by Sabrina Rubakovic THE CHRONICLE Researchers at Duke and other universi- ties have discovered a way to diagnose viral infections before symptoms even appear. And their findings could have practical applications for preventing the spread of swine flu at Duke. The research concluded that as the body responds to infection, the expression of spe- cific genes is slightly altered. These baseline changes in human health can then be de- tected, allowing the diagnosis of infections days before the onset of symptoms. This study, which focused on upper respiratory viral infections, was funded by the Predict- ing Health and Disease program of the De- fense Advanced Research Projects Agency, a branch of the U.S. Department of Defense. “We are using genomic technology to predict who will get sick and who won’t,” said Dr. Geoffrey Ginsburg, professor of medicine and pathology and director of the Center for Genomic Medicine in the Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy, who worked on the study. by Rachna Reddy THE CHRONICLE It has been three weeks since students returned to campus and the official count of students infected with the H1N1 virus is 50, said Dr. Bill Purdy, executive director of Student Health. But this number is not necessarily in- dicative of the total number of students who have contracted the illness. Purdy said many students who call and report symp- toms to student health are told to stay in their rooms and only students who visit the clinic ware tested. Of those, about half test positive for H1N1, commonly known as swine flu. Based on the number of students who have contacted or visited Student Health or completed online Short-Term Illness Notifi- cation Forms, the University estimates that approximately 120 students have contracted swine flu this Fall, said Michael Schoenfeld, vice president of public affairs and govern- ment relations. But he added that the num- ber may not be accurate, as many students may simply take care of themselves and not Study finds breakthrough in diagnostics Swine flu infects at least 50 LAUREN DIETRICH/THE CHRONICLE Members of Purple, a new non-profit student activism group, sell a T-shirt that promotes human rights on the West Campus Plaza Monday. Purple hopes to raise awareness about social issues during its Social Activism Week. SEE SWINE FLU ON PAGE 5 SEE DIAGNOSIS ON PAGE 5 Purple looks to raise social awareness with activism week by Sony rao THE CHRONICLE After a week of tabling and selling T-shirts on the West Campus Plaza, Purple began its “Social Activism Week” Monday. Purple, a new non-profit student organization that seeks to raise awareness about various social issues, will celebrate the week with events that make students aware of one so- cial problem per day. Each day is devoted to a cause and members from non-profit organizations will be present on campus to encourage volunteers to join their respec- tive groups. Causes include environmental sustainability, race relations, education inequality, cancer research and human rights. The events will culminate in a Sept. 11 concert featur- ing singer Mike Posner, a senior, and will also serve as a me- morial for 9/11 and for the families and students affected by social issues. The purpose of the concert is to accom- modate music into the effort and make activism accessible, said Purple Concert Co-director Joyce Kim, a junior. “Purple is a way for students to get opportunities to engage in various social causes and to connect with each other,” Kim said. “We use music and fashion to represent our passions as students.” President and Co-founder Sam Bowler, a senior, named the organization Purple after a shawl his mother wore, which he and his sisters used to comfort themselves when they were sick. “I consider purple to be a healing color that establishes an emotional connection between people,” Bowler said. Last Spring, the organization polled students to deter- mine the top five social causes that they think affect the world. Since then, Purple members have partnered with organizations around the Durham area such as the Dur- ham Economic Resource Center, which strives to eliminate poverty in Durham. The T-shirts come in colors that represent each of the five causes, and the profits from sales will support the re- spective organizations. The official Purple Web site is geared to allow students to meet each other based on similar interests and connect with different non-profit organizations in Durham, Kim said. In partnership with DukeList—the University’s database that helps students find employment and research oppor- tunities—Purple will use its Web site to track the number of hours students give back to Durham. Bowler said one hour of volunteer work will be considered the equivalent of $14 donated to the service organization. Purple’s goal is to have 10 percent of the students at Duke volunteer for two hours a week for one month, which would be the SEE PURPLE ON PAGE 4 Mad Hatter’s added to points, Page 3 Blue Devils split two at NGCA Match Play, Page 7 New kid on the block New deputy city manager to take post in mid September, PAGE 3 Football: Making the grade The Chronicle grades Duke on its per- formance against Richmond Saturday, PAGE 8 MICHAEL NACLERIO/THE CHRONICLE Students gather on the West Campus Plaza for a performance by the Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abuse band Monday afternoon. Purple brought the group to campus as a part of their human rights day. Afternoon tunes Admins suspect count may be as high as 120 Findings will be applied to swine flu prevention The Chronicle THE INDEPENDENT DAILY AT DUKE UNIVERSITY TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2009 ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH YEAR, ISSUE 13 WWW.DUKECHRONICLE.COM
Transcript
by Sabrina RubakovicThe chronicle
researchers at Duke and other universi-ties have discovered a way to diagnose viral infections before symptoms even appear.
And their findings could have practical applications for preventing the spread of swine flu at Duke.
The research concluded that as the body responds to infection, the expression of spe-cific genes is slightly altered. These baseline changes in human health can then be de-tected, allowing the diagnosis of infections days before the onset of symptoms. This study, which focused on upper respiratory viral infections, was funded by the Predict-ing health and Disease program of the De-fense Advanced research Projects Agency, a branch of the U.S. Department of Defense.
“We are using genomic technology to predict who will get sick and who won’t,” said Dr. Geoffrey Ginsburg, professor of medicine and pathology and director of the center for Genomic Medicine in the institute for Genome Sciences and Policy, who worked on the study.
by Rachna ReddyThe chronicle
it has been three weeks since students returned to campus and the official count of students infected with the h1n1 virus is 50, said Dr. Bill Purdy, executive director of Student health.
But this number is not necessarily in-dicative of the total number of students who have contracted the illness. Purdy said many students who call and report symp-toms to student health are told to stay in their rooms and only students who visit the clinic ware tested. of those, about half test positive for h1n1, commonly known as swine flu.
Based on the number of students who have contacted or visited Student health or completed online Short-Term illness notifi-cation Forms, the University estimates that approximately 120 students have contracted swine flu this Fall, said Michael Schoenfeld, vice president of public affairs and govern-ment relations. But he added that the num-ber may not be accurate, as many students may simply take care of themselves and not
Study finds breakthrough in diagnostics
Swine flu infects at least 50
Lauren dietrich/the chronicLe
Members of Purple, a new non-profit student activism group, sell a T-shirt that promotes human rights on the West Campus Plaza Monday. Purple hopes to raise awareness about social issues during its Social Activism Week.
See Swine flu on PAGe 5See diagnoSiS on PAGe 5
Purple looks to raise social awareness with activism weekby Sony rao The chronicle
After a week of tabling and selling T-shirts on the West campus Plaza, Purple began its “Social Activism Week” Monday.
Purple, a new non-profit student organization that seeks to raise awareness about various social issues, will celebrate the week with events that make students aware of one so-cial problem per day. each day is devoted to a cause and members from non-profit organizations will be present on campus to encourage volunteers to join their respec-tive groups. causes include environmental sustainability, race relations, education inequality, cancer research and human rights.
