than gritty specifics in a speech that marked the first time that many Americans have seen and heard the vice presidential nominee. Again and again, delegates rose to their feet and cheered, as Ryan warmed to the traditional running mate’s role as aggressor. His home state governor and long-time friend, Scott Walker, wept. “I have never seen opponents so silent about their record, and so desperate to keep their power,” he said. “They’ve run out of ideas. Their moment came and went. Fear and division are all they’ve got left.” At 42, the congressman from Wisconsin is the first member of Generation X to run on a presidential ticket. He reflected his cohort’s anxiety that the Social Security and Medicare cannot be sustained long enough to take care of them in their retirement years. “I accept the calling of my generation to give our children the America that was given to SEE RYAN ON PAGE 12
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Isaac weakens but still threatens major flooding by Manuel Roig-Franzia and Brady Dennis THE WASHINGTON POST
NEW ORLEANS _Isaac, a vast storm that tore through southeastern Louisiana on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, weakened from a hurricane to a tropical storm after pushing floodwaters over a levee in marshy Plaquemines Parish and forcing the dramatic rescue of dozens of stranded residents. Many of the rescues were conducted Wednesday by locals who scrambled to aid their neighbors in private boats while government crews were blocked by high winds from crossing the Mississippi River. The cit-
izen rescuers were being hailed as heroes in remote Plaquemines, a region known for its shrimp boats and citrus orchards that was hit hard by Katrina. Even as ferocious winds were ripping through the area, parish officials took the unusual step of ordering the evacuation of 3,000 people on the west bank because of concerns about possible storm surges topping a levee there. Evacuation orders are usually issued prior to storms, and it’s unclear how many—if any—of the residents who were ordered to evacuate decided to brave the difficult conditions outside and flee. Louisiana National Guard troops were also dispatched to the west bank late
RICKY CARIOTI/THE WASHNINGTON POST
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A pelican fights the wind as water rises over Interstate 10 at Lake Pontchartrain during Hurricane Isaac on Wednesday in New Orleans.
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Wednesday to transport more than 100 residents from a nursing home to a more secure shelter. Isaac, which topped out at about 80 mph sustained winds, knocked out power to more than 600,000 homes and businesses across the state, shredded roofs in St. Bernard Parish--one of the hardest hit locales during Katrina--and toppled trees and a smattering of streetlights in New Orleans. But Isaac appeared likely to spare New Orleans from the devastation wrought in 2005 by the much more powerful Katrina. Still, armed National Guard troops patrolled the streets and New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew, warning that looters would face mandatory 3-year sentences. “If you loot, you get an orange suit,” Landrieu said. Isaac, which made landfall Tuesday evening near the mouth of the Mississippi River, moved sluggishly Wednesday on a wobbly northwestern route, at times becoming almost stationary and dumping large amounts of rain in isolated areas before moving on. It was crawling along so slowly that Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who skipped the Republican National Convention to oversee the state’s response, said it could remain in the state as long as Friday morning and utility officials were warning it may take days to restore power. The storm is forecast to continue to weaken as it moves through Louisiana and enters Arkansas and the Midwest, where it was expected to provide some drought relief for parched fields. In New Orleans, the intricate network of levees, pumps and floodgates built since Katrina was “performing the way it was designed to,” said Rene Poche, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Huge floodgates were clapped shut to prevent storm surges from entering the city, particularly on its vulnerable eastern side. The storm’s most dramatic impact was felt in the tiny community of Braithwaite, which sits in a low-slung section of Plaquemines, 20 miles southeast of New Orleans and outside the massive ring of federally maintained levees constructed or improved with $14.5 billion allocated by the U.S. Congress after Katrina. Isaac’s Category 1 winds pushed a 12-foot surge of water over a small locally maintained levee that was partially under construction, parish officials said. As many as 800 homes in the parish may have been damaged, according to a preliminary estimate announced by Jindal. “It’s worse than Katrina in that area,” Plaquemines Parish Councilman Robert Griffin said in an interview. Residents launched boats into flood-
waters that reached as high as 10 feet to rescue dozens of neighbors. Griffin, who represents the flooded area, said residents had been warned for days to get out. He estimated that 1,900 of the area’s approximately 2,000 residents evacuated. The 100 or so who remained did so at great risk to their safety, he said. “That’s been puzzling me all day,” he said. “Why did they stay?” Jindal and Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser said late Wednesday that officials are planning to punch a hole in a portion of a levee in Plaquemines to release floodwaters. In previous storms, the parish has been able to drain floodwaters in three days by cutting holes in a levee while it could take two weeks to do so by pumping out the water, Nungesser said. The overtopped levee has been the subject of furious debate, according to Griffin and another councilman, Kirk Lepine. Parish officials have been pressing to strengthen and raise the levee, but Griffin said they have grown frustrated with what he described as a slow permitting process overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which has generally been praised for expediting permits for flood projects in New Orleans. “That’s the federal government--they’re slow about everything,” he said, characterizing the delays as “filibustering” by federal officials. On a call Wednesday afternoon, National Hurricane Center director Rick Knabb cautioned that even as Isaac once again becomes a tropical storm and leaves New Orleans behind, plenty of danger lies ahead, including flash floods and tornadoes. “For some folks in the path of this, the event—in terms of the weather and the impacts—hasn’t even begun,” Knabb said. “We have to remember that it’s not just a coastal event or even a coastal region event. . . There’s some heavy rain on the way, and it’s going to last quite awhile,” he said. “This is not to be taken lightly anywhere in Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas.” The federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement reported Wednesday that oil and gas industry workers had been evacuated from 505 production platforms and 50 rigs in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of Isaac’s arrival. Production platforms are the structures located offshore from which oil and natural gas are produced. Unlike drilling rigs, which typically move from location to location, production facilities remain in one place. The agency said that after the hurricane SEE ISAAC ON PAGE 12
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THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2012 | 5
WILLIAMS from page 1
Every day is a Holliday
SOPHIA DURAND/THE CHRONICLE
Members of the football team sell shirts to support their teammate sophomore Blair Holliday who was critically injured in a jet ski accident this summer.
TAILGATE from page 1 the Sept. 15 home game and moved from a field near Koskinen Stadium to the Main West Quadrangle due to security concerns, Swain said. She added that she encourages students to join the “Tailgate Team�—a committee of students appointed to assess student feedback and shape the final form of Tailgate. “It’s going to be a Tailgate unlike any we’ve ever seen,� said Executive Vice President Patrick Oathout, a junior. “It’s going to be on the main quad, and students should be really excited for it.� Three committees were created to fill various offices in DSG’s structure over the next few weeks. First, the senators elected the Judiciary Selection Committee—a group who will interview non-senators to become members of the DSG Judiciary, which reviews senate proceedings. They then elected the Board of Elections, which will establish policies for campaigning on campus for
DSG elections. The third committee elected was the Presidential Committee Selection Committee, a group of three senators in charge of appointing students to represent various special interest groups on campus. All three committees are open to non-senators, and positions can be applied for by contacting Oathout. Information sessions for prospective senators will be held Thursday evening on East Campus. Beside discussion of internal organization, DSG passed resolutions on pertinent campus issues. One resolution granted student organizations who are unrecognized by the Student Organization Finance Committee—and thus not chartered by the University— the right to table and rent rooms for meetings in support of specific U.S. political candidates between now and the Nov. 6 elections. The resolution comes after two prospective student groups—Duke Students for Obama and Duke Students for Romney—were denied SOFC
recognition due to concerns about the groups’ sustainability. Prior to the DSG resolution, groups without official SOFC recognition would have been barred from using campus facilities, referencing the University in any activities or advertisements, sponsoring events on campus that are open to the general public, utilizing University Center for Activities and Events services and accessing listservs, said junior Daniel Strunk, North Carolina Young Americans for Romney college manager. “[The decision by SOFC to not recognize candidacy organizations] strikes at the very heart of the First Amendment and student free speech,� Strunk said in an interview prior to the DSG decision. Had this resolution not passed, both organizations would have operated under their respective umbrella organizations—Duke Democrats and Duke College Republicans, said Strunk and Duke Democrats co-president David Winegar, a sophomore. Another resolution agreed
to fund the Duke Inferno for another year—granting the organization $10,866—following a presentation by Inferno president Sam Marks. Marks, a junior, is overseeing an extensive overhaul of the student organization, having fired its entire executive board at the conclusion of the 2011-2012 academic year. He noted that Inferno is changing its policy in order to involve a greater percentage of the student body and promoting “experiences in lieu of possessions� by offering lunches with players and tours of team locker rooms. Both Swain and Oathout encouraged students, especially incoming freshmen, to get involved with DSG and help confront the many upcoming changes at Duke as campaigning begins next Tuesday. “This time of change presents a great opportunity for DSG and the rest of the student body to create some new traditions and new memories and really get our input on how we think that campus life should be different,� Swain said.
Under his leadership this March, the Endowment contributed $80 million toward the renovation of the West Union Building, Page Auditorium and Baldwin Auditorium. The gift was the single largest in Duke’s history. Williams joined the Endowment’s board in 1997, leading committees on Investments, Trustees and Governance and Educational Institutions. A member of the University’s Board of Trustees from 1980 to 1993 and Board’s chair from 1983 to 1988, Williams was well-known in the Duke community. “Neil was a person of surpassing warmth and wisdom and a citizen of the very highest order,� said President Richard Brodhead in a statement. “His services to Duke over more than 50 years— including as board chair and chairman of The Duke Endowment— have made a permanent mark on this Neil WIlliams university.� He also played a critical role in the establishment of Duke Engage. He worked the Financial Aid Initiative under the direction of former Duke Endowment Chairman Russell Robinson. The Initiative raised more than $300 million in the University’s effort to conduct need-blind admissions and meet every student’s demonstrated financial needs. The University has honored Williams with multiple awards throughout his duration in the field—including the Distinguished Alumni Award in 1990 in commemoration of his dedication to Duke and to humanity, as well as the Charles S. Rhyne Award in 1996, an award given by Duke School of Law recognizing integrity and professionalism.
