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DSG PROPOSES THE 25 PERCENT COMPROMISE

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Grad YT pick a Duke comments on Obama’s latest task force “gentlewoman’s agreement” by Patricia Spears THE CHRONICLE

The Graduate and Professional Student Council has heavy influence over the election of the graduate Young Trustee. The three finalists—Shannon O’Connor, Amol Yadav and William Hunt—were selected from approximately 30 applicants by a committee consisting of seven members, six of which, including the chair, serve on GPSC. All three of the finalists have extensive experience with GPSC. O’Connor—a fifth-year Ph.D./MD candidate in biomedical engineering—is the current GPSC vice president. Yadav—a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in biomedical engineering—is currently the president of GPSC. Hunt—a sixth-year Ph.D. candidate in English—is a current GPSC English representative and served as the chair of the Young Trustee Selection Committee three years ago before serving consecutive terms as the vice president and then president of GSPC. During the Feb. 18 election, only members of the GPSC General Assembly will be permitted to vote. Hunt compared closed voting to the Electoral College. “It’s not perfect but what electoral system is?” Hunt said, noting that he saw no need to change the current election system. O’Connor noted that limiting voters to elected representatives makes for a more informed election. Having elected representatives voting lessens the chance of a large school dominating the position, Hunt added. “Even if your school is very small…your school has a vote,” he said. Yadav, however, said he was in favor of more open elections. “Personally, I think the Young Trustee should be selected like the undergrad Young Trustee is selected,” he said. The undergraduate Young Trustee is selected through an election that is open to the entire undergraduate student body. See GRAD YT, page 4

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ILLUSTRATION BY RITA LO/THE CHRONICLE

by Katie Becker THE CHRONICLE

A semester after Duke changed its sexual misconduct policy, administrators welcomed the announcement of a national task force examining sexual assault on college campuses. One month after pushing the Pentagon to stop sexual assault in the military,

President Barack Obama is tackling rape on college campuses. On Jan. 25, President Obama announced his creation of the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault to address the prevalence of sexual assault among college students. “College should be a place where our young people feel secure and confident, so

they can go as far as their talents will take them,” Obama said at a news conference. “Some of this is a job for government. But really, it’s up to all of us.” Inspired by a report by the White House Council on Women and Girls, the new task force consists of the attorney general, the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of See OBAMA, page 3

Rickards’ legacy lives on through ‘Loyal Readers’ by Danielle Muoio THE CHRONICLE

More than two years ago, Ed Rickards said he would continue blogging about Duke until he was no longer able. “That’s right, until I croak,” he told The Chronicle in 2011. “Something they can look forward to.” Three weeks after his final blog post on Jan. 16, Rickards—more commonly known as Fact Checker or Duke Check—died due to renal failure at age 72. He lived in Monroe Township, N.J.

Rickards is best known on campus by his popular blog, which comments on Duke’s affairs and administrators. Although admired by many faculty members for his ability to draw attention to controversial University topics, Rickards, Trinity ‘63 and Law ‘66 and a former Chronicle editor-in-chief, ruffled some feathers in his quest to get to the bottom of stories. “I’ve always thought that he really was quite selfless about this. He had no personal gain to expect from his efforts, and his efforts were considerable, and anyone who

read the blog with any care could tell that,” said Thomas Pfau, Alice Mary Baldwin Professor of English, who regularly read Rickards’ blog. Although Rickards was engaged in Duke affairs through his blog, he had a varied and exciting life outside of the University. After leaving Duke, Rickards worked at CBS, NBC, ABC and the Associated Press, and was later a part-time consultant. Blog posts were often centered on the See DUKECHECK, page 4

2 | ThursDAY, FEBruArY 6, 2014

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DSG senators propose compromise to 40 Percent Plan by Hayley Trainer THE CHRONICLE

The Duke Student Government presented an alternative to the 40 Percent Plan for allocating student annual activities fees. Senators Abhi Sanka, a sophomore, Mousa Alshanteer, a sophomore and editorial pages managing editor for The Chronicle, Jay Sullivan, a sophomore and Chronicle sports writer, and James Ferencsik, a freshman, proposed the new the 25 Percent Compromise to the Senate Wednesday night. The plan allows students to allocate 25 percent of their student activities fees to the student organization of their choosing, a decrease from the previously proposed 40 percent figure.The plan would have rising sophomores, juniors and seniors allocate their fees in March of each year to fund groups for the following year. Rising freshmen would not participate since they would not yet be on campus. “As opposed to the 40 Percent Plan, the 25 Percent Compromise would allow students to allocate their funds prior to annual budgeting, which would allow SOFC to gauge how much money remains for submitted budgets of student organizations,” Alshanteer said. Although the senators supported student control over student organization funding, the exact percentage of funds to control is yet to be determined by the Senate. “We thought that in order to still preserve to some degree a new funding model, it’s important to leave a significant amount to student allocation,” Sanka said. “There wasn’t really a good way to pick a number, but we believe that if it was too small a number, then students wouldn’t have a true say in the matter.” Sullivan noted that March is an ideal time to allocate funds for the next year because it

EMMA LOEWE/ THE CHRONICLE

Senators Abhi Sanka and James Ferencsik proposed the new 25 Percent Compromise to the Senate Wednesday night.

coincides with both the timelines of many student organizations’ executive board elections as well as internal reviews of the organizations’ performance over the previous year. “When student exec boards are being elected, after students have been members of a group for a whole six months, this is a way that students can give back with both their time and their money,” Sullivan said. The proposal of the alternative plan is the first of two required readings of the legislation before the matter is put toward a vote in the Senate next week. In other news: In response to the resignation of SOFC vice-chair Matt Schorr, a senior, the Senate

Memorial Service for Greg Dees In honor of our dear friend and colleague Greg Dees, the Duke community will be hosting a memorial service and reception on Tuesday, February 11th. We hope that you can join us to celebrate Greg’s life and legacy.

Memorial Service and Reception at Duke Divinity School The memorial service will include music and personal reflections from a few of Greg’s friends and colleagues.

