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The Chronicle THE INDEPENDENT DAILY AT DUKE UNIVERSITY WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2010 ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTH YEAR, ISSUE 48 WWW.DUKECHRONICLE.COM Midterm elections draw less enthusiastic crowd, Page 3 Residents vote to bar felons from be- coming sheriff, Page 4 ONTHERECORD “Pot is commonplace in California in a way that isn’t true for other states.” —Political Science Professor David Rohde on Proposition 19. See story page 4 Crude fraternity e-mails reignite debate on gender issues by Ryan Brown THE CHRONICLE At 6:10 p.m. Saturday, an e-mail message landed in the inboxes of more than 300 Duke women inviting them to a fraternity’s Halloween party at an off-campus apartment. “Hey Ladies,” the message to the Sigma Nu fraternity social listserv began, “Whether your [sic] dressing up as a slutty nurse, a slutty doctor, a slutty schoolgirl, or just a total slut, we invite you to find shelter in the confines of Partners D.” According to several students interviewed for this story, on most nights that would have been the last anyone saw of the e-mail. The fraternity threw its party, students had a good time and everyone went home and fell asleep. But when the sun rose the next morning, West Campus was plastered in bright yellow flyers printed with the full text of Sigma Nu’s invitation, as well as a similar e-mail sent by the unrecognized, off-campus fraternity Alpha Delta Phi. Someone had scrawled a handwritten message across the bottom of each sheet of paper before making cop- ies: “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention” and,“Is this why you came to Duke?” The physical flyers soon disappeared, but scanned copies quickly circulated. Many students noted that the e-mails are intended to be humorous. But just a month after a sexually explicit PowerPoint made by Karen Owen, Trinity ’10, became a viral internet sensation, Duke received another reminder of what can happen when a message sent via the Internet slips out of the control of its sender. And just three weeks after a Yale fraternity faced national scrutiny for a video of its pledges chanting, “No means yes, yes means anal,” the messages raised questions about gender and social culture on Duke’s campus. “This e-mail was an isolated event,” said Sigma Nu Presi- dent Sam Zakria, a junior. “It was a single individual who wrote it and it was a serious lapse in judgment on his part, but it is not representative of the views of our organization as a whole.” He added that he has since sent apology e-mails to recipients and the wider greek community, and that dis- ciplinary action is being taken against the author of the e-mail, both within the fraternity and through the Inter- fraternity Council. Representatives from the Sigma Nu na- tional chapter and the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life said no actions will be taken against the fraternity as a whole at this time. Alpha Delta Phi President Tim Shaughnessy, a senior, Social Chair Will Geary, a junior, and the national chap- ter of the fraternity declined to comment on their orga- nization’s e-mail, which joked, “Fear is riding the C1 with Helen Keller at the helm (not because shes [sic] deaf and blind, but because she is a woman).” SEE E-MAILS ON PAGE 6 by Ciaran O’Connor THE CHRONICLE In a sharp rebuke of President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party, citi- zens across the country voted Tuesday to shift the balance of power in Washing- ton, handing Republicans control of the House of Representatives and whittling down the Democrats’ Senate majority. While the Grand Old Party made significant inroads in the Senate, knocking out well-established incum- bents like Arkansas’ Blanche Lincoln and Wisconsin’s Russ Feingold, Dem- ocrats won crucial races in California and Nevada that ensured they would retain control of the body. In the House, Republicans took advantage of widespread voter discontent to beat a range of Democratic incumbents, many of whom fell victim to their unshakable association with a sagging economy and an unpopular president. As The Chronicle went to press, the GOP had picked up 59 seats, more than enough to guarantee it will control the chamber for the next two years. Sixteen seats remained undecided, A changing of the guard GOP takes House while Democrats retain slim Senate majority by Alejandro Bolívar and Chinmayi Sharma THE CHRONICLE Despite significant national change, North Carolina’s and Durham’s voters re-elected their incumbent political leaders in the 2010 midterm elections. With 55percent of the vote, incumbent Republican Sen. Richard Burr defeated N.C. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, who won about 43 percent. Rep. David Price, the 11-term Democratic incum- bent, defeated Republican challenger B.J. Lawson in the race for the 4th District seat in the House of Representatives by a margin of about 15 percent. Burr was predicted to retain his Senate seat, according to Public Poli- cy Polling’s final survey for the North Carolina Senate election. Burr and Marshall had conflicting views regarding Obama’s policies and different ideas about alleviating the economic crisis. Burr, whose election was part of a national Republican tide, has consistently advocated for the re- peal of the new health care bill and has vocalized his discontent with the gov- ernment’s stimulus bill. A veteran of Congress, Price was also projected to win the House seat by a solid margin—his district, which includes Durham, is largely democratic. Incumbents Burr, Price re-elected SEE ELECTION ON PAGE 12 SEE MIDTERM ON PAGE 12 Election 2010 MICHAEL NACLERIO/THE CHRONICLE CHRONICLE GRAPHIC BY MELISSA YEO

November 3, 2010 issue

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Page 1: November 3, 2010 issue

The ChronicleThe independenT daily aT duke universiTy

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2010 ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTH YEAR, ISSUE 48www.dukechronicle.com

Midterm elections draw less enthusiastic

crowd, Page 3

Residents vote to bar felons from be-coming sheriff, Page 4

onTherecord“Pot is commonplace in California in a way that isn’t

true for other states.” —Political Science Professor David Rohde on Proposition 19. See story page 4

Crude fraternity e-mails reignite debate on gender issuesby Ryan Brown

THE CHRONICLE

At 6:10 p.m. Saturday, an e-mail message landed in the inboxes of more than 300 Duke women inviting them to a fraternity’s Halloween party at an off-campus apartment.

“Hey Ladies,” the message to the Sigma Nu fraternity social listserv began, “Whether your [sic] dressing up as a slutty nurse, a slutty doctor, a slutty schoolgirl, or just a total slut, we invite you to find shelter in the confines of Partners D.”

According to several students interviewed for this story, on most nights that would have been the last anyone saw of the e-mail. The fraternity threw its party, students had a good time and everyone went home and fell asleep.

But when the sun rose the next morning, West Campus was plastered in bright yellow flyers printed with the full text of Sigma Nu’s invitation, as well as a similar e-mail sent by the unrecognized, off-campus fraternity Alpha Delta

Phi. Someone had scrawled a handwritten message across the bottom of each sheet of paper before making cop-ies: “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention” and,“Is this why you came to Duke?” The physical flyers soon disappeared, but scanned copies quickly circulated.

Many students noted that the e-mails are intended to be humorous. But just a month after a sexually explicit PowerPoint made by Karen Owen, Trinity ’10, became a viral internet sensation, Duke received another reminder of what can happen when a message sent via the Internet slips out of the control of its sender. And just three weeks after a Yale fraternity faced national scrutiny for a video of its pledges chanting, “No means yes, yes means anal,” the messages raised questions about gender and social culture on Duke’s campus.

“This e-mail was an isolated event,” said Sigma Nu Presi-dent Sam Zakria, a junior. “It was a single individual who wrote it and it was a serious lapse in judgment on his part,

but it is not representative of the views of our organization as a whole.”

He added that he has since sent apology e-mails to recipients and the wider greek community, and that dis-ciplinary action is being taken against the author of the e-mail, both within the fraternity and through the Inter-fraternity Council. Representatives from the Sigma Nu na-tional chapter and the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life said no actions will be taken against the fraternity as a whole at this time.

Alpha Delta Phi President Tim Shaughnessy, a senior, Social Chair Will Geary, a junior, and the national chap-ter of the fraternity declined to comment on their orga-nization’s e-mail, which joked, “Fear is riding the C1 with Helen Keller at the helm (not because shes [sic] deaf and blind, but because she is a woman).”