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PAVILION from page 1 ground-breaking will take place next week, Moneta said. Once construction is complete, the pavilion—located west of the Bryan Center near Union Drive and Towerview Road—will serve as a space for student gatherings, which may include career fairs, majors fairs, sorority recruitment and dances, he noted. The University received $80 million to entirely fund its construction projects from the
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Duke Endowment in March 2011. West Union will be entirely rebuilt with the exception of three historic locations— the Great Hall, the Cambridge Inn, which now houses Alpine Bagels, and the Kilgo archway, which leads onto the Bryan Center Plaza walkway, Moneta said. Renovations to West Union and the accompanying changes to the Bryan Center will create new student meeting spaces. “In the 23 years [I’ve spent at Duke], I’ve never seen something that is going to be as physi-
cally transformational as this suite of projects is going to be in terms of really affecting the lives of undergraduates in a number of really positive ways,” Nowicki said. “This in concert with a number of other things going on at the University are going to take Duke as an undergraduate experience to a new level.” Moneta noted that construction on the pavilion will not disrupt student life. “It will be fun to watch it go up with little to no impact,” Moneta said in an interview. “We built [Keohane Quadran-
gle 4E] right in the middle of a residential quad with almost no interruption. It’s the same company.” The official launch—heralded by the release of blue and white balloons at the nearby construction site—was announced by Swain. “On behalf of Duke Student Government, we are excited to work with all parties involved to make the undergraduate experience as wonderful as possible, starting with this project,” Swain said before the balloons were released.
Both Moneta and Nowicki stressed the broader opportunities the construction projects will present to the Duke community. Nowicki specifically mentioned DukeEngage and DukeImmerse as programs that integrate extracurricular activities and learning, noting that the new campus will promote these kinds of programs. “Duke is forging a new path for thinking about the undergraduate experience educationally as a really integrated whole,” Nowicki said.
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CHRIS DIEKHAUS/THE CHRONICLE
Students take refreshments from the official launch of the new Events Pavilion Wednesday on the plaza.
This artist’s rendering from March shows the new Events Pavilion located next to the Bryan Center. Administrators launched the construction Wednesday, and the building is expected to be completed summer 2013.
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Sports as a uniting force Even after all the anticipation for a critical Duke basketball game, it’s the rain I remember most. It started a little after midnight, and it seemed appropriate. Even the relentless street lamps of Krzyzewskiville seemed dimmer than usual as they shined on the wreckage of nights hazily passed and a game that was scarcely competitive. I was alone in front of Wilson Gym as Saturday turned to Sunday following the Blue Devils’ 88-70 loss at the hands of North Carolina to close out the 2012 regular season. Tom Discarded and trampled in the mud was a painted sign that read, “We Are Duke.” And I thought to myself as I watched the rain ruin the posterboard, “Who is that?” Duke had played the game—as it had played much of its season—without an identity. The young squad lacked the leadership and cohesion of past Blue Devil teams, and I couldn’t help but wonder if their issues weren’t a reflection of the campus at large. This is a changing university. The composition of the student body is changing. Administration and policies are in flux. Even the restaurant scene on campus seems to be in a state of upheaval (I’ll miss you, Pauly Dogs). And perhaps the most venerable symbol of the university—the Cameron Crazies—aren’t what they once were, as Duke was forced to sell tickets last season to fill out the student section for some home basketball games. But one thing is certain for all of us: we are here, and we are Duke—whatever Duke means. And the upside of the current era of change is the opportunity for us to do some defining for ourselves. Can we not unite—administrators and trustees, educators and alumni and students from all walks of campus life—at Wallace Wade, in Cameron, at Koskinen? Why not come together over the single thing that all 26 of the varsity sports teams have in common: four letters on their uniforms?
THURSDAY August 30, 2012
The Chronicle’s Andrew Beaton speaks with the editorial staff of Florida International’s student newspaper in anticipation of Saturday’s matchup at Wallace Wade.
www.dukechroniclesports.com
WOMEN’S SOCCER
Blue Devils advance in World Cup
Gieryn
SEE GIERYN ON PAGE 8
CHELSEA PIERONI/CHRONICLE FILE PHOTO
Mollie Pathman and Kelly Cobb have missed the start of the Duke season while playing in the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Japan. by Matt Pun THE CHRONICLE
Despite losing 3-0 to Germany in the group stage, the U.S. under-20 women’s national soccer team, featuring Blue Devils Mollie Pathman and Kelly Cobb, advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. After finishing second in Group D, the U.S. will play North Korea in the knockout stage at Komaba Stadium in Saitama, Japan Aug. 31. “At this stage, everything starts over,” Pathman said. “It doesn’t matter how we got here. It’s how we learn the lessons along the way. And I think we have [learned].” Playing at Hiroshima Big Arch, the U.S. started the tournament with a decisive 4-0 victory against Ghana Aug. 20 and then tied China 1-1 Aug. 23. The team then
lost to defending champion and unbeaten Germany 3-0 Aug. 27 at Miyagi Stadium in Rifu, but because the U.S. won the goal-differential tiebreaker over China, the Americans secured their spot in the quarterfinals. “Looking at our past three games, we’re really happy with the challenges that they brought,” Pathman said. “Every team was different, and from each game we learned a lot. And I think this will help us going forward in the tournament. We saw teams [from three different continents] and they all have very different styles.” By finishing second in its group, the U.S. earned a matchup with North Korea, the only team other than Germany that remains undefeated. The North Koreans breezed through Group C, defeating SEE W. SOCCER ON PAGE 8
FOOTBALL
Top-ranked medical crew aids Duke athletes by Ashley Mooney THE CHRONICLE
CHRIS DALL/CHRONICLE FILE PHOTO
Football, lacrosse, soccer and field hockey players are all prone to more serious injuries on the field.
Both on and off the field, Duke’s sports medicine department keeps a watchful eye on Blue Devil athletes. All team sports at Duke have equal access to medical treatment, but Dr. Claude Moorman III, director of the Duke Sports Medicine Center and head team physician, said the medical presence at each event varies based on the typical injuries that athletes in each sport sustain. Because some teams—including football, lacrosse, soccer and field hockey—are at higher risk than others for injury, a physician is always at those games alongside the athletic trainers. For sports with less likelihood of traumatic injuries, physicians are not necessarily on site but are available when needed. Since many of the football players remain at Duke during the summer for training or classes, football has become a nearly year-round sport, he said. Most injuries, however, occur during scrimmages and games rather than at practices.
“We see some [injuries in practice], but not ordinarily,” said Moorman, who is also vice chair of orthopedic surgery. “Coach Cutcliffe does a great job of finding that balance between giving them just enough contact so they get exposure and are ready to play but not getting too much that we get a lot of injuries.” While Moorman could not comment on specific cases, he noted that most of the injuries on the football field are muscle strains, which are nagging but will not necessarily keep a player out of the game. When on the road, the football team travels with one orthopedist and one primary care sports medicine attending— usually Moorman and team physician Dr. Jeffrey Bytomski. If an athlete sustains an injury that prevents them from traveling safely—such as a fracture in the femur or humerus—Moorman said that to prevent complications the team physicians work in conjunction SEE MEDICINE ON PAGE 8
8 | THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2012
THE CHRONICLE
GIERYN from page 7
MEDICINE from page 7
Sports have become one of the great American morality plays, even in the collegiate realm. Other universities take pride in their football on Saturdays, not just their tailgates. And for many of the attendees, it’s not at all about first downs or forced fumbles. It’s about representing their schools, bringing together a panorama of humanity connected by disparate threads to a single organization. It’s about taking pride in the past and building excitement for the future. It’s about cheering together, winning together and yes, losing together. It is vital to the character and identity of the university. If you don’t believe me, look no further than what happens when these schools are stripped of their athletic standing. At schools like Penn State and Miami, entire lives and whole campuses have been shattered by the sins of athletes and coaches. Even Duke struggled through such a threatening episode in 2006 during the infamous men’s lacrosse scandal. Duke is no longer plagued by any of that, with a healthy, compliant and competitive athletics program. As issues from the housing model to the admissions process to Greek tensions have sometimes bubbled over between different campus groups, I think this institution would be stronger and more united if the Duke community in its entirety would make an extra effort to turn out for the sporting events. The frequently empty student section at Wallace Wade Stadium is one of the most glaring deficiencies in attendance, but if you don’t like football, there are 25 other teams on campus where the simple act of having Duke people in the same stands cheering for the same team would be good for everyone. Blue Devil athletes are always excited to have a noisy home crowd to motivate them, but I’m not imploring you to attend Duke athletic events because I think the athletes need us. I’m imploring you because I think we need them.
with the opposing school’s sports medicine departments. “There’s a really a wonderful sense of camaraderie among institutions as it relates to care of the athletes, so generally we know the people well throughout the ACC,” Moorman said. Almost every stadium in the ACC has X-ray facilities on site in case of suspected fractures, he said. At Duke, there is a full clinic at the stadium, equipped with a minor procedure room, casting facilities and an X-ray machine. For serious injuries that require more involved treatment, athletes go to Duke Hospital. Moorman played football at Duke form 1979 to 1983. During his sophomore year, he experienced a knee injury, and with the encouragement of the late
W. SOCCER from page 7 Norway, Argentina and Canada. Additionally, it posted a tournament-high plus-12 goal differential, led by seven scores from Kim Un Hwa. In the match against Argentina, Kim notched five goals to spur a 9-0 win. For the Americans, both Duke players could play a key role in a potential upset, after they earned considerable playing time in the group stage. Cobb earned her first start at center forward against the Chinese, and Pathman has played all 270 minutes of the tournament so far. “Playing with Mollie’s amazing,” Cobb said. “It’s a little different because I’m used to her playing left forward at Duke, and now she’s playing left back, but she… plays the full 90 minutes. She’s solid, in and out, goes after every ball and blocks the crosses.” In addition to playing with the best youth teams in the world, Cobb and Pathman have had the opportunity to explore the country, having matches in three different cities so far.
