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ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVENTH YEAR, ISSUE 86
Duke names BLUE DEVILS HOLD OFF WAKE main quad Grayson Allen scored 30 points for the fourth time this season in the win after Abele Neelesh Moorthy The Chronicle President Richard Brodhead announced Tuesday that the main quadrangle on West Campus will be named after Julian Abele, the black architect of Duke’s original campus. In a community forum in November, titled “Duke Tomorrow: StudentOrganized Discussion with Brodhead and Administration,” students presented Brodhead, Provost Sally Kornbluth and Valerie Ashby, dean of the Trinity College of Arts and Sciences, with the “Demands of Black Voices”—which included a point that Abele be recognized. In December, Brodhead announced an advisory group, chaired by Executive Vice President Tallman Trask, to consider how to honor Abele’s legacy. The group was scheduled to report to the Board of Trustees at its February 2016 meeting, which occurred Saturday at the Washington Duke Inn and Golf Club. During the meeting, the trustees unanimously voted to approve the naming of Abele Quad. “The recognition of Julian Abele will henceforward be woven deep into the experience of Duke,” Brodhead wrote in an email to the Duke community Tuesday. One of said demands was to name the new West Union “Abele Union” and to erect a statue in Abele’s honor. In his email, See ABELE on Page 3
Jack White | The Chronicle For the second straight year, Grayson Allen torched the Demon Deacons at Cameron Indoor Stadium, sparking a 9-2 run to help Duke pull away.
Brian Pollack The Chronicle If the Blue Devils were expecting an easy victory against a Wake Forest squad that entered Cameron Indoor Stadium with just two conference wins, they were sorely mistaken. But just like last year, Grayson Allen carried the offense past the Demon Deacons. Playing its third game in six days, No. 17 Duke
rebounded from a road loss at Pittsburgh and eked out a 79-71 win against Wake Forest Tuesday at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Allen finished with 30 points—his fourth 30-point game of the year— on 16 shots, and made 10 of his 14 attempts from the charity stripe in the second half to help put the game away with a key 11-4 run. “We just needed to control the time and finish the game out, and we did that,” Allen said. “We made it hard for them to score down the stretch and we knocked down some of our free throws.”
After shooting just 28.6 percent from the floor in the first half, Duke (22-8, 11-6 in the ACC) led by a single point, and the Demon Deacons (11-19, 2-16) showed no signs of going away in the second half. Wake Forest grabbed several leads early on after intermission, but Matt Jones and Brandon Ingram connected on multiple 3-pointers late in the shot clock to keep pace for the Blue Devils. See M. BASKETBALL on Page 11
Campus ministry students set up Justice-Ville tent for third year Shayal Vashisth The Chronicle
Carolyn Chang | The Chronicle A tent was set up in front of the James B. Duke statue to raise awareness for livable wage issues.
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The small tent in front of the James B. Duke statue and Duke Chapel was not just for a lost K-Ville tenter. To raise awareness of livable wage issues, the Encounter: Social Justice organization set up Justice-Ville, or J-Ville, for the third year. Based within the Catholic Center, the group hosted a prayer, a documentary showing and held a discussion panel during a 12-day event that ended Monday. “There have been multiple studies that show that it is just not possible for any human being, even if they’re completely alone, to live on [minimum wage] in the United States,” senior Audra Bass said. “There are several
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states that have tried to raise their minimum wage so that it’s more of a living standard, but this is not the case for everywhere, and so you end up with this awful poverty cycle.” The J-Ville group screened a documentary last week called “30 Days”—in which filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, the creator of “Super Size Me,” and his fiancée spent 30 days attempting to live on minimum wage. Earlier in the 12-day event, students handed out hot chocolate with informational pamphlets in K-Ville. They also hosted a panel discussion last week that included representatives from Joe Van Gogh, a living wage business and Durham CAN, an umbrella organization that focuses on tackling social justice work. Bass encouraged students to attend the panel and bring questions about livable wages.
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“We have several representatives from Durham who have some personal or intentional connection to this problem,” Bass said. “I think we’re most excited about the panel because it’s not just Duke; it’s really bringing in the Durham community.” In most parts of Durham, businesses have raised wages to round $12. Bass said studies have shown that businesses paying a living wage do not suffer from a lack of profit. J-Ville was founded three years ago by a collection of representatives from various campus ministries, including the Catholic Center, Wesleyan Methodist Fellowship and the Presbyterians. In its first year, the event focused on raising awareness about homelessness. The physical tent in front of
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DSG President Keizra Mecklai reflects on year’s progress those results to see what students care about. A great example of that is when the Vice President of Residential Life started working The Chronicle on the mold problem on Central because With the election of a new Duke Student a student brought it up at this forum. Last Government president Wednesday, The Chronicle’s year, the 30-10 housing proposal caused a lot Rachel Sereix spoke with current president Keizra of drama. I worked with the junior George Mecklai to discuss her time in office. Mellgard, vice president for residential life, and Dean for Residential Life Joe Gonzalez to The Chronicle: Was the presidency what create an alternative solution so that groups you expected it to be? could keep their houses without requiring Keizra Mecklai: One of the things that I seniors to live in section. learned this year is that little things you want to accomplish are definitely possible, but only TC: What changes have you seen in if you work together. student government between this year and The teamwork on last year? the executive board KM: There are a couple of changes. The is essential. Being first-years in DSG are unbelievably engaged, president is about and it is incredible. We now think twice helping to inspire before we pass something unanimously and convince people because the first-years have been asking a lot to work harder, and of questions. They have also had us review the this is only possible internal DSG structure. I have also made sure when you work with that the executive board is a hardworking KEIZRA MECKLAI your senators and and cohesive unit so that they can impact executive board. Working as a unit is what the change that they want to. For the first helped us achieve the most. time this year, the executive board has gone on two retreats to discuss their role in DSG TC: Which of your campaign promises and has worked on getting feedback from have you followed through on, and what their committees. They were also required to difficulties have you encountered in actually sit down and make a poster of all the things fulfilling those promises? that they have accomplished. This inspires KM: One of the ones that I worked on a lot senators to work harder and realize that it’s is creating a forum called Fix My Duke, which not that we haven’t accomplished things, it’s was executed in conjunction with junior that we are poor at communicating them to Tanner Lockhead, vice president of durham the student body. and regional affairs. In the Fall, we brought in all the House Council presidents—first years TC: What campus events have been most and upperclassmen—and then we compiled difficult for your administration to deal with all the projects that the VPs planned to work during your time as president? on and had the students vote on what they KM: Right after I got elected, the noose were most interested in seeing happen. We was hung. This was such a tragic, scary and now have the vice presidents look back at emotionally charged time. I had to sit down
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and think about whether or not DSG did anything to promote racial insensitivity and create a system where a racist incident like this could occur. I had to think about the shortcomings of an organization for which I hadn’t yet had the opportunity to fix. I worked with junior Ilana Weisman, vice president of equity and outreach, to discuss ways to communicate better with minority groups on campus and preemptively start conversations that promote inclusivity and determine how we could hold ourselves more accountable to a system that allows for racial inequality. TC: If you could go back and be president again, what would you do differently? KM: I would try to work on the way I campaigned. One of the things that I am frustrated with is that there is a weird race to the bottom where every candidate feels that they have to have a long list of things they want to accomplish. The presidents have agency to inspire their vice presidents to make meaningful change, but it is not the job of the president to do everything and work on every project, and it is facetious to imply otherwise, but that’s what campaigns demand. One of the biggest things you need is to have a good relationship with administrators. You need to be able to think on your feet and reflect the sentiments of undergraduates, because the Duke leadership will depend on you for that. To be an incredible president, you have to be able to inspire your VPs to make the change you want to see. TC: What do you want your successor to know about the DSG presidency and what do you want to see them work on? KM: I would love to see them work to not base their self-worth and success in the position on their list of accomplishments. I think that motivating a VP and seeing
them accomplish a task should be the most rewarding experience. It makes an individual less effective individual to consume themselves with just having their names on things. Motivating others to succeed and not just focus on their own success is important. TC: We saw that you endorsed Tara Bansal publicly—is that normal for a current president to endorse a candidate? KM: The DSG executive board had a long discussion on the matter. There has been precedent where the DSG president endorses a candidate. I made it clear in my post that it is my opinion and not DSG as a whole endorsing. Each DSG executive member voted as to whether or not the DSG president should be able to endorse a candidate, and we held a two hour long discussion on the question. They voted for me to have agency to endorse if I chose to. My biggest problem with the university-wide sentiment that the president can’t endorse someone is that you are silencing the one person that knows what the role entails and the type of person that will thrive in that role. TC: What made you most proud during your tenure as president? KM: The little moments when I felt I had agency to make change on things I was concerned about in a timely manner were incredible. The bus routes changed during summer 2015 so that there wasn’t a connection between East and Central during the day. It was incredible that less than a week after [Chief of Staff] Annie Adair discovered that change, we were sitting with Parking and Transportation drawing out new bus routes. It is an incredible responsibility to represent the universal student opinion, and I have done everything possible to not take that responsibility lightly.
