February 26, 2015

Recent Shootings Spotlight N.C. Hate Crime Law

Snow Day

Murder of Chapel Hill students has raised questions of how hate crimes are prosecuted at the state and federal level | Page 2

Have you ever wondered whose call it is to cancel classes? | Page 3

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

THURRSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015

WWW.DUKECHRONICLE.COM

BACK IN BLACKSBURG

ONE HUNDRED AND TENTH YEAR, ISSUE 87

Support for medical marijuana legalization off to blazing start “It’s logical. It makes sense,” says N.C. representative on pending legislation Will Walker The Chronicle

Jesús Hidalgo | The Chronicle Freshman center Jahlil Okafor returned from an ankle sprain Wednesday, recording the first 30-point game of his career and guaranteeing that the Blue Devils escaped Blacksburg, Va. with a win.

91

NO. 4 DUKE

VA TECH

86

A bill to expand the legal use of medical marijuana in North Carolina passed a first reading in the General Assembly earlier this month.

The recently announced bill—created to benefit seriously ill patients who respond well to cannabis treatment— has received support from portions of the public and policymakers. The bill is intended to help patients suffering from a wide variety of mental and physical ailments, including anorexia, cancer and Crohn’s disease.

“It’s logical. It makes sense,” said Representative Kelly M. Alexander, a Democrat. “It really boils down to the fact that there’s evidence that medical marijuana helps in a number of cases like PTSD and [side effects of] chemotherapy.”

Robert Capecchi, deputy director of state policies at the Marijuana Policy Project, said that the bill is targeted to improve the quality of life of individuals

with debilitating diseases, not necessarily the community overall.

He added that there has been inconclusive evidence that regulating medical marijuana might decrease crime rates, but North Carolina’s bill was specifically targeted at critically ill individuals and their families.

Both Alexander and Capecchi refuted the notion that the bill will increase marijuana use in the greater Durham area or in the Duke community.

“There is concern that people will use the law to get [prescriptions unethically], but that concern already exists in the prescription of medicine pill mills,” Capecchi said. “In addition, marijuana is non-lethal and lacks the life-ending side effects that certain prescription medicines have.”

Daniel Perry, Duke’s alcohol and drug senior program coordinator, wrote in an email Tuesday that the public should be informed of the side effects of marijuana consumption, regardless of if it is considered legal or not.

The discussion of this bill—officially called the North Carolina Medical Cannabis See Marijuana on Page 4

For some, humanities find answer in interdisciplinarity Jenna Zhang Local and National Editor Interdisciplinary collaborations in the humanities have emerged as a way to sustain a field increasingly besieged by criticism.

As budgets cuts and an increasingly negative public image have taken their toll, humanities researchers at Duke and elsewhere are looking for ways to revitalize their fields.

One solution has been interdisciplinary pro-

|

|

grams and research, which have traditionally been a strong suit of the University. As a result, these programs have seen major growth at Duke, although this expansion has not been without its detractors.

A new buzzword In response to criticism of a humanities education as a luxury, many departments have turned to interdisciplinary programs in order to maximize their impact as a discipline. Interdisciplinary research has served to address

|

|

|

INSIDE — News 2 Recess 5 Sports 13 Classified 17 Puzzles 17 Opinion 18

|

many “blind spots” in traditional humanities research that other institutions have failed to explore, said former Dean of Humanities Srinivas Aravamudan, a professor of English and romance studies.

“They realized fairly early on that by funding interdisciplinarity the right way, you would be doing much better than by funding the traditional areas of humanities research,” Aravamudan said. “It takes a lot of people to make what you call the ‘traditional humanities’ departments successful.”

Serving the University since 1905

|

Aravamudan noted that part of the move toward more interdisciplinary collaborations has come from a push by the University for humanities fields to be more impactful in terms of solving real-world problems. Though humanities fields have historically focused on teaching and critical thinking, newer interdisciplinary programs are emphasizing impact, he said.

“Interdisciplinarity” is a new buzzword that See Interdisciplinarity on Page 20

@dukechronicle

|

© 2015 The Chronicle

www.dukechronicle.com

2 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015

The Chronicle

Murder of Chapel Hill students calls attention to hate crimes Case has raised questions about role of evidentiary standard and hate crime prosecutions Neelesh Moorthy The Chronicle The murders of three Muslim students in Chapel Hill earlier this month have brought national attention once again to how hate crimes are prosecuted.

Craig Stephen Hicks was indicted on three counts of first-degree murder by a grand jury Feb. 16, but neither state nor federal prosecutors have indicated plans to charge him with a hate crime.

Public discourse over the deaths of Deah Shaddy Barakat, Yusor Mohammad AbuSalha and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, however, has focused heavily on whether religious hatred played a role. The case has raised questions about the role and purpose of hate crime prosecution, as well as the evidentiary standard needed to bring hate crime charges in the first place.

North Carolina has an ethnic intimidation law that prosecutors could pursue against Hicks, said Darrell Miller, a professor at the Duke School of Law. “The law says that if a person—because of race, color, religion, nationality or country of origin—assaults another person or damages or defaces the property of another person, or threatens to do any such act, they shall be guilty of a class one misdemeanor,” Miller said.

It is still unclear whether or not an ethnic intimidation charge would serve any practical purpose. Colon Willough-

by, former Wake County district attorney and a current partner at McGuireWoods LLP, noted that Hicks could be punished severely without ethnic intimidation charges.

“The question that I think prosecutors will look at is whether seeking a charge of ethnic intimidation will, in practical terms, change the equation of what happens in the case,” Willoughby said. “If you’re prosecuting and you convict someone for three counts of first-degree murder, there are only two sentences, death or life imprisonment without parole.”

Willoughby also added that tacking on an ethnic intimidation charge might actually do a disservice to the prosecution.

“You’re looking at a charge that would require the state to prove the motive of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt, when in order to prove firstdegree murder you would only have to prove malice and pre-meditation,” Willoughby said. “To require you to prove additional motivation beyond that is a distraction and something I don’t think prosecutors ordinarily want to bind themselves to.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is conducting a parallel investigation into the case, and it is possible for the federal government to bring hate crime charges in addition to actions taken by North Carolina.

Chris Brook, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, added that similar concerns over the practicality of hate crime prosecutions can be raised at the federal level.

NOTHING

OPEN COSMIC th 9 STREET later than

on

Menu Sampling

Old School Veggie Burrito Regular Chicken Burrito Cheese Quesadilla Chicken Quesadilla Veggie Nachos Chips & Salsa

Open until 4 am

$2.99 $6.29 $2.49 $4.99 $3.99 $2.49

1920 1/2 Perry St. at Ninth Street Just a block from East Campus

Now served at JB’s hot dog stand

Lesley-Chen Young | The Chronicle Members of the Triangle community gathered for a vigil in Chapel Hill earlier this month following the murder of three local college students.

“If you have a situation where somebody is sentenced to life imprisonment without parole or death, obviously an additional ten years of prison is from a practical standpoint not going to have any sentencing outcome,” Brook said.

“It’s only going to matter if the sentence was less than one of those two.”

It would be unlikely for the federal

government to bring hate crime charges if Hicks were to be already convicted of first-degree murder, said Kami Chavis Simmons, a former federal prosecutor and current director of the Criminal Justice Program at Wake Forest Law School.

“What you often see is that the See Crime on Page 4

The Chronicle

www.dukechronicle.com

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015 | 3

Snow 2015: ‘anticipating the worst’

Who cancels class?

A

s snow began to fall Tuesday afternoon, students took to social media begging Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta to cancel classes—and berating him when he did not. Wednesday evening, the reaction was the opposite, as students praised Moneta for Thursday’s snow day.

But though Moneta is responsible for communicating the news of canceled classes to students, he is not responsible for canceling classes himself.

That decision falls to Provost Sally Kornbluth, who makes one choice for all 10 of the University’s schools.

The choice to cancel classes is separate from the University’s decision to enact the Severe Weather and Emergency Conditions policy, said Vice President of Administration Kyle Cavanaugh. The severe weather policy requires all essential operations to remain open, but allows for the closure or cancellation of all others.

“There’s a number of different scenarios where they run in parallel,” Cavanaugh said of the severe weather policy and the cancellation of classes.

Izzi Clark and Jesús Hidalgo | The Chronicle Duke announced that all classses during the day Thursday would be canceled as a result of the snow accumulation expected Wednesday evening.

from 6 p.m. Wednesday to noon Thursday. Snow began falling at approximately 9 p.m. Wednesday, with nighttime acNews Editor cumulation predicted to be anywhere The heaviest snowfall of the year so far between 5 and 9 inches. An additional led to canceled classes for the third time one to two inches are expected Thursday in two weeks. morning.

Just after 5 p.m. Wednesday, Duke Buses and vans stopped running at 10 announced that all classes during the p.m. Wednesday, and a number of eatday Thursday eries and campus facilities announced would be canThursday closures—including Twinnie’s, Blue Express, Saladelia Cafe at the Sanceled, with the ford School of Public Policy and the RuSevere Weather and Emergenbenstein Library.

Check for updates cy Conditions Duke had been monitoring the forepolicy in effect throughout the day cast for several days in anticipation of from 7 a.m. unonline at www.duke- the snowfall, Vice President for Admintil 5 p.m. A deistration Kyle Cavanaugh said. chronicle.com. cision on eveRepresentatives from facilities manning classes will be made later Thursday. agement, parking and transportation The National Weather Service issued services, residential life, Duke Police a winter weather advisory for Durham and the Duke University Health System

Emma Baccellieri

More Online

Good luck Blue Devils We accept

Free cinna-zo's with any order during a duke basketball game

duke points

collaborate on the decision to enact the weather policy—which requires all essential operations to remain open but allows for the closure or cancellation of all others.