6:30pm – 7:30pm Reception (Divinity Café) 7:30pm – 8:30pm Memorial Service (Goodson Chapel) All portions of the evening are open to the public. Please RSVP here: www.tinyurl.com/DeesMemorial.

confirmed freshman Gary Yeh as new SOFC vice-chair. Junior Cameron Tripp, junior Mary D’Amico, sophomore Nikhil Gavai, freshman Lara Haft, junior Jonathan Hill-Rorie, sophomore Molly Walker and freshman Annie Straneva were confirmed by the Senate as newly instated Senators-At-Large. The Duke Asian American Theater was granted $1,545.95 for the DAAT 24 Hour Play Festival that will take place on February 23. Kappa Alpha Psi was granted $3,000 for the 35th Annual Corey T. Williams Ball: Diamonds of Revolutionary Achievement that will take place on February 8. Duke Chinese Dance was granted $3,045.50 for the 7th Annual Showcase 2014: Rainbird, that will take

place on April 4. Duke University Club for Latin American Studies was granted recognized status. The Senate approved an amendment, proposed by senior Patrick Oathout, senator for services, to the SOFC by-law that will require a student election, rather than a Senate election, of the SOFC chair. “Whether or not you want a 40 percent plan or a 25 percent plan, having an elected SOFC chair will benefit the student body because it will create an adaptive and accountable organization,” Oathout said. “By having an elected SOFC chair, will have a more informed and active student body.” SOFC Chair Joyce Lau, a junior, noted that this amendment would be problematic during SOFC chair campaigns because candidates could gain student organization endorsements through corrupt funding agreements. “There would be a direct conflict of interest that comes from endorsements that do not exist for other members of the exec board,” Lau said. The Senate adopted the Election Rules and Procedures for Spring 2014, which include regulations for campaign schedules, budgeting, materials and correspondence as well as penalties for failing to comply with regulations. The Senate approved an allocation of $5,000 to the formation of a bike sharing program on campus through Zagster. The program will cost $20 per year and will be open to undergraduates, graduate students and faculty. The plan currently includes 20 bikes on West campus, 10 on Central campus and 20 on East campus, although sophomore Lavanya Sunder, vice president for services, noted that this number may increase.

D ukes anD D uchesses R ecRuitment Attention first-years & sophomores: Are you interested in becoming a representative of the President’s Office, assisting the Board of Trustees, and interacting with distinguished University guests?

Consider Dukes & Duchesses Applicants must take the Duke University history and current events test and submit an application. Testing dates: Tuesday, February 11, 7PM Sanford 04

Thursday, February 13, 7PM White Lecture Hall

Applications due by 11:59PM on Friday, February 14th

For more details on the organization and recruitment please visit:

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The Chronicle

OBAMA from page 1 Health and the Secretary of the Interior. The group aims to combat college rape culture by encouraging education and bystander intervention. In his statement, the President cited an estimate that one in five college women is sexually assaulted. He pointed to the potential consequences of sexual assault, arguing that this is not just a family or community issue, but a national one. Members of the Duke community have reacted positively to the announcement. “A national task force is more than an appropriate response,” said Sheila Broderick, gender violence intervention coordinator for the Women’s Center. Broderick commented that she has seen an increase in Duke students reaching out for help after a sexual assault over the past few years. The Women’s Center has been proactive in connecting with students to educate them about the services available to them and to inform them of their rights, Broderick said. Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta commented that he hopes the task force might introduce new ideas and practices to help stop sexual assault. “I applaud anything and everything that can be done, at the federal, state and local level…to ensure that every predator is stopped, “ Moneta said. Obama compelled the newly formed task force to examine whether colleges’ guidelines are aligned with national standards. The group will examine college officials’ records in responding to sexual assault, encouraging federal agencies to get involved when college officials fail to take action. Duke Student Government President Stefani Jones, a senior, noted that although

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Duke has made many improvements to its policies relating to sexual assault, she would prefer to see more transparency in how cases are decided. Duke’s guidelines are similar to other colleges and universities as they follow the national guidelines laid out by Title IX, Jones said. But unlike universities that still have statutes of limitations for reporting sexual assault, Duke’s was removed in 2012. Now, students may report sexual assault until the accused perpetrator graduates. Sue Wasiolek, vice president for student affairs and dean of students, explained that the guideline for handling sexual misconduct cases changed last summer. “A decision was made that after a finding of responsibility in a sexual assault case, the hearing panel would start its conversation about sanctioning with expulsion,” Wasiolak said. “That does not mean that students found responsible for sexual assault will automatically be expelled.” Wasiolak noted that all sanctions—including suspension and expulsion—had always been options in handling sexual assault. Broderick commented that the Women’s Center advocates that sexual misconduct hearings be based on a scientific understanding of sexual assault—that sexual predators are often repeat offenders. Duke reexamined its policies for handling sexual assault after the Department of Education released a Dear Colleague Letter in April 2011, Bryan said. It was found that Duke’s guidelines were “generally aligned” with the national guidelines, though the policy was changed so that the accuser could appeal an out-

ThursDAY, FEBruArY 6, 2014 | 3

come and the standards for responsibility to a “preponderance of evidence” were altered. Amanda Young, a senior public policy major, conducted research about universities’ sexual assault policies for her senior thesis. Her thesis, which she completed in December, compared the sexual assault policies of six North Carolina universities and found that in many cases, the policies are not clear enough to be helpful to students. Although Young said she was not sure that the national task force would be particularly influential due to its bureaucratic nature, she commented that it is an important symbolic step in bringing attention to this issue. Young looked at Duke University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Wake Forest University, Appalachian State University, UNC Asheville and Guilford College for her research. She explored whether the universities complied with Title IX and the requirements and suggestions of the Dear Colleague Letter. During her research process, Young analyzed each university’s policy and interviewed both students and administrators at each of the six schools. “The students tended to find a lot more problems than the administrators,” Young said. “It wasn’t surprising, because the administrators were in offices related to student conduct. They had more of an interest in believing that the policies were good.” Young also expressed concern that policies are not accessible enough for students. She suggested that all universities should have information easily accessible in a publicly available, online document to make the process more transparent. She expressed concern that the lack of transparency makes students less likely to report,

citing the discrepancy between the large number of people seeking counseling for sexual assault from the Women’s Center and the number of sexual assault cases reported by Student Conduct. Broderick said that the Women’s Center helped 163 student gender violence victims last year. Dean of Student Conduct Stephan Bryan said that a “small” number of sexual misconduct cases are processed by his office and declined to provide statistics about whether any expulsions had been made since the guideline change. Broderick commented she is “hopeful” that a national conversation about sexual assault indicates that people are becoming less tolerant of gender violence. “Simply put, what I hear in my office and on the sidewalks at Duke is a deeper understanding that sexual violence is a cultural problem, not an individual problem,” Broderick said. “Your generation simply is better than mine at saying: This is wrong and we can do something about it.”

