The ChronicleTHE INDEPENDENT DAILY AT DUKE UNIVERSITY

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011 ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTH YEAR, ISSUE 25WWW.DUKECHRONICLE.COM

Doctors stress eating Doctors stress eating healthy at a healthy at a young age, young age, Page 3Page 3

Blue DevilsBlue Devilsblast Blueblast BlueHose, Hose, Page 7Page 7

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Greek community issued challenge at convocation

by Shucao MoTHE CHRONICLE

The greek community was called to reconsider the values motivating its engagement in community service Tuesday night.

Members of the greek com-munity gathered in the Duke Chapel Tuesday to commemo-rate the beginning of the aca-demic year. Following a perfor-mance by the Pitchforks and presentations by greek leaders, Executive Director of DukeEn-gage Eric Mlyn addressed the audience about the relation-ship between greek life and philanthropy at Duke. Mlyn said he was impressed with greek charity events, but noted that this relationship is not al-ways positive.

“The greek community is disproportionately responsible for some of the most negative aspects of the culture here at Duke,” Mlyn said. “Abuse of alcohol, inappropriate social relations—of an attitude that shows too much concern with the self and not enough con-cern with the other.”

Research has shown that the rise of social media has dulled students to personal connections and a desire to engage with communities in need, Mlyn said.

“The ease of having friends online might make people more likely to just tune out when they don’t feel like re-sponding to others’ prob-lems—a behavior that could carry over offline.”

Mlyn said he was unsatisfied with the greek community’s participation in DukeEngage thus far, but added that this group, which he called tremen-dously diverse and very talent-ed. would be a positive asset to the program.

Some students have chosen not to participate in DukeEn-gage because they believe it will not necessarily help them in their future professional lives, Mlyn said. Community service, he said, will be a valuable ex-perience though regardless of students’ motivation and life goals.

SEE CONVOCATION ON PAGE 6

Alarcon credits lack of Mexican resources for border tension

Study claims food choices are habitual

by Andrew LuoTHE CHRONICLE

The idea of week-old popcorn might sound unappetizing, but a recent Duke study showed that a surprising number of people will still eat it.

A human-behavioral study has demonstrated that surroundings play a significant role in human eat-ing habits. Duke researchers drew this conclusion by comparing pop-corn consumption among different moviegoers.

“People think that they are eat-ing because of how appetizing their food is, but it is clear that this is not the case,” said David Neal, a post-doctoral research fellow in psychol-

ogy and neuroscience and the lead psychologist involved in the study.

Neal sent 98 people to Griffith Film Theater on the pretense that they were participating in a survey to discover what draws consumers to the movies. Each person received a box of popcorn. Some boxes con-tained fresh popcorn and others had the week-old, stale variety.

“The frequent moviegoers ate the popcorn regardless of taste be-cause their actions were controlled by habit and the surrounding envi-ronment.”

Those who only occasionally ate popcorn during movies tended

by Autumn RobinsonTHE CHRONICLE

Seven million youth in Mexico do not get the oppor-tunity to study or work, creat-ing a far-reaching impact on the dynamics surrounding the United States-Mexico border.

In a talk titled “Edge of Reason: Border Dynamics and the Spread of Violence,” Macrina Cardenas Alarcon, former legislative coordina-tor for the Mexico Solidar-ity Network, addressed the current volatile borders situ-ation and its contributing factors Tuesday. Alarcon, who gave her presentation in

Spanish with a translator, has worked with deportees in Las Casas del Migrante, an orga-nization that assists male mi-grants in the border during the past five years.

“We must come together to find a solution to this prob-lem and the other problems that are prevalent in concen-trated parts of Mexico,” Alar-con said.

Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, two major Mexican cities along the border, face problems re-lated to the drug trade and crime, said Alarcon, a Tijuana

SEE HABITS ON PAGE 12

TORI POWERS/THE CHRONICLE

Macrina Cardenas Alarcon spoke Tuesday about the volatile U.S.-Mexico border.SEE BORDERS ON PAGE 12

EATING LOCAL AT DUKEEATING LOCAL AT DUKE

by Danielle MuoioTHE CHRONICLE

Duke students got in touch with Durham Tuesday, thanks to Bon Appetit’s “Eat Local Challenge.”

