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
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XXXDAY, MONTH WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY XX, 2013 20, 2013
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Meet Duke’s most senior senior Nobel prize Eighty-year-old Robert Becker is back after 60 years to finish his degree
winner, former Trustee dies from Staff Reports THE CHRONICLE
back to school, I’m not going to do anything [with my degree] except hang it on the wall,” Becker said. “But everybody has a bucket list and that was about the last thing in my bucket list before I pass on. This is the time to do it.” Becker said he wrote President Richard Brodhead a letter in May 2012 explaining his situation. Once the letter was
Former Duke Trustee Robert Richardson, a Nobel Prize winner, died Tuesday in Ithaca, N.Y. at age 75. Richardson was the Floyd Newman professor of physics at Cornell University and had previously served as Cornell’s vice provost for research. He was also a member of Duke’s Board of Trustees from 1997 to 2007 and was on the board’s executive committee from 2002 to 2007. In 1966, Richardson received Robert Richardson his Ph.D. from Duke after studying with physicist Horst Meyer for six years. Richardson shared the 1996 Nobel Prize for Physics for his work in low-temperature physics. He was the first to discover the property of superfluidity in helium-3 atoms, a breakthrough he made in 1972 after building upon his work at Duke as a graduate student. Prior to this discovery, Richardson’s experimental work included studying the quantum properties of liquids and solids at extremely low temperatures through nuclear magnetic resonance. In his early years as a Reserve Officers Training Corps undergraduate at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Richardson intended to study chemistry until finding his color blindness a barrier in reading indicator solutions. Because it
SEE BECKER ON PAGE 12
SEE RICHARDSON ON PAGE 6
SPECIAL (L) AND ELIZABETH DJINIS (R)/THE CHRONICLE
Robert Becker, seen in his U.S. Navy uniform several decades ago and in Trinity Cafe Tuesday, left Duke in 1954 to pursue a career in aviation and is now back to complete his degree. by Elizabeth Djinis THE CHRONICLE
Some students may talk about how the University has changed in the past 60 years, but Robert Becker has actually lived it. Becker, a member of the class of 2013, matriculated at Duke in 1950 and intended to graduate in 1954. However, a semester before graduation, he decided to drop out. Becker said that at the time he left
Duke, he was exhausted from the routine of schoolwork and was inspired by an internship at American Airlines the previous summer to pursue a career in aviation. Becker then served 12 years of active duty in the U.S. Army Reserve and the Navy before returning to his civilian career. Eventually, as time went on, Becker decided that he wanted to return to Duke and complete his degree. “I’m 80 years old and it’s crazy to go
Chilled water plant gets LEED Gold rating by John Barker THE CHRONICLE
Duke’s coolest building just got even cooler. The Chiller Plant, which cools water for distribution in cooling systems across West Campus, received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold certification Thursday for sustainable construction practices. It is the second building on Duke’s main campus to achieve LEED Gold—the second highest certification possible—after the East Campus Steam Plant did so in February 2011. The recognition, however, does not take into account further sustainability measures in the fa-
cility that are not considered in the LEED process. Michael Davison, who worked on the building at Flad Architects, said the team was instructed to aim for LEED Silver, but ended up shooting higher. “In order to get [to gold level], you have to look at the project holistically and see where you can design a building so that the occupants are living and working in an environment that is healthier and better suited for them,” Davison said. The massive structure sits recessed into the forests around LaSalle Street. Inside,
JOHN BARKER/THE CHRONICLE
SEE CHILLED ON PAGE 5
The plant housing Duke’s Central Chilled Water System—which cools the University—recently became a certified LEED Gold facility because of its sustainable practices, the second-best rating of any Duke building.
ONTHERECORD
Experts discuss weapons in space, Page 3
“It’s time to stop looking wistfully at the ‘Duke is for Lovers’ poster in Perkins...” —Sony Rao in ‘Why we should date.’ See column page 11
Duke Law bucks declining application numbers trend, Page 2
2 | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2013
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Law school apps increase at DSG acts on Fix My Duke, decrease nationally Campus suggestions by Carleigh Stiehm
Out of 177 surveyed law schools, only 6—including Duke—have not seen a decline in applicants. 1-2 percent increase in Duke Law applications 21.8 percent decrease in law school applications nationally.
CHRONICLE GRAPHIC BY PHOEBE LONG
Despite a national trend of declining law school applicants, Duke’s School of Law is experiencing a slight increase. by Caroline Michelman THE CHRONICLE
Amid a 21.8 percent decline nationally in law school applications this year, the School of Law has managed to keep its number of applicants steady, as its final tally is expected to be up 1 to 2 percent from last year. The number of applicants decreased at 177 law schools by at least 10 percent— Duke Law is one of the only six schools that has avoided this national trend, according to a Feb. 8 Law School Admission Council report provided to admissions officials.
This decline likely stems from increased student debt and a much more competitive legal job market. Extensive media coverage in the last year about a decline in legal employers and rising student debt has made prospective law school students cautious and can probably account for the application decline, said Bill Hoye, associate dean of admissions and student affairs. “Potential applicants are waiting for a signal of an improvement in the legal market,� Hoye said. “Those who did apply this SEE LAW ON PAGE 12
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Some DSG members are taking heed from Fix My Campus suggestions, working with administrators to implement students’ ideas. Since Duke Student Government’s Fix My Campus initiative began taking suggestions via text, email, Twitter and website submissions in early January, more than 80 ideas for campus improvement have been submitted—between four and five each week, said freshman Lavanya Sunder, chair of the Fix My Campus committee and DSG senator for services. The ideas range from laundry monitor services to encouraging local club Shooters II to accept FLEX points. The committee is in the process of seeking approval from administrators before implementing some of the ideas. Sunder said the administration has been receptive to some of the ideas suggested to Fix My Campus. One such project is installing TransLoc bus monitors in various locations around campus, said sophomore Cameron Tripp, committee member and DSG senator for facilities and environment. “While the project is only in the conceptual phase, I am optimistic,� Tripp said. Tripp added that another idea under consideration is implementing LaundryView, which would allow students to check which washing machines and dryers are available in any given campus laundry room through an online application. A program like this already exists
on Central Campus, but Tripp said he is pushing for a campus-wide version. “If successful, gone may be the days of trudging to the laundry room only to be dismayed to find that it was all for naught,� Tripp said. Sunder also said the committee is working on forming a better lost-andfound on campus, improving lighting at night on East Campus and installing a foot-washing station at the Arts Annex for dancers after a work out. “Another good suggestion we’re working on is a phone and computer charging station in Perkins [Library],� said junior Lyndsay Kerwin, Fix My Campus marketing director. “One of our favorites was singing valentines to send to other people.� Students are also able to submit suggestions through Facebook. Sunder added that Fix My Campus’ Facebook group has more than 500 members and is growing steadily. When students submit suggestions via text message, a computer program sorts and organizes them into a spreadsheet, Sunder said. The Fix My Campus committee has not yet begun to sort through the Facebook suggestions. “Committee members then look at the spreadsheet and decide which suggestions they would like to work on,� she said. “All of them are definitely not dealt with. The committee decides together what we feel is feasible and what the student body would like the most.� SEE CAMPUS ON PAGE 6
