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The Durham activist’s home was named a national historic landmark | Page 3

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ONE HUNDRED AND TWELFTH YEAR, ISSUE 46

Students raise money for campus cats’ veterinary care Kenrick Cai The Chronicle After a wave of wintry weather hit Duke last week, students took it upon themselves to care for a calico cat who lives on West Campus. The cat, commonly known as Peaches, lives near Few Quadrangle where students have provided makeshift shelters and food. Junior Anna Li, a Few Quad resident assistant, created a Facebook group called “Caretakers of Peaches (The Calico Cat)” after she could not find Peaches during the winter storm and feared the cat was “either dead or just suffering out the night.” “I’ve kind of thought we’ve needed a group like this for a while now,” Li said. “I’ve noticed a lot of times people feed her and then other people feed her, and I wished there was a way for us to all connect with each other because I knew we all cared about her. Like, what if she got sick?” Since its creation Jan. 8, the Facebook group has expanded in a way Li said she could not have imagined. The group had 257 members as of Tuesday. “Previously, it had largely been guesstimating,” said sophomore Anna Matthews, a member of the group. “There was a period [last year] where Peaches was gone for two weeks, and I was worried she had gotten stuck somewhere.” Matthews said she was worried Peaches

Chronicle File Photo A GoFundMe page for the cats’ health care, particularly a cat named Peaches (above), has raised $675 since last Wednesday.

may have gotten locked in a “closet or garden shed” and said having a group in such a scenario would have been “extremely helpful.” “Once the Facebook group was created, her location kept getting updated, so if you wanted to go see her, you could,” sophomore Alexandra Sánchez Rolón wrote in an email. “There’s also a sense of moral responsibility now, because if we

know where she is, we have the ability to choose whether to help her if she needs it or not.” Last Wednesday, Li and Matthews created a GoFundMe page with a goal of raising $300 toward providing veterinary treatment to “a general campus cats fund with a focus on Peaches,” Li said. As of Tuesday, the campaign had raised $675. After Peaches resurfaced following the

snowstorm, Li said she noticed the cat was moving slower, had gastrointestinal distress and communicated with a “raspier meow.” Matthews noted that some funds will be used for deworming Peaches and MamaBean, another calico cat that lives near Wannamaker dormitory. “What you end up worrying about is an See CATS on Page 12

Undergraduate student attendance drops over time Hank Tucker The Chronicle Although tenting for this year’s home game against North Carolina generated unprecedented student interest, Duke is not immune to the attendance questions that are facing athletic departments across the country. Filling up the student section at Cameron Indoor Stadium for ordinary games is still a challenge. Undergraduate attendance for men’s basketball has dropped during the last decade, Jon Jackson, senior associate director of athletics for external affairs, wrote in an email, though he added that graduate student attendance has increased to make total student attendance remain relatively constant. Without as many undergrads showing up, Duke Athletics has to sell general admission tickets to the public for most games to fill up Section 17, which officially holds about 1,200 people. Duke declined to provide raw student attendance numbers for most games, but Jackson wrote that no general admission

tickets were sold to the ACC/Big Ten Challenge contest Nov. 29 against Michigan State. Tents started to fill Krzyzewskiville—or “K-Ville”, as it is often referred to—for that game more than a day before tipoff, and several Blue Devils remarked after the game that the raucous crowd was a factor in the decisive second-half run that fueled Duke’s 78-69 win. “The fans are a big part of what we do. They’re a part of us,” sophomore Luke Kennard said after the game. “We need them every single night to lift us when we need it most, and I think that’s what they did tonight. The fans were great. The atmosphere was unbelievable. That’s what college basketball is all about.” But that atmosphere has been hard to match since, with plenty of aging fans standing in general admission seats next to energetic students at every other home game this season. Even at some big games last year—such as a Monday night home game against then-No. 13 Louisville—there were

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Carolyn Chang | The Chronicle More graduate students have gone to games at Cameron Indoor Stadium to make up for a decline in undergraduate attendance in the past decade.

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New study provides insight into fighting drug-resistant bacteria Isabelle Doan The Chronicle With drug-resistant bacteria on the rise, a recently published study from Duke researchers offers insight into a protein that could be utilized in developing new antibiotics. The group used X-ray crystallography to investigate the molecular structure of MurJ, a protein essential in building and protecting the cell wall in most types of bacteria. Although MurJ was discovered in 2014 to be responsible for the transport of “lipid II”— the molecule that makes up the cell well— across the bacterial membrane, the structure of the protein was largely unknown until this study. A deeper understanding of this protein could prove crucial for developing new antibiotics that can effectively penetrate

Courtesy of Duke Photography Seok-Yong Lee, associate professor of biochemistry, served as the lead author in the study.

bacterial cell walls. The researchers’ next plans are to capture the protein in various states to see how it acts, explained senior author Seok-Yong Lee, associate professor of biochemistry, in an email. “Importantly, if we can capture MurJ bound to its substrate lipid II, it will provide us an inroad to develop new antibiotics targeting MurJ,” Lee wrote. Lee also noted that another group recently made a discovery that antibiotics that target lipid II are resistance-free. Bacterial resistance to a new class of antibiotics targeting MurJ could be slower to develop if an inhibitor for MurJ can interact as if it were lipid II. However, the timeline for creating these antibiotics and bringing them to market may be long. Dr. Vance Fowler, professor of molecular genetics and microbiology and a principal investigator for the Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group, wrote in an email that the discovery was an important accomplishment, but may not change much—especially with consideration to bacteria such as methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus. “Truth be told, we now have plenty of drugs for MRSA: three new anti-MRSA agents approved by FDA in 2014 alone. Identifying a new target by crystallizing MurJ is a huge deal, but we still have to identify a compound that can cross the Valley of Death from discovery to clinical trials,” Fowler wrote. “Best case, that’s a decade. And it’s never a best case. Never.” Lee noted that it was unlikely that bacteria would become resistant to antibiotics based on MurJ before they are developed, since there would be no selection pressure on bacteria and thus no need to evolve. However, Lee also noted that how long it has taken for new antibiotics to come to market was worrying. “My personal view is that this inefficiency of

Courtesy of Duke Today The researchers investigated the structure of an enzyme that helps bacteria build their cell walls, gaining knowledge that could help combat drug-resistant bacteria.

the new class of antibiotics is concerning,” Lee wrote. “More investments should be directed toward the development of novel antibiotics.” The inefficiency of the process may be especially concerning as bacteria develop more resistance to antibiotics. Last week, a Nevada woman died from an infection with a new superbug that was resistant to 26 available antibiotics. Dr. Alexander Kallen, a medical officer in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s division of health care quality promotion, told PBS that this was a case of bacteria developing resistance at an alarming rate. “I think it’s concerning. We have relied for so long on just newer and newer antibiotics. But obviously the bugs can often [develop resistance] faster than we can make new ones,” Kallen said in the article. In light of this news, Fowler pointed toward another possible area of development for

antibiotics. He noted that the woman died of untreatable Gram-negative bacteria, and consequentially the focus should be on that. “We need development in Gram-negatives,” Fowler wrote. “I have spent my career studying MRSA, so it hurts my Gram-positive heart to have to say this, but the drug development problem is no longer MRSA. The problem is the Gram-negatives.” The ARLG plans to lead several studies— facilitated by the Duke Clinical Research Institute—to investigate Gram-negative bacteria and agents, according to their website. Despite possible setbacks in bringing a new class of antibiotics to market, Lee’s study highlights the importance of scientific discovery. “Studying fundamental science is quite important,” Lee wrote. “It often provides a lot of unforeseen insights into drug development.”