Got a cool pic? Tweet or Instagram it with #chronsnap. Best photo will appear in Monday’s

Department of Germanic Languages and Literature Presents

Dr. Matthias Pabsch Thursday, February 6, 2014 • 5–7 p.m. Old Chem. 116

Contemporary art in Berlin

Abstract:

With more than 20,000 artists and another 80,000 people in creative professions Berlin is the ideal place to explore contemporary art and the latest developments in related fields. This talk will give an overview of the main locations, events and protagonists of the Berlin are scene.

Biography:

Matthias Pabsch (born 1970 in Hildesheim, Germany) lives and works in Berlin. His artistic mediums are painting, sculpture and photography. He has published books on art, architecture and urban design: • Berlin und seine Künstler (Berlin and its Artists), Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2006 • Zweimal Weltstadt. Architektur und Städtebau am Potsdamer Platz (Twice a Metropolis. Architecture and Urban Design at Potsdamer Platz), Dietrich Reimer Verlag, Berlin 1998 • Pariser Platz – Architektur und Technik. Vom manuellen zum digitalen Zeitalter (Pariser Platz – Architecture und Technology. From the Manuel to the Digital Age), Dietrich Reimer Verlag, Berlin 2002).

DUKECHECK from page 1 input of a single, anonymous source—the most prominent of which was known as the “Allen Building mole.” From there, Rickards would often reach out to administrators demanding answers. In “Ask the Mouthpiece” blog posts, for example, Rickards would ask Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations, to comment on campus issues. With nicknames like Mike the Mouthpiece for Schoenfeld or Uncle Dick for President Richard Brodhead, Rickards often called out administrators for perceived wrongdoings or the alleged obfuscation of facts. Rickards was known to some as a critical writer and often a thorn in some sides, largely because of his controversial posts, as well as his proliferation of emails sent to administrators, faculty and Chronicle staff writers. Still, his Pro-Duke stance—as made apparent at the top of his blog page—and dedication to making sure the University was heading in the right direction was respected by many.

“We may have had our differences on issues, but I always admired, and never questioned, his lifelong passion and love for Duke,” Schoenfeld wrote in an email Wednesday. Although Rickards often looked for conspiracy when none existed, he did shed light on many topics, said John Burness, former vice president for public affairs and government relations and current visiting professor of the practice at the Sanford School of Public Policy. “There were times he totally got it wrong, but there were also times he got it right,” Burness said. “I’m sad he died.” After Rickards caught Douglas Knight, the University president from 1963-69, in a lie while serving as editor of The Chronicle, he formed a serious distrust of the administration, Burness said. Despite sometimes getting facts wrong, Rickards’ maintained the blog due to a love for the University and did not have malicious intentions, Burness added. “Clearly he got quite a following, and he provided a forum for people who wanted an outlet to express concern,” Burness said. “It was like the old muckrackers in journalism.” Taylor Doherty, Trinity ‘12 and former news editor of The

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Chronicle, wrote a profile of Rickards while working for The Chronicle after seeing the growing popularity of the Duke Check blog. He recalled that Rickards was originally an avid Chronicle commenter going by the name of Fact Checker and did not choose to start his own blog until August 2009. Meeting in a hotel lobby in New Jersey, Doherty recalled him as gruff and “definitely opinionated,” but added that these are not the terms he would first use to describe Rickards. “One thing I got out of talking with him and meeting him was that he had a sense of humor about all of this,” Doherty said. “He enjoyed the writing and had a sense of humor about what he was doing, and that might have been something that didn’t necessarily come across in his blogs.” Rickards is most known for his love of starting spirited dialogue and drawing attention to controversial issues. “He loved to write and loved to be controversial,” said his younger brother, Robert Rickards. “He loved to stir up a little trouble—that was him and that’s the way he lived his whole life. He was very argumentative and stuck by his guns. “ Robert Rickards added that his brother also loved to travel, with his favorite trips being to San Diego and Europe. One time, he travelled down the Nile River. Pfau added that Rickards provided an outlet for lively dialogue during a time where there was a “vacuum of public debate.” “He struck me as a very, very good writer,” Pfau said. “He was very spirited and direct and at the same time allowed the blog to be what it was—an informal kind of forum.” Some faculty members had become concerned about Rickards’ well-being prior to learning of his death. Usually updated on a daily basis, Rickards’ posts halted Jan. 16, causing concern for his “Loyal Readers” after several days had passed. Pfau noted that typically, Rickards informed readers when the blog would be inactive, which he had not done that week. Prior to passing away, Rickards asked his brother if he could be transferred to Duke Hospital or visit Durham upon his release. Although Ed Rickards never got his final trip to Duke, he will leave a legacy. “Mr. Rickards was a valuable resource who loved Duke, was deeply concerned about Duke’s moral compass, about race and gender, corporatizing, administrative bloat and secrecy,” Owen Flanagan, James B. Duke Professor of philosophy and professor of neurobiology, wrote in an email Wednesday. “I hope someone takes up his noble blog. A wonderful gadfly in the Socratic tradition.”

GRAD YT from page 1 The current two graduate student Young Trustees—Dr. Malik Burnett, Trinity ‘07, Medicine and Fuqua ‘12, and Katherine Duch, a fifth year Ph.D. candidate in public policy—previously served on GSPC. Hunt said that this is the first year that all three candidates are this heavily involved in GSPC, noting that usually one candidate is deeply involved and the other two are not as invested. Most people interested in the Young Trustee position would involve themselves in student council, O’Connor said. “If you plug into the community at Duke University…I do think you’re somehow involved in GSPC,” she said. The candidates applied in September, and were then narrowed down to approximately 10 who received interviews with the Young Trustee Selection Committee. The three finalists were selected from this pool. Hunt said that YTSC members who have relationships with candidates at the interview stage can disclose those relationships to the board, though there is no formal requirement for this. “It’s along the lines of a gentleman’s or gentlewoman’s agreement,” Hunt said. The chair of the Young Trustee Selection Committee— Stephanie Reist, a MPP-Ph.D. candidate in Latin American studies—is a GSPC representative. Other members of the YTSC who are also on GPSC should disclose their relationship to candidates, Reist said, but no further actions are required. She noted that last year, when she was a member of the committee, one member recused themselves from voting on one candidate—calling the action “a personal decision.” In Hunt’s experience, he said such a committee member would recuse himself from discussion, but not from voting. “It’s ultimately up to the chair to kind of create the process,” Hunt said. When Reist required additional contact information for one of the candidates, she went to Yadav, in his role as president, for help. Seeing no conflict of interest, Yadav provided the information that she requested. “Being the GSPC president, I was enabling the process as well as being part of it,” Yadav said.