The events will culminate in a Sept. 11 concert featur-ing singer Mike Posner, a senior, and will also serve as a me-morial for 9/11 and for the families and students affected by social issues. The purpose of the concert is to accom-modate music into the effort and make activism accessible, said Purple concert co-director Joyce Kim, a junior.
“Purple is a way for students to get opportunities to engage in various social causes and to connect with each other,” Kim said. “We use music and fashion to represent our passions as students.”
President and co-founder Sam Bowler, a senior, named the organization Purple after a shawl his mother wore,
which he and his sisters used to comfort themselves when they were sick.
“i consider purple to be a healing color that establishes an emotional connection between people,” Bowler said.
last Spring, the organization polled students to deter-mine the top five social causes that they think affect the world. Since then, Purple members have partnered with organizations around the Durham area such as the Dur-ham economic resource center, which strives to eliminate poverty in Durham.
The T-shirts come in colors that represent each of the five causes, and the profits from sales will support the re-spective organizations.
The official Purple Web site is geared to allow students to meet each other based on similar interests and connect with different non-profit organizations in Durham, Kim said.
in partnership with Dukelist—the University’s database that helps students find employment and research oppor-tunities—Purple will use its Web site to track the number of hours students give back to Durham. Bowler said one hour of volunteer work will be considered the equivalent of $14 donated to the service organization. Purple’s goal is to have 10 percent of the students at Duke volunteer for two hours a week for one month, which would be the
See purple on PAGe 4
Mad Hatter’s added to
points, Page 3
Blue Devils split two at NGCA
Match Play, Page 7
New kid on the blockNew deputy city manager to take post in mid September, PAGE 3
Football: Making the grade The Chronicle grades Duke on its per-formance against Richmond Saturday,
PAGE 8
michaeL nacLerio/the chronicLe
Students gather on the West Campus Plaza for a performance by the Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abuse band Monday afternoon. Purple brought the group to campus as a part of their human rights day.
Afternoon tunes
Admins suspect count may be as high as 120
Findings will be applied to swine flu prevention
The ChronicleThe independenT daily aT duke universiTy
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2009 ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH YEAR, ISSUE 13www.dukEchroniclE.com
2 | TUeSDAY, SePTeMBer 8, 2009 The ChroniCle
Happiness Emerges From a Well-Trained Mind…
CAPS Introduction To Mindfulness
Meditation and Stress Management Skills
T uesdays 9/29, 10/13, 10/20 and 10/27 Time : 5:15 P.M. – 6:30 P.M.
Teachers : Yan Li and Holly Rogers
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT CAPS WEBSITE: http://caps.studentaffairs.duke.edu/personalgrowthservices/mindfulness2.html
Division of Student Affairs - Duke University
worldandnationtehran, iran — iranian President mahmoud
ahmadinejad on monday invited representa-tives from a group of six world powers, includ-ing the united states, to tehran, but he said ne-gotiations over his country’s right to a nuclear program would be off the table.
discussion on the nuclear issue, he told re-porters at a news conference, is “finished.”
“We will never negotiate on the iranian na-tion’s obvious rights,” he said, adding that iran would not halt its uranium enrichment efforts. ahmadinejad said iran had prepared a pro-posal for breaking the deadlock on its nuclear program, and he asked diplomats to come to tehran to pick it up.
the statement came as the head of the united nations’ nuclear watchdog an-nounced that his agency was locked in a “stalemate” with iran. the obama adminis-tration has offered to open talks with iran on nuclear and other issues.
“ ”One should always play fairly when one has the
winning cards.— Oscar Wilde
TODAy in HiSTORy1930: Richard Drew creates
Scotch tape.
WashinGton — the supreme court’s unusual hearing Wednesday on the role corporations can play in influencing elec-tions carries the potential not only for re-writing the nation’s campaign finance laws, but also for testing the willingness of the court led by chief Justice John roberts to defy the decisions of congress and to set aside its own precedents.
the court will consider whether the “proper disposition” of a case—pitting a conservative group’s scorching cam-paign film about hillary rodham clinton against federal campaign finance laws—requires overturning two decisions that said government has an interest in restricting the political activities and speech of corporations.
that raises ageless questions about the role of “stare decisis”—the court’s custom of standing by its previous decisions.
U.S. softens detainee treatyWashinGton — From 2003 to 2006, the
Bush administration quietly tried to relax the draft language of a treaty meant to bar and punish “enforced disappearances” so that those overseeing the cia’s secret prison sys-tem would not be criminally prosecuted un-der its provisions, according to former officials and hundreds of pages of documents recently declassified by the state department.
the aim of the global treaty, long sup-ported by the united states, was to end official kidnappings, detentions and killings like those that plagued Latin america in the 1970s and 1980s, and that allegedly still occur in russia, china, iran, colombia, sri Lanka and elsewhere. But the documents suggest that initial u.s. support for the negotiations collided head-on with the then-undisclosed goal of seizing suspected terrorists anywhere in the world for questioning by cia interrogators or indefinite detention by the u.s. military at foreign sites.
todaY:
8163 WednesdaY:
8163
Iran pres. invites world powers
Supreme Court considers reversing precedents
Online Excerpt
Photo courtesY oF meGaBus
Megabus, a subsidiary of Coach USA, recently joined the northeast corridor express bus industry. The com-pany also services cities in the Midwest and Ontario, Canada. Bus travel, which is often more environmen-tally friendly than individual car travel, is making a comeback because of its low cost and convenience.
“rep. david Price, d-n.c., came to duke last tuesday to talk about healthcare reform with students and answer their questions. Watch the video online—shot and narrated by the chronicle’s allie Prater—to see Price speak and hear an interview with one of the event’s planners.”
— From The Chronicle News Blog
news.chronicleblogs.com
The ChroniCle TUeSDAY, SePTeMBer 8, 2009 | 3
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A week after adding nosh to Merchants on Points, the Duke University Student Dining Advisory commit-tee decided to bring another eatery into the program at its Monday night meeting.
Students will soon be able to use their food points at Mad hatter Bakeshop and cafe, located within walking distance of east campus.
Mad hatter’s offers a large variety of sandwiches, salads and desserts ranging from breakfast burritos to black and white cookies. Vegan offerings are also avail-able, and there are plenty of options for those General Manager Andrew Mikkola called “vegesaurs.”
Mikkola spoke at the DUSDAc meeting alongside rob-
ert Ghanem, who owns Mad hatter’s with his wife Fida. Mad hatter’s was on Merchants on Points several
years ago under previous ownership. Mikkola said a “re-emphasis on quality food and sanitation” is the main reason to bring Mad hatter’s back to the Mer-chants on Points program.
he also addressed DUSDAc’s concerns about the bakeshop’s ability to handle a large number of student orders. Mad hatter’s has three voice lines and one fax number, and is ready to add new phone lines if neces-sary, Mikkola said.
he added that Mad hatter’s has heated and cooled vans, parking passes and five drivers familiar with the
James Lee/the chronicLe
Members of the Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee taste food from Mad Hatter’s Bakeshop and Cafe during the group’s meet-ing Monday night. DUSDAC approved the addition of the eatery to the University’s Merchants on Points program.