The Great Hall, the Marketplace, Trin-ity Cafe, the Freeman Center and the Fuqua School of Business’ Fox Center showcased an array of locally grown foods during lunch Tuesday.

The challenge —the result of a Bon Appetit Management Company initiative called “Farm to Fork,” which originated in 1999—encourag-es chefs to cook meals using only ingredients grown or raised within a 150-mile radius of the

respective Bon Appetit eatery. This was the first year the Duke University Campus Farm, which was one of 40 local farms and artisans participating, partnered with the University’s Eat Local Challenge, Bon Appetit Marketing Director Sarah McGowan said.

“Today’s event gives us the opportunity to highlight the great measures we take to extend our relationship with the local farmers,” Great Hall Managing Director Emanuel May said. “[We can] highlight what we feel passionate about as a company, which is great food.”

Some of the food offered at the challenge

SEE LOCAL FOOD ON PAGE 5

SAMANTHA SCHAFRANK/THE CHRONICLE

Campus eateries showcase locally grown food options

BYTHENUMBERS

4040farms40 farms provided participated in the Eat Local Challenge

150150mile radiusAll food was grown or raised within 150 miles of Durham

2 | WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011 THE CHRONICLE

Intro Flights $86

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ordering food on points? read while you wait.

the chronicle on-line: anytime, any place, tipping not required.

”

worldandnation TODAY:

8571

THURSDAY:

83

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Living legends of stage, screen, sports and song will soon be honored with postage stamps, the U.S. Postal Service said Monday. The move means Bill Gates, Aretha Franklin, Peyton Manning or Julia Roberts might one day earn the 44-cent honor.

EVY MAGES/THE WASHINGTON POST

Penny, a rat terrier, is trained to find bedbugs. The dog is an employee of Doug Wade, an American pest control company. Nowadays, using dogs to hunt bedbugs is viewed as a more effective way than pesticides and traps. Such success has helped pest control companies to attract more customers.

JERUSALEM — Israeli government de-cided to advance plans Tuesday to build 1,100 homes in a Jewish neighborhood in East Jerusalem, drawing condemnations from Palestinian officials as both sides consider a proposal by international me-diators to resume negotiations.

Postal Service to honor celebrities with stamps

Israeli building plans draw Palestinian outcry

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Supreme Court may determine the constitutionality of the 2010 health-care law this term, with a decision coming next summer in the thick of the 2012 presidential campaign.

The Justice Department said Monday evening that it had decided not to ask the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Cir-cuit in Atlanta to take up the case. A three-member panel of the court last month de-cided 2 to 1 that Congress overstepped its authority in passing the Affordable Care Act, which requires virtually all Americans to obtain health insurance.

Although the department declined further comment, the logical next step for the Obama administration is to ask the justices to make what would be the final determination on the law’s fate.

The timing of when to seek the Supreme Court consideration has prompted consid-erable political speculation about President Obama’s signature domestic achievement.

Supreme Court to rule on healthcare law this term

64

“Facebook in its earliest form started out by showing all the information you would share with someone within the first five minutes of meeting. It was then expand-ed to all the information in a fifteen min-ute conversation. Now it has progressed to encompass your entire life story.”

— From The Chronicle’s News Blogbigblog.dukechronicle.com

onthe web

Swim ClinicBrodie Gym, 12:15-12:45p.m.

This free swimming class is available for all students to get pointers on swimming tech-niques, ideas to change up swimming rou-

tines and workouts to do self-training.

Exibition: “The Deconstructive Impulse“

Nasher Museum of Art, 4-5p.m. The Nasher Museum presents a new exibi-tion focused on the feminist contribution

to the development of deconstuctivism.

