October 31, 2019 by Duke Chronicle

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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

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019 DUKECHRONICLE.COM

Is CompSci overcrowded? Profs, students share mixed feelings

Piano Man

ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTEENTH YEAR, ISSUE 22

By John Markis Senior News Reporter

In Fall 2009, 40 students enrolled in Computer Science 201. The class has more than 430 students this semester, according to Owen Astrachan, professor of the practice of computer science, who teaches the course. The lecture is held in Griffith Family Theater, which has a capacity of 500. Astrachan said that this surge is manageable and good for the department. “If our classes weren’t successful, we wouldn’t continue to grow,” he said. Despite these positive outcomes, both professors and students have expressed concern that the expansion of computer science—the most popular major at Duke— may cause issues in the future, from a reduction of individualized attention to difficulty for students to find friends and feel confident in class.

Too many students, not enough classes

The most pressing matter for the department in the coming years is a lack of classes, Astrachan said. Computer science majors do not have much leeway in terms of elective options and must take specific courses for the degree, so the number of students in these courses has greatly increased. Bruce Donald, James B. Duke professor of computer science, teaches CS 230: Discrete Math for Computer Science, a required course for the major. He has marveled at the department’s expansion over his tenure, as his CS 230 class originally had only nine students per semester, then grew to 50 and now “regularly” has more than 100. “This made it much more difficult to get to know all of the students, although I still do try,” Donald said. Accordingly, he has changed his teaching methods to reflect this shift by using larger interfaces, he said, so that everyone can follow See COMPSCI on Page 4

Maria Morrison | Contributing Photographer

82-year-old pianist delights Duke Cancer Center By Maria Morrison Health and Science News Editor

Kaylee Rodriguez Contributing Reporter

Walking through the door of the Duke Cancer Center, visitors are greeted by a reception desk and a graceful crescendo of eighth notes swelling from the Steinway piano one floor below. Mircea Stefan Stanescu sits at the sleek black piano bench, original compositions and improvisations flowing with incredible dexterity from his 82-year-old fingers. When the piece comes to an end, he waves to the crowd of people peering down on him from the balcony. Stanescu, who spent his childhood in Romania, began playing when he was 7 at his mother’s strict request. His love for music grew and transformed throughout

as a nuisance that kept him from playing outside with his friends, who also played music. Together, they joined an orchestra and competed throughout Romania. For Stanescu, music evolved from a chore to a passion, something that he is grateful for to this day. In 1963, he met a neighbor whom he would one day marry, as she was studying to be an engineer. They had their first daughter shortly after. Although Stanescu loved his hometown, he felt that his liberty and lifestyle were too restricted. After he was asked to pledge his support to the Communist Party, Stanescu said that he and his wife decided it was best to seek new opportunities in the United States. The Stanescu family landed at John F. Kennedy airport in New York City in 1970. See PIANO on Page 3

OPINION

Students aren’t getting proper care from Student Health By Rose Wong Guest Columnist

Matthew Wang | Contributing Photographer A packed computer science lecture.

the years, and he began performing at the Duke Cancer Center more than three years ago after his wife passed away. Although he is scheduled to play only Mondays, Stanescu serenades his listeners multiple times per week, bringing music and hope. Stanescu said that when he plays, it’s as if he’s in another world. “I don’t know how to explain it. I feel very happy, and I feel very happy that somebody is listening and likes it,” he said. Stanescu was born in Brasov, a town in the Transylvania region of Romania. He recalled that he had few resources growing up under communist rule, as many movies were considered propaganda, and it was difficult to access good books. However, his mother kept him busy with playing piano. “If I didn’t come when she called me first, when she called me a second time, a sensible part of my back was in danger,” Stanescu said. For three years, he viewed the piano

I had been experiencing extreme left flank pain for three days. The nurse practitioner at Student Health was pressing down on different parts of my belly, intensifying the pain when touching my left side. “Yeah, it looks like it’s gas,” she said. “Are you sure?” I responded, certain that it was something more serious. “Yep, just eat more fruits and vegetables to help you go to the bathroom and I’m going to give you some Gas-X,” she said. “I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and I feel like I’ve had gas pains before. This feels different. And why would I only have gas pains on my left side?” I said, as my voice rose in frustration and urgency. “Happens,” she responded, dismissively. I felt uncomfortable further challenging a medical professional, so I walked to the

pharmacy to pick up the Gas-X, bending over in excruciating pain. The next morning, I woke up paralyzed in pain. The Gas-X did not work. I called Student Health and explained that my pain was now 10 times worse, asking what I should do. The nurse nonchalantly suggested that I go to the ER, “if you feel like you need to.” My roommate drove me to the ER, where a scan showed that the pain was caused by a massive hemorrhage around my left kidney. I later learned that the bleeding resulted from an 18 x 14 cm cancerous tumor. I look back at Student Health’s grave misdiagnosis with little complaint that they got it wrong. I found out soon after and that’s what matters. What troubles me is how casually the nurse practitioner wrote off my concerns. How she was so certain that it was “just gas pains,” despite my repeated attempts to push back and emphasize that I was experiencing

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a 10 out of 10 on the pain scale. Her extreme carelessness led to something as laughable as cancer diagnosed as gas pains. I would feel less perturbed if this were a one-off event. But since stepping foot on campus, I have heard stories of Student Health misdiagnosing students or somehow making their lives harder. I know individuals who completely swore off Student Health, choosing to go directly to a local urgent care when sick. Take senior Sam Elliott, for example. At the end of his first year, he was sicker than ever— fatigued, winded while walking up the stairs, crackling in his chest while breathing, and coughing up thick green and yellow mucus. At Student Health, the nurse practitioner listened to his breathing through a stethoscope and conducted a lung function test. She then diagnosed Elliott with asthma and sent him on his way with an inhaler. See HEALTH on Page 10 @thedukechronicle | © 2019 The Chronicle

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‘We’re all just a bunch of microscope dorks’ By Lara Hansen Contributing Reporter

It happens in a dark room on the ground floor of the French Family Science Center. The windows are blacked out and the floor is mechanically uncoupled from the rest of the building—ensuring minimal vibration. Before Kevin Welsher begins the experiment, he makes sure that the photodetectors are isolated in complete darkness. He prepares the sample, sets the microscope up and begins data collection. This is all part of a new 3D single-particle tracking method, which was developed by the Welsher laboratory. The procedure makes it possible to follow the interaction of single viruses with single cells in real time, giving researchers clues how the virus invades its host cell. Welsher, a 37-year-old assistant professor of chemistry, began with a fundamental research question: “How do we analyze the behavior of a virus before it even contacts the cellular tissue?” Although this research has been in progress since 2015, the lab recently made an important advance. The researchers designed target-locked microscopes, which allow them to monitor first contacts of virus-like particles with the cell surface in a real-time 3D tracking method. By specifically tracking single viruses, the researchers aim to better understand the fusion and interaction between single cells and viruses. “Our goal has been to capture the virus before it gets to the cell surface,” Welsher said. The new microscope enables analysts to follow the moving virus at a high speed with an approach different from traditional methods. Whether the researchers will be able to better combat the fusion of virus and cell remains a question, but “it’s down the road,” Welsher explained. “We hope to understand that interaction better so someone else can use that information to understand how single viruses get through the cellular layer,” he said. In the meantime, the Welsher lab will keep working on improving its methods to track single cells. Senior Jenny Lee started working at the Welsher lab in Spring

2018 and is the only undergraduate on a team of eight. The 21-year-old chemistry major studies the composition of single viruses and solutions in the form of virus-tracking. “We’re looking at how HIV-like particles are going to interact with cells,” she said. A fan of animation and drawings, Welsher used the analogy of a moving car as the target object, describing it as a highspeed chase—if the virus is a car, then the microscope is a camera closely following the virus in a helicopter. Pushing the limits of microscopy is the team’s mantra. “Most of us are in it for the challenge,” Welsher said. “We’re all just a bunch of microscope dorks.” Lee, who has previously worked in different labs, praised Welsher for doing a “really good job at making sure people are happy.” Welsher joined Duke’s faculty in July 2015. At the time still

Courtesy of Flickr Pushing the limits of microscopy.