Chadwell brings broad focus to
city manager jobby Ciaran O’Connor
The chronicle
Durham city Manager Tom Bonfield has appointed Keith chadwell as his new deputy city manager for com-munity Building.
chadwell will join the city in mid September along-side current deputy managers Theodore Voorhees and
Wanda Page. As a member of the city Manager’s office, which is responsible for all of the programs and services provided by the city, chadwell will head various municipal departments, including human relations, com-munity Development and the office of economic and Workforce Develop-ment.
chadwell said he is looking forward to coming to the city and brings to the
table “a varied background in community organization and planning and a thorough knowledge of government programs and services.” he said he was particularly im-pressed with the ways in which Durham has provided “modern and productive sources of employment and enjoyment for its community.” chadwell added that he hopes to “spread the largesse of those activities into the neighborhoods and help ensure that they realize the successes that Durham is starting to enjoy.”
chadwell has worked in state and local government for more than 25 years. Most recently, he served as the city manager of Pompano Beach, Fla. Prior to that posi-tion, chadwell held city management positions in Ful-ton county, Ga., Washington, D.c. and Virginia Beach. chadwell’s breadth of experience in “human services
See chadwell on PAGe 4
DUke UniveRSiTy STUDenT Dining ADviSORy COMMiTTee
See duSdac on PAGe 4
keith Chadwell
4 | TUeSDAY, SePTeMBer 8, 2009 The ChroniCle
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equivalent of $75,000 raised for various causes.
This summer, Purple became an offi-cial non-profit organization. Group lead-ers hope to expand to the University of
north carolina at chapel hill and become a larger umbrella organization that, in the future, can engage students on campuses across America, Bowler said.
“My goal is to diversify the Duke cam-pus, to break down the walls that exist and allow people with shared social passions to connect with one another,” he said.
PURPLe from page 1
Lauren dietrich/the chronicLe
Members of Purple passes a flyer to passersby on the West Campus Plaza Monday afternoon. Purple is looking to raise awareness about a different social issue each day during the Social Activism Week.
and community relations-type activities” made him a unique and particularly at-tractive candidate, Bonfield said.
The appointment has been met with excitement in city hall. city council member eugene Brown referred to the city manager’s job, with its 2,300 employ-
ees and $355 million budget, as a “tough one,” and said he sees a real need for a third deputy. Brown added that he be-lieves chadwell has the experience to “provide the spark needed to take it to the next level.”
Mayor Bill Bell said although he has not yet met the new deputy, on paper chadwell looks to be “well qualified” and a “good pick.”
CHADWeLL from page 3
University. Saladelia cafe, which sup-plies food to several on-campus dining locations and is also owned by Ghanem, will supply back-up drivers if needed, Mikkola said.
Mad hatter’s will deliver from 4 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Sat-urday and charge a $2 fee for the ser-vice. There is a $10 minimum order for deliveries.
The restaurant itself is open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. from Monday to Satur-day, and from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sun-day, according to its Web site.
After adding Mad hatter’s to the Merchants on Points program, DUSDAc heard from Franca Alphin, director of nutrition Services at Stu-dent health.
Alphin requested that DUSDAc ask on-campus eateries which of their food offerings have allergy-inducing ingredi-ents such as peanuts, tree nuts or shell-fish, when they meet with those vendors.
She also asked the committee to talk to vendors about the possibility of these ingredients getting into other food products.
For instance, she said if the same utensils used in making peanut butter tortillas are also used for other torti-llas, students with peanut allergies could be at risk.
information about food free of allergy-inducing ingredients will be posted on DUSDAc’s Web site once it is compiled.
in other business:DUSDAc approved a request from
senior elana Berger, a representative of chi omega sorority, to use $500 worth of food points during a fund-raiser for the Make-a-Wish Founda-tion. chi omega is planning to sell ice cream from cold Stone creamery on the Friday of homecoming Weekend.
The committee also discussed a plan to allow students to tip Merchants on Points drivers using their food points, but no final decision was made.
The project consisted of three studies, in which researchers inoc-ulated healthy volunteers with live rhinoviruses, and influenza A and respiratory Syncytial viruses in a closed environment. Blood and other biological materials were collected from the subjects every three to four hours. The complex data obtained from these samples were heavily analyzed using ge-nomic technology to build models that predict whether an individual will become symptomatic.
The underlying aim of the research program is military in nature—the early detection and subsequent prevention of dis-ease in U.S. soldiers. infections among troops can be very de-bilitating, especially to those sta-tioned in closed environments, such as submarines, said law-rence carin, professor of electri-cal and computer engineering, who also worked on the study. Being able to determine which soldiers will get sick days before the appearance of symptoms would allow a battalion com-mander to separate an infected soldier from other troops, and appropriately apportion tasks.
The project, however, has evolved to encompass the realm of medical treatment in general. The current aim is to develop a portable health assessment sys-tem able to conduct thorough medical analyses in short time spans and at low costs. The goal is to develop “pre-diagnostic tools
for upper-respiratory viral infec-tions, and refine those tests so that they can be applied to clini-cal medicine over the next few years,” Ginsburg said. Sri inter-national, a non-profit research organization participating in the PhD program, has a similar vision for the distant future. Sri envi-sions an easy-to-use, non-invasive device that predicts the course of disease, severity of symptoms and infection level of the patient in 10 minutes at a cost of $10. The researchers believe, however, that achieving this goal will require research beyond the scope of cur-rent DArPA PhD funding, ac-cording to a statement on the Sri international Web site.
Despite its biomedical ap-pearance, the study took an interdisciplinary approach at Duke. carin was able to apply his expertise in statistical analy-sis to the project.
“The gene expressions we examined included over 20,000 genes. our job is to find the 10 to 20 genes that are responsible for a viral infection. This is a defi-nite statistical challenge,” carin said. “That was my aspect of the project. We also have electrical engineers that are trying to build electronic chips so that the task of pre-diagnosis could be very cost-efficiently implemented.”
These chips aim to monitor specific genes which are respon-sible for battling viral infections. When a virus enters the body, more copies of these genes are produced, making it possible to detect the presence of an infec-
tion prior to the onset of symp-toms.
Duke faculty are now prepar-ing to embark on the second phase of the research study. This will focus on the validation of the findings thus far, and the building of technology to apply these findings to real-world diag-nostic medicine, carin noted.
With these goals in mind, the project has begun to focus on the early detection of the h1n1 virus, commonly known as swine flu, at Duke. researchers have been collecting blood samples from students to determine who will contract the virus. if it is determined that a student has swine flu, blood samples will be collected from the people they recently came in contact with. This will allow the University to track and prevent proliferation of the virus.
“if you know someone will come down with h1n1, you can get them out of the classrooms and offices before they develop symptoms,” carin said. “if you can get people who are sick out of the population, you can miti-gate the spread of the disease.”
researchers aim to produce a prototype able to carry out pre-symptomatic diagnosis by the end of next summer. They envi-sion that the development of a marketable device, however, is still several years away, Ginsburg said, adding that he sees this as a very accelerated timeline, cut-ting the normal time span for production of a working device in half.
