Nov. 9, 2012 issue of The Chronicle

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

The Chronicle

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2012

ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTH YEAR, ISSUE 55

WWW.DUKECHRONICLE.COM

Three DUHS facilities tied to scare USAID gives $10M for partnership

by Maggie Spini THE CHRONICLE

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration labeled 80 North Carolina health care facilities, including seven in Durham, as customers of the pharmacy tied to the ongoing national meningitis outbreak. Three among those listed—Durham Regional Hospital, James E. Davis Ambulatory Surgical Center and North Carolina Orthopaedic Clinic—are part of the Duke University Health System, but only North Carolina Orthopaedic Clinic used the injectable steroid, methylprednisolone acetate, that was found to be contaminated, said Karen Frush, chief patient safety officer for the Duke University Health System. No DUHS patients have reported cases of meningitis, and the steroid was only used for joint treatments at the orthopedic clinic. No spinal injections occurred, she noted. Methylprednisolone acetate is a preservative-free steroid that is injected into the lumbar spine or into joints and is used to treat pain, said Richard Drew, associate professor in infectious disease at the School of Medicine. Fungal contamination of the product in New England Compounding Center laboratories has led to 424 cases of meningitis nationwide and 10 reports of joint infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control. At least 31 people have died from the outbreak. There have been three reports of infection and one death in North Carolina. After receiving alerts about the outbreak

by Julian Spector

Three medical facilities associated with the Duke University Health System are among 80 North Carolina health care centers linked to the national meningitis outbreak. No DUHS patients have reported cases of the illness.

CHRONICLE GRAPHIC BY RITA LO

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, there are 80 health care centers in North Carolina associated with the national meningitis outbreak. Seven of the facilities are located in Durham.

SEE MENINGITIS ON PAGE 4

THE CHRONICLE

The federal government has tapped Duke to join a select team of universities to address global development issues using innovative research approaches. The U.S. Agency for International Development will fund Duke with $10 million as an inaugural member of the Higher Education Solutions Network, announced today in Washington. Duke was selected out of nearly 500 applicants after submitting a proposal to alleviate extreme poverty and health disparities. HESN funds an initial group of seven institutions of higher learning, with plans for more universities to join later on. Duke’s program focuses on global health entrepreneurship, and will fund collaborative activity with students and faculty specializing in business, global health and health care delivery. “We really do believe it is now possible to end extreme poverty and that doing so will help us as a nation to be more secure and create economic opportunities at home. We believe science, technology and innovation can be a core driver,” USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah said in a teleconference Thursday. Each of the seven schools will pursue an SEE USAID ON PAGE 3

Neuroscience blends with Asians may be affected humanities in new program by affirmative action by Anthony Hagouel THE CHRONICLE

A new neurohumanities program will foster collaboration between multiple disciplines and parts of the brain. Deborah Jenson, director of undergraduate studies for Romance studies; Michael Platt, director of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences and the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience and Lasana Harris, assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience, are co-conveners of the Neurohumanities Research Group, co-sponsored by the Franklin Humanities Institute and the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences. The group is dedicated to expanding research and scholarship in the field—which emerged in 2009—by offering both courses and study abroad programs. The new Duke Neurohumanities in Paris program will allow students and faculty to diversify their

International Comparitive Studies is not just a major, Page 2

understanding of the two fields through shared experience over the course of six weeks in Paris, Jenson said. “One goal is to broaden and diversify the content of the neuroscience major,” Jenson noted. Jenson and her colleagues hope to shed light on new means of analysis by combining the two fields. By evaluating the role of specific breakthroughs in neuroscience— such as mirror neurons, which are cells that are activated in the brain as if an observed action were being performed—Jenson hopes to not only allow for the advancement of literature through the methodologies of neuroscience, but also to improve understanding of neuroscience through the study of culture. “With mirror neurons, you are basically SEE NEURO ON PAGE 4

by Benson Tran THE CHRONICLE

Heated talk on college campuses across the nation attest to the fact that many students believe affirmative action plays a pivotal role in the college application process, and this discussion includes the uncertain role of the policy on the admission prospects of AsianAmerican college applicants. Although Asian Americans make up 5.6 percent of U.S. population, students of Asian descent comprise 21 percent of Duke’s undergraduate enrollment. The overrepresentation of the Asian population at many universities may reinforce the Asian stereotype of the “model minority,” a term used to describe an ethnic group that achieves a higher degree of success than the

ONTHERECORD

“Tuesday was a great day for weed and weddings....” —Hannah Colton in “Food policy priorities.” See column page 11

general population. Popular culture has often viewed Asians as a monolithic community of model minorities. This stereotyping has led many to argue that Asians have it harder during the college application process, some students said. Eileen Chow, visiting associate professor of Asian and Middle Eastern studies, said she supports affirmative action; however, it should be practiced intelligently and factored alongside regional and socioeconomic factors. Duke, along with other top private universities, has a holistic admissions process and considers much more than just test scores and grades. Chow said that Asian Americans at private universities SEE ASIANS ON PAGE 3

Blue Devils take on Georgia State for first game of the season, Page 3

2 | FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2012

THE CHRONICLE

ARTS AND SCIENCES COUNCIL

International studies Legalization may alter becomes full program anti-drug strategies by William booth WASHINGTON POST

EMMA LOEWE/ THE CHRONICLE

At the Arts and Sciences Council meeting Thursday, the group approved changing International Comparative Studies from a major to a program. by Margot Tuchler THE CHRONICLE

International Comparative Studies has been approved to become an official program, as opposed to just a major. The Arts & Sciences Council unanimously passed a motion to grant ICS program status at its meeting Thursday. ICS will now be able to hire faculty for the program, beginning with a visiting professor of the practice and eventually a permanent professor of the practice, in addition to other faculty members to stabilize the program, Dean of the Social Sciences Angela O’Rand said. ICS Director Frances Hasso, presented her case for the major to become a program, noting the need for a fortified staff—particularly a tenure-track faculty member within the department. She also noted the increasing relevance of transnational and global studies even outside Duke, as well as the major’s popularity since its inception nearly 40 years ago. “We are institutionally the largest undergraduate intellectual project of this

kind that’s doing global, international and transnational [studies],” Hasso said. She also noted that a name change for the program was being considered— more than 70 prospective and declared ICS majors were surveyed to get a sense of whether international studies, global studies or other options would suit the major better than ICS. The results of the survey, however, overwhelmingly favored the original name. ICS’s program status comes on the heels of structural adjustments that have been made to the major in the past few years, said Lee Baker, dean of academic affairs of Trinity College of Arts & Sciences. “ICS has made some strategic and comprehensive shifts in streamlining and thinking through the curriculum, and that has to be recognized as a part of this,” Baker said. “ICS definitely fits within the University’s priorities and the college’s SEE COUNCIL ON PAGE 5