WHO DO YOU ADMIRE? Duke University Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award nominations due March 6, 2017 This prestigious award is presented to one graduating senior and one member of the faculty, staff, or graduate student body of Duke University or Duke Health for their outstanding commitment to service. Nominees should perpetuate the excellence of character and humanitarian service of Algernon Sydney Sullivan by exhibiting the following qualities: • • • • •

Recognition of Selflessness Generosity of Service Nobility of Character Person of Integrity Depth of Spirituality

For more information and the nomination form visit the Provost’s website: https://provost.duke.edu/awards-andprofessorships/duke-university-algernonsydney-sullivan-award/

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Researchers use Salmonella Pauli Murray’s home named bacteria to combat brain tumors national historic landmark Nathan Luzum The Chronicle Although most people associate salmonella with a bad case of food poisoning, a team of Duke scientists have shown that the bacteria could potentially be used to treat cancer. Led by Ravi Bellamkonda, Vinik Dean of the Pratt School of Engineering, the researchers adopted a strain of Salmonella typhimurium and made several genetic modifications to the bacterial DNA. These

Courtesy of Duke Today The scientists modified the bacteria to enable it to make proteins that could destroy tumors in the brains of mice.

changes enabled the bacteria to produce tumor suppressor proteins called p53 and Azurin, which were able to destroy glioblastoma tumors in the brains of nearly 20 percent of the mice tested. “One of the challenges of glioblastoma is its tendency to infiltrate the rest of the brain, blurring the boundaries of where tumor is and where normal brain is,” Bellamkonda said. The metastasis, or invasive spread, of the cancer prevents doctors from surgically removing the tumor and requires a more creative solution to the problem. To accomplish this, the team turned to a strain of salmonella developed in the laboratory of David Bermudes, associate professor of biology at California State University at Northridge. “They removed this toxic protein that’s expressed on the bacterial cells,” said Johnathan Lyon, a study co-author and Ph.D. candidate in Bellamkonda’s lab. “[The modified bacteria] are essentially just like the healthy bacteria in your body. They don’t really warrant an immune response.” Lyon noted that the bacteria are altered so that they are unable to produce a key nutrient called purine. Tumors are purine-rich, however, causing the bacteria to seek out the tumors for survival. The Duke researchers also made several additional tweaks of their own to the bacteria’s genome. “We’ve made it so that once it reaches See SALMONELLA on Page 12

Claire Ballentine The Chronicle The National Park Service recently named the Pauli Murray home at 906 Carroll Street in Durham a national historic landmark. A civil and women’s rights activist, Murray helped found the National Organization for Women in 1966 and was the first African American woman to be ordained as an Episcopal priest. In her honor, the Duke Human Right’s Center sponsors the Pauli Murray Project, which aims to tackle inequality in Durham. Program Director Barbara Lau explained that the nomination of Murray’s family home was a collaborative effort, involving the National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. “We work to lift up her life and legacy and try to keep her work going,” Lau said. The process began in March 2015, when the house was named a national treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Lau added that the Pauli Murray Project received a grant from the National Trust soon afterward to do research on the property by documenting its condition and recommending ways to restore it. To do so, the project worked with historians Heather Fearnbach, a program coordinator at Salem College, and Sarah Azaransky, a professor at Union Theological Seminary, to nominate the

Special to The Chronicle Pauli Murray was a civil and women’s rights activist who grew up in Durham.

house as a national historic landmark. The endeavor included sharing Murray’s personal story and the background behind her national significance with the National Parks Service. Their argument focused on Murray’s work as lawyer and how she connected advocacy efforts for both civil rights and women’s rights, Lau said. Members of the Pauli Murray Project also restored the outside of the house using grant money and donations to show the National Park Service that the house could one day open to the public. This was See PAULI MURRAY on Page 12

Request for input to the regular review of Tracy Futhey, VP for Information Technology and CIO University senior officials are subject to administrative reviews at regular intervals by a broad-based committee of colleagues. This is Tracy Futhey’s third review since her appointment as Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer in 2002. Members of the review committee are: Jeff Chase (Chair), Professor, Department of Computer Science; Robert Calderbank, Charles S. Sydnor Professor of Computer Science and Director of Information Initiative; Kirsten Corazzini, Associate Professor, School of Nursing; Jeffrey Ferranti, Chief Information Officer and Vice President for Medical Informatics Duke Health; Leigh Goller, Executive Director, Office of Audit, Risk and Compliance; Dan Kiehart, Dean of Natural Sciences, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences; Emily Klein, Professor of Earth Sciences, Nicholas School of the Environment; and Todd Orr, Associate Vice President, Administrative Systems Management, Duke Finance. The committee invites all members of the Duke community to provide comments on Futhey’s leadership effectiveness in regard to technology support and innovation as well as whether the role remains appropriate for facing future opportunities and challenges.

Term 1: May 17-June 29 Term 2: July 3-August 13

(4-week courses also available in both terms)

Let your future run through Summer Session 2017

Your thoughts may be communicated orally or in writing to any member of the committee. Information provided to the committee will be held in confidence but may be reported without attribution as part of the report that will be submitted to Executive Vice President Tallman Trask Ill. Your comments are welcome. Please send comments by January 23 to: Jeff Chase chase@cs.duke.edu

— OR —

Futhey Review Committee Attn: Michele Wittman Box 90028

summersession.duke.edu summer@duke.edu

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Cooper faces uphill battle in expanding N.C. Medicaid Diane Hu The Chronicle State and federal officials filed a court motion Monday to lift a temporary restraining order on North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper’s attempt to expand the state’s Medicaid program. Soon after taking office, Cooper called for an expansion in Medicaid per the Affordable Care Act, which allows states to expand coverage and have the federal government cover 95 percent of the cost. But Republican legislators sued to prevent the change, and U.S. District Judge Louise Flanagan issued a two-week temporary restraining order during the weekend. The Cooper administration is now asking to allow the Medicaid expansion to proceed. “There’s no question, if this was an honest or legal attempt Chronicle File Photo to expand Obamacare, they would have no problem waiting Leaders of the North Carolina General Assembly sued to block four more days until President Donald J. Trump was sworn into office,” wrote Phil Berger, Republican president pro Cooper’s proposed Medicaid expansion.

presents January 18-20, 2017

FEATURED EVENTS 1/18 at 5:00 p.m. Rhodes Conf. Room The Trump-O-Meter: Tracking the President’s Campaign Promises Politifact Editor Angie Holan

KEYNOTE DISCUSSION 1/19 at 5:30 p.m. Sanford 04 How We Got Here: The Rise of Political Polarization Phil Bennett, Producer of PBS’ Divided States of America, Dan Balz Washington Post and Jason Zengerle GQ

1/20 at 11:30 p.m. Sanford 04 Inauguration Watch Brunch and PostAddress Conversation Profs. Deondra Rose and Peter Feaver and Student Leaders