DiAgnOSiS from page 1
report their symptoms. All reported cases have been
relatively mild and at this point, the University does not have plans to close any facilities due to swine flu.
“i think that’s something that no-body has any plans for, but i think if a certain number of students or fac-ulty got sick we would have to react to that,” Purdy said. “We have planned for 15 percent to be sick [and] at that number we wouldn’t close any-thing.... We’re pretty much trying to treat this as regular seasonal flu.”
According to guidelines from the centers for Disease control and Prevention, roommates can safely remain together in their rooms if one of them contracts swine flu, as long as they maintain good hygiene and stay six feet apart whenever possible.
roommates should cover their faces when they cough and sneeze, and regularly cleanse their hands, said Sue Wasiolek, dean of students and assistant vice president for stu-dent affairs.
“if people are uncomfortable or have problems with [staying with a sick roommate] they should contact the Dean of Students office,” Schoe-nfeld said.
Purdy said the main symptom students should be aware of is a fever of more than 100 degrees. in addition to a fever, Duke students reported sore throats, muscle aches and coughing.
The cDc Web site recommends those infected with swine flu to rest, drink fluids and avoid others for
at least 24 hours after their fevers have dissipated. Additionally, the virus only lives outside the body for a maximum of eight hours, so infected surfaces will no longer be contaminated after that period.
To prepare for the onset of flu season, professors have been noti-fied to take precautionary measures in case a large number of students contract swine flu and classes must be canceled. Some larger classes have already tested distance-learn-ing technology through taped lec-tures, Wasiolek said.
Provost Peter lange could not be immediately reached for com-ment Monday.
At the moment, there are no plans in place to close facilities, Schoenfeld said, but added that the situation may change and will be addressed accord-ingly if the time comes.
The University launched the care Meal Program today, which allows students to order lunch and dinner delivered to their rooms on their din-ing plans. The University has been re-cruiting student volunteers to bring food to their ill classmates.
Wasiolek said some resident As-sistants and resident coordinators have agreed to help with the pro-gram. She added that the Universi-ty has also reached out to other stu-dent groups including Alpha Phi omega fraternity, campus council and First-year Advisory counselors.
“i don’t know how many volun-teers we have yet,” Wasiolek said. “The hope is that we will use volun-teers over the next few weeks and see how it goes... we wouldn’t have to rely on student volunteers for a long period of time.”
SWine FLU from page 1
6 | TUeSDAY, SePTeMBer 8, 2009 The ChroniCle
by Henry Chu and Sebastian RotellaThe loS AnGeleS TiMeS
lonDon — Three young Britons were declared guilty Monday in a london court of planning to blow up trans-Atlantic planes in an al-Qaida terrorist plot that could have killed thousands of people.
A jury in Woolwich crown court convict-ed Abdulla Ahmed Ali, 28, Tanvir hussain, 28 and Assad Sarwar, 29, of conspiring to murder by setting off liquid bombs smug-gled aboard seven north America-bound airliners in sports drink bottles. Police have said their plan was possibly days away from fruition when the men were arrested in Au-gust 2006 amid the biggest counterterror-ism investigation in British history.
The plot sparked worldwide changes in airport security, including limits on how much liquid passengers can carry onboard flights.
The verdicts came as a major relief for British law enforcement and intelligence
officials haunted by the failure of a jury to reach a decision on those charges in the first trial a year ago. At that time, the three men were convicted only of conspiracy to murder, without the aircraft element, leav-ing questions about the government’s por-trait of a terrorist threat to air traffic.
“This case reaffirms that we face a real and serious threat from terrorism,” British home Secretary Alan Johnson said. “This was a particularly complex and daring plot which would have led to a terrible attack resulting in major loss of life.”
But the prosecution’s victory was a par-tial one. Four other defendants were ac-quitted of the same charges Monday, and the jury deadlocked over an eighth man, although he was found guilty on a general charge of conspiracy to commit murder.
Ali, hussain and Sarwar face sentencing and could receive life in prison.
The case has shocked the public here not
only because of the audacity and scale of the plan but because its orchestrators, though of Pakistani descent, were British-born Mus-lims seduced by violent islamic radicalism.
revelation of the plot and its use of liquid-based bombs also threw the airline industry into chaos. For a brief period, all hand luggage was banned on flights out of Britain, and security lines ballooned. Al-though the restrictions have been eased, a limit on carry-on liquid items remains in force at airports around the world and is unlikely to be relaxed.
in the retrial, which lasted nearly six months, prosecutors drew on 26,000 ex-hibits—including evidence gleaned from a bugged house and seized computers—to detail a plot to bring down the seven airlin-ers in a single day. The organizers allegedly picked out flights from london’s heath-row Airport to cities such as San Francisco, new York, Washington and Toronto.
intelligence officials say that the con-spirators were directed by al-Qaida and that their handler was a Pakistan-based militant, rashid rauf. The hoped-for death toll and the targeting of planes by men on suicide missions were clear hallmarks of the network. So was the in-volvement of another Pakistan-based op-erative, an explosives expert identified as Abu Ubaidah al-Masri, who anti-terrorist officials believe masterminded the July 7, 2005, bombings on london’s transport system, which killed 52 people.
Prosecutors identified defendant Ali as the ringleader of the airliner plot. investi-gators found a “martyrdom video” in which the bearded young man berated the West for occupying holy Muslim lands and said the imminent airborne attack would “teach them a lesson they will never forget.... You have persisted in trying to humiliate us and kill us and destroy us.”
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Lawmakers demand explanations in deadly air strike
Three Britons convicted in plot to blow up planes
by Craig WhitlockThe WAShinGTon PoST
Berlin — German lawmakers demanded explanations Monday for how and why their soldiers in Afghanistan, normally restricted to peacekeeping duties, triggered a nATo air strike that killed about 100 people.
Aides to chancellor Angela Merkel said she would address the German Parliament Tuesday, as pressure mounted on her de-fense minister, Franz Josef Jung, who at first insisted that the attack killed only Taliban forces but later acknowledged that civilians were among the dead.
Meanwhile, prosecutors in Potsdam said they were considering whether to open a homicide investigation into the decision by a German military commander to order the air strike by a U.S. fighter jet, which blew up two hijacked fuel trucks and a crowd of bystanders early Friday in the northern Af-ghan province of Kunduz.
U.S. and nATo officials have said that the German decision to order the bombing was based on reports from a single Afghan infor-mant and sketchy video surveillance, a possi-
ble violation of new nATo rules limiting the use of air strikes. Gen. Stanley Mcchrystal, the top U.S. and nATo commander in Af-ghanistan, has also questioned why German commanders stayed away from the bombing site afterward instead of sending a team to determine whether civilians had been killed.
German military officials have fumed at what they called unwarranted public criticism of their actions by U.S. and nATo officials, and were particularly irked at a decision by Mcchrystal’s advisers to allow a Washington Post reporter to accompany him on a visit to Kunduz to investigate the bombing.