MEXICO CITY — The decision by voters in Colorado and Washington state to legalize the recreational use of marijuana has left President-elect Enrique Pea Nieto and his team scrambling to reformulate their anti-drug strategies in light of what one senior aide said was a referendum that “changes the rules of the game.” It is too early to know what Mexico’s response to the ballot measures will be, but Pea Nieto’s top aide said the incoming administration will discuss the issue when he heads to Washington this month for meetings with President Barack Obama and congressional leaders. The decision, however, is expected to spark a broad debate in Mexico about the direction and costs of the U.S.-backed drug war here. Mexico spends billions of dollars each year confronting violent trafficking organizations that threaten the security of the country but whose main market is the United States, the largest consumer of drugs in the world. With Washington’s urging and support, Mexican soldiers roam the mountains burning clandestine plantations filled with marijuana destined for the United States. Mexico’s police and military last year seized almost as much marijuana as did U.S. agents working the Southwest border region. About 60,000 Mexicans have been killed in drug violence, and tens of thousands arrested and incarcerated. The drug violence and the state response to narcotics trafficking and organized crime has consumed the administration of outgoing President Felipe Calderon. “The legalization of marijuana forces us to think very hard about our strategy to combat criminal organizations, mainly because the largest consumer in the world has liberalized its laws,” said Manlio Fabio Beltrones, leader of Pea Nieto’s party in Mexico’s Congress. Pea Nieto’s top adviser, Luis Videgaray, said Thursday that his boss did not believe

that legalization was the answer. But Videgaray said Mexico’s drug strategies must be reviewed in light of the legalization votes. “Obviously, we can’t handle a product that is illegal in Mexico, trying to stop its transfer to the United States, when in the United States, at least in part of the United States, it now has a different status,” Videgaray told a radio station Wednesday. Videgaray added that legalization “changes the rules of the game in the relationship with the United States” in regards to anti-drug efforts. “I think more and more Mexicans will respond in a similar fashion, as we ask ourselves why are Mexican troops up in the mountains of Sinaloa and Guerrero and Durango looking for marijuana, and why are we searching for tunnels, patrolling the borders, when once this product reaches Colorado it becomes legal,” said Jorge Castaneda, a former foreign minister of Mexico and an advocate for ending what he calls an “absurd war.” Pea Nieto has pledged to work closely with the U.S. government against powerful transnational crime organizations when he takes office next month. But he has stressed that his main goal is not to confront smugglers but to reduce the sensational violence and rampant crime—such as extortion, kidnapping, theft—that have soared in Mexico during Calderon’s six years in office. Jonathan Caulkins, an expert in the drug trade and a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, said marijuana legalization in the United States could allow Pea Nieto to resist U.S. pressure to maintain a hard line against smuggling groups. Advocates for marijuana legalization in the United States and Mexico have often argued that ending the prohibition against pot would deny Mexican traffickers a key source of revenue. Analysts generally agree that about half of all the marijuana consumed in the United States comes from Mexico. If Colorado and Washington state SEE LEGALIZATION ON PAGE 5

ATTENTION FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS

Did you know you can apply to become a Robertson Scholar? Application Deadline: January 25, 2013 Learn more at www.robertsonscholars.org, or contact Nandini Kumar: kumar@robertsonscholars.org

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2012 | 3

USAID from page 1 approach to development innovation that is tailored to their particular strengths. Duke’s branch of the network, known as the Social Entrepreneurship Accelerator at Duke, will engage in social entrepreneurship with a focus on global health, to create improved models of health service delivery at low cost to disadvantaged populations, Shah said. Many Duke programs will come together to form SEAD, including faculty and students at the Fuqua School of Business Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship, Duke Medicine’s International Partnership for Innovative Healthcare Delivery and the Duke Global Health Institute, among others. Working with universities offers a creative process that would not be found in a conventional government institution, Shah said. “Often, big federal agencies don’t bring the same youthful creativity that a student group at the

ASIANS from page 1 are not held by higher standards but by different standards. “People think of it as a way of praising Asian Americans.� Chow said, “It hasn’t particularly benefited Asian Americans and instead homogenizes them.� Timothy Wong, a sophomore at the University of Texas at Austin who was waitlisted and eventually rejected by Duke, did not

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of California at Berkeley or Texas A&M University might bring to the task,� he said. The SEAD model allows Duke’s participants to bring diverse expertise to the table, said Dr. Victor Dzau, chancellor for health affairs and president and CEO of Duke University Health System. Members from CASE will aid with the business and finance aspects of a project, medical personnel will advise on its health aspects and policy experts will weigh in on what regulations it would need to follow. “By bringing these people who have great ideas on how to make care better and bringing them together with funding, it increases the chances they will be successful,� Dzau said. DGHI Director Dr. Michael Merson traveled to Washington, D.C. Thursday to meet with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, USAID leadership and other participating universities about HESN. The national program will be launched in

a ceremony Friday afternoon, which Clinton will attend. Merson said the model for the HESN resembles the relationships NASA has with many university laboratories to develop jet propulsion technology. “AID feels that to have the impact it wants to have, it needs to build partnerships with universities in developing and scaling discoveries that can make a difference,� Merson said. The details of how the participating schools will interact are still being worked out—the participants met each other for the first time Thursday, Merson said. He noted, though, that each institution will work with the agency and with each other, and that there was “no question� that there would be active communication. Duke will be working with universities across the nation, and one across the Atlantic, Shah said. MIT will focus on design and technology and UC Berkeley will develop a new discipline of development science,

combining math, science and engineering coursework with research and applied programming. Makerere University in Uganda, which has partnered with Duke on global health programs in the past, will develop online coursework and an interdisciplinary approach to tackling hunger and famine. Texas A&M will study improving agricultural productivity in conflict zones. Michigan State University will explore the impact of population growth and climate change on food production and develop new crops that are climate resistant and improve nutrition around world. The College of William and Mary will work with geospatial data to identify critical areas, such as where malaria is likely to be prevalent and where crop yields will be high or low. Shah emphasized the startup nature of the HESN mission. The USAID Development Innovation Ventures Fund already supports entrepreneurs, but it looks for existing technologies. The HESN, on the other hand, will look for inno-

vative ideas that, although they may have less certainty of success, offer the possibility of generating breakthrough technologies. The funding for the network makes up less than 2 percent of the agency’s total investment around the world, Shah noted, adding that it was worthwhile to invest a very small portion of the budget in innovation and research. Duke hopes to receive the grant by the end of the month and will start the project by early 2013 at the latest, Merson added. USAID’s choice of Duke to join the HESN signals a “notable vote of confidence� in the University’s activities in global health, said Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations. “Ultimately, they’re not giving a grant to Duke to make Duke a better place. USAID is doing this because it will advance the priorities of the agency and the country and we’re active participants in that, and in turn it will make Duke a better place,� he said.