1/20 at 3:00 p.m. Rhodes Conf. Room Is Purple Possible? Bridging the Partisan Divide in North Carolina with Sen. Tamara Barringer (NC-17), Sen. Dan Blue (NC-14), Rick Glazier Ex. Director, N.C. Justice Center and John Hood President, Pope Foundation

tempore of the state Senate, on Facebook in response to Cooper’s request. Medicaid has been an important part of Cooper’s platform, because the program helps provide health care to families near the poverty line. The Chronicle spoke to several professors who also questioned the governor’s unilateral action. “Typically bills come from the legislature, funding comes from the legislature and the governor approves or doesn’t approve,” said Frank Sloan, J. Alexander McMahon professor of health policy and management. “There’s a case for saying that this isn’t the way to do it.” The legislature has also argued that according to legislation passed in 2013, Cooper is prohibited from expanding Medicaid without congressional approval. “No department, agency or institution of this State shall attempt to expand the Medicaid eligibility standards,” the law reads, “unless directed to do so by the General Assembly.” Allison Rice, a clinical professor of law, agreed with this particular argument against Cooper’s actions. “There’s language in it that that clearly does say no one in state government can lift one finger toward expanding Medicaid unless this legislature approves,” she said. “So under that law, probably by its terms Cooper’s violated that.” In response, Cooper has said that the legislation’s obstruction impedes “the core executive authority” of his office, and thus violates principles of the “separation of powers” in constitutional law. “Tax dollars already paid by North Carolinians are funding Medicaid expansion in other states, and we want to bring that money back home to work for us here,” Cooper contended late Monday. “North Carolina will miss out on more jobs and better healthcare without Medicaid expansion, and it’s frustrating and disappointing that we’re having to fight our own legislature in court to get it done.” Even if the restraining order is lifted, Rice said this would not immediately bring the Medicaid expansion into effect. “The legislature would have to appropriate the funds, etc., there are things they have to do, and even Cooper isn’t about to rush out over those,” she said. “Getting this approved doesn’t expand Medicaid, it’s just step one.” Complicating Cooper’s goals is opposition to the ACA by the Republican majorities in Congress and by Trump, who have all pledged to repeal and replace the health care law soon after he takes office Friday. Sloan noted that repealing the ACA would not affect North Carolina Medicaid “given that we don’t have an expansion already in place.” But Rice added that preventing Cooper’s attempts until the new administration takes power is an advantageous legal maneuver on Berger’s part. “[The Republicans] want to stall this until after Trump comes into office, because that will decrease the likelihood that the federal government will approve this plan,” she said. What could actually happen if the ACA is repealed and not immediately replaced, Sloan said, was that private coverage could dramatically decline. He suggested that Republicans might not be able to weather the political storm from so many people losing insurance coverage unless an effective replacement is implemented as soon as possible. In fact, Sloan predicted the ACA is actually here to stay—at least in some form, and despite Republican rhetoric against the legislation. “A national repeal isn’t likely,” he said. “They’re probably going to have something that looks like Obamacare, but they won’t call it that.”

Chronicle File Photo Cooper has made expanding Medicaid a key part of his platform, but he faces legal obstacles.

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WOMEN’S SOCCER

STICKING TOGETHER

Gibbons and Payne taken by FC Kansas City in top 15 of NWSL Draft Jack Dolgin The Chronicle Usually, speeches are reserved for special moments like the Golden Globes. In sports? Maybe for the Heisman Trophy. Add to that list the National Women’s Soccer League Draft, which recently featured two Duke women’s soccer players speaking to a crowd of some of their most loyal followers. “I think my only objective was to get up onto the stage without falling and somehow form coherent sentences,” Christina Gibbons said. On Thursday, Duke’s Gibbons and Toni Payne were both drafted by FC Kansas City as the fifth and 13th overall picks in the NWSL Draft, respectively. The draft in Los Angeles was more prominent than it had been in years past, representing the growth of what is already the largest women’s professional soccer league in the country. “It’s going to get a lot bigger in the future,” Payne said. “It’s definitely still growing.” Gibbons—who became the highest drafted Blue Devil in program history—said she had a feeling she would be drafted when all the cameras turned toward her. “At that point, it’s surreal,” Gibbons said. “I’m extremely humbled and to go fifth is something that, if you were to have told me that my freshman year of college, I probably would have laughed.” After being drafted and making her speech, Gibbons met with media members and talked to Duke head coach Robbie Church and assistants Erwin van Bennekom and Lane Davis, who made the trip to Los Angeles.

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COLUMN

Who should be MVP?

Duke, but with Rebecca Quinn’s injury in 2016, Gibbons moved into the midfield, where she registered a team-high eight assists and still was ACC Defensive Player of the Year. Going forward, Gibbons will strive for a spot on the U.S. national team, an especially impressive possibility for someone who came to Duke as an unranked national prospect and did not make her first appearance with any youth U.S. teams until she was in college. This week, Gibbons is still on the West Coast practicing with the national team for the first time. It can be easy to be star-struck, but she has adjusted just fine so far. “It’s like, ‘Okay, I’m sitting across from Carli Lloyd, who just won FIFA Player of the

Russell Westbrook has to be the NBA’s Most Valuable Player this season. Right? He is on track to be the first player since the legendary Oscar Robertson—all the way back in the 1961-62 season—to average a triple-double during the course of the regular season. But there are a couple of people standing in his way, all of whom are on teams with far better records—namely James Harden, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard. Harden in particular is challenging Westbrook by stuffing the stat sheet on a nightly basis. He is averaging 28.4 points, 11.7 assists and 8.2 rebounds per game, and his team is 6.5 games ahead of Westbrook’s, adding intrigue even though Harden might have a better supporting cast. The same argument follows in college basketball, where a little-known player outside of basketball geeks named Alec Peters is having a season to remember for an unranked Valparaiso team, keeping the Crusaders alive in the Horizon League without much support around him. Yet players like Villanova swingman Josh Hart, UCLA freshman phenom Lonzo Ball, Kansas’ Frank Mason III and even Duke sharpshooter Luke Kennard are consistently ranked above Peters in nearly every Wooden Award—the NCAA’s National Player of the Year award—projection.

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Ben Feder

Carolyn Chang and Chris Teufel | The Chronicle Christina Gibbons and Toni Payne were both top-15 picks by FC Kansas City after earning AllACC accolades during their Duke careers.

But the excitement was only beginning. “[The Duke coaches] turned to me and they were like, ‘This one might be Toni,’” Gibbons said. And that’s exactly what happened. “I wasn’t expecting to go that high,” Payne said. “[Christina and I] have that connection. We’ve both been really familiar with how each other play, so I think it’ll be amazing.” Payne—a first-team All-ACC selection and one of six Blue Devils to tally 20 goals and assists during her career—is considered such an asset due to her sensational ballhandling skills and quickness on and off the ball. She’ll likely continue to play up top for FC Kansas City. Gibbons may be a more interesting case. She had been a defender for her first three years at

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Pitino defends Allen as his point-guard evolution continues Sameer Pandhare The Chronicle

Juan Bermudez | The Chronicle Junior Grayson Allen carried Duke’s offense for much of the second half, but Louisville was able to prevent him from setting up his teammates for easy baskets.

LOUISVILLE, Ky.—After struggling through Duke’s nonconference slate with turf toe and being suspended a game for a tripping incident against Elon, Grayson Allen looked to step up for the Blue Devils in ACC play as the point guard they badly needed. Last week’s action showed that the junior is capable of running the show for his team but also has plenty of progress still to make. The Blue Devils followed up consecutive 16-turnover performances against Boston College and Florida State with a season-high 18 giveaways in a 78-69 loss to Louisville Saturday. Although Allen looked for his shot more Saturday after taking just six shots from the field Tuesday against the Seminoles, scoring 23 points

on just 11 field-goal attempts, the end result was the same for Duke. Even when the All-American tried to set up his teammates for easy looks in the paint, Louisville’s length would either lead to deflections or prevent the Blue Devil big men from catching the ball cleanly and going up strong. “I turned the ball over too many times,” Allen said. “I need to be an efficient player, particularly at the point guard position, be efficient and command the team. I can do better at that. I’m learning and getting better at it. I’m comfortable at that position now.” With the Duke freshmen around him still adjusting their games to the physicality of conference play, Allen has been up and down in his new role. The guard nearly set a career high with seven assists in a win against Georgia Tech See ALLEN on Page 8