“it is improper for a nATo commander to put the safety and also the lives of German soldiers in danger by going public and prema-turely giving the impression that civilians were killed,” harald Kujat, a retired general and former chief of staff of the German armed forces, told n24 television news. “i sincerely hope that the new nATo secretary general will have the spine and also the authority in leadership to call this general to order.”
Anders Fogh rasmussen, the former prime minister of Denmark who took office
as nATo’s secretary general last month, has pledged a full investigation into the bombing. he has not commented on the disputes among nATo members, which in-tensified over the weekend.
on Saturday, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner called the bombing “a big mistake.” Javier Solana, the foreign pol-icy chief for the european Union, said the air strike was “a very, very sad event.”
The comments angered German mili-tary officials, who pointed an accusatory finger back at their allies. “Foreign minis-ters from other countries should wait for the investigations,” christian Schmidt, the deputy defense minister, told German tele-vision network ZDF.
Schmidt also complained that other nATo members in europe had failed to live up to their commitments to train the Afghan police and national army, a key component of nATo’s strategy to defeat the Taliban.
“how can it be that, so far, half the police who go there are Germans?” he said. “The eu-ropean partners clearly need to catch up.”
Jung, the German defense minister, on
Sunday called the bombing “absolutely nec-essary,” saying his officers had “very detailed information” indicating that the Taliban planned to use the hijacked fuel tankers to attack a German outpost in Kunduz. he also said that “only Taliban terrorists” were killed, though he backtracked a day later and said civilians were among the dead.
For years, many German officials have criticized the Pentagon for relying on air power to attack the Taliban without sufficient regard for civilian casualties. But after the bombing in Kunduz, some lawmakers found themselves in the strange position of praising U.S. generals for their restraint while accus-ing German commanders of recklessness.
“The reaction of General Mcchrystal was very wise,” Juergen Trittin, a senior leg-islator for the opposition Green Party, said in an interview. “he showed the seriousness of investigating the bombing, and he issued words of regret to the victims. i think he be-haved correctly, and i do not understand the reaction of the German government. For a long time, we had wished for such a U.S. commander to be in place.”
WOMEN’S GOLF
Blue Devils beat Buffs, lose to TCU
CHRONICLE FILE PHOTO
Junior Kim Donovan won one match and lost another, just as Duke did, at the NGCA Match Play Monday.
Everything’s not lost just yetSaturday was just a gorgeous day, wasn’t
it? Spotless blue sky. Optimism in the air. Fannies in Wallace Wade Stadium’s seats. That’s the first football Saturday of the year for you. Everything always seems so picturesque and perfect.
It reminded me, in a way, of interview-ing for a job you so desperately desire. You prepare for days, concentrating on the controls and not letting the variables
influence you. You do mock interviews, take practice tests and rehearse your answers, all the while fearful of waking up late, or being paired with the blowhard no one wants or hearing your chirping cell phone at the worst
time. Blessedly, everything goes right. Alarm clock rings on time. You get the normal dude. Phone quietly obeys.
Then you completely bomb your part of it. That’s sort of like what happened Saturday, except because it’s sports, it feels more important, which is why I wanted to hear David Cutcliffe’s reac-tion, and I wanted him to be honest. None of this coachtalk, nothing about how Richmond simply wanted it more or how Duke was this close to pulling it out. Give it to me straight, no chaser—the way it’s preferred at Tailgate.
“I’ll be real honest with you: The thing that surprised me the most that I’m most responsible for is our team being abso-lutely ready to play football,” he said. “And we were not ever, ever at a level that I have seen us practice this entire camp.”
But wait. There’s more!“Don’t put too much into this ball-
game,” he continued. “I can promise you that. I’ve done this a long time. This was not reflective of our football team.”
Then Cutcliffe went on to pinpoint everything the Blue Devils did wrong. The blocked punt. The missed field goals. The running game. The line play. The third downs. It was brutally, searingly accurate, and it was exactly what Duke fans—all 33,011 of them that showed up for the fullest crowd since 2001—needed to hear, even a few minutes after leaving.
It also gives some credence to what Cut-cliffe reiterated Sunday to reporters: that his team still should go to a bowl.
“I don’t change that evaluation,” he said, referring to his preseason prediction. “We’re good enough to be one. But you can’t play like we played. You have to play with an edge. We don’t have enough ability to play on ability alone. We can’t try to go out there and look pretty—we have to win the hard way.”
That’s hard to fathom. It’s difficult to think of Duke as a bowl team in any year, let alone 24 hours after losing to an FCS team by laying an egg in its most-anticipated game in too long for anyone’s liking. The team out on the field Saturday night, under the rising moon and smoky sky, wasn’t a team that will play in December or January. Bowl teams don’t lose to FCS challengers.
And yet... part of me still thinks Duke can go to a bowl. Not that the Blue Devils will go to a bowl, but that they can. And really, the chances of them doing so are
the same as they were when the sun was still out on Saturday.
The loss was certainly a buzzkill, a momentum zapper, a gutwrencher—all of the above. None of it was good. Its practical effect, though, was akin to an exhibition game, albeit one that will stain the Blue Devils’ final record.
That’s little consolation for a lot of letdown. Still, it’s true: Because the Blue Devils have two FCS teams on their schedule—only one would have counted toward a bowl—they still need to win six games to become bowl-eligible, and they’re still the six games they needed to win before losing to Richmond.
Those six wins are still out there. Nothing’s changed about that. In fact, a loss to an FBS team like Army, Virginia or Maryland would be more damaging than this one, because, you know, it would actually mean something. Plus, if student interest matters at all, it’s not like it’s going to decrease. Duke’s next game in Wallace Wade Stadium is Home-coming against N.C. Central, a contest
that figures to be a true sellout. No one will remember last Saturday in three Saturdays.
So Duke will take its knocks this week, and not just from each other on Bloody Tuesday. Until next Saturday, it will be just like the bad ol’ days. The Blue Devils will be the butt of jokes—hey, the ACC can’t even beat an FCS team! Ha! Isn’t that funny?—and even their own fans will begin to question whether Cutcliffe has hyped the team up too much. In short, people will wonder if there’s really any difference between this team that lost to Richmond and the last Duke team that lost to Richmond. Mostly, they will be the cranks who know nothing about football, the ones who rely on the radio to watch Duke. And they will be misguided.
Because no, the sky isn’t falling. The season’s not over, and—pardon my op-timism and naïveté and all that cliché—but it’s only now just beginning. The sky may not be as blue as it was on Saturday afternoon. But then, it sure was pretty again on Sunday.
COURTNEY DOUGLAS/THE CHRONICLE
Head coach David Cutcliffe said Duke is still capable of making a bowl despite his team’s performance Saturday.
Tenth-seeded Duke produced an up-and-down performance Monday at the NGCA Match Play Championship, winning one match and losing another to cap a sec-ond straight 36-hole day.
Playing in the tournament’s consola-tion bracket, the Blue Devils eased past 15th-seeded Colorado before going down against No. 11 TCU.
The afternoon match against the Horned Frogs gave Duke more than it could handle as TCU earned the victory, 3-2.
The Blue Devils fell behind early in all five matches but managed to catch up in two of them as junior Kim Donovan and freshman Lindy Duncan recorded wins.