Provost Sally Kornbluth is responsible for the decision to cancel classes.

Much of North Carolina was hit by the storm, though the Piedmont region took the biggest hit. Governor Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency Wednesday morning, emphasizing the need for drivers to stay off the roads when at all possible.

“We hope to be overprepared and underwhelmed by the weather, but we are anticipating the worst,” he said in a press conference.

An inch of snow last week led to canceled classes Feb. 17, and classes were canceled Wednesday morning due to a dusting of snow and the threat of ice.

FISHMONGER’S Restaurant, Crab House & Oyster Bar since 1983

Oysters $12/Dozen Friday 2-6pm Follow us on Twitter @Fishmongers_Dur 806 W. Main Street • Durham (across from Brightleaf Square) Open 7 days a week serving Lunch and Dinner

682-0128 • www.fishmongers.net

SPECIALTY

PIZZAS WRAPS SALADS SUBS

309.3696

order online: enzospizzaco.com

2608 erwin rd.

Looking for drivers. Flexible hours. Contact for more information

We would love to cater your NEXT business or festive occASION

dukechronicle.com

4 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015

The Chronicle

www.dukechronicle.com

CRIME

continued from page 2

Thu Nguyen | The Chronicle

MARIJUANA continued from page 1

Act—comes months after Governor Pat McCrory signed a law allowing limited use of medical marijuana to treat seizures in July.

A portion of Duke students and members of the Durham community will use cannabis recreationally regardless of whether it is legal or not, Perry said.

“I think what the message is with the legalization is what is important,” Perry said.

“Just because it is legal does not mean it is safe. Just because it is considered medicinal does not mean you shouldn’t be informed before putting it in your body.

That is why there are so many labels and information sheets given when a prescrip-

to the drug without medical licenses. tion from a pharmacy is purchased.”

As the bill gains momentum, many “Making marijuana medically legal will not Duke students support its cause. have any impact on the Duke community,” “It’s illogical for the he said. government not to leSupporters of the bill, galize marijuana bet’s illogical for the gov- however, urged Duke Unicause we could earn ernment not to legal- versity to integrate the posmoney from taxing it, sibly beneficial treatment and we could spend ize marijuana because we into its medical plan, if less taxpayer money could earn money from tax- that means allowing docimprisoning kids who ing it, and we could spend tors to prescribe cannabis were caught with maritreatment to those who juana. All that does is less taxpayer money im- actually need it. ruin someone’s life and prisoning kids who were “I would hope that waste taxpayer money,” caught with marijuana. as an institution of freshman Emelina Vienhigher learning that neau said.

— Emelina Vienneau Duke would allow stuFreshman Jamie Barry dents with severe illsaid that marijuana is prevalent on Duke’s ness to use marijuana to continue their campus currently, and students have access studies,” Capecchi said.

I

federal government acts as a backstop,” Simmons said. “Criminal justice issues are typically local in nature, so you’re not going to have the federal government intervening unless they think that there was an extreme or manifest lack of justice. Where you’ve got a conviction for a crime as serious as murder, this is not likely to happen.”

Brook, however, added that prosecutors must consider other benefits than sentence enhancements when deciding if to press hate crime charges.

“I think that these prosecutions can serve a symbolic purpose as well,” Brook said. “We’re dealing with a broader societal sense of Islamophobia and a number of activities throughout the country where Muslims have been intimidated or harmed due to their religious beliefs, and I think there is great importance in standing up for what our Constitution has always stood up for in the rights of minorities.”

Before either state or federal prosecutors can grapple with those issues, they first must determine whether Hicks’ behavior meets the standards of what constitutes a hate crime—a question that has yet to be settled.

First amendment concerns would make it difficult for the prosecution to argue that Hicks meets these standards, Brook said.

Miller added that Hicks’ public Facebook posts on religion—in which he, as an atheist, seemingly criticizes all faiths and not Islam in particular—might make it harder to prove hate crime was committed in this case.

“If his motivation was against just religion in general, I think it makes it harder to show this was really a motivating factor with regards to these specific individuals,” Miller said. “I’m not sure a disfavoring of all religions is enough to show an animus against one person’s specific religion.”

Simmons noted that, ultimately, it is premature to assume that this crime was a hate crime or that a hate crime prosecution will be brought by either North Carolina or the federal government.

“I understand that members of the Muslim community may be viewing this as a hate crime,” he said. “I’ve heard about the manner in which these victims were killed, shot in the back of the head execution-style, and that perhaps the victims themselves felt targeted due to their religion, and that’s why I think (the possibility of a hate crime) should be investigated. We just have to wait and see what the fruits of that investigation are to figure out what happened.”

R

The Chronicle

www.dukechronicle.com

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015 | 5

recess

VOLUME 15, ISSUE 22

FEBRUARY 26, 2015

Recess

A chat with Retta Stirleaf Parks and Recreation star comes to Duke, page 8

R 66||THURSDAY, THURSDAY,FEBRUARY FEBRUARY26, 26,2015 2015

recess editors

Queen Elsa got mad...

Katie Fernelius................snow angels Gary Hoffman.............................igloo Stephanie Wu................. ice sculpture Drew Haskins .............snowshoe hare

Sid Gopinath ......................minnesota Izzi Clark ....................... Chionoecetes

More Online

Check out the Recess online blog for more great content!

The The Chronicle Chronicle

www.dukechronicle.com

recess

My mom always told me that I was born during one of the great snowstorms of Ann Arbor, Michigan—a storm that brought into existence snow so plentiful, my parents had to wait a few extra days before they could leave the hospital and introduce me to their—now, our—cozy apartment. They gave me a Chinese name, my middle name: (Xue Ni), which means “snow girl.” If you look carefully at the character for Xue, you can see the snow that was falling past the window as I entered this world.

21 years later, I have come to conclude that I was not born in snow; I was born from snow.

“Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes” Maria, The Sound of Music A few winters ago, when the Midwest was hit by one of the greatest snowstorms in its history, the snow piled up so high against the side of our garage door, it carried with it more disgruntled faces and sighs of exasperation than usual. But my sister and I saw in that snow the most wonderful opportunity to build an igloo.

Enwrapping our hands in warm, fuzzy mittens that smelled slightly of pine from their last outing—mine with Winnie the Pooh characters; my sister’s, solid blue––we bundled up.

Hearts racing with excited laughter, we rushed outside and dove our hands into the avalanche of snow, packing it into great, heavy bricks, and, thus, the igloo assembly began.

Brick by brick, layer by layer, we packed the snow together. At times,

Recess

a side caved in and bricks were way again. smashed, but little by little the snow by the garage door cleared and found “…watching the night snow fall, a new home in the humble abode we noticing that snow contains myriad had since constructed. nows” Ann Lauterbach, The Night I construct Sky with the snow dentity and experience that originally Identity and experience are forever intertwined, constructed are forever intertwined, as me. experiences, like snowfall, as experiences, like snowfall, S l o w l y , are unique in their every mo- are unique in their every the snow moment, and can be had d i s a p p e a r e d ment or passed by in a matter of and gave way seconds. It is in a matter to a small of seconds that a life and pond that an identity can be brought formed where there used to be into existence, changed, or lost. a home. Then, the small pond I cherish these nows as I stand disappeared and gave way to a patch in the middle of the latest snowfall, of green grass that poked its head out generously allowing the snowflakes toward the sun, taking in its first gulp to stay on my nose and eyelashes. of light and wintry air.

As I stand here, I unconsciously Science tells us that every allow myself to live and accept each snowflake is unique in its design individual moment that I experience, and in its construction, which means and allow these moments to shape that there are infinite possibilities of and build my unique identity. human experience because no two But, isn’t it tragic how the laws snowflakes are exactly alike. of nature dictate the spontaneous Looking up towards the hazy sky, transformation of individually I watch the snowflakes gently spiral unique snowflakes into a sea of down, cherishing every moment as homogeneity? it passes by—all these moments that can never be experienced the same - Stephanie Wu

I

Drake releases solid yet familiar new mixtape Drew Haskins Campus Arts Editor It has been a rough month for the Cash Money label. For years, Birdman’s business has been home to stars like Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Tyga and, of course, Drake. The month of February has seen both Weezy’s lawsuit to free himself from his contract and the surprise release of Drake’s fourth mixtape If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late. The latter is an interesting way to exploit a loophole; the mixtape, due to its atypically commercial release, will count towards the four-album requirement he owes to the label, thus severing his contract. It is a savvy move on Drake’s part—one that points to even more creative flexibility in the future— but it begs the question of whether or not such a haphazardly released work is of equally haphazard quality. If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late is the weakest of his four main commercial releases but still a solid artistic statement and a worthwhile listen.

The main knock against If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late is its pervasive sense of familiarity. Simply put, there is nothing here that Drake has not done before.

Most of the mixtape’s tracks are produced by his two main collaborators, Noah “40” Shebib and Boi-1da, and there is little in the way of sonic innovation. “40”’s production is more of his usual narcotic haze, though it is still a great canvas for Drake’s introspective musings. Boi-1da fares slightly better, called in whenever the album needs a shot of caffeine, but, in general, the mixtape’s songs run together like slurred words.

Drake is in fine form technically, yet

Special to the Chronicle

lyrically he seems to be stuck in a bit of a rut. Since his second album, Take Care, Drizzy has been our saddest rapper (hence the bevy of Internet memes lampooning his moping), and the combination of syrup-slow beats and self-loathing is numbing over the course of sixteen tracks.

Many of his best songs tap into latent human insecurity—his 2013 collaboration with Jhené Aiko, “From Time,” is one of my favorite rap songs ever—but one longs for a little more playfulness in his work. It seems like it has been a while since Drake has seemed happy, and If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late does nothing to really dispel this notion.