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J-VILLE from page 1
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2016 | 3
Abele by black artist Odili Odita, and make it about it and bring those narratives home to a permanent fixture in the Nasher Museum our families, finding value in working towards of Art. The mural is already displayed in the the Chapel was a part of an event in which solving that problem.” Nasher, but was previously scheduled to be students could camp out in the tent as a show removed in three years. of solidarity. Lastly, the University will create a biography “The idea was to have the tenters from from page 1 of Abele and fund the Julian Abele Awards K-Ville uproot their tents and put them in front and Recognition Banquet, which honors the of the chapel,” said junior John McMichael, a achievements of black community members. founding member. “In doing that, they’d raise Brodhead noted that the Board decided The awards were first hosted in 1990 by the awareness about homelessness.” Although living wage does not easily against naming the new West Union after Abele Black Graduate and Professional Student connect to actually camping out, Bass said the because the building, after recent renovations, Association and are now co-sponsored by the goal was to fill the tent with food for the food no longer reflected Abele’s initial design. He Black Student Alliance and the Mary Lou bank. At the end of the event this year, the also wrote that Abele’s contributions extended Williams Center for Black Culture, according to the Duke Student Affairs website. tent had collected 15 bags worth of food, and beyond any one particular building. In June 2014, when Aycock dorm was In 1906, Abele was hired as an architect people attending the discussion panel were renamed East Residence Hall, the Trustees for the firm of American architect Horace encouraged to bring canned good items. turned down the possibility of renaming the Trumbauer. He became chief designer in Junior John Turanchik, another founding dorm after Abele because the architecture was 1909, and the firm designed and supervised member of J-Ville and candidate for DSG not of sufficient quality to honor his legacy. the construction of West Campus for 11 years executive vice president, said some of the Abele Quad will span the area from the between 1924 and 1935. priorities of J-Ville have evolved since it steps leading to Clocktower Quad, Davison “One of the most astonishing facts of Duke started. J-Ville was founded with the intent Quad and the Chapel Quad—an area home history is that during the darkest days of racial to raise awareness of social justice issues not to more than 30 different buildings or spaces segregation, an African American designed particularly prominent in the media, he said, Abele designed, according to a Duke Today the campus of the new Duke University,” but living wage is a large part of the current release. A marker naming the quadrangle will Brodhead wrote. national dialogue. There is, however, still a way also be placed at the center to “inform viewers Brodhead noted in his email, however, that for students to make an impact. that every building they now see is the work of Abele’s role remained largely invisible to the “J-Ville was conceptualized as a way to raise Abele’s hand,” Brodhead wrote. Duke community at the time, and only became awareness about the issue,” he said. “Not only Matthew Bunyi, a graduate student in the widely known in the late 1980s. In 1986, Susan for other people to see us, but for individuals Sanford School of Public Policy, praised the Cook, Abele’s great-grand niece, wrote a to understand the plight more.” move as recognizing minorities who played an letter to The Chronicle noting that Abele had Although Bass is not expecting any rapid integral role in the University’s development. designed many West Campus buildings. In change to the living wage issue, she and He noted, however, that the demand for a 1988, a portrait of Abele was hung in the lobby McMichael said they would like to see more statue was not met, adding that he would like to of the Allen Building, which was also Abele’s and more people become involved in J-Ville in see students fundraise to get the construction last creation prior to his death in 1950. the coming years. The advisory group included students, Turanchik also noted the “shelf-life” of of one underway. Sophomore Chris Cook, the great-greatfaculty, alumni and Durham architect the impact on students and said he hopes grand nephew of Abele, agreed that Brodhead’s Philip Freelon, co-lead architect on the new that J-Ville’s unique focus on learning would announcement was an “excellent way of Smithsonian National Museum of African propel it forward. American History and Culture. “In a perfect world, we would do it and honoring him” and “very generous.” A plaque honoring Abele will also be Cook noted that he acted as an everyone would realize these are important issues that might not get played up in the media placed in the Duke Chapel, the release said. intermediary with the advisory group to but have equal validity and are real problems The University will purchase the rights to discuss what members of his own family, in the United States,” Turanchik said. “We care the “Shadow and Light” mural, dedicated to including his grandparents who actually
ABELE
knew Abele, thought of various proposals. He said that Trask, in particular, conducted an “unbelievable” amount of research on Abele and even identified two buildings Cook’s grandparents were unaware Abele had designed. In response to recent allegations against Trask of using a racist slur against a parking attendant, Cook noted that this seemed out of character from his interactions with him. “That’s certainly not the Mr. Trask I know,” Cook said. Cook noted that, while it would be problematic if the University stopped here and failed to pursue further reforms, this is a step in the right direction. “Honoring the legacy of a prominent black architect is a way of acknowledging the value African-Americans have on this campus,” he said. “If they continue on the path that they’re going, to create programs to create more inclusion, it should be for the better.”
Carolyn Chang | Chronicle File Photo The Board of Trustees decided to name the main quadrangle on West Campus, rather than the West Union, after architect Julian Abele.
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In the midst of a close game at the tail-end of three games in six days, the Blue Devils will take motivation wherever they can get it. As is so often the case, it came from head coach Mike Krzyzewski, but this time in a different way. Krzyzewski removed his suit jacket midway through the second half of Duke’s 79-71 win against Wake Forest Tuesday night, firing up his tired squad. The Blue Devils outscored the Demon Deacons 23-15 from that point on, getting themselves across the finish line in a back-and-forth game. “It was so hot in there. It wasn’t for the officials. I’m not in bad shape at this time, so I wanted to show that. I’m not sure if anyone looked. You don’t look at 69-year-old people,” Krzyzewski joked. “It was more to show our team a sign, and then they gutted it out. It was very good.” With 12:31 left, Duke trailed the Demon Deacons by three—its largest deficit of the night. Freshman swingman Brandon Ingram stepped up to deliver a momentum-shifting block on a lay-up attempt by Wake Forest sophomore Rondale Watson. On the next trip down the floor, Ingram—who had shot just 5-of-16 from the floor up to that point—sunk a 3-pointer from well beyond the arc to tie the game at 56 and send the crowd into a frenzy. Evidently, the Cameron Crazies were not the only ones fired up by the
As the NCAA tournament approached a year ago, much of the focus was placed on how a highly-touted group of freshmen— including Duke’s Jahlil Okafor and Kentucky’s KarlAnthony Towns, to name a few—would perform under the high-stakes Sameer Pandhare pressure of March.
to us. I thought our guys showed some maturity by responding to Coach K’s energy tonight.” Krzyzewski’s passion ignited a chain reaction from his team. After an exchange of misses from both sides immediately following the media timeout, Plumlee rose up through traffic deep in the paint to pull down a heavily contested offensive rebound— one of his seven offensive boards and 17 total rebounds on the night. The Warsaw, Ind., native was fouled on his
Fast-forward a year later and the script is reversed. This year’s Big Dance will likely be defined by the seasoned veteran that can solidify his legacy even further with a deep tourney run. In place of the group of skilled rookies is a collection of steady seniors who have used their time in college to develop into players capable of succeeding at the next level. Don’t get confused—freshmen Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram will almost certainly still be the top two picks in June’s NBA draft. But for Oklahoma guard Buddy Hield, Michigan State swingman Denzel Valentine and Virginia guard Malcolm Brogdon, cutting down the nets in April would be just as satisfying. Throughout their careers, the trio of National Player of the Year candidates has epitomized what college basketball is really about—molding raw high-school talent into a complete player. Hield, Valentine and Brogdon were all four-star recruits coming out
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Jack White | The Chronicle Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski gave his team a boost of energy midway through the second half by removing his suit jacket.