Documentary Writing Speaker Series: Jeff Sharlet

Center for Documentary Studies, 7-9p.m. Jeff Sharlet, the author of NY Times bestseller “The Family,“ will discuss the influence of

Christian Fundamentalism.

scheduleonat Duke...

Fun I love, but too much fun is of all things the most loathsome.

Mirth is better than fun, and happiness is better than mirth.

— Thomas Carlyle

TODAY IN HISTORY1066: William the Conqueror

invades England.

oono the calendarConfucius’ Birthday

China

Referendum DayGuinea

Teacher’s DayTaiwan

Day of Czech StatehoodCzech Republic

Screen/Society: “STALKER”Griffith Theater, 7-9:40p.m.

The Screen/Society will present the movie “STALKER,” the special award-winner at the

1980 Cannes Film Festival.

THE CHRONICLE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011 | 3

Humanities Writ Large

Teams of Duke faculty and students are invited to submit collaborative proposals that explore emerging ideas, projects, or networks that may have the potential to change the way the humanities are taught in the 21st Century. This is an opportunity to take intellectual risks without necessarily building permanent structures.

These grants are part of the Mellon Foundation-funded Humanities Writ Large initiative — a five-year effort to

transform humanities education at Duke.

Grants Available for Spring 2012 Emerging Humanities Networks

TThe Steering Committee aanticipates making 2--55 awards ffor Spring 2012; most will be in tthe $10,000——$$30,000 range——ffor truly exceptional proposals, aawards of up to $50,000 are ppossible.

TThe funding can be used to ssupport efforts including but not llimited to:

WWorking groups WWorkshops SSpeakers SShort--tterm visitors CCourse development TTeam teaching

Application Deadline: October 17. For further information and application instructions, visit our website at humanitieswritlarge.duke.edu, email humanities-writ-large@duke.edu or call Laura Eastwood at 684-8873.

Research shows eating healthy is key for preschoolersby Caitlin Moyles

THE CHRONICLE

Researchers are proving that making healthy food choices is vital toward long-term health —even for pre-schoolers.

A recent study suggested that child care facilities should look for creative, cost-effective ways to promote healthy eating and physical activity among preschool

children. Currently, the national obesity rate for chil-dren ages three to five is between 15 and 20 percent.

The study, which was led by researchers from Duke University Medical Center, the University of Minnesota, the Gillings School of Public Health and the Universi-ty of North Carolina at Chapel Hill among other uni-versities, found that existing child care regulations in the United States, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Washington, D.C. and U.S. military bases are not meet-ing recommendations from professional health groups.

Although many states have policies that govern the food schools can serve children, they are missing an op-portunity to curb obesity when children are still in pre-school, said Sara Neelon, assistant professor of commu-nity and family medicine and global health, who helped author the study.

“Obesity rates are not only increasing, they’re also permeating down to a younger age,” Neelon said. “A 2- or 3-year-old who’s heavy often remains heavy as an adult and already has increased risk of disease later in life.”

Lorna Chafe, a child care consultant for the Program in Education, said it is important for children to learn to make healthy lifestyle choices early in life.

“Nutrition is critical to all aspects of development as is stimulation and movement,” Chafe wrote in an email Sept. 19. “If these are neglected in the early months and years, [children] cannot develop to their fullest potential.”

One of Neelon’s studies reviewed state regulations pertaining to eight nutrition and physical activity mea-sures in child care settings and found strong variation from state to state. Tennessee, for example, covered six of the eight factors. The District of Columbia, Idaho, Nebraska and Washington met none.

“We see a lot of french fries, fruit punch and other unhealthy foods at child care centers because there isn’t any federal oversight,” Neelon said.

Kristen Stephens, assistant professor of the practice in the Program in Education, agrees that it is important

for children to form healthy habits early in life. She said parents should shoulder more of the responsibility.

“Once again, schools are being blamed for all the problems in the world,” Stephens said. “While it’s im-portant that childcare facilities model good nutrition and healthy exercise, fundamentally it’s the parent’s responsibility to ensure that their children receive those things.”