THE CHRONICLE
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2013 | 3
Through brain implants, Experts debate rats sense infrared light cost, usefulness by Tony Shan
of space weapons
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Duke scientists studying brain implants engineered rats with a sixth sense that allows them to “feel” infrared light. The team of neuroprosthetics researchers mounted an infrared camera on the head of a rat and connected it to the somatosensory cortex of the brain, which processes touch sensations from the rat’s whiskers. When the camera detected infrared light signals, the rat was able to determine the direction of the light not by sight but by touch, similar to a tickle or a deflection of the whiskers, and move towards it to get a reward. This suggests that the rat perceived a wavelength of light that would normally be impossible to detect. The results, published last week in the journal Nature Communications, show that cross-modal perception—the superimposition of one sensory channel over another—is something that can be engineered, potentially for use in human prosthetics. “It’s as if [the rats] have adopted novel foraging strategies to optimize the acquisition of this new type of information and it’s a type of information that this part of the brain isn’t used to,” said first author Eric Thomson, a postdoctoral researcher in the Nicolelis Lab, where the research was conducted. The series of experiments that led to these conclusions required first that the rats be conditioned to detect and respond to normal light signals. The rats were placed in an area
by Linda Yu THE CHRONICLE
RESEARCH FIGURE BY THE NICOLELIS LAB
Infrared signals, which the rat senses through a device attached to its brain, lead the rat to a reward. The device enables the rodent to feel infrared light. with three light sources and were taught to stick their nose into whichever one was shining in order to receive water. After the rats became proficient at this task, they were equipped with the infrared cameras, the light sources were changed to infrared light and the task was repeated. “When the rats first received infrared stimulation, they responded by scratching their face and turning their heads left and right, as if someone were touching their face,” Thomson said. But after training with the new gear and getting good at the task again, the rats started sweeping their heads back and forth to face the direction that gave the greatest signal strength. With no visual cues, the rats were able to orient themselves once again and
walk towards the source of the infrared signal. “The change in their behavior suggested that [the rats] had assimilated the information as a new modality,” said lab primary investigator Dr. Miguel Nicolelis, professor of neurobiology, biomedical engineering and psychology and neuroscience. “They were essentially feeling the infrared light... and could move towards it to collect a reward.” This study takes advantage of the intricacies of sensory systems, all of which are “labeled lines,” according to Christina Williams, professor of psychology and neuroscience. There is a set neural pathway for a particular sense that can be stimulated in any fashion, natural or engineered. Therefore, any SEE SENSE ON PAGE 6
Things got futuristic during the Alexander Hamilton Society’s third debate of the year as missiles and lasers beamed from space shot through the discussion. In the wood-paneled Alumni Lounge, history professor Alex Roland moderated a discussion on the feasibility of space weapons with Everett Dolman of the U.S. Air Force School of Advanced Air and Space Studies and Forrest Morgan of the RAND Corporation—a nonprofit global policy think tank that researches national security, among other things. Although the participants joked about Death Stars, these were not George Lucas’ space weapons.
Dolman, instead, defined a space weapon as something which is “operated in space and has the capacity to destroy a target in space or on the earth.” Framing the debate as a discussion of the moral and ethical questions brought on by such weapons, he prompted a conversation on whether such weapons would be feasible. “A global network of very precise systems capable of targeting the earth... could help the U.S. exert its force in a violent way,” Dolman said. A major application of implementing a space weapon system would be for missile defense, such as against North Korea, he noted. Current ground-based missile SEE WEAPONS ON PAGE 4
BRANDON SEMEL/THE CHRONICLE
Everett Dolman, professor at the U.S. Air Force School of Advanced Air and Space Studies (right), speaks with two other weapons experts about space weaponization.
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Supreme Court to assess political donation caps by Robert Barnes THE WASHINGTON POST
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court re-entered the controversial field of campaign finance Tuesday, agreeing to consider a Republican challenge to decades-old limits on the total amount a person can contribute to candidates, political parties and political action committees. It is the court’s first major campaign finance case since its 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which allowed unlimited corporate and union spending in elections. By extension, the decision led to the creation of super PACs, whose multimillion-dollar donations transformed funding of the 2012 presidential contest. The new case, which will be heard in the court’s term that begins in October, concerns the federal limit on the amount an individual can contribute to certain campaigns during each election cycle. For 2013-14, that would be $123,200 — a maximum of $48,600 to federal candidates and $74,600 to political parties and some political action committees. Shaun McCutcheon, an Alabama conservative activist and businessman, brought the lawsuit along with the Republican National Committee because he is seeking to contribute more than those amounts. He is not challenging the limit on the amount he can give to individual candidates, $2,600. A three-judge lower-court panel rejected McCutcheon’s contention that the aggregate limits were unconstitutionally low and overbroad. “It is not the judicial role to parse legislative judgment about what limits to impose,” the panel wrote. Those who favor limits on campaign contributions were alarmed by the Supreme Court’s decision to review the ruling. “It has become readily apparent that there are a number of justices who are willing to usurp Congress’ role as legislator when it comes to matter of campaign finance,” said Tara Malloy, senior counsel for the Campaign Legal Center.
“An aggregate contribution limit was passed in the wake of the Watergate money scandals and was upheld in the 1976 Supreme Court decision Buckley v. Valeo.” Without the limits, she said in a statement, “corruption, or at the very least the appearance of corruption, would be the rule rather than the exception in Washington.” Fred Wertheimer, a longtime campaign finance advocate and president of Democracy 21, warned of multimillion-dollar contributions to political parties if the court were to toss out the limits. But Brad Smith, chairman of the Center for Competitive Politics and an opponent of limits, said the Citizens United ruling may lead to the court’s re-examination of the Buckley v. Valeo decision, which justified contribution limits on anticorruption grounds. “The case gives the court an opportunity to clarify an important legal question: If contribution limits to individual committees and candidates prevent corruption, what additional interest justifies aggregate contributions?” Smith said in a statement. The Citizens United decision was a big boost to interest groups, weakening the ability of campaigns and parties to compete with them. There are no limits on the amount that individuals can contribute to super PACs. The challenge would restore some of the balance by removing restrictions on the political parties. It is part of a systematic challenge to campaign finance restrictions undertaken by Republicans and conservative interest groups. They have had considerable success with Chief Justice John Roberts Jr.’s court, which has been suspicious of spending limits it has found hinder political speech. But even though Republicans have brought the challenge, the Democratic Party and its political action committees also would benefit from unfettered contributions. The case is McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission.