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a postdoctoral researcher himself, he came to the University with the intention of opening his lab. Shortly after, he placed an advertisement on a research site, and Shangguo Hou from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences happened to be a match. “He came directly from the airport, we had dinner, and that was the beginning of our lab,” Welsher said, recalling their first meeting. Years later, the 32-year-old Hou—a postdoctoral associate in the lab—has not only been an author on all four published papers by the lab, but has also contributed to the invention of the 3D tracking method. “We call him the track-father,” Welsher jokingly said in a reference to “The Godfather.” Thanks to Hou’s expertise, many of the experiments work automatically. First, the chemist preps the sample and sets up the microscope. Complete darkness ensures that the photodetectors of the microscope will not burn, and an automated software collects about an hour of data. “When we’re running the experiment, we’re actually looking at a computer screen,” Lee said. For the experiments to work efficiently, the lab needs to be partially detached from the rest of the building. “This way, we can lock onto really small things with minimal vibration,” Welsher said. Welsher’s fascination with nanoscience and materials emerged while he was a graduate student at Stanford University from 2005 to 2010. He worked most productively in the dark atmosphere that resembled the lab environment. During that time, there was a push in popularity on observing the behavior of single molecules, he said. “But only over the last decade or two has this even been possible,” Welsher said. Hou added that the new 3D tracking method seems to be just the beginning. “The next step is to combine the 3D single-particle tracking method with fast 3D super resolution imaging, lighting up the environment of the tracked target particle,” he wrote in an email. Hou said he enjoyed the challenge of working at a new lab with Welsher. “I learned a lot from [Welsher’s] optimistic attitude towards research and life,” he said.

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Planned apartments for graduate students to be located by Fuqua design and two years to construct. The rising cost of living in Durham fueled Staff Reporter Duke’s decision to construct the apartments. “Due to the successful growth of Durham, Duke plans to address rising costs of rental costs in Durham are becoming housing in Durham by building new graduate student apartments off of West Campus. expensive,” Manning wrote. According to Director of Project These costs have been a source of concern Management Paul Manning, the new for some Duke graduate students. JoonYup Park, a doctoral candidate in economics, said apartments will be located in the woods south that housing prices are “expensive compared of Towerview Road, east of Erwin Road and west of the Fuqua School of Business. The to [graduate student] stipends.” Whether apartments will prioritize sustainability, as he would use these new apartments would they will be constructed from the trees that depend upon the financial cost and availability of parking around them. will be removed to make space for them. Duke’s graduate students are currently Other features will include surface ponds to collect stormwater on their own when it and veneers for Due to the successful comes to finding housing hardwood, Manning off campus. Housing growth of Durham, rental and Residential Life does wrote in an email. provide opportunities for The project costs in Durham are will follow Duke’s becoming expensive. housing in 301 Swift for high performance first-year graduate and building guidelines, paul manning professional students on a framework for DIRECTOR OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT visa status. However, other students have to rely on sustainability in construction that services like DukeList, the University developed to meet Duke’s which has a catalog of housing, or nearduke. com, a database provided by The Chronicle. Leadership in Energy and Environmental “It is the responsibility of the student Design (LEED) standards, according to to obtain housing,” the Graduate School Timothy Johnson, associate professor of the practice in energy and the environment. The admissions website reads. guidelines will govern the design process of Usaid Awan, a doctoral candidate in economics, lives near the airport after living the building from start to end. for a couple years near Duke. New apartments “If followed, the result will be buildings for graduate students would show that Duke that use less energy than those that meet our current LEED policy,” Johnson wrote in an cares about graduate housing, he said, and he email to The Chronicle. added that he would look into living in the apartments if they become available. Duke is currently negotiating the land “It’s nice to know that people are thinking lease contract for the area to be used, Manning about it,” Awan said. wrote, and the project will take one year to By William He

PIANO FROM PAGE 1 Although he left Romania behind, he brought its music to his new home. Stanescu recounted his disbelief when he stumbled upon an advertisement for a $50 Steinway piano from a wealthy homeowner in Long Island, N.Y. “I couldn’t believe my eyes,” he said. Since then, three generations of Stanescu hands have played music from that Steinway’s worn keys. Stanescu also has a commitment to service, as he has logged over 300 hours of volunteering at the hospital, despite being required to play only two hours a week. “He’s become a character at Duke Hospital,” said William Dawson, musician in residence and Semans/Byrd performing arts coordinator. “His dedication and his seriousness to what he is doing is remarkable. Also, remember that he’s not getting paid to do this. He’s a volunteer.” Beyond his music, Stanescu also brings a positive presence each time he visits the hospital. Dawson said that Stanescu is “so polite and so regal” and treats people with immense respect. Stanescu’s own family has felt the pain of hospital patients and their families firsthand. In 2012, his daughter was diagnosed with MELAS, a rare genetic disorder that can lead to stroke-like episodes. Just one year later, his wife was diagnosed with the same disease, leaving her paralyzed. His wife died from MELAS in 2015, and he lost his daughter in July. While taking care of his wife, Stanescu began composing his own music. “I would play classical music which she liked… but then I started my compositions which she liked very much so I got encouraged, and I started to compose,” he said. Most of Stanescu’s compositions are based

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019 | 3

on Romanian folk music, a style that he said is more romantic than most people are used to hearing. For years, his compositions only existed in his mind. With the help of Dawson and Dan Ruccia, Master of Arts ‘08 and Ph.D. ‘13, Stanescu was able to transcribe 14 of his original pieces. Now, even other hospital volunteers have begun to play them. Amid the buzzing and flashing of pagers, the constant movement of wheelchairs and walkers, Stanescu plays on, breaking concentration only to glance at those who have stopped to admire his playing. “Music in the public spaces helps contribute to the healing environment of the hospital… just to let people know that there is still hope, there is still life, there is still beauty, there is still art,” Dawson said. This rings true for patients, family members and hospital staff. Cheri DeCastro was walking through the cancer center when she stopped to look down and listen in on Stanescu playing from the floor below. “He plays really well. I’m thinking he must have learned when he was young,” she said as his notes filled the center. Lorna Watt, a janitor at the center, put her work aside for a moment to enjoy the music. “Now he can play that piano,” she said. “He’s good.” In front of the grand instrument, an engraving on the hospital floor reads “Hope is a gift that we give to each other daily.” For Stanescu, the hope and healing that playing the piano provides is twofold. Not only is he able to share hope with those who listen to his music, but he also views playing as a form of therapy. “[Playing music] makes me happy,” he said. “And if I’m busy, I am not falling in the jar of melancholy because of my losses and the adversity in my life. So I’m busy, I make somebody happy and I make myself very happy.”

ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW OF VICE PRESIDENT FOR FINANCE AND TREASURER Reviews of senior administrators of the University are performed on a regular cycle and are administered through the work of a committee that is charged with conducting the review, summarizing input, and preparing a confidential report. Typically these reviews occur in the fourth year of the administrator’s five-year term. Executive Vice President Tallman Trask has convened a committee to review Vice President for Finance, Tim Walsh, who has served in his post since 2011. Peter Feaver, Professor of Political Science, is chairing the committee; other members are: Kerry Abrams (School of Law), Billy Newton (School of Medicine), Scott Greenwood (Duke University Alumni Association), Joanna Rojas (Office of Audit, Risk and Compliance), Beth Sullivan (Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology), and Laura Meyer Wellman (Trustee). An important part of the review process is the gathering of input from the University’s many constituencies. Comments on performance and suggestions for the future are important to the committee’s work. The committee invites you to share your thoughts by email or letter, or communicate orally to any committee member. Communication should include the nature of your interactions with Mr. Walsh and his team in order to understand the context of your comments as fully as possible. The committee will discuss responses and a summary will be included in the written report to the EVP. The committee will hold all communication in strict confidence. The Committee would appreciate receiving your thoughts by November 8, 2019. Thank you in advance for your participation in this important process. Peter Feaver, Chair Walsh Review Committee Box 90204 Durham, North Carolina 27708 admin-review@duke.edu

October ’19 1 TU: MT JOY w/ Susto (sold out) 5 SA: ELECTRIC SIX 6 SU: BUILT TO SPILL 7 MO: LUNA performs PENTHOUSE 10 TH: WITT LOWRY w/Xuitcasecity ($16/$18) 11 FR: VIOLET BELL - Album Release show ($10/$12) 11 FR: EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY @ The Ritz (Raleigh) 12 SA: LANGHORNE SLIM & THE LOST AT LAST BAND w/Katie Pruitt and Kate Rhudy ($18/$20) 16 WE: MELVINS / REDD KROSS w/Toshi Kasai 16 WE:

WILCO

w/ Soccer Mommy @ Booth Amphitheatre, Cary 17 TH: Watch What Crappens ($25/$28) 18 FR: RA RA RIOT ($17/$19) w/Bayonne 19 SA: MOONCHILD ($22/$25) 22 TU: NOAH GUNDERSEN ($17/$20) 23 WE: OH SEES w/ Prettiest Eyes, No Whammy 24 TH: KISHI BASHI 25 FR: STIFF LITTLE FINGERS w/The Avengers 26 SA: Knocked Loose NOVEMBER ’19 8 FR: THE DIP ($15/ $18 ) w/Erin & The WildFIre 9 SA: INFAMOUS STRINGDUSTERS w/Kitchen Dwellers 12 TU: Cursive / Cloud Nothings / The Appleseed Cast 13 WE: KIKAGAKU MOYO w/Minami Deutsch ($15/$17)

shows at Cat’s Cradle back room September ’19 26 TH: PALM PALM (J Roddy Walston’s new band) w/Secret American 27 FR: Leslie Stevens ($10/$12) w/Michael McArthur 28 SA: ELLIS DYSON & THE SHAMBLES / Noah Adams & the Louisiana Natives (FREE SHOW/ CMF Kickoff) 29 SU: CARRBORO MUSIC FESTIVAL HIP HOP STAGE 30 MO: JONAH TOLCHIN October ’19 Oct 1: THAT 1 GUY 2 WE: B BOYS w/ Family Vision 3 TH: BLANCO WHITE w/Shey Baba 4 FR: VEGABONDS 5 SA: TYRONE WELLS w/Dan Rodriguez 8 TU: ELIZABETH MOEN OCT 9: Elder Island w/ Dirty Nice 10 TH: CHARLIE PARR ($15) w/Josh Moore 11 FR: HANK, PATTIE & THE CURRENT 12 SA: O’Brother ($14/$16) 15 TU: Mike Watt & the missingmen ($15) 16 WE: Cactus Blossoms w/Esther Rose ($15) 18 FR: SWERVEDRIVER w/Milly 19 SA: John Howie Jr & Rosewood Bluff 23 WE: CITY OF THE SUN w/Old Sea Brigade 24 TH: Driftwood 25 FR: Hovvdy, Kevin Krauter, and Caroline Says ($12/$14) 26 SA: CAT CLYDE ($12/$15) w/Jamie Drake

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COMPSCI FROM PAGE 1 along with his lecture. Professor of computer science Kamesh Munagala has combatted this increase in the number of undergraduate majors by making use of full-time teaching associates, whose responsibilities include “making sure grading happens on time, tracking closely students who are not performing well, scheduling makeup exams and making sure Piazza questions are answered,” he said. Teaching assistants hold office hours almost every day of the week, Munagala said. Additionally, he has retained small discussion sections, through which students can interact more directly with knowledgeable advisors. “In terms of the actual lecture itself, I feel it is just as interactive with a larger class than it was when the class was smaller—in fact, more students interrupt me to ask questions now,” Munagala said. For Benjamin Lee, associate professor of electrical and

computer engineering, the benefit of having more course offerings is unclear. “We do not believe two sections of 90 to 120 qualitatively improves the student experience when compared to one section of 180 to 240,” he said. “The only effect would be to reduce lecture size and possibly increase faculty office hours. Smaller lectures may improve in-class interactions, but many students seem comfortable engaging during class despite the large auditorium.” Even with two sections, Munagala said, lectures would each have more than 50 students. For now, the department has decided to have one lecture for classes but divide the discussion sections and employ enough TAs to allow each student to get “personalized attention.” Aditya Paruchuri, a senior majoring in computer science, still values a more intimate classroom setting, especially for introductory courses. “I think the department took the right step in diversifying the major requirements a bit, but more needs to be done to ensure students have a high quality experience in introductory courses,” he said.

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Building community

Within these larger classes, it can be hard for individuals to find a core group to befriend, senior Alethea Toh said. “If a student doesn’t know anyone in such courses, it can be very demotivating as it becomes more difficult for him/her to find study partners or join project groups,” Toh said. “This usually happens for several reasons, such as if the majority of the class isn’t in the same grade as you, if you don’t show up to lectures and you don’t get the chance to know your classmates.” Toh argued that larger class sizes can make it more intimidating and thus challenging for students to speak up during lecture. “I have found that I am less inclined to speak up or ask questions in large lecture courses,” Toh said. “With such large class sizes, I often feel less engaged to my instructor due to the rather one-way communication dynamic, as compared to seminars which encourage more interaction and discussion.” Astrachan said that he does everything in his capacity as the department’s director of undergraduate studies to foster a sense of community, whether that means hosting breakfasts for potential majors or offering opportunities for individual attention. Still, he noted that the level of engagement in terms of office hours has remained constant over the years, as the department encourages students to work hard to find solutions without assistance. Paige Bartusiak, a first-year and prospective computer science major, said she was not as intimidated by the size of Astrachan’s class. She does not view the lecture as a space where one would have a need to share opinions or speak as long as that student understands the lecture. “My first experience with computer science in a class setting was an online AP [course] anyway, so I’m used to learning it semiindependently,” she wrote in an email to The Chronicle. Many professors simply do not have more time to teach courses for undergraduates, as they must run labs at the same time as teaching. Lee explained that faculty who are performing research teach one class per semester—if they were assigned to teach another section of CS 250, for example, they would not be able to teach a graduate-level class or special topics seminar. “Given the modest benefits and significant opportunity costs, the faculty decided to teach a single section of 250 and mitigate the effects of class size as best we could,” Lee said.

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Astrachan acknowledged that the computer science department will have to grapple with higher enrollment in the coming years, and Duke has adequately recognized the value of computer science. “Computing and CS are far more pervasive in terms of affecting other disciplines, so Duke is making an investment in computer science,” Astrachan said. Lee echoed this sentiment. He highlighted the relationship between undergraduate studies and advanced research at Duke, which he called “one of the best parts” of the University. The computer science department is dedicated to giving students as much backing as necessary in terms of research assistance, he said. He pointed to his own lab as an example, which has hosted 30 undergraduate researchers during his time at Duke. Astrachan said that he views computer science-based occupations, as compared to those in finance and consulting, as more beneficial for society. “There are a lot of positions for those who have a background in CS which aren’t entirely about the bottom line,” he said.