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Sports

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the blue zone

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FOOTBALL

Cutcliffe inks 18 on National Signing Day

Class of 2014 includes four four-star recruits by Nick Martin The ChroniCle

After winning 10 games with two- andthree-star recruits in 2013, Duke took the next step towards repeating the success of last year when it announced one of its most talented recruiting classes in program history Wednesday. Duke signed 18 recruits on national Signing Day, 12 of which were ranked in the top 50 at their respective positions by eSPn. The Blue Devils inked four four-star recruits in their class, rounding out the group with 14 three-star players. The class is headlined by a pair of players from South Florida in wide receiver Trevon lee—who announced his commitment Monday night and is Duke’s only eSPn300 commit— and quarterback nicodem Pierre, who is ranked as the no. 14 dual-threat quarterback prospect in the nation. Although the Blue Devils’ incoming class could be their most talented in head coach David Cutcliffe’s six-year tenure, the reigning national Coach of the Year pointed to another reason why these 18 signees will be valuable additions to the Duke program. “We’ve got a bunch of guys that are going to be really good teammates to the rest of the team,” Cutcliffe said. “We’ve got some linemen with some size and mobility and range on both sides of the ball. We have helped ourselves again on the back

SPORTS

jack white/ChroniCle file photo

speCial to the ChroniCle

David Cutcliffe (left) signed four four-star recruits in his 2014 recruiting class, including quarterback Nicodem Pierre (right).

end defensively at linebacker and safety, very active people. i think we’ve helped ourselves offensively with some really good prospects as playmakers, very versatile athletes in that regard.” one thing that played into many of the recruits’ decision was the historic 2013 season the Blue Devils put together. Duke’s on-field success was a key point in proving

men’s LAcrOsse

to the recruits, as well as the rest of college football, that the Blue Devils were ready to become contenders in the ACC. Duke’s run to the ACC championship game in 2013 was sparked by the play of its true freshmen in the secondary, with cornerbacks Breon Borders and Bryon Fields and safety Deondre Singleton all making impacts and starting games. This season,

Cutcliffe focused his attention on the trenches, as eight of his 18 signees are linemen. The 2014 Blue Devils will look to replace two starters on the offensive line and three on the defensive line, with a number of other experienced linemen entering their final seasons in Durham. See signing day, page 6

wOmen’s BAskeTBALL

Blue Devils begin title defense Duke looks to bounce back by Ryan Hoerger The ChroniCle

The defense of the national championship begins for Duke. After a whirlwind 2013 season in which they started 2-4 only to win 14 of their final 15 games en route to their second title in four seasons, the no. 1 Blue Devils will get back on the Jackson- field for the first time ville Saturday at Koskinen vs. Stadium. Duke and Jacksonville will meet No. 1 Duke for the fifth time in as many years in the SATURDAY, 1 p.m. season opener for Koskinen Stadium both teams. The Blue Devils have won each of the four previous meetings, including a lopsided 21-9 affair last February. “The script doesn’t change for anybody here,” head coach John Danowski said of his team’s offseason preparations after winning the national title. “The guys know what our culture is. it’s built on a strong work ethic, on teamwork, on

accountability.” reigning nCAA tournament Most outstanding Player Brendan Fowler participated in offseason workouts with the team for the first time this year. A midfielder whose prowess at the faceoff X was crucial to Duke’s title run, Fowler had spent three years as a walk-on linebacker on the Duke football team but did not suit up for the Blue Devils this season, freeing him up to participate in fall lacrosse workouts. “i really challenged Brendan on not playing [football] this year, but the hope is that he’ll play again next year,” Danowski said. “i wanted him to see it through, especially because they had such a spectacular year in the fall. But i think Brendan would have liked to have been captain, his younger brother [goalie Danny Fowler] is here now as a freshman, and he wanted to be a leader on this team.” having his faceoff man with the team for offseason workouts for the first See m. lacrosse, page 6

by Lopa Rahman The ChroniCle

Duke responded to its first loss of the season with a 29-point win against Albany. After suffering its first ACC home loss in nearly six years Sunday against notre Dame, the Blue Devils have another chance to bounce back. no. 5 Duke will have the opportunity to rebound when it hits the road to face Clemson No. 5 Duke Thursday at littlejohn vs. Coliseum at 7 p.m. The Blue Devils Clemson gave up 40 points in transition offense in an THURSDAY, 7 p.m. 88-67 loss to the no. 2 Littlejohn Coliseum Fighting irish. notre Dame held Duke to a field-goal percentage of 39.1, a season low. “We’ve been focusing on transition defense, broken-play defense and contesting and locating shooters in practice,” Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. The Tigers (11-12, 3-6 in the ACC) are also using the matchup as an opportunity to rebound from their recent struggles. Virginia

handed Clemson an 80-43 defeat Saturday— the Tigers’ worst loss of the season. in the loss, Clemson shot just 15-of-49 from the field for a field-goal percentage of 30.6 and turned the ball over 22 times. “We did not compete in that game,” Clemson head coach Audra Smith said. “We got down early and hung our heads after that. We didn’t fight back as we normally have. We didn’t play with enough energy or effort, and teams are going to take advantage of that. They’re going to score and keep pounding you.” The Tigers’ biggest offensive threat is nikki Dixon, who is averaging 14.4 points per game. The junior guard, who is the only player on the team averaging in double figures, has made 46.2 percent of her shots from the field. “Clemson is a greatly improved team,” McCallie said. “Their star player, Dixon, has improved. They have great shooters in Kelly Gramlich and Jordan Gaillard, and their post players have played their role.” The Tigers’ improvement showed in a 60-52 See w. basketball, page 7