SEE e-mails ON PAGE 6

by Ciaran O’ConnorTHE CHRONICLE

In a sharp rebuke of President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party, citi-zens across the country voted Tuesday to shift the balance of power in Washing-ton, handing Republicans control of the House of Representatives and whittling down the Democrats’ Senate majority.

While the Grand Old Party made

significant inroads in the Senate, knocking out well-established incum-bents like Arkansas’ Blanche Lincoln and Wisconsin’s Russ Feingold, Dem-ocrats won crucial races in California and Nevada that ensured they would retain control of the body.

In the House, Republicans took advantage of widespread voter discontent to beat a range of Democratic

incumbents, many of whom fell victim to their unshakable association with a sagging economy and an unpopular president. As The Chronicle went to press, the GOP had picked up 59 seats, more than enough to guarantee it will control the chamber for the next two years. Sixteen seats remained undecided,

A changing of the guardGOP takes House while Democrats retain slim Senate majority

by Alejandro Bolívar and Chinmayi Sharma

THE CHRONICLE

Despite significant national change, North Carolina’s and Durham’s voters re-elected their incumbent political leaders in the 2010 midterm elections.

With 55percent of the vote, incumbent Republican Sen. Richard Burr defeated N.C. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, who won about 43 percent. Rep. David Price, the 11-term Democratic incum-bent, defeated Republican challenger B.J. Lawson in the race for the 4th District seat in the House of Representatives by a margin of about 15 percent.

Burr was predicted to retain his Senate seat, according to Public Poli-cy Polling’s final survey for the North Carolina Senate election.

Burr and Marshall had conflicting views regarding Obama’s policies and different ideas about alleviating the economic crisis. Burr, whose election was part of a national Republican tide, has consistently advocated for the re-peal of the new health care bill and has vocalized his discontent with the gov-ernment’s stimulus bill.

A veteran of Congress, Price was also projected to win the House seat by a solid margin—his district, which includes Durham, is largely democratic.

Incumbents Burr, Price re-elected

SEE election ON PAGE 12SEE midterm ON PAGE 12

Election 2010

michael naclerio/The chronicle

chronicle graphic by melissa yeo

Page 2: November 3, 2010 issue

2 | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2010 ThE ChRONiClE

career.studentaffairs.duke.edu

The Expert in Residence Program features accomplished professionals to share specialized knowledge and provide career advice to students.

presents

Jonathan PerelmanIndustry Relations Manager at Google

starring

Thursday, Nov. 412:00 - 1:00pm

Social Sciences 139West Campus

For undergraduate, graduate & professional students

The Fannie Mitchell

the

DU

KE

CA

REER

CEN

TER

Topic: Advertising and how it intersects with business and public policy

• Meet members of the program staff • Discuss program benefits and expectations

• Review important information about the application process

Please join us! Learn more at www.robertsonscholars.org ,

or contact Kristin Miller, [email protected] .

Attention

first-year

students…

Did you know that you can

apply to become a Robertson Scholar?

The Robertson Scholars Program invites you to an open information

session to learn more about this opportunity!

Choose from one of two sessions: Sunday, Nov. 7 at 4PM

White Lecture Hall on East Campus Wednesday, Nov. 10 at 5PM

Von Canon A/B

“ ”

worldandnation ToDay:

5550

ThUrsDay:

5839

aThens—greek police said small parcel bombs exploded at the swiss and russian embassies in athens Tuesday and at least another three packages addressed to for-eign missions in the capital were disarmed. no injuries or damage were reported.

Two makeshift explosive devices were de-fused by police at athens international airport, a police spokeswoman said in a statement.

german chancellor angela merkel was sent a package mailed from greece two days ago containing a bomb, the ger-man government said. if the explosive is “the same type of device as the package bombs in athens, it could have caused not inconsiderable damage,” german interior minister Thomas de maiziere said. greek police were on alert for parcel bombs af-ter one exploded at a courier company in the athens neighborhood of pangrati, injuring an employee, and another three were detected in central athens monday.

WashingTon—The midterms have shattered spending records for a non-presidential contest, providing a likely blueprint for the frenzy to come when the White house is up for grabs in two years, according to political consultants, cam-paign-finance experts and activists from both parties.

independent groups have reported spending $270 million so far, but that num-ber does not include tens of millions of dol-lars more not disclosed to the Federal elec-tion commission. much of the money has been spent by nonprofit groups such as the U.s. chamber of commerce that do not have to reveal where they got the money.

“it’s the how-to for 2012,” said ellen miller, executive director of the sunlight Foundation, which tracks money in poli-tics. “it’s how to use corporate money, how to use secret money, to buy elections. . . it’s going to be no-holds-barred.”

Midterm spending could potentially affect 2012 races

Shots fired at Coast Guard recruit in Virginia

My interest is in the future because I am going to

spend the rest of my life there. — Charles Kettering

carol gUzy/The WashingTon posT

Pictured above is Alma Matthews-Coleman, a native of the District of Columbia, studying a ballot at her polling place at Garnet-Patterson Middle School Tuesday. Matthews-Coleman turned 100 in Sep-tember, but her efforts are not reflective of the country at large. The United States has struggled with voter participation in recent decades.

“is the momentum turning for Duke Football? Two days after upsetting navy 34-31 in annapolis, two blue Devils picked up honors monday as acc players of the week at their respective positions. Tight end cooper helfet was named the league’s top offensive lineman, and kicker Will snyderwine was named the best specialist. helfet and snyderwine both had crucial plays in last saturday’s game.”

— From The Chronicle’s Sports Blogsports.chronicleblogs.com

Dr. Roland on Manned Flight physics 130, 5-7p.m.

Duke’s Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics is hosting Dr. Roland, who will discuss NASA’s

manned space flight program.

Duke Women’s Basketball cameron indoor, 7-10p.m.

Come out and watch the Duke Women’s basketball team take on Wingate in an exhibition

match tonight.

Study Abroad in North Koreaperkins library 217, 7-9p.m.

The Pyongyang Project is the first and only American program op-erating in North Korea. Come to

the info session to learn more.

Multiple small parcel bombs defused in Greece

onschedule...

onthe web

TODAY IN HISTORY1394: Jews are expelled from

France by Charles VI.offthe wire...

Page 3: November 3, 2010 issue

ThE ChRONiClE WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2010 | 3

NeuroCog Trials, a rapidly growing company with close ties to Duke University Medical Center, has been involved in design and implementation of multi-site clinical trials, including rater training and data quality assurance, and neurocognitive test development, for 10 years.

We are looking to fill a full-time PhD-level position. This individual will assist in novel test development and validation, trial design, data analysis and interpretation, and business development, and will oversee neurocognitive rater certification and data quality control for multi-site pharmaceutical company trials. These clinical trials usually involve a large meeting of investigators and testers who require certification. Travel to US or international meetings is expected. The person filling the position should be proficient in Excel, SPSS and/or SAS. Expertise in visual design, presentation, and software development is a plus.

The starting salary will be competitive with pharmaceutical industry standards with medical benefits.

Management skills are essential. Additional requirements: PhD in psychology, neurosciences or related field; experience with neuropsychological or cognitive data collection and analysis; ability to travel on limited basis (average of 3-5 days per month); large-group presentation skills. Experience with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and dementia is a plus.