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WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Offensive woes resurface at No. 23 N.C. State Andrew Donohue The Chronicle RALEIGH—Duke’s game plan for road games and ranked opponents so far this season has relied on a combination of a stifling matchup zone defense, great backcourt play from their star guards and smart late-game execution to either see out a victory or calmly complete a comeback. That blueprint was crucial to statement wins against then-No. 3 South Carolina and then-No. 8 Louisville, but a key element was sorely missing for the Blue Devils on Sunday at No. 23 N.C. State in an ugly 55-52 loss. With 2:42 left in the game, redshirt junior Rebecca Greenwell hit a jump shot to give the No. 12 Blue Devils a 52-51 lead after facing a 14-point halftime deficit. But with a key ACC road game on the line, Duke’s offensive execution vanished. The Blue Devils did not score again, with a flurry of four missed shots—including three near the rim— and a game-sealing Greenwell turnover costing Duke a chance at its first road win against a ranked team. After freshman forward Leaonna Odom and senior Oderah Chidom were unable to finish inside on consecutive possessions—Odom also had a tip-in opportunity that rolled around and

out with 56 seconds left—the Blue Devils were forced to use their defense to stay alive. As it did throughout the game, Duke did just that, forcing a Wolfpack missed jumper to give itself yet another chance coming out of a late-game timeout to pull out the win. With 25 seconds remaining, the Blue Devil guards reversed the ball from side to side along the perimeter, looking for an opening against a stout N.C. State man-to-man defense. But no such crevices opened, and junior Lexie Brown settled for a contested 3-pointer off the dribble with five seconds left. Although Brown is an All-American who has played a major part in Duke’s early-season success and set an ACC record by making 56 straight free throws, she was just 2-of-8 from the field in the game up to that point and 1-of-4 from long distance. The shot was not at all in rhythm and was well off the mark, ricocheting off the right side of the rim to all but seal the Blue Devils’ fate. “I thought Lexie took a good shot.” Greenwell said. “She can hit that any day in practice. It just didn’t go in that time. I thought it was a good take.” That play exemplified much of Duke’s offense in the closing minutes despite using several timeouts to get organized. The Blue Devils used their strength inside to get back in the game, but could

Jack White | The Chronicle Junior Lexie Brown missed a go-ahead 3-pointer late in Sunday’s game as the Blue Devils were unable to finish a second-half comeback.

not consistently create clean looks in the paint in crunch time. Despite the miscues, Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie also seemed content with the team’s shot selection, instead focusing on the outcomes and team’s second straight abysmal offensive start on the road coming off a 69-45 loss at then-No. 6 Florida State. McCallie’s team was held to 36 points combined in the first halves against the Wolfpack and Seminoles.

“I really thought we had some great time and score situations [late in the game],” McCallie said. “Becca made a great play coming off a screen, a nice jump shot. I thought [Odom’s] ball was in on the tip-in, that was in and out of the cylinder. I loved Oderah’s take there and I love the fact that her buddy, her post buddy, was backing her up.... I think everybody did things you need to See W. BASKETBALL on Page 8

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ATTENDANCE from page 1 still several empty rows at Cameron less than 45 minutes before tipoff. Duke’s student line monitors meet with athletics staff members prior to each game to estimate how many students will come and how many tickets can be offered, taking factors like the time of the game and where it falls in the academic calendar into account. “We make every effort to ensure that any student who wants to attend a game and shows up prior to tipoff gets into Cameron Indoor Stadium,” Jackson wrote. The Blue Devils may see a spike in student attendance during the next month, though. With K-Ville already almost at full capacity for the home game against the Tar Heels Feb. 9, it will be easy for students already waiting in tents to venture out to other games, too. Duke also hosts Miami, N.C. State and Pittsburgh during tenting season, with ESPN’s “College Gameday” coming to Durham Saturday when the Blue Devils play the Hurricanes. Former head line monitor Michael Marion, Trinity ’15, wrote in an email that he noticed a slight uptick in student attendance during shorter tenting years— seasons when Duke’s home game against North Carolina falls in early February instead of in March. “The time it took K-Ville to fill to capacity was largely a function of the length of the tenting season,” Marion wrote. “K-Ville fills faster in shorter seasons, and as more students pitch tents, it gets easier to sell them on attending home games since they’re already invested in going to the [North] Carolina game.” But Marion also suggested it has been harder to sell students on coming to games in recent years because there simply are not as many marquee home games anymore, and that has never been more true than this season. The ACC had just nine teams before the 2004-05 season, which meant every team in the conference played every other team both at home and on the road. But since the conference has expanded to 15 teams—this season is the fourth in the current 15-team format—five of those schools will not come to Durham to play this year. Duke has just two home games against ranked ACC teams on its schedule, and was assigned road games against top

Chris Teufel | The Chronicle There was unprecedented interest in camping out for this year’s North Carolina game, leading to a trivia test to determine who would claim the first 70 spots in line.

contenders Notre Dame, Louisville and Virginia this year and home contests against ACC bottom-feeders Wake Forest, Clemson, N.C. State and Boston College. “Imagine playing every single team in the top tier of the conference at home every single season, and you start to get an idea of what things were like back in what many would term the heyday of the Cameron Crazies,” Marion wrote. “More students felt duty-bound to help the team win at home, because the outcome wasn’t always as assured as it can seem to be for some games today.” Other factors that have coincided with a drop in attendance during the last decade have been a lower undergraduate acceptance rate, a diversification of the student body and rapidly increasing tuition costs. Marion pointed out that it is hard to get students to prioritize basketball games if they want to make the most of their families’ investment in their education and did not grow up around ACC basketball. Erin Brown, Trinity ‘16 and former president of the Inferno—Duke’s studentrun club that aims to increase attendance at all 26 varsity sports—agreed that a more

Khloe Kim | Chronicle File Photo Players noted that the crowd at the Michigan State game in late November was exceptional, but undergraduate students have not been filling Section 17 as often for other games.

academic environment has played a role in the recent attendance challenges. “At Duke, the academics have just been increasing in terms of prestige and difficulty,” Brown said. “One of these past years—I can’t remember what year it was— it was the first time more people had written about DukeEngage than Duke basketball in their ‘Why Duke?’ essay in their application, so you can see that shift happening.” But undergraduate attendance has not dropped for every sport in the last decade. Head coach David Cutcliffe has revived the Blue Devil football program and caused a steady increase in attendance at football games, bucking a 7.1 percent nationwide decrease in student attendance at football games from 2009 to 2014 reported by The Wall Street Journal, but football games still are not events that consistently attract a significant portion of the student body. In a survey of 894 randomly sampled undergraduates The Chronicle conducted in the fall, 26.6 percent expected to have attended zero football games by the end of the year and just 16.2 percent expected to have attended at least five—the number of home games that took place while school

was in session. Most of the students that showed up to games were gone from Wallace Wade Stadium by halftime of every game this year—except for a Thursday night upset win against then-No. 15 North Carolina— ready to get on with their Saturdays or get back to the comfort of their rooms. Many students stay in their dorms during the winter, too, preferring to watch games through streaming sites on common-room couches rather than waiting in the cold to stand inside Cameron for a few hours. Marion wrote that the ultimate challenge is getting the experience of watching the game in person to outweigh the comfort of watching from home, a challenge that depends on students themselves to make a reality. “The more all students organically invest together in making Cameron a fun place to be for everybody, the better Cameron will be,” Marion wrote. “The people for whom the experience needs to improve are ironically the ones who have the most power to make it happen.” Amrith Ramkumar contributed reporting.

Juan Bermudez | The Chronicle In a survey of 894 randomly sampled undergraduates, more than 25 percent said they expected to have attended zero football games by the end of the season.

8 | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2017

Juan Bermudez | The Chronicle Louisville’s Rick Pitino supported Allen after Saturday’s contest, noting that his one-game suspension for tripping was appropriate.