SIGNING DAY

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6 | thursDAY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2014

from page 5

The 18 recruits will come in with a lot of excitement for the coming years, as they have spent the past months connecting with one another and getting a feel for how the class will shape up on the field come August. “[Seeing Duke have success last season] felt really good,” Pierre said. “Because it not only showed me, but it showed other players that Duke is a legit football program—that going there won’t just be for academics.... Everyone’s working even harder to make it better.” While Duke’s season played a big role in convincing some of the players that were possibly on the fence about committing, a large chunk of the Blue Devil recruits were committed before the season began. With many recruits already committed, they spent their fall playing the role of the Duke coaching staff by keeping in contact with those thinking about attending and pushing them to sign with the Blue Devils. “I don’t know the actual statistic, but I want to say more than 50 percent of us were committed before the season, myself included,” receiver Chris Taylor said. “For them, it was just an addition. For the last couple of guys that committed, it had a big impact. Not only did that have an impact but I had an impact texting them every day. Especially the guys from South Florida, the four of us.” The Blue Devil coaching staff was all over the country when searching for the eventual 18 players that would round out their 2014 class. In the end, Florida was the

state with highest number of representatives with four, including Pierre and Taylor. Overall, the Blue Devils pulled three recruits each from North Carolina, Georgia and Ohio, two from California and one apiece from Missouri, South Carolina and Alabama. “It will be very exciting because I’m going to go in with like four other South Florida players,” Pierre said. “So that will be really good because we all came from the same football background from South Florida, so that’ll be in common for us.” The last addition to the class came Monday night when Lee—ranked as the No. 33 wide receiver in the nation—announced his decision to attend Duke instead of Vanderbilt. But Pierre said the decision came as no surprise to any of the future teammates. “We’ve been in contact with each other, seeing what we were all thinking of going, but we all were pretty sure of where we were going,” he said. “And we’re all going to the same place at the end.” Although Cutcliffe is not big on the recruiting rankings—Will Monday was the only four-star recruit on the 2013 roster— he admitted having quality never hurt anyone as long as the players were quality both on and off the field. “I think it helps if they’re the right ones, I will have to say that,” Cutcliffe said. “Because some of those kids are so good that they are game-changers. Some of them are so good and the reason they have stars up there in the high numbers is that they’re just great players. Again, we’re not going to compromise the value for talent.”

M. LACROSSE

from page 5

time, Danowski employed an interesting coaching tactic for Fowler—the senior was not allowed to take any faceoffs. “He hadn’t taken faceoffs in the three previous falls and he takes so many during the season that we didn’t want to beat him up,” Danowski said. “He was able to be a lacrosse player during the fall, and that should help him offensively, defensively, all over the field.” The Dolphins, members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, finished last season 8-5, with the season-opening defeat at Duke their lone road blemish. Jacksonville returns its second-leading goal-scorer from a season ago in junior attack Ari Waffle, who posted 18 goals and 12 assists in 2013. Senior goalie Pete DeLuca will be tasked with limiting a Blue Devil offense that averaged 15.5 goals per game in its final 14 contests. DeLuca did not see action against the Blue Devils in last year’s contest, but did face Duke in his freshman and sophomore seasons. As a freshman, he tallied 20 saves in a 10-6 loss. “They’re going to be much improved. They’ve got a lot of players back and three or four transfers from Rutgers and Denver, so they’ve got some new people that they’re looking at,” Danowski said of the Dolphins. “The two goalies that did play against us did not play another second the rest of the season.... We know [DeLuca’s] capable of having a great day.” Some of the most potent weapons on that prolific Duke offense have already

SPORTS

heard their names called at the professional level. A program-record six Blue Devils were selected in the 2014 Major League Lacrosse Draft, including No. 2 overall pick and three-time All-ACC selection Jordan Wolf. The senior enters his final year in Durham with 120 goals and 81 assists and is coming off the best season of his career, amassing 58 tallies and 28 helpers. Josh Dionne, who finished second on the team with 45 goals last season, was one of four Blue Devils drafted by the Charlotte Hounds. “The MLL is for other people to judge, and it’s kind of meaningless to us,” Danowski said. “I hope they do play if they choose to, but that’s not something we use as an indicator of what we could become [this season].” Saturday’s game marks the beginning of a long homestand for the Blue Devils, who don’t play their first road game of the season until March 1. As part of the four-game stretch, Duke will have the opportunity to avenge two of last year’s early-season losses against Denver and Penn. In preparing to face Jacksonville, Danowski echoed a sentiment long articulated by Duke head basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski—people like to beat Duke. As reigning NCAA champions, the target on the Blue Devils’ backs will be even larger this season. “We’re going to get everybody’s best effort,” Danowski said. “We know the Jacksonville kids have had all preseason to focus on this game.... They’ve had all preseason to prepare for us, and they’re going to give us their best shot.”

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The Chronicle

www.dukechronicle.com www.dukechroniclesports.com from page 5

Duke will have a weekend of rest before returning to Cameron Indoor Stadium Monday night for a rivalry matchup against North Carolina.

win against Miami Jan. 26 and an 80-79 overtime victory against Georgia Tech Jan. 30. Just three weeks before, Georgia Tech routed Clemson 89-68 in the first matchup of the season between the two teams. Duke (21-2, 8-1) boasts a more balanced offense than Clemson, with four Blue Devils averaging more than 12 points per game. Tricia Liston leads the way at 17.5 points per contest. The senior, who scored a team-high 23 points against Notre Dame, was the sole reason that Duke managed to keep pace with the Fighting Irish in the opening half of the game. “We need to play aggressive, tenacious defense and limit [Duke’s] offensive possessions,” Smith said. “We want to have less turnovers which is an extension of also wanting to limit [Duke’s] transition buckets.”

HOME TOWN HERO!

W. BASKETBALL

NICOLE SAVAGE/THE CHRONICLE

Senior Tricia Liston scored 23 points in Duke’s home loss to Notre Dame.

thursDAY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2014 | 7

SPORTS

In Kakuro you must place the digits 1 to 9 into a grid of squares so that each horizontal or vertical run of white squares adds up to the clue printed either to the left of or above the run. Numbers below a diagonal line give the total of the white squares below; numbers to the right of a diagonal line give the total of the white squares to the right.