Contact: Dr. Richard Keefe email: [email protected]

phone: 919-401-4642

help wanted

Local voters share opinions on political landscapeDuke students and local citizens

headed to the polls yesterday to cast their ballots and elect the nation’s politicians. Durham County has ap-proximately 166,000 registered vot-ers, about 48 percent of whom par-ticipated in the election, according to preliminary results updated at 1 a.m. today. The turnout lagged be-hind the 2008 presidential election, when nearly 77 percent of registered voters cast ballots, but surpassed the 39 percent turnout of registered voters in the 2006 midterm elec-tion. The Chronicle’s Yeshwanth Kandmalla asked voters at local poll sites about the American political landscape and their thoughts on the 2010 elections.

“The tone’s changed a lot. It’s much more negative, defen-sive.”

—Annelise Mesler, junior

“There is definitely an enthu-siasm gap. I can feel it—I am part of it.”

—Rodrigo Dorfman, Trinity ’89

“It’s going to be a lot more fili-bustering, a lot more nothing get-ting done.”

—J.J. Hoff, senior

“Students have also realized the national stakes in voting. Even if they’re not familiar with local politics, they should make their voice heard.”

—Gunther Peck, Fred W. Shaffer associate professor of history and

public policy

“[Obama] is not Superman.

He’s doing what he can.... [The outcome] is in God’s and the peo-ple’s hands.”

—Shelley Horsford, Durham resident

“I would vote for some change if there’s a viable option. I really want to check extreme agendas.”

—Sampath Rangaswamy, soft-ware consultant in Durham

“I’m not really familiar with the issues. I’m ignorant, but not apathetic—the least I can do is vote.”

—Aaron Sandel, Trinity ’10

maya robinson/The chronicle

With turnout for the 2010 midterm election lagging far behind the 2008 presidential election, some voters said there is a lack of enthusiasm for this year’s race.

Page 4: November 3, 2010 issue

4 | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2010 ThE ChRONiClE

Election Digestion: What the Midterm Results MeanJoin Frank Hill, former chief of staff for Sen. Elizabeth Dole, and Pope “Mac” McCorkle, adjunct professor at Sanford and political consultant, to discuss the implications of the 2010 midterm elections. This event is part of the new Sanford program on American politics, “Gridlock: Can Our System Address America’s Big Problems?”

Wed., Nov. 3, 2010 4:30 pm - 5:30 pmSanford 05Sanford Building Free and open to the public Contact: [email protected]

www.dukegridlock.blogspot.com

Calif. voters extinguish act to legalize cannabis

by Samantha BrooksTHE CHRONICLE

Hopes for the legalization of mari-juana through Proposition 19 went up in smoke last night after Californians voted down the proposed act to regulate, con-trol and tax cannabis.

The act was designed to permit the pos-session, cultivation and transportation of cannabis—a term often interchanged with marijuana—within the state of California for the personal use of individuals over the age of 21.The legislation planned to enforce regulations similar to those used to control alcohol distribution. The proposition pro-hibited users from possessing marijuana on school grounds, using it in public, smoking it in the presence of minors or providing it to anyone under 21 years old.

The New York Times projected that 54.8 percent of Californians voted against the proposition as of 3:30 a.m. this morning.

Supporters of the proposition touted monetary benefits for the state—approxi-mately $1.4 billion annually, according to the Proposition 19 website. These funds would have resulted from the revenue gained from taxes on the production and sale of the sub-stance and its related products and the redis-tribution of government funding originally used to penalize marijuana law offenders. But because of the intangible nature of the estimations, state revenue gains should not have been a predominant factor for voters, according to Richard Schmalbeck, a law pro-fessor and a expert in federal taxation, law and economics.

“It seems to me like these numbers are

basically guesses,” Schmalbeck explained. “Even if $1.4 billion were accurate, it would be only around a one percent change.... This [would] help, but not very much. I wouldn’t think that the revenue implica-tions should be what determine the voters’ decisions on [the proposition].”

Instead, initial support more likely came from California’s uniquely accepting approach to the substance and from its po-tential ability to enable law enforcement to pursue more serious crimes, said David Rohde, professor of political science.

“Pot is commonplace in California in a way that isn’t true for other states,” Rohde said. “Proposition 19 has gotten a lot of support from law enforcement personnel, who argue that... by legalizing [marijuana], they can reallocate their resources.”

Indeed, the act received endorsements from more than 30 individual law enforce-ment officers. At the time of the election, the movement had acquired a total of 112 public advocates ranging from individuals such as California State Sen. Mark Leno, D-Ca. to numerous party-affiliated groups including the California Libertarian Par-ty, the Republican Liberty Caucus as well as numerous district Democratic parties, according to the Proposition 19 website.

On campus, many Californian students obtained absentee ballots to vote for candidates in their home districts as well as for a chance to support or oppose the act. Sophomore Jake Sganga, who said he voted in favor of the proposition, said one of the

by Yeshwanth KandimallaTHE CHRONICLE

A convicted felon can no longer serve as sheriff in North Carolina. The state’s voters approved a consti-tutional amendment Tuesday that bans convicted felons from running for or serving as county sheriff. More than 85 percent of voters approved the referendum, according to pre-liminary results.

The bill worked its way through the North Carolina Senate and then through the House of Representatives

in a unanimous vote. It received ma-jor support from the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association.

“The irony of the current situation is that the deputy sheriffs and police officers can’t be convicted felons, but their bosses can be,” said Eddie Caldwell, executive vice president of the N.C. Sheriffs’ Association, in a Sep-tember interview with The Chronicle.

In the May 4 primary elections, six convicted felons ran for sheriff in vari-ous counties in the state, but all were defeated.

Felons barred from running for sheriff

Sanford watch party sees low undergraduate turnout

by Julian SpectorTHE CHRONICLE

On a night when Republicans took control of the House of Representatives and gained seats in the Senate, some un-dergraduates and many graduate students gathered in the Sanford Building’s Fleis-chman Commons for an election night watch party.

Scattered conversations competed in volume with a projection of CNN’s elec-tion coverage as viewers collected su-shi, fruit salad and cheese and sat down to watch Anderson Cooper moderate CNN’s Election Center panel of experts. In rooms off the atrium, attendees could watch the news on Fox, C-Span and local station WUNC.

“The food sure seemed popular,” said junior George Pearkes, who helped plan the event. However, “undergraduate turn-out was not very good. Student engage-

ment [in the election] was in the tank this year. I think people don’t see a stake in the elections.”

Attendance at Sanford skewed largely toward graduate students with minimal un-dergraduate attendance. The atrium was fullest early on, while the food lasted, but by 9 p.m. the number of people dwindled to a handful, with some viewers scattered among the other rooms.

Few Blue Devils were still around to see former Dukie and Tea Party Repub-lican Rand Paul, Medicine ’88, deliver his acceptance speech upon winning the Kentucky Senate race. As he spoke, the event organizers began taking down decorations and rearranging the tables and chairs.

Freshman Michael Elgart arrived at the Sanford watch party from the Duke Political

SEE watch party ON PAGE 5

SEE prop19 ON PAGE 12

Page 5: November 3, 2010 issue

ThE ChRONiClE WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2010 | 5

Group discusses potential changes to Joe College Day

DUke UNIveRSITY UNION

by Anna KoelschTHE CHRONICLE

At its meeting Tuesday night, Duke University Union reviewed proposals to improve Joe College Day.

Members approved a request by Joe College Day Chair Nathan Nye, a sophomore, to change the way the next chair is chosen in order to allow a longer period of time for committee development and artist selection. He said the date of chair selection should be moved up to the first Friday of the Spring semester.

“It’s a lot of time but I’d rather be on that side as op-posed to not enough time,” Nye said.

Nye also proposed splitting Joe College Day into two smaller “welcome back” events at the beginning of each se-mester. The idea generated some criticism as DUU mem-bers doubted the success of a second-semester welcome back event.

Union members said an event in the beginning of the Spring semester would take place in cold weather and would happen during time-consuming events like rush and tenting.