WEAPONS from page 3 defense systems would only be able to defend a relatively small area, he said. On the other hand, just 320 satellite interceptors could engage up to a 100 missile launches across the earth, regardless of their location. “They could protect from an accidental launch—for which there’s currently no defense,” he said. Morgan agreed with Dolman that the United States needs a defense in such cases, but the two men clashed the most over the feasibility of space weapons. “We agree with 90 percent of what each other says—it’s just a matter of nuance,” Morgan said. As a former air force officer who had tackled this topic for the Department of Defense, Morgan viewed space weapons as not being practical with current technology. For instance, he noted that a full space laser system could only shoot four to six missiles, adding that the effectiveness of the lasers depended on the time of day. “The enemy would know that,” he said. Morgan also noted the cost of such a program, giving the example of an orbital kinetic strike system made up of around 30 satellites that would drop a tungsten rod on its target. “A rod from God, as they’re called,” quipped Dolman. Morgan calculated that the entire program would total around $26 billion, with the cost of each rod at about $43 million. On the other hand, a more conventional method, employing B-2 bombers, would only cost around $25,000 a bomb. Under these conditions, Morgan said the program is not feasible. “Even if we can solve these hurdles, we
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get very little capability from these weapons,” Morgan said. “We have a lot of hurdles to overcome to get to weapons that are basically impotent.” Dolman argued that cost was relative and the systems could be used as a deterrent, adding that such a system itself would send a message. Nevertheless, both men saw space weapons as the next equivalent of the space race. “The thing that is so incredible about space is that it is the high ground,” Dolman said. “The earth is a single point of entry, you have to battle your way up. It’s an unflankable high ground.” Once a nation got there, he noted, it would be difficult to challenge. “We need to keep feeding money into this research,” Morgan said. “We don’t want to be the second nation to develop these weapons.” The event was the brainchild of junior Daniel Strunk who had researched space weapons policy for a project with senior Harry Liberman—who was also present at the event. Strunk and Liberman are current and former columnists for The Chronicle, respectively. Liberman said it was enlightening to hear about the science and logistics in this subject he had studied from a more diplomatic angle. “It’s interesting to see two people who base their lives on this point of policy that is so abstract for most people,” AHS secretary sophomore Anand Raghuraman said. Roland, the moderator, noted that although he had studied the topic in depth, both speakers presented new arguments he had not heard. “This issue will be very important in the coming decades,” said senior Ryan Boone, Duke Alexander Hamilton Society president.
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CHILLED from page 1
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the roar of machinery drowns out nearly any other sound. Titanic blue refrigeration units stand in orderly rows, compressing the tens of thousands of gallons of water that come through the system every day. The plant also houses a 24/7 control room that operates steam, cooling and HVAC utilities across campus. In order to receive LEED Gold certification, a building must meet 60 out of 110 possible sustainability criteria, in areas from energy use and lighting to the materials used in construction. Duke has 25 LEED-certified buildings, including the Smart Home, which was granted LEED Platinum certification in 2008. Mechanical spaces and utility components of a building, however, are not explicitly rated for environmental impact in LEED’s system. The LEED Gold certification of the chilled water plant does not include the actual water chillers or any of the green systems used to provide cooling resources to campus. “LEED’s primary concern is for the occupants in the building, and its goal is a green living and working space for occupants,” Davison said. Darin Smith, project manager for Duke’s chilled water system, said he is troubled by this policy partly because the chilled water facilities do not explicitly get credit for the efficiency with which they chill water. Centralized chilled water systems on a campus are markedly more efficient than delocalized air conditioning and cooling system and save campus buildings a great deal of energy, Smith said. Although LEED gives points to all campus projects for having access to centralized chilled water, the specific steps taken for conservation in the chiller systems are not taken into account. “This is very aggravating for someone like me,” said Smith. “Our stuff never shows up.” Smith speculated that the 80 percent of the building not considered by the LEED certification process produced enough energy savings for the rest of Duke’s campus to conceivably earn the chilled water plant a LEED Platinum rating—the highest rank, awarded for meeting 80 or more of LEED’s 110 criteria. “The energy savings being produced by centralizing the utilities in this facility provide a tremendous benefit to campus,” Davison added. Smith said anything done above LEED standards to improve water chilling efficiency is not explicitly credited, yet plays an important role in the system’s sustainability. For example, the plant utilizes alternative water sources—like roof water—to save 40 to 50 million gallons of water each year, he noted. Water that becomes too dirty for continued use in the system—backwash—is recycled and refiltered by reverse osmosis, Smith said. “For every 1,000 gallons [of backwash] that would go down the drain, we probably save about 700,” he said. Other steps taken by the system yet not credited by LEED include the recovery of condensation that appears on the chilled water coils and water intake from a nearby stream. The plant is also beginning a longer-term project to create a seven-acre on-campus pond for storage and use of runoff collected from Duke’s campus. “At the end of the day, even though we might not get points, we still know that we’ve done the right thing,” Smith said.
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Chad Dickerson, CEO of e-commerce website Etsy, speaks with Bill Boulding, dean of the Fuqua School of Business, in Geneen Auditorium Tuesday afternoon.
6 | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2013
CAMPUS from page 2 Among the many serious ideas, there have been several odd suggestions, Sunder said—including requests to build a tall fence around East Campus, relocating Armadillo Grill to Gilbert-Addoms Down Under and implementing campus-wide dessert delivery. Kerwin said she is enjoying working with Fix My Campus and helping to improve the University by making sure every student’s ideas are heard. “Being a non-DSG member, it’s so cool to see how every single suggestion we get is
SENSE from page 3 stimulus along the visual path will result in an image that can be “seen,” and any stimulus along the somatosensory path will be “felt,” even if the stimulus did not come from the eyes or skin, respectively. There are instances, however, even in humans, in which cross-modal perception results in a mixing of senses. “There is a phenomenon called synesthesia, which is kind of a violation of labeled lines,” Williams said. “There are a few very unique people who can [involuntarily] taste colors or experience ‘green’ when they see the letter ‘A.’” This is essentially what Thomson and his colleagues have done. By taking what would normally be visual stimuli from infrared light and having it processed in the somatosensory cortex of the brain, these rats can now “feel” that wavelength of light. Furthermore, results did not seem to indicate any impairment of the somatosensory cortex’s ability to execute its original function, Nicolelis added.
RICHARDSON from page 1 was early in his career, he decided to change paths and pursue physics instead. Richardson was known to frequently visit campus and attend Duke basketball
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considered,” Kerwin said. “There are a lot more ‘yes’ than ‘no.’ Some great things are going to come of this.” Although the Fix My Campus system was initially launched Spring 2012 by junior Patrick Oathout, DSG executive vice president and a columnist for The Chronicle, Sunder took over the project, forming an eight-person committee at the beginning of this semester. The program has exceeded expectations, Oathout noted in an email Monday. Students can text their suggestions to 919-914-0697 or join the Facebook group called Fix My Campus, which is open to users within the Duke University network.