ALLEN from page 5 in his first game back from suspension before emphatically topping that three days later with a career-high 11 against Boston College, including nine in the first half. But teams that apply pressure on the perimeter have prevented the Jacksonville, Fla., native from setting up his teammates for good looks like he normally does after attacking the paint. “Well, what he does is, he keeps going at you trying to draw the foul, so if you can get him off balance and block the passing lane, [you can force turnovers],” Louisville head coach Rick Pitino said. “We’re very long.”

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Although Allen adjusted by finishing more at the rim himself and recording a season-high 12 free throw attempts, the Cardinals followed their defensive gameplan by shutting down Allen’s teammates in the second half. At one point, the 6-foot-4 guard scored six straight points on drives to the rim midway through the second half to keep his team within striking distance. But Louisville stayed true to its proven strategy, and it ultimately paid off once again. Despite scoring his game-high 23 points against the Cardinals, Allen racked up six turnovers to just three assists. The Blue Devils have shown a tendency to revert to isolation play when they struggle with ball movement, and Saturday was no different, as Duke finished with just eight assists on 22 made field goals. After serving as the Blue Devils’ primary scorer a season ago in a breakout campaign, Allen has been forced to make a major change to his game this year with more scoring options around him. In particular, the guard has had to tweak his game to accommodate sophomore Luke Kennard’s emergence as Duke’s most lethal offensive weapon and leading scorer. It is easy to forget that Allen has only played four contests as the Blue Devils’ go-to ball handler. How he continues evolving in that role and balances when to look for his own shot against aggressive defenses and when to facilitate could determine whether Duke gets its season back on track.

Other than a few highlight-reel dunks against UNLV, Allen has had trouble reaching the lofty National Player of the Year projections many anticipated. But one thing that hasn’t changed for Allen has been the way he has been treated outside of the friendly confines of Cameron Indoor Stadium. Whether it was the expletive-laced chants at Florida State or the “Sweep the leg” chants at Louisville, Allen and interim head coach Jeff Capel dispelled any notion that the road environments contributed to the guard’s performances. “I don’t think it bothers him. You’re on the road, that’s supposed to happen,” Capel said. “Unless something has changed in college basketball, if you’re a good player—and Grayson is a really good player—when you go on the road, the opposing team is supposed to say something.” But Pitino—who stressed that the guard’s past tripping incidents were simply a mistake—had a different opinion when asked about the treatment of Allen away from home. “Everybody always says, ‘He only sat one game,’” Pitino said. “You can bury a young man. Believe me, that kid is paying the price in different ways. You hear the crowds everywhere he goes.” Almost everyone has a hot take on Allen, and the guard finds himself in the news following every contest, but the guard’s play, rather than his past antics, will have to take center stage moving forward as Duke looks to rebound from back-to-back losses.

W. BASKETBALL from page 6 do in time and score, but you can’t play 20 minutes of the game and frankly I think we ran out of time.” Whether the Blue Devils find ways to convert their late-game opportunities or create better shots for Greenwell and Brown, Duke will likely need to make some offensive adjustments to stay near the top of the ACC standings. The Blue Devils now sit one game in the loss column behind the teams atop the conference, with a manageable schedule awaiting other than a Jan. 26 test at No. 6 Notre Dame. But the lack of offensive execution away from Cameron Indoor Stadium once again seems to be an alarming trend for a team that held N.C. State—which beat the Fighting Irish and Seminoles already this year—to 39.2 percent shooting and forced 16 turnovers yet could not capitalize. Duke’s stifling defense will likely give it more chances to earn quality wins before the postseason, including home tilts against top-15 opponents in Virginia Tech and Miami. However, true threats to make it far in the ACC and NCAA tournaments typically show their mettle by pulling out quality wins away from home during the regular season, and that is the next step Blue Devil fans are hoping to see from a team that has flashed exciting potential at home. “We’re disappointed that we didn’t finish our work,” McCallie said. “This one will sting.”

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MVP from page 5 So who really deserves the most valuable player awards? Should it be to the best player on one of the top teams, or truly the most valuable player in the NBA or NCAA? I think there are different answers for the different leagues, especially when taking the total size of the associations into account. After all, there are 347 Division I men’s basketball squads and only 30 in the NBA, meaning that there are far fewer players in professional basketball than in college. For such well-known awards, the winner should be a recognizable player, which differs based on the league. With a maximum of only 450 professionals on all NBA rosters combined, each player gets constantly scrutinized, with the best rising to the top regardless of his team’s performance. The best example might be Philadelphia 76ers rookie Joel Embiid, who has been constantly making headlines despite playing for one of the NBA’s perennial bottom-feeders. Now that the 76ers have won six of eight games, that attention is only starting to grow. For professional basketball, I am claiming that Russell Westbrook should be the MVP frontrunner. Westbrook carries the Thunder. Actually, carry might be an understatement. He has by far the highest usage rate in the league at better than 41 percent, yet also registers the highest player efficiency rating and estimated wins added. Perhaps the best evidence for Westbrook is also the product Oklahoma City puts on the court with him on the bench—it’s often hard to watch. But in the NCAA, the discussion becomes much murkier if mid-major superstars such as Peters are included in the realistic Wooden

Award nominees. From a casual fan’s perspective, only a handful of games—at best—will be televised for Valparaiso. Chances are, the contests will not be on national television, so most viewers will have never seen a guy like Peters perform prior to the NCAA tournament, which his Crusaders may not even make as they currently sit tied for second in their conference standings. For the Wooden Award, it is easier to rally behind the best player from a blue-blood program, or occasionally, an athlete with a reputation that precedes him. Prodigious scorers Jimmer Fredette and Doug McDermott took the college hoops world by storm en route to their National Player of the Year awards at Brigham Young and Creighton, respectively. But those teams were also top-25 teams that earned No. 3 seeds in the NCAA tournament. Whereas in the NBA, every player has plenty of media exposure, only those on teams with legitimate national title aspirations and high-profile programs get exposure until March, when everybody suddenly becomes a bracketology expert. What if that mid-major program loses in the first round? Then its star player may only have one or two matchups to prove his worth, compared to players like Kennard or Grayson Allen, who both often play on national television multiple times per week starting in January. Unfortunately, in the NCAA, only about 30 teams receive the same exposure as NBA franchises, with automatic guarantees for nationally recognized programs such as Syracuse, which has already lost seven times this year and fell at home by 33 to now 9-11 St. John’s. Therefore, the Wooden Award nominees are chosen from only a select group