That said, taken on its own merits and circumstance, the mixtape has its moments. “6 God,” released back in November, is far and away the best song here, full of swaggering braggadocio and callbacks to his old work (listen for the guttural “Worst!” from “Worst Behavior”).

“Preach,” a unique collaboration with the producer PARTYNEXTDOOR, is the type of slow-burning club-thumper that simultaneously echoes deep house and ‘90’s rap. It is an intoxicating brew that hints at a delightful new path for Drake’s music. Only a few other rappers (Vic Mensa, Nicki Minaj, Young Paris and Azealia Banks) have attempted the deep house/rap fusion, and Drake could be a likely candidate to succeed at this mix due to his prodigious rapping and singing skills. That will have to wait for the next album, which will hopefully be a step up from this one. Drake should be considered an essential part of the rap canon at this point, but If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, for all of its merits, sounds as tossed off as its physical release.

The The Chronicle Chronicle

www.dukechronicle.com

recess

THURSDAY, THURSDAY,FEBRUARY FEBRUARY26, 26,2015 2015||77

Duke alumn wins Grammy for Latin Jazz production

Recess

Special to the Chronicle

Linda Yu The Chronicle At the 57th Grammy Awards pretelecast, Associate Director of Duke Performances Eric Oberstein, (T ’07) won the Best Latin Jazz Album Grammy for his work as producer on the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra album The Offense of the Drum. He stood smiling on the stage with the album’s contingent and Orchestra’s director, famed jazz musician Arturo O’Farrill, who accepted the award.

“We were somewhere in the middle of the pack, and when we heard our name it was pretty remarkable,” Oberstein said.

This was his second time at the Grammys, as one of the Orchestra’s earlier albums was nominated for a Grammy in 2011, but did not win.

“This time, all of the other nominees were incredibly strong,” Oberstein said.

“The Latin jazz community is a small but mighty community. We’re all working as friends and collaborators, and it was really great to see other nominees get recognized.”

This victory makes him the only Duke employee, including faculty, who has won a Grammy award. In October of last year, he and the Orchestra also won a Latin Grammy for their effort Final Night at Birdland.

“I don’t feel particularly notable,” he said. “I feel like a regular Duke alum.”

Latin jazz, the genre Oberstein and

the Orchestra work in, is a mixture of American jazz music and Cuban music that sprung partly from famed 1947 collaborations between American jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and the Cuban percussionist Chano Pozo.

Oberstein is half-Cuban, and he said he grew up with Cuban music “in the blood.”

“My family was always playing music and we would have these family parties in Queens at my great aunt’s house where they would be playing all sorts of styles of Cuban music and all sorts of music across Latin America,” he said. “We were taught to appreciate and respect the music from Cuba.”

At Duke, he was a member of Duke’s Afro Cuban Jazz ensemble and wrote his thesis on Cuban music following the Soviet collapse.

Oberstein has been involved with the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra since 2007 in various capacities, first as an intern, and later as creative director.

Now he moonlights from his day job at Duke Performances as a producer for the group—a position he describes as a “labor of love.”

“This is a passion project for me; it grows out of my free time and it’s music that I love and my heritage,” he said.

“To work with these artists I admire as colleagues—that is the beautiful part of it for me.”

Director of Duke Performances Aaron Greenwald said he thinks that Oberstein’s

two jobs complement each other.

“Being an able performing arts presenter and working as a producer allows you to keep on your feet,” Greenwald said. “We’re really proud of him… I really appreciate the work and the incredible intelligence that he brings to his job here.”

Oberstein and O’Farrill worked on the album for several years before releasing it in May 2014 as the collective’s fourth record.

“The concept of the album is that the drum—especially in Latin jazz and Latin music—holds significance. It’s the beat that emanates from all of us,” Oberstein said. “We see the drum as a powerful instrument.”

The title of the album was inspired by a historical moment when drum circles were banned from New York City public parks. The “offense” refers to the drum’s resistance to being silenced.

The album itself features over 30 types of percussion instruments and is meant to represent the depth and variety of Latin jazz music. Oberstein said that the majority of tracks came from concerts the Orchestra would hold with different performers and features the most successful of these collaborations.

The artists on The Offense are eclectic and range from jazz pianist and Harvard professor Vijay Iyer (“Mad Hatter”) to spoken word artist Chilo (“They Came”).

“Arturo is very much about both honoring and preserving the origins of

the music at this time but pushing the music forward and commissioning new pieces and really exploring what the music can be,” Oberstein said.

One of the collaborators on the album is another Duke alum, saxophonist Todd Bashore (T ’94), who arranged the last track on the album, “Iko Iko”.

“It was originally for a concert at Symphony Space titled CubaNOLA, which explored the rhythmic relationship between Cuban music and music from New Orleans,” Bashore said.

This is the second album he has been involved with that has won a Grammy. Bashore was an alto sax chair on O’Farrill’s legendary father’s band before it dissolved several years ago and was replaced by the Afro Cuban Jazz Orchestra.

“He’s an unbelievable saxophonist,” Oberstein said. “And we got to bond over love for Latin jazz and our love for Duke basketball.”

Oberstein and O’Farrill are currently working on their sixth album, which is tentatively titled The Conversation Continued. The two were recording in Cuba for the project during Christmas when President Barrack Obama announced that his administration was going to begin normalizing relations with Cuba.

“I landed in Cuba during the morning of the historic announcement,” Oberstein said. “Being a producer engaged in this music, this was surreal and remarkable.”

The Chronicle

www.dukechronicle.com

recess

8 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015

A talk with Retta Stirleaf of Parks and Recreation

on the call sheet will dictate the vibe of that show. Amy is very protective of all of us but she also doesn’t f*** around. She’s like “get to the point, what do you want?

Don’t dance around, don’t sing around, tell me what you need so we can help you.”

We once had this one English guy––cute, he can get it––directing and he was doing like 15 or 20 takes, and no one’s gonna be obnoxious, and I remember he would say, “okay, one more?” and Amy would say, “Okay...one more?” “One more.” “J-just one more?” So we do the one more and he’s like “Okay one more” and Amy says, “Uh, I think we got it.” I’m so lucky to have been a part of such a cool cast.

Dillon Francis The Chronicle Last Wednesday, when all of Duke was a-stirring for the UNC game, Parks and Recreation star Retta Sirleaf slipped onto campus to join in the Blue Devil hype for one of the most nail-biting and intense basketball games of the year. However, Retta isn’t just a die-hard Cameron Crazie.

She’s also an alumuna of the class of ‘92.

As part of her homecoming before the big game, Retta stopped by Bostock for a small lunch with a few student artstigators to talk about her success in the television industry. The basis of this lunch was a kumbaya-type gathering where students had a question and answer session with Retta. Amazing right?

How did your undergraduate career translate into a career in the comedy and television?

Here’s the breakdown of the discussion at the lunch.

How did you develop your character Donna Meagle on Parks and Recreation?

RS: So when I first got hired, I was a glorified extra. My character wasn’t even really in the script. They actually created a scene for me to audition. They told me, in a couple of episodes they might have this happen. But I had no written dialogue in the pilot. Then I remember Amy [Poehler] improvised a scene. I wasn’t an improv-er. There was a board and there was a leaf pinned to it and so she as Leslie, was showing the camera men the office and she was like “This is Donna... so Donna, where’d this leaf come from?”

I said, “From outside.” She thought it was hilarious and I was still throwing up inside. Like I said we got to improv a little

Special to the Chronicle

bit, and by season three, I became a series regular. By then, the writers know who you are and a lot of the characteristics you find of the characters on the show are parts of you. The only reason Donna sings on the show is because I sing. The episode where Leslie gets Donna the robe that says “He can get it.” that is something I always say.

The writers would always hear me say about somebody hot all the time, “girl, he can get it.” You shape the character in how you perform, but the writers decide what

Recess

you do in the show.

What was the dynamic on set?

RS: We are very lucky because we all really do get along. The actors, we get along with our crew and we are really close to our crew. This makes this harder to leave this show. There are shows where the leads don’t speak unless they’re shooting because the leads don’t like each other.

This group is not like that. The first person

Retta Sirleaf: I was premed so...(laughs)... but I did a black theatre group and I sang in the black mass choir. I was a math and science girl, but the medical schools wanted more well-rounded students, so I said okay, well, I’ll do sociology: “the science of people.” I was always funny...but when I’m doing stand up it [my sociology background] gave me the sense of getting the vibe from people. I was always focusing on that one person who wasn’t going to laugh, and that was the person at the end of the show who came up to me and said, “You were so f****** funny!”

More Online

Get the rest of the interview on the Recess online blog!

Duke University Chapel cHriStopHer present JacobSon ALUMNI FILMMAKER HOMECOMING - PETER JORDAN ‘01 SCREENING AND Q&A WITH THE FILMMAKER

About the Filmmaker: Peter Jordan is an award-winning filmmaker who has produced films for international and grassroots organizations in more than 15 countries.

Sunday, January 25, 2015 5:00 p.m.

C

Organ Recitals M 2015 r arie

ubiS

bauer

Marie rubis bauer

Sunda 5:00 p

Christopher Jacobson was appointed Chapel Organist and Divinity School Organist at Duke University in the summer of 2014.

He received a BA in English and a Previous positions have included Associate Organist at Trinity Certificate in Film & Video from THE DAWN WALL Sunday, March 1 EVERY ONE OF US Duke University in 2001. After Episcopal Cathedral in Columbia, South Carolina, and Assistant Peter Jordan | 2013 | 5 min Peter Jordan | 2013 | 60 sec graduation, he worked as a Hart 5:00 p.m.