believe his ethnicity played an important factor in his rejection. “I don’t think it’s something they really judged me on. If it came down to it, the odds wouldn’t be in my favor though,� Wong said, “There’s always that hinge that ‘He’s Asian.’ They might not be conscious of it—a little coloring in the back.� The idea that being Asian hurts an applicant’s chances fails to take into account the

implicit advantage of growing up in a culture that promotes education as the currency of success, sophomore Vijay Menon said. Sophomore Ray Li noted that affirmative action is wellintentioned, but he said he believes race should not be the sole determining factor if colleges are striving to create a diverse campus. “If an affirmative action program values diversity, it should

encompass all spectrums of diversity including socioeconomic status, religion, geographical region, sexuality, and political views,� he said. Even though he may not benefit from affirmative action, Menon said he fervently supports the policy because it helps promote diversity among university campuses. “Regardless of whether or not you believe affirmative action hurts Asian Americans, I feel

that this question is ancillary to the more relevant question of whether or not you believe diversity is critical at Duke.� Menon said. “I have been enriched by my black and Latino friends on campus, and diversity is one of the main reasons I chose Duke over [the University of California at] Berkeley.� Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Christoph Guttentag could not be reached for comment.

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NEURO from page 1 living another person’s experience,” Jenson said. “It’s as if there is an internal film that coincides with somebody else’s. You are mimetically imprinted with somebody else’s experience.” Jenson said she believes this phenomenon is one of many that can be used to improve analysis of literature. “We have been wondering how can you maximize the synergy between neuroscience faculty and humanities faculty and make it accessible to students,” Jenson said. “One thing we thought of was having a prolonged experience of taking faculty’s courses. In a six-week summer program, the faculty could be sitting in on the other side’s presentations.” Although the field of neurohumanities is new at Duke, it is not unprecedented. At “Poetry of Neuroscience,” a discussion held in March, senior Arianne Soo and another classmate recited poems they wrote based in neuroscience. “The poetry reading brought together a small but very diverse group, including undergraduates, graduates and researchers from the English and neuroscience departments, as well as psychiatrists,” Soo wrote in an email Wednesday. Soo is currently working on a

thesis in creative poetry writing, focusing primarily on understanding mental illness from both first and second person perspectives. From using poetry in order to understand and cope with illness to integrating the approaches of different disciplines for a holistic understanding of issues such as emotion, memory and consciousness, Soo said she sees great potential in the field of neurohumanities. Duke is one of the first major universities to pursue the interdisciplinary field. “I hope that Duke can play a leading role in the creating of this discipline,” Harris wrote in an email Thursday. Although he believes that the combining of the two fields will be difficult, Harris said he is optimistic about the continuation of the interdisciplinary field. Jenson said she hopes to see new scholarship in neurohumanities, and is hoping to create a DukeImmerse program abroad that would be dedicated to the subject. “Scientific research cultures are all anglofied,” Jenson said. “They are often highly developed in the United States, everything is translated from other places. Does that mean in the end, that we don’t understand really important difference in scientific cultures?’

www.dukechronicle.com

MENINGITIS from page 1 from the CDC earlier this year, Frush said she and her team called patients—approximately 200 individuals—of the orthopedic clinic who had received steroid injections produced by New England Compounding Center to inform them of the risk of meningitis. Based on FDA recommendations, patients who had not received the steroid injection but had been treated with other NECC drugs were notified via letter, and a hotline was established for patients to call who had questions or concerns. Approximately 1,200 patients received NECC products within Duke Health System, Frush said. “We don’t want to unnecessarily worry people, but we do want to use an abundance of caution,” she said. Because this particular strain of meningitis is fungal and not bacterial, it cannot be transmitted from person to person, making it a “contained outbreak,” Drew said. “This is a local situation where it was caused by contaminated solutions, and one has to realize that it is and continues to be hospital-acquired infection,” said Dr. John Perfect, chief of the division of infectious diseases. “When we’re dealing with all the hardware, we’re putting in patients, all the antibiotics we use and the resistance they build up, trying to prevent these infections is

something we have to do—day in, day out.” Finding systematic ways to treat patients who are infected in health care facilities can be problematic, and is often uncharted territory, he added. Perfect, who has worked as a clinician at Duke for 35 years, specializes in patient care for infectious disease and was involved in treating a 2002 meningitis outbreak that affected five patients at Duke, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and East Carolina University. “I felt like it was Groundhog Day when I first heard about the cases [in the current outbreak],” he said. “My focus is how to get these patients back to their normal health while trying to practice evidencebased material. Then these outbreaks come out where there’s no precedent [for treatment] because we don’t have natural histories of how these things should be managed.” How to treat such cases is an evolving issue that includes not just physicians and their patients, but also national and state regulations and guidelines, Perfect said. Disputes over drug distribution and compounding is the “raging controversy” underlying the outbreak itself, Drew said. The FDA oversees drug production, but compounding—the combining or altering of drugs— is regulated by states through pharmacy licenses. As a com-

pounding company, NECC is not allowed to manufacture drugs. Instead, it is only supposed to compound drugs on a patient-specific basis after obtaining prescriptions. But the FDA and the Massachusetts’ health department have both claimed that NECC was operating as a drug manufacturer—it shipped approximately 17,000 vials of its steroid to 23 states without procuring advance prescriptions. “[NECC] set up trust in the public, and it wasn’t safe,” Drew said. “That’s the underlying story. Not only is this horrible in terms of individual patients, but it has also brought this issue of who manufactures and compounds and who oversees them to light.” The NECC was shut down by Massachusetts health officials and there will be a U.S. Senate hearing Nov. 15 on state and federal oversight of the company. Perfect said that for now, he thinks the most pressing matter is patient care. “When all’s said and done, there’s still a lot of sick people out there,” he said. “Trying to manage that without knowing what the natural history is—it’s tricky. Trying to be consistent at a local and policy level is tricky. There are a lot of people trying to help out on this thing and just like how we respond to Katrina or Sandy, how we respond to this disaster is very important.”