Sophomore Alex Shapanka, chair of the Speakers and Stage committee, suggested combining the Fresh-man Intern Program with Joe College Day. Other ex-ecutive board members questioned the suggestion’s viability.

“I don’t think people who have no experience should take on an event that has failed,” said senior Jeremy Stein-man, Freewater Presentations chair.

Members said one of the reasons for this year’s low attendance was because students were preoccupied with midterms. Certain potential dates for Joe College Day were ruled out because of their proximity to midterms, they added.

“This is a school where kids have midterms eight days away and are at the library on a Sunday,” Nye said. “[At this year’s Joe College Day] people left the library, got Bulkogi and went back to the library.”

In other business:The presale for Matisyahu started Tuesday. Major At-

tractions Chair Karen Chen, a senior, said DUU reported selling 516 tickets and have 716 tickets left to sell. The gen-eral public ticket sale begins Thursday.

Matisyahu will perform Nov. 17 in Page Auditorium.Student tickets are being sold for $15, and tickets for

the general public will cost $30.“The tickets went pretty steadily throughout the day

today,” Chen said. “Hopefully we’ll reach a lot more com-munity members.”

aDDison corriher/The chronicle

Members of DUU discussed the upcoming Matisyahu concert and ideas to improve the quality of Joe College Day at its meeting Tuesday.

Union viewing party in McClendon Tower, which he said was more crowded. He identifies as a libertarian and said he was excited by Paul’s victory.

“A popular movement against the government is al-ways exciting for a libertarian,” he said. “Now there’s probably going to be a lot of government gridlock. As long as the government is stuck in gridlock, they can’t take away our rights—a restricted government is a good government.”

Senior Amanda Morrall, president of the Public Pol-icy Studies Majors Union, said she was glad to see the students who came to the event but wished more under-graduates had participated.

“Our biggest goal was to make people understand how important this election is,” she said. “Students need to realize that they do have a voice and by vot-ing for your representative or senator, you are voting for laws.”

Evan Krasomil was one of the Sanford graduate stu-dents in attendance. He described a high degree of po-litical awareness among his peers.

“I feel like I know what’s going to happen to a certain extent,” he said. “But I’m interested in taking it in with other people who are interested in politics.”

Daniel Raimi, a first year master’s in public policy student, said that with a split Congress, one possible scenario is that “no one gets anything big done in the next two years.” But, he added, “politics has a way of doing exactly the opposite of what we think it’s going to do.”

WATCH PARTY from page 4

qDUKE.COMMake it your homepage.

Page 6: November 3, 2010 issue

6 | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2010 ThE ChRONiClE

“to push the limits”The e-mails stunned many on campus. “I can’t even describe how angry I was when I read

them,” senior Jessica MacFarlane said. “I thought they were incredibly degrading.”

MacFarlane said a friend forwarded her scanned copies of the e-mails Sunday afternoon, which she passed along to friends and members of the administration.

Clarybel Peguero, assistant dean of fraternity and soror-ity life, received copies of the e-mails Sunday, as did Dean of Students Sue Wasiolek.

“I found them deplorable,” Wasiolek said.For many in the greek community, however, the only

surprise was that the messages surprised anyone at all. “Honestly, when I first received those e-mails [Satur-

day night] I didn’t think anything of it,” said senior Emily Fausch, secretary of Delta Delta Delta sorority. “This is the kind of thing I’ve come to expect from fraternities. In my heart, I know it’s a problem but I’ve really gotten used to it.”

Junior Isaac Mizrahi, who recently co-hosted a forum on gender and greek life and asked not be identified with his fraternity in this article, said the e-mails are products of an arms race among fraternities who use crude humor to catch the attention of their social circles.

“They want to send the funniest e-mails so they can have the best parties so they can get the quote unquote best girls so they can get the quote unquote best pledge class,” he said. “That competitiveness drives people to push the limits.”

These e-mails do not come only from the fraternities implicated in this weekend’s flyer campaign. Approximate-ly 20 e-mails obtained by The Chronicle reveal party invi-tations of similar tone and content sent by several other Duke fraternities in the last year.

Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity used their organization’s so-cial listserv Jan. 16 to invite a group of Duke women to a party titled “Culture Shock.”

“Thinking we should make that fence down south a little taller?” the message asked. “Pissed about a certain group of easterners f—ing up the curve in Econ 51?... Well it’s time to get over your fears and join the brothers of Pi Kappa Alpha for a truly unique tour of the world.”

“Sup BabyGurlz,” opened an e-mail from the Kappa Al-pha Order March 17. “Do you want to get your eagle on Saturday March 27th? Do your loins pulsate and throb at the very mention of KA?... Does the idea of a day with the Order make you throw up a little bit in your mouth? If all of the above is not enough, we propose a contest. First to the ER WINS.”

Boys will be boys?Although Pi Kappa Alpha eventually issued an apology

to its invitees, many other crude fraternity party invitations fly under the radar, said Alice, a sorority member who re-quested anonymity because she feared losing friends in the greek community.

She added that women often shrug off these messages because the men who send them are their friends, and the jokes do not generally reflect how they interact with their female friends face-to-face.

“I don’t take it too seriously,” she said. “I think that col-lege boys will be college boys.”

But separating the men from their message allows fraternities to get away with expressing distasteful senti-ments without any fear of repercussions, said Pi Beta Phi sorority President Rose Filler, a senior. To the contrary, she said she has known greek women who were dis-in-vited to parties or shunned by close male friends after expressing anger over the way fraternity party invitations addressed women.

For Panhellenic Association President Bogna Brzezin-ska, a senior, the fact that women receive these e-mails but do not often complain is a major problem.

“Women get invitations that call them sluts and hos... and they still go to the parties,” she said.

To respond to issues of gender disparity, Panhel is working with the newly-formed Greek Women’s Initiative, which aims to create a space for dialogue about gender and includes representatives from all four fraternity and sorority governing councils.

As Filler and several others noted, gender issues on cam-pus and the people who care about them are not limited to the greek community. One of the students who posted the fly-ers, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, said their effort was not on behalf of any specific campus organization.

“If we remain anonymous, it could be any Duke stu-dent,” the individual said. “And with the power of that re-alization—that it’s many of us who are upset, and not just some of us—well, that’s a pretty powerful realization.”

e-MAIlS from page 1

chronicle graphic by melissa yeo

Fliers containing recent offensive e-mails sent to fraternity social listservs have prompted campus discussion of gender issues.

Page 7: November 3, 2010 issue

SportsThe Chronicle

www.dukechroniclesports.com

WEDNESDAYNovember 3, 2010

>> INSIDE

ONLINE

Duke played against TCU yesterday in Fort Worth, Tex-as. How did the team do?

We look at impact freshmen around the ACC expected to make a splash

julia may/The ChroniCle

Duke plays its first preseason game of the year today against Wingate in Cameron at 7:00 p.m.

It’s (Karima) Christmas time

JasonPalmataryOn Football

Now is the time to prepare for future

Women’s soCCer

Duke faces tall task with tourney matchup

sabreena merChanT/ChroniCle file phoTo

Freshman natasha Anasi, who played 46 minutes during Duke’s last game against maryland, will face the Terrapins again tonight in Cary, n.C.

See palmatary on page 8

outside of the locker room follow-ing Saturday’s upset win in annapolis there was a noticeable difference in the attitudes of everyone associated with Duke football.