Dr. Frank Bassett, Duke’s team physician from 1966 to 1993 and a member of the Duke Sports Hall of Fame, he decided to go into medicine. “The opportunity to take care of the team that you played on while you were here is really exciting for me and that’s a dream come true,” Moorman said. “That’s why I’ve continued to take care of football—I just love the sport, love the people.” For Duke athletes like Moorman who want to get involved with sports medicine, the Bassett Society, a group of more than 300 former Duke athletes who attended medical or dental school, awards two scholarships yearly. Students also have the opportunity to work in the K-Lab— a center dedicated to the understanding and prevention of athletic injury—or on independent projects. “There are a lot of opportunities, and
we’re always excited to get to know the students who might have an interest in medicine,” he said. The strength of Duke’s sports medicine, Moorman noted, helps with recruiting as well. Duke’s primary care and orthopedic sports medicine fellowships—specialty training after a physician completes his or her residency—are ranked in the top five in the nation. At least one of these fellows accompanies Moorman and Botomski to each game. Orthopedic residents also travel with the team. “We have a great group of professionals that come together—our athletic trainers, physical therapists, primary care sports doctors and orthopedists—and all really work as a team with the only real goal of trying to do the best we can for any of our student athletes who are injured,” he said.
“It’s been an amazing cultural experience,” Cobb said. “We’ve been to a lot of memorial sites like the Peace Dome in Hiroshima [and] the Tsunami memorial here.” Meanwhile, Duke has opened its season without the two forwards, jumping out to a 2-1 record. Pathman and Cobb, however, have been keeping close tabs on their teammates via Skype and GoDuke.com, Pathman said. “We miss our teammates,” Cobb said. “We miss the atmosphere. We miss playing alongside them, but they’re obviously doing amazingly and having a great start to the season… and I know that they’re supporting us over here.” And when they return to Duke, Cobb and Pathman will have the wisdom of international competition to share with their Blue Devil teammates. “Soccer-wise it is a great experience to be able to play against the top teams in the world, and every team has a different style so you get to learn a lot,” Pathman said. “It’s kind of like a crash course in soccer right now, and it’s a great experience.”
With 11 goals last season, Kelly Cobb was tied for the Blue Devil lead in that category.
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Keep the wheels turning Duke administrators have are a good start, the service publicly cast into doubt the would gain greater visibility if future of Duke’s relationship buses ventured further onto with the Bull City Connector, campus. Some potential new citing lower-than-expected stops could include another ridership rates. stop on Swift Avenue closer to This is an Campus Drive, overwrought somewhere editorial response to a closer to the temporary—and fixable— Chapel Drive Circle, or other problem. Given that the ser- parts of campus accessible by vice began just two years ago, bus. it is far too soon to declare the Hours of service could be Bull City Connector a failure. re-evaluated, too. We underBut given that student rider- stand that keeping the bus ship has disappointed thus operating past 12 a.m. (when far, we feel more can be done Friday and Saturday service to encourage undergraduates currently stops) would repreto take advantage of this fan- sent an added expense. But tastic resource. we feel confident that a bus First, the bus should stop that ran slightly later – percloser to where students live haps till 2 am - would be far and spend time on campus. more useful to students, esWhile current stops along pecially on weekend nights. the periphery of campus This would serve the double
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I am moved by your strength and courage to write this piece. Thank you for your honesty and for sharing your heartbreak with us. —“bustyourdukebubble” commenting on the story “Be safe.” See more at www.dukechronicle.com.
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purpose of increasing ridership and, more importantly, offering students a safe alternative to driving back to campus after going out. While these late-night hours might not immediately come to mind, those who frequent Main Street can speak to the need for a safe, cheap option. There is definite demand for a free shuttle service that would allow students to explore Durham’s nightlife— but it is only useful if it operates long enough to take students back and forth from campus. Administrators should also keep in mind that even if undergraduate usage has been underwhelming, the bus has served an important purpose for University employees and other members of the com-
munity. Hospital employees should not be punished just because undergraduate ridership has lagged. By the same token, given that administrators themselves have stated that the service is exceeding its total daily ridership goal of 2,000, the push to consider altering the service so soon after it began strikes us as puzzling. Nonetheless, we agree that more students could find value in using the service. A Duke Student Government video on how to ride the bus was a good start, but University and student leaders should continue spreading the word about the Bull City Connector in every way possible. Moreover, before cutting funding or altering service, the administration
should survey undergraduates and other community members to assess why they are not using the service. We would bet that the factors listed above—location of bus stops, hours of service and a simple lack of awareness— play a large role. We are not naive to the fact that keeping this partnership in place and marketing the service consume valuable administrative resources and funding. But this is not the place to cut costs. Getting students to interact with Durham has been and must remain a top administrative priority, and the Bull City Connector can play a major role in facilitating the process. We caution administrators against prematurely waving the white flag.
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finally decided to put my time where my ferent. By the end of the night I was discourmouth was. aged. What was wrong with these people? Why This past Sunday was Women’s Equality did they not care? Do they even go here? Day, which commemorated the I’m not the most eloquent 19th Amendment granting womwhen it comes to explaining why en the right to vote in 1920. Such the “student vote” counts. I’d a historic occasion demanded I much rather demonize the GOP’s do something tangible. stances on women’s health care, In a mass email from Obama reproductive rights and choice, for America, a “Buffy Wicks” invitin overly partisan language that ed me to phone-bank in support can verge on inappropriate for of the president at their office these pages. samantha in Durham. I obliged, primarily Perhaps it’s more valuable lachman since her name is Buffy Wicks to impart one self-righteous rebut also because I felt guilty that what’s our age again? quest: If you truly feel apathetic I had never actually canvassed or when it comes to this election, phone-banked before. do some soul searching as to Feeling combative, I asked for a list of un- what you DO care about. decided Duke students. Education policy? Look at the candidates’ “If I vote … I’ll vote for President Obama,” respective positions when it comes to Pell remarked an undergraduate woman over the Grants. Health reform? Decide whether you’re phone. grateful that you can stay on your parents’ plan “Why the IF, may I ask?” I responded. until you’re 26. LGBTQ rights? You’re hope“Well I’m just on the fence about whether fully already aware that President Obama reI’m going to vote.” pealed Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and supports marShe had no idea what she got herself into riage equality. Financial regulations? Check by not making up an excuse about having an out the Credit CARD Act, which protects stuexam to study for. I gave her my spiel for wom- dents from credit card company exploitation. en voters. Foreign policy? Contemplate whether Obama I brought up the Affordable Care Act, has been anything but a pragmatist. which eliminates co-pays for preventive serSure, I’ve drunk the Kool-Aid, but I’m not vices like mammograms and contraception. ready to be apathetic at the age of almost 21. When that was met with silence, I reminded I want the people who have the power and the her that President Obama signed Lilly Led- money to know that I see what they’re doing better Fair Pay Act, which helps workers file to this country. I can’t put tens of millions of claims against age and/or gender wage dis- dollars behind a candidate (Sheldon Adelson) crimination. To create a villain narrative, I or start my own Super PAC with friends (just mentioned that Romney has pledged to “get kidding, we did). But what I can do is turn rid of” Planned Parenthood and that Paul out. And wax romantic about why. Ryan cosponsored a bill that would have rePick just one issue you care about in a hisdefined the definition of rape. But this stu- toric or academic or cultural or religious or dent wasn’t convinced. She just meekly said sociological or economic prism and transform she had to go. it into a political voting issue. It’s not like beAnother Duke student engaged me in a ing at the supermarket overwhelmed by the philosophical discussion about the inherent 57 varieties of ketchup; you, like, have two opcorruption in politics. He argued that Obama tions. and Romney’s “fundamental stances” are the And if you really care about nothing at all, same and therefore he didn’t feel like voting then I hope you at least care about yourself. because “interactions between people make If that’s the case, then maybe you’ll find the the real difference.” I thought it would be wise words of Hillel the Elder inspiring: “If I helpful to tout the Disclose Act, proposed by am not for myself, who will be? And when I Democrats but blocked by Republicans, which am for myself, what am ‘I’? And if not now, aims to increase transparency in the political when?” process and decrease the influence of shadowy special interest money. I was SOL; this kid Samantha Lachman is a Trinity senior. Her colwasn’t convinced either. umn runs every other Thursday. You can follow her Numerous Duke students were just as indif- on Twitter @SamLachman.