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THE CHRONICLE

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2012 | 5

COUNCIL from page 2

LEGALIZATION from page 2

priorities in terms of civil and global engagement, interdisciplinary learning and undergraduate research.” Hasso fielded a question from Charlie Becker, associate chair of the economics department, who asked how ICS is distinctive from other social sciences. Hasso noted that although the field of study draws from many traditional departments—such as political science, history and cultural anthropology—it distinguishes itself because of its focus on exploring global and transnational trends. “It’s not an institutionalized field yet, but it’s getting there,” Hasso said. The council also discussed DukeImmerse—a semester-long four-course program centered on a unifying theme—and its potential for expansion. Participants in the program take four courses as a group of 12 classmates, fostering an integrated learning community and creating opportunities for research and civic engagement, said Donna Lisker, associate vice provost and associate dean of undergraduate education. Two DukeImmerse programs ran in the Spring, including “Black Freedom Struggles in the 20th Century: A Comparison of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States and the Anti-Apartheid Struggles in South Africa.” Program participants traveled to South Africa for three weeks at the end of their semester of courses on the topic. Bill Chafe, Alice Mary Baldwin professor of history and Karin Shapiro, visiting associate professor of history, spoke about and praised the program and will lead the program along with junior Marcus Benning and senior Sara Adam, who participated in the program. “Definitely, it was more than the sum of the parts,” Shapiro said of the program. “It was incredibly rewarding for Bill and me.” Of the 12 students who participated, three are currently writing honors theses, one won the Robert F. Durden Prize for undergraduate excellence in research, and several returned to South Africa over the summer to pursue research and civic engagement, Shapiro noted. “DukeImmerse was by far the best semester I’ve had at Duke,” Benning said. “It’s structured in a way that facilitates and encourages constant discussion inside and outside of the classroom. Taking four courses with the same 12 people forces us to engage on a really deep level.” Members of the council discussed the merit of the program—widely decided to be a valuable part of Duke’s emerging goals of interdisciplinarity—and its future. Incorporating study of foreign language into the program could enhance the potential for fieldwork, Benning noted. Although both pilot DukeImmerse programs were international—the other one took students to Nepal and Cairo—domestic opportunities are also an option and may be more economically sustainable, Lisker said.

manage to legalize the trade—to produce home-grown products that can compete in price and quality against illegal Mexican imports—then revenue to Mexican drug cartels would probably decrease. But not by much. U.S. experts who produced a landmark Rand Corp. study in 2010 when California voters were considering the legalization of recreational marijuana use (the measure did not pass), concluded that Mexican cartels earn no more than $2 billion moving marijuana across the Southwest border and that the groups derive 15 to 26 percent of their revenue from marijuana sales. The Rand study authors estimated that legal marijuana use in California, a state that consumes about one-seventh of all the pot smoked in the United States, would cost the cartels 2 to 4 percent of their revenue. So losing consumers in states such as Washington and Colorado that have a smaller population might not affect the cartel bottom line by much.

U.S. government estimates of drug cartel profits, however, are much higher. “Marijuana is an important part of their business, but not the most important. Most people agree it’s about 20 percent of their revenues, and so two small U.S. states legalizing marijuana won’t really impact their market share very much,” said Eric Olson, deputy director of the Mexico Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington. But Olson said the incoming Mexican president will be watching closely. “There is a sense of frustration throughout Latin America about the steep costs of confronting drug trafficking. And these votes in the United States, and the reaction to them, might signal a willingness for the countries to think outside of the box on drug policy.” Whether the loss of some marijuana revenue will reduce killings in Mexico is even more uncertain, as much of worst violence is attributed to crime rings that have branched out from drug smuggling to human trafficking, extortion, kidnapping, oil theft and DVD piracy.

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Sports

>> THE BLUE ZONE

The Chronicle

Let’s get weird Get ready for one of the weirdest seasons yet. With this upcoming year of college basketball, there’s just no other way to put it. 2010-2011 was the year of the mid-major, of VCU and Butler (again), and last season was all about Kentucky’s revamped Fab Five, but 2012-2013 lacks that same definition. Is it the year tradition returns with revitalized programs at UCLA and Indiana? Will John Calipari add another layer of cement to his recruiting legacy? Or will it be the year of “together”? The ACC is a microcosm of what’s going on nationwide—a wide-open, four-horse race at the top with even more question marks in the rest of the pack. Precocious freshmen will carry the load at North Carolina and N.C. State, an unlikely inside-out combo could bring Maryland back to national relevance, and Miami, Chris picked fifth in the conference preseason poll, just lost an exhibition to a Division II squad. It’s too early to start looking for answers, so here are the most important questions in preparation for opening night— starting with what faces Duke. 1. Is Duke basketball really “together”? Nobody uses cliched sports motivational tactics quite as well as Coach K. From the team’s introduction at Countdown to Craziness to their interactions with the media, the Blue Devils are making every effort to put last year’s chemistry problems behind them. The departure of Austin Rivers is no cure-all by any means, but it certainly makes it easier for Coach K to work his magic. 2. Will the Blue Devils play defense? I’m of the mind that Duke’s defensive problems last year were in part related to the chemistry issues. More importantly, Ken Pomeroy and other statisticians have written off 20112012 as an anomaly. In honor of Nate Silver’s presidential election performance, I’ll take their word for it. 3. Will UNC East be better than UNC West? Shabazz Muhammad, Kyle Anderson and Tony Parker make a UCLA roster already full of Tar Heel castoffs near the top of all the preseason polls. Larry Drew II will fit better in Ben Howland’s half-court offense than he did running and gunning for Roy Williams and the Wear twins are talented

Keep up to date with Duke basketball by checking out the sports blog, featuring player profiles of seniors Ryan Kelly and Mason Plumlee.

FRIDAY November 9, 2012 www.dukechroniclesports.com

GSU

DUKE

CAMERON • FRIDAY • 7 p.m. • SEASON OPENER

Duke opens season play against Georgia State

Cusack

SEE CUSACK ON PAGE 8

NICOLE SAVAGE/THE CHRONICLE

Senior Seth Curry will return to the starting line-up Friday against Georga State. He was out for the first preseason game due to a right-leg injury. by Karl Kingma THE CHRONICLE

The countdown is done. No. 8 Duke will open its 2012-2013 season at Cameron Indoor Stadium Friday night, hosting Georgia State at 7 p.m. Although the Blue Devils have won 12 straight seasonopening victories, last year’s nail-biter against Belmont remains fresh in team’s mind. Senior captain Mason Plumlee hopes that tonight’s victory will be more convincing. “Last year’s game was a big game. They took us right

down to the wire,” Plumlee said. “Hopefully it won’t come down to hitting a big three in the end. We’ll be in close games without putting ourselves in that situation against Georgia State.” Duke is projected to adjust its starting lineup in order to accommodate the return of Seth Curry from a lingering right leg injury. In addition to forwards Plumlee and Ryan Kelly, the Blue Devils will start Curry, Quinn Cook and SEE M. BASKETBALL ON PAGE 8

VOLLEYBALL

Blue Devils fall to No. 13 Florida State by Matt Pun THE CHRONICLE

After a slow start, the Blue Devils raised their level of play but could not put together a comeback against the Seminoles. Duke (14-14, 5-11 in the ACC) fell to No. 13 Florida St. (22-3, 13-2) for the second time this season, losing in straight sets Thursday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium. “It was real difficult there at the beginning with us not connecting and [not] being able to get our offense going at all,” head coach Jolene Nagel said. Due partly to communication errors, the Blue Devils fell behind 4-10 right off the bat, forcing Nagel to take an early timeout. Duke regrouped to win three of the next four points, and was kept in the match by freshman Elizabeth Campbell, who recorded a set-high six kills on a

.385 hitting percentage. “[Campbell’s] doing great,” Nagel said. “We knew that it was one area that we wanted to go to tonight against them to use our middles and to use our right side, and it was obviously working when we had a chance to do that, so she obviously did a great job of executing that.” But the Seminoles soon pulled ahead again. Ultimately dropping the set 25-16, the Blue Devils were hampered by three service errors and four attack errors. “We were just making a lot of errors, probably just serving,” Campbell said. “And… we weren’t passing that well in the first set, but I think we picked it up after that.” Duke certainly kept the next two sets much tighter. In the second set, the Blue Devils kept pace with the Seminoles, largely due to the latter’s paltry .040 hitting percentage and Duke junior Ali McCurdy’s team-high seven digs in the set.