Casanova
Thomson’s study carries many implications in terms of modification for human prosthetics. Since it is now known that other parts of the brain are capable of processing visual information, people who are blind may benefit from crossmodal perception depending on the cause of their blindness as well. “Some humans are blind because their visual cortex is damaged,” said Thomson. “In those cases, we’d want our neuroprosthetics to target another cortex… maybe the [somatosensory] cortex.” Thomson’s use of infrared light has also prompted conversation about the possibility of future prosthetics that grant superhuman senses such as X-ray vision. Although he intends to continue his work using infrared, Thomson says that his choice of wavelength was indeed arbitrary and could have been any kind of electromagnetic wavelength, even X-ray. Coupling X-ray images with stimulation of the visual cortex, using the procedure from the study, could theoretically produce the colloquial “X-ray vision,” Nicolelis added. games. In 2012, the University awarded him an honorary degree. He married Betty McCarthy, also a physics graduate student at Duke, in 1962 and had two daughters, Jennifer and Pamela. Duke’s flags flew at half-staff on Tuesday in Richardson’s honor.
BRIANNA SIRACUSE/THE CHRONICLE
Georgetown University sociology professor Jose Casanova speaks about globalization, secularization and poverty in an event sponsored by the Kenan Institute for Ethics Tuesday evening.
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WEDNESDAY February 20, 2013
Phil Henderson, who died Sunday at 44, spent the last year of his life running a basketball camp he helped found in the Philippines. Read the story online.
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Chris and Doug Collins: Like father, like son by Daniel Carp THE CHRONICLE
On the surface, it appears that the only things Chris Collins currently share with his father Doug are a last name and a profession. Chris is an associate head coach at Duke, and his father is the head coach for the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers. Chris’s Blue Devils are the No. 6 team in college basketball but Doug’s 76ers sit in ninth place in the Eastern Conference with a 22-29 record. Chris has not spent a day in the NBA, but his father has played, coached and broadcasted NBA basketball for the past four decades. But when you watch them work, they share the same stature on the sidelines, the same cerebral understanding of the game and the same fiery intensity that makes the pair one of the premiere father-son coaching duos in the game of basketball. Doug practically raised his son on the court. The No. 1 pick in the 1972 NBA Draft ended up a four-time All-Star during his eight-year playing career with the 76ers. “For me, ever since I was two or three years old I’ve been in basketball gyms,” Chris said. “My greatest memories of hanging out with my dad are times being in the gym or in the locker room.” Doug was not the only member of the 76ers who frequently brought his child to work with him. Chris would often run around the locker room with a young Kobe
Bryant, Mike Bibby and former Blue Devil Mike Dunleavy Jr—together, they were a lethal starting five of NBA pedigree. But Doug was cautious to keep himself at an arm’s length from Chris’ budding basketball career. “I did not coach Chris,” Doug said. “I did not want there to be any tension between he and I that basketball could have created. I wanted it to be a joy and I wanted Chris to want me around. I didn’t want him to think
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Duke assistant Chris Collins grew up around the game near his father Doug, coach of the Philadelphia 76ers. that I was constantly critiquing him. I think it’s a mistake that a lot of fathers make.” But the pair now share more than just a profession and a last name. Thanks to Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s involvement with USA basketball, Chris and Doug both have Olympic stories to tell as well. Doug played for the 1972 Olympic team that lost to the Soviet Union in the goldmedal game in one of the most controversial contests in history. Since then, he has
served as a part of the broadcast team for the past two Olympic Games, when Chris has been on the sidelines as a part of Krzyzewski’s coaching staff for teams that took gold in Beijing and London in 2008 and 2012, respectively. The 76er head coach addressed the team in Las Vegas shortly before they departed for Beijing in 2008, sharing his own Olympic experiences in what both the elder and younger Collins said was an emotional moment for the entire squad. But no moment was more emotional for the father and son than the one that transpired in 2009, with the Collins clan out to dinner celebrating the Curt Gowdy Media Award Doug received for his work in broadcasting. Little did Doug know, Jerry Colangelo, chariman of USA basketball’s Board of Directors, had replica gold medals made up for the team’s coaches, who do not receive Olympic medals at the Games. With 25 members of his family gathered around the dinner table, Chris had an unexpected surprise for his father. “Chris stood up and it was probably the most emotional moment I’ve ever had with him,” Doug said. “He reached in his pocket and he said ‘Dad, 37 years too late, but you finally have your gold medal.’ And he put the gold medal around me. I don’t know how much better it can get than that.” SEE COLLINS ON PAGE 8
Blue Devils Hommel leads a potent Duke attack head to the 2013 ACCs by Matt Pun THE CHRONICLE
by Jackie Klauberg THE CHRONICLE
After winning just one match in the conference this season, the Duke women will look to surprise at the ACC Swimming and Diving Championships this week in Greensboro, N.C. The Duke women’s swimming and diving teams will compete at the Greensboro Aquatic Center, as will the men’s diving team. The women went 1-5 in the ACC this season, but head coach Dan Colella is confident his team will have a chance in a championship setting as opposed to a dual meet. “We’re challenged when it comes to being a program that is partially funded,” Colella said. “Competing against everybody who is fully funded [is tough]. We are challenged in terms of depth. It really stands out in the dual meets. In ACC championship competition however, we have the opportunity to compete not just against one other school. We have done this in the past where teams that might beat us in a dual meet, we end up beating them in the ACC SEE SWIMMING ON PAGE 8
Coming into the 2013 season, Duke lost three 100-point scorers to graduation. Behind senior Makenzie Hommel’s 13 total goals this season, though, the Blue Devil offense hasn’t missed a beat. Averaging 18.3 goals per game so far, No. 7 Duke (4-0) powered past Richmond and William & Mary at Koskinen Stadium this weekend with Hommel leading the way in both games. “I think Makenzie stepped up big-time this year,” defender Taylor Virden said. “She’s been an amazing leader on attack. A senior leader on attack. And I think that she’s the reason why our attack has so much momentum and composure.” With three seasons of experience, Hommel entered her final year as Duke’s active leader in goals with 48 in her career, including 25 last season. A high hamstring injury sustained last fall, however, required the attacker to rehab during winter break and caused her some difficulties in preseason training. “We actually sat down and showed her a little film of herself and said, ‘Is this really what you’re capable of doing?’” head coach Kirsten Kimel said. “And she was just like kind of moving slow, and I don’t think it was necessarily intentional. I just think it was a lapse from being out.” Through four games this season, Hommel has been at the top of her game. Last weekend, she opened the season with a hat
KEVIN SHAMIEH/THE CHRONICLE
Makenzie Hommel has stepped up to lead Duke’s attack this season with 13 goals in four games. trick, then notched two more goals in a 23-0 blowout of Presbyterian. She also has taken full ownership of her role as a leader on a young team. “She’s a really good role model for the rest of us because she’s the only senior out there,” sophomore attacker Brigid Smith said. “She directs us where to go. She helps