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2017 | 9

W. SOCCER from page 5 Year,’ but at the same time, I mean as soon as I step on the field, ‘You’re my teammate, and I’m going to work for you and I expect you to work for me,’” Gibbons said. The Raleigh native was also one of the top student-athletes at Duke. Although she was named the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Scholar-Athlete of the Year in December, Gibbons says she hopes to play soccer for quite some time. “It’s been a dream to play as long as I Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons possibly can, and I can’t really imagine Thunder guard Russell Westbrook and giving it up at this point,” Gibbons said. Houston star James Harden are the two “I hope for me it’s not simply a career, frontrunners for NBA MVP. it’s something that I hope to inspire a lot of teams, thus virtually eliminating athletes of people with my story and my journey such as Peters from realistic nomination. and a lot of young girls who aspire to be a Is it a shame? Yes. professional soccer player.” Some of the truly most valuable players Her new teammate, Payne, who also played will almost never receive recognition for with Gibbons for the U.S. U-23 team, shares the Wooden Award. But regardless, the that sentiment. NCAA’s voting committee is making the “I definitely want to play for as long as I can,” right decision by selecting the best players the Birmingham, Ala., native said. “My passion from the most popular teams, as they tend is soccer and I’ve wanted to be a professional to be the most recognizable athletes to the soccer player since I was little.” casual fan. Practically speaking, Kansas City is a city This is the main reason Kennard will neither player has visited before or knows probably receive more votes for the Wooden particularly well. Award than Peters, who is averaging nearly “I’ve heard it’s right on the border and four points and five rebounds more than I’m not sure which one it’s in,” Gibbons said Kennard this season. In addition to shooting a of Kansas City’s location in both Missouri much higher percentage and taking on other and Kansas. “Definitely something I need to well-known teams, Kennard plays for one of research before going there probably.” the sport’s biggest brands. Gibbons will start training in the months That’s the unfortunate reality of college leading up to March, when she leaves for basketball awards, and why fans should try Kansas City. She graduated in December, and York Timesplayers Syndication Corporation to watch The a fewNew lesser-known when Sales Payne will finish up classes this spring before 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10018 they’re not gawking at Westbrook’s latest moving to Missouri. For Information Call: 1-800-972-3550 triple-double. For Or Kansas. ForRelease ReleaseWednesday, Saturday, January January14, 18, 2017 2017

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Reflecting on recruitment

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

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he start of the Spring semester always accompanies the beginning of the formalized rush processes for fraternities, sororities and other selective living groups on campus. Specifically, last weekend, the Panhellenic Association began its intensive recruitment process. During the two weekends of rush, potential new members find themselves scrambling to connect to current members of the sororities at Duke in hopes of receiving bids to lifelong sisterhoods and networks. However, success during the rush process for fraternities, sororities and other selective living groups is not governed by any precise formula. Couple the vagueness of the selection criteria with the limited number of spots available, and the rush process generates a palpable atmosphere of anxiety and excitement on campus. Panhellenic Association recruitment entails a packed four-round schedule with structured “speed-dating” so potential new members can explore all ten sororities, whittling their lists down with each successive round. These meetings allow first-year students and other potential new members to participate in interview processes, that in some sense allow them to hone their personal interview skills. However, the process can be

“So Trump is a great mind?”

”

— “Bankotsu,” responding to “Great spirits fighting mediocre minds,” published January 16, 2017

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Inc. 1993

CLAIRE BALLENTINE, Editor ABBY XIE, News Editor NEELESH MOORTHY, Managing Editor ADAM BEYER, Digital Content Director HAN KANG, Photography Editor JACKSON PRINCE, Editorial Page Editor SURABHI BERIWAL, Editorial Board Chair ASA ROYAL, Editorial Board Chair

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SAM TURKEN Sports Managing Editor CAROLYN SUN, Graphic Design Editor RACHEL CHASON, Towerview Editor RACHEL CHASON, Recruitment Chair

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Editorial Even though the sororities on campus attempt to be inclusive, individuals who do not fit the norms of femininity may find themselves alienated by the process. Financial constraints may also present another barrier to the rush process especially since financial aid varies across sororities. Moreover, financial aid only covers the official costs of recruitment and member fees and does not account for any additional costs that students incur to attend social events once they have been inducted into a sorority. Beyond the Panhellenic Association, there are

variety of Greek organizations on campus. The Interfraternity Council, Multicultural Greek Council, and National Pan-hellenic Council differ in their outlooks and goals in many ways, and there are benefits and drawbacks to each. While they are not the same, in some sense, each of these organizations rest on the defensible pillars of philanthropy, leadership, networking, and enduring friendships. That being said, these foundational benefits are not unique to Greek organizations and can be found through other outlets on campus. We do not doubt that the Panhellenic Association, both nationally and at Duke, has reflected on the rush process to introduce changes that help level the playing field for all potential new members. Sororities were formed in response to fraternities and the marginalization of women on campuses across the nation. However, more introspection and modification is required to help sororities shed their current reputations of homogeneity and exclusivity. The changes that begin during the rush process will inevitably extend to other facets of Greek life. While by no means will there be a perfect rush process, it is paramount that sororities continue to recognize that adjustments must be made.

ith a semester of writing behind me and my final semester at Duke ahead, I turn once more to self-reflection for my first column. Last semester, I tackled a range of organizations and issues in the hope of finding truth in each one. For me, this experience of writing attempted to provide an objective perspective on the disparity between actions and perceptions. Moreover, to illustrate how certain perceptions do not truly reflect the actions that generated them. What I found through my writing told me more about morality than it did about subjectivity. After all, no organization or individual at Duke is perfect. Each is subject to flaws in its own way. However, what separates how individuals at Duke perceive these entities is ownership. It is the people and organizations that take responsibility for their actions and work to rectify their mistakes that achieve the most success. My personal grievances with The Chronicle’s independent Editorial Board stemmed from their inability to self-regulate and grow from mistakes.

George Mellgard

In the context of “The Tempest,” this quote is from the character Prospero referring to his monstrous slave, Caliban. Prospero’s acknowledgement of the abuse associated with Caliban and more importantly recognition of his own role in Caliban’s actions. In a direct sense, Prospero recognizes that the evil of Caliban is a part of him. In our own lives, we each have a Caliban. Some part of or association with our self that despite our best efforts will occasionally rear its ugly head. That will tell us to act to further our self-interests at a cost to others. To deny its existence, however, is to let our own self-image get the better of us. Each one of us will make mistakes and act in our own self-interest at some point in our Duke career. No will truly leave Duke without ultimately having committed some wrong. What ultimately separates the good and evil in each action is ownership and acceptance of our actions. It is the first step towards rectifying the wrongs in life. It is also a model for how organizations

ESSE QUAM VIDERI

AMRITH RAMKUMAR, Sports Editor

AUSTIN PEER, Recess Photography Editor

emotionally stressful and physically exhausting due to its rigidity. While the Panhellenic Association has attempted to create and modify the rush process to make it as fair as possible, fundamentally, rush is an artificially constructed environment which inevitably leads to anguish for many individuals involved in the process, in any capacity. Despite attempts to remove bias from the process to make it more equitable and fair, the recruitment process is often scrutinized and criticized.

These things of darkness

onlinecomment

Est. 1905

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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 1517 Hull Avenue call 684-3811. To reach the Advertising Office at 2022 Campus Drive call 684-3811. One copy per person; additional copies may be purchased for .25 at The Chronicle Business office at the address above. @ 2017 Duke Student Publishing Company

Student frustration with issues ranging from food on campus to social events off campus also stems partially from the administration’s failing to admit fault. While each of these cases centers on some different aspect of Duke’s campus, the root cause of frustration remains the same. Issues such as the ones mentioned above serve only to annoy students. Organizations and administrators who fail to take ownership of their actions, however, make students livid. Every organization at sometime in their existence at Duke will eventually commit an action for the wrong reason or stray from their overall mission. The same applies to individuals. I will admit that I too sometimes lost my way. My writing last semester was far from perfect. There were times when almost 12 hours after my deadline I was forced to rush the fundamentals of a column. When my own beliefs began to take precedence over an objective analysis. When I was too scared to publish certain views for fear of the repercussions. However, as an individual, these mistakes are a part of life. As Shakespeare writes in “The Tempest,” “This thing of darkness I acknowledge mine.”

should act at Duke to expand their appeal. It allows organizations to prevent mistakes from simply being covered up. Moreover, it opens up the organization to external criticism. In acknowledging their errors, organizations ultimately have something to gain. Going forward though, this reflection will guide me as I continue to try my best to transform seeming on this campus to being. Topics this semester might try to tackle more, effect more change, or create a more interesting conversation. Besides actually following through on my promise to write a column on DUU, Campus Enterprises and the SOFC funding of religious groups, I am adding a couple more organizations and issues to my agenda. First, the issue of Duke Student Government and restructuring. Second, the end of the golden era of Duke basketball. Third, any and all scandals and controversies that might arise in my final semester. After all, the fall was almost too calm. Whatever the issue is, there’s no doubt in my mind that as Duke continues to progress, mistakes will be made and ownership may or may not be taken. The semester is full of possibilities, and I look forward to covering them as best as I can. George Mellgard is a Trinity senior. His column, “esse quam videri,” runs on alternate Wednesdays.