Seven years in the making, this is the story of What if every person on the planet was Organist at Washington Fellow in Kenya, where he taught Tommy Caldwell’s historic attempt to free National Cathedral. He has won prizes connected to everyone else? a 3000 foot granite rock face. children to make their own films.

Dukerecitals Chapel inclimb several organ competitions and presented organ in In 2008, he completed an MFA in Free admission documentary filmmaking at North America, Europe, and Australia. One reviewer noted that, Stanford. “demonstrating excellent technique and mature interpretation, His work has appeared on PBS, in Bauer has performed Christopher Jacobson presented oneMarie of theRubis strongest recitals of the New York Times, and at dozens of film festivals worldwide. as an organist and harpsichordist the convention” (The American Organist).

“Kit” will present his first As an advocate his films have screened at the United States recital in Duke Chapel on the Aeolian organ. throughout the United States and in Congress, the International Conference on AIDS, and the FACEBOOK SEARCH Europe.

She has been a featured performer and/or conductor on seven A DIFFERENT KIND Peter Jordan | 2013 | 90 sec United Nations. Peter currently What if your most powerful memories were works for Facebook, managing the OF GUN CDs, including a solo recording of organ music by Wake Forest composer accessible with a keystroke? film unit of its internal creative Peter Jordan | 2007 | 15 min agency, called The Factory, and This film takes us into the hearts of children Dan Locklair. Currently she serves as the Archdiocesan Director of Music produces films for the Internet.org caught in the crossfire of Sudan’s civil wars.

Winner of the United Nations Gold Medal. initiative. and Cathedral Organist at Saint Cecilia Cathedral in Omaha, Nebraska, as PEOPLE YOU MAY KNOW well as founding artistic director of the Omaha Bach Festival and Omaha Peter Jordan | 2012 | 3 min MONDAY A man pieces together the relationships that Baroque. Her recital at Duke, presented on the Brombaugh and Flentrop constitute his life after waking one day to N discover his memories have vanished.

D organs, will include music by early Italian and German composers plus THE FIRST KID TO LEARN works of Bach and Distler.

7 PM ENGLISH FROM MEXICO

MARCH 02

Peter Jordan | 2008 | 20 min

CDS AUDITORIUM

Through the eyes of 9-year-old Pedro, this short documentary portrays the magic, the nightmare and mystery, the isolation and odd friendships, the trouble and anger, and the glimmers of hope of a childhood reluctantly spent chasing the American Dream.

1317 W. PETTIGREW ST, DURHAM

Free Screening!

Sponsored by the Program in the Arts of the Moving Image (AMI) and the Center for Documentary Studies (CDS).

http://ami.duke.edu/screensociety |

@DukeAMI |

movingimageDuke

Organ Recitals 2015

Duke university Chapel u sunDays at 5:00 pm March 22, 2015

Robert Parkins

M

Marie R through featured a solo re Locklair Music a Omaha, Omaha presente music by and Dis

The Chronicle

www.dukechronicle.com

WHO’S YOUR FAVORITE TEACHER AT DUKE? Nominate them for ADUTA by March 2 Chosen by student committee, winner announced in April www.ADUTA.dukealumni.com

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015 | 9

10 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015

www.dukechronicle.com

The Chronicle

The Chronicle

www.dukechronicle.com

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015 | 11

www.dukechronicle.com

12 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015

The Chronicle

Where Real Duke Fans Shop!

TOP QUALITY MERCHANDISE. EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE. Providing you with the largest selection of officially licensed Duke apparel, gifts and souvenirs, we are your headquarters for the largest selection of everything Duke!

Pennants Sweatshirts Ties Replica Jerseys Diploma Frames Golf Balls Watches Infant Clothing Crystal Window Decals

Glassware Sweatpants Belts Outerwear Golf Head Covers Jewelry Ceramic Mugs Basketballs Shorts Bags

T-shirts Caps Golf Shirts School Supplies License Plates Key Rings Youth Clothing Footballs Stuffed Animals Personalized Gifts

Upper Level, Bryan Center, West Campus Phone: 919.684.2344 Academic Year Store Hours: Monday - Wednesday: 8:30am - 7pm Thursday & Friday: 8:30am - 8pm | Saturday: 9am - 6pm Sunday: 11am - 4pm

www.shopdukestores.duke.edu Department of Duke University Stores速

The Chronicle

Sports

www.dukechronicle.com

The Chronicle

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015 | 13

ONLINE

DUKE BASEBALL ROUTS N.C. CENTRAL 12-1 dukechronicle.com

www.dukechroniclesports.com

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015

Men’s Basketball

Okafor’s 30 points power Duke past Hokies After missing one game to a sprained ankle, Jahlil Okafor led Duke to victory at Virginia Tech Ryan Hoerger Beat Wrier BLACKSBURG, Va.—Duke’s coaching staff had a very important question for Jahlil Okafor in the hours leading up to Wednesday night’s game: Can you play?

The freshman center had barely practiced since suffering a sprained ankle in the first half of Duke’s come-frombehind win against then-No. 15 North Carolina Feb. 18. After it became clear he wouldn’t play Feb. 22 against Clemson, head coach Mike Krzyzewski said Okafor had tears in his eyes.

Feeling rested and healthy, the Chicago native gave the Blue Devils the answer they were looking for: yes. Then he went out and proved it.

Okafor returned to the lineup with a vengeance, recording the first 30-point game of his career to help No. 4 Duke survive an upset scare from Virginia Tech with a 91-86 overtime victory at Cassell Coliseum.

“I knew for sure [I would play] when

sports

Jesús Hidalgo | The Chronicle Duke freshman center Jahlil Okafor scored a career-high 30 points against Virginia Tech to lead the Blue Devils to a 91-86 overtime victory Wednesday.

I came in the locker room. My coaches were telling me to let them know if I was going to play or not,” Okafor said.

“When I got in the locker room, I saw my teammates getting ready and I knew there was no way I wasn’t playing tonight.”

Senior Quinn Cook scored 21 of his 26 points after halftime—including a

critical corner 3-pointer with 57 seconds left in the extra session—and freshman Justise Winslow added 15 for the Blue Devils (25-3, 12-3 in the ACC). But down the stretch, Krzyzewski put the ball in the hands of his 6-foot-11 center and let him go to work.

Playing their second overtime game

in three contests, the Blue Devils fed Okafor on the block repeatedly in the extra session. The freshman backed down Satchel Pierce to give Duke the lead, then drew a foul on the Hokie freshman and hit both free throws. After another whistle on Pierce sent him to the bench with his fifth foul, Okafor came to the elbow on the next possession and dropped a lob pass in to Winslow— who had posted up his man in the nowvacated key—for a lay-up that put Duke ahead 83-80.

Okafor had a chance to win it in regulation, but missed two free throws with 21 seconds remaining. But facing single coverage on the block, the freshman put the missed opportunity in the past and scored Duke’s first four points in overtime.

“For him to play that much, and after missing the two free throws, a lot of kids would not want the ball again in the overtime,” Krzyzewski said. “And obviously, he wanted it all the time....

The kid’s a great player and a great competitor.”

Krzyzewski said that he thought Okafor would be healthy enough to play, and See M. Basketball on Page 14

Women’s Basketball

Blue Devils head to Atlanta to take on Yellow Jackets Delaney King Beat Writer The Blue Devils hope to end a twogame losing streak in their final road stint of the regular season.

No. 16 Duke suffered a drop in the rankings after falling to No. 4 Notre Dame No. 16 Duke and N.C. State in a vs. pair of double-digit Georgia losses last week, but Tech it will look to reverse the trend Thursday THURSDAY, 7 p.m. at 7 p.m. against McCamish Pavilion Georgia Tech at McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta.

“It was obviously a tough week but a great learning week,” Blue Devil head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “We saw— especially if you look at our start at Notre Dame—how dominant and focused we can be, and [we’re] learning to put 40 minutes together of that kind of focus.”

The Blue Devils (19-8, 10-4 in the ACC) were riding a six-game conference win streak that came to a screeching

halt during their two losses when they combined for 37 turnovers, three made 3-pointers in 30 attempts and their worst field goal percentage since a Jan. 22 loss at Boston College.

Duke struggled in particular against the Wolfpack, allowing 22 points from the free-throw line thanks to 23 team fouls. By the end of the game, senior guard Ka’lia Johnson fouled out, and three other Blue Devils—freshmen Rebecca Greenwell and Azura Stevens, as well as senior Elizabeth Williams— finished with four personal fouls apiece.

Duke also turned the ball over 18 times, which N.C. State converted into 28 points. “[We saw] how adversity strikes when a team may be shooting well, like at N.C. State, and the things that we need to concentrate on,” McCallie said.

“Boxing out, the details, communicating on defense—that’s been a big one for us.... Turnovers were huge—they had 28 points off turnovers.”

The Blue Devils will have to take care See W. Basketball on Page 15

Brianna Siracuse | The Chronicle Redshirt freshman Rebecca Greenwell ranks second on the team with 13.9 points per game and will look to add to her season average against the Yellow Jackets.

14 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015 14 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015

www.dukechronicle.com www.dukechroniclesports.com

M. BASKETBALL continued from page 13

Jesús Hidalgo | The Chronicle Freshman Justise Winslow scored 15 points at Virginia Tech.

that after the freshman confirmed he was feeling ready to go, the next question became one of his endurance.

The Preseason AP Player of the Year played 37 minutes and said postgame that his ankle felt fine.

After Okafor’s missed free throws near the end of regulation kept the score knotted at 77-77, the Hokies (10-18, 2-13) had a chance to spring the upset. But freshman Jalen Hudson’s runner glanced off the rim as Duke got the one stop it needed.