us if we’re having a tough day, has really good advice, and is always someone we can count on if we need a goal.” With Richmond and William & Mary on the slate last weekend, Hommel had the opportunity to play the two teams she had SEE HOMMEL ON PAGE 8
8 | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2013
THE CHRONICLE
HOMMEL from page 7
COLLINS from page 7
SWIMMING from page 7
her best performances against last year. At William & Mary, she registered six points and against Richmond she scored a hat trick as well. Against Richmond Friday though, the Blue Devil offense struggled to get going, failing to score in the first 10 minutes. Duke then scored five times in the next 10 minutes, highlighted by two from Hommel. “As a unit, we just took some time in the first half to get our groove going,” Hommel said. “We were a little bit slow but the second half, we turned around, we went hard, we dodged hard, and we were able to create looks off going hard.” The senior struck again just when the Blue Devils needed it. After the Spiders had drawn within one goal in the final five minutes of the first period, Hommel slotted her third goal of the game to give Duke some breathing room. “We were struggling to score in the first half, we just weren’t shooting well,” Kimel said. “I thought we had good looks and good takes, but I thought Makenzie did a great job of attacking from a different angle that we weren’t pressing from at any other point, so that’s actually where we gained momentum.” Although experience plays a large part in Hommel’s success thus far, the attacker credits new assistant coach Kirsten Waagbo—Duke’s all-time assists leader—for her development as a scorer. “She’s very smart. She brings a whole new experience to us,” Hommel said. “She’s helped me grow as a player in my last year, and I’m thankful for that.” Hommel finished the game against Richmond with a career-high five goals and continued her scoring run when the Blue Devils took on William & Mary Sunday. She opened the scoring just 34 seconds into the match, and after the Tribe took a two-goal lead, Hommel broke the tie midway through Duke’s 9-0 run. Then, early in the second half, William & Mary scored three in a row to cut the Blue Devil lead in half, forcing Kimel to call a timeout. Less than 15 seconds after the break, Hommel had an answer, cutting in from the right wing and scoring on a low shot. “When we prepare for teams we look for different places where we can exploit teams’ defenses,” Kimel said. “She did a great job of paying attention to those things.... I was very pleased that as a senior she stepped up in a really good, opportune moment.” Putting a stop to the Tribe’s momentum, Hommel’s goal regained control for Duke, allowing the Blue Devils to cruise to a seven-goal win and keep their undefeated record. “She comes up big when we need her,” Virden said.
As colleagues in the coaching world, Chris’s relationship with his father only continues to grow. No surprise, the pair’s neardaily conversations normally revolve around basketball. “Maybe there’s something he might see in what we’re doing at Duke, and he’s always asking me if there are things I think he might be able to do better with his team,” Chris said. “As I’ve gotten older, we’ve been able to lean on each other for advice in coaching, and that is something that has been very special to our relationship.” Despite their shared expertise, they are content not coaching together at this point in their careers. It was a possibility the pair has visited twice, when Doug was hired as head coach of the Washington Wizards in 2001 and when he took the 76ers job in 2010, but Chris declined his father’s job offers both times. Both said, however, that they would be open to the idea of coaching together down the road. But Doug would prefer it if his son were the man in charge. “I think my dream would be for Chris to become a head coach. And I don’t know if it could ever happen, because it might be too much pressure, but I would love to be his assistant,” Doug said. But for now, Chris remains a Duke assistant, working alongside a host of former Blue Devil guards in Steve Wojciechowski, Jeff Capel and Nate James. Although Chris has received interest for Division I head coaching jobs, he said Duke is where he belongs right now. Doug had some choice words when discussing the way many college basketball pundits view his son’s decision to remain a Duke assistant when he could probably be a head coach elsewhere. “Everybody thinks that Chris has an easy job, and it really nauseates me. They think that all Chris has to do is call a kid up on the phone, Duke’s interested in him— they’re going to get him. It’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard in my entire life,” Doug said. “I hear all of these people say ‘Wait until Chris Collins gets his own job and he’ll see what stuff is really like.’ This silver spoon club that they think Chris has been a part of, and the envy and the jealousy is a little much, sometimes, for me to take. Because I know how hard Chris has worked down there are Duke. And there are a lot of Duke-haters, and that’s okay. I will tell you this right now, Chris is a better coach than me.” Despite the high words of praise from a man who has coached the likes of Michael Jordan, Grant Hill and current budding stars like Jrue Holliday, Chris said he respectfully disagrees, calling his father “as good a coach in the game as there is today.” Like father, like son.
Championships… We are definitely looking to try to beat some of those teams that beat us in the dual meets.” Duke’s record hasn’t discouraged junior Christine Wixted. “For swimming, the record does not have a ton of meeting,” Wixted said. “It’s nice we got to compete against [all the ACC teams during the season, but] this is the final show. Anything can happen, it’s just the given day. You’ve got to forget our record and the numbers and take it day by day.” Duke closed out the regular season last weekend at the Cavalier Invite in Charlottesville, Va. with a number of impressive individual performances. Blue Devil Alexa Mendes clocked in a 18:21.42 to earn herself a fourth place finish in the mile. The freshman also recorded a sixth-place finish in the 100-backstroke finals with a 1:01.13. Mendes will be joined by fellow classmate divers Kendall McClenney and Jaimee Gundry in Greensboro. “The freshman class is absolutely terrific,” Blue Devil head coach Dan Colella said. “We have some great talent within that group. In a lot of sports, sometimes it takes a year or two for them to mature, but I think our freshmen are poised to be a real impact and help us in the team races. They are going to be a big part of [the ACC
Championships].” Although the championships are usually held at an ACC school’s pool, this year is different than in the past because the event is at a neutral site. “It’s great to have [the meet] in Greensboro. It’s a brand new facility,” Colella said. “We absolutely have a lot of great facilities in the conference. Greensboro’s sports group has had a rich history of hosting ACC events…. and when they built this facility, it was obvious that they would be bidding for [the ACC Swimming and Diving Championships]. I think the ACC is excited about being there.” Colella hopes that the proximity of the meet to Duke’s campus will attract Blue Devil fans to the venue in support of their hometown team. “I feel like it’s more of an equalizer now,” Wixted said. “[The meet] will be held here the next two years that I am here. A lot of parents will always be there and more Duke bodies to [compete with] Virginia and North Carolina’s fanbase.” Colella wants to see top-notch swims and dives out of his Blue Devils with bigger events on the horizon later in the season and records on the line. “We definitely have an opportunity to break a lot of team records and to have some ACC champions [in Greensboro],” Colella said. “One of our goals is to get some people qualified for the NCAA championships.”