Spooky Ruby 2019 Sujal Manohar | Associate Photographer Editor

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VOLUME 115, ISSUE 22 | OCTOBER 31. 2019

meet me at ‘1600 vine’ Alum’s original musical returns to campus

for DEMAN Weekend, page 7

duke’s haunted history Ghost stories from Brody Theater and beyond, page 6

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How are you spending your Halloween? Nina Wilder ................... living in sin Kerry Rork ..................... stuDYing Will Atkinson ...... doing nina’s job Sydny Long ........... in a lighthouse Miranda Gershoni ..........on strike Jack Rubenstein ..... going blonde Sarah Derris ....... at bob’s burgers Selena Qian ............. frisbee (golf) Alizeh Sheikh .....................writing Eva Hong ............................. quoi? On the cover: Happy Halloween! Graphic by Nina Wilder.

staff note My first exposure to female rap was Lauryn Hill’s “MTV Unplugged No. 2.0,” which my mother had on vinyl and would play most evenings after school. I remember feeling that there was something inherently different about Hill, that she held some kind of secret that could only be revealed by letting each interlude play its course — that this kind of music came from a different planet than what I heard on the radio, which at that point consisted of mostly Top 40 Disney hits and the occasional Christmas carol. Even as a kid, I felt something in Hill’s acoustics, something rich in the rasp of her voice. And while she became the first woman to be nominated in 10 categories in a single year of the Grammys, her success did not absolve her from the cultural backlash that female artists have come to know all too well. Because she challenged the basic structure of the music industry and refused to fit the pre-established mold of an up-and-coming star, she was incredulously torn down by the media. This cultural instinct to prod the lives of women we don’t even know, searching for weakness or

wreckage, causes women to embody a sense of distrust in themselves, as explained by Elana Dykewomon in the literary journal “Sinister Wisdom”: “Almost every woman I have ever met has a secret belief that she is just on the edge of madness, that there is some deep, crazy part within her, that she must be on guard constantly against ‘losing control’ — of her temper, of her appetite, of her sexuality, of her feelings, of her ambition, of her secret fantasies, of her mind.” In female rap, I have found refuge from this constant, nagging sense of mistrust in myself, from the belief that any form of self-expression is “too much,” that it pushes me closer to “losing control.” The way Hill was colored in a light of madness is ironic in 2019, as her work is directly sampled in topcharted hits and her influence can be seen at almost every level of our culture, musically and otherwise. The groundwork laid by artists like Lauryn Hill, Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, Lil’ Kim and countless other female rappers established a unique space for today’s female creatives to directly craft their own narratives, thus rejecting the rigid cultural scripts pushed before them. Female rap is inherently an act of sociopolitical

resistance, as it defies the messages that tell women they can’t be confident, intelligent, sexual beings, much less all of these at once. The fact that hip-hop has become the most widely-consumed genre of music adds another layer. Female rap not only demands a certain level of renewed empowerment, but it also has the audacity to both rebel against cultural messages and demand mainstream attention for it. I was able to see Tierra Whack live twice in the last two months. The first time I saw her, she brought fans onstage to sing with her; the second time she gave a fan her only pair of shoes after finding out it was his birthday. Pitchfork called her 2018 debut “Whack World” a “theme park of an album,” as each short song defies categorization in its own right yet flows into the next effortlessly. She doesn’t take herself too seriously while at the same time validating some of the deepest and most salient anxieties that many young people experience today, creating space for humor and playfulness alongside very real issues. Whack ultimately represents a generation less concerned with following the linearity of past cultural scripts and more interested in creating a sort of kaleidoscopic playground to explore each other and ourselves in all of our ridiculousness, passion, sorrow and anger. In the same way, when Doja Cat came onto the scene by posting tracks on Soundcloud and uploading a homemade Photobooth music video of herself sporting a cow-print skirt and top with french fries in her nose with the single, “MOO!”, she made no attempt to shrink herself to fit prescribed norms. Instead, she opted for a sense of irreverent absurdity that sees taking oneself too seriously as a waste of time. The 24-year-old rapper blends an uplifting harmony of pop vocals with a ridiculously danceable beat in her celebration of female sexuality throughout her album “Amala.” Powerhouse tracks like “Go To Town” contribute to larger conversations on how gender inequity is perpetuated in the bedroom, undercut with a beat that could stand on its own for its pure electricity and fun. Whether it be speaking candidly about her period on Instagram or munching on Takis

The Chronicle during an interview, Doja’s “quirky process has birthed delightfully imaginative bangers,” as The Fader wrote, and started important conversations in the process. The up-and-coming female rapper Leikeli47 similarly represents this generation’s lack of patience with traditional expectations to be either one thing or another. While she produces some of the most danceable tracks of the decade that make no attempt to censor the splendidly messy, sexual and sometimes superfluous experience of being young and female in this country (see: “Girl Blunt”), she wears a mask over her face during interviews and concerts because of her supposed shyness. In this way, Leikeli47 proves that female rappers don’t need to caricature themselves into flamboyant figures of sexuality and power to gain recognition — vulnerability plays just as much, if not more, of a role in true creative freedom. Beginning college as a young woman in 2019 brings with it a heavy load of baggage. Before even arriving, we are told to beware of sexual assault at parties, we’re encouraged to dress a certain way to avoid being over (or under) sexualized. Once here, our thoughts and ideas are minimized in and outside of the classroom, our voices are talked over, explained over or, more often than not, completely silenced. While generations above us, including certain waves of feminism, may see female rap as obnoxious or even digressive from movements towards gender equality, I would argue that female rap is the most powerful tool we have right now. From Lauryn Hill to Leikeli47, women have been using the art of rap to express themselves loudly and honestly, to undermine long-held traditions that seek to corner women into a self-sabotaging labyrinth of self mistrust and to simply have a good time — which, in a persistent patriarchal society is a political act in and of itself. As I’ve progressed through college into my sophomore year, I’m coming to realize just how much I rely on these women to allow myself a breath, to let myself laugh, dance, say and do things that supposedly mean I’m “losing control.” —Miranda Gershoni

local arts

North Carolina, Duke, Brody Theater? They’re all haunted by ghosts By Jonathan Pertile Staff Writer

Duke is haunted. You can find ghosts everywhere you turn: there’s talking statues, whatever Brody Theater is and the spooktacular Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium (what else could be filling all those empty seats?). With this in mind, I decided to go on an exploration of the supernatural here at Duke and in Durham. I’m Jonathan Pertile, and this is my story. The tale begins Friday, Oct 19. Knowing I have a trying day ahead of me, I start out my day with a spiritually-cleansing dose of Duke Puppy Kindergarten. It’s a good beginning for a day that will push me to my limits. I find a secluded spot on the third floor of Rubenstein Library, an apt enough place to do ghost research. Armed with NorthCarolinaGhosts.com, I discover stories about the Gray Man, who appears before devastating storms along the coast of the Carolinas, and of a stubborn piano in Salisbury that killed a woman, sending her to hell. Disturbing, yes. These stories are enough to put me on edge, but I have more research to do. My next step is an interview with UNC Chapel Hill Ph.D. student Maxine Allison Vande Vaarst. Although she is currently residing in New York City, doing research on urban explorers there, she takes particular interest in what she calls “ghost lore.” Among her passions is leading ghost tours in Durham. From her, I learned of the haunted Trinity Methodist Church, where a satanic teacher brainwashed Durham’s children long ago, ultimately ending with the church being burned down with the witch and kids trapped inside. She finishes the story ominously:

Courtesy of Wide Open Media Group The Gray Man is a ghost who appears before devastating storms along the coast of the Carolinas.

“If you ever are standing between the pews at midnight you might see a woman with books in the crutch of her arm, and you might feel these little tiny creatures racing past your ankles, pricking at them as they go,” Vande Vaarst said. “That’s the devil’s teacher and her class, still holding their wicked coursework to this day.” Okay, then. Now I’m scared. Satanic teachers? Right here in Durham? I decide that I am going to have to do a little firsthand reporting of my own to see whether or not ghosts really exist in Durham. It’s time to head out into the world of the paranormal.