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7 3 6 3 2 9 7 9 8 4 8 9 The Chronicle8 5 Letters 6 2from a stalker: 1 9 6 2 BRACE YOURSELVES: ................................................................ duranddurand 1 2 4 3 7 Teeth 2 I’m GOING to put a ring on it: ..........................................................Mr. I’m her prince charming: ...................................................................Magicarp Doesn’t respond to my texts, didn’t answer7 my calls, 9 she8must4love me: 6.........esu I’m not a stalker, I’m in love: .................................................... bacceslovethis I didn’t beat her, what did I do wrong?: 7 9............................................ 9 2 8 locopop 6 I NEver did anything wrong:.......................................................... Thornberry Drove 2.5 hours to a birthday party he wasn’t invited to: .............. Mr. Jorts 3 9 8 7 9 6 Barb Starbuck always has enough suitors: ..............................................Barb Student Advertising Manager: Sinclair 2 ..................................................James 5 6 1 2 5 3 Account Representatives: .............................. Jennifer Bahadur, Peter Chapin, Courtney Clower, Alyssa Rachel 4 Coughenour, 8 9 Kiner, 3 Tyler 5 Deane-Krantz, 8 4 Chris Geary, Liz Lash, Hannah Long, Parker Masselink, Nic Meiring, Brian Paskas, Nick Philip, Cliff Simmons, Lexy Steinhilber

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support beams 6 100% 9 Key of Chopin’s Polonaise No. 6 14 Hit the highlights 15 Husband and wife, e.g. 16 Sponge 17 Food or drink dispensers 19 ___ to the top 20 First word in the English lyrics of “Frère Jacques” 21 Nick of “The Deep” 22 Kind of cartridge 23 Burning the midnight oil 25 Like virtually all gold medalists in Olympic table tennis 27 Science of light 28 Lads

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the Chronicle

“

Press on, Duke Press Duke University Press, which publishes more than 40 journals and 120 books annually, recently launched a new digital platform that consolidates its databases for journals and e-books. We applaud Duke University Press for establishing itself as a leader among university presses and working to improve the quality of electronic publishing. The switch to the new platform has a number of clear, if modest, benefits. The platform improves search functionality, allowing users to easily find journals and books written by a certain author or about a particular topic. Housing both e-books and journals in a single place also lets users conduct preliminary research more efficiently. The new platform is also attractive to authors and libraries. Talented authors looking for more visibility and a chance to publish with a top press may find Duke University Press an attractive option. Duke is a premier research institution and having a more versatile press may allow work conducted at Duke to circulate with greater ease and reach. Libraries, which account for most of the press’s sales, will also benefit from the new platform.

Duke University Press’s move may not seem particularly significant, but it is an example of what we hope to see more often from Duke—a willingness to lead, rather than a tendency to follow closely behind our peer institutions. We hope that both Duke University Press and the

Editorial University at large continue to innovate and improve as the world of academic research and exchange morphs and evolves. The digital revolution is not, of course, confined to academic presses. More and more scholarly work is moving to online databases, a shift that brings both promise and peril. The proliferation of digital archives has accelerated the speed at which scholars can conduct research. Documents that used to take weeks to arrive can now be called up instantly. The kind of research that scholars are doing has also changed. Word frequency analyses that were impossible years ago have become increasingly fashionable. Digital information is now easier to access, but the sheer amount of it is growing at an

In so much as the Divinity School’s stated purpose is to train men and women for Christian vocations, it makes sense that it starts the program focusing on the Christian tradition. The principles of pastoral care transcend doctrine, and all will benefit...the program will expand in scope and inclusiveness. —“cville58” commenting on the editorial “Mixing medicine and religion.”

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.

ecently, I had an absolutely fantastic day. A glorious day. A shining, I-see-the-light kind of a day. A snow day. If you were anything like me, you woke up blearily to silence the alarm for your first class and checked your phone out of habit to the most beautiful message you’d ever seen: Class was cancelled for the day. After a croak of celebration, you rolled over and promptly went

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

the Chronicle

Inc. 1993

Danielle Muoio, Editor Sophia DuranD, Managing Editor raiSa chowDhury, News Editor Daniel carp, Sports Editor elySia Su, Photography Editor Scott briggS, Editorial Page Editor caSey williaMS, Editorial Board Chair jiM poSen, Director of Online Development kelly Scurry, Managing Editor for Online chriSSy beck, General Manager eMMa baccellieri, University Editor elizabeth DjiniS, Local & National Editor anthony hagouel, Health & Science Editor julia May, News Photography Editor kelSey hopkinS, Design Editor lauren feilich, Recess Editor eliza bray, Recess Photography Editor MouSa alShanteer, Editorial Page Managing Editor aShley Mooney, Towerview Editor jennie Xu, Towerview Photography Editor kriStie kiM, Social Media Editor lauren carroll, Senior Editor anDrew luo, News Blog Editor anna koelSch, Special Projects Editor for Online rebecca DickenSon, Advertising Director Mary weaver, Operations Manager Megan Mcginity, Digital Sales Manager

astonishing rate. As a result, it is harder to find information that is valuable and relevant. Doing so can prove to be an overwhelming task – one that confuses researchers and sets lay-people swimming in an ocean of undifferentiated data. It is hard not to have some nostalgia for physical objects. Many of us find pleasure in running our fingers along a page, reading without the glare of a computer screen, carting our books around campus. And, despite Facebook, scrapbooks have more meaning for most of us than a collection of photographs in a digital folder ever will. When humans began to write, surely some felt the art of storytelling had been lost and corrupted. We share something with that wistful bunch, but our generation may be one of the last to feel like something has been sacrificed in the transition to digital media. We grew up reading physical books and feel their loss acutely. And yet, we also see the incredible potential that new media holds and know that the proliferation of online content promises to make academic exchange easier and knowledge more accessible.