There was a palpable sense of happiness and relief that p e r m e a t e d from head coach David Cutcliffe, his coaching staff

and players all the way down to the stu-dent managers, who were upbeat, rush-ing around and rounding up equip-ment. The Duke football family had good reason to be in such a mood.

entering the tilt with navy, Duke sat at 1-6 with the very distinct possibility of winning just one game in 2010, the season-opener against FCS opponent elon. Duke, however, would jump out to a surprising yet convincing 24-0 halftime lead. even though the Blue Devils almost found a way to give away the game late, the end result was all that mattered.

Had Duke dropped its seventh game in a row, it would have fallen further into its rut, and playing with purpose is difficult when there is an expectation of losing games. Instead, Cutcliffe got what I would call a signature win for his program.

although his signature win last year against heavily favored n.C. State bumped Duke to 3-3, with a bowl berth a possibil-ity, last weekend’s win is equally as impor-tant. Halting the losing mentality and cre-ating a new sense of optimism suddenly gives Duke a real chance to win its next two games, home matchups against Vir-ginia and Boston College.

More importantly, though, the win gives the season more purpose. and the purpose gives an opportunity to develop talent and build momentum going into next season.

even though head coaches don’t like to admit it, Cutcliffe acknowledged at his press conference Tuesday that he is constantly thinking about the future in conjunction with the tasks at hand. So, I hereby offer him a priority list on how to get the most out of the rest of season but, primarily, to prepare for a realistic shot at

See w. soccer on page 8

by Jay VithaTHe CHRonICLe

The aCC Tournament begins today—and the Blue Dev-ils will have their work cut out for them right away.

Up first for Duke (10-6-3, 4-5-1 in the aCC) will be no. 4 Maryland (15-2-1, 7-2-1), the second seed in the tournament. Maryland is the favorite in the matchup, coming off three consecutive wins and only two losses and one tie all season. That one tie, however, came against Duke in College park.

“Maryland is a team we felt like we probably should’ve beaten,” fresh-man Laura Weinberg said.

In the regular season matchup, Duke got on the board first but couldn’t hold the lead. The defense played well, though, only allowing the one goal. after the offense failed to capitalize on its scoring opportunities in the second half, the game ended in a 1-1 tie.

“We’re focused on us now,” fresh-man Mollie pathman said. “We’re not worried about them. We know we have what it takes.”

Head coach Robbie Church explained that he is satisfied with the way the team played during the regular season and that the Blue Devils are better than their record indicates. He said the confidence level hasn’t wavered, and he believes that his team is capable of playing with the best in the country.

“our kids have got a lot of respect for Maryland; they’ve had an unbelievable year,” Church said. “Hats off to them, but we also feel that we can play with anybody in the country.”

Church noted that the Blue Devils had a lot of energy during the first match against the Terrapins and that they

WEDNESDAY, 5 p.m.WakeMed Soccer Park

No. 4 UMD

Duke

vs.

Page 8: November 3, 2010 issue

8 | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2010 ThE ChRONiClE

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men’s golF

Blue Devils survive the TCU heat, take Oven Experience

sophia palenberg/ChroniCle file phoTo

Adam sumrall and the Blue Devils topped TCU 3 1/2 to 2 1/2 yesterday.

pAlmATAry from page 7

W. soCCer from page 7

a bowl game, which won’t occur until next season.

1. Figure out the quarterback situationCutcliffe is well respected when it comes to managing

signal callers. Clearly, current starter Sean Renfree—a redshirt sophomore—is a young, talented prospect who has had an up-and-down campaign due to his incon-sistent decision making. Determining if he can build off of his career performance against navy and dem-onstrate some consistency down the stretch is crucial. If his erratic play continues, it might be worth giving running specialist Brandon Connette, a true freshman, more snaps to determine if he is a capable passer. The best situation would be to have Renfree separate him-self as the clear-cut starter going into the spring, but if opening up the competition is necessary, Connette and redshirt anthony Boone—who still has four years of eligibility—will be more than ready to push Renfree.

2. shore up the secondarySince the beginning of the Cutcliffe era, a continual

theme has been the cornerbacks’ inability to play balls in the air. These struggles have led to far too many big plays being yielded in the passing game. While senior Chris Rwabukamba has played well at times this year, it may be time to give increased looks to the younger corners. Redshirt freshman Ross Cockrell has started all season and has shown an improved ability to break on the ball the last few weeks. Backups Johnny Williams and garrett peterson are both athletic but unproven, and the coaching staff needs to see how the pair fits into next year’s plans. get them on the field more.

3. establish a running back rotationa glaring weakness in Cutcliffe’s first two years,

the rushing game, has proven competent this year. In many ways, the improvement can be attributed to the offensive line, a unit that will return three starters next year. But the question remains: who will run be-hind these guys? Sophomore Desmond Scott has got-ten the bulk of the carries lately, but he still needs to improve as both a rusher and receiver before he can be considered a lead back. Behind him, freshman Josh Snead, junior Jay Hollingsworth, and freshman Juwan Thompson have all seen action this season. If Cutcliffe establishes a defined rotation, more progress could be made on the ground.

4. Determine who will be rushing the passerThe victory over navy marked the best job that Duke

has done pressuring the quarterback all season. Still, the Blue Devils have just a paltry seven sacks in eight games, good for 116th out of 120 FBS teams. The start-ing defensive ends, patrick egboh and Wes oglesby, are both seniors whose performances have been pedes-trian. as a result, it’s time to start giving younger ends Kenny anunike and Justin Foxx more repetitions and experimenting with blitzes to get the linebackers and safeties into the opposing backfield.

Though the win Saturday was inspiring for fans and players alike, hopefully it doesn’t create the illusion that a .500 record is attainable this year. Continue giv-ing younger players more reps, and the future for Duke brightens.

Duke Basketball’s regular season hasn’t started yet, but our Twitter has:

@dukebasketball

must keep the energy high tonight, a sentiment second-ed by his team.

“We are definitely ready to get revenge,” Weinberg said. “We finished the aCC very positively, so I think we have a very good mindset going into the tournament.”

Duke will have the added advantage of playing to-night’s matchup in Cary, n.C.—a much more familiar atmosphere than College park.

Last season, Duke had the eighth seed and fell in the first round of the tournament to Florida State. The Blue Devils, however, had seven of their starters miss-ing due to injuries.

This year’s team is at full strength for the tourna-ment. and the players relish the chance at retribution.

“We’re healthy, we’re hungry, we’re rested and we’re really looking forward to the tournament,” Church said.

Notes: Freshmen Mollie pathman and Laura Weinberg were both named second-team all-aCC yes-terday. Weinberg, pathman and teammate Kaitlyn Kerr were also recognized as all-aCC freshmen.

by Danny NolanTHe CHRonICLe

The tournament may have been called the oven expe-rience, but the Blue Devils handled the heat yesterday to beat the Horned Frogs.

no. 20 Duke won their only match play tournament of the season 3 1/2 to 2 1/2 thanks to the dominant play of senior Wes Roach and freshman austin Cody. Roach, who only lost one hole over the course of the entire match, had a solid win, besting TCU’s Ian phillips 4 and 3. Cody also cruised to a solid victory, defeating Johnny antle 6 and 4 by winning four holes outright on the back nine to secure the victory.

Sophomore Julian Suri started off on a tear in his match, holding a 4-up lead through 11 holes played; how-ever, TCU’s Matt Johnson fought back, cutting the lead down to one with two holes remaining. Suri then finished with back-to-back pars and closed out the match to secure the point for the Blue Devils.