Kinston, N.C., native’s game-changing efforts. Moments before the under-12 minute media timeout, Krzyzewski removed his jacket, hoping his team would take notice. Multiple players cited the blazer strip as a source of energy down the stretch as Wake Forest tried to stay within striking distance. “That fires me up,” graduate student Marshall Plumlee said. “When Coach is fired up, it fires you up. You’re either going to be excited to play a game, or Coach is going to drag it out of you one way or another. He has a great way of getting through to us and relating
BASEBALL
Bats come alive for Blue Devils as Urbon shines again Ryan Hoerger The Chronicle When Kellen Urbon takes the mound, his teammates know they aren’t going to be in the field very long. Urbon tossed seven scoreless frames Tuesday night as the Blue Devils beat Davidson 9-2 at the Durham Bulls Athletic running 2 Park, DAV his personal DUKE 9 scoreless streak to 13 innings. The right-hander allowed just one hit—a harmless fourth-inning single—and two other baserunners. Duke’s offense gave the Cornell product plenty of early run support, putting up five runs in the bottom of the first thanks to seven hits in the frame. Urbon worked quickly and efficiently, needing just 83 pitches to get through
the seven innings. Fifty-eight of those pitches went for strikes, and the San Diego native got through four stanzas in nine or fewer pitches. “It’s the best. When he is getting ahead of guys early in the count and having innings where he throws less than 10 pitches, it’s good for our defense staying alert and staying ready but also for the offense because we want to go get him more runs,” sophomore Max Miller said. “We’re back in the dugout real quick.” After the Blue Devils (5-3) returned to the first-base dugout following Urbon’s nine-pitch first inning, they stayed there for quite a bit. Duke strung together four straight hits to open the scoring, with consecutive singles by Zack Kone, Miller and Jimmy Herron setting the table for cleanup hitter Jack Labosky. The sophomore took a pitch the other See BASEBALL on Page 13
Jack White | Chronicle File Photo Sophomore Max Miller and the Blue Devils cranked out a season-high nine runs Tuesday against Davidson, with all of the damage coming in the first three innings.
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STILL WORK LEFT TO DO
Blue Devils face Virginia with star Stevens available Hank Tucker The Chronicle Fighting for its NCAA tournament life, Duke may get a big boost at the ACC tournament with its best player back on the court. Sophomore forward Azurá Stevens has missed seven straight games recovering from a partially torn plantar fascia in her left foot but went through warm-ups before the Blue Devils’ regular-season finale against North Carolina, giving Duke hope that No. 9 she will take the floor Virginia in the first round of the vs. ACC tournament. No. 8 The eighth-seeded Duke Blue Devils will take THURSDAY, 2 p.m. on No. 9 seed Virginia Greensboro Coliseum at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C., Thursday at 2 p.m., looking to start a successful run through the postseason with Stevens back in tow after a disappointing regular season derailed by injuries. “It’s feeling better, I’ve just been rehabbing like crazy and trying to get back as soon as I can,” Stevens said. “I’ve been trying to strengthen up my ankle and make other areas strong, so when I do come back it’s not like I’m all rusty.” Stevens was named a first-team AllACC selection Tuesday after only playing in nine conference games, but it seemed like Duke would not miss a beat in its first game without her. The Blue Devils (19-11) cruised to a 6752 win Feb. 4 against the Cavaliers (16-14), with redshirt sophomore Rebecca Greenwell tallying 25 points and 12 boards to post her first double-double of the season. But they lost four of their next five games and failed to reach 60 points in each of the defeats as opposing defenses keyed in on Greenwell. Without Stevens’ presence in the frontcourt,
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Kristen Shortley | The Chronicle Sophomore Azurá Stevens has missed Duke’s last seven games with a foot injury but is available to return Thursday in the Blue Devils’ ACC tournament opener against Virginia.
Duke’s other post players stepped up, and the team was firing on all cylinders in the 93-57 rout of the Tar Heels. Junior Oderah Chidom poured in a career-high 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds, graduate student Amber Henson added eight points and 10 boards and sophomore Erin Mathias scored a season-high eight points off the bench to help the Blue Devils outscore North Carolina 52-10 in the paint. “I’ve seen just a lot of different people step up in different ways,” Stevens said. “[It’s] not one person necessarily trying to shoulder everything, but Becca getting more rebounds, being more aggressive in that way, Oderah scoring a lot more, Angela [Salvadores] and Kyra [Lambert] and others just stepping up and really trying to come together collectively as a team.” Virginia’s tallest starter is 6-foot-2, and Duke doubled up the Cavaliers on the boards without Stevens to finish with a 44-22 rebounding advantage. If the Blue Devils can
reincorporate the 6-foot-6 forward into the offense Thursday, their interior dominance could stand out even more. With the newfound emergence of more post threats, Duke could also use Stevens as the small forward in a big lineup with either Chidom or Henson on the floor at the same time. The Raleigh native would create matchup nightmares on the perimeter, either by shooting from downtown—where she has made 16 3-pointers this season—or by feeding her teammates for easy looks over shorter defenders. “Azurá will play her game smartly. She’ll play from the inside-out, meaning she’ll try to attack that paint area and get herself comfortable again,” Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “There’s no doubt there’ll be a process, there’s no doubt there are going to be conditioning issues and things of that nature, but we’ll just work with it.”
The Blue Devils may get their star back for Thursday’s showdown, but the Cavaliers were also shorthanded for their loss in Durham. Senior guard Faith Randolph did not play against Duke due to a broken thumb, but returned for the last five games to help Virginia finish the regular season with three wins in five tries. With Randolph out of the lineup, the Cavaliers went just 2-7, but their record in conference play jumped to 4-3 when she was healthy. The Derwood, Md., native leads the team with 3.1 assists per game and also averages 12.8 points per game to supplement sophomore Mikayla Venson’s 15.4 points per contest. “[Randolph] gives them more guard depth, obviously—another 3-point shooter and scoring threat. She and Vinson are really good,” McCallie said. “Out of the 52 points they scored against Virginia Tech, 44 were guard points, so they’re very guard-dominated.” Virginia has integrated Randolph back into the lineup seamlessly since her return, and Duke can only hope to replicate that immediate improvement with Stevens this week. At the same time, the Blue Devils face a long week in Greensboro if they keep winning—with a rematch with the top-seeded Fighting Irish looming Friday—which would put stress on Stevens’ still-recovering foot. Stevens still has not been fully practicing, but her mere presence on the floor could spark the Blue Devils to a strong start in Greensboro, much like it did when she warmed up prior to Sunday’s contest in Chapel Hill. “We thought she was going to play. We thought it was 100 percent and that she might even start, but then we ended up not even needing her,” Greenwell said. “It just got everyone excited and I think her just warming up might have spooked the other team. Even though she didn’t play, she definitely helped us out overall.”
After slow start, Salvadores stepping up down the stretch Drew Johnson The Chronicle
Carolyn Chang | The Chronicle Freshman point guard Angela Salvadores is playing her best basketball of the season as the Blue Devils enter the postseason.
At the beginning of the Blue Devils’ season, there were a lot of unanswered questions about where Angela Salvadores would fit on this year’s team. The freshman was touted as Duke’s best incoming player— tabbed No. 5 in her class—but found herself at a crowded position as part of a top-ranked recruiting class that included four other guards. To add to that, the Leon, Spain, native was learning a new language, a new style of play and how to stay patient as her body recovered from a summer full of international competition. Salvadores started the season off slowly, seeing limited minutes as Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie cautiously worked her into the lineup, describing her as “worn out” before the season even started. The freshman opened her career with a zero-point, zeroassist showing in 10 minutes in the team’s first matchup against Pennsylvania, only confirming McCallie’s observation.