The first stop for my ghost-busting tour is Abele Quad. Is it haunted? After walking around a tree a few times, my ghost-busting group and I concur that it is satisfactorily not very spooky. However, out of the corner of our eyes, we notice the James B. Duke statue standing tall on its pedestal. We then spot something that changed our entire view of statues here at Duke: they speak! Thanks to QR codes posted on each statue, each one is given a voice of its own. After a bit of thinking, we decide that, although QR codes aren’t particularly scary, they definitely do make the statues unnerving enough for us to move on to

our next stop. Somebody mentions that they’ve heard rumors of a haunted building over on East Campus. After a quick bus ride over, we begin the trek to Brody Theater. It’s dark, cold and a little spooky, but we safely arrive at the small venue without any incidents. The place is lit up, with every single light inside blazing. A little odd, especially given that it’s well past midnight and there is not a soul to be seen nearby. Surprisingly, the building is accessible. The door unlocks with a swipe of my Duke ID, and we are inside. Once we get inside, things seem… off. Everywhere I look I see something spooky. The first thing I notice is the oddly arranged chairs. Next, we find the piles of strange black boxes. There’s brightly lit yet empty hallways hidden behind sinister black curtains. Finally, we notice a dagger conspicuously sitting on the whiteboard. What’s the deal with this place? Naturally, we decide to stay a little bit to try and stake out the ghosts that are obviously haunting here. We didn’t have to wait long. While writing song lyrics on the whiteboard, we hear a sudden and startling clicking noise erupt from the wall. A ghost! It must be hiding inside the wall, possessing some bizarre dog trainer or an otherworldly pen. The mere thought of a phantom raising a hellhound puppy or preparing to write its magnum opus made me quake in my boots. This definitive proof of the supernatural, right here at Duke, was enough to convince all of us ghostbusters. With such conclusive evidence of the paranormal here at Duke, I can no longer in good faith deny the existence of ghosts. Thankfully for me, the ghost of Brody Theater was harmless. Other ghosts may not be as benevolent, so please be wary this Halloween. Stay safe!

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019 | 7

campus arts

‘1600 Vine’ wants you to pick up your phone and pay attention By Nina Wilder Recess Editor

Jackson Prince, Trinity ‘19, knows he’s an insider to the entertainment industry. He thanks his parents for that: his father, Jonathan, is a Hollywood multi-hyphenate, primarily a writer-director; his mother, Julie Warner, is an accomplished actress. Prince grew up in Los Angeles, a city known to most as an ever-shifting pop culture mill with a notoriously narrow pipeline to stardom. But at some point in the last few years, he looked around and realized that his Hollywood no longer resembled the industry’s old vanguard of creative professionals like his parents. Instead, it looked like social media. Prince cites an article in The New York Times that assigned a face — or, perhaps, a façade — to the city’s seemingly overnight transformation. The piece details a 550-unit apartment complex located at 1600 Vine Street in Hollywood, which has been a hearth for internet celebritydom since 2015. Among its most recognizable current and former residents are Lele Pons, Logan and Jake Paul, Andrew Bachelor (known online as King Bach) and Amanda Cerny, all of whom gained popularity on the now-defunct app Vine before migrating to YouTube. 1600 Vine was only three miles away from where Prince grew up, and he couldn’t shake its presence. So when Prince opened up an application for StudioDuke — a “virtual creative lab” wherein students with arts- and media-related projects are mentored by alumni in creative industries — in the fall of 2018, he knew he wanted his project to center, in some way, on the apartment complex and its notorious residents. “I was really interested by the idea of the coming of age story that skips actually having to come to age,” Prince said. “[To be a YouTuber,] you don’t

have to go to college, you don’t have to go through any trials. You post a bunch of videos from your home, get a million followers, move to L.A., get a sponsor and suddenly you have a career.” After his acceptance into the program, Prince was paired with Charles Randolph-Wright, Trinity ‘78, who has directed, produced and written for film, television and theatre. Along with RandolphWright came Martin Wilkins, Trinity ‘02, a theatre director-producer who formed a close working relationship with Randolph-Wright following his graduation from Duke. Over the course of the 2019 spring semester and under the leadership of Randolph-Wright and Wilkins, Prince crafted a two-act musical titled “1600 Vine,” which premiered April 21 at the Rubenstein Arts Center. After workshopping it throughout the summer, Prince will reprise his musical — now a single act and featuring new cast members — from Nov. 1 to 3 as a part of DEMAN Weekend. “1600 Vine” follows a group of young people who have gone viral online and moved to 1600 Vine Street in hopes of capitalizing on their newfound fame. The characters are referred to, appropriately, by their social media handles: @DanteTells (in this production, played by sophomore Eli Kline), @LunaLight (junior Multy Oliver), @JupeStunts (first-year KB Denis) and @CousinsByChance (senior Jaxson Floberg and junior CJ Cruz, who are differentiated only as “Chance One” and “Chance Two”), to name a few. As the characters grow closer to one another, their dissatisfaction with the lives they lead begins to unravel — some for better, some for worse. Prince mentioned that he chose to present “1600 Vine” as a musical because it allows the audience to view the characters from the “inside out” and removes the physical and emotional barrier of a screen. (The “multimedia musical,” as Prince calls it, still uses screens to incorporate the

Special to The Chronicle “1600 Vine: The Musical” will be performed from Nov. 1 to 3 at the Rubenstein Arts Center.

characters’ pre-recorded “vlogs,” but their presence only underscores the tension between reality and virtuality.) The most remarkable part of “1600 Vine,” however, is not its presentation, but its production: Prince had barely begun the writing process when he cast his actors and assembled his music team, who then collaborated with Prince on shaping the arc of the show, writing lines and composing the musical numbers. “The idea of [a conventional musical] is that the director handles the scene work, the music director teaches the music, the choreographer teaches the dance,” said senior Samantha Jackson, who has been a music director and orchestrator for both Duke productions of “1600 Vine.” “With this experience, I’m helping [Prince] with script changes ... and he’s saying ‘Let’s change this lyric’ or ‘Maybe this chord would sound better in this progression.’” Prince noted that this intense collaboration between students not only added a diversity of perspectives and experiences into the show’s production, but also reaped the benefit of authenticity. “The show is written in the language of

22-year-olds, because it’s written by 22-yearolds,” Prince said. “‘Dear Evan Hansen,’ ‘Be More Chill,’ ‘13’ ... they’re all about young people, but they’re written by adults who would like to make a statement about young people. ... There’s no show out there written from the perspective of us that feels like it’s not being written for us.” It’s kind of funny, then, that Prince and his student collaborators were mentored by RandolphWright, who is 63 years old, and Wilkins, who’s approaching his 40th birthday. And yet, while both men admitted that their exposure to internet celebrities and apps like Vine is minimal (and mostly through nieces and nephews), they also stressed the universality of a show like “1600 Vine” — which, arguably, focuses more on mediations of the self through social media than on identifying specific stars or references. “Every generation deals with the allure of celebrity, and also the struggle of telling the truth,” Randolph-Wright wrote in an email. “We are living in a time where truth does not matter. ‘1600 Vine’ looks at this from a 2020 lens.” This is an excerpt of the full article. Read more at dukechronicle.com/section/recess.