Two other Duke players trailed through-out and could not recover, and freshman Courtney Ellenbogen’s slim lead through 15 holes disappeared late to give the Horned Frogs the victory.
Monday morning, though, Duke’s five golfers swept their matches against the Buffa-loes, led by Donovan’s easy 7-and-6 win over Colorado’s second seed, Emily Talley. Dun-can continued her strong play from the day before with a 4-and-2 win of her own.
Tuesday, Duke takes on No. 9 Kent State in its final match.
The NGCA Match Play Champion-ship has a unique format that includes one day of combined-score team play followed by two days of match play. Sun-day, Duke shot a combined 30-over par to earn the tenth seed going into Mon-day’s match play; the top eight seeds, led by Florida, were placed in the champi-onship bracket, while the bottom eight seeds filled out the consolation bracket.
—from staff reports
SportsThe Chronicle
www.dukechroniclesports.com
TUESDAYSeptember 8, 2009
>> ONLINE Former Blue Devils Mike Tauiliili and Cameron Gold-berg did not make NFL teams, but Eron Riley did make the Baltimore Ravens’ practice squad
Ben Cohen
8 | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2009 THE CHRONICLE
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Your guide to the arts at Duke... in The Chronicle on Wednesday, September 9
C-making the gradeEXAM NO. 1: The Richmond Spiders OFFENSE
Rush:
Quarterback Thaddeus Lewis put up good numbers, completing 62% of his passes for 350 yards and two touchdowns. He found eight different receivers, including Conner Vernon and Tyree Watkins, two true freshmen who seem to fit right in with the offense. Johnny Williams established himself as the leader of the receiving corps, pulling in seven catches for 115 yards including a perfectly timed 54-yard bomb for his first career touchdown.
Pass:
The Blue Devils had trouble running the ball from the start, finishing with a paltry 19 yards on 16 attempts. Much of the blame falls on the offen-sive line—the promising tandem of Boyette and Hollingsworth simply had nowhere to go, getting hit in the backfield early and often.
Overall Grade:
B DEFENSE
Rush:
A weak offensive line’s inability to hold its blocks led to a heavy dose of screens and short passes throughout the game. The absence of a running game and the pressure on Lewis took Duke out of any possible rhythm and forced that conservatism. The offense looked best when Lewis was able to string together a few intermediate level passes, but he didn’t have much time to do so.
Pass:
The front seven performed adequately throughout, holding the Spiders to 3.1 yards per carry. While Richmond managed 125 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, the numbers are a bit misleading because the Spiders led for the majority of the game and ate up the clock on the ground. Both rushing touchdowns came from inside the 10-yard line.
Overall Grade:
X’s & O’s:
Overall, the scheme was executed well against the Spiders. Falling behind early seemed to result in conservative play calling, as the Blue Devils seemed satisfied to simply contain the Richmond offense. The lack of aggression meant that Duke didn’t cause any turnovers, but it also didn’t give up any big plays. The defense was certainly not at fault in this one, as the unit kept the game in reach until the end.
X’s & O’s:
The defensive line was one of the bright spots for Duke. While the Blue Devils didn’t record any sacks, they were able to hold quarter-back Eric Ward to 143 yards through the air, and Patrick Egboh swatted down a key pass at the end of the first half. The secondary did its part as well, limiting Richmond to short and intermediate gains while cutting out the deep ball opportunity.
Highest marks: QB Thaddeus LewisLewis demonstrated the meaning of “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” Pass protection was spotty, and the Blue Devils had no running game at all. Yet Lewis completed 34-of-55 passes and threw no intercep-tions. Lewis made smart plays—he just didn’t have much support.
The two missed field goals were the ghosts of special teams past. Making one would have changed the tone of the game and the strategy for both teams. Making both would have meant a 15-14 lead for Duke early in the 3rd quarter. Instead, the mood went from bad to worse and the Blue Devils never recovered.
Lewis demonstrated the meaning of “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” Pass protection was spotty, and the Blue Devils had no running game at all. Yet Lewis completed 34-of-55 passes and threw no intercep-
The two missed field goals were the ghosts of special teams past. Making one would have changed the tone of the game and the strategy for both teams. Making both would have meant a 15-14 lead for Duke early in the 3rd quarter. Instead, the mood went from bad to worse and the Blue Devils never recovered. — by Ryan Claxton
FOOTBALL
Hit the books: K Nick Maggio
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commentaries10 | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2009 ThE chRoniclE
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editorial
“Success.” That was the response by both the Duke Student Government and University officials in re-gards to this past weekend’s football Tailgate. It was the first Tailgate under a series of new guide-lines designed to increase student responsibility and safety.
Despite the effort to tran-sition from Tailgate to tail-gating, the end result was the same debauchery, sans an enormous mess afterwards. If the University wants actual change, they will need to ad-dress a series of issues.
The most visible Tailgate change was that registered groups were allowed to bring cars. This was supposed to create a more traditional tail-gating environment.
The reality was quite dif-ferent: cars became makeshift jungle gyms, and truck beds dance floors. This resulted in dangerous conditions for stu-dents both on and off of the
vehicles.The re-
quirement of students to drink from plas-tic cups was also relatively ineffective. Too few of the cups were distributed, and the majority of those handed out to students ended up on the ground. This is not a sur-prise, as Solo cups are more compatible with kegs (which are currently prohibited at Tailgate) than cans.
Another disappointment was the lack of viable food options at or close to the Tailgate lot. Although grills were provided to groups, many students were without any real food options.
Readily available food, free or for purchase, is critical if the Uni-versity wants to transition to a more conventional, less alcohol-focused version of Tailgate.
The changes did bring about a few successes. A majori-ty of the registered groups com-plied with the requirement to clean up after themselves. Fur-thermore, Pete Schork, DSG vice president for athletics and campus services, noted that punitive measures were being taken against the few groups that did not follow the rules. In-creasing student accountability for garbage may seem like com-mon sense, but it was certainly a necessary measure.
While the new policies and regulations had some mi-nor but important effects, the overall Tailgate experience was nearly identical to years past, which is to say a non-
inclusive one. It’s no secret that Tailgate is dominated by groups, especially selective liv-ing groups. This is in contrast to larger campus phenom-ena such as K-ville or LDOC, where many students feel comfortable participating as individuals.
To improve the situation, Tailgate needs more physical space. The current location for Tailgate—a relatively small Blue Zone parking lot tucked away behind trees —is not ideal. Students end up highly concentrated, giving the lot more of a dance club atmo-sphere than a casual, relaxing place conducive to grilling and chatting with friends.
In addition, the Tailgate lot is currently quite far from the student entrance to Wallace Wade Stadium. (Compare that to K-ville which is in front
of Cameron Indoor Stadium and LDOC which is on the main quad.) If the University wants increased student at-tendance at the game, then a Tailgate in a lot closer to the student entrance—such as the parking lot outside Koskinen Stadium—would do much to improve the situation.
Finally, it may also be an obvious point, but the de-meanor of Tailgate is inextri-cably linked to the success of the football team. The more the team wins, the more stu-dents will want to tailor their Tailgate towards attending the game, not the Tailgate itself.