“As long as she focuses and she’s working hard, she’ll have her own breakthrough,” McCallie said earlier this season. It took some time, but it appears that McCallie’s prediction has finally come to fruition. Although Salvadores’ early-season play did not command attention in the box score, it still showed glimpses of the consistent, yet aggressive, player that has emerged down the stretch. The point guard had several highlights in the season’s opening games that displayed her passing and ball-handling abilities, like a behindthe-back pass to Rebecca Greenwell in an exhibition against St. Leo and a dribble between the legs of a Liberty defender en route to a fast-break assist. “You definitely have to be aware every time she is on the floor because she can throw a no-look pass and it will just end up in your hands, so you have to be ready for it at all times,” Greenwell said. After leading scorer Azurá Stevens was injured Feb. 1, the freshman guard has emerged as a reliable threat for a Duke
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Duke trying to make noise with NCAA hopes at stake Mitchell Gladstone The Chronicle
In years past, the ACC tournament has frequently been a formality for the Blue Devils—nothing more than a stop on the road to the NCAA tournament. But with postseason hopes hanging in the balance for this year’s team—even after a dominant 93-57 win Sunday at North Carolina—Duke will need to make the most of its opportunities in Greensboro, N.C., this week. The Blue Devils enter the conference tournament seeded eighth—the lowest since former head coach Gail Goestenkors’ first season in 1992-93. Given its 19-11 overall record to go along with just an 8-8 mark in the ACC, Duke may need to run the table and bring the conference title back to Durham if it hope to ensure a spot in the field of 64 for the 21st consecutive season. If nothing else, the Blue Devils will have to at least compete with top-seeded Notre Dame—should they advance to Friday’s quarterfinal round—and prove to the NCAA selection committee that they can match up with the nation’s elite. “We know we’re a very good team,” Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie said after Sunday’s game. “The adversity we’ve had has been outside of our control. Some other teams have struggled and we keep getting moved in with them, but that’s been inside their control. For us, it’s been completely outside our control, this adversity, so we know we can play. It was great to see the team come together like they did, and we look forward to still trying to add Azurá [Stevens] and build from that so we can be better and stronger.” After losing freshman Haley Gorecki and redshirt freshman Lyneé Belton to season-
Sanjeev Dasgupta | The Chronicle Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie and the Blue Devils will likely need to make a deep run in this week’s ACC tournament to keep their NCAA tournament hopes alive.
ending injuries, junior Kendall Cooper for the spring semester and Stevens to a lengthy absence as a result of a torn left plantar fascia, Duke dropped five of its final eight conference games. Now, the Blue Devils are in the unenviable position of sitting squarely on the tournament bubble. As of March 1, ESPN Bracketology expert Charlie Creme had Duke in his First Four Out. “I feel very good about us getting in,” McCallie said Sunday. “You look at how close we’ve been and you actually factor in how many people have been out, it’s a pretty extraordinary season.” In many ways, the Blue Devils have a unique resume when compared with others on the fringe of earning an at-
large bid. Their RPI currently ranks 51st in the country—in the middle of the pack compared to the top eight teams excluded from Creme’s most recent bracket—and their strength of schedule ranks 25th overall—above three of the top 10 teams in the RPI. Still, Duke has yet to win a game against a ranked opponent. The Blue Devils lost road matchups at then-No. 2 South Carolina, then-No. 8 Kentucky and then-No. 16 Miami as well as home games against thenNo. 12 Texas A&M, then-No. 3 Notre Dame and then-No. 10 Florida State. Throw in a pair of losses to No. 17 Syracuse and No. 7 Louisville and Duke holds an 0-8 record against teams currently in the AP top 25— something that the committee will take into
offense that has struggled without Stevens. Salvadores has averaged 29.7 minutes per game since the departure of the 6-foot6 forward—significantly higher than her season mark of 25.4 minutes per contest— and is making the most of her increased time on the court. “I don’t think it was because of Azurá and [how she] wasn’t playing,” Salvadores said. “It was because I was more confident more of the time.” The freshman is known for her ability to sneak the ball through defenders and create plays for teammates, and is putting on one of her best ball-sharing displays of the season when the Blue Devils need it most. Salvadores—who leads the team in assists per game with 3.3—has notched 15 assists in the past four contests, her best of any four-game ACC stretch this season. “I’m known as a passer—I don’t want to be just a passer,” Salvadores said. “[My teammates] are very good. They are much better than my teammates in Spain, so it’s easier to pass to them than to pass in Spain, but I have to score more.” Salvadores has followed through on her desire to become a bigger scoring threat, as she has reached double-figures in four of
her last five games, including a career-high 19 points against Georgia Tech in Duke’s final home game of the regular season. The floor general has found her rhythm from beyond the arc, filling the void left by an injured Haley Gorecki and becoming a sidekick to sharpshooter Rebecca Greenwell from 3-point range, where she shoots 39.1 percent. Despite the Spaniard’s 5-foot-10 stature, she has also helped compensate for Stevens’ absence in the paint. Salvadores has notched three or more rebounds in six of her last seven games, highlighted by a career-high seven boards against Florida State Feb. 11. “She’s an interesting player. She’s very, very talented and she’s also very, very intense and she wants to win as much as anybody,” McCallie said. “She knows she can do more and wants to do more and she needs to keep doing more. It’s key.” Even in the areas where the team has struggled all season, Salvadores has stepped up of late. Duke averages 18.7 turnovers per game and ranks in the bottom 10 teams nationally in the statistic, but Salvadores has produced three of her season’s four singleturnover performances in the seven games played without Stevens.
Salvadores’ contributions this season are even more impressive when considered in the context of the Blue Devils’ chaotic and unpredictable roster. This year’s Duke team has been anything but consistent in terms of both performance and available players, but Salvadores’ production has only improved as the team’s injuries have piled up. “It was timely for us to have another scorer out there when we lost Azurá,” McCallie said. “It’s a good thing, but she’s definitely capable of big games for sure.” The freshman’s scoring output has steadily reached 8.9 points per game—the fourth-best mark on the team—even though the players around her have constantly changed throughout the year. McCallie has started a school-record 13 different players and 15 different lineups this season, but Salvadores has proven herself as dependable resource for hard-fought, quality minutes, starting Duke’s last six games. “I just want to win,” Salvadores said. “I don’t care what I have to do, I will do it. Every game is different, so I will do everything the team needs to win. It depends on the game, but I will do everything.” This week at the ACC tournament, the Blue Devils may need just about everything Salvadores can give them.
account come Selection Monday. But despite the challenges of a season in which the Blue Devils fell out of the rankings for the first time since November 1999 and saw their 44-game winning streak against Wake Forest come to an end, Duke has had to reinvent itself—particularly since Stevens’ Feb. 1 injury. “Individually, we’ve been able to realize our potential,” redshirt sophomore Rebecca Greenwell said. “Oderah [Chidom] especially has grown her game since Azurá’s been out—being more of a scoring threat, she’s been really great. Everyone is learning their individual games and trying to grow from a scoring standpoint [and maturing] defensively because Azurá factors in on both ends.” Greenwell’s 27-point, 10-rebound outing Sunday was her best showing since she posted 25 points and 12 rebounds against Virginia at home Feb. 4—the first of seven straight games in which Stevens was sidelined. Whether Stevens—a midseason Wooden award candidate and Duke’s leading scorer—returns to the court in Greensboro or not, the Blue Devils will need to grab two victories if they hope to avoid watching another lengthy streak come to an end. The last time Duke failed to snag a spot in the ACC tournament semifinals was in 2012, when it fell 75-73 to N.C. State in its opening game. Although the odds may not be in the Blue Devils’ favor at the moment, the opportunity to play their way into March Madness starts Thursday. “I think [the key is] just taking one game at a time,” Stevens said. “We can’t look ahead and put pressure onto ourselves. We just have to play Duke basketball every time, and if we do that, [making the tournament will] take care of itself.”