The Blue Devils even held a 20-18 lead at one point despite registering just a .100 hitting percentage of their own. “Our passing definitely got better,” Campbell said. “And our serving got tougher so it kept putting them out of system.” Duke’s efforts came up short again, however, as it lost the set 26-24. In the third set Duke fell behind early again, dropping five of the first six points as Florida State took control of play around the net. Seniors Fatma Yildrim and Marija Milosavljevic and junior Ashley Neff combined for eight kills in the set and 24 kills in the match. “The difference with them is they have those three hitters up there all the time which is really great,” Nagel said. “So it’s a little bit harder to be able to know where to block because they’ve just got three hitters ready to go.” Behind several kills of their own—

including four from sophomore Jeme Obeime—the Blue Devils managed to build a lead of its own with as much as a four-point advantage late in the set. After calling a timeout leading just 20-18, Duke won the next two points. The Blue Devils could not hold on, however, dropping five consecutive points to conclude the set. “Our errors made the difference,” Nagel said. “We dug ourselves a pretty big hole…. Until we can really get rid of those [errors] a little bit more, it’s going to be difficult to dig ourselves out of it every time.” The Blue Devils will look to rebound against Miami Saturday in their final home game of the season. Miami is currently ranked second in the ACC. Saturday marks senior night for the squad, and will honor seniors Nailah Waterfield, Christiana Gray and Megan Hendrickson.

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2012 | 7

W. SOCCER

CROSS COUNTRY

Blue Devils earn shot Running to nationals at redemption by Sarah Elsakr THE CHRONICLE

by Tim Visutipol THE CHRONICLE

The Blue Devils will need to win six games to become national champions. Last year, Duke won five and narrowly lost to Stanford in the final. Throughout the 2011 NCAA tournament, Duke played Loyola four of its games in Md. Koskinen Stadium as a top-seeded team. vs. But this year the No. 3 third-seeded Blue Duke Devils (12-5-2) may SATURDAY, 4 p.m. only get one game at Koskinen Stadium home, against Loyola Maryland (12-5-4) Saturday at 4 p.m. “This time of year you want to be at home,” Blue Devil head coach Robbie Church said. “It’s an advantage, but there are different paths to win the national championship. We’re definitely not taking the same path as we took last year, but it doesn’t mean we can’t end up in the same place.” The Greyhounds secured their spot in the tournament for the tenth time in history by winning the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship as the thirdseeded team in the conference. Loyola Maryland has a number of skillful players and nine seniors on the roster. This blend of skill and experience is something Church recognizes as a strength of his opponents.

“[Their conference title] tells you a lot about the character and the heart of their team as well,” Church said. The Greyhounds are coached by a former Duke player, Katherine Remy Vettori, who Church has a very high level of respect for. “Their coach, Katherine, played here [and] was a good player for Bill Hempen in that time,” Church said. “She’s a wonderful young lady and has a very bright future in the game of soccer and in coaching.” Like Loyola Maryland, the Blue Devils have a wealth of experience themselves, with all starters from last year’s run to the final game still on the roster. Freshman Cassie Pecht is the only starter not to have had that experience, but as the ACC Freshman of the Year, she has done well to improve the team’s options. “[This experience] is what we’re relying on at this point,” Church said. “There were some really good things that happened during the regular season and some frustrating things…. Bailing the [ACC tournament] game against Wake Forest, a game we felt we should have won, was really heart breaking. In my twelve years here it was as tough a loss as I’ve had. There were a lot tears after that game. I think it’s important that we feel, that we keep the emotion, as we don’t want that feeling to happen again.” With Duke’s disappointing loss to Wake Forest, the Blue Devils have been out of action SEE W. SOCCER ON PAGE 8

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After an entire season spent focusing on gaining points towards qualifying for the NCAA championship meet, the Blue Devils will head to Charlotte for the NCAA Southeast Regional. Once there, the team hopes their hard work will earn them a top-four finish. In order to qualify for an automatic bid to the national meet, Duke will need to place in the top-two at the regional competition. Throughout the season, however, the men have faced off against nationally-ranked teams in hopes of gaining points toward at-large qualification. Due to their success at bigger meets such as the Pre-National competition in October, the runners will be less pressured to secure a top-two spot. Head coach Norm Ogilvie said the team should be able to accomplish their goal of racing at the national meet if they can place in any of the top-four spots. “Top-four will definitely get us in,” Ogilvie said. “If we’re fifth, other things have to happen. We’ve done all the work, we feel ready and now it’s just a matter of going out there and running.” If the Blue Devils do not reach their goal of top-four, they will have to wait to see what happens in other regions before knowing whether or not their season will continue. The Blue

Devils will earn a point for every team that they beat during previous races this season that makes it to the national championships. If things work in their favor, they might be able to secure a trip to Louisville, Ky. without a topfour finish, but Ogilvie noted that the runners will be doing everything in their power to ensure it does not come to that. For some, such as graduate student James Kostelnik and senior Mike Moverman, not performing well at the Regional meet means that Friday will be their last race as Blue Devils. That knowledge provides extra motivation for the already-driven runners, who are looking forward to today’s competition. “The entire season’s goal race is this race. It’s exciting that it’s finally here,” Moverman said. “I’m confident that I can run fast and the team can run fast, so there’s nothing to worry about. If we weren’t prepared I’d probably be nervous, but I feel like we’re prepared.” The Blue Devils have consistently proven that their team is in better shape this season than it was in the previous, but an off day at the ACC meet recently brought out their weaker side. In this meet, though, that type of disappointing performance is one they cannot afford. “If we run like we ran at the Pre-National meet… we will go,” Ogilvie said. “And if we run like we did at ACC’s, we won’t.”