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One in five

t is quite impossible to avoid the statistic. Many can identify with what this statistic represents based on its overwhelming use in all sexual assault campaigns: one in every five women will be sexually assaulted while attending college. 20 percent is a large portion of the female population to experience such a tragedy. But the statistic doesn’t end there; one in every sixteen men will be assaulted. 90 percent of victims will not report the assault. 63.3 percent of university men who reported committing rape admitted to committing or attempting multiple rapes. These statistics are easy to find, and yet very few people are talking about them. I suspect that someone will negate. “We heard those statistics during orientation! We all learned about consent!” However, a refresher course is needed by an alarming number of students on campus. I am not here to lecture; instead, I am here to open up a discussion. I want sexual assault and

Delaney Dryfoos

city of Durham received a safety rating of F+ attributed to aggravated assault, robbery, rape and murder. Although Duke’s sexual assaults are often isolated from the rest of Durham crime, everyone on campus on Dec. 1, 2016 will remember receiving the Duke Alert that a student was sexually assaulted in the woods near Swift Ave. by a Durham man wielding a knife. This is the only kind of sexual assault that qualifies a Duke Alert, and consequently is the only time in which many Duke students think of sexual assault. However, I will remind you that 90 percent of sexual assaults will go unreported. The process of reporting a sexual assault is miserable, and this is the reason for which many students refuse to report. With a total undergraduate population of 6,639, 3,308 of those being female, it is estimated by the one-in-five statistic that about 661 female students will be sexually assaulted while studying at Duke. Including the statistic that one in every sixteen men will be sexually

LET’S TALK SEX

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2017 | 11

The counter-racial narrative O n Monday, the American people celebrated the memory of Martin Luther King Jr., the Baptist minister who led the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. King embraced the philosophy and method of activism called “nonviolent civil disobedience,” meaning that he and his followers were committed both to breaking the unjust segregationist laws of the South and to willingly subjecting themselves to the consequences of their action, such as police brutality and legal punishment. The sacrifice of his followers moved the conscience of a nation and led to the abolition of Jim Crow segregation in the United States. King famously said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” What about America today? Has this country lived up to Martin Luther King Jr.’s aspirations of racial equality, justice and brotherhood? Khalil Gibran Muhammad, professor of history, race and public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, argued in the New York Times that the struggle for the advancement of black Americans is far from being over, even though it seems that racial biases have almost completely disappeared from the country—even though Martin Luther King’s dream has been technically realized. He argues that the

Emile Riachi

would expand mightily. Many people would argue that the rejection of identity politics for the sake of defending America’s Enlightenment-inspired ideals and institutions is a contradiction in itself. Enlightenment philosophers, the Founding Fathers and all those who formed America’s greatest institutions— from universities to innovative companies—were propertied white Christian males who lived during times of racial injustice. Accordingly, their ideals and institutions should either be “reformed” to repair the damage they did to black people and other marginalized groups, or should disappear from their lives all together. But what this vision misses is that those ideals and institutions are fundamentally universal; they include principles such as the equality of all people, the right to a fair trial, the American Dream (the idea that any person should have the means to reach their full potential), freedom and rule of the people. Indeed, socialist activists, civil rights activists, religious freedom advocates and feminists all have precisely used the institutional framework created by those propertied white Christian males to uphold the ideals of the Enlightenment in times of injustice. Martin Luther King Jr. had so much appeal in this country precisely because the ideals he

THE VOICE OF DISSENT

rape to be something openly discussed on our campus. I want rape culture to be understood for how it exists at Duke. I want people to realize how easy consent is to understand, and how it is both legally required and sexy. I want the groups on campus that work so hard to prevent sexual assault to have a voice distributed to the student population. I want students with questions or arguments to be able to engage in this discussion. Consent is not an end goal, but instead it is something one should innately care about out of respect for the other person. And even if one doesn’t care about the other person, consent is in one’s own best interest as to avoid any legal repercussions. Consent is an inherent part of sex that cannot be removed from the activity. There is no such thing as “non-consensual sex”; there is sex and there is rape. Consent can be easily determined by asking a simple question, with no forced coercion involved. It is the duty of the person initiating the sexual activity to obtain consent. It is the duty of everyone to listen to the partner. And it is the duty of everyone to intervene as a bystander. The Duke Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Response features sixteen organizations on campus that work in different ways to change sexual violence on campus and to support survivors. These organizations work tirelessly to challenge the hazardous rape culture at Duke. College Factual gives Duke’s campus a safety rating of a D+ attributed mainly to burglary with sexual assault receiving only 9.6 percent of the blame. However sexual assault is devastatingly underreported. The

assaulted, 207 students can be added to our total (3,318 total males). This means that approximately 868 students will be sexually assaulted. If you have yet to be moved by this statistic, I urge you to look into the Breaking Out Campaign. This campaign, that has now gone viral, started out with Duke students wanting to anonymously or not share personal stories of their sexual assaults. The campaign has now reached over 37,000 likes and receives submissions from outside the university, even from different countries. I am writing this column with the intent to incite a conversation, instead of simply lecturing. Throughout this semester, I will reach out to various organizations on campus, both who are fighting to prevent sexual assault and those being blamed at the heart of the problem. I also urge anyone with questions or stories that wants to add to the conversation to reach out to me. During the 2015-2016 school year, Duke University’s Office of Institutional Equity received 124 reports of sexual misconduct, while the Women’s Center Office of Gender Violence Prevention and Intervention assisted an even greater number of 185 students. Despite all of these reports, only sixteen resulted in student conduct hearings. The only way to improve the safety of students on campus, and to increase the number of sexual misconduct reports that result in action, the culture on our campus needs to change. As students, we have the power to make this change. Delaney Dryfoos is a Trinity sophomore. Her column, “let’s talk sex,” runs on alternate Wednesdays.

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creation of a color-blind society as an end in itself is precisely what impedes black liberation. Instead, black liberation amounts to the transformation of American society’s institutions, one that takes into account the existence of separate racial identities in such a way that historically-white institutions make reparations to black people. Muhammad argues that such a struggle is the continuation of Martin Luther King Jr.’s struggle; as the reverend said in his final book, “Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?”, white people’s goodwill towards black people does not suffice for the emancipation of black people. Muhammad is not alone in advocating for identity-politics and rejecting the assimilation of black people into a color-blind and “melting pot” American society. Black Lives Matter (BLM), a movement born out of the protest of police brutality targeted specifically at black Americans, shares this vision. It is committed to black identity, black international solidarity, institutional reparation and the replacement of the Western nuclear family with extended “black villages.” Today, the American Left sanctions and even embraces such a vision of black liberation— and of society in general—with its emphasis on multiculturalism, internationalism, “the celebration of diversity,” affirmative action and political correctness. Such a vision of black emancipation and separationism is wrong-headed and is in contradiction with Martin Luther King Jr.’s ideals. My background has informed my opinion. I come from Lebanon, a country made up of 18 officially-recognized religious communities (mostly Muslim and Christian) that each have very strong communal identities. Their sense of sharing the same national ideals and national identity is very weak. Even though Lebanon is technically a democracy, its institutions are totally dysfunctional, paralyzed by a mode of government that relies on power-sharing quotas administered to each religious community based, in principle, on its demographic weight. This leads to a corrupt sectarian regime, in which politicians are more interested in filling their pockets and enhancing the power of their sect than advancing the common good. America is at a turning point in its history. By 2060, so-called “minorities”—Americans of Asian, African, Latin American and Middle Eastern descent—will make up 56 percent of the US population, meaning that there will no longer be a majority of European descent. If these minority groups develop a sense of belongingness to the American nation and adhere to its fundamental ideals and institutions rooted in Protestant Christianity and the Enlightenment, then America will be equipped for good governance, ready to face the challenges of tomorrow. But if they instead unite around racial and ethnic agendas, the United States’ current racial tensions