Duke’s Resume Record: 19-11 ACC Record: 8-8 Road Record: 5-6 Record vs. Top 25: 0-6 RPI: 51st Schedule Strength: 24th
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Stevens, Greenwell garner All-ACC recognition Staff Reports The Chronicle Heading into their ACC tournament opener Thursday against Virginia, two Blue Devils were honored with allconference recognition. Sophomore forward Azurá Stevens was selected to the All-ACC First Team, the conference announced Tuesday. Redshirt sophomore guard Rebecca Greenwell joined the ACC’s second team. The announcement marks the second straight year that Stevens has been an All-ACC performer, as she earned second-team honors as a freshman last season. Despite missing Duke’s last seven games with a partially torn plantar fascia, Stevens has contributed 19.1 points per game on 54.8 percent shooting. The Raleigh, N.C., native has also been a key presence on the glass and in Duke’s interior defense, collecting 9.4 rebounds per contest
and leading the Blue Devils in total blocks. In her nine ACC contests, Stevens, who is a John R. Wooden Award candidate for National Player of the Year, led the ACC in scoring and rebounding with 20.4 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. Although Greenwell has had an upand-down season and struggled with her shot at times during the year, the Owensboro, Ky., scored 15.1 points and snagged 5.9 rebounds per game. She also ranks fourth in the ACC with 73 made 3-point field goals and shoots 41.7 percent from beyond the arc. Greenwell led Duke in its 93-57 rout of North Carolina Sunday, contributing a game-high 27 points and 10 rebounds in 29 minutes. The Blue Devils hope to have Stevens back when they face off against Virginia in the second round of the ACC tournament in Greensboro, N.C., Thursday at 2 p.m.
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Alex Deckey | The Chronicle Center Marshall Plumlee grabbed a career-high-tying 17 rebounds in Tuesday’s win to go with his 13 points.
M. BASKETBALL from page 1 The Demon Deacons had already given Duke a scare earlier this season when the teams met Jan. 6 in Winston-Salem, N.C., hanging around until late in the second half when foul trouble for senior Devin Thomas allowed the Blue Devils to pull away. Still searching for its first ACC road win in more than two years, Wake Forest rarely led Tuesday, but played scrappy basketball and would not let Duke extend its lead. Allen—who exploded onto the college basketball scene with 27 points in last year’s Senior Day game against the Demon Deacons—did not outscore Wake Forest by himself in the first half this time around, but was once again the biggest offensive threat for the Blue Devils. “I think Grayson got back [to himself],” Krzyzewski said. “At Pitt, you can tell, he wasn’t [himself]. All that affects you, the big [circus] over things and over him. He got out of it and had 30 points tonight.” With the score tied at 56 coming out of the under-12 media timeout, the
sophomore guard gave the Blue Devils the lead for good, draining a deep 3-pointer from the wing to put his team up 59-56. Two possessions later, Allen converted a tough jumper in the lane to give Duke a five-point lead. And still he was not done. After Thomas cut the lead to 65-60, Allen stepped back from the right corner and splashed home a triple to close a 9-2 Blue Devil run that put them up by eight. The Duke defense then clamped down and forced misses on eight of the next 10 Demon Deacon shots, trimming valuable time off the clock for a potential comeback. “We got it up by eight and Coach brought us together and he was fired up and he said, ‘Next stop is ours. We need to get this next stop,’” Allen said. “I think we got the stop and that’s when I felt like we were kind of in control the game down the stretch.” Wake Forest eventually cut the deficit to five and forced Duke center Marshall Plumlee to foul out with 1:40 remaining, leaving Krzyzewski to turn to freshman Chase Jeter for key minutes with the
Jesús Hidalgo | Chronicle File Photo Redshirt sophomore Rebecca Greenwell was named to the All-ACC second team Tuesday after averaging 15.1 points per game during the regular season.
game on the line. After grabbing just four rebounds in Sunday’s loss at Pittsburgh—when the Blue Devils were obliterated 39-20 on the glass—Plumlee tied a career-high with 17 boards Tuesday. He coupled those with his 13 points for his sixth doubledouble of the season, and Ingram also posted a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Jones went 4-of-6 from downtown to finish with 14 points before also fouling out late in the game. Following Plumlee’s departure, Jeter was promptly fouled and made one of two free throws, stretching the Blue Devil lead to 71-65. Duke created a turnover in the backcourt—one of 18 Wake Forest giveaways on the night— and sent Allen back to the free-throw line, where he calmly swished a pair and put the lead back to eight. Wake Forest made 5-of-9 from beyond the arc in the first half, but head coach Danny Manning’s squad went cold from
downtown in crunch time, settling for several deep 3-point attempts late in the shot clock and ultimately converting on just 2-of-12 3-pointers in the second half. The Blue Devils turned the Demon Deacons’ 18 miscues into 12 steals and 19 points, and fed off of their defense to create offense during stretches when shots were not falling consistently. “We just knew we needed to be more aggressive. We knew we could contest a little bit,” Jones said. “We haven’t really been a team to contest and get down in the passing lane. To be able to come up with 12 steals is really key to our confidence on the defensive end.” Duke now has just one game remaining in its regular-season slate, a Tobacco Road showdown with No. 8 North Carolina coming to Durham Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The Blue Devils defeated the Tar Heels 7473 Feb. 17 in Chapel Hill. “We have a game on Saturday,” Krzyzewski said. “You’re welcome to come.”
Alex Deckey | The Chronicle Junior Matt Jones accounted for half of Duke’s 3-pointers Tuesday, hitting four of his six shots from beyond the arc.
12 | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2016
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Chronicle File Photo Michigan State senior Denzel Valentine has the Spartans primed for another run through March Madness and is a National Player of the Year contender.
COLUMN from page 5 of high school, but each has enjoyed astronomical rises in his scoring numbers since entering college—all three players averaging single-digit points per game during their freshman seasons. Heading into last night’s action, Hield’s average of 25.4 points per contest ranks second in the nation, with Valentine and Brogdon in the periphery at 19.6 and 18.5 points per game, respectively. A look at 3-point shooting—one of the biggest skills a player can develop in college—produces more eye-popping results. The long-range sniper that Hield has become was once an inefficient freshman guard who shot 24 percent from beyond the arc, a far cry from his 48 percent this season. Valentine’s improvement has almost been just as large as the Lansing, Mich., native has improved from his 28 percent mark as a freshman to 45 percent this season. But simply comparing averages on offense does little justice to the hard work the group has put in to becoming strong defenders. With his size and tenacity within Virginia’s pack-line defense, Brogdon has become one of the best defenders in the ACC. Likewise, both Hield and Valentine have taken strides and are capable up against an opposing team’s top option.
Darbi Griffith | The Chronicle Virginia’s Malcolm Brogdon is the Cavaliers’ go-to player on both ends of the floor.
In addition to leading by example on the court, the trio enters March as the leaders in the locker rooms of veteranladen teams well-equipped to make a run to Houston and the Final Four. After missing time with a minor knee injury, Valentine has helped the Spartans regain their mojo and have the pieces to make their second straight trip to the season’s final weekend. Brogdon’s Cavaliers have built up one of the best resumes in the nation with six wins against the RPI top 25. And don’t forget about Hield’s Sooners, who are still 22-6 despite just three wins in their last six games. As Hield, Valentine and Brogdon have separated themselves from the pack, the question has been raised whether college basketball is less interesting this season because its stars are not as captivating as in past seasons, especially with Simmons and the Tigers—who are 17-12—at risk of missing the NCAA tournament. Gone are the salivating stretch-four potential of Towns and the Tim Duncanesque footwork of Okafor, leaving behind stars with much less acclaim. One of the most drastic reasons for the change has been a clear drop-off in top-tier talent from last year’s freshman class to this one. Around most NBA circles, the feeling among some general managers is that the upcoming draft could be one of the weakest in memory, with few clear rookies screaming “star” after Simmons and Ingram. But that’s what makes this March even more entertaining than last. Throw out the NBA player comparisons and draft boards and take a look at the sheer will of three individuals looking to cement their respective legacies with an elusive championship run. Neither Hield, Valentine nor Brogdon possesses an uncanny athletic ability or one particular attribute that clearly differentiates themselves from other college players. But they are three of the smartest players in the country—extensions of their head coaches on the floor—and are capable of taking and making the biggest shots in the biggest moments of the biggest games. Of the three, only Valentine has advanced past the Sweet 16, and Michigan State, Oklahoma and Virginia have not brought home a national championship since the Spartans in 2000. But in a season marked by widespread parity and upsets, we can only hope to see the three Player of the Year candidates laying it all on the line deep in the tournament.