8 | FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2012

M. BASKETBALL from page 6 freshman Rasheed Sulaimon in the backcourt. Sulaimon, a dynamic combo guard, does not take his responsibilities as a freshman starter lightly. “It’s very exciting. It’s a great honor given to me by [head coach Mike Krzyzewski],” Sulaimon said. “I have a big duty that I have to fulfill on the defensive end, and that’s going to get me a lot of playing time.” Despite having a clear talent disadvantage, Georgia State head coach Ron Hunter says his team is confident and excited to play, although the Panthers are trying to ingore the impending challenge. “That’s the great thing about young guys,” Hunter said. “They think we’re actually coming to play in Raleigh for an AAU game. We didn’t say we’re going to Durham to play Duke.” In order for the Panthers to have a

W. SOCCER from page 7 for what Church describes as an “unbelievable” 13 days. The Greyhounds, on the other hand, played last Sunday. While it may not be the best preparation, Church has stressed the balance between staying sharp and getting rest and admits that it has benefited some of his players emotionally and physically. “There’s a difference between resting and not being sharp,” Church said. “That’s one of the things that will concern me with our time off is how sharp we will be. We’re definitely rested, but they’ve also been really, really sharp in practice.” Duke defender Natasha Anasi said after the selection show Monday, that the Blue Devils were tired of “beating up on each other” and were excited to face another

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chance Friday night, junior point guard Devonta White will need to step up. White, who led the team last year with 12.9 points per game, is a linchpin for Georgia State on both sides of the ball. “He’s my point guard. He’s my quarterback. We get nothing done without Devonta,” Hunter said. “[White] is the key to our basketball team.” The Panthers are welcoming some new faces of their own including Virginia Tech transfer Manny Atkins, the only Georgia State player who has game experience in Cameron Indoor. Hunter hopes that Atkins, who averaged 4.9 points per game in his last year in Blacksburg, Va., will thrive in his larger role with the Panthers. “He’s going to open up at a place that he’s been before,” Hunter said. “Atkins adds experience to our fairly young team, especially as a guy who’s played at this level before.”

Hunter’s son, freshman R.J. Hunter, is also poised to contribute this year. Hunter, a three-star recruit, had several more high-profile suitors including Iowa and Wake Forest, but decided to play for his father. He has tallied 52 points, six rebounds and four assists in the Panther’s two preseason games. “[Coaching R.J.] has been great,” Hunter said. “When you coach your son, if he doesn’t do what I say, then I can take his allowance away.” Georgia State may have trouble containing the Blue Devils’ disproportionate amount of talent, but Hunter hopes that they will not be intimidated by the program’s legacy. “Don’t lose to the logo. That’s what I’ve been preaching since we’ve scheduled this game,” Hunter said. “Duke has created an incredible logo. What happens is, mid-major teams come in and lose to the logo and not necessarily the players.”

foe. Anasi will have a tough task dealing with the Greyhounds’ senior attackers— Nichole Schiro and attacking midfielder Gigi Mangione. Church said they can pose problems for the Duke defense with their combinations and creative play. Church also highlighted the abilities of the Loyola Maryland goalkeeper Didi Haracic as an issue the Blue Devils have to solve early to be able to win the game. “Their goalkeeper is very good,” Church said. “She’s kept them in a lot of games and will be tough to score on.” This could be difficult on a Duke team that has not been firing on all cylinders. The Blue Devils have only one goal in their last three conference games. “We scored a lot of goals, but we’ve got to be concerned because goals dried up a little bit here at the end of the season.

But in the NCAA tournament you’re not going to score a lot of goals,” Church said. “We weren’t as sharp in the final third. We had the ball a lot…. We had great chances to win every single match we were in and should have won three or four of those.” He added that the Blue Devils have sometimes played too many long passes from defense and need to revert back to playing shorter passes to connect play from the defense to the midfield. This would also vary the Duke attack and prevent teams from sitting back to defend the balls played to the forwards. The Blue Devils have been working on their shape and tactics for the past few weeks. Church hopes these final tweaks will give the Blue Devils an edge to defeat the Greyhounds. The winner of this matchup will advance to play the winner of Tennes-

CUSACK from page 6 enough to own the Pac-12, but there are still lots of question marks in Pasadena—including whether Muhammad will even be eligible. UNC East is short four starters from last season, but there’s a bevy of McDonald’s AllAmericans ready to replace them. My pick? East. Who knows when the NCAA will finally get around to letting Muhammad play? 4. Can Dez Wells make the ACC a fivehorse race? In a rare showing of human understanding and fairness, the NCAA granted Dez Wells’ appeal to play immediately at Maryland. Granted, the decision came on the same day that two Indiana freshmen were suspended for taking “benefits” from their legal guardian, but baby steps I guess. Wells will pair up with immensely talented post player Alex Len to form one of the conference’s best duos. The Terrapins’ fate will rest in how the rest of the team responds. see and Miami of Ohio in Charlottesville, Va. should Virginia, the region’s second seeded team, advance. “When we’re dominating teams, we’ve got to score goals off that domination,” Church said. “We’ve got to get those energy goals—that’s the only thing that’s missing from this year’s group. We’ve got to be able to finish our opportunities and break [our opponent’s] spirits.”

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PARKER KITTERMAN Sunday, November 11, 2012 5:00 p.m. Duke Chapel Free admission Parker Kitterman is the Director of Music and Organist at historic Christ Church in Philadelphia. After graduating from Duke University with a degree in Music and English (Trinity ‘01), he was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study in Belgium. He was also a finalist in the Tokyo and Toulouse international organ playing competitions. Kitterman returns to Duke as part of the “Alumni Series” in a recital on the Flentrop organ.

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Discuss affirmative action productively The recent uproar over af- for the most deserving applifirmative action exposes the cants. Admissions at Duke—as need to rethink how we talk at most universities—evaluates about race and ethnicity in candidates based on what they college admissions. promise to contribute to the Critics of affirmative ac- university, not their worthition have ness. If we unmany strong derstand this, editorial arguments at we can abantheir disposal. But when they don dangerous conversations choose primarily to argue that about whether or not an indibeneficiaries of the policy are vidual’s skin color makes her undeserving of admission, more deserving of a college they unfairly target individu- education. In its place, we can als and inhibit civil dialogue. substitute a more productive Indicting the beneficiaries of discussion about whether and affirmative action implicates to what extent a student’s race students who have no control or ethnicity contributes to the over the admissions process, set of unique experiences he incites backlash and obscures or she brings to the university. the compendium of rational Sometimes, anti-affirmaarguments critics can deploy. tive action arguments draw Moreover, this rhetoric in- unintentionally from racist correctly frames college admis- mythologies that characterize sions as a process that selects racial and ethnic minorities

“

Duke is working to balance educational disparity, which affects social factors such as socioeconomic status and health outcomes. So until someone thinks of a better solution than affirmative action, then this policy is here to stay. —“AS” commenting on the letter “Response to ‘Rethink affirmative action’” See more at www.dukechronicle.com.