The business of busyness

onlinecomment

Est. 1905

The the Chronicle

www.dukechronicle.com commentary

8 | thursDAY, FEBRUARY FEBruArY 6, 2014

carleigh StiehM, University Editor georgia parke, Local & National Editor tony Shan, Health & Science Editor eric lin, Sports Photography Editor rita lo, Design Editor jaMie keSSler, Recess Managing Editor thanh-ha nguyen, Online Photo Editor Matt pun, Sports Managing Editor caitlin MoyleS, Towerview Editor Dillon patel, Towerview Creative Director julian Spector, Special Projects Editor chelSea pieroni, Multimedia Editor Derek Saffe, Multimedia Editor glenn rivkeeS, Director of Online Operations yeShwanth kanDiMalla, Recruitment Chair julia May, Recruitment Chair barbara Starbuck, Creative Director

the chronicle is published by the Duke Student publishing company, inc., a non-profit corporation independent of Duke university. the opinions expressed in this newspaper are not necessarily those of Duke university, its students, faculty, staff, administration or trustees. unsigned editorials represent the majority view of the editorial board. columns, letters and cartoons represent the views of the authors. to reach the editorial office at 301 flowers building, call 684-2663 or fax 684-4696. to reach the business office at 2022 campus Drive call 684-3811. to reach the advertising office at 2022 campus Drive call 684-3811

one quote in a New York Times article on the trap of busyness helped me understand why: “Busyness serves as a kind of existential reassurance… obviously your life cannot possibly be silly or trivial or meaningless if you are so busy.” For me at least, that sentence cut to a deep truth. Because I’ll confess: I do get a high from being busy (I am aware how strange that sentence

Isabella Kwai truth or dare

back to sleep and woke at midday when someone threw a snowball at your window. And it was a fantastic day, because for a brief moment there was nothing to do except throw glorious handfuls of frozen, wet ice. Nothing to do but walk destructively and gleefully over virgin snow. Nothing but Instagram multiple shots of Duke’s blanketed white campus. It was as if somebody had clicked pause, and, for the first time this semester, I truly stopped feeling busy. No one seemed busy. That is, until 10 p.m. that night when I realized that somehow I had two sets of homework to finish instead of one and the sinking feeling that I had wasted time. In dread, I walked outside for a procrasti-snack. The study rooms in my hall were again packed with students hunched over laptops, typing madly in unison. Our timeout was over. Duke was back in the swing of its busy routine. A senior at Duke once told me cheerfully, when I complained about the sheer amount of activity on campus, to buckle up: “Everybody’s busy. And it only gets worse!” He also told me that sometimes Saladelia gives out free pastries at closing time. Well, he was right on both counts. We live on a busy campus. We’re an activist campus that cares about saving the lemurs and sustained dialogue and that willingly subjects ourselves to the possibility of pneumonia for basketball—all at the same time. There are endless causes to advocate for, endless extracurriculars to join, endless social events to attend. It seems that to be busy is to be ambitious, and each college opportunity must be fully taken advantage of, lest we miss out on that golden moment and fall behind in life. Yet if it’s such an enjoyable experience, why has busyness deprived me of too many hours of sleep? Why has busyness become my guilty excuse to postpone seeing old friends? Why has overwhelming busyness brought me and many classmates to the brink of panic? Perhaps the most interesting part is that I, myself, volunteered as tribute. I signed myself up for the infinite deadlines, the meetings, the classes, the stress. And

was). When I’m busy, I feel like I’m contributing something useful to the world. I feel like I have a purpose. I feel like I matter, that I am important. But take away this constructed list of activities and left is the fear that perhaps I am not worthy by myself, without the tasks I take on. Take away the busyness that has begun defining my value, and left is the worry that I am quite unremarkable. Luckily for me, my mom says I’m special. But I’ve also come to the realization that we are more, so much more than our list of accomplishments and certainly more than our involvements in college. We are years of experiences that cannot be replicated in any other individual. We are the small kindnesses and worries of everyday life. We are moral, immoral, sociable, perceptive, spiritual and secular, but what we are not is unremarkable. And knowing this, I am going to stop using busyness to fuel my sense of purpose. Of course, having too many fantastic activities to be involved in is a great problem to have. We are fortunate enough to attend a school that encourages an all-rounded education, and it is a beautiful thing to be challenged and productive and to fill our time with activities we love. Please do continue saving the lemurs! Ultimately, however, when I reminisce on my four years at Duke, I don’t want to sift through a tired haze of constant meetings and late night events. I want to remember climbing that magnolia tree in the Duke Gardens on a Friday afternoon, just because I felt like it. I want to remember taking that random class on medieval culture, just because I had time for it. I want to remember a girl who did the things she loved and still had time for great conversations in the corner of Bella Union. And I want to remember that day it snowed my sophomore year and all of campus stopped being so busy. Just for a few hours. Isabella Kwai is a Trinity sophomore. Her column runs every other Thursday. Send Bella a message on Twitter @tallbellarina.

The the Chronicle

www.dukechronicle.com commentary

on the assassination of journalism

have no left brain. In high school, I was never particularly great at anything—except maybe dodgeball, until it was removed from the curriculum for being “too dangerous.” I was above average at memorizing things for the very brief fleeting moment before test time. I skated by in classes that required any sort of calculations or numerical analysis. I cared about success and grades and that was about it—content didn’t matter. And then I started writing.

responsible for destroying skilled, artful journalism is the infamous BuzzFeed. There is no more cringe-worthy, nauseating organization than BuzzFeed, which pushes out a horrifyingly large amount of content over all social media with almost no informational value. “13 Reasons Why Your Best Friend is Your Hero,” “31 Grilled Cheeses That Are Better Than a Boyfriend” and “The 30 Most Important Onesies in the History of Fashion” are not news stories. But wait! They must be, because they all appeared

thursDAY, FEBRUARY FEBruArY 6, 2014 | 9

obligations

ore than once, Jews have been described as a people of laws. Sometimes this is used as a pejorative, to suggest that Jews are obsessed with legalisms. An impression that, while misleading, can be understandable if one considers certain sections of legal discussion from the Talmud—a commentary of oral law, codified in A.D. 500—outside of the larger context. Similarly, some of the publications of fervently Orthodox Jews dealing with matters of legal minutiae can seem mind-boggling to those outside that community. Even without