Stephens added that the North Carolina Division of Child Development issues star-rated licenses to eligible child care centers, allowing parents to make informed decisions when choosing a child care facility. The rat-ings, which range from one to five stars, are based on the level of staff education and factors such as clean-liness and comfort of the environment, staff-to-child ratio and the quality of the interactions between adults and children.

Even with a rating system, Stephens said the high demand and limited number of five-star child care fa-cilities can make it difficult for parents to find high-quality child care.

With 75 percent of 3- to 5-year-old children receiv-ing care outside the home and consuming two-thirds of their daily calories at child-care centers, Neelon said parents and child care centers share the responsibility of teaching healthy habits.

Although educating child care providers is a more complicated infrastructure issue, Neelon said that states can make simple regulatory changes at no cost to the child care facility or the state. In July, for example, North Carolina passed a policy that requires child care centers to take children outside to play every day.

“Finding low-cost or no-cost ways to get kids healthier should be our first line of defense,” Neelon said.

SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

Doctors claim that if a preschool-aged child becomes overweight, they have an increased risk of disease later in life .

4 | WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011 THE CHRONICLE

JeffJohnsonMSNBC Contributor,

White House Correspondent for the GrioFormer NAACP Youth & College Division National Director

Wednesday, September 28, 20117:00 PMBryan University Center - Von Canon RoomsBusiness Casual Attire

Co-Sponsors:

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People - Student Organization Finance Committee - The University and Cultural Fund - Black Student Alliance - National Pan-Hellenic Council, Inc. - National Society of Black Engineers - Impact Christian Fellowship - Duke Africa - Students of the Caribbean Association

Universityendowment shows growth

From Staff ReportsTHE CHRONICLE

Compared to peer universities, Duke’s endowment is on the upswing.

Duke saw a 24.5 percent return for the 2010-2011 fiscal year, which ended June 30, The Chronicle reported Sept. 26. Endowment investments outpaced those of Harvard University—whose en-dowment increased 21 percent in 2010-2011—and Stanford University—whose endowment increased 22 percent, ac-cording to Bloomberg Sept. 27.

The Duke University Endowment is now valued at $5.7 billion. Duke’s endowment fell 20 percent between June 2008 and January 2009. As a result, major projects —such as plans for New Campus—were put on hold, and the University announced $50 million in budget cuts.

At the end of the 2008-2009 fiscal year, the endowment was worth approxi-mately $4.4 billion, according to the University’s 2008-2009 financial state-ments. The endowment increased 13.2 percent in the 2009-2010 fiscal year, ris-ing to $4.8 billion.

Duke’s endowment has recovered about 80 percent of the losses it sustained in the economic downturn, The Chronicle re-ported Sept. 26.

More than 4,000 individual funds and donations contribute to Duke’s en-dowment.

by Joe StephensTHE WASHINGTON POST

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Six years ago, Senate Finance Committee investigators mounted an inquiry into an exotic variety of nonprofit organization that they feared affluent families were using to warehouse wealth while simultaneously earning themselves lucrative tax breaks.

One nonprofit group singled out for scrutiny was a low-profile organization based in Tulsa, Okla. That group, the George Kaiser Family Foundation, later became the biggest investor in Solyndra, the solar company that collapsed last month after burning through a half-bil-lion dollars in taxpayer money.

Congressional interest in the nonprofit group was so high in 2005, in fact, that an attorney for then-committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, used it in an in-ternal memo as a case study into whether the tax loophole should be closed. The memo, previously unreported, pointed out that in 2002 the foundation distrib-uted just 0.2 percent of its assets to char-ity. That was acceptable under the law be-cause GKFF, as it is known, was founded to financially “support” another nonprofit group, the Tulsa Community Foundation.

Most private foundations must spent 5 percent or more of their assets on chari-table work each year or face financial pen-alties.