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THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2012 | 11
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Every week is o-week
Being true
Why are you smiling?” asked the tall, young, to the stranger sitting next to us in class, when we Senegalese man. didn’t think it was weird to join someone random at “Why not?” I responded as I casually joined the Marketplace who was eating alone. his stride and we made our way across campus. “I’m I know it’s not easy to be super outgoing. There happy to be in France. Just got here from America.” are social norms in place that we all abide by, wherWe talked for a few more minutes and next ever we might be. Not to draw on stereotypes too thing I knew, we had agreed to meet up soon so much, but I don’t think it’s much of a coincidence I could help him navigate some Engthat my 2-minute friend came from lish websites. Younous wants to go to Senegal. Unfortunately, the Parisians college in Baltimore and was having themselves do not have the best repsome trouble understanding the aputation for welcoming visitors. Ultiplication process. I offered to help mately though, I think we’re mistaken him out. when we simply take those traits for After he left, I hopelessly tried to granted, as we often do. Things don’t hold back the big grin that had overhave to be this way. Just because Paritaken my face. I had just made a new sians might often give the impression friend in 2 minutes and was walking that they’re not interested in making across a new and exciting campus to friends, it’s up to us to set the tone of get to what was now precious Wi-Fi— our interactions with people. I know the newness of Paris had put me in a (or at least I hope) that behind that great mood. classic Parisian frown is someone who The day before I had joined a couis yearning to smile. ple of fellow Dukies at our Parisian I know most of you reading this university for day one of our internaaren’t in Paris (sorry!) but we’re defiphilip doerr tional student orientation program. nitely guilty of this on campus, too. OWalking into the room where my oriweek just ended, and I’m sure many small world entation group was sitting brought of you are feeling excited to hang out on immediate flashbacks of freshman with all of the new friends that you year orientation week. I was reminded of those awk- just made. It’s an exciting time. Before we know it ward moments where two people find themselves though, we will find ourselves walking across camnext to one another, each trying to decide whether pus putting on our serious face or pretending to or not they have the guts to start a conversation. send a text message when we feel too uncomfortLuckily, I then had the repeated pleasure of reliving able to acknowledge the people around us because the smiles of relief and excitement that follow when we don’t already know them. someone finally does. Just about everybody wants to We’ve all experienced the joy of making new meet you at these “freshman” orientation weeks. Ev- friends. All it really takes is getting over that split eryone is hoping to make friends. second of nervousness and just introducing ourI’m only four days into my study abroad expe- selves to bridge the silence. For those of you who rience so far. I recognize that my excitement and have no problem making friends every time you eagerness is natural for the beginning of such an ride the C-1, keep up the good work. For the rest awesome adventure. The prospect of living in a new of us, myself included, go ahead and make a new city, studying at a new school, speaking a new lan- friend everyday. It shouldn’t require a study abroad guage and meeting new people from all over the or freshman orientation. Live every week like it’s oworld has definitely inspired me to drop my guard a week. bit. But going through this “freshman” orientation for a second time has made me a bit nostalgic for Philip Doerr is a Trinity junior and is currently studythe beginning of my freshman year. It was a time ing abroad in Paris, France. His column runs every other when we were always willing to introduce ourselves Thursday.
hen I was 14 and in the seventh grade, I was diagnosed with ALL Type B, short for acute lymphoblastic leukemia of the B blood cells. I spent three years fighting the sickness through a combination of chemotherapy, prayer and sheer will. Today I am a cancer survivor. I don’t declare this in a Chronicle column for plaudits, attention or recognition. On the contrary, it is just a part of who I am. It is a part of my identity, a part of my past from which I draw strength and define my narrative and purpose in life. Being a cancer survivor is certainly not all that I am, but it is an important part and a part of which I am certainly proud. Nonetheless, when I arrived to Duke, I decided to rarely bring up this part of daniel strunk my past. Numerous reasons defining accounted for this. I did not circumstances want this fact to dominate other elements of my personality. I didn’t want to be accused of seeking attention with my story. And I worried about being seen as speaking on behalf of all childhood survivors, something that I cannot do and that would be inappropriate for me to do. But the most complicated impetus behind this decision was the simple question: How do you possibly go about sharing something that is such a deep and personal part of your life? How could fellow students ever fully understand what it meant or what you went through? Dropping one’s personal story about the C-bomb is like tossing someone a huge chunk of your diary and expecting him or her to digest it on the spot. Very few are going to know why you did it, what it means to you or how to reply. As the members of the Class of 2016 have arrived at Duke, many have likely gone through the standard oweek rituals. I’m sure most freshmen have answered and posed the proverbial three questions: What’s your name? What dorm are you in? Where are you from? Students across East Campus are beginning to forge their identities for the next four years. They are deciding which parts of their history to embrace, which to amend and which to bury. Many might see this as a chance to start fresh and completely abandon aspects they didn’t like before. The procrastinator becomes the planner. The nerd becomes the frat star. Identities will only further develop as the resources of this university come into play. I have always been utterly true to myself, for better or worse. My friends would all say the same about me. But the one exception, at least during college, is that I have failed to embrace and share my history as a cancer survivor. Over time I have realized this choice is a mistake. The reasons for silence failed to compensate for the simple fact that surviving cancer is a fundamental part of who I am. It’s not something I should seek to avoid in conversations with others, but rather something I should seek to celebrate. Yes, it is hard to bring up, and yes, my peers can never fully understand this part of my history the way I understand it. But how can anyone truly know me if I fail to share with them one of the most fundamental parts of who I am? Is that not one of the primary reasons we are all here— to learn from each other and know one another as people? So in wrapping up this first column of the year, I’d like to humbly submit some advice to the Class of 2016, the students I already envy for their four years left at Duke to my two. Define, to the very best of your ability, the aspects of your character that you cherish, that you seek to protect and that you will never let anything at college undo. Who, deep down, are you? Who, deep down, are you not? Duke and your peers are going to push you in many different directions— countless good directions, and countless bad. Some parts of your identity will fall to the wayside, and rightfully so. But figure out the principles and convictions that must be impregnable, unwavering and set in stone. When you have done this, walk this campus proudly. Know that others might merely wear masks, but you are who you are. Because sometimes age-old adages that have long since morphed into clichés, spouted by the supposed “fools” of Shakespearean literature, are the most valuable pieces of wisdom anyone can ever embrace: “This above all: to thine own self be true. And it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.”
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Bored? Visit www.chronicleblogs.com for our news, sports, editorial and recess blogs.
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Daniel Strunk is a Trinity junior. His column runs every other Thursday. You can follow Daniel on Twitter @danielfstrunk
12 | THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2012
ISAAC from page 4 has passed, officials will inspect the facilities to survey any damage from the storm. Only after such an infrastructure check is completed will authorities give companies a green light to resume production, the bureau said. In Washington, FEMA officials moved to 12-hour-a-day shifts as part of the agency’s elevated operations status instituted because of the storm. Working in a windowless conference room ringed by flat-screen television screens, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate was briefed on the evacuation of more than 700 nursing home residents and urged his colleagues to prepare for a lengthy response effort. “We need to be as fast as we can, but it’s going to be a frustrating day, I’m afraid, because the storm’s going to be
THE CHRONICLE
moving slowly,� he said. “Conditions will not improve and it’s going to be a slow response.� Isaac was powerful enough to lift a large concrete bench and its concrete base into the street along the New Orleans lakefront, a scenic spot where generations of New Orleans residents have gone to gaze at the enormous Lake Pontchartrain. But the lakefront neighborhood, which filled with putrid floodwaters during Katrina, was spared. In the Lower Ninth Ward—a poor, largely black neighborhood where hundreds of homes were obliterated by floodwaters that poured through a levee breach during Katrina—the newly reinforced levee held strong. Irvin Walker’s newly built house in the Lower Ninth Ward shook in the wind “like it was about to fall,� he said. But it didn’t.
RYAN from page 3 us, with opportunity for the young and security for the old — and I know that we are ready,� he told the delegates. “I’m going to level with you,� he said. “We don’t have that much time. But if we are serious, and smart, and we lead, we can do this.� When he laid out his first major fiscal proposal three years ago, many in the upper ranks of the party were skittish of its particulars, especially the transformation of Medicare from a government-financed system to a voucher program. Having passed the House twice since then, the Ryan budget now represents the epicenter of conservative Republican philosophy, calling for a dramatic shift in government’s priorities and sharp reduction in the scope of its mission.
But many of its individual provisions remain unpopular with the electorate at large, and Democrats have made it clear that they intend to make the Ryan budget a major element in their case against Romney. The latest Washington Post-ABC News poll suggests that while Romney’s selection of Ryan did not change the basic dynamic of the election, it boosted Republicans’ excitement at their party’s ticket. Where Obama in previous polls held a double-digit lead on that measure, the candidates now are roughly equivalent in the amount of energy they are generating with their party bases. In the new poll, 48 percent of Obama supporters say they are “very enthusiastic� about his candidacy, compared with 42 percent of Romney’s.