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as lazy. Individuals whose language evinces racist narratives are not necessarily racist. On the contrary, most critics of affirmative action actively support racial equality. However, because opposition to affirmative action is bound up with a tradition of racism, individuals who argue against it must interrogate their assumptions and exercise particular caution to craft well-reasoned arguments against specific policies. Both sides must deploy language carefully, and proponents of affirmative action have as much responsibility as critics to challenge their assumptions and avoid personal attacks. Often, when people either feel singled out by an argument or sense racist traditions lying beneath its surface, they react quickly and emo-

tionally. Emotions can cloud judgment, and proponents of affirmative action exacerbate conflict when they trade reason for vitriol and succumb to knee-jerk reactions against perceived racism. Acerbic ad hominem attacks, especially those that denounce opponents as racist, unjustly persecute individuals for speaking their mind, ignore legitimate arguments made by critics and drown out healthy discussions that might yield a better understanding of how different people think about the issue. Productive conversations about affirmative action encourage people to examine and evaluate its justifications. Typically, these justifications invoke the need to either promote diversity or correct for structural inequalities. Debat-

ing the diversity argument requires considering what diversity means and how race and ethnicity contribute to a diverse student body. Debating arguments about structural inequality necessitate thorough examinations of social structures and their differential effects on racial and ethnic groups. Affirmative action emerged during a time when racial minorities faced clear barriers to educational and professional advancement. Today, our task is to determine whether or not those barriers still exist and affirmative action remains necessary. Affirmative action debates always risk igniting conflict. But, if we focus on policy and not people, our conversations promise to become more productive.

A piece of dental floss

onlinecomment

Est. 1905

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A

piece of dental floss dangles from my bath- selves aloud that it was out of apathy and improper room counter, a congealed glob of Colgate research that I had not picked a side. Some thought Total toothpaste to its left, a Crest lump to its that I wanted to rustle elephant and donkey feathright. I think about this floss precariously there—a ers—that I was hesitating to frustrate my partisan little flavored stretch of nylon quietly friends. I was told that a vote for Mitt littering the warped Central Campus Romney meant I didn’t respect my sink. It’s not on the counter, no. But womanhood or my friends who are not falling off just yet either. gay. That a vote for Barack Obama I see a lot of wisdom in this floss, meant killing the American dream, in this maybe mundane string of a an America evermore entrenched in thing. It warmly reminds me of my government. father who every night sits in bed I will say that I did vote, with an reclined, legs folded, and flosses his absentee Florida ballot no less. I will gracie willert teeth. Pick pock, pick pock. say that I care deeply about this counread me maybe The suspended floss reminds try and where we are headed. I do me that there is some adventure love my friends who are gay and care and beauty in the middle road, in the space fixed about their rights. Maine and Maryland, I salute you. between two points. It hangs there, noncommittal. I worry about the economy and bipartisan gridlock. I Some people in my shoes might chuckle and think have only the utmost reverence for my womanhood. “how funny that it hangs just so!” Others may be an- Most of all, I stand by my uncertainty. noyed that it has not yet made its way into the trash Through this uncomfortable straddling of sides, I bin. But I am engrossed. For even if the wind or a have become fascinated with the passions that divide hand came to snatch it, this floss has known both us. I was fascinated and uneasy, caught between the sides. It has seen the water-splashed sink and the congealing lumps. The Colgate and Crest—the left speckled linoleum floor. It has a view of the tooth- and the right. paste globs as they dry up—the left and the right. It Aside from a few migraines and plenty of sighs, wavers. On the counter. On the fence. politics this year has given me an opportunity to Today is my 21st birthday. And admittedly, I have reevaluate how we decide. What causes so many to never made fence-sitting a habit. Even as a little girl, be drawn to either glob of toothpaste, leaving me I would march into Gap Kids, grab a sunhat and flo- in between? ral dress and tell Momma that it was the only outfit No definitive answers yet. I am appropriately unthat would do. And at Duke, as I enter my 20s, I re- decided. main decisive. I make up my mind as one might a I have found a few things, though. I have found bed—quickly and without afterthought. that I rather like the middle road. I think I’ll linger This autumn, though, I have found myself where here a while longer. I find it to be a forum for the the floss is now, the unsettling no man’s land of mid- most candid and impassioned pitches of opinion. I dle ground. I am too apolitical to be independent. I now pledge allegiance to choosing sides only after am too torn to be sure. good hesitation. I rather like to dangle. Here I am I have wavered, watching the world whirl by as mud still on the bathroom countertop, as the world whirls was slung and passions were poured. How-could-you’s around me and the toothpaste congeals. Tick tock. and empty promises, heartfelt pleas and ignorant Pick pock. slurs all careening toward me as Nov. 6 drew near. I gathered quickly that my hesitation posed a Gracie Willert is a Trinity junior. Her column runs evthreat to some decided voters. Some reassured them- ery other Friday.

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Executive responsibility

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commentaries

ll political parties should place The Maldives’ per capita carbon dioxclimate change at the top of ide emission is far lower than the world their agenda. average, and the country aims to be Yes, Obama has won. As an environ- carbon neutral in the next decade. Yet, mentalist, I’m grateful for considering the effects of that. But with a conservaclimate change on rising tive House, the need for sea levels, it is all too posall-partisan recognition of sible that the actions of climate change is undeniothers who do emit masable. Spoiler Alert: Clisive amounts of carbon mate change and change dioxide are depriving of fossil fuel use directly Maldivians of their fundathreaten each party’s funright to property. lucas spangher mental damental ideology. And things are not much natureLOL First, the Republicans. better closer to home. The Republican favors Water scarcity threatens small government and smaller-scale the viability of many major cities in the regulation in business practices. How- U.S., including Las Vegas, Orlando, Los ever, the repercussions associated with Angeles, Houston, Tuscon and Atlanta. climate change would place the Ameri- Some Alaskan villages have moved miles can government in a position such that inland to escape rising waters. Furtherit cannot limit the scope of government more, strictly in terms of economic or industrial regulation. Many agricul- policies, the status quo for fossil fuel turally productive areas of the U.S. will use includes immense subsidies for the be affected by climate change, causing fossil fuel industry. This manifests itself dramatic increases in food prices. In- it multiple ways: direct subsidies to the creased storms will put vulnerable U.S. industry, the leasing of federal land for cities, like New York, at increased risk drilling, foreign tax credit and, most of needing federal disaster relief. The importantly, the free externalization of projected 1.6 percent drop in world carbon dioxide emitted. From 2002-08, GDP will threaten American jobs. All subsidies to fossil fuels are estimated to this means increased instability in the have totaled $72 billion, almost three U.S., which might actually increase the times the $29 billion given to renewneed for a more centralized govern- able energy. The libertarian should ment. This is analogous to the effect of be directly against this governmental economic sanctions, such to the ones choice of the victor. most recently employed in Iran. Thus, Finally, consider the Democrats. I climate change would be directly con- find it fairly obvious why the Demotrary to a Republican’s interests. crats should oppose climate change: More examples abound. Several Democrats support poorer classes and peer-reviewed models indicate that cli- increasing social services; Democrats mate change will significantly threaten generally acknowledge the need for food security worldwide. The U.N.’s regulation; Democrats generally apFood & Agriculture Organization pro- preciate science, etc. So I don’t need jected a decrease in agricultural pro- to explain why they should care, but ductivity by 20 to 40 percent in some ar- despite this incentive, consider what eas due to the effects of climate change. they have yet to do for climate change. An estimated 150 million people will Obama has simply not pushed climate be climate change refugees by 2050, policy during his four years and has dramatically increasing the pressure on consistently abandoned efforts to limit U.S. borders. The Republican platform, greenhouse gas emissions. Al Gore said which holds a tough stance on immigra- Obama has done little more than Bush tion, should be troubled. And along the to move the country forward on the clilines of national security, the CIA itself mate issue. Notably, Obama didn’t call ranks climate change as one of the lead- Romney out on it during the debates. ing threats to America. It cites numer- This year’s debates were the first deous reasons: sea-level rise threatening bates since 1988 during which climate naval installments, instability in poor change was not mentioned. In fact, at regions increasing the risk of terror- times, it seemed as though the two canism and increased risk to international didates were competing over who loved trade. Each of these directly opposes fossil fuel more. the Republican platform. To be fair, Obama has done some So why support fossil fuels? “Jobs” good. He created significant renewable is most often the response. But it’s not energy tax credits, recently supported even clear why this is the case. Yes, fos- a bill to remove oil industry subsidies sil fuels create jobs, but only tempo- and appointed pro-environmental figrarily. Coalfield economies are among ures to important positions (e.g. Steve the weakest types of economies; the in- Chu, Lisa Jackson, John Holdren). But dustry is continually mechanizing and climate change needs to take front and eliminating opportunities for workers. center. A damaged environment negaWest Virginia makes a somewhat tragic tively affects almost every other issue case study. Despite the fact that West that the administration pushes (econVirginia coal production has remained omy, healthcare, etc.). For a problem roughly the same from 1950 to 2010, that will cease to be reversible after coal mine employment has decreased 2017, according to the International by more than 85 percent. If nothing Energy Agency, we need to increase foelse, the Republicans should be against cus on this, not decrease it. And so, in an industry that actively cuts jobs! the wake of this most recent election, I For the libertarian, the consider- hope that our new president will honor ations aren’t very different. The legal his party’s values (and other parties’ allowance of climate change is direct- values) and bring climate change to ly contrary to the concept of private the forefront. property. For instance, consider the Maldives. No point on the island is Lucas Spangher is a Trinity junior. His more than one meter above sea level. column runs every other Friday.