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Does it fit the bill? Earlier this month, Duke wildly different judicial interstudents voted to pass the pretation might very well be Duke Student Government a problem. bill of rights. The bill was The instrument in which meant to create a standard, DSG chose to grant these unifying legislative bedrock rights—through a bill of for DSG that rights—is eswould crepecially miseditorial ate consistent leading. The mechanisms by which stu- rather romantic concept dents could seek redress for of a bill of rights implies rights violations without go- sweeping, universal granting to a state or federal court. ing of rights to all members However, we think the bill of a social group or polity. A creates more problems than bill of rights usually serves it resolves. Its biggest flaw as a fundamental legislative is that its applicability is ex- common denominator that tremely unclear. Sophomore takes precedent before all Nikolai Doytchinov, DSG other legislation in scope. vice president for academic However, this traditional affairs, has said that the bill conception does not match is designed to be enforce- with the scope and intention able rather than theoretical. of the DSG bill of rights, If this is true, then the open- which only applies to DSGness of the bill of rights to recognized student groups
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Well done, Patrick. I am so glad you shared your story. ... It’s time for the administration, and the student body, to pay some serious attention to this. The verbal and physical harassment toward LGBTQ (or seemingly LGBTQ) individuals on this campus is rampant and overlooked. —“bustyourdukebubble” commenting on the column “I rise in flame.”
LETTERS POLICY The Chronicle welcomes submissions in the form of letters to the editor or guest columns. Submissions must include the author’s name, signature, department or class, and for purposes of identification, phone number and local address. Letters should not exceed 325 words; contact the editorial department for information regarding guest columns. The Chronicle will not publish anonymous or form letters or letters that are promotional in nature. The Chronicle reserves the right to edit letters and guest columns for length, clarity and style and the right to withhold letters based on the discretion of the editorial page editor.
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and groups that receive Student Organization Finance Committee funding during their SOFC-funded events. The DSG bill of rights does not grant all Duke students the ability to seek redress from DSG for any incident happening anywhere and under any circumstances that may have violated their purported rights. We think it is perfectly reasonable and responsible for DSG to regulate the actions of student groups to whom it is giving funding. However, this could have been done through more targeted and specific legislation that unites already existing DSG bylaws and SOFC rules that address student rights and discrimination in a more tailored manner. But
the DSG bill of rights is not just overblown—it could also be harmful. The vagueness of the language leaves crucial questions unanswered. Junior Patrick Oathout, DSG executive vice president, gave the following example which only further illustrates this point. Last year, a student threatened to bring a case to the DSG Judiciary claiming that the policy enforced by the University Center for Activities and Events that allowed only recognized student groups to table on the Bryan Center plaza was a violation of his individual right to freedom of speech. Oathout, who is a Chronicle columnist, cited this example to show how a bill of rights would either have prevented such an in-
cident or provided a more streamlined mechanism for addressing the problem. However, not only is UCAE—which does not receive DSG funding—not under the bill’s purview, it also leaves immensely important concepts like freedom of speech open to interpretation by DSG and its judiciary. Oathout’s intentions to enunciate the rights of students are certainly admirable, but it would be better served by a list of more concrete rules that DSG and its student groups must respect in its dealings with students—and not by an expansive and easily distortable bill of rights. We the people applaud the intention behind the DSG bill of rights but not its method.
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A
bout two years ago, Mohammed Bouazizi set the head of the Arab Women Organization, which himself on fire in Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia, spark- sought to alleviate gender disparities and eliminate ing a string of democratic revolutions across cases of non-reported domestic violence. Under her the Arab world. The New York Times blew up, with husband’s presidency, various departments of governinteractive maps and graphics of ment conducted surveys in incidents political incidents in Tunisia, then of domestic violence against women in Morocco, then Egypt and Yemen and dedicated resources to respondand Bahrain and on and on. Only a ing to instances of abuse. The former hermit could have avoided the tweets president took many similarly positive and Facebook posts that soon domistances on women’s rights—polygamy nated social media. was illegal, for example. The personal The first to go, Tunisia ousted its status laws made mutual consent a president of 23 years, Zine al-Abidine necessary prerequisite to marriage, lydia thurman Ben Ali, after only three weeks in what and a judicial procedure was in place doubly a lie has since been dubbed the Jasmine for divorce proceedings. Revolution. Tunisia’s first free elecBut the relatively progressive and tions came that next October. It was an already lib- liberal treatment of women prior to the Jasmine Revoeral and progressive nation doing what it could only lution doesn’t mean a non-secular government is necbe expected to do: demand self-determination and essarily a step back. As an American, it’s easy to look equality. As an American, it’s easy to presume the as- at an Islamist political party and assume the worst, to sociation of equality and fairness with secularism in assume that any Islamist party would adopt intolergovernance, so it’s with a measure of surprise then ance for other peoples and fall toward the “extremist” that this irreligious revolution produced a distinctly end of the religious spectrum. In many instances the Islamist representative government. ruling Ennahda party and the Salafi imams presiding Prior to the revolution, Islam was carefully con- over mosques have given adequate cause for concern. strained. Ben Ali perceived one of the biggest When you consider the people of Tunisia, however, threats to his own power to be Islamist movements. you can find reassurance. Each mosque had prayer leaders appointed by the Last September, a woman brought charges of rape regime, and all Friday sermon topics had to be pre- against two policemen for the first time in Tunisian approved. When the regime and its tight-fisted con- history. In what can only be considered an attempt to trol over mosques dissolved, then, many were seized dissuade her to drop charges, she herself was subseby ultraconservative Salafi imams who proceeded quently charged with indecency and brought to court. quickly to advocate the introduction of legislation It’s clear that systemic issues within policing mechaon things like the implementation of Sharia law nisms and a culture of corruption have not left Tuniand the veiling of women. A moderate Islamist party sia with its former president. But the people of Tunisia called Ennahda, with a distinctly less rigid platform, have developed a tried and true solution in response also gained plurality in government. The new free- to these concerns. Nonviolent, articulate protests and dom to include religion in government was capital- social media campaigns rid the Tunisian people of ized on, bringing about issues and concerns that the Ben Ali, and they have now saved this 27-year-old rape nation had never previously dealt with. victim from phony charges of indecency, guaranteeOne of the concerns associated with a rise in re- ing fair treatment for her allegations. ligion in government is minority rights, particularly Riots led by ultraconservative Salafis and an atthe rights of women. Say what you will about the au- tempt to change constitutional language from genthoritarian regimes of old, but it was not terribly un- der “equality” to “complementary” gender relations common for their personal interests in maintaining aren’t the most reassuring events in Tunisian history. control to line up with the protection of their citizens. Yet, the chaos as a country determines its own values The Mubaraks and Assads and Ben Alis did their part and goals, now that it has the ability to do so, canfor containing extremism, the very fact that slowed not be expected to be easy. The people of Tunisia the United States in its rush to support the democrat- remain the inspiration they were in early 2011, and ic revolutions of 2011. They generally provided for though maybe the current mix of political parties the security of their respective nations. The ability of and ultraconservative religious leaders isn’t right these regimes to control crowds is all too evident from for the nation, the people—the women, men and their behavior during protests. And more often than children—of Tunisia are. not, feminist agendas existed due in large part to the special relationships between authoritarians and their Lydia Thurman is a Trinity sophomore. Her column wives and daughters. runs every other Wednesday. You can follow Lydia on TwitLeila Ben Ali, formerly Tunisia’s first lady, was ter @ThurmanLydia.