Yaroslav Merkulov, a freshman who is leading the team in scoring with an average of 71.5 this season, participated in a wild back-and-forth match. Merkulov dropped the first hole, but answered quickly, winning both the fourth and fifth hole to take a 1-up advantage. Johan DeBeer responded on the back nine, winning the 11th and 12th holes to reclaim the lead in the match, only to see Merkulov win the next three holes. De-spite leading 2-up with two to play, Merkulov lost the final two holes and received a half point for his efforts.

adam Sumrall and Brinson paolini each lost 3 and 2, due in large part to the giant deficits both faced early in their matches. Sumrall won his first hole, but then strug-gled for the rest of the front nine, making the turn 5-down in the match. He did win two holes on the back nine be-fore eduardo perez finally closed him out on the 16th hole to win it. after his first 11 holes, paolini stood 4-down. He then won two of the next four holes, only to fall late to Scott Roudebush.

This was Duke’s final match of the fall season and the team will be back for more golf in March for the Lexus Classic.

Page 9: November 3, 2010 issue

the chronicle WeDneSDAY, noVeMBer 3, 2010 | 9

DiversionsShoe Chris Cassatt and Gary Brookins

Dilbert Scott Adams

Ink Pen Phil Dunlap

Doonesbury Garry Trudeau

Sudoku Fill in the grid so that every

row, every col-umn and every

3x3 box con-tains the digits

1 through 9. (No number

is repeated in any column, row or box.)

Answer to puzzle

www.sudoku.com

the chronicle election night at duke!:

how BOUT that crowd at sanford?!: .........................twei, anthonyhaving my special night overshadowed :(: ... BIRTHDAY BOY, ruppunbelievable that convicted felons can’t run for sheriff: ...... shaolipopped a bottle for the red wave: .....................................bus stoppoured one out for the delaware witch:................... andyk, keeleythe rent is still too damn high: .........................yeo, c-rod, fradisanno one polling booths at duke means #whitewhine: ............ xtinaprop 19 needs to make a valiant comeback: ...............................ianBarb Starbuck says vote or die: ................................................ Barb

Student Advertising Manager: .........................................Amber SuAccount Executives: ........................ Phil deGrouchy, Claire Gilhuly,

Nick Hurst, Gini Li, Ina Li, Spencer Li,Christin Martahus, Ben Masselink,

Emily Shiau, Kate ZeligsonCreative Services Student Manager ...........................Christine HallCreative Services: ...............................Lauren Bledsoe, Danjie Fang

Caitlin Johnson, Megan Meza , Hannah SmithBusiness Assistant: ........................................................Joslyn Dunn

Noon – Tony Yan (piano) @ the BC

4:30 PM – Andrew Rohm Sax + Djembe Ensemble @ the BC Plaza

5:30PM – Diana Christensen (violin) @ the BC

6 PM – Audrey Lan (piano trio) @ the BC

6:30 PM – Step Show @ the Great Hall

Today…

arts.duke.edu/festival

October 22- November 7

Page 10: November 3, 2010 issue

This year, only 66 of the 220 students who applied for an exemption to live off campus upon returning from abroad received one—consigning many juniors to Spring semes-ter on Central Campus. Al-though assign-ing juniors to Central is in line with existing University policy, students deserve earlier, more accurate information from Residence Life and Housing Services to help navigate the housing process.

Calculating the number of beds that need to be filled is an inexact science, and wait-ing until the Fall to make that calculation helps RLHS make a more precise determina-tion. However, RLHS needs to vastly improve its com-munication with juniors to

ensure students understand their chances of obtaining an off-campus exemption.

Frustrations with the hous-ing process is nothing new—this outrage was the topic of

an editorial in 2004. Yet de-spite previous

awareness of the difficulties of this process, RLHS has failed to address them.

Student dissatisfaction with this aspect of the hous-ing process stems primarily from the mixed messages re-ceived from RLHS about the chances of being granted an off-campus exemption. De-spite receiving assurances that the lottery process was a for-mality, acquiring an exemp-tion to live off campus was far from guaranteed this year.

The deleterious effects of

this breakdown in communi-cation are extensive.

Considering the logistics of securing off-campus housing while living abroad, students understandably make housing arrangements as early as pos-sible. Statements from RLHS that an exemption is guaran-teed diminishes the perceived risk of making a deposit on off-campus housing before the lottery is held, contributing to the sense of outrage when an exemption is denied.

Disappointment in juniors who don’t receive an exemp-tion highlights an underlying housing issue—the undesirabil-ity of living on Central. While we commend the administra-tion for its efforts to instill com-munity, Central is often viewed as an integral part of Duke’s campus in name only. Return-

ing juniors have little choice as to where on Central they live, further undermining the chances of establishing any real sense of community during their Spring semester.

The need for RLHS to make determinations on hous-ing availability is important, but we believe a reevaluation of the housing timeline is necessary. Aligning the lottery with the ex-isting Room Pix process in the Spring would allow students to know their housing status be-fore they leave campus, reduc-ing the stress of being surprised by a decision while abroad.

Although it may not be possible for RLHS to make an exact estimation of the number of beds to be filled so far in advance, trading some precision for a more unified timeline should be consid-

ered. Through the use of sur-veys and analysis of past data, RLHS should be able to make a close estimate of how many beds it will need to fill.

Should the numbers fluctu-ate greatly, RLHS could reserve the right to change the num-ber of exemptions it grants, as it does currently. As long as RLHS conveys a reasonable estimate to students in the Spring, juniors can make more informed decisions in regard to securing housing based on their assigned lottery number.

Guaranteeing a year in ad-vance where students returning from abroad can live may be impossible. But a reevaluation of the housing timeline and an increase in dialogue between students and RLHS would go a long way in resolving this con-tinuing problem.

commentaries10 | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2010 thE chRONiclE

the c

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The

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Dai

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uke

Uni

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editorial

The price of life

Exemption timeline needs review

”“ onlinecomment

I thought you were talking about food... =(

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Inc. 1993Est. 1905

I have spent the last four weeks rotating through Duke Hospital’s medical intensive care unit, or, as it has so often seemed, The Saddest

Place on Earth.The MICU is where one finds

the sickest patients at the hospital. To buy a ticket to the MICU, a pa-tient generally needs to have at least one failing organ system that is be-ing supported by a machine —a me-chanical ventilator for respiratory failure is most common, and many patients also need dialysis for kid-ney failure. Nearly every patient in the MICU depends on at least one machine to keep him or her alive.

As one might expect, a failed organ system requiring life support generally points toward a poor prognosis. Even under the care of some of the world’s top doctors, nurses, respiratory thera-pists and pharmacists, the mortality rate in the MICU is high. In one study of more than 20,000 patients from 37 American hospitals, somewhere between 25 and 34 percent of all patients admit-ted to an ICU died before they could leave the hospital.

After a month of firsthand experience in the ICU, it seems the situation may be worse. Many of the patients in the ICU who survive to hospi-tal discharge are sent home with palliative care, with the expectation that the illness that brought them to the ICU in the first place will kill them fairly soon. Even if a terminal cancer patient, for example, survives his episode of acute respiratory failure brought on by an infection caused by tu-mor compressing his lung, he still has a matter of days or weeks left to live. Still, compared to the patient who dies in the hospital, tubes and intra-venous catheters coming out of every orifice, the patient who can go home to die would seem to have a better outcome.

The sad stories one sees on the general medi-cine floors pale in comparison to those in the ICU. When the best possible outcome involves a young parent dying, there are no good outcomes.

But all of this is not to pass along sad stories or to convince you of how awful cancer is. Rather, it’s the only way I know how to introduce a discussion of health care spending.

A recent study followed 126 Duke ICU patients requiring mechanical ventilation for a prolonged period of time (at least 21 days). The study re-ported how the patients were doing one year after their initial admission to the hospital. Consistent

with my own ICU experience, the patients did not do well.

At one year, 44 percent of patients were dead, 21 percent of patients were entirely de-pendent on others to help with even the most basic tasks and 26 percent were somewhat dependent on oth-ers. Only 9 percent of the patients were alive and living independently.