The Blue Devil defense was not at its best Wednesday— the Hokies shot 53.4 percent from the floor and made 12-of-22 from downtown. But just like they did against the Tar Heels, the Blue Devils clamped down with the game on the line.

“This has been our second game when they had the

sports Block Duke

The The Chronicle Chronicle ball at the end of regulation with no shot clock and we just had to get a stop,” freshman Tyus Jones said.

In the beginning, it didn’t look as though the contest would stay competitive for long. Duke rattled off 13 straight points to claim a 15-4 lead in the opening minutes, but Virginia Tech closed the first half strong, taking a 39-37 lead into the locker room after six straight points by sophomore guard Devin Wilson.

The offensive barrage continued for the Hokies out of the break, as Hudson and Adam Smith knocked in triples from opposite corners on Virginia Tech’s first two second-half possessions, baskets made even more important by Duke turnovers at the end of the floor.

“I’ve had to really tone down the practices. As a result, you get slippage,” Krzyzewski said. “The main slippage is in defense, when you don’t practice as much.

We’ve got to pace our guys, and for practice, with Jah hurt, you’ve got seven guys.... We’re in it for the long haul, and we have to do those things, but you’re going to have slippage.”

Duke’s freshman quartet scored 30 of the team’s 37 first-half points, but it was two upperclassmen who got the Blue Devils back on track.

After Winslow split defenders in transition for a dunk, Cook and Matt Jones scored eight straight points in less than a minute—the final three coming on a Jones triple near the top of the key off a broken play—to retake a 59-57 lead with 10:40 to play. Cook was held to just five points in the first half, but made five of his six 3-pointers after intermission.

“Quinn, who had not been playing [well for the] first game in—again, he’s a human being—all of a sudden he’s there,” said Krzyzewski, who has given Cook just one minute of rest in the last five games. “He’s knocking down threes and all of a sudden it turns into being— wow.... We finally participated at the level that we needed to to be at the level of winning.”

After a long bus ride to Durham through the snow— one that would have felt even longer with a loss—Duke will face Syracuse Saturday at 7 p.m. at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Hooded Sweatshirt Colors: Oxford Available Sizes: S - 2XL Fabric Content: 9oz., 80% cotton, 20% polyester Offer cannot be combined with any other discount/sale.

Offer valid Tuesday, February 24 through Monday, March 2, 2015, or while supplies last.

13

$

Available in the following locations:

The University Store

Upper Level, Bryan Center

Medical Center Bookstore

Lower Level, Duke Clinics

SHOPDUKESTORES.DUKE.EDU

Compared to $3695 and $3995 each Jesús Hidalgo | The Chronicle Senior guard Quinn Cook scored 26 points in Wendesday’s win, giving him 20 or more points in the past four of five

The The Chronicle Chronicle

www.dukechronicle.com www.dukechroniclesports.com

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015 | 15 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015 | 15

W. BASKETBALL continued from page 13

not to turn the ball over Thursday, especially into the hands of Yellow Jacket leading scorer Kaela Davis, who ranks second in the conference with 20.3 points per game. The guard has already broken the Georgia Tech single-season record for points scored by a sophomore, and she is 42 points away from breaking the school’s all-time single-season record.

“You’re not going to stop a player of that caliber,” McCallie said. “She’s going to get a lot of shots, but we’re going to try to contest them hard and limit her touches as much as we can.... She’s very athletic, so there’s a lot of work to do. And it’s not just one person—it’s the whole team.”

The Yellow Jackets (15-13, 5-9) also bring a strong rebounding presence to the court Thursday. Duke leads the conference with 30.4 defensive rebounds per game, but Georgia Tech ranks third in the ACC with 16.8 offensive boards on average, meaning the Blue Devils will have to box out to and compete every time a shot goes up on the Yellow Jacket end.

“Communicating on defense, that’s been a big one for us,” McCallie said. “There are many times where defensive spacing is a huge part of the game. When you have great defensive spacing and everyone communicates, you also rebound well, so [we have to make] sure that we do this for 40 minutes.”

On the offensive end, Duke needs to put together a team effort instead of relying on the success of a select few. In Sunday’s loss, Greenwell managed 16 points but went just 2-of-11 from beyond the arc. Stevens and Williams combined for 32 points, yet they turned the ball over 10 times and both struggled with foul trouble.

Despite individual mistakes and triumphs, the Blue Devils have functioned best this season as a collective unit.

“You really focus on a team perspective,” McCallie said. “I know there are some good individual things, and that’s great—I’m not opposed to that at all— but for the most part... we really focus on the team perspective.”

Thursday’s contest marks Duke’s final road experience before the postseason, when the road games will have the added win-or-go-home tournament pressure. The Blue Devils currently sit at fourth in the conference with their four losses and must do their best not to sink any lower if they hope to receive a second-round bye in the ACC tournament.

Duke has proven its ability to beat the highestranked teams, but it has also ended up on the wrong side of several upsets—N.C. State among them. The Blue Devils must practice consistency while they still have a guarantee of when they will play next.

Brianna Siracuse | The Chronicle Freshman Azura Stevens has scored 13 points in the Blue Devils’ past two games—both road defeats—and Duke will need another solid performance from the forward against the Yellow Jackets to stop the losing streak at two games.

SCORE WITH PAPA JOHN’S! Better Ingredients.

Better Pizza.

DUKE WINS, YOU WIN! 50% off online orders the day after a Duke men’s basketball win.

Promo code: bluedevils

sports We accept Duke Points!

919.682.7272 papajohns.com

Duke University Office of Global Strategy and Programs Presents

DaME ALISoN RICHaRD 2015 von der Heyden Fellow TuE, MarCH 3

WEd, MarCH 4

Duke Lemur Center, Beach House Classroom 12:00 - 1:00 pm

LSRC B101 (Love Auditorium) Duke University 4:45 - 5:45 pm (Reception to Follow)

“ The Curious Case of the Disappearing Mouse Lemur”

THuR, MarCH 5 Great Hall, Trent Semans Center for Health Education Duke University 6:00 - 7:00 pm

“Par tnership in Practice: Making Conservation Work in Madagascar” (Introduction by President Richard H. Brodhead)

“Madagascar Rediscovered: Myth, History, and Science”

Brianna Siracuse | The Chronicle Senior center Elizabeth Williams leads the Blue Devils in both points—14.8—and rebounds—8.5—per game.

All events are free and open to the public.

Learn more: global.duke.edu/lemurs

16 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015

www.dukechroniclesports.com www.dukechronicle.com

The Chronicle

ATTENTION: BONFIRE GUIDELINES February 25, 2015 The University has requested a City bonfire permit for March 1, 2015 (UNC Women at Duke). We want to remind you about safety guidelines for basketball bonfires at Duke. Several years ago, the Durham Fire Marshal revoked permits following a bonfire that, in his view, had gotten out of control. Students and administrators subsequently agreed on the guidelines outlined below which will help ensure everyone’s safety.

1. The bonfire site is in front of House P. The bonfire must be contained within a 40-foot marked boundary and everyone should remain outside that boundary.

sports

2. Do not put furniture in the bonfire.

3. Periodically, the bonfire must burn down to a safe height. During “burn downs,” no additional fuel may be added to the bonfire.

4. Bring beverages in plastic bottles or cans.

5. Do not sit or stand on building roofs.

6. Do not add fuel to the fire more than two hours following the game.

7. The use of any accelerant is prohibited.

8. Bonfires on any other day or at any other location are not permitted. Students who participate in a bonfire on any other day or at any other location may be subject to prosecution.

Celebrating basketball victories with a bonfire is a Duke tradition. Follow these basic safety rules so we can maintain this tradition for years to come.

The Chronicle

www.dukechroniclesports.com www.dukechronicle.com

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015 | 17

CLASSIFIEDS ANNOUNCEMENTS A LOT OF CARS INC. Downpayments start at $425� Layaway w/$500� Duke Student/ EmployeeID(or this ad) $150 discount� 3119 N� Roxboro St�(next to BP gas station) www� alotofcarsnc�com� Owned by Duke Alumni 919-220-7155

$25 NCSTATE INSPECTION W/THIS AD OR DUKE ID.

50% OFF LABOR w/Duke ID� A LOT OF CARS AUTO CARE (3100 �N� Roxboro Street) Owned by Duke Alumnus (919)246-0066

ALL THE BEER YOU CAN DRINK

HOLTON PRIZE IN EDUCATION

NC Craft Beers, Live National Blues Artist and

Three cash prizes of $500 will be awarded for outstanding research in education-related fields� Application deadline is April 17, 2015� For applications and information:

Beautiful Sunny Skys all for only $35 until Feb 28th� The Durham Blues and Brews Festival, May 30th Durhams Central Park� Get you reduced priced tickets now while they last!

Become a residential counselor with Duke Youth Programs!

For more information, contact Duke Youth Programs at 6842827 or youth@duke�edu� Email tpatters@duke�edu

CHILD CARE NEEDED

Family of 3 daughters (12, 8 and

Advertise here for

1 year the old) is looking for a few best results baby sitters� Located in Southwest Durham� Must have own transportation dukechronicle.com and be a non-smoker� $12 - $15 per hour�classifieds jennifer_ogle@hotmail�com Email scott�ogle@sageworks� com TGIF

FALL 2015

No plans for the summer? Like working with young people?

Want to make a difference?

2015 SUMMER CAMP STAFF NEEDED

APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE online at housecrs�trinity�duke� edu

Recess ~ today!