Jack White | The Chronicle Freshman Brandon Ingram did not shoot well against the Demon Deacons but had a critical block and 3-pointer to help turn the game around for Duke.
ENERGY from page 5 way back up to the rim. The big man has been a major voice and source of leadership for the younger Blue Devils throughout the season, particularly since senior Amile Jefferson has been sidelined with a right foot injury. Although Plumlee could not convert on either free throw, his effort and intensity—which resulted in his sixth double-double of the season—played off of Krzyzewski’s message to his team and continued to keep his teammates energized. “Marshall was huge bringing energy and his 17 boards, and really his emotion that he showed out there got the whole team fired up,” sophomore Grayson Allen said. “He said to us in the locker room, ‘I only have two games left in Cameron. We need to go out and fight.’ And we did that, and so for him to step up like that was huge.” After the empty possession on the two missed free throws, Allen connected on a deep 3-pointer on the next trip down the court and regained the lead for Duke. The Blue Devils never looked back from there, with multiple players stepping up their intensity and level of play in the final minutes. Freshman Derryck Thornton found
a way to run the floor with composure and authority the rest of the way. The Chatsworth, Calif., native responded to Wake Forest freshman Bryant Crawford’s quick retaliatory layup with one of his own, stifling a comeback attempt and keeping Duke firmly ahead. Thornton secured all six of his points and two of his four assists in the final 8:25 and committed just one turnover in the entire contest, displaying a maturity in commanding the floor that was not apparent earlier in the season. “[Thornton] made some tough plays in those last 12 minutes,” Krzyzewski said. “He’s 18 years old. I think he’s done a really good job for us, and he’s gotten better and better. The guys on the team have confidence in him and respect him.” Tuesday’s contest served as a reminder of what has worked for the Blue Devils in their greatest moments of the season thus far—channeling resiliency in the face of adversity and playing with energy in the face of exhaustion. Duke will have to continue implementing that approach as it closes out the regular season against rival No. 8 North Carolina. Once again, the Blue Devils will need to find inspiration wherever they can get it, even if it is as simple as a garment change.
way that fell just in front of right fielder Lee Miller and skipped under his glove and down the line. Miller trotted in from third and Herron scored all the way from first to stake Urbon to a 3-0 lead, with Labosky ending up at third with his first triple of the year. Right fielder Peter Zyla continued the scoring with an RBI groundout to put Wildcat starter Evan Roberts back in the wind-up, but Duke went right back to work. After an Evan Dougherty strikeout, Griffin Conine singled sharply into center field before promptly stealing second. The freshman scored on a bloop by first baseman Justin Bellinger—Duke’s seventh hit and sixth single of the inning. “Every ball that was hit in that first inning today just kind of had eyes,” Duke head coach Chris Pollard said. “We’re not a prolific power team. We’re going to use our speed to try to get to first base and then hopefully get some things going with our speed once we get on first, and that’s kind of how it played out today.” The long bottom half of the inning— and the four-run third inning that followed shortly after—could have thrown Urbon out of sync, but he went down to the bullpen to stay warm and showed no ill effects when he returned to the mound. “I’d rather have more runs than less runs,” he said. Urbon needed just nine more pitches to cruise through the second inning before laboring slightly in the third despite not allowing a baserunner. For the second straight start, Urbon commanded sudoku_523B
his slider early in the count, keeping Davidson (4-4) guessing and starting to mix in his change-up. His walk and hit batter both came in the seventh, but were promptly negated by Urbon’s fifth strikeout of the night. Four of his five punch-outs came on called third strikes. “I try and pound the strike zone,” Urbon said. “I’m not much of a swingand-miss guy, so I try not to get too late in the count, because if they know a fastball’s coming, it’s not going to help me out. I really try to force early, weak contact.” Duke sent nine Blue Devils to the plate again in the third, thanks to wildness of new Davidson pitcher Chad Moss. Dougherty led off with a walk and advanced to second on a passed ball, then scored on Conine’s RBI single— one of the freshman’s three hits on the day. A one-out single by catcher Chris Proctor plated Justin Bellinger—who scampered down to second on a Moss wild pitch—and Kone walked before Miller launched a bases-clearing double to the left-center field gap. Urbon retired the next two hitters in the top of the fourth before yielding his first and only hit of the night to Davidson shortstop Sam Foy. Pollard said he was not expecting to keep the right-hander in the game for as long as he did, but Urbon’s efficiency allowed him to work deep into the contest while ending up around Pollard’s goal of 85 pitches. With another game Wednesday evening at Campbell and a weekend series against Toledo on the horizon, his quick work Tuesday preserved the bullpen for
later in the week. “It’s huge. We could use every inning we got out of him today with the long week,” Pollard said. “It was a big shot in the arm.” Freshman Zack Kesterson made his debut on the mound in relief in the eighth inning, but quickly ran into trouble of his own creation. Kesterson struggled with his command, yielding a lead-off walk and consecutive singles to load the bases before walking in a run. Pollard emerged from the dugout to summon veteran southpaw Kevin Lewallyn, who issued a free pass of his own and allowed a run to score on a wild pitch. But the senior limited the damage by striking out the side, all on called third strikes. Labosky will take the ball Wednesday for the Blue Devils against the Fighting Camels.
Jack White | The Chronicle Sophomore Jack Labosky reached base three times Tuesday, including a two-run triple. sudoku_523B
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Alex Deckey | The Chronicle Sophomore Grayson Allen lived at the free-throw line Tuesday, converting on 14 of his 19 attempts from the charity stripe on his way to 30 points.
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ACROSS 1 *Do in, old-style 6 Org. for Janet Yellen, with “the” 9 *Grocery line count 14 Suffix with Obama, once 15 One more than due 16 Judge’s determination 17 SeaWorld frolicker 18 Club selection factor 19 *Tiny biters 20 Phil who sang “Draft Dodger Rag” 21 Overlook, as a fault 23 With 38- and 52-Across, 1964 Bob Dylan song … or a hint to the answers to this puzzle’s starred clues 25 Sine, for example
28 Midtown Manhattan cultural attraction, for short 29 Bigger than big 31 G.I. address 33 Symbol of penance 36 Nutritional figs. 37 Make a run for it 38 See 23-Across 41 “Need ___ on?” 42 When Brutus struck 44 Make even slicker 45 Some refrigerators 46 Foot-long sandwich option 49 “See ya!” 51 5 for B and 6 for C 52 See 23-Across 56 Affair that led to Scooter Libby’s 2007 conviction, informally
58 Steering wheel option 59 *Gives off 62 You, impersonally 63 Number of strikes in a turkey 64 Lash of old westerns 65 Nabokov heroine 66 Canasta plays 67 *Answer to “Who’s there?” 68 Pro ___ (for now) 69 *“No more, thanks”
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE Y A N G L A M B M I N D S
U B E R
K I L O
S I T T P A L O R U N D O C O N T A D I D A U R A N E T A T O T O W I E A M A O A J O R P R D E D T O O L I E C P L U S C T O M P O
O C C U R W A N O M A H A
N S E C A H T S O L F Y A T D S T E K A B L B L E F O O L I A D T S
I H E A R Y A
L A N C E
K I N D A
S N A C K
V E N E U R M L E O B C A K N
I L I A
D K N Y
R O M E
Y E O W
DOWN 1 ___-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 2 One of 20 in a book 3 How Buddhists strive to live 4 Connects with 5 Musical gift 6 N.J. town next to Palisades Park 7 Great Lakes tribesmen 8 How a daring quarterback may throw 9 2001 Sean Penn movie 10 Service with a bird logo 11 The “E” of 12-Down 12 Army fare, for short 13 1960s antiwar org. 21 Flop’s opposite 22 Place for a shot 24 “___ my wit’s end!”