Ashley Camano

Jeremy Yoskowitz

going camando

the duke rav

When I was in the 10th grade, I enrolled in a course on print journalism at my high school. I had a general knack for putting words together in an order that made just enough sense, hated grammatical errors and spent most of my leisure time scouring newspaper sports sections. I started writing, and it turned out I was good enough to keep doing it. Very graciously, I still write, almost strictly for pleasure and for the intrinsic value of standing on the proverbial soapbox that is this opinion column. Soon enough, writing became my thing. Journals filled, Word documents with black and white textual feelings and emotions abounded. But after eight years of this, I worry, like many journalists, that this field is nearing its demise. As a generation, we aren’t particularly well read. Reading has, very unfortunately, become almost inextricably associated with academia, and the ideology that someone— especially an 18- to 22-year-old student—can read for pleasure is a sad, sad thing of the past. “Leisure reading” exists solely as in-classprocrastination or summertime beach chair mind occupation. The space between these realms? Nearly non-existent for literature consumption, and that should scare us. The changing model of journalism is creating a genre of information sharing that is hardly journalism at all. My high school journalism teacher, one of my biggest proponents and literary cheerleaders, has said since our first class together—and probably before then—that newspapers are a dying breed. Unsurprisingly so, journalism and news have shifted to online coverage—as they should—in order to cater to technological advances and the shortened attention spans of the consumers of news and information. That being said, the shift to a digital newsstand should not, in theory, do anything to alter the investment in and support of reputable, artful journalism— journalism that takes risks and is careful in its creation all at once. But this is hardly the case, and proponents of properly-stylized, traditional journalism and news shudder to think that the world we have taken such creative comfort in may soon cease to exist, all at the hands of people who really just couldn’t care less about news. The culprit almost singlehandedly

within a few scrolls of my Facebook news feed, and they are all attached to BuzzFeed. We are all consumers of information, consumers of news—and we are all busy, motivated people in some form or another. This rapidly spinning world doesn’t want us unbagging a curled up newspaper and perusing it from front to back every morning. This world demands less time, less energy exertion and less content to filter in order to get us the information we need. Newspapers aren’t dying due to a lack of information—the content is there, living and breathing. But we are too preoccupied with the information we don’t need and the information we get from citizen journalists— like your mom’s Fox News recap tweets or your second cousin’s Facebook statuses—to enjoy the real, hearty, heavy stuff. Cue BuzzFeed. How can a “news” site produce such mind-melting garbage material that isn’t news at all? How does it get away with it when, according to the company’s mission statement, it asserts that it “provides the most shareable breaking news, original reporting, entertainment and video across the social web.” In its mission statement, BuzzFeed makes no mention of opinion-oriented “writers,” a term used sparingly and no doubt grudgingly here. BuzzFeed is anything but journalism. There are no sources, no evidence, no basis for rational thought—which is fine for a website, until it is considered an active “journalistic organization,” as BuzzFeed is. It is not news. It is not powerful. Journalism is dying, and when its fate lies at the suffocating hands of new organizations like this, there is little we can do to revive it. “Write something worth reading, or do something worth writing,” a quote by Benjamin Franklin—a learned, well read, heavily published guy. A guy we should probably still be listening to. But we are doing nearly everything to do the opposite. Our attention spans rival those of bowlbound goldfish. Three seconds and we’re done. One hundred and forty characters, and we’re done. A few more years, a few less print news organizations, and we’re done.

those extreme examples, the fact that there are several thousand years of Jewish case law on the books would indicate that clearly the laws of Judaism matter. And they do. But there is a core piece missing here, since, while the laws are important, they aren’t the most important things. The laws are derived from mitzvot (the plural of the word mitzvah), which means “commandments.” The generally accepted number of commandments in the Torah is 613, and while none are optional, they do not all apply to any one person. The most commonly known Jewish life cycle event is the Bar (for a male) or Bat (for a female) Mitzvah, often seen as a coming of age ritual when someone is around 13 years old. It’s an important one, since it is a mark of someone’s status in the community. In the modern era, this has often been taken to extremes, with people using a bar or bat mitzvah as an excuse to throw parties that cost more than the GDP of some nations—but it’s not about that kind of status. Bar/Bat Mitzvah is often interpreted to mean “Son/Daughter of the Commandments.” While those are what the words literally mean, it misses the actual meaning and the status conferred. To be a bar/bat “something” is to be one who is in possession of that “something.” For example, the legal status of being a bar/bat da’at, one who possesses understanding, is critical in any proceeding, as a person who is not sufficiently aware cannot be held truly accountable for their actions— and therefore can’t actually be a bar/ bat mitzvah. Because the status of bar/ bat mitzvah is about accountability, it means that someone is not only of sufficient age but, most importantly, of sufficient maturity to be held responsible for their actions and has therefore earned the status of one who is obligated to the commandments. In the modern era, there is almost a formula to this. When someone is 11 or 12 years old, he or she begins to prepare for his or her bar/bat mitzvah by learning some of the prayers, how to

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Ashley Camano is a Trinity senior. Her column runs every other Thursday. Send Ashley a message on Twitter @smashleycamando.

chant from the Torah and often how to chant a haftarah, a reading from the Books of Prophets. They’re called up to the Torah, with their family and friends present, and everyone is very happy and very proud of them. And then comes the moment for their speech, where they speak about how much they have studied, how it has changed their life, how everything will be different from now on and who are the many people whom they want to thank. It’s lovely and wonderful and everyone loves it. There is then probably a party that night, and the following Monday the kid is back in

school—because, when you’re 13, that’s pretty much what you have to do. I don’t write that to make light of the process. It’s serious, especially when you’re a kid and for your family, and it deserve to be taken seriously. But it’s hard to talk about how you’re now obligated to the commandments when you’re just as obligated to follow whatever rules your parents set (honoring your father and mother IS a commandment!) as well as whatever rules are enforced by the school (yep, honoring teachers, too) and whatever other aspects of early teen life that you have no control over. But not for an adult. In so many ways, late teen and adult life is very different. You have much more control, much more independence and so much more accountability—something that only increases over time. Committing to the mitzvot as an adult is an entirely different process, because you have full volition. It’s a significant choice to stand with and before your peers at Duke and accept the status of being a bar or bat mitzvah. It’s a significant choice to choose as an adult to begin a serious course of study in Jewish thought, knowledge, traditions, law and customs. And it’s an amazing thing to be a part of. This coming weekend marks the third year in a row that Duke has been privileged to have members of our student community take this step— the third year in a row that students have engaged in an active learning process led by their peers and celebrate together in public. And the third year in a row when the community is honored to be taught by our bar and bat mitzvah. Obligations are important, and accepting them is something to be celebrated as both individuals and as members of a community. I hope that you, too, join in celebrating that this weekend. Jeremy Yoskowitz is the campus rabbi and assistant director for Jewish life. His column runs every other Thursday. Send Rabbi Jeremy a message on Twitter @TheDukeRav.

Interested in learning more about the candidates for Young Trustee? Check out www.dukechronicle.com/pages/duke-young-trustee-2014

10 | thursDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2014

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