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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2013 | 11
commentaries
The return of depression misconceptions
Why we should date
n the wake of the Great Recession of 2008, innu- Paul Krugman make him out to be. (In fact, part of merable comparisons have been drawn between Roosevelt’s strategy in his 1932 presidential campaign the current state of affairs and the Great De- against Hoover was to paint Hoover as a reckless pression of the 1930s. Their causes, their courses of spendthrift, indicting the incumbent for his “orgy development and their outcomes have of inflation.”) But how much does this been compared and contrasted, with really prove? Isn’t it still possible, after the resultant analyses used to support all, that Hoover, Tugwell and Roosevelt all sorts of contradictory interpretaall misread the situation, and that some tions and policy prescriptions. good old modern day revisionism has One of the most popular variants set the record straight? of this Recession-Depression juxtaI suppose it’s possible, but it’s not position has been used as an indictvery likely. A quick look at Hoover’s ment of free markets and voluntary economic policies reveals him to be chris bassil individual economic action. Accordan interventionist with a firm belief human action ing to this line of analysis, the ostenin the power of the government to sibly free market policies of Herbert reverse the tides of disturbance that Hoover amplified the effects of the stock market were bubbling through the economy during his adcrash of 1929, and necessitated a decade of unprec- ministration. Indeed, as Murray Rothbard detailed edented action on the part of Franklin Roosevelt’s in “America’s Great Depression,” “If we define ‘New New Deal government in order to restore order to Deal’ as an antidepression program marked by exthe economy. Along those lines, Paul Krugman—a tensive governmental economic planning and inNobel Prize-winning economist, an editorialist for tervention—including bolstering of wage rates and The New York Times and an enthusiastic proponent prices, expansion of credit, propping up of weak of this version of history—interestingly indicted firms and increased government spending (e.g., what he sees as the current president’s “expansion- subsidies to unemployment and public works)— ary austerity” by referring to him as “Barack Her- Herbert Clark Hoover must be considered the bert Hoover Obama.” (I imagine that the president founder of the New Deal in America.” would find accusations of “laissez-faire capitalism,” Despite the many state interventions that occurred grossly misguided though they may be, a refreshing under Hoover, however, some still cling to the bechange of pace from the usual slurs of “socialism” lief that he harbored a free market fundamentalism he often finds hurled his way.) that serves as a convenient explanation for the seIf it’s true that Herbert Hoover was some sort verity of the Great Depression. The aforementioned of free market ideologue, then we would expect to Krugman, for instance, cries “austerity” on the basis find some evidence of that in the man’s speeches. of some murky numbers, dubbing Hoover’s budget Far from it, however, Hoover’s speeches reveal a po- reduction of $63 million—a mere 1.3 percent of the sition that, if anything, reads more like the antith- budget of the prior year—as the “fiscal mistake of esis of free market economics. “We might have done 1932” and arguing that Hoover was “slashing spendnothing,” he said of the 1929 crash in an August ing … at the expense … of the nation’s economic 1932 speech. “That would have been utter ruin. In- future.” As economist Robert Murphy points out, stead we met the situation with proposals to private though, Krugman’s sloppy analysis here fails to assess business and to the Congress of the most gigantic federal spending under the Hoover administration program of economic defense and counterattack as a percentage of GDP—a more accurate indicaever evolved in the history of the Republic.” Simi- tor of relative federal expenditure in an imploding larly, in a second speech just several months later, economy. In fact, deficit as a share of GDP rose each Hoover directly attacked those who had warned and every year that Hoover was in office. against intervention. “Some of the reactionary econOf course, this historically uninformed portrait omists urged that we should allow the liquidation to of Herbert Hoover as a champion of free markets take its course until it had found its own bottom. … is just one aspect of the historical ignorance emWe determined that we would not follow the advice bodied in today’s doctrine of federal interventionof the bitter-end liquidationists and see the whole ism. After all, if it were true that free markets cause body of debtors of the United States brought to recessions and powerful federal governments fix bankruptcy and the savings of our people brought them, then we would have expected the Panics of to destruction.” A free market ideologue, indeed. 1819 and 1921—which were met with little governThose who doubt Hoover’s record of interfer- ment action—to have utterly devastated the nation, ence in the economic affairs of our nation, and who and those of 1929 and 2008—which were greeted see Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal as a departure with heavy doses of federal intervention—to have from a Hoover administration inclined toward lais- quickly dissolved. History, in fact, has shown us sez-faire, are free to consult the words of Rexford quite the opposite. Tugwell, a member of FDR’s Brain Trust and one of Economies, however, are complex things, and the architects of the New Deal. “The ideas embod- no analysis as superficial as this one is sufficient to ied in the New Deal legislation were a compilation provide a definitive answer on the proper course of of those which had come to maturity under Herbert action, either in 1929 or today. It can suggest, howHoover’s aegis,” Tugwell said. “We all of us owed ever, that people like Paul Krugman take it a little much to Hoover.” Elsewhere, Tugwell confessed, easier on Herbert Hoover. In the end, they have far “We didn’t admit it at the time, but practically the more in common than Krugman’s cursory underwhole New Deal was extrapolated from programs standing of the historical record suggests. that Hoover started.” It seems as though neither the Hoover nor the Chris Bassil, Trinity ’12, is currently working in BosRoosevelt administration saw Herbert Hoover as ton, Mass. His column runs every Wednesday. You can the sort of free market ideologue that people like follow Chris on Twitter @HamsterdamEcon.