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PUZZLE BY ADAM G. PERL
26 “Colorful” folk duo 27 River to the Missouri 29 Golf’s Aoki 30 Those, in Taxco 31 Touched down 32 “The Taming of the Shrew” setting 34 Rosemary, for one 35 Part of a Masonic symbol 39 Nouveau ___
40 Director Kazan 43 Place of privacy 47 “Obviously” 48 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup champs 50 Reason to take off one’s hat 52 “Hoarders” airer 53 Third-stringers 54 ___-France (region including Paris) 55 Bikini blast, briefly
57 Target of blame 59 “Y”-sporting collegian 60 Antislip protection 61 Recipient of much Apr. mail 63 Texter’s “Didn’t need to know that”
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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
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Administration needs to take responsibility
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n Monday, the Duke community learned the shocking story of an alleged criminal incident involving Executive Vice President Tallman Trask. Before a basketball game in 2014, Trask hit a game day parking attendant with his car and allegedly called out a racial slur as he abruptly left the scene. Shelvia Underwood, the attendant, sought medical care for a muscle contusion and possible elbow fracture shortly afterwards. Trask “categorically denied” hitting Underwood with his car until The Chronicle presented him with a copy of the apology note he had written to her for the incident. We also learned that a special events manager for the Parking and Transportation Services department made clear to President Richard Brodhead that the allegations made against Trask were part of a hostile and discriminatory environment within PTS, claims corroborated on Tuesday after interviews with 12 current and former PTS employees by The Chronicle. We urge all students to read these articles to better understand the severity of these incidents. These investigative reports highlight our previously articulated concerns about how administrative conflicts of interest can manifest at Duke and how our community must not back down from addressing systemic issues of race and inequality. Trask conducts himself as though he is untouchable
more often than any administrator should, evidenced by a reputation for not properly displaying his parking permits and his outright lie to The Chronicle when first asked about hitting Underwood. Legally, for Trask to leave the scene without ensuring Underwood’s wellbeing possibility constitutes a criminal offense and, at a basic level, is behavior no student trying to become a scholar “in the service of society” should see in one of our highest ranking University leaders. We find ourselves even more concerned that the
Editorial Trask incident and reports by the PTS employees reflect fundamental flaws in our administration’s hierarchy of oversight and accountability. PTS and the Duke University Police Department are supervised by VP of Administration Kyle Cavanaugh, who is directly supervised by Trask, yet DUPD was the body investigating Underwood’s complaint. Further, while deputized to carry out investigations, DUPD’s status as a private police force exempts it from regulations on many federally supervised departments. This allowed DUPD to decline to provide Underwood with her full police report until Underwood spoke with the Raleigh Police Department. Additionally, PTS
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“University and college students are starting to use the app, YES to SEX, as a step-by-step verbal safe sex consent. This app is the answer to ‘HOW do we do this consent thing?’ It covers consent facts, protection to be used or not, and oral agreements with safe words to use later – if necessary.” — “YES to SEX” commenting on the Feb. 25 column “More than consent”
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The Chronicle
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14 | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2016
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AMRITH RAMKUMAR, Editor RYAN HOERGER, Sports Editor
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applauded. I nearly got up and left. Let’s get one thing straight: Scalia was brilliant. He was an inspiration to thousands of law students and revered even among his opponents. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Scalia’s ideological opposite, called him a “jurist of captivating brilliance and wit.” POLIS, many of whose students are pre-law like me, should not be bringing in speakers who rhetorically spit on the work of a Supreme Court Justice—even if it’s done in jest. I understand Fugelsang was only making a joke, but I found it offensive: if a comedian comes to Duke after my death and calls me a racist, sexist homophobe by virtue of my constitutional philosophy, I certainly hope the joke is not received with laughter and applause. At Duke, where a “Cops and Robbers” party was recently protested as racist, no one is expecting to see any conservative comedians book shows anytime soon. Still, POLIS would be well-served to present some degree of balance. During the Q&A, an audience member asked, “Let’s be fair: how come there haven’t been any Hillary Clinton jokes?” Dominick responded that, while the Republicans are easy targets, he simply couldn’t find fault with “America’s first female president.” Obeidallah and Fugelsang agreed. Noah Kane Trinity ’17
Letter to the Editor
RYAN ZHANG, Co-News Editor GAUTAM HATHI, Digital Content Director STEPHANIE WU, Office Manager
Letter to the Editor
n Monday night, I attended the SiriusXM “Electoral College Tour” comedy show in Page Auditorium. The show was sponsored by the Duke Center for Politics, Leadership and Service (or Duke POLIS). Professor Fritz Mayer, the director, spoke first, describing the show as “an attempt to fix our broken politics through comedy.” By “broken politics,” he didn’t mean the corrupt political system that has drawn criticism from both the right and the left. He meant the Republicans. The first comedian to perform was Pete Dominick, who has previously toured with Stephen Colbert. Dominick harshly criticized the Republican field of candidates but spared the Democrats. Next to perform was Dean Obeidallah, who offered an equally harsh critique of the Republican field. He, too, left the Democrats unscathed. I didn’t agree with these comedians politically—this is an understatement—but I found their acts to be relatively tasteful. The third and final comedian to perform was John Fugelsang. He tore into conservatism, Catholicism, the Republicans and, tastelessly, even the late Justice Antonin Scalia (who died just over two weeks ago). “I can reduce [Scalia’s] life’s work,” claimed Fugelsang, “to one sentence: blacks are dumb people, women are dirty people, gays are evil people, accused are guilty people and corporations are people.” The audience, which included many students, laughed and
RACHEL CHASON, Co-News Editor
employees gave voice to their lack of faith in the Office of Institutional Equity’s complaint channels, mirroring faculty concerns in the Task Force on Diversity’s report. While Cavanaugh stated that all such complaints were investigated and resolved, students, faculty and administrators ought to be gravely concerned about the current state of transparency, accountability and fairness in some administration policies. We call today for a significant overhaul of University oversight and documentation and the removal of glaring conflicts of interest that contribute to their flaws. We ask university administrators to put their promises into action and not accept the inappropriate and hostile behavior reported through these investigative pieces. We are tired of reading lawyer-proofed responses that hint at unspecified progress which fails to acknowledge the real experiences being reported. We are concerned that those affected by changes in policy, such as the employees in PTS, are not being included in conversations about these changes. We are further unsettled that those who have committed simply indecent and unkind acts here have not been held sufficiently accountable. Ultimately, Duke must be better about addressing these concerns before they reach such flashpoints, lest we never achieve the open and equitable community we aspire to be. Tomorrow’s editorial will turn to the responses so far of students and administrators.