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of long-term ramifications for individuals. Not only does IQ influence college admission and job placement, but it can even have an effect on mortality, said Madeline Meier, a post-doctoral researcher and lead author of the study. The findings only pertain to individuals who were early onset and dependent users. Those who started using marijuana before turning 18 were categorized as early-onset users, and those who continued using even when there were significant health or social consequences were labeled dependent users. As a result, the findings only pertain to a small segment of the population. Only five percent of the individuals studied were considered early-onset and dependent users and suffered from a significant drop in IQ. “Some people may look at these findings and say, ‘Well, we knew that all along, we knew stoners and what they were like in high school,’� Capsi said. “But the findings are more nuanced than that because they suggest we must really pay attention to sensitive periods in development where substance use may have more harmful effects than it does in other points in development.� Although people generally accept that cigarettes are not good for you, many will maintain that marijuana is not harmful—an idea that has been propelled by the medical marijuana movement. The findings reverse any perception that marijuana is completely harmless, Meier said. But the research could also be used to support marijuana use, Capsi said. “A lot of people have believed for a long time that cannabis really isn’t harmful and is a wonderful recreation drug,� he said. “There is evidence for that [argument] as well, since many people in our research have smoked cannabis on and off in their lives without any adverse effects on their function.� Regardless of how the study is ultimately interpreted, the findings highlight that a heavy reliance on drugs during adolescence can haunt an individual far into the future. “Certain maturational changes occur in the brain from age 13 to up until the early twenties and adolescents who use cannabis are interrupting these critical brain changes,� she said. “To anybody who is an adolescent whose brain is still developing, which can be up to the early twenties, marijuana is not harmless.� Thomas Szigethy, associate dean and director of the Duke Student Wellness Center, wrote in an email Wednesday that marijuana is the second most heavily used substance on campus, after alcohol. Although some students think pot is less dangerous than alcohol, it can still adversely affect their academic and social lives. “Many more people smoking pot lose motivation,� Szigethy said. “Ultimately, people need to assess why they are using a substance—what are they avoiding [and] why can they not accomplish the same positive feeling about life without using [this] substance?�
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volume 14 issue 1 august 30, 2012
(RE)PURPOSE
l a n m autu
SPIRIT
Duke Performances engages Durham gospel scene
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SOPHIA DURAND / THE CHRONICLE
beasts of the southern wild
fall book preview
best movie of the summer?
see what the staff of The Regulator recommend
Nasher showcases Duke alum’s collection
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CENTER
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time capsule
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August 30, 2012
EDITOR’S NOTE
A
few days ago, a friend who is currently studying abroad in Berlin emailed me some photo-snippets of her life overseas. The photos half assure me she’s already engaged in a vibrant life there, half help me to reconnect visually with the somewhat surreal experience I had living in the same city this summer. I like to think of it as a half and half solution, uncurdled and ready for the coffee that I newly drink. Not speaking a lick of German save for the word for art, “kunst,” I felt, like Salinger’s Franny Glass, “hopelessly selfconscious” as I pounded the streets of Berlin with a) little more than the word for the very subject I had come to Berlin to respond to and b) a haircut not nearly as trendy as the preternaturally tan, monochromatic-clothes-wearing young Berliners. I guess this trepidation was shared by the other American students or at least amplified by my voiced preoccupation with it, because soon “kunst” evolved into a mainstay of our discourse. It was a way to lump our general enthusiasm for Berlin into a concrete agenda of museums, public art and leftover Keith Haring-esque graffiti on the Wall. Art was understood from the get-go as an easy way into the city—something we could not quite own nor have enough time to analyze completely but could at least experience in the space of six stress-free weeks.
“I’m down to kunst today and then meet up for dinner later”; “What’s the kunst like in Prenzlauer Berg?”; “The art history class was fine, but we spent too much time in that one museum. But, I mean, kunst.” Almost any travel guide for Berlin will exhaust the word “art” (read: “kunst”) in its efforts to define the city and the reasons we, as travelers, should want to visit it. Lonely Planet’s guide to Berlin gives an offer no twenty-or-almost-twenty-something could refuse: “Twenty years after its post-Wall rebirth, Berlin is a scene-stealing combo of glamour and grit, teeming with top museums and galleries, grand opera and guerrilla clubs, gourmet temples and ethnic snack shacks.” To the rest of the world, the city is fashioned as art object, immediately visualizable from a few choice words, as if plucked from a review of a restaurant or musical and prepared for easy digestion. This isn’t a love paean or further evidence (besides the obnoxious red sticker on my laptop) that I left my “herz” in Berlin because I didn’t, really. Any ounce of my worldliness manifests equally in the books I read, the art I see and the two cities abroad—Berlin and Dublin—to which I have become a little pathetically attached, but moreso in the sometimes-arduous and sometimes-frenzied homecomings. A return to my childhood bedroom and the tilting stack of infinitely renewed library books; a return, finally for the happiest and most healthy time, to Durham and to Duke books we never read this summer and all they’ve come Michaela Dwyer.........................................................................He’s Just Not That Into You to represent for me Holly Hilliard.............................................................................................50 Shades of Grey over the past three Dan Fishman...................................................................the book I’m writing my thesis on years. Each return has its initial peace (lyTed Phillips..................................................................................................Harry Potter (jk) ing around and readKatie Zaborsky............................................................................................Harry Potter (srs) ing ten pages here and there) and then, Sophia Durand.................................................................................The Secret Life of Bees when August hits, its Andrew Karim......................................................................................................all of them amorphous anxiety (Should I feel okay
[recesseditors]
about these new classes? Where should I want to live in the [near] future and how much should I be thinking about this now?). Whereas my summer’s mantra was “kunst,” “should” is the overplayed word once I—and many of the people I know—get back to Duke. That’s when “should” transforms into a Duke-wide aura, at once pernicious and innocuous, like the elixir of stale beer and pre-autumn dew on the lawns of West Campus. I chose to go to Berlin this summer—at the absolute last minute, I might add—in direct contestation to this same “should” that sent me literally and metaphorically running all spring semester. I drafted cover letters for positions that, while “relevant,” gradually felt irrelevant to me. When we begin to conceptualize living in terms of our onpaper selves, no matter how quirky or diverse our interests and activities, or how cleanly and genuinely we think we package them, something is lost. Maybe it’s our ability to laugh easily. Maybe it’s a once-prioritized easygoingness that encourages us to go see a band or theater performance we’ve never heard of. I often think of it in terms of Henry’s maxim in The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail: “When you transcend the limits of yourself, you can cease merely living– and begin to BE!” Our potential for “being” in this sense becomes endangered by the manipulative, almost otherworldly “should.” It keeps us propelled toward an end without clear emphasis on the art (kunst) of presenttense living. When I read my friend’s email, I laughed at the way she had rearranged her signature, inserting the word “kunst” in place of her last name and phone number. Away from a Duke semester for only a few weeks, she’s undoubtedly already caught the kunst bug, an early taste of the same joie de vivre three friends and I ended our trip with. Bouncing back, bleary-eyed, to our apartments at four in the morning, inundating the empty streets with impromptu collaborative beatbox, “kunst” functioning as both lyric and sound in our goodbye to Berlin. I’d never felt so okay with myself and my situation as I did then—until I returned to Duke this year with an unexpected ability to be. Without knowing it then, my time abroad this summer was an exercise in being. It was an exercise in stripping the “shoulds” from life, the act of rearranging my own signature to embody what it means to me to be. Email me and you’ll see. —Michaela Dwyer
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beasts of the southern wild DIR. BENH ZEITLIN FOX SEARCHLIGHT
A+
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
divine fits A THING CALLED DIVINE FITS MERGE RECORDS
ALast spring Britt Daniel of Spoon, Dan Boeckner of Wolf Parade and Sam Brown of New Bomb Turks teamed up to form Divine Fits. Lots of critics have been going back and forth talking about whether or not this is a ‘supergroup’ but, if it’s all right, I’m happy to skip that part. Supergroup or not, they’re damn good musicians and the Los Angelesvia-Montreal electronic-rock group already has a solid debut album to show for it. It’s difficult to peg the trio’s record to any particular zip code within the ever-expanding ‘indie’ territory, but A Thing Called Divine Fits isn’t hampered by its genrelessness. Parts punk, synth rock, pop and garage rock, the album never switches jarringly between styles. Chilly synth-pop beats make their first of many appearances in “My Love Is Real.” The song’s lyrics are bipolar—they switch quickly from heartfelt love song tropes to harsh take-backs—and other tracks are equally topsy-turvy. This cut has New Bomb Turks plastered all over it, but that’s what’s nice about the album: it isn’t terribly difficult to pick out each band member’s creative contribution. The tracks have a unified sound, but each member gets to make his own appearance. The synth returns in “For Your Heart,” but this time with angst, coupled with Daniel’s scratchy vocals. When the repetitive electronica becomes over-the-top, intricate acoustic drum beats break through the beeps-and-lasers atmosphere. “Like Ice Cream” takes a much-needed break from the synthesizer with garage-esque guitar and drums, a fuzzy bass and raw vocals. Subtle tambourine and cymbals neatly blend with the percussion ensemble to produce a playful, summery tone. The lyrics are just as warm: “I coulda took all summer/ she waited for me like ice cream.” Acoustic guitar and unfiltered piano take center stage in “Civilian Stripes,” which moves even farther away from the electronic elements featured throughout the record. Dialing down the jittery electronica, the song puts the album to bed: Daniel and Boeckner’s tender vocals complement each other smoothly without overwhelming the track’s quiet instrumentals. According to Divine Fits’ blog, A Thing Called Divine Fits covers “death of true love, hitchhiking, cocoa butter, emotional distance, what happens when the curtain drops and Minneapolis, MN.” Though most of those references, if they were even there, went over my head, the music holds enough meaning on its own. The record falls short of bringing an entirely new sound to the table—at times it sounds like an album from Cut Copy or Caribou—but that never makes it feel any less substantial. A focused punk-electronic blend, A Thing Called Divine Fits breathes fresh air into Merge’s indie rock lineup.