Sports 8 | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019

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THE BLUE ZONE

MBB PLAYER PREVIEW: WENDELL MOORE dukechronicle.com

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Blue Devils trounce Wildcats in exhibition finale By Winston Lindqwister Associate Sports Editor

Coming off of a Northwest Missouri State win that showcased a concerning amount of rust, the Blue Devils entered their second exhibition game with a chip on their shoulder. Although Duke was playing far from daunting competition, the Blue Devils showcased a physical offense with weapons up and down the roster—perfect for a team looking to contend with the nation’s best early in the season. No. 4 Duke dominated Fort Valley State 126-57 in the Blue Devils’ second and final game of the preseason. Led by a breakout 3-point shooting performance from Joey Baker and the FVSU 57 establishment of bigs DUKE 126 freshmen Vernon Carey Jr. and Matthew Hurt as major offensive threats, the Blue Devils showed off a competent offense to start the season. “It was awesome. I’ve seen [Baker] work so hard through his time here, I’ve seen him get down on himself and I’ve seen him be confident,” senior captain Jack White said. “Just to see him in a good place tonight and seeing his mom in the crowd and seeing the

Juan Bermudez | Associate Photography Editor

Joey Baker had a breakout effort Wednesday night, knocking down shot after shot from deep. smile on her face, I know how hard he has worked and the adversity and the challenges. I couldn’t be happier for him. A young kid who sat a lot last year, had his redshirt taken away, now coming in this year with a more aggressive mindset, it’s great to see him put that into a game.”

Outside of the usual suspects, the player of the night surely goes to Baker. With a lineup starving for production from long range, Baker showcased a stroke that may be invaluable for Duke down the line. The Fayetteville, N.C., native was absolutely cooking from beyond the arc, going 5-for-6

from downtown in the first half and 6-for8 overall. Although Baker looked lost at times in Duke’s offensive rotation last year, the sophomore looked at home picking up catch-and-shoot threes from the corner. If the Blue Devils want to give their more dominant interior players a chance to shine, shooters like the 6-foot-7 forward must find a way to stay in the rotation and hit shots. And luckily for Duke, Baker wasn’t the only one to find production from outside. Hurt, seemingly the only offensive constant through the preseason, continued to be a matchup nightmare, scoring in the paint and spreading the floor with his trademark smooth stroke. Coupled with treys from the likes of White, freshman forward Wendell Moore and junior shooting guard Alex O’Connell, Duke showed that it has the potential to make room for its traditional slashers. “You can put up as many shots as you want but seeing them go in during a real game definitely builds confidence,” Baker said. “Hopefully it’ll carry over to next week.” The Blue Devils can also take solace that freshman center Vernon Carey Jr. seems to have moved on from a muddled performance just a few nights earlier and See M. BASKETBALL on Page 9

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Wanisha Smith’s journey back to the Duke sidelines By Spencer Levy Sports Features Editor

There are flashes in life when a dream transforms into reality in a matter of seconds. For newly-minted Duke assistant coach Wanisha Smith, that instance came in a place far from the hardwood she has played and coached on for decades. Instead, she learned news that would change her life as a customer in a nail salon. “Duke is home. Eventually I’m going to end up back there,” Smith recalled in a Twitter video post May 3. “I don’t know how it’s going to happen. But it’s going to happen.” In the midst of a discussion about career goals with a co-worker, the Cincinnati native received a call that encompassed the sentiment felt five seconds prior. Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie was on the other end of the life-changing phone call as Smith’s former coach offered her an assistant coaching job. The coaching changes After the departures of associate head coach Hernando Planells and assistant coach Rene Haynes, McCallie had two openings on

her staff. On May 3, McCallie announced the two coaches who will be replacing Planells and Haynes would be Smith and Jim Corrigan, the team’s special assistant since Dec. 2017 and fellow Duke graduate. But the coaching staff was not complete at the time, as the special assistant position was left open for almost two more months. Then the calendar flipped to July and the team announced that McCallie’s former player, Keturah Jackson, would join the program in Corrigan’s previous role. ‘Let’s rock and roll’ A highly-ranked guard, Smith concluded her high school career with a trip to the McDonald’s All-American game and earned a pair of regional awards—Washington Post Metro Player of the Year and Gatorade Maryland Player of the Year. That successful high school career led Smith to Durham under the direction of former long-time Duke head coach Gail Goestenkors. In her first season, Smith started 35 games and averaged 10.9 points on an Elite Eight team. Smith’s next season featured a trip to the Final Four, where the Blue Devils defeated LSU before falling to Maryland in the title game.

Smith’s junior year culminated with a Sweet 16 appearance before Goestenkors left to become the head coach at Texas. McCallie was hired and has been leading the program ever since. “Wanisha was my first senior at Duke,” McCallie said. “Can you imagine what it was like with a beloved coach leaving and here comes a new coach?” When a coach leaves a program and a new one is hired, the chemistry between the players and the coaches has the potential to lead to a less than desirable final result. But Smith wasn’t going to let that happen. “’It’s my senior year. Let’s rock and roll,’” McCallie recalls Smith telling the Blue Devil team that year. The importance of having a veteran like Smith on her first team was critical to the success of the 2007-08 season. Without Smith, who started all 30 games she played that year, McCallie doesn’t believe the team would have advanced all the way to the Sweet 16. After a senior campaign that capped off a storied career, Smith graduated with a degree in women’s studies and was drafted in the second round of the 2008 WNBA Draft by the New York Liberty.

Eric Wei | Sports Photography Editor

Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie added former player Wanisha Smith to her staff.

A dream come true Smith’s professional playing career was brief, spending eight seasons as an assistant coach at Longwood before becoming an assistant at Towson. Ten years after her first assistant job, she See SMITH on Page 9

The Chronicle

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M. BASKETBALL FROM PAGE 8 looks even more locked in as the Blue Devils’ go-to big man. Carey dominated the glass all evening thanks in no small part to having a frame that towered over the Wildcats, grabbing eight boards and scoring 11 points, all of which came from the interior. Though Moore and freshman Cassius Stanley had slower starts to the contest, both accelerated to pace Hurt and Carey in scoring. As a pair of elite slashing wings with a nose for defense, the two round out a freshman class that projects to be absolutely lethal at cuts and drives. Although this year’s squad is far from perfect and lacks the blatant star power of years past to cover-up early-season errors, tonight’s showing against Fort Valley State

at least showed that Duke has the pieces in play to have a dominant offense. The true question is getting the Blue Devils to smoothly fit together. “We shared [the offensive load] better,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “Look, it’s our second game. We don’t even have the same lineup in practice all the time. We just have to get to know one another. It’s not like a set starting five. “The group we started played together for at least two days. But they’re not going to be out there for eight minutes straight. So, Wendell’s got to get in there, Javin [DeLaurier] and Jack. We’ll get some type of rotation going, where everyone when they come in feels like they’re a really good player and they can play with one another.” The Blue Devils will get a real test Nov. 5 when they open the regular season against No. 3 Kansas at Madison Square Garden for the Champions Classic.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019 | 9

SMITH FROM PAGE 8 found herself getting her nails done when that phone call from McCallie fast forwarded the return to her college home. “I am elated every day I wake up…. It’s Duke excellence from top to bottom,” Smith said about her return. “[A place] where you can come and be your absolute best.” Smith has enjoyed working with the guards—alongside fellow assistant Sam Miller—as each and every day provides an opportunity for her players to improve. McCallie also noted that she has the ability to coach the post players with her skillset. In practices thus far, Smith has noticed one quality that she shares with everyone on the team. “They’re hungry to be the absolute best they can be,” Smith said. “Every single one of them has that fire that I had.”

In the lone year that she spent with McCallie as her head coach, Smith learned about who her coach was as a person, outside of the X’s and O’s. Smith ultimately gravitated back towards McCallie because of her head coach’s desire to develop student-athletes on and off the hardwood. “She’s just a great human who really cares about more than just the athlete and I think a lot of people can see that,” Smith said about McCallie. Now as a member of the Blue Devil staff, Smith can utilize her four-year Duke experience while recruiting future Blue Devil classes. At the high schools that she will frequent in her role, Smith will boast her beloved blue and white attire with the branded Duke “D,” which she believes stands for greatness. The next time Smith walks into a nail salon, she won’t have to think about what her path back to Duke could look like, because she’s already “home.”