The City of Raleigh Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Resources Department wants you to work in our summer camp programs this summer! The Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Resources Department offers over 100 camps for participants aged 3-18 years old� Applicants, 18 years old and older, are needed to fill positions including: camp counselor, camp director, camp specialist, and other positions� To apply for summer camp vacancies visit www�raleighnc�gov/ employment� For More Information Contact: Joseph Voska 919996-6165

sports

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION: Friday, March 6, 2015

Inquiries to: kt125@duke�edu

The Chronicle classified advertising

TRAVEL/VACATION sudoku_468B

HELP WANTED

TEACH A HOUSE COURSE!

ROOM FOR RENT

Created by Peter Ritmeester/Presented by Will Shortz

http://educationprogram�duke� edu/undergraduate/awards� Open to Duke undergraduates� Faculty contacts: Dr� Zoila Airall (zoila�airall@duke�edu), Dr� Barbara Jentleson (barbara�jentleson@duke�edu) or Dr� Jan Riggsbee (jrigg@duke�edu)

Durhambluesandbrewsfestival� com

RESIDENTIAL COUNSELORS NEEDED!

CHILD CARE

LG. FURNISHED BR FOR RENT

BAHAMAS SPRING BREAK

1

3

7 2 5

5 $189 FOR 5 Days� All 8prices include: Round-trip luxury 4 2 party cruise� Accommoda8 3 9 tions on the island at your 1 choice of 6 thirteen resorts� Appalachia Travel� www�Ba4 hamaSun�com 800-867-5018

in private home on 2nd floor in CH/Durham Cty� off Raleigh Rd -Hway 40 not far from Duke� Walkin closet, storage, lg� bath� Incl� utilities, cable, wireless; use of den/entertainment room, kitchen, dining room, patio� Parking in driveway� $875/ mon� Negotiable for right fit� Quiet� No drugs, pets, or smoking� One month security� Prefer graduate student� References required� Available summer (or earlier) or fall semester� Send email with name and phone to blaisenoto@ gmail�com�

9

3

3

468B

Distributed by The New York Times syndicate

(c) PZZL.com

Solution sudoku_468B

8 1 7 6 4 9 2 5 3

4 6 2 5 1 3 7 8 9

5 3 9 7 8 2 1 4 6

2 8 1 4 3 6 5 9 7

9 4 5 8 2 7 3 6 1

3 7 6 9 5 1 8 2 4

7 2 4 1 9 5 6 3 8

1 5 8 3 6 4 9 7 2

Sportswrap ~ today!

Walk to Duke!

Trinity (919)309-9765 Properties www.TrinityProp.com East Campus

West Campus

Georgetown Poplar West Governor Campus Walk Murchison Anderson The New York Times Syndication Sales Corporation

620 Eighth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10018 Unique historic properties For Information Call:and 1-800-972-3550 For Release Thursday, February 26, 2015

www.dukechronicle.com/classifieds sudoku_468B

Created by Peter Ritmeester/Presented by Will Shortz

Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.

(No number is repeated in any column, row or box.)

1

3

Crossword

7 2 5 5 8

4 8 3 6

ACROSS

2 9 1 4

9

3

3 (c) PZZL.com

468B

Distributed by The New York Times syndicate

Find the answers to the Sudoku puzzle on Solution sudoku_468B the classifieds page

8 4 5 2 9 3 7 1 6 The Chronicle 1 6 3 8 4 7 2 5 9 Our snow day activities: Deciding what hoodie7 to not2 eventually 9 wear: 1 ���������������������������������� 5 6 4 mouses 8 3 Yearning for Chipotle: ��������������������������������������������������������������������������stiehmy Not leaving bed: ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������� embatch 6 5 7 4 8 9 1 3 2 Do you want to build a snowman?: �����������������������������������������������goldenboy Midterms and Chron...and snow angels: ����������������������������������������nickatnite Enjoy 8:30 snowoga: ������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 4 1 8 3 2 5 9 6izzizzi 7 Snow ball fight in 301!:������������������������������������������������������������� nationalparke stahp iz dont kno: ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������� khloek 9 3 2 6 7 1 5 4 8 Barb Starbuck is going to enjoy her day off, as she should: ������������������Barb Student Advertising Manager: ������������������������������������������������������������Liz Lash 2 7 1 5 3 8 6 9 4 Account Representatives: ����John Abram, Maria Alas Diaz, Alyssa Coughenour Sophie Corwin, Tyler Deane-Krantz, Davis English, Philip Foo 5 8 4 9 6 2 3 7 1 Kathryn Hong, Rachel Kiner, Elissa Levine, John McIlavaine Nicolaas Mering, Brian Paskas, Juliette Pigott , Nick Philip, Maimuna Yussuf 3 9 6 7 1 4 8 2 Creative Services Student Manager: ����������������������������������Marcela Heywood 5

468B

Creative Services: �������������������������������������������� Allison Eisen, Mao Hu, Rita Lo Business Office �������������������������������������������������������������������������Susanna Booth

of stick 5 One may be involved in phone tapping 8 Go with the flow?

12 Quaint preposition 13 Decoder ring, for short?

14 Distant 16 Spa treatment 17 ___ Verde National Park 19 Neighbors of ulnae 20 Suffix with urban 21 Against 23 Nonlethal ammo brand 24 El Niño feature 26 Put behind bars 27 Rhubarb 28 Moslem chieftain 29 Elysium

30

“___ Romeo slain himself?”: Juliet

31

Second coming?

1 Kind

51

32

Drag show apparel

52

33

Female in a pasture

53 55

34

Spree

36

___ tide

56

38

Bolted down

58

40

Ballpark fare

59

42

Prestidigitation

46

Part of a Scottish accent

47

48

49

A B O M B T O L E T

U N I T

T O K E

S W N A I L P K P A S F T E R L A T A N A S P E R T A W E E C H E F O R I T L E R R A E A D E T N C O R E A K E I N

A B O A T

T I G H T

E D I L E

T I I M N P S A M A T I D I T S E H N S T

60 61

Subject of Kaplan or Princeton Review prep

62

Sacha Baron Cohen movie after “Borat”

64

63

65

Layered snack

R E C O N S O N U O L U F R O I O D A B A A X B E

F A R L E F T

A G U A

T I M E U S N U T R T E R A S T

Q U I P

Lab assistant for Dr. Frederick Frankenstein ’50s-era bomb Color of a sprinkled coat Cut-rate worker?

Har-___ (tennis court surface) Bean, for one Empty Quaint schoolteacher Mama Judd Apollo 13’s Aquarius, e.g.

River through Bath “Watermark” singer Dot-dot-dot Backwoods possessive

1

S E N D

E L E N A

N E W E L

C O A T I

H O M E R

1 Planet 2 Ex-

foe 4 Note on the musical scale 5 Apotheosis 6 James Bond portrayer 7 Fencing thrust 8 W.W. II noncombatant 9 Man who walked on the moon

2

3

4

5

12

13

16

17

20

6

No. 0122

7

8

23 27

28

29

30

31

32

33

38

35

39

36

40

37

41

42

46

47

48

49

50

51

52

53

56

57

63

43

54

44

45

55

58

60

11 15

26

34

10

19 22

25

9

14 18

21

24

59 61

62

64

65

PUZZLE BY TIMOTHY POLIN

10

What a dog “shakes hands” with

11

Maximum tax

DOWN

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE J A W S

50

Edited by Will Shortz

15

3 Raven

18

With 45-Down, subversive groups … or what the answers in the shaded squares comprise?

Labor of Hercules

21

22 25 35 37 38 39 41

“Voyages Extraordinaires” writer Brains Book of the Bible Go off line?

Yellow-orange Nighttime phenomena Guy Fawkes’s crime Silencer

43

Eiffel of Eiffel Tower fame

44

Mistakenly

45

See 15-Down

46

Chemical element

54

Massachusetts’ College of Our Lady of the ___

57

Peeples or Vardalos

59

Month

Online subscriptions: Today’s puzzle and more than 7,000 past puzzles, nytimes.com/crosswords ($39.95 a year).

Read about and comment on each puzzle: nytimes.com/wordplay.

Crosswords for young solvers: nytimes.com/studentcrosswords.

6 9 3 2 7 8 4 1 5

468B

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

The Chronicle

“

S

Alleviating the burden of weather

tudents are becoming accustomed to receiving Duke Alerts at the first sign of rough weather conditions, and many began to wonder how long it would be before phones started to buzz as snow fell on Tuesday morning. Wednesday morning marked the second time in February that the University has moved to cancel classes due to dangerous weather conditions, especially considering that freezing temperatures threatened to leave black ice on the state’s vulnerable roadways.

Though many students responded with a mixture of abrupt joy and jaded indifference, these weather conditions pose a serious threat to commuters who live off-campus. Some students and professors reported harrowing road conditions around campus, tragically accompanied with reports of fatal crashes in neighboring Wake and Onslow counties. In Raleigh, police reported 47 crashes between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. As of 9 p.m. Tuesday evening, there were no officially reported automobile accidents on campus, contrary to widespread campus rumors. To many students hailing from more frigid northern areas, the University’s sensitivity to the threat of ice and snow may seem ex-

If the Women’s Center allegedly helps men also, then why not rename it the Men’s and Women’s Center? Isn’t the very name discouraging for males who might want to seek assistance, and off-putting?

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.

H

aving volunteered in many skin cancer screening support events, I have seen the problems that patients with skin cancer have. Besides facing increased risks of death, patients often have lost loved ones, digits and vision.

And to keep up with efforts to help more people understand this aspect, I have recently written an article on the effects of sun on the skin and importance of sun protection for a health magazine. To my surprise, the article was placed in the Aesthetics section of the magazine and efforts to correct this have been met by the editor saying that they considered matters of the skin as merely aesthetics.