I’ll come right out and say it: Beasts of the Southern Wild is one of the best movies I have ever seen. It blurs the lines between fantasy and reality, man and woman, beauty and ugliness, adult and child and nature and society in a way that, by the end of the film, leaves the ingrained dichotomies of human life behind. This departure from typical film stock is very refreshing. The film opens with a shot of Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis) clambering across a tundra of old tires, rotting planks of wood and scraps of plastic. Hushpuppy is a six-year-old with white rain boots and the baddest afro since Foxxy Cleopatra, and, like Austin Powers’ diva sidekick, she is a whole lot of woman. She lives with her father Wink (Dwight Henry) in the Bathtub, a pseudo-utopian village located in the Louisiana bayou. The village is situated in the present but it might as well be set before or after society as we know it. Both Hushpuppy and the citizens of the Bathtub are independent and self-aware. The former is almost mystically wise but retains her childish ego. The latter is a rural American community clinging to a time before large-scale government and economy. Through shaky, low-angle shots and continuous narration, we experience the Bathtub as Hushpuppy experiences it. My favorite scene is when the citizens of the Bathtub celebrate a nameless holiday with a puttering parade of homespun machines, plenty of shellfish and beer (for all ages). Then, in an engulfing grand finale, they launch fireworks so outrageous and dance so lushly as to make Bacchus proud. A few months ago, I wrote a review of Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson’s pleasant ode to summer love. Like Beasts, it’s an aesthetically enchanting film, but plagued by two child stars who couldn’t cut the mustard. Beasts does not suffer from this malady. Ms. Wallis is, like her character, endowed with innate abilities outside the realm of most young children. But while Hushpuppy’s prodigious talents include survival and metaphysical expertise, Wallis is able to command the screen with the spunk and confidence of no other child actor I’ve seen. It’s uncanny to see the breadth of emotion present in Beasts portrayed so convincingly by someone so young. Many of the other actors, including Mr. Henry, are also untrained amateurs: Henry only found out about the project because he worked at a bakery frequented by the casting crew. While tapping into unproven talent may seem reckless, the risk paid off. Henry, a survivor of the floods following Hurricane Katrina, brings painful familiarity to the struggles faced by the protagonists; Wallis is unforgettable. One of the many masterstrokes of the film is its casting. Equally masterful are the special effects, the sets and the tastefully uplifting soundtrack. Unlike some stage-to-screen adaptations that suffer from the change in format (i.e. Carnage and War Horse), Beasts of the Southern Wild (converted from Lucy Alibar’s Juicy and Delicious) never feels like a translation. —Ted Phillips
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
—Andrew Karim
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
swans THE SEER YOUNG GOD
C Swans can be pigeonholed into any of dozens of different genres. People call them punk, post-punk, industrial, no wave, art rock, experimental rock, metal, the list goes on. I just call them Michael Gira. Formed in 1982 as frontman and guitarist Michael Gira’s brainchild, Swans has been around for 30 years and has seen many members, and Gira is the only constant. Despite a long hiatus in the late ‘90s and ‘00s, Michael Gira is back with his twelfth studio album, The Seer. He sees the album as his magnum opus, the culmination of every Swans
album before it. I see this album as Gira’s challenge to what most people consider music. There’s no consistency to the rhythms or melodies. The singing sounds more like a chorus of zombies chanting incantations than anything else. Each track is more of a collection of sounds, congregating to form a cohesive unit of noise, rather than a song in the classic sense. Clocking in at 1:59:34, The Seer takes the listener on a sonic journey through Gira’s imagination. The album is split up into eleven tracks lasting anywhere from just over a minute, to the title track, which goes for a whopping 32:14. Gira knew what he was doing. Every sound was chosen for a reason, though damned if I know. Towards that end, Gira tapped many exotic instruments not common in rock music. These include bells, accordion, clarinet, dulcimer and bagpipes. He also makes use of the human voice as percussion, panting in rhythm for the first four-and-a-half minutes of the track “Mother of the World.” The album begins with an almost classical-sounding introduction with the track “Lunacy,” giving the listener the idea that he is about to embark on an epic musical journey; which is true, if you can call the album music. The sound then degrades to Gira repeatedly chanting the phrase “Lunacy” for a few minutes until the song melds into the beginning of the next track, “Mother of the World.” This track
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the bourne legacy
DIR. TONY GILROY UNIVERSAL PICTURES
BIn this fourth installment of the Jason Bourne movie series, Tony Gilroy (screenplay writer for the first three Bourne films) tries his hand at directing as we follow the story of yet another CIA black ops agent turned fugitive as he fights for his life against his own government. The story picks up where The Bourne Ultimatum left off: Jason Bourne has left the CIA steeped in scandal, and its officials begin eliminating all of their current black ops soldiers as a crude means of damage control. Enter Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner), a member of a Treadstone-like program known as Operation Outcome that enhances the mental and physical abilities of its agents. A subaquatic shot of Cross’s prostrate silhouette that anchors the film’s opening sequence is the first in a number of Bourne parallels that permeate Gilroy’s storyline. Like Bourne, Cross’s precise blend of superhuman strength and lethal intelligence endow him with an intriguing novelty as an action hero. Like Bourne, Cross thrives in chaotic situations, delicately balancing finesse and power, all the while struggling to maintain his humanity. Combine this with the Bourne series’ characteristic breakneck cinematography through harrowing combat and chase scenes and you should be assured another smash-hit, right? Were you to walk into this movie without any prior knowledge of the first three Bourne films, you would probably respond with an emphatic “yes.” The plot, while somewhat sluggish at the beginning, is generally engaging and inventive. Rachel Weisz plays Dr. Marta Shearing, Cross’s unwitting female companion throughout his adventure, as a doe-eyed but oddly capable sidekick. Renner’s deft portrayal of Cross is another of the film’s bright spots. Still, I could not shake the feeling that I had seen it all before. By striving to craft his new lead in such a Bournesque vein, Gilroy has doomed Aaron Cross to forever tread in Bourne’s formidable footsteps. The storyline might be different, but Bourne fans will never be able to judge Cross as a stand-alone action hero. The first three Bourne movies were riddled with classic cinematic “wow” moments; these were feats that we had never imagined an action hero capable of, and we loved Bourne for it. Cross’s exploits are still riveting, but much of the originality that made the series a rampant success is lost as we begin to see the Bourne formula revealed through its repetition. The first three films achieved a rare feat in Hollywood: each built on its predecessor, and the series improved as it progressed. Whatever the motivations for expanding the Bourne universe into a fourth chapter, Gilroy’s attempts at resurrecting the story leave it feeling stale. It’s still an enjoyable action movie, but the abrupt, unsatisfying ending left me wanting for the awe that hung over me as I walked out of the first three films. While Robert Ludlum’s Bourne novels were only a tangential inspiration for Gilroy’s earlier Bourne films, I can see why he stopped at three. –Shane Loomis then builds sounds and tears them down for almost ten minutes before abruptly shifting to the interlude “The Wolf.” Gira then breaks into the album’s epic title track. “The Seer” extends for over a half an hour and is musically grueling. Gira intentionally invokes fear, using droning, slow, monotonous sounds and repeating the daunting phrase “I see it all” without changing pitch for minutes. The album continues lethargically, each song indistinguishable until the finale, “The Apostate,” which is the heaviest and most intense song on the album. It takes its time building tension until, finally, it drops an abrasive drum beat through the cacophonous noise and creates a smooth bass line in concert with the drums. Just when the song starts to fade out, blaring drums come in for another minute to close out the exciting track. It is hard for someone who has not ever listened to Swans before to fully appreciate the message Gira attempts to send. Some call this album an absolute classic; a masterpiece. Others call it garbage. Personally, I’m not sure what to think. I can respect what Gira is trying to do by pushing the boundaries of what music is and isn’t; however, I found the album a chore to listen to, and there were very few moments where I truly enjoyed it. —Ben Meiseles
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August 30, 2012
Fall Book by Katie Z THE CHR
Founded in 1976, The Regulator Bookstore is a 9th Street cultural staple that serves b oriented, The Regulator hosts some of Durham’s premier literary events and provides locals w the shelves in the next few months, Recess asked The Regulator co-owners and its longest-ser
This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz, September Pulitzer Prize-winning author Junot Diaz will be r ing his second short story collection, This Is How Yo Her, a book that centers on the multiple manifest of love amidst the rich cultural backdrop that perso Diaz’s writing. “[His writing] is so energetic. It comes such a different place than anything else that is out these days. [The book] is just right out front with p messing up their relationships with each other and bling through their desires,” says Campbell. Presen The Regulator, Diaz will also be reading from his new at Motorco Music Hall on September 20.
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Tom Campbell Co-owner of The Regulator SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Every Love Story is a Ghost Story: A Life of David Fost lace by D.T. Max, August 30 Although author David Foster Wallace’s treme magnum opus Infinite Jest was published over 15 year the novel is still one of the steadiest sellers at The R tor, says manager Wander Lorentz de Haas. Herald one of the most brilliant and gifted authors of the years, Wallace himself is still considered to be an un able mythic hero, an idea that biographer D.T. Max u in Every Love Story is a Ghost Story. With access to m Wallace’s unpublished materials, Max offers a rare, heartbreaking account of Wallace’s life before his and untimely death in 2008. “I think it’s going to d lot of interest, particularly of a certain generational says Lorentz de Haas.
CHRIS DIECKHOUS, THE CHRONICLE
Wander Lorentz de Haas Manager at The Regulator SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
The Art of Fielding: A Novel by Chad Harbach, May As an alternative to the upcoming fall releases, Joh entine chose two novels originally published in 201 were recently released in paperback editions. “The much about hype and so much about what you’re w for, but I want people to explore books that have jus out that are still good books,” says Valentine. Th The Art of Fielding, is author Chad Harbach’s debut centered around college baseball at a fictional uni strikingly similar to Duke. With an expansive netw characters, The Art of Fielding relies on baseball as metaphor for the complex relationships we hold a rules that govern them.