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Matthew Hurt paced

The New York Times Syndication Sales Corporation 620 Eighth Avenue,Juan New Bermudez York, N.Y. 10018 | Associate Photography Editor For Information Call: Devil 1-800-972-3550 an unstoppable Blue offense against Fort Valley State. For Release Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Crossword ACROSS

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Edited by Will Shortz 1

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PUZZLE BY JOHN GUZZETTA

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Crossword ACROSS

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

34 31

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Edited by Will Shortz

0925 No. 0926

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620 Eighth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10018 Student Business Manager �� Dylan Riley, Alex Rose For Information Call: 1-800-972-3550 For ForRelease ReleaseWednesday, Thursday, October October31, 30,2019 2019

No. 0924

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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

10 | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019

HAPPY HALLOWEEN Home for whom?

The members of the Community Editorial Board are independent of the Chronicle’s editorial staff.

community editorial board

n November 5, the city of Durham will have its municipal elections. On the ballot this election is the mayor’s seat, three at-large council members and the Affordable Housing Bond. Over the years, Duke students have been told to “care” about and vote in the local elections, from Chronicle opinion columns to POLIS’s comprehensive all-in voter engagement plan. Yet voting in Durham is situated within a larger conversation of “caring,” as students in the University. As Duke undergraduates, what does it mean for us to “care” about Durham and its politics? The 2019 Durham Voter Guide uses the tagline: “This is your city, your home. Now Durham’s future is up to you.” But for many undergraduate students, our time in Durham is temporary, equivalent to an average of four years at Duke—living in Durham

spooky take of the week “Candy corn is the best Halloween candy.”

”

—Mary Helen Wood, Photo Editor, on October 30, 2019

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is seen as incidental to the Duke experience. There is a shared consciousness of the “Duke bubble,” but “popping the bubble” and being more involved in Durham must come with some amount of reflection and intention as well. For Durham to become “our city, our home,” it demands more than volunteer hours. To begin, the campus discussion on municipal politics need not center on Duke undergraduates. Though we primarily interact with the University as an institution of higher education, Duke’s relationship with Durham is primarily as a business and as an employer. To say, as some have, that students should involve themselves in politics because they are “so much more well-educated, so much more affluent, and have so much more time on their hands” not only assumes a monolithic student population, but fails to fully acknowledge the position that undergraduates occupy. We cannot consider ourselves residents of Durham by default and neither should we pretend that, when we “pop the bubble,” we are not representatives of this University and its complicated history. These considerations are particularly relevant this election cycle as Durham is asked to vote on an Affordable Housing Bond. The bond is supported by local politicians and community organizations, and there have been calls to get students involved. An ambitious plan to tackle housing affordability in Durham, the bond will be financed by property taxes—a cost that few, if any, undergraduates will bear. Similarly, as detailed in our editorial last week, the University is directly responsible for much of the downtown growth that has spurred this affordability crisis, yet no calls to action or cajoling of the student electorate has engaged with or even acknowledged this history. To ask students to vote in the hopes that they might benefit from a solution to a problem Duke created without requiring any of the cost to fall on the University is misinformed at best and disingenuous at worst.

HEALTH FROM PAGE 1 Elliott, a former Division I athlete who had never experienced issues with breathing, did not feel that he was given adequate care, but wasn’t sure how to communicate that to his provider. “When they said [the diagnosis], I was like ‘I don’t think so,’ but at the same time I felt that they were the professionals,” Elliott said. “I was a freshman in college with zero medical background and just trusted doctors and nurses. But now I realize you should always question what’s going on.” Elliott continued to feel very ill, until returning to his home in Kansas a week and a half later. His mom took him to a Minute Clinic, where the physician assistant quickly suggested the possibility of pneumonia and the need for an x-ray. The scan showed that the physician assistant was correct. Elliott ultimately needed two rounds of antibiotics before his symptoms began to subside. Elliott said that the improper care he received at Student Health led him to finding light permanent scarring on his lungs and feeling ill for much longer than he would’ve felt if given an accurate initial diagnosis. “I’ve gone back to student health to get blood work done or a referral, but other than that, I don’t really go back. I try not to go to student health. I don’t trust them,” Elliott said. Sophomore Cate Schick felt similarly dismissed by Student Health. Schick was sitting in the front row of the class when her professor noticed that her face had “completely swelled up” and immediately excused her for a student health visit. She recalled that one of her eyes was almost swollen shut. In the five to ten-minute meeting with Schick, a doctor asked whether she was stressed and if she had any midterms coming up, which she answered yes. After noting that Schick had previously visited Counseling and Psychological Services, the doctor decided that the swelling was a physical reaction to stress, and suggested that she returns to CAPS. The swelling subsided by the next morning, but Schick later learned that contrary to what the doctor said, she was experiencing an allergic reaction to a cosmetic product. Schick said that the doctor not only gave a misleading diagnosis, but also was condescending in his dismissal of her concerns. “I just felt like they were trying to dismiss me because

Without taking a definitive stand on the bond or any of the other items on the ballot this Tuesday, we would urge a greater reflexivity and degree of reflection, especially in the undergraduate community. A guiltridden vote in the municipal election is certainly not the only way to “care” and neither is it necessarily the best way. At the very least, arguing that voting is equivalent to caring excludes those who are not able to vote or who choose to vote elsewhere in communities in which they feel more at home. There are students and community members who are not given the right to vote or have been institutionally and systematically disenfranchised, including international students, undocumented immigrants, Black voters and Indigenous peoples. There are other ways to “care” about Durham and its politics, especially in supporting the communities in Durham that were organizing before we came and will continue to organize long after we leave. These include groups such as Durham for All, Southerners on New Ground, and Durham CAN. To be in solidarity with them, we can show up with our physical presence when they call us to; we can listen; and we can commit to a process of learning that is forever ongoing. At Duke, we tend to exist within a narrow understanding of what is good and bad, with such limited examples of what is good. But voting is not and cannot be the end-all-be-all of political engagement. There is not one “good” or “right” political move, voting or otherwise, as we might discover if we spend some time being considerate—what does it mean to volunteer with this organization? Or, vote for this candidate? Or, shop at this specific business? When we leave campus and interact with Durham, we are representatives of the University, whether we actively choose to be or not. So if we are to pop the bubble, let us do so with care.

they were busy that day. I felt very not wanted in the office,” Schick said. John Vaughn, director of Student Health Services, told me that he cannot comment on any specific case, but he would be reluctant to use the term ‘misdiagnosis’ because symptoms can evolve over time. “Students can come in one day and it can look like an allergy or a cold, and then within three days it can be fullblown pneumonia,” Vaughn said. Richard Chung, Duke Health adolescent and young adult medicine specialist, agreed that initial diagnoses are not infallible. “A key concern is a matter of making an initial judgement and then following up and communicating afterwards to confirm that diagnosis, or to change the diagnosis and do something differently,” Chung said. “Part of the issue may be there isn’t that clear infrastructure for that follow-up to happen.” While patients should follow up with their provider if their symptoms are not improving, clinicians can also reach out to check on their patients, said Chung. Both Schick and Elliott said that their provider did not suggest for them to follow up after the appointment, so they did not think to either. Vaughn thinks that Student Health is doing “an outstanding job,” and that over 90% of students who visit student health have a good experience. He added that he’s also heard positive feedback from a student advisory committee that analyzes student feedback and liaises between Student Health and the broader campus population. But Vaughn’s confidence in Student Health, as well as the feedback that he receives, struck me as inconsistent with reality. The above experiences are only a few of the countless anecdotes that I had learned through interviews and other conversations. A culture of dismissing and neglecting student need exists in Student Health. To start, Student Health employees require training in how to foster trusting and communicative relationships with students, who should learn to take greater control of their interactions with clinicians. The University should seek to continue this conversation, because a Student Health that completely lacks the faith of its students surely fails to adequately care for their health. Rose Wong is a Trinity senior and a Local/National Editor.