This was deeply disappointing to me as it sun protection and its parent specialty dermatology was more than a mere aesthetics to me. And as I

” edit pages

—“Algiers50” commenting on the guest commentary, “On Title IX compliance.”

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

CARLEIGH STIEHM, Editor MOUSA ALSHANTEER, Managing Editor EMMA BACCELLIERI, News Editor GEORGIA PARKE, Executive Digital Editor NICK MARTIN, Sports Editor DARBI GRIFFITH, Photography Editor ELIZABETH DJINIS, Editorial Page Editor TIFFANY LIEU, Editorial Board Chair MICHAEL LAI, Director of Online Development CHRISSY BECK, General Manager RACHEL CHASON, University Editor ALEENA KAREDIYA, Local & National Editor GAUTAM HATHI, Health & Science Editor EMMA LOEWE, News Photography Editor KATIE FERNELIUS, Recess Editor IZZY CLARK, Recess Photography Editor MICHELLE MENCHACA, Editorial Page Managing Editor DANIEL CARP, Towerview Editor ELYSIA SU, Towerview Photography Editor MARGOT TUCHLER, Social Media Editor PATTON CALLAWAY, Senior Editor RAISA CHOWDHURY, News Blog Editor SHANEN GANAPATHEE, Multimedia Editor SOPHIA DURAND, Recruitment Chair MEGAN HAVEN, Advertising Director BARBARA STARBUCK, Creative Director

cessive, but many in the Duke community are those very commuters using North Carolina roadways—roads that are not well-adapted to snow and ice. Graduate students and professors who live off campus are disproportionally affected by this weather, yet university policy stipulates that the Provost, in coordination with the deans, must make a decision for all schools on whether classes will be in session.

For its part, Duke Facilities and Management has enacted proactive and preventative measures for the onset of wintry weather. In an email to students from last week, Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta commended the efforts of staff working to clear the many paths, walkways and staircases on campus, armed with salt and snow blowers. As a Chronicle article noted earlier this week, university staff often face certain difficulties commuting to campus in similar weather conditions.

We applaud the University’s policy of compensating workers, providing a one-hour grace period for non-exempt staff and offering rides through Duke Vans for those who feel uncomfortable braving the roads alone. Yet, despite these measures, staff members remain depen-

dent on and constricted by the city’s decisions, in particular those whose children attend the state’s public schools. North Carolina school systems are especially sensitive to weather, as last week’s snowfall cancelled school for four days in Durham and surrounding counties.

These school systems must account for the dangers of keeping public school buses on icy roads early in the morning and late into the evening. Because Duke’s policies are often out-of-sync with the local schools’, faculty and staff with young children are often forced to care for their kids, even when Duke is in session. While professors have the flexibility to cancel classes or office hours without penalty, staff members do not have this luxury.

To alleviate the burdens of weather on the University’s staff, we suggest a program for snow days in which students can use their granted day off to provide daycare for the children of faculty and staff, free of charge.

Such a program not only allows students to give back to the staff that keeps the campus running irrespective of weather, but it also connects students to the those that make Duke home.

Dermatology is not just aesthetics

onlinecomment

Est. 1905

The Chronicle

www.dukechronicle.com commentary

18 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015

KALI SHULKLAPPER, University Editor JENNA ZHANG, Local & National Editor GRACE WANG, Health & Science Editor BRIANNA SIRACUSE, Sports Photography Editor GARY HOFFMAN, Recess Managing Editor YUYI LI, Online Photo Editor RYAN HOERGER, Sports Managing Editor DANIELLE MUOIO, Towerview Editor ELIZA STRONG, Towerview Creative Director RYAN ZHANG, Special Projects Editor RITA LO, Executive Print Layout Editor IMANI MOISE, News Blog Editor KRISTIE KIM, Multimedia Editor ANDREW LUO, Recruitment Chair MEGAN MCGINITY, Digital Sales Manager MARY WEAVER, Operations Manager

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 @ 2014 Duke Student Publishing Company

the difference make the right call before removing pieces of tissue for microscopic observation.

The research of dermatology in this area has led to earlier diagnosis and more optimal treatment for skin cancer patients. Early research was able to link sunlight with skin cancer and led to development of public health awareness campaigns to encourage more sun avoidance and better sun protection practices.

This public health awareness has allowed more to know that dermatology as a manager of skin cancer. However, it is more than that.

As outpatient discipline, it also have a role in the management of many chronic conditions which often perceived to have only aesthetic consequences. But these conditions often has a negative self-perception of the individual and affect

Shunjie Chua GUEST COLUMN discussed more with my friends, it appeared that the editor was right, many of my friends both in and outside of medical fields often had the perception that dermatology was just aesthetics. This finding was similar to a recent study of perception of dermatologists by Brezinski and colleagues where a significant proportion of their surveyed population thought dermatologists spend a large part of their time doing cosmetic procedures. 1 This thought is a highly detrimental one as it has repercussions on the funding of future development of dermatology in the country.

As a discipline which covers the “largest organ of the body”, dermatology is more than just aesthetics. Some have said that it is one of the disciplines with the greatest number of individual diagnoses. As a specialty, dermatologist are highly trained in the skills of observation and pattern recognition. Their training allow them to recognize the innumerable patterns which occurs between the patient history, physical examination, dermascopy—i.e. A small hand held microscope—and histopathology findings to come to a diagnosis and provide a optimal therapy for their patient. Their skills is most apparent in the management of skin cancers which is the cancer with the highest prevalence in the country. As we grow older, the accumulated sun damage will result in photo-aging and development of other “spots” on the skin. A lot of the changes may be benign, but some of them may be cancers. The observation skills of the dermatologist allow them to tell

their self-confidence and lead to self-isolation.

The “infectious and angry” look of the skin spots might also prevent others from interacting with individuals. This will result in a decrease in the quality of life of individuals. It is also important to understand that the “skin spots” are not just like “spots on a painting”. They also often might cause itch where at low levels might lie below consciousness, but at its worst might result in unstoppable scratching. Uncommonly the skin spots might also cause pain.

As an inpatient discipline, dermatology is part of the alliance of healthcare providers which provide care for their patients. Besides caring for patients who may be on a more severe spectrum of the outpatient conditions, dermatologists have an important role in the management of drug reactions and allergies which may range from a rash to a burn like condition which is life threatening. They also have an important role in the management of infections, cancers and many other conditions.

The length and human attention for reading limits for this article restricts one from covering the entire scope of the subject. If you really want to find out more about the subject, I recommend taking a peek at the textbook, Dermatology by Bolognia and colleagues or have a friendly visit to friendly dermatology community. And I hope that one is better understand that dermatology is more than just aesthetics.

Shunjie Chua is a student at the School of Medicine.

The Chronicle

www.dukechronicle.com commentary

Guilty

P

eople look so good in suits. There’s something about the crisp, clean lines of black blazers and laced ties that flatters everyone. Maybe it’s the quiet confidence it seems to allow people to emit, the kind that comes with being done up nicely. I’ve passed a lot of suits and skirts and briefcases on campus recently, which is how you know internship season has arrived. Every time, I notice and admire. Every time, I feel a little worm of guilt.

It’s a complicated kind of guilt. I’m an English and Public Policy major, and I’m certain don’t want a job in consulting, banking or finance this summer. I’m content to let more others who are suited pursue them . Even under their pressed suits, I can see how hard some of my friends are working for something they gen-

have meticulously laid out, and perhaps it is the rational thing to follow them. I have always pictured my future through the lens of idealism.

I had to love my job, unquestionably. Why do something for nine hours a day if you don’t love it, aren’t inspired by it and am of better? But as pretty as it is to think in terms of fulfillment, I cannot deny that I still want the same things that all of us want, that people all over the world want: to not worry about money and to make my parents proud.

Everyday, when I pass students in suits, I’m confronted with the possibility of a career that will guarantee those things to some degree, and they are very real concerns. I think of how much easier and efficient it would be to follow that pathway and have the relief of knowing, in-

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015 | 19

Action potential

I

’ll let you in on a little secret about me: I was waitlisted at Duke. There’s an unwritten column somewhere within me that describes how I initially put up roadblocks in my own way to support a self-fulfilling expectation that I wasn’t good enough, but that’s not what this column is about. I used to be really good at that. But this is a column about making the decisions that drive our lives and the way we think about these decisions.

I’m a neuroscience major with academic interests in behavioral economics as well. While I’ve spent the last four years studying decision-making, I’m notoriously bad at making decisions.

Isabella Kwai

Elissa Levine

TRUTH OR DARE

PUNSHINE

uinely want, and I am pleased for them when it works out . Nevertheless, I still wonder if I’ve made a mistake. I wonder when I hear stories of salaries and resumés, but still my blazer collects oddly shaped lint in my closet. Because in a sense, by not participating in the job search, I am turning down a very certain pathway that generations of Duke students have carved out in the past. Duke has offered me a pathway to financial stability, and the certainty of knowing the answers after graduation, a pathway that so many people in the world might never be offered—and I am saying no.

The first time I discovered the concept of a “liberal arts” degree that undergraduate American students undertook, I was seventeen and thought it was the most wonderful thing I had ever heard. The Australian system really has no such thing—faced with choosing a major right out of high school, I chose to run to a country gave me the option of figuring it out. The concept of learning for the sake of learning and undertaking studies in any combination of literature, biology, language was what seduced me to apply to Duke. I liked the idea of college as an era where mistakes were supposed to be made and passions were supposed to be ignited. Duke was the place where I would find what I loved most to do and then, armed with that knowledge, I’d go and do it.