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
John Valentine Co-owner of The Regulator SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
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August 30, 2012
k Preview Zaborsky RONICLE
oth Durham and Duke’s growing literary community. Independently run and communitywith a diverse selection of essential classics and new releases. With a flood of new titles hitting rving employee about their most anticipated books of the fall season.
r 11 Joseph Anton by Salman Rushdie, September 18 releasou Lose tations onifies s from t there people stumted by w book
In 1989, Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini declared a fatwa against author Salman Rushdie for his “blasphemous” novel The Satanic Verses, a threat that forced Rushdie into hiding for more than nine years. In his memoir Joseph Anton (the alias he adopted while underground), Rushdie documents these years of despair and danger, a narrative that Campbell believes isn’t far from the magical fictions Rushdie usually weaves. “The story almost seems like something out of science fiction, so it may be a perfect setup for him,” says Campbell.
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ter WalNW by Zadie Smith, September 6 endous rs ago, Reguladed as last 20 ntouchupends many of , often tragic draw a level,”
More than a decade after publishing her lauded first novel, White Teeth, British author Zadie Smith is set to release NW, which takes its title from northwest London, the setting of Smith’s new novel that addresses class consciousness and economic disparity in England’s capital. “She raises essentially the same question that she raised in White Teeth, which is, ‘How much does where you grow up have to do with your success in life and how far you get in life?’,” says Lorentz de Haas. Writing with the same cultural awareness as Rushdie or Diaz, Smith offers a unique web of complex narratives and splashes of experimental flair.
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Iron House by John Hart, March 27
y1
If you’re still craving the page-turning thrill of a beach book, Valentine recommends Iron House, the fourth book by Durham native John Hart. An explosive thriller that sets murder and mystery against the lush North Carolina mountain scenery, Iron House focuses on two brothers who, after years of mistreatment at the Iron Mountain Home for Boys, must return to the orphanage that haunted their childhood and threatens their future. “I like [Iron House] because it’s familiar ground,” says Valentine. “It’s North Carolina, so the names and the places ring a bell, and it’s credible. It’s not fantastical…for people who are not from North Carolina, it’s a great way to discover North Carolina.”
hn Val11 that ere’s so waiting t come he first, t novel iversity work of an apt nd the
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radio golf
DIR. KATHRYN HUNTER-WILLIAMS DEEP DISH THEATER COMPANY
B+ It’s unlikely that Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson would have chosen The Spice Girls as preshow music for Radio Golf, the concluding play in his 10-part series The Pittsburgh Cycle. Yet Deep Dish Theater Company believed it was an appropriate introduction to his highly political play that documents the struggle of black Americans against de facto segregation and urban redevelopment. While the Chapel Hill venue did advertise their season-opening performance as a “comic drama,” the girl group’s hit “Wannabe” created a misleading atmosphere for a work that deals with gentrification and the widening socioeconomic gap between poverty-line blacks and elites. On the surface, the synopsis of Radio Golf doesn’t suggest much room for punch lines: the two-act courtroomstyle drama follows the career of savvy realtor and aspiring mayor Harmond Wilks (Mike Wiley) as he balances a commitment to his inner-city roots and his dreams of political office. His wife Mame (Hazel Edmond) and business partner/friend Roosevelt (Nilan Johnson) push him to develop a shopping mall that threatens the lowerincome, mostly black Hill District. Meanwhile, the “little man” fights back—freelance contractor Sterling Johnson (Phillip Bernard Smith) and a war vet who calls himself “Old Joe” (Warren Keyes) come down from “The Hill” hoping to protect a historic residence from the wrecking ball. In an attempt to offset the “straight man” protagonist, Old Joe, Sterling and Roosevelt are intended as comic relief and did their job brilliantly. They burst into the sitcom-style three-paneled set with Krameresque bravado; Keyes as Old Joe especially nailed his
recess one-liners. However, director Kathryn HunterWilliams exaggerates the comedic aspects of the play so much that they infringe on the narrative’s believability. Wiley’s tone as Harmond was a touch too cartoonish and his vocal pacing far too rhythmic to be taken seriously as the central character. Furthermore, the romantic connection between Harmond and Mame seemed to be treated like a formality of the script rather than the skeleton of the drama as a whole. It didn’t help that I could barely hear Edmond’s line delivery from only five rows out; Mame came across half as strongly as the powerful woman she is written to be. Questionable music choices aside, the Spice Girls weren’t the only bizarre contradiction I noticed last Sunday at the matinee showing. The location of the theater and the attending demographic were also ironic. All but four members of the audience that day were white, seeing an all-black cast. My friend and I were the only ones under sixty-five watching a play about yuppies. Moreover, the performance took place inside a high-end mall, the same kind of development project that Old Joe and Sterling criticize. Despite this, or maybe because of this, the production felt chillingly rel-
August 30, 2012
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
evant, especially considering the trend towards urban renewal in the Triangle area. Hunter-Williams’ comic drama is amusing, but lacks the sociopolitical gravity that the final installment of a monumental play series deserves. —Thomas Kavanagh Deep Dish Theater Company presents Radio Golf until September 15. Shows are Wednesday-Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday-Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $14 for students.
Time Capsule exhibit showcases Duke alum’s prescient art collection quet stringing business and holidays. “Any time a birthday or a holiday would roll around I would make everyone keenly aware that what I wanted was not some silly, predictable adolescent gift, but instead assistance with my art purchases,” Rubell wrote in the catalogue released for the show. On the phone, Rubell cited the importance of the role his parents played in inspiring him to pursue art collecting. “I hope that in time, my children will have the same passion their parents have for art, as my parents had before me,” he said. Rubell also noted the importance that Duke played in his development. He knew coming into Duke that he DAVID KORNBERG, THE CHRONICLE wanted to be an art history major, and by K.B. Gould early on in his academic career had the good fortune of THE CHRONICLE meeting France Family Professor of Art, Art History & The new exhibit on display at the Nasher Museum Visual Studies Kristine Stiles, who is a still a member of of Art is impressive for many reasons: not just for the the department. In 1990, with the help of Professor Stiles, tart lemon meringue yellow of Michael Jenkins’ Unti- Rubell exhibited his collection as a senior project at the tled (Gate) or for the humorous Richard Prince prints Duke University Museum of Art (DUMA). that ring of sexual frustration and consumerism or the When choosing pieces for his collection, Rubell showed daring Story of Jason by Keith Haring that smoothly in- astounding foresight: the exhibition contains what are now serts itself into the mind like a splinter for long after- some of the biggest names in contemporary art. This inwards, but rather the fact—probably more disturbing cludes, but is not limited to, Michael Jenkins, now a senior than Haring’s piece—that this collection was started by partner at the prestigious Sikkema Jenkins & Co. gallery a thirteen-year-old kid. in Manhattan, the aforementioned Keith Haring, who deFor its 20th anniversary re-release, Time Capsule, former- signed Rubell’s bar-mitzvah invitations, Jeff Koons, Cindy ly known as Age 13 to 21: The Contemporary Art Collection of Sherman, Jenny Holzer and Sol LeWitt. At the time of purJason Rubell, is once again on rotation at the ten schools at chase, however, many of the artists in the collection were which it originally appeared. unknown. Rubell laughs at how many people threw away Jason Rubell, a Duke alum and now one of the his Keith Haring-designed bar-mitzvah invitations, only to world’s foremost contemporary art collectors, obtained call back years later with requests for another one. his first piece of serious art when he was thirteen, and Today, Rubell collects art through the Rubell Family spent the next nine years forming the collection. To Collection, based in Miami, Florida. In his free time, he purchase the art, he used money from his tennis rac-
has been traveling to university museums that have exhibited the collection and speaking with students. In these talks, Rubell has found that students are interested in how to repeat his success. “If you are truly interested in collecting art, you have to make a sacrifice,” he said. “Try drinking one less cup of coffee a day or save the bus fare to school and ride your bike.” He also tells students to “get informed,” noting how he subscribed to Parkett magazine to learn more about trends in the art world. More importantly, however, Rubell wants students to know that art collecting is not just about value. “You don’t have to acquire anything famous. Art collecting is about finding something through your exploration that you find appealing,” he said. “If something appeals to you, and it does become famous, great, but if it doesn’t you still have that personal connection with the piece. For a relatively small amount, one can take a journey.” Time Capsule runs until January 6. In addition to the exhibit, Jason Rubell will give a talk Wednesday, September 5 at 7 p.m. at the Nasher. A free film series complementing the exhibit will also run every Thursday at 7 p.m. from September 6 to September 27.
