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The independent news organization at Duke University
MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2020
ONLINE DAILY AT DUKECHRONICLE.COM
ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTEENTH YEAR, ISSUE 10
Field hockey freshman’s activism goes viral DukeCards
Courtesy of Nat LeDonne/Duke Athletics Darcy Bourne, a freshman field hockey player, has had a huge impact for the Blue Devils this year, both on and off the pitch.
By Glen Morgenstern Associate Sports Editor
You may have seen Darcy Bourne before, and it’s not because she’s already a star on Duke’s field hockey team. Bourne is the subject of a now-viral photo, reposted by the likes of British Vogue editor Edward Enninful as well as Martin Luther King III. “When Martin Luther King III posted [the photo], it made me realize how far it had reached,” Bourne said. “No one in the world could have meant more to me to post it than him because of what he and his father did.” Bourne is actually British, born and
raised, and that photo was taken near the U.S. Embassy in London. But Bourne is far more than just the masked face of the Black Lives Matter movement abroad. As a Black field hockey player, she is also a rarity in a sport known for its lack of diversity.
Bourne This Way
Bourne grew up in South London, playing “literally any sport” to keep up with a competitive older brother. Eventually, she enrolled in Wellington College, a school with a history and alumni list that rival Duke’s. Wellington College has taught pupils such as Christopher Lee (who played Count Dooku in “Star Wars”), George Orwell, the Getty
family and several European princes. Queen Victoria, who remains the school’s official Visitor, laid the foundation stone herself in 1856. Students are divided into 17 houses (Hogwarts vibes, anyone?), each named after an associate of the Duke of Wellington, who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. In other words, it’s more British—and four years older—than fish and chips. Despite that, Bourne is adapting to American life rather smoothly. “Because of COVID-19, I had to fly over on my own, which is less than ideal,” Bourne said with a pained chuckle. “Now that I’m settled in, I’m loving it.” “Things I miss? I don’t have a kettle. I had never made tea out of a microwave, but I’m making do.” Bourne is also Black, a piece of her identity that doesn’t often show up in her sport. England’s national field hockey team has only seen four nonwhite players at the senior level. At Duke, the school’s first Black field hockey player, Vestina Polk, took the field in 1986. That’s nearly 20 years after the first Black basketball player took the court for the Blue Devils. “When you’re younger, without realizing it, you look up to people who look similar to you,” Bourne said. “In recent years, it’s inspired me to succeed so that I could be that role model for younger players coming in.”
The Bourne Supremacy
As a child, Bourne did not specialize in field hockey. Instead, she played soccer with the boys’ team at primary school, since there was no girls’ team. She also played club soccer with the Chelsea FC girls’ team. Then, around the age of eight or nine, her school told her she couldn’t play soccer anymore. “When they told me I couldn’t play with the boys anymore, I was annoyed, and it was a shame I didn’t have the opportunity,” Bourne
disabled by mistake By Alison Korn Staff Reporter
Despite filling out their daily symptom monitoring survey on time, some students have still had their DukeCards deactivated due to technological issues the Office of Information Technology is working to fix. Duke’s symptom tracking app, known as SymMon, requires students to answer a series of questions regarding their health—for example, if they have “had an exposure to a person with COVID illness” or “feel feverish”—every morning. Duke has used the app to isolate those with COVID-19 symptoms and test them to mitigate the spread of the virus. Charley Kneifel, senior technical director at OIT and a member of the SymMon app team, told The Chronicle in a statement that “a total of 17,500 students, faculty and staff used SymMon in September of 2020, which resulted in a total of 290,000 health checks.” If a student does not complete the monitoring by 2 p.m., their DukeCard access is revoked, and they are unable to buy food or enter buildings. If a student fills out SymMon after their access is revoked, it will be reinstated. Despite this, some students have recently encountered issues with SymMon’s connection to their DukeCard, receiving an alert that their See CARDS on Page 2
See BOURNE on Page 9
West Coast students face fires and fear By Chris Kuo Features Managing Editor
Madeleine Berger Staff Reporter
When morning dawned Sept. 9 in Chico, Calif., the sky was dark and orange, and the street lights stayed on. Junior Justin Dodds, who lives in Chico, remembers being able to stare directly at the sun—a small red sphere, smothered by smoke. Ash was everywhere, coating car hoods and camp chairs. Strong winds had caused the North Complex wildfires, which began Aug. 18, to spread into Butte county, where Dodds lives. The air soon became so hazardous that Dodds and his family wore N95 masks when stepping outside. “There were more people wearing masks because of smoke than because of COVID,” Dodds said, chuckling. Drawn home by the pandemic, Dodds is one of many Duke students living on the West See FIRES on Page 2
Jackson Muraika | Assistant Sports Photography Editor A student swipes in to a West Campus building.
6INSIDE
Durham schools adapt Even during a pandemic, Durham Public Schools teachers are teaching and students are learning. PAGE 2
Review: Queen Burger The downtown Durham restaurant is delicious, vibrant and progressive, Maddie Menkes writes. PAGE 6
Twitter’s facial recognition failure Courtesy of Justin Dodds Ash dusts a car in Chico, Calif., Sept. 9. Students who live near the wildfires that have ravaged the West Coast in recent weeks described the fear and lack of focus that the experience caused.
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The platform’s facial-recognition algorithm is blatantly biased, columnists Jess Edelson and Niharika Vattikona write. PAGE 11 @thedukechronicle | ©2020 The Chronicle