“Tax deductions for charitable contri-butions are intended to encourage trans-fer of wealth to those in need,” the memo said. “Individuals should not be allowed to ‘park’ their assets in charities in order to preserve their assets in perpetuity, while simultaneously benefiting from a chari-table contribution deduction.”

The loophole used by GKFF, the memo concluded, “is now being used by wealthy individuals to avoid the private foundation rules.” Those organizations, it said, were in effect “conducting the abusive activities Congress intended to curb” when it established the 5 percent

Investment in failed solar firm raises questions about nonprofit

SEE NONPROFIT ON PAGE 6

One in five same-sex couples say they are married, census figures show

by Carol MorelloTHE WASHINGTON POST

WASHINGTON, D.C. — One in five of the nation’s 646,000 same-sex couples consider themselves married, according to census figures released Tuesday show-ing a sharp rise in the number of gay people willing to identify themselves as couples.

Same-sex couples make up just 1 percent of the 64 million couples in

the country, including married couples and unmarried partners, and barely half a percentage point of all households. But the number of same-sex couples in-creased 80 percent over those counted in the 2000 census.

The figures represent couples who chose to identify themselves to the cen-sus as spouses or unmarried partners liv-ing together. A post-census study by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School

of Law found that 10 percent of same-sex couples did not reveal their relation-ship, even though the census is confi-dential.

“The bulk of the increase is people being more willing to identify them-selves,” said Gary Gates, a Williams Institute demographer who analyzes trends in the gay community. “There

SEE SAME-SEX ON PAGE 5

THE CHRONICLE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011 | 5

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included cabernet-braised beef bourgui-gnon and steamed Carolina wild clams in a tomato and corn broth. These ingredients for these dishes—among others—came from local suppliers such as Grant’s Sea-food, Chatham Hill Vinery, Harris Acres Farms and the Duke farm, according to a Bon Appetit release Sept. 22. The chal-lenge also offered vegetarian and vegan options.

The challenge is in its seventh year, McGowan said, adding that transforming University eateries into local-produce-only venues was a detailed process.

“Everything from salad dressings to bev-erages to the cobblers that Chef Ryan Sides made at the Marketplace must be made entirely from local ingredients,” McGowan wrote in an email Tuesday.

Bon Appetit recommends eating lo-cal food because it encourages biodiver-sity, supports local farm families, protects the environment and supports the local economy, the release stated. Local food is also considered to be more nutritious and better-tasting.

“These providers are often certified organic or use organic growing and har-vesting practices,” McGowan said. “Qual-ity and freshness are key.... What we really want students to realize is that these are all

standard, daily practices in all of our kitch-ens.”

The event at the Great Hall was highly attended by students and faculty.

Henrique Silva, a second-year law stu-dent, said he was impressed by how fresh the produce looked, adding that he thought the Eat Local Challenge was a good idea.

“It helps local people instead of big companies,” Silva said.

In order for a farm to participate in the challenge, it must be owner-operated and earn less than $5 million in annual sales for produce, Bon Appetit Resident District Manager Nate Peterson said.

“Smaller family-run farms are better stewards of their land [because] they are more aware of the chemicals they put in the land,” said Nicole Tocco, a recent grad-uate of the Nicholas School of the Environ-ment. “[They also] use sustainable agricul-ture techniques, such as cover crops”.

Growing cover crops helps prevent ero-sion and replace nutrients. They also cap-ture carbon emissions, which helps fight against global warming.

Tocco, who is also a manager-in-training for Bon Appetit, said purchasing from arti-san food-makers requires knowledge about what is in season and the logistical issues as-sociated with sourcing from smaller farms. Purchasing local food from smaller farms requires more attention to ingredients, she said, adding that Bon Appetit prioritizes menu creativity and a focus on flavor.

“We cherish our relationships with lo-cal farmers and growers and in turn, take great pride in the food we serve each day,” McGowan said. “Customers have a right to know where their food is coming from. Showcasing our farmers during Eat Local Challenge is a way to take that to the next level, and let them know not just where, but who their food is coming from.”