Overall, students will —and should—be able to decide how they want to tailgate. But in the current space, despite any number of policy or rule changes, the status quo will remain.
There’s a certain scene in “Space Jam” in which Michael Jordan and his Looney Tunes team-mates find themselves in the precarious posi-
tion of needing to score a basket in a very limited time frame or face enslavement on an alien planet for the rest of eternity.
The stakes have never been higher, at least in a partly animated film. The team huddles to develop a plan to score, and Bill Mur-ray (who mysteri-ously emerges in the fourth quarter) is the first to offer a model for success, albeit one needlessly complicated and confusing. Before Murray can finish, MJ steps in and delivers the film’s defining line, “Just get me the ball.” Simple, but unbelievably effective.
This particular scene seems illustrative of the difference between practitioners and academics. Jordan himself is a practitioner who wasn’t afraid to operate outside of the sphere of Xs and Os if it increased his team’s chance of victory. FDR and Bill Gates, fearless practitioners themselves, had no qualms about bucking academia if it served their ends. The former’s New Deal legislation flew in the face of classical economic thought at the time, while the latter voluntarily cut himself off from higher education to pursue his own ideas; both men un-derscore an audacious unorthodoxy foreign to aca-demia. The practitioners will not hesitate to ven-ture off the playbook if the stakes are right.
This is not to say that academics are unimportant in times of crisis. World War II and the Cold War, or, for that matter, all of history, likely would have played out differently if academics were always rel-egated to secondary roles. Fortunately, the executive branch elected to give academics massive funding as an incentive to innovate and place them in position of power. The late professor J. Robert Oppenheim-er, the leader of the Manhattan Project, for instance, had no significant military background.
The rewards for bolstering academia were un-precedented technological progress and victory in the aforementioned wars; academics, not practitio-ners, scored one for the home team in science. Op-penheimer and others of his ilk utilized controlled settings to test, retest and build upon accepted theory. They didn’t need to abandon the playbook because, well, they were the ones writing it.
The optimal situation for society would be if there were some way to combine the best qualities of academics and practitioners in decision-makers; in short, to be able to produce leaders with the in-
tellectual precision of an Oppenheimer and with the decisive boldness of a Jordan.
In some respects, this is supposed to be the func-tion of higher education. A statement by President Richard Brodhead about Duke’s 2006 strategic plan entitled “Making a Difference” notes, “While Duke will continue to embrace the essential aspects of special-ized research, teaching and learning, the University will build on its special strengths in collaboration and connection of knowledge to real-world problems.” Es-sentially, Broadhead and co. are aiming to bridge the gap between academics and practitioners.
It is far too early to judge whether or not Duke is succeeding in this endeavor, but, as “real-world prob-lems” are always changing, it follows that what goes on in the University’s lecture halls should also be chang-ing. Most would probably agree the field of knowl-edge currently causing the most real world problems is economics; thus, Duke’s economics department should be adjusting each course and its correspond-ing curriculum in relation to these problems.
Yet, as far as I can see (I am, as 99.73 percent of undergrads at this school are, an economics major) the core classes for the economics major—ECON 51, 55, 105, 110, 139 as well as the required math and statistics courses—pertain little to that reces-sion thing that happened last year.
The four core economics classes are all centered around the notion that people operate with a high de-gree of rationality; this assumption, clearly, bore little connection to the real world problem of finance firms that modeled risk with the ridiculous conjecture that housing prices would continue upward indefinitely. The relevant math and stat courses make significant use of Gaussian bell curves as well as controlled probability sce-narios (i.e. rolling dice). As Nicolas Nassim Taleb points out in “The Black Swan,” bell curves drastically under-estimate the impact of improbable events such as those that trigger recessions, while controlled probabilities are totally dissimilar to the type of uncontrolled probabili-ties encountered in economics (you can’t handicap tech breakthroughs or natural disasters).
Perhaps I am involved in an incomplete informa-tion game, but pardon me for suggesting Duke has not significantly built real world problems into un-dergraduate courses.
Luckily for us, a failure to make an academic more of a practitioner and vice versa does not have mas-sive consequences. Unlike Jordan, Murray and their animated teammates, the question of practitioner vs. academic doesn’t hinge on enslavement by an alien race. We’ve done pretty well with both academics and practitioners in charge. If each one learned a thing or two from the other, we might do even better.
Ben Brostoff is a Trinity sophomore. His column runs every other Tuesday.
Space Jam economics
Tailgate or tailgating?
”“ onlinecomment
By the way, Republicans are not employing “scare tactics.” They don’t have to, the facts are scary enough.
—“Jason” commenting on the letter “Cap-and-trade bill harmful to economy.” See more at www.dukechronicle.com.
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Sitting on the Chapel steps, Ramón Valencia tells me I shouldn’t miss Alejandro Escovedo, a rock ‘n’ roll musician from California, in concert this November
on campus. I don’t really know of the singer, but Valen-cia told me, “I’ve seen him twice already, and I really like his music. You should check him out.”
Originally from Mexico, Valencia has been working at Duke as a driver for three years, and has been in the United States for more than 20. Although he now drives the C-1 during the day, he once had the night week-end shift, which he really liked. Valencia said the shift was initially shocking because he wasn’t used to the intense par-tying atmosphere that takes place here at Duke. He said he really likes his current day shifts, especially because he feels students truly appreciate his work.
As a member of the Duke community, Ramón takes full advantage of all the resources the University offers him—and the rest of us. From the great performances brought to campus to the library services, Ramón’s Duke ID is con-stantly in use. In his free time he often goes to Perkins Li-brary to check his e-mail or finish the book he has been writing for four years now. “It’s for my son, his birthday present,” Valencia said. “I want him to know and under-stand my story and to be aware of how lucky he is to live in this country.”
As I Googled Alejandro Escovedo’s songs and listened to his music for the first time–which I must say has a cool beat to it—I thought of how Valencia’s story is a great example of integration into the Duke community. Being one of the very few Latin American drivers, Valencia has made good friends among his co-workers and has fully assimilated into the American life. Not only that, but his impressive sense of the University’s resources and oppor-tunities available to him make me wonder about the role of Duke, and really of any university, to be a force of inte-gration and social mobility.
Duke takes diversity seriously at least in writing, as can be seen by President Richard Brodhead’s message on the Web site for Diversity at Duke . Whether true diversity ex-ists here or not, or whether it will, is another story. But it’s impressive that the University devotes so much time and money to build “a place where students, employees and scholars come together from different continents and states.... [A place] where diversity is not measured in numbers only but in the inclusive, welcoming, stimulating climate we all experience as members of this community,” as Brodhead’s message states. On the surface the message sounds a little naive, but many of the actual initiatives seem promising.
And Ramón knows it. When I ask if he is planning on eventually going back to Mexico, he gives me a look of un-certainty. As much as he would like to have a house by the beach there one day, he really likes it here.
And there is a major force that will certainly keep him around for a while: his son, who is now 13 years old. “When I first came, I heard about the educational benefits our chil-dren may receive as employees of the University, and that is something that really motivates me to stay,” he told me.