Food policy priorities

T

uesday was a great day for weed meat production are immediate, serious and weddings. Yet while Colorado and well-documented. We’ve seen a rise and Washington serenely celebrate, in American obesity: Corn-fed beef is sigWest Coast environmentalists and food nificantly higher in saturated fat than activists are up in arms over the defeat of grass-fed. We see an alarming increase in California’s Proposition 37. antibiotic-resistant microbes. The heavy Slightly less sexy than marijuana laws use of bovine growth hormones has been but just as controversial, this ballot initiative linked to increased risk of some types of would have required labelcancer in milk consumers. ing of genetically modified Lagoons of concentrated food. Genetically modified manure cause water and air (GM) organisms are mainly pollution. These risks also altered to withstand the use exist in industrial producof herbicides and pesticides, tion of pork and poultry. or even to produce a pestiWhat could be more uncide. GM strains of crops natural than stuffing a cow such as soybeans, corn, pohannah colton full of corn, or making a tatoes, tomatoes and canola chicken grow so fast that its gross national have been approved by the legs cannot support its body happiness FDA for U.S. markets since weight? I have a hard time the 1990s. understanding why anyone In a previous column, I argued for would have a visceral reaction to genetimore transparent, standardized food la- cally modified soybeans, but continue to beling. However, standardization does not consume factory farmed meats. necessarily imply transparency. Labeling We must holistically challenge what is GMOs per Prop 37 may do more to con- viewed as acceptable in our food system. fuse and alarm consumers than to truly GMOs should not be demonized based educate them. on relative ideas of what is “natural,” but In national polls as well as media hype, judged based on their observed merits. it has become clear that many American The current situation is that no scienconsumers are concerned about the un- tifically rigorous peer-reviewed study has known effects of GM foods. What is the linked GMOs with detrimental health basis for this concern? The World Health effects in animals or humans. In a press Organization explains, “Generally con- release last month, the American Associasumers consider that traditional foods tion for the Advancement of Science stat(that have often been eaten for thousands ed that in a dozen long-term studies, GM of years) are safe.” These so-called tradi- and non-GM counterparts were shown to tional foods, then, are not generally as- be nutritionally equivalent. If we’re worsessed for safety, whereas consumers feel ried about developing pesticide resistance, that GM foods should be. But just where consider that the rise in GMOs is a sympis the line between “traditional” foods and tom, not a primary cause, of widespread scary Frankenfoods? pesticide use in agriculture. Additionally, Some argue that GMOs are unnatural, GM technology offers promising solutions that they don’t grow the way nature in- to malnutrition in developing countries, tended. Well, neither do organisms in con- particularly with vitamin-fortified staple ventional agriculture. Humans have been crops such as Golden Rice. modifying food crops through artificial Like those who oppose GM foods, I am selection for certain traits for thousands of very concerned about the mixed messages years. It is impossible to construct a mean- we get from Monsanto and other agribusiingful definition of “natural” that applies ness giants. I don’t dispute the importance to any product of agriculture. of transparency; I would love for our govThose who recoil from GMOs might ernment to mandate honest food labels. also keep in mind the many other ways we But slapping a label on GMOs without dramatically alter food that don’t involve an effort to objectively educate the public gene splicing. Take, for example, cows. may only encourage unwarranted reacAround 99 percent of the meat you find tions and unnecessary regulatory costs. in restaurants and supermarkets in AmerI was glad to see Proposition 37 on ica comes from factory farms, otherwise the ballot in California. If nothing else, known as Concentrated Animal Feeding it brought national attention to the food Operations (CAFOs). CAFOs are designed movement, both to commend its goals to make animals get fat as quickly as possi- and to point out its inconsistencies. I agree ble, at the lowest cost possible. To achieve with the Los Angeles Times’ assessment this high growth rate, cows are fed a deli- concerning the failure of Prop 37: “What’s cious mixture of mystery meat, hormones needed is a consistent, rational food poliand a lot of corn. Because cows’ digestive cy, not a piecemeal approach based on insystems are designed to process grasses, di- dividual groups’ pet concerns.” If Califorgesting corn makes them constantly sick. nia, or any of us, is serious about knowing To correct this, feedlots administer huge what’s in our food, we should start with the amounts of antibiotics to keep the cows low-hanging fruits of the food system— alive until they reach slaughtering weight. risks that are well-founded in scientific The animal becomes nothing more than evidence. a protein-creating machine—and we have learned to tweak that machine to our deHannah Colton is a Trinity senior. Her colsired level of efficiency. umn runs every other Friday. You can follow The risks associated with this industrial Hannah on Twitter @ColtonHannah.

adil khan guest column

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adil khan guest column

“My vote wasn’t wasted” by Adil Khan Read at dukechronicle.com/opinion