But the most staggering results from the paper dealt with costs. The average cost per patient was more than $300,000 for the year of care. Given how poor most patients’ out-comes were, the average cost per independently-functioning survivor

was $3.5 million.Health care economists have devised ways to

put a dollar value on human lives. To be honest, I don’t know how I feel about the idea of treating health like a commodity that can be bought and sold. If it were my life, or the life of someone I loved, I would want my insurance company or the U.S. government to spend that $3.5 million.

But the politicians and talking heads con-tinually remind us that the amount we spend on health care is not sustainable. As our technology improves, it seems that modern medicine is ca-pable of maintaining critically ill patients on life support almost indefinitely. Three hundred thou-sand patients were the recipients of prolonged mechanical ventilation in the last year; by 2020, it is projected that 600,000 patients will do so—at a cost of $50-60 billion per year.

And of course, prolonged mechanical ventila-tion is just a fraction of the $2.3 trillion dollars we spend on health care each year, with nearly half of that money paying for the health care of the sick-est 5 percent of the population.

I’m a medical student, not a policy maker, and I don’t have the answers. Is it fair to put a dollar value on life? Is it fair to use a model to predict the 9 percent of patients that will survive their pro-longed ventilation and live independently and to deny care to the other 91 percent? On the other hand, is it fair to spend half of our health care dol-lars on 5 percent of the population?

These are choices that we, as a society, will have to make. We can choose the status quo, or we can choose something different, but it’s best to make that choice consciously.

Alex Fanaroff is a fourth-year medical student. His column runs every Wednesday.

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alex fanarofffarewell tour

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Page 11: November 3, 2010 issue

It is no secret that alcohol abuse and binge drinking pose ma-jor health risks for college students throughout the U.S. Over the past several weeks, the health consequences of binge drink-ing have risen to the forefront of public debate, in particular the dangers of caffeinated alcoholic drinks such as Four Loko, which was responsible for the hospital-ization of nine Central Washing-ton University students earlier this month.

The headlines of the past two weeks include Huffington Post’s “Four Loko Sickened Several Central Washington University Students,” The Seattle Times’ “Attorney General Wants to Ban Drink that Hospitalized CWU Students,” MSNBC’s “Student Ill-nesses at Party Blamed on Four Loko” and Time Magazine’s “4 Reasons Binge Drinking Is a Public Health Problem,” not to mention The Chronicle’s “Despite Dangers, Students Mix Caf-feine and Alcohol.”

While these articles render little surprise in the land of Tail-gate, shotgunning and Karen Owen, I have been surprised while abroad this semester to see that American college students are not the only ones drinking in excess.

Perhaps the most shocking headline of late was published on the front page of Monday’s society section of the UK’s Guardian, “Alcohol More Harmful than Heroin or Crack.” The article was published in the wake of new research by British neuropsychop-harmacologist and former chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, David Nutt. He conducted a study assessing the risks of death and injury when recreationally abusing alcohol and other drugs. He found that alcohol ranks alongside heroin and crack cocaine as a Class A drug in terms of potential harm.

Nutt advocates for tougher economic disincentives on alco-hol sale in the UK, lamenting the lack of government interven-tion despite rising alcohol related deaths and injuries in the country. “Alcohol misuse has been exacerbated in recent years as government failed to accept the link between cheap prices, higher consumption and resultant harms to individuals and so-ciety,” he writes.

During the orientation to our program here in Italy, our di-rector advised the students in my program against drinking in excess, warning that Italians do not drink to get drunk because it is socially unacceptable and makes you a sure target for assault or theft. While she was certainly correct that being drunk in a for-eign country makes one more vulnerable, among young people here in Florence I have found that it is no longer a social faux pas to drink in excess. Almost any given night, Florentine discotecas and bars are full of study abroad students and locals alike, all of whom are likely to drink past the recommended limits.

Florence seems mild in comparison to other Western Euro-pean cities, however. This past week I spent my fall break in Barcelona and London, both of which boast predictably more vibrant nightlife than Florence. In the discotecas and bars that light up the energetic Barcelona nightlife, young Spaniards take shots of whiskey and vodka late into the night, stumbling into cabs or in cars as the sun rose in the morning.

While Barcelona’s predilection towards binge drinking was less surprising, I had always pictured English pubs in a relaxed, Cheers-esque gathering of friends. Instead I found young London-ers celebrating the Halloween weekend by donning costumes and chugging beer or strongly spiked cider in the pubs and clubs of London, traditions strongly reminiscent of our Duke tailgates.

So while a study abroad student in Florence, Barcelona and London may stand out from the crowd because of accent or dress, it seems that excessive alcohol consumption is no longer unique to Americans. For example, an EU survey conducted in October 2009 found that 44 percent of Irish people have five or more drinks on one occasion a minimum of once a week, compared with 34 per-cent of British and Spanish people. A similar study by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health in 2007 finds that 44 percent of Americans ages 18-25 have drank excessively in the past month.

While the traditions of young binge drinking may be new-er to European culture than American culture, the question remains the same: What is next? For the U.S. the answer may be tougher regulations on “blackout in a can” like Four Loko, while for the UK it may come in the form of sin taxes on alcohol sales. Whatever the consequences may be, there seems to be a general acknowledgement that the young people of Europe are abandoning their parents’ strong traditions of alcoholic mod-eration to mimic the binge drinking that is so often represented in pop culture depictions of young American life.

Lauren Moxley is a Trinity junior. She is abroad in Italy for the semester. Her column runs every other Wednesday.

commentariesthE chRONiclE WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2010 | 11

Remember the time when we were still 4-foot-6? We used to go door to door wearing strange contraptions that we deemed pieces of fine

art. We skipped and raced from house to house doing exactly what our par-ents had days ago warned us against: asking strangers for candy.

We had nothing to worry about. The only homework due the next day was to donate a little bit of the night’s loot into the class jar. Our throats were sore by the end of the night from laughing and screaming, but it didn’t matter. All of that was well compensat-ed by the amount of candy in our in-dividual bags. We had scrapes and falls from wanting to run faster than our short legs could carry us, but we never noticed until morning.

It was Halloween, filled with candy, witches and pumpkins.

Fast-forward 10 years. Everything has changed. Yet, in some ways, nothing has. Halloween is still for candy, ghosts and pumpkins, just not how we per-ceived them as nine-year-olds.

Candy is no longer for your mouth, but your eyes. Witches are not meant to be scary, but enticing. And pumpkins, well, let’s just say they no longer grow on vines. We still go from house to house on Halloween. But instead of trick-or-treating, we go to parties.

We have grown up. On Saturday, the beloved children’s horror au-

thor of the Goosebumps series, R. L. Stein, wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times titled, “Scariest Sight on Halloween? Grown-ups.”

Uh-oh. Adults are destroying Halloween. The editorial points out that a majority of the

Halloween industry increasingly targets adults. More and more haunted houses no longer allow children to enter. Adult clothing is becoming the larger por-tion of the costume section in party stores. The spar-kling plastic tiara attached to an almost equally shin-ing princess dress is no longer the centerpiece of the costume aisle. Instead, it’s buried underneath the Playboy bunny, BP oilman and Lady Gaga’s decep-tively dangerous meat dress.

An escalating proportion of the adult population is unwilling to give up their inner child. I know I’m reluctant to let go, and I’m only a sophomore in col-lege. I still remember putting on my first princess costume and strutting back and forth all over our apartment until my parents told me to put it back or it would be ruined.

Yet there are also other reasons besides reminis-cence behind why grownups’ celebration of Hal-loween proliferates. More than a celebration of the

inner child, Halloween has become an opportunity to wear revealing cos-tumes en masse. It has become an out-let that partygoers normally would not be able to enjoy.