Certainly, it should be a major motivation. Through the Children’s Tuition Grant program employees who are eli-gible can apply for a grant—up to 75 percent of the weight-ed average of Duke tuition—for their children to pursue their undergraduate studies in any accredited college or university. There are, of course, several other conditions and requirements, but in general these benefits are an ex-ceptional opportunity for staff members and are ultimately a positive force of social mobility.
By encouraging the children of all employees (from professors to kitchen staff) to go to college, Duke is allow-ing among many others, first generation children of immi-grants who work here to have access to higher education, as well as children of American parents who might not be able to afford it. And that’s a remarkable way of support-ing the kind of diversity and integration that children like Valencia’s son, and hopefully many more, will be able to experience.
Andrea Patiño is a Trinity sophomore. Her column runs every other Tuesday.
Editorial off on YT reform
I think most of us can attest to the fact that Duke does “interaction” a little differently than the out-side world. It seems
like when we return to Duke to start a new year, we have to relearn how to socialize.
We must inevitably endure a readjustment period, and it can be pretty darn awkward. Getting used to con-stantly seeing people you know, settling into classes and reacquaint-ing oneself to college night-life lend themselves to a whole lot of awkward-ness. It’s actually quite easy to make a fool of yourself around here—a run-through of things that happen on a typical day at Duke is evidence enough.
Just leaving your dorm to start your day, the awk-wardness can blindside you. Imagine this: You see someone walking towards you on a nearby sidewalk. It’s someone you recognize, but don’t know very well (maybe someone from your freshman dorm). What do you do?
As your paths near convergence, both of your eyes steal glances at each other, trying to get a read on what discussion tactic the other will choose. Even if you de-cide to speak (hopefully saying something brilliant like “Hey! How was your summer?”), he/she could pretend not to recognize you. If you decide not to speak, opt-ing for either blatant ignoring or the ever-popular “en-grossed in the cell phone” move, you risk coming off as a total jerk.
I say, embrace the terribly unoriginal “Where are you living? What did you do this summer?” conversa-tion! You never know when you might need to make a shout-out to that person to make you look cool as you cruise down the Plaza.
Now, let’s get physical. Duke loves touching. All sorts of touching. Touching that is usually all awkward. I’m going to pretend like I’ve never participated in the touching that occurs past 10 p.m. My mom and dad are going to read this. So let’s focus on G-rated, well-lit, weekdays.
Say you’ve been fortunate enough to encounter a friend you know fairly well while strolling across Main
West Quad. As you’re parting ways after a quick con-vo, you have another big decision to make. Simply say goodbye, or bust out an old-fashioned embrace?
I’ve certainly been the victim of mixed signals in this type of situation, especially because I’m a hugger, and these days not many people are. So, just for your information, going in for a hug when the other per-son isn’t game can lead to some very awkward hand-placeage.
How do you hug someone wearing a backpack? How do you recover from a boob graze? Maybe we should switch to the side-hug, since those always go smoothly (since they would only let me have one headshot, envi-sion me rolling my eyes).
And let’s not forget going out. Many Dukies can’t wait to go out at night in hopes of shedding their daytime insecurities and transforming into mega-cool party hop-pers, a transition which just isn’t possible for some. Not only do the run-ins mentioned above continue to hap-pen at night, but both alcohol and dancing are added to the mix. Danger, danger, danger!
From what I’ve witnessed (and only witnessed, mom), there are a great number of people on this campus that were not blessed with rhythm but have the unwavering belief that they were. Alcohol only encourages this. Yes, awkwardness rules the dance floor as well. You see sig-nature dance moves, like my favorite, the “jump up and down while waving your arms excitedly with the occa-sional fist pump,” while you try not to see the attempts at seduction going on between crotchal regions.
Between the hours of 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., students may think that they escape the inelegance, but it is still obvious to observers, and is once again evident to us the next morning, when we must face our demons in Alpine Bagels. I’m sad to say that neither the moon nor booze can stop the cycle.
If we put forth our best efforts at trying to readapt, we can’t really blame ourselves for the unavoidable mis-steps and embarrassments.
So why not yell and wave across the quad to the people you recognize? What’s really stopping you from spreading the love and side-hugging? And who cares if you throw in a little fist-pumping on the d-floor? But for goodness sake, just don’t do the Ma-carena.
Anna Sadler is a Trinity sophomore. Her column runs ev-ery other Tuesday.
commentariesThE chRoniclE TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2009 | 11
Duke resourcescreate community
I love the touching
andrea patiñonumb
Yesterday I was disappointed to read the Edito-rial Board’s deeply unfair characterization of the Young Trustee reform process. The editorial
painted a picture of a reform process designed to maintain Duke Stu-dent Government and Intercommunity Coun-cil hegemony over the Young Trustee process. This could not be further from the truth. The editorial was erroneous on several counts.
1. Firstly, the editorial refers to the special secretary position as that of a “reform czar.” This grossly mischar-acterizes the role of the position. The Special Secretary for the Young Trustee process will serve in an advisory role to the democratically elected Senate, which will then make the final decision. Further, he or she will hold a minimum of four public forums in which the student body will be encouraged to voice their opinions about the way to approach reform. The special secre-tary will not be an all-powerful czar who singlehandedly reforms the Young Trustee process.
2. Secondly, the editorial suggests that the means used to advertise the position were somehow lacking. It fails to mention that method for advertising for this position was all but identical to the method for advertis-ing the open Senate seats and presidential committees. Both the Senate seats and the presidential commit-tees received an unprecedented number of applicants this semester. Further, it neglects to mention that The Chronicle reported on this new, temporary position more than a week ago.
3. Thirdly, it suggests that having two candidates for
the position indicates a lapse in communication with the student body. This is simply not the case. In last semester’s Executive Board elections, four out of six po-sitions were contested by two candidates. One position had three candidates, and the other was uncontested. Having two candidates for a position in DSG is by no means out of the norm.
4. Finally, the editorial attacks the legitimacy of the two candidates for the special secretary position: Ben Getson and Amanda Turner, who have ties to DSG and the ICC respectively. It pegs them as “student govern-ment insider[s]” whose “independence, evenhanded-ness and legitimacy” may be in question. I categori-cally reject the notion that their deep involvement in the life of the University should somehow disqualify them from taking on one of its most important ques-tions. I’m flabbergasted by the suggestion that indi-viduals with experience in DSG or ICC should not have the opportunity to use their knowledge to advise the Senate on how to proceed with reform. Their un-derstanding of the current process—with its pros and cons—ought to distinguish them as people specially equipped to handle this task. Yet the editorial attacks their credibility.
I sincerely hope that as students we will see past these mischaracterizations and examine both candi-dates’ merits as intensely as we did with the president and the vice presidents. And on Sept. 14 I hope we’ll all make our voices heard in this race, the Senate races and on the referendums.
Ade Sawyer, Trinity ’10, is public relations director for Duke Student Government.
ade sawyerguest column
anna sadleri’m not being that
way, but...
12 | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2009 THE CHRONICLE
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