Want more arts news? Follow us on twitter! @chronicleRecess
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Duke Performances features gospel music by Dan Fishman THE CHRONICLE
This season Duke Performances has scheduled two of the biggest names in gospel music: John P. Kee and the Mighty Clouds of Joy. Their shows mark the first steps taken by Director of Duke Performances Aaron Greenwald to bring a genre of music only rarely hosted by comparable— predominately secular—concert series. “Not many people host gospel musicians,” said Greenwald. “It’s definitely an experiment. But the quality of the music stands on its own.” Gospel music is and has always been concerned with spreading the Christian message to a wide audience, which may raise questions for non-Christian students. “Since the beginning gospel music has been about two things: edifying the saints and going outside the walls of the Church to bring the gospel to everyone,” said Duke Musicology Ph.D. and Visiting Scholar Georgiary Bledsoe. “As a result, gospel needs to be palatable, inviting and entertaining.” “Gospel music is evangelist—there’s no question about it,” Greenwald said. “But we’re not presenting it so that we can have the complicated conversation about religious music. We’re presenting it because the music is good.” Among gospel performers, Kee and the Mighty Clouds of Joy could hardly be more different. Pastor Kee—whose rapid footwork and vivacious energy have earned him the nickname “the Prince of gospel music”—infuses hip hop and R&B influences into the traditional choir sound. Mighty Clouds of Joy, on the other hand, works within the traditional quartet style, which has been around since the 19th century. “Quartet is for gospel music what Bach is for European classical music” said Braxton Shelley, a gospel singer and Reginaldo Howard Memorial Scholar who graduated from Duke in May. “Mighty Clouds of Joy is a sort of throwback, a way to pay homage to the tradition.” That doesn’t mean that Mighty Clouds of Joy haven’t
shaken things up. Their last record was produced by the same R&B producers who have produced Mary J. Blige. “They’re both trying to appeal to broad audiences,” Bledsoe said. “That’s what keeps them at the top of the charts.” Though the two artists represent the first gospel Duke Performances shows, Greenwald has long been committed to bringing talented African American musicians. Jazz, blues and soul concerts are common and each of these musical traditions has been heavily influenced by gospel music. During Jim Crow, the same musicians often played jazz and blues in the clubs on Friday evenings and gospel music on Sunday mornings. When Ray Charles was at his height, many Christians thought he was only rebranding, if not stealing from, gospel music. “Gospel is foundational in the history of music,” Bledsoe said. “Hearing it today, it’s easy to say that gospel sounds like jazz or blues. But it’s the other way around. That music sounds like gospel.” Both gospel groups will perform at the Hayti Heritage Center, a building that was once the St. Joseph AME Church and now has become a National Historic Landmark. “Hayti is both an historic and intimate space,” Greenwald said. “Presentations of sacred music in that building have been really powerful experiences.” The gospel shows further demonstrate Duke Performances’ dedication to the music and culture of Durham. Gospel has a long relationship with the Bull City. Pastor Shirley Caesar, the “First Lady of Gospel” whom Bledsoe calls “the second most famous gospel musician,” was born in Durham—as was Kee. Gospel music is the main musical outlet for Durham’s many black churches. Durham’s radio station 103.9 The Light
plays gospel on Sunday mornings. And SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE then there’s the Duke’s own gospel choir United in Praise. “There are a lot of places to go for gospel music,” Shelley said. Unlike most Duke Performances shows, the gospel performances will be interactive. One of the goals of gospel music is to engage its audience both spiritually and physically. “Students will be asked to be very openly expressive,” Bledsoe said. “The more the audience gives and participates, the more everyone will get from the experience.” “People won’t sit and wait to clap,” Shelley said. “If the music demands standing and clapping, they’ll do it. If you’ve never experienced gospel music before, gauge the way others are interacting and decide what you want to do. There’s no wrong way to react. Be open and have fun.” John P. Kee and the New Life Community Choir perform at the Hayti Heritage Center at 8 p.m. on Friday Sept. 14 and Saturday Sept. 15. The Mighty Clouds of Joy perform at the same time and place on Friday Nov. 16 and Saturday Nov. 17. Tickets for both shows are $10 for Duke and NCCU students. For the whole Duke Performances schedule check out their website (dukeperformances. duke.edu).
Coming soon To a stand near you! y a sd er e Tu emb t h p e S 4t
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August 30, 2012
Our favorite summer music SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
ruby sparks
DIR. JONATHAN DAYTON AND VALERIE FARIS FOX SEARCHLIGHT
B There’s nothing particularly groundbreaking about Ruby Sparks’ premise, but it’s still a pleasant confection of a movie with some interesting food for thought. Calvin (Paul Dano), a novelist and neurotic former teenage prodigy, is concerned that his glory days are far behind him. After his therapist (Elliott Gould) proposes a writing exercise, a literal dream girl (Zoe Kazan) named Ruby Sparks takes root in Calvin’s mind. In a strange and miraculous turn of events, Ruby manifests as a flesh-and-blood girl living in Calvin’s apartment and unaware of her origins on the page or of the strange power her “boyfriend” wields over her. When Ruby switches from idyllic fantasy to bitter reality, the film reaches its zenith and strikes a chord. Too often in film women are treated as so-called "Manic Pixie Dream Girls" (MPDGs), existing solely as a vehicle for a male character’s development, bringing smiles and quirky revelations into the life of a dreary hipster. Ruby, a Zooey Deschanel-esque redhead brimming with naivete and twee cuteness, flips this ideal on its head. Unfortunately for Calvin, Ruby doesn’t want to merely be a love interest; she wants a job and her own friends, and she feels trapped. This deeply bothers Calvin, an irritating but interesting character who spends the first half of the film looking bewildered and the second half pouting. Directed by husband and wife team Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, Ruby Sparks bears a great resemblance to their previous effort, Little Miss Sunshine. Like its predecessor, Ruby Sparks is full of quirky humor, odd characters and heart. However, the film doesn’t manage to reach the emotional heights of Little Miss Sunshine, nor does it mine laughs nearly as well. Zoe Kazan pulls double duty as both the film’s writer and the titular ingénue. A recent Yale graduate and the granddaughter of the famed screenwriter and director Elia Kazan, she puts a refreshing spin on the myth of Pygmalion and Galatea—a sculptor who brings his greatest work of art to life with the help of Aphrodite and the power of love. The dialogue is sharp and perceptive, and both Calvin and Ruby are complex and flawed characters prone to roller coaster emotions. A real life couple, Kazan and Dano both display easy chemistry and awkward charm. Dano in particular shines as Calvin, who alternates between manic highs and brooding,
Fang Island, Major Fang Island makes happy music. They make thoughtful music. They make music that’s just obscure enough to provide you with indie cred. Their latest album, Major, came out in late July and was my first exposure to the Brooklynbased trio. It’s the Fall Out Boy that I’m comfortable listening to in public. Major’s first track is like a sunny introduction to a new friend. Like the opening of M83’s Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, the album builds slowly, its angelic synth building to a full chorus. What follows is chock full of cheerful piano, satisfying crescendos and some especially delicious electric guitar. It’s punchy and summery, the kind of music I imagine driving to long into the fall. --Lauren Feilich Japandroids, Celebration Rock Japandroids’ dynamic sophomore LP Celebration Rock was the soundtrack to my summer. The British Columbia natives produce a more polished and captivating sound than found on their debut Post-Nothing, capturing the spirit of the summer from the leadoff track “The Nights of Wine and Roses.” An anthem to those endless summer nights where libations flow like water and nothing can slow your roll, the noise rock duo sets off on an electric journey of propulsive riffs, odes to past loves, ecstatic evocations of revelry and the thrills of life. The album is filled with standout tracks. The aforementioned “The Nights of Wine and Roses,” “Younger Us,” “The House That Heaven Built” and the climactic closer “Continuous Thunder” showcase the band’s increasing lyrical and instrumental confidence. They are no longer the band that was on the brink of oblivion before their explosive debut catapulted them into indie notoriety. Naturally raucous and entertaining, this record is the perfect pick for those debauched after-hours get-togethers. --Derek Saffe The Antlers, Undersea The choice adjectives commonly used for the Antlers’ albums only hint at the talent of the Brooklyn phenompossessive lows. Kazan, however, relies more on doe eyes and giggles; she’s a far more interesting writer than actress. Ruby Sparks’ hamartia is Ruby herself; while trying to exist as a deconstruction of the MPDG, she gains the most irritating qualities of that stock character. The tragedy in this is that it’s clearly the opposite of Kazan’s intention. Though deeper than Calvin might prefer her to be, Ruby is still unreal, superficial and occasionally eyeroll-inducing. Otherwise, Ruby Sparks is an incredibly enjoyable film and a promising start to Zoe Kazan’s career as a screenwriter. --Emmy Mariner
enon. Without exaggeration, each of their three LPs either drain me or send me floating. The newest release by the trio is a four-song EP Undersea, which, at only twenty-two minutes, stands much shorter than earlier works. Yet, if, as frontman Peter Silberman claimed, the group’s goal was to create a work with far more impact than its runtime betrays, they have succeeded. Undersea lacks the emotional disembowlment of Hospice and the polished simplicity of Burst Apart, but it retains and amplifies the Antler’s dreamy groove. The opening track, “Drift Dive,” croons with the recklessness that has become Silberman’s trademark, and it’s backed by glistening horns and electro-noise. Even the iciest listener will be sent on a ghostly voyage by “Endless Ladder,” my favorite track. The finished product plays like a gorgeous dream – neither lachrymose nor overblown— the kind of somnambulistic stroll that only the trio could provide. As the main character proclaims in the final track, “We’re not awake yet!” For me, the feeling is mutual. --Adarsh Dave Moonrise Kingdom Soundtrack Fans of Wes Anderson have come to expect quality soundtracks, and Moonrise Kingdom has delivered, hitting the Number 1 spot on Billboard’s classical chart this summer. At the heart of the album lies an original suite by Alexander Desplat, “The Heroic Weather-Conditions of the Universe,” which features a wide array of instruments marching past like animals into Noah’s Ark throughout the meteorological drama. A light and repetitive harp line holds suspense as the bells, strings and woodwinds saunter in before eventually giving way to the brass and bass drums of the impending tempest. In the mix, Desplat makes use of every instrument from B3-organ to ukulele, vibraphone to 16 baritone-base singers. The absence of a theremin was never so strongly felt. In addition to Desplat’s instrumental zoo, much of the album’s strength comes from its variety. The soundtrack features three deconstructive pieces that break down the components of a “big piece of music,” including the finale to Desplat’s suite. Hank Williams’ repeat appearances add a distinctive flare of country, while Françoise Hardy’s “Le Temps de l’Amour” offers the soundtrack’s only pop-rock. Yet their inclusion does more than represent their respective genres: it helps document the history of music that flows throughout the work. For those familiar with Anderson’s film, the soundtrack captures all of the American pioneering spirit, the essence of the modern retelling of Noah’s Ark and the movie’s memorable moments. For those who haven’t seen the film, the album is valuable for anyone interested in the history of music. --Mike Myers
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