It is a time to party. Theoretically, there’s nothing wrong

with parties. Parties are supposed to let off the steam that we have cooped up all week from studying.

Yet, given the atmosphere at Duke during the past few months, we have to wonder if parties are becoming more

of a problem than a solution. Regardless of your opinion about the Duke party

scene, there are better ways to blow off steam. On Saturday night, with the pumpkins and carv-

ing supplies bought by my RA in Few GG, Yamini Mis-ra, I stabbed and sawed an image of a wolf into the side of a foot tall pumpkin. Not many people were able to recognize the wolf in the image I carved, but that didn’t matter. I’d carved a pumpkin.

It was glorious. I felt as though I was five again. There was no peer pressure to conform. No one was judging me—only my pumpkin. It didn’t matter what I was wearing. I wasn’t covered in other people’s sweat in an uncomfortably hot common room, or be-ing jabbed and jostled while couples next to me tried to dry hump each other.

By the end of it, I felt revived. In light of the events over the past few months, I say we

all need something that will lessen the burden. However, intense partying is not the solution; it is the problem.

College students don’t have to destroy Halloween. We don’t have to wear scantily clad costumes. We can make our own, not to show other people how well en-dowed we are, but for the sake of fun and creativity.

Think back to the carefree Halloween from when we were 9 years old. Maybe that’s the answer: a little reconnection with our inner child, a little skipping instead of walking, a little mischief instead of the par-tying norm.

Who said that we have to blackout so we’ll never remember what we did on Halloween? There are other ways to enjoy a perfectly wonderful weekend, like a little pumpkin carving.

Rui Dai is a Trinity sophomore. Her column runs every other Wednesday.

The global culture of excess

A little pumpkin carving

lauren moxleyla vita e bella

rui daia picture’s worth

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W. DonahueTu/Thu 10:05AM-11:20AMGerman 188 / Jewish Studies 164 / Lit 163N

Germany Confronts the Holocaust

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Republican candidate Lawson, Engineering ’96 and Medicine ’00, challenged his opponent by running a series of advertisements on YouTube, Facebook and other sites that negatively portrayed Price. Lawson also had substantial financial backing from the Tea Party and an endorsement from conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh.

David Rohde, Ernestine Friedl Professor of Political Science, said the results reflect North Carolina’s political climate. He said he believes the only thing that Marshall could have done to be successful would have been to run in a different year.

“At the national level, North Caroli-na tilts Republican even if it did vote for Obama,” he said.

Senior Ben Bergmann, president of Duke Democrats, said the election results brought a “terrible blow” to North Carolina because it returns Burr to Washington, D.C.

where he can disrupt the Obama agenda. Bergmann called Burr “one of the most

beatable incumbents” in the election, but he added that Marshall’s campaign did not have as much financial backing as Burr’s.

Sam Schwartz, communications direc-tor for Marshall, said Marshall will contin-ue to work for North Carolina through her role as secretary of state. At the same time, Schwartz expressed his desire that Burr fo-cus on improving the economy.

“I hope that now that Republicans have more power, they take responsibility in the mess they helped create,” he said. “We gain nothing from the Republicans standing on the sidelines rooting for failure.”

At the local level, similar trends of the Republican surge were exhibited in the race for the House seat.

Bergmann noted the main goal of Price’s campaign was to combat the trend of reaction-ary voting against Democratic incumbents.

Jennifer Ellis, Lawson’s meeting manager and event planner, said his campaign was tai-

lored to citizens disappointed with the Demo-crats’ decisions. Lawson’s campaign manager, Martin Avila, added that the events of the past two years created a political atmosphere that pushed moderates to lean Republican.

Lawson’s platforms directly contradicted Price’s, as Lawson supported cutting back on spending and reforming the existing health care system by removing it from government control. Price, on the other hand, promoted spending on education and research.

Despite the circumstances, Price held onto his House seat on an Election Day that saw many Democratic incumbents lose their positions in Congress.

Avila said he wants to remind Durham and the state that although Republicans took a fall in the House election, they will not surrender.

“Just because we lost this one race doesn’t mean we’re willing to lose the country,” he said. “Our message is not something we will give up and as you can see from the strong republican push nationally. We’re here and we’re not going anywhere.”

election from page 1

according to The New York Times.“The American people’s voice was heard

at the ballot box,” said Rep. John Boehner, the House Republican leader, in declaring victory. “For far too long, Washington has been doing what’s best for Washington, not what’s best for the American people. Tonight, that begins to change.”

In perhaps the most important Senate race, Majority Leader Harry Reid defended his seat against Republican challenger Sha-ron Angle, who was supported heavily by the Tea Party. And though candidates endorsed by the movement bested their opponents in both Florida’s Senate contest and the race for governor in South Carolina, Delaware Sen.

Chris Coons easily beat out the Tea Party-backed Christine O’Donnell, a Republican.

Still, the Tea Party proved Tuesday it is a force to be reckoned with. In a race pitting two Duke graduates against one another, Rand Paul, Medicine ’88, overcame criticisms of extremism to take Kentucky’s Senate seat over Democratic candidate and state Attorney General Jack Conway, Trinity ’91. Paul enjoyed an enormous advantage in outsider money, much of which came through the Tea Party.

“We’ve come to take our government back,” Paul told a raucous crowd in his vic-tory speech. “They say that the U.S. Senate is the world’s most deliberative body. I’m going to ask them to deliberate on this: The American people are unhappy with what’s going on in Washington.”

Although it was an extraordinary election

for Republicans, who just two years ago found themselves on the losing end of a historic Presidential election, Democrats in the Senate were breathing sighs of relief Tuesday night. California Sen. Barbara Boxer fended off a forceful challenge from Republican Carly Fiorina, and West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin managed to hold on to the seat vacated by Sen. Robert Byrd upon his death. And in Con-necticut, Democratic Secretary of State Rich-ard Blumenthal overcame an early campaign gaffe—he falsely claimed to have served in the Vietnam War—to win his Senate bid.

Republicans also took control of the na-tion’s governorships, winning important rac-es in Michigan and Tennessee, and notably knocking out Gov. Ted Strickland in Ohio. In a rare bright spot for Democrats, Massachu-setts Gov. Deval Patrick retained his seat.

movement’s apparent benefits would be its ability to enable government restriction of marijuana abuse among minors.

“I think that the costs of it as opposed to the benefits don’t justify its illegality,” he said. “No matter which way you look at it, marijuana is entrenched in our cul-ture. Getting rid of it cannot be done by prohibition—clearly this isn’t working.”

Sophomore Spencer Peterson, another Californian student in favor of Proposition 19, said that even though the act was not passed in yesterday’s election, he believes a similar measure will eventually pass.

“It’s one of those things that people think will happen eventually... it’s just a matter of when. I think the sooner the better,” he said. “California tends to be a trend-setting state, and that will proba-bly help change the federal laws to stop the ban altogether.”

For other voters, the legalization of marijuana had little appeal. N.C. voter Sampath Rangaswamy said he thought that there was “not enough foundation for medicinal use,” adding that if a movement similar to Proposition 19 came to North Carolina, he would not vote in its favor.

Rohde added that because Proposition 19 is a social movement and not based on partisan preferences, it is almost impos-sible to predict future long-term changes.

“These kinds of social things have the potential to change so quickly,” he said. “You think about gay marriage—a decade ago [it] was inconceivable, yet now it’s le-gal in a number of states and the public is becoming much more acceptant of it. I’d be very surprised, given the substantial amount of support for [the act], if it didn’t come back again. The kinds of people who are behind this aren’t going away.”

midterm from page 1

prop19 from page 4