defended were so American. In his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” addressed to white church leaders whom he felt had abandoned the Civil Rights Movement, King wrote,”We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom. Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with America’s destiny. Before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here... We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands.” Many people, akin to Khalil Gibran Muhammad, argue that identity-politics and the demands for “racial” reparations are a legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. But this can’t be right. Identity-politics movements such as Black Power and the Nation of Islam were virulently criticized by the reverend. In fact, his “Letter” goes on to lambast those “black nationalist groups” for being a “force of bitterness and hatred” that “comes perilously close to advocating violence,” but also for having “lost faith in America...repudiated Christianity” and “concluded that the white man is an incorrigible ‘devil.’” In light of this argumentaire, an objection one could make in defense of racial reparations is that reparations do not aim to foster separate black identities but rather to correct structural inequalities, which is the requirement for having a color-blind society of equal opportunity. However, according to Shelby Steele, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, institutions do not commit to the concept of reparations out of meanstested belief that they will be correcting structural inequalities that stem from racism, but rather for the sake of cultivating an acceptable image in a society rife with white guilt and black victimization. Steele believes that victimization reinforces a black communal sense of identity on the basis of grievance at the cost of individuality. For instance, success in many black communities has been valued as a measure of how much due reparation their community has obtained as opposed to what endeavors their individuals have achieved. America’s reclamation would thus lie in the adherence of all its communities to the ideals that founded it, regardless of race or ethnicity. Wherever instances of institutional and individual racism remain in America, they need to be tackled, but in a way that binds Americans around their universal ideals, not fosters divisiveness. It is certainly difficult for historically marginalized communities like the black community to move on from past injustices and declare their allegiance to a nation that oppressed them for centuries. Perhaps the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. is here to remind us of the need for unity and forgiveness. Emile Riachi is a Trinity sophomore. His column, “the voice of dissent,” runs on alternate Wednesdays.

The Chronicle

www.dukechronicle.com

12 | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2017

CATS from page 2 amalgamation of factors—cold weather, disease, worms, other animals—and if the cats eat rotting food, they can get parasites,” Matthews said, recalling that a cat died last year “probably due to a mix of disease and worms and just stress of cold weather.” Matthews noted that even if they do not reach the $300 goal, she and Li intend to bring Peaches and MamaBean to a veterinarian. “We know that they’re spayed, but we don’t know if they have their rabies shots,” Matthews said. “A couple weeks ago in the ‘All Duke’ [Facebook] page, people were like ‘I saw a fox on campus, and I think it might be rabid’ because you don’t normally see wildlife unless it’s rabid.” Li noted that Peaches has hunted rodents and birds in the past, increasing the cat’s risk of becoming rabid. The success of the GoFundMe campaign will determine the extent of treatment, Li said. Getting Peaches vaccinated for rabies is the students’ first priority. However, Sánchez Rolón suggested other community

issues should receive attention as well. “If we can afford to GoFundMe about $300 for one of our cats, can we also afford to GoFundMe similar amounts for homelessness in Durham?” she wrote. “It’d be nice to extend our generosity to more people and beings. That’s not to knock what we’re doing, but more to question that if we’re able to do this, can we do more?” Matthews acknowledged other cats on campus—such as ones living near Old Chemistry, the Allen Building or the Bryan Center—but said that it was infeasible to give them veterinary treatment because they were more skittish and would likely require a cage to capture. “Peaches is the only one I would be concerned about transmitting [rabies] to people, to be honest,” Li said. “The other cats are more feral. They are kind of aloof. MamaBean is the only one that comes close to interacting with people besides Peaches. We were hoping to get her rabies vaccinated too.” Due to the sociability of Peaches, MamaBean and Bootsie—a gray cat near the Allen Building—Matthews believes they could be adopted. “Though people like to argue it’s mean to keep cats

HOT ITEMS of the WEEK

locked up, it’s really not,” she said. “As long as you play with them, they’re much more comfortable [and] live much longer if they live indoors.” Although most cats on campus have been spayed and neutered—leading to a “dwindling” cat population— Matthews noted that Duke is considered a “dumping ground,” so a colony of kittens could arise if outside individuals released their un-neutered cats on campus. With posts already reporting that Peaches has appeared “sluggish” recently, Matthews said she hopes that the community can continue to grow and report troubles for all the cats on campus. “If anything happens to the cats, they kind of have all these adoring Duke students as their backup,” Li said. “I think if there was some sort of big medical need, I’m sure we would all chip in enough to get that taken care of—it’s kind of like a Peaches fan club.”

PAULI MURRAY from page 3 not an easy task, as water damage required them to build a new foundation. The National Park Service Landmark Committee reviewed the proposal in October. Members of the Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice attended a public hearing for the proposal and presented additional materials to support their position. “We had a major push to collect letters of support and signatures on a petition,” Lau said, adding that the petition eventually acquired almost 2,700 signatures. Letters from congressional representatives, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church and the president of the National Organization for Women also helped their cause. The property was approved and announced as a national historic landmark Jan. 11. “It was a long journey but an exciting one,” Lau said. “We were happy to make all those connections along the way. We felt really lucky that in our first try for this we succeeded.” The Pauli Murray Project additionally received another grant to restore the inside of the house, ensuring that it will be able to open for the public in 2020. “This seems like a bright spot in what could have been a not so great year,” Lau said.

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the tumor, it triggers a manufacturing of drug combination p53 and Azurin,” Lyon said. The protein p53 initiates the process of cell death when released inside a cell. Lyon explained that the bacteria are able to penetrate the cell membrane and deliver their payload of p53, leading to the destruction of the tumor cell. Bellamkonda added that the researchers also built in a safeguard to ensure that the bacteria would not release p53 when taken in by a healthy cell. “Only in regions where the oxygen is low would these proteins be turned on,” Bellamkonda said. “For the most part, the oxygen concentration tends to be pretty high, except in the regions of cancer where the tumors are growing so fast.” This newly-modified strain was then tested in mice that had received grafts of human glioblastoma cells. “We found that 20 percent of those animals survived indefinitely, which was pretty surprising,” Lyon said. Although the other 80 percent of the mice eventually succumbed to the cancer, there were still hopeful signs, the researchers explained. “We showed that even in 80 percent in the cases that survival was not positively affected, we do have evidence of an initial fight from the bacterial expression, which is then overcome by the aggressive tumors,” Bellamkonda said. Bellamkonda, however, is looking for a higher efficacy rate in the treatment as it moves on to other animal and human trials. He said he expected this would take anywhere from five to 10 years. “This is just our first initial study, and we just prototyped a basic drug delivery system that would only work in these tumors,” Lyon said. “There are a lot of modifications to do to push that forward.” Lyon mentioned an increased precision of response and a stronger cocktail of proteins as two possibilities for improvement. “I welcome approaches like this that are a little out of the box from engineers and others, who are not just looking for a magic chemical drug to cure all cancer, but thinking of creative ways in which to approach treating metastatic cancer,” Bellamkonda said. “If this therapy leads others to think of other creative ways, we welcome that.”