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ou report in the Duke Chronicle that two years ago Duke VP Tallman Trask was involved in an altercation with a contract parking attendant. He allegedly rolled his car into a black female attendant and uttered racial slurs while departing the scene. Concerning the incident, Duke president Richard Brodhead issued a release stating: “Dr. Trask has been an extraordinary servant of this university for over 20 years, and no one who works with him closely would find it believable that he would use such language.” I could not help but think Brodhead should have said the same sort of thing about the Duke lacrosse players. Instead, he threw his own students under the bus without gathering the
facts, yet immediately defends his colleague in Duke administration. Here’s a suggestion for what Brodhead should have said in 2006 about the lacrosse players: “These young men have been performed admirably academically, and on the playing fields of Duke University. I and the school have no further comment until we have examined the facts.” That Brodhead said something entirely different about the boys—who were found completely innocent following an excruciating ordeal— demonstrates a gargantuan lack of judgment only his dismissal could have assuaged. Bernie Reeves Raleigh, NC
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www.dukechronicle.com commentary
The road less traveled
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ith spring break just two weeks away and the halfway point of the semester in front of us, as much as we try to resist the urge, we start thinking about what comes next in our Duke careers. Now knee-deep into the semester, battling midterms, summer plans and campus activities, many sophomores are also starting to think about where they will be next semester and the possibilities of studying abroad. My column this week is for you. This time last year, the big questions about studying abroad were constantly at the back of
experiencing life in a different place, professional and/or academic reasons or a combination of the above. My reasons also fell into some of these categories, but there were additional factors that contributed to my decision: 1)Duke-less: I wanted to do a non-Duke program, with non-Duke students and without Duke classes. For me, part of the draw to studying abroad was doing a program where I would be with students from a variety of schools–not just Duke. Being away from “all things Duke” challenged me to create my own support network and build a community
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In defense of DSG
ince the day I first stepped foot on this campus, it has been in vogue to criticize Duke Student Government. Whether on the campaign trail, in columns and op-eds or in proselytizing endorsements, everyone loves to tell us how to do our jobs better. While I will be the first to acknowledge that criticism of the government is a hallmark of a healthy republic, this election season has introduced a version of that rhetoric more insulting, more personal and more based on false statements than
Sofia Stafford
Brian Hopkins
LIFE AFTER ABROAD
IN SEARCH OF MONSTERS
my mind. How can I make the most out of my Duke experience? Will I join the approximately 47 percent of undergraduates that study abroad during their four years at Duke, or will I stay on campus to take advantage of every moment here? Where should I go for my semester abroad? Since my first year I assumed I would study abroad, and as a school that prides itself in providing a global education, it’s no surprise that so many students do study abroad. Yet, weighing the pros and cons of going abroad and deciding whether to go or not is challenging, and no one can answer those questions for you but yourself. There are definitely lessons learned abroad that your classes and campus activities cannot teach, but there is no doubt that you can stretch yourself right here on campus. The first and probably most important thing to consider is that no “typical” study abroad experience exists. Regardless of where you study, your experience will be different from the person next to you, in the same program, as it will be different from the experience of your best friend in a program across the world. It will also be just as challenging in different ways. As obvious as that might sound, it is similar to the notion that there is a typical college experience. We are hard-pressed to think about these experiences as a dichotomy, but in reality each is unique and shaped more by what you make of it than where you are. This was something that took me my entire semester abroad to learn and continues to be an important reminder for me in all aspects of my Duke experience. When it comes down to choosing where to study abroad, many Duke students concentrate in certain areas of the world. According to the Office for Global Education at Duke, during the 2014-2015 academic year, the top three places to study abroad were Spain, U.K., and Italy. Wanting to take the road less traveled, I chose Salvador, Brazil. Now, a few months into my semester back at Duke, I want to provide some thoughts that I found helpful to keep in mind when making my decision of whether and where to study abroad. When you ask someone why they studied abroad, you get a wide array of answers, but they all generally revolve around similar themes: wanting a break from the rigorous Duke we are all too familiar with, learning a new language or improving a language, studying and
within Salvador. This time apart also reminded me of all the aspects of Duke I take for granted when I am here: the small classes, incredible professors and engaged peers. I came back to campus with a clear mind, ready to dive into the rest of my time back in Durham. 2)Experiential: I was much less concerned with the academic courses and credit (although that always helps) than I was with being able to learn more outside the classroom than inside the classroom. This was certainly the case for my time abroad. I had the access to engage directly and grapple with the global health issues I was studying. The opportunity and time to do this would just not have been something we have at Duke. 3)Unconventional: One of my goals for my time abroad was to be uncomfortable and to learn to be comfortable with that feeling. Yes, it may sound odd and potentially crazy, but I think this is an important and inevitable part of a semester abroad experience no matter where you choose to go. I can confidently say that spending three and a half months in a city like Salvador, so different than what I am used to, helped me met this goal. I learned valuable lessons even from everyday activities. Much of my time was spent uncomfortable — maneuvering the transportation system, staying safe on the streets, avoiding food poisoning and attempting to communicate with others in a language in which I was not fluent. However, it is because of these moments of discomfort and learning to be okay with them that I appreciate my time abroad as much as I do. So, to all of you deciding whether to go and where to go abroad, I offer this advice from my own experience and from conversations with other study abroad students: know your own reasons and goals for studying abroad, and then decide what location and program will help you fulfill those goals. Realize that wherever you go, you will be challenged in different ways than your friends spending their semesters elsewhere and in different ways that you are at Duke. And, finally, recognize that with the immense privilege to experience and learn from different cultures around the world, wherever you decide to go, we all have the responsibility to do so with open minds and open hearts. Sofia Stafford is a Trinity junior. Her column runs on alternate Wednesdays.
What to contribute to campus dialogue? Send your letters to the editor to ar299@duke.edu
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2016 | 15
any in recent memory. So in defense of the organization I have served for four long years, I will address five of the most common criticisms levied against us and provide my recommendations for how best to remedy them. Most common among the numerous critiques is that DSG is, at its core, ineffective and irrelevant. Critics claim that we have no real influence over any policy or segment of the campus and do nothing to improve what little we do control. First, let me point out that bureaucracies, and by extension governments, are slow and ineffective by design. The nature of a republic is such that no one person or body can collect so much power as to inflict irreparable harm on the society it purportedly represents. Anyone that has spent time in a DMV office can attest to that. DSG’s design similarly hampers progress on big, dramatic initiatives. It also allows individual senators or vice presidents to work on projects outside of the traditional government structure. Those projects contribute substantially to the student body, and do not get as much recognition as they deserve. The fact that so many initiatives go unnoticed stems from the second criticism: that we do not communicate with the student body. That critique has two components. First, they argue we do not solicit input from students prior to making a significant change or starting a big project. Second, they argue we do not communicate the results of those projects once they are complete. On the first point, I remind you that students contribute to important decisions by electing their representatives each year. You may note correctly that elections, especially upperclassmen elections, suffer from a profound lack of candidates, but allow me to address that concern later. On the second point that DSG does not effectively communicate its accomplishments back to the students, I will concede it as a significant weakness of our organization. For the past few years I maintained a personal belief that it was the responsibility of the student news organization to report on DSG’s accomplishments and convey them to the student body, but given their recent obstructionism and antagonism towards us, I no longer have confidence in their ability to do so. Rather, we must streamline our platforms and processes to make them more accessible to individual students. Related to that issue is the third criticism that we lack transparency. I protest this accusation; DSG is the most transparent organization on campus. Our meetings are open to the public and now recorded each week, our executive board meetings are open to any and all
students, our budget gets published each spring, and our minutes, agendas and legislation are all available for access online. I can count on one hand the number of individuals I have seen sit in on a senate or an executive meeting that they did not have to attend. Transparency is not the problem. Rather, critics use “lack of transparency” as a scapegoat to mask their own unwillingness to research our initiatives independently. The fourth and final external criticism is that DSG focuses far too much effort
on internal and procedural issues rather than those that actually impact the student body. While our meetings do appear to the outside observer as a complicated ballet of parliamentary procedure, the fact of the matter is procedure serves as the lubricant to the well-oiled machine that is the government. Although it may frustrate and at times stymie an individual, procedure ultimately protects the organization from making impulsive decisions without careful deliberation. The fact that these criticisms persist year after year leads to one simple conclusion: more people should run for office. Several individuals have spent countless hours over the past few weeks espousing how bad of an organization we are yet remain unwilling to participate in any solution. They call DSG insular and a mere training ground for politicians but then claim it’s not their responsibility to run for office. Every person on this campus is highly intelligent and could figure out how to operate in DSG in a matter of weeks. Government should be comprised of dedicated members of each and every community. Our recent demographics survey demonstrated disparities between DSG and the student body in certain racial and socioeconomic categories. If more people ran for office, we might have a chance at narrowing that gap. The final criticism I feel compelled to address here is that the organization prevents younger voices from being heard. It is the responsibility of each senator to take it upon his or herself to be vocal and demonstrate initiative in Senate. It is not our responsibility to make sure everyone feels comfortable enough to speak. Now, you might point out here that I was a signatory to a letter in January alleging that the exec board strong-armed senators into voting for a controversial resolution. You might also point out that I am the longest serving member of DSG, and a member of the exec board this year, so is it perhaps hypocritical of me to say that young senators need to be more vocal. Here is what I say in response: just as it is a senator’s responsibility to be vocal in meetings, it is our responsibility as members of the executive board to be vocal without crossing the line of strongarming. That line is narrow, and represents a complicated balancing act, but one of which we must always be cognizant. As we lay to rest the second election of this spring and move toward elections for senators and vice presidents, I encourage each and every student to consider running for office. Only once we have competitive elections can students fully appreciate the reality of the concerns facing their student government. Brian Hopkins is a Trinity senior. His columns run on alternate Wednesdays.
www.dukechronicle.com
16 | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2016
ATTENTION: BONFIRE GUIDELINES March 2, 2016 The University has requested a City bonfire permit for March 5 (Duke Men’s Basketball v. UNC game). We want to remind you about safety guidelines for basketball bonfires at Duke. The Durham Fire Marshal once 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. 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.
Keizra Mecklai President Duke Student Government
Tallman Trask III Executive Vice President Duke University
The Chronicle