lex was a pretty cool guy. He liked watching basketball and like me, was a Heat fan. The first time we hung out, we were at a club in South Beach with some friends; everything was going well until some random guy asked me to dance with him. All I can remember now is the horrified look on Alex’s face as I turned away to walk with this guy to the dance floor. That’s when I learned the first rule about dating: Don’t leave your date to dance with someone else. sony rao To be fair, I was on a blind getting buckets date with Alex and had no since 1991 idea. My friend had sent me a message in warning that I had apparently missed. I apologized to Alex later, but I’ve tried to block it from my memory since then. The fiasco popped into my mind this weekend as my friends and I discussed dating at Duke. When you arrive at the second semester of your senior year, you sort of slide into this dating slump. Most of us fall into one of three categories: happily in a relationship that will continue after graduation, uncomfortably in a relationship that doesn’t look like it’s going to make it or resignedly giving up looking for a relationship because there are only two months left until graduation. The next item on my graduation bucket list is meant to help you avoid the last two categories: Practice dating. I’m no expert on dating. What I’ve gathered from years of romantic comedies and many awkward situations is that you may have to go through some pretty awful dates before you finally get to the good ones. But the good thing is that you can look back and laugh at those embarrassing situations. Don’t use these anecdotes on a date, though. Your date will just chuckle in concern as they realize they could be your next anecdote. At Duke, we get so wrapped up in the hookup culture that I worry our graduates will be some of the brightest people in the country, but have the social skills of a squirrel, or more specifically, a Duke squirrel. The hookup culture is great if that’s what you’re looking for at this point in your life. But if it’s merely a scapegoat to avoid mustering up the courage to ask someone out, then it can’t be beneficial for the long run. Many of us have been successful at nearly everything we’ve tried—from school to sports to parties. But when it comes to dating, even perfectionists gulp in exasperation as they realize that they will have to spend hours in conversation with someone they hardly know. Hookups may pass as acceptable during these four years, but if “How I Met Your Mother” character Barney Stinson has taught us anything, it’s that one day, we’ll want more than even “The Playbook” can give us. And I’m not quite sure yet, but it’s probably a bad idea to learn the basics of dating when you’re 28 and your mother gives you a three-month ultimatum before she looks for your future husband in India. For those of you who are in a dead-end relationship solely for the sake of having a guaranteed date every Valentine’s Day, the fear of being pushed once again into the dating world is as good a deterrent from breaking up as any. The dating world can be scary and frustrating, but it can also be fun and exciting. And although graduation is not really a good enough reason to break out of a relationship, fear of dating again is definitely not a good enough reason to stay in one. As a senior, dating feels a bit pointless because you or your close friends have dated/hooked up with seemingly everyone in your class (and apparently had horrible experiences). And there are two reasons that such an attitude is just plain wrong. First, you never know when you could fall for someone you didn’t hit it off with right away (see “When Harry Met Sally”); and second, it could be good practice for the future. It’s time to stop looking wistfully at the “Duke is for Lovers” poster in Perkins and take some steps toward maybe ending up there one day. Embrace your assets (in every meaning of that word), and get to know someone outside of the glorious walls of Shooters. Challenge accepted?
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Sony Rao is a Trinity senior. Her column runs every other Wednesday. You can follow Sony on Twitter @sony_rao.
12 | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2013
BECKER from page 1 passed to Sabrina Thomas, associate dean of Trinity College of Arts and Sciences, administrators contacted Becker, offering him the opportunity to graduate. The faculty used the requirements for graduation from the 1950s to determine the classes he still needed to take. He needed two credits to graduate with a degree in political science. Becker is now enrolled in Religion 101: “Introduction to Religious Studies” with religion professor Wesley Kort and Philosophy 150: “Logic” taught by Stephen Martin, a graduate student in philosophy. Although he initially expected students in his classes to question his age,
APPLICATIONS from page 2 year are looking for a school that is small, nimble and aggressive enough to respond to their individual needs, so they can start their legal career in a positive way.” The Law School provides the attention and resources to ensure this positive start for which prospective law students are looking. It has established programs that are intended to help students acquire the lawyering skills that are necessary to show an employer that they can add value, Hoye said. These programs include working on a full-time basis through externships, representing real clients under the supervision of a professor in clinics and participating in Winter Session, a program in which law students voluntarily return during the first week in January to take courses that are very narrowly focused on skills make that
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Becker noted that few students have tried to engage in conversation with him. He attributed this to an overall lack of communication he has noticed since his departure from Duke. Instead of engaging in conversations with their peers, students tend to spend more time with their phones and computers, Becker said. “Do [students] ask me questions? One or two did,” Becker said. “For the most part, they’re very reserved. The camaraderie isn’t there.” Nevertheless, freshman Abdul Latif, a classmate in Kort’s religion course, said he noticed Becker one day in class and had to ask him why he was there. “I asked him if he was sitting in on [the class] for a little while, then he told me his story, and I [thought], ‘This is in-
credible,’” Latif said. “It was the day after the whole Kappa Sigma ordeal in the paper, and I thought this was something really positive.” Latif noted that Becker’s story revived his own love of learning and reasons why he attends Duke. “It kind of reminds you that you’re here not because of the grades, but you’re here to learn,” Latif said. “I’m not [just] here to get a degree or to get a job.” This resonates most for Becker, who is not here to get the best grades or the highest-paying career but simply to educate himself. His wife, Patricia Becker, noted that his decision to return to the University reflects his ability to overcome barriers. “Nothing is an obstacle to him, he’s always been that way throughout life and
he’s always achieved everything he’s gone after,” she added. Robert Becker noted how grateful he is for the opportunity to come back to Duke and cross this goal off his bucket list. “You would think that one person coming back after 59 years at a university with 15,000 students a year, you’re just a number. I found I wasn’t just a number,” he said. “They welcomed me back, they were sincerely interested in me and my graduation, and I feel really special.” Becker said that despite his age, he feels perfectly capable of handling the coursework and activity required of him. “Age to me is just a state of mind. People say at your age, you should be looking for the rocking chair and the front porch. Well, I don’t have a front porch or a rocking chair,” Becker said.
employers want to see on students’ transcripts. “Overall, our applicants are seeing this place as small enrollment with all these different resources focused on developing one’s career,” Hoye noted. “Many of our applicants are drawn to Duke because they appreciate the focus we’ve maintained on helping to identify the premium jobs in the legal market.” Hoye noted that Duke Law’s programs, in addition to its recent launch of a dualdegree program that focuses on entrepreneurship, are committed to helping its students secure premium jobs in the legal market, such as highly sought after clerkships and jobs in government. Senior Hannah Schechter, who applied to Duke Law among eight other top law schools, said the school appears to have a more intimate law school experience that truly integrates its dual-degree and international programs, setting it apart from its competitors.
Schechter also noted that Duke was more generous with merit scholarships than the other schools to which she applied, highlighting the role tuition and debt has played in the national decline. “[The law school applicant decline is] something that’s been due to happen for a while,” said Schechter. “There were so many people applying for the wrong reasons, and if you’re going to spend $100,000 on a degree, you should really think twice.” Many potential applicants did think twice. In the past, many students decided to apply to law school by default if they had not determined their plans after graduating college. The increasing financial burden and fewer legal job opportunities have led to not only a smaller, but also a more focused pool of applicants, Hoye noted. “I have noticed a difference [in the applicants to Duke Law this year in comparison to previous years],” Hoye said. “The applications I’m seeing this year are from
students who have been very diligent in thinking about what they want to do in the future. They are very well informed about the legal profession, and they know they want to be lawyers.” Senior Will Hawkins, an applicant to 12 law schools, including Duke Law, said that although he knows assuming the financial burden of law school is a big risk, he has always wanted to be an attorney, and he is willing to take on the risk “in pursuit of [his] dream.” With the current tumultuous situation, the future of legal education is unclear, Hoye noted. Some schools that are experiencing lower applicant numbers may take on smaller first-year classes, or may accept students with slightly less strong academic credentials. “At Duke, we’re being just as aggressive as always to make sure our students are wellpositioned,” Hoye said. “We’re preparing our students to be successful in a changing environment.”