The Chronicle

dukechronicle.com commentary

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019 | 11

Coming out at Duke is harder than you think

iven that Duke boasts a generally progressive and accepting environment, there’s an expectation here that all queer students feel safe enough to come out. But when you possess a marginalized identity, feelings of safety

organizations were founded on and continue to be perpetuated by heteronormative practices. Queer people of color, especially women and non-binary people, face particular discrimination in American society as well as underrepresentation in queer

crafted coming out story, nor a label to go with it. And we, as a community, must do better to understand the diversity of experiences of queer students at Duke. We have no right to make judgments about anyone’s sexuality, nor to

spaces, where white men dominate—and these challenges don’t disappear once you hit Chapel Drive. Just because Duke is ahead of the curve in some areas doesn’t mean everyone here automatically scores a 100. These battles aren’t merely waged between queer identities and the institutions that silence them, however. For many queer people, the biggest battle is the one they fight in their own heads. Not only are there queer people here hiding their identities, there are also those still struggling to figure out what those identities are. Especially for the students who were raised to repress their sexuality or who also experience heterosexual attraction, coming out can be a much longer and more confusing process than the rest of us might normally expect. This process of selfdiscovery can feel very isolating, especially when it seems like everyone else on campus has it all figured out. Spoiler alert: we don’t have it all figured out. Hell, I still get nervous talking about my sexuality—and writing about it— even though I continue to choose to make my story public. Coming out does get easier every time you do it. But each and every time you come out is an act of bravery. To the queer students reading this: your identity isn’t contingent on this campus’s awareness of it. You are just as valid if no one knows how you identify as if everyone knows. Of course, I want to encourage you to pursue self-realization, and I believe there are plenty of people here who can help you accept yourself exactly as you are. I like to think I’m one of them. But you don’t owe this community anything—not a perfectly

assume we have the right to know how a person identifies. I don’t want to hear another “he’ll come out eventually” or “if she was going to experiment, she would’ve done so already.” These statements make it even harder for the subject of your appraisal to accept their sexuality, regardless of whether they’re straight or not. Your well-intentioned gossip isn’t so innocent when you put an individual’s identity at stake. Coming out vlogs and one-dimensional queer TV characters have diffused the idea that, for a queer person, coming out is the final step in the process of achieving self-acceptance. This isn’t true. In fact, coming out isn’t a single step, but hundreds of steps you take throughout your lifetime—the first time you admit your sexuality to yourself, the first conservation you have about your identity, the first rainbow flag you own, the first crush of the same gender that you tell your friends about. Those steps may vary wildly between people, as may the time frames in which they occur. But all identities, and the experiences that underlie them, are valid—no matter how they compare to our ideas of what sexuality is “supposed” to look like. So whether you’re still in the closet or a loud and proud queer advocate, know that this community is ready to accept you with open arms. We’re ready today, and we’ll be ready in ten years. But if and when you do come out, don’t do it for us. Do it for yourself.

Rebecca Torrence COLUMN rarely come naturally. Last week, a friend I’ve known for three years came out to my religious group. It had been a while since I last heard someone come out. I, too, had taken Duke’s assumed openness for granted, guessing that pretty much every queer person on campus was already out. This friend’s vulnerable admission made me realize just how wrong I was. Coming out was definitely easier at Duke than in my conservative Tennessean hometown, but it still wasn’t easy. While I was excited to begin a new chapter of my life where I could finally be unapologetically myself, I was also completely terrified of what that life might look like. Acknowledging my sexuality out loud remained a daunting, even distressing task. And it felt like a task, too—like I had to dive headfirst into the LGBTQ+ community for my experiences to be validated. Yet to my dismay, the conservative, Christian, homophobic context I’d existed within for eighteen years continued to permeate my sense of self-realization. While I probably didn’t have much reason to be nervous about coming out at Duke, I’d spent most of my life with plenty of reason to be nervous. And those anxieties don’t just go away because you think they’re supposed to. The contexts within which we learned to feel ashamed of our identities aren’t altogether absent at Duke, either. Despite Duke’s majority-liberal environment, there are plenty of groups, like conservative clubs, religious life, or even ROTC, whose national affiliations have extensive histories of homophobia. Greek

Rebecca Torrence is a Trinity junior. Her column runs on alternate Thursdays.

Karsh depictions of Africa and the Middle East prove that stories can be dangerous

he recently opened Karsh Alumni Center just changed its portrayals of African and Middle Eastern countries. The portrayals were perpetuating stereotypes of Africa and the Middle East, using images of people in huts and riding camels in the desert—meanwhile, these

Ami Wong THE BIGGER PICTURE regions are home to some of the largest and most advanced cities in the world. For an institution that touts diversity as an ideal, these portrayals were hypocritical. What happens when only one narrative is told about a group, and what are the ramifications? When thinking about any place, we tend to think of its branding in the global consciousness. America represents freedom and democracy. France represents artistic culture and good wine. Africa—a whole continent— represents colonialism and poverty. These ideas have wormed their way into our minds because of the stories told about them. In our culture that prizes practicality, we often forget that the creative and emotional aspects of life can equally sway the world. Stories, which we so often see as solely entertainment, are inherent and necessary to the human experience. We don’t diffuse stories about just national identity. Why do we love the Hero’s Journey? What is so appealing about the call to adventure, the rising stakes, the “low point,” and the cathartic return to a

new status quo? The story formula mirrors our own lives. Like heroes in fiction, we face obstacles, adapt to new situations, and even defeat antagonists in our daily reality. Narrative is not only global—it is intensely personal. There’s a reason why narrative language

to be a favorite character growing up? Regardless of stories’ influences on us, however, they are often relegated to the realm of frivolous entertainment. Many people speak with pride on not having to read books anymore. They talk of how they can’t watch a TV show until after classes are done. They avoid theater productions,

Continuing to push a single, inaccurate narrative about the lack of development in Africa and the exotic adventure of the Middle East leads to pity, not empathy. pervades modern culture. We read between the lines, read someone like a book, read too far into something. Personal growth is character development. Vacations are a change of setting. In our digital world, we literally project snapshots and video clips onto our Facebook and Instagram “stories.” Stories give us a guideline for what we need to do to lead a fulfilling life. We learn from characters’ mistakes and successes. Who hasn’t pretended

finding them dry and pretentious. The academic hierarchy also persists. As this column from the Chronicle details, in the wake of the Enlightenment, “subjects such as history, English, literature—became associated with “subjectivity” and thus “unprovable” in an academic world focused on empirical objectivity.” We value majors in the hard sciences for their job security and high salaries, but also because we believe they offer a more

valuable contribution to the world. Although stories often have the purpose of escapist entertainment, this is not to say they have no value beyond distraction. Everyone has a story that they cite as having influenced them in some way. Just because our relationship with narrative is often in the abstract, that relationship still gives us a context for relating to others. This brings me to one of the main benefits of a narrative form: stories encourage empathy. To immerse ourselves in a narrative, we often literally take the perspective of another person, fictive or not, and live an experience through their eyes. Everyone has an experience that they love to share. Understanding and connection come from listening. Seeing how stories encourage empathy can lead us to see why the portrayals in the Karsh Alumni Center were problematic in the first place. Continuing to push a single, inaccurate narrative about the lack of development in Africa and the exotic adventure of the Middle East leads to pity, not empathy. Instead of relying on caricature, narratives should be an authentic representation of a group’s experience, something which actually encourages the viewer to “be in their shoes.” In the end, our whole history and our individual lives are just stories. We live experiences, observe plots and subplots, find twists in the storyline. We want to recount those lived experiences to others, to leave a mark and prove that like any character, our existence mattered in the world. Ami Wong is a Trinity sophomore. Her column, “the bigger picture,” typically runs on alternate Fridays.

The Chronicle

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12 | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019

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