Of course, I learned very quickly that even in a liberal arts program, there are preordained pathways that you cannot avoid and veering towards a pre-professional focus, whether you want to or not, is the norm. Duke is filled with so many pathways that students and advisors

stead of floundering along on a road that may lead nowhere. I remember my father drilling multiplication tables for me in late summer afternoons, and picking me again and again from after school classes, community service and the airport, so that I might have a better start than he did. And I think of how many other thousands of people will have wished their entire lives for the kind of resources Duke has given me access too. That is the guilt, and it hurts keenly.

Yet it is good to realize that the world is a complicated and unruly place where nothing is certain, not even the most definitive of careers.

Pathways that begin at pre-law, pre-med or prebusiness do not always end there, and pathways that begin elsewhere might lead there in the very end. None of us really know how it’ll turn out in the end—that is the fun part. It’s hard to not feel like I’m squandering my degree sometimes, but I have made my choices and I like them. Ultimately, the legacy that my college years will leave goes far beyond the job search, in ways that I don’t ever understand yet.

That blazer in my closet might be shaken off when it’s time, or it might never see the light of day. Until then, I will take this uncertainty and letting it fuel the rest of days here, where I will say the wrong things and right things. I will read books my professors have written. I will go on long walks with new friends. Keep learning.

Keep checking out people in suits. That’s college.

Whether I’m caught distracted in front of an open fridge, requesting to order last at restaurants or frozen between two too-similar—or too-dissimilar— options when making a more major choice, the pressure to pick right and minimize risk, maximize utility and be held accountable to an unknown outcome generally terrifies me. So as a senior in high school, when I found my guidance counselor waiting for me outside my AP Literature exam to share the news that I’d been accepted to Duke, my reaction was mostly panic that my decision-making wasn’t done.

My original decision to attend a small liberal arts college in the Northeast had been a carefully calculated result of numerically weighted pros and cons, deference to the advice of nearly everyone I knew and profound inability to mentally project to the future. After a full month I bought into the idea of attending a school that promised to be Not Your Typical College Experience.

Then Duke, a school I hadn’t previously bothered visiting, sold me on the exact opposite in a matter of days.

Four years in—I rounded up—it’s really difficult to imagine what college might have been like had I gone elsewhere. Had I not gotten off the waitlist.

Entire parallel universes play out—me, on a different campus, with a different set of friends I never met, taking different classes, possibly with different academic interests and goals. With different values, shaped by different universities. With different memories. Me, different.

A set of entirely different worlds, albeit worlds full of unknowns. Worlds, ambiguous and gray, that pale against the vibrancy of my past four years of experience but exist hypothetically in my mind nonetheless. Worlds that never existed because of a decision I made, where my life would have been woven into a different set of plot points, my victories and frustrations occurring against a different backdrop, supported by a different cast of characters.

This may not resonate with some people, like those who applied early decision or perhaps those who tend to have a plan and never stray from it.

But if it does resonate, take a quick tally of the number of people you’ve interacted with today, this week or this year on this campus. A simple decision to come here made each of us a fiber in so many different interwoven stories with potential impact on so many peoples’ universes with every action we

edit pages

Isabella Kwai is a Trinity junior. Her column runs every other Thursday.

take. We are so powerful.

We each know so many people here.

We could have chosen to live a parallel life without them in it and without us in it for them, and we didn’t.

That’s some Matrix sh** right there.

But if we zoom in to the perspective we take in my neuroscience classes, decision-making looks really, really different.

Brain cells talk to each other with chemical and electrical signals called action potentials, which must build up to a requisite electrical voltage in order to fire. There’s a whole host of other players in the game—like neurotransmitters, receptor, and cellular

specializations—but everything in the brain boils down to connections that at their core are binary. Go, no-go. All of human experience—your movements, your emotions, your memories, your thoughts, the shapes that make up the words on the page or the screen that mean something subjective to you, the biggest decisions you’ve ever made— can be transduced into yes-or-no interactions between neurons in the brain.

Whether you’re rolling your eyes at me right now for being overdramatic or mind-blown, it’s the result of a summation of tons of neurons doing their thing.

If you’re still with me, we just went from feeling incredibly powerful at the potential impact our actions had on the universe to feeling teeny-tiny-powerless in an entire universe dictated by microscopic action potentials.

So where am I going with this?

With just over two months left of college, I feel a profound and mounting pressure to have done college “right”— whatever that means. I want to be sure that I’m leaving a legacy I’m proud of, or at the very least if I’m leaving, that I’m satisfied. A big part of that is a newfound urgency to live with meaning and without regrets, with only the most strategic decisions and without wiggle room for mistakes.

But in four years of studying decisions at Duke and almost twenty-two of struggling to make them myself, I’m pretty convinced that making the right decisions is far less important than consciousness of the impact we’ve had by making them.

Think of how many people have stood on East Campus to take that iconic all-class birds-eye photo in the shape their graduation year. From inside our own brains as that photo is taken, we’re insignificant, a number, just passing through. But zoom out and we’ve played a role in a bigger picture, etching ourselves into a place that has permanence in so many peoples’ eyes.

I almost didn’t go here. I probably would’ve loved college regardless of where I went. And this university may not remember me, or most of us, decades from now, but we’ll still be here.

Our legacy, left in so many people’s collective memory, is all because of a single decision we have in common. I may be bad at decisions but I’m pretty satisfied with that.

Elissa Levine is a Trinity senior. Her column runs every other Thursday.

The Chronicle

www.dukechronicle.com

20 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015

Thu Nguyen | The Chronicle

INTERDISCIPLINARITY continued from page 1

a special

THANK YOU to the sponsors of

Miró: The Experience of Seeing was organized by the Seattle Art Museum and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía.

At the Nasher Museum, Miró: The Experience of Seeing was made possible by the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust, Marilyn M. Arthur, the Estate of Dorothy Lander, Frances P. Rollins, Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, Victor and Lenore Behar, Trent Carmichael, Katie Thorpe Kerr and Terrance I. R. Kerr, and the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources. Major support was provided by Deborah DeMott, Nancy A. Nasher and David Haemisegger, Chrissy and Joel Huber, Kelly Braddy Van Winkle and Lance Van Winkle, Kathi and Steve Eason, Erickson Advisors, Graduate Liberal Studies at Duke University, the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation, Parker and Otis, Lisa Lowenthal Pruzan and Jonathan Pruzan, Mindy and Guy Solie, and Richard Tigner. Additional generous support was provided by Carolyn Aaronson, Arjuna Capital, Jo and Peter Baer, Carol O’Brien Associates, Inc., Ruth and Sidney Cox, Ann and Rhodes Craver, Department of Romance Studies at Duke University, Pepper and Donald Fluke, Carol and William Griffith, Eunice and Herman Grossman, Susan Rosenthal and Michael Hershfield, Thomas S. Kenan Foundation, Doren Pinnell, Jonathan J. Prinz, Caroline and Arthur Rogers, Timothy D. Warmath, and the Zinn Family.

This exhibition was supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

Joan Miró, Femme, oiseau, étoile (Homenatge a Pablo Picasso) (Woman, Bird and Star [Homage to Pablo Picasso]) (detail), 1966/1973. Oil on canvas, 96 7⁄16 x 66 15⁄16 inches (245 x 170 cm). Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain. © Successió Miró / Arists Rights Society (ARS), New York, New York / ADAGP, Paris, France.

has emerged to describe old methods of collaboration, noted Adriane Lentz-Smith, director of undergraduate studies in the history department.

“We’re in an age of narrowing of specializations, where in previous decades, many disciplines were more expansive and capacious than they used to be,” Lentz-Smith said. “For instance, history and political science used to be sort of conjoined disciplines...Interdisciplinarity is taking us back in a way.”

The recognition of interdisciplinary studies’ potential for fostering growth in separate disciplines is one reason for the institutional push—but another is financial, said Markos Hadjioannou, assistant professor of literature.

Interdisciplinary humanities at Duke The emphasis on interdisciplinary research has become a signature of Duke in particular, said Christina Chia, associate director of the Franklin Humanities Institute.

Since the 1990s, Duke has had an “unusually strong investment” in interdisciplinary studies, noted Deborah Jenson, incoming director of the Franklin Humanities Institute.

Nearly two decades after Duke appointed the first full-time vice provost for interdisciplinRead the full version ary studies, the University has of this article online become one of the leading hubs of interdisciplinary reat www.dukechronisearch in the country. cle.com.

Chia pointed out that Duke has felt a need to distinguish itself from other peer institutions which may have a stronger reputation or a larger funding base.

The focus on interdisciplinary research has caused some issues within the University, however. In particular, the growth of interdisciplinary programs has led to discontent regarding the way funds are handled at the institutional level, Hadjioannou said.

“It can get frustrating...if you want to simply remain within the confines of your field in order to do a ‘localized’ type of research but are constantly pushed to expand and shift your work so that it fits within the parameters of some funding opportunity,” he explained.

Lentz-Smith added that some researchers may perceive support for interdisciplinary work as coming at the expense of more traditional work grounded in the disciplines. These researchers may feel that their work is “undervalued,” she said.

More Online

Humanities under attack The move towards interdisciplinarity has been accelerated by the increased scrutiny of the humanities’ value both in government and in society at large, said Peter Sigal, director of graduate studies in the history department.

“In other words, we often seek knowledge only for the sake of solving immediate problems, rather than seeking knowledge for the sake of gaining more knowledge,” Sigal wrote in an email Wednesday.

Sigal noted that the history department has been engaged in constant discussions about linking up with other departments as a means of developing new approaches to historical knowledge. The department has also been concerned about declining enrollments in recent years, when compared with those of interdisciplinary programs like international comparative studies and public policy, he said.

Sigal added that, in his opinion, interdisciplinary research should be pursued—but not at the expense of more traditional methods in humanities research.