LOCAL FOOD from page 1

SAMANTHA SCHAFRANK/THE CHRONICLE

Customers in the Great Hall can choose from local fruits and vegetables.

might be some increased partnering as the stigma declines, but that can't explain it all.”

The count of about 131,000 mar-ried same-sex couples is almost cer-tainly higher now, as New York state this year became the seventh, and larg-est, jurisdiction in the United States to legalize gay marriage. It had been legal in the District of Columbia less than a month before the census was taken in April 2010 amid a campaign by gay activist groups to encourage couples to identify their relationships on the census forms.

The census statistics show same-sex couples in every state, including married couples living in states where their unions are not legally recog-nized.The District has the nation's highest rate of same-sex couples, almost 2 percent of all households, though as a city its statistics are not really comparable to those of the states. About 750 of the city's 4,800 same-sex couples are married.

Proponents and opponents of same-sex marriage found solace in the census figures.

“It really shows us tremendous growth in the number of same-sex couples willing to stand up and be counted, and I hope it translates into governments being responsive to their needs,” said Brian Moulton, chief legislative counselor for the Human Rights Campaign advocating marriage equality. “It's a community that clearly exists all over the coun-try and is not willing to be largely ig-nored by the folks who are supposed to represent them.”

SAME-SEX from page 4

6 | WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011 THE CHRONICLE

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“[You] will not only help those communities but... develop the empathy, skills and sensibilities that will well prepare you for whatever you want to do with the next precious years of your lives,” he said. “[The mission of DukeEngage] is let a thousand flowers bloom and al-low our students to pursue their passions wherever these passions take them.”

Mlyn noted that greek males are underrepresented in DukeEngage. Demographic research about students who apply and participate in the program shows that 18 percent of all female students at Duke are in sororities and 24 percent of greek women participate in DukeEn-gage. But 14 percent of male students at Duke are in fraternities, and only 8 percent of greek men do Duke-Engage.

Evidence suggests that women are more empathetic

than their male counterparts, making women more in-ternally motivated to do service, Mlyn added.

Sophomore Mike Jin, a member of Delta Kappa Epsi-lon fraternity who participated in DukeEngage in China this summer, said in an interview that his DukeEngage experience was much more fulfilling than the commu-nity service he did for his fraternity.

“The greek community doesn’t take philanthropy se-riously,” Jin said.

He added that DukeEngage helped him establish professional connections that could be beneficial in the future.

“I got to meet the top-notch executives, [though] it did not change my [plan of] going to medical school,” Jin said.

Before Mlyn’s presentation, senior Lauren Pfeiffer, president of Alpha Delta Pi sorority said philanthropic activities connect Duke to the outside community, citing her sorority’s work with the Ronald McDonald House.

“Our world inside the Duke bubble is different from outside of Duke,” Pfeiffer said.

Seniors Joslyn Dunn, president of the National Pan-hellenic Council; Jenny Ngo, president of the Panhellen-ic Association; Zach Prager, president of the Interfrater-nity Council; and Xiao Zhu, president of the Inter-Greek Council, each expressed their pride in the philanthropic activities their communities had done at local, national and international levels.

“Our women provide themselves on [their] effort and its contributions not only to Duke and Durham but also the communities that we might not be able to reach physically,” Ngo said.

The leaders listed the many charitable activities con-ducted by each chapter in the past year, including work-ing with children, serving the elderly and the homeless, raising awareness about gender violence and fundrais-ing for natural disaster relief.

“The greek organization is not jut a social organiza-tion, ” Prager said. “I joined this fraternity in order to be part of something that is bigger than myself.”

Zoila Airall, assistant vice president for student af-fairs, encouraged the greek community to define their relationships with each other and the rest of the world through citizenship, community and character. Airall added that the list of achievements was astounding and representative of the greek community’s generosity.

Senior Alex Irwin, member of Sigma Pi fraternity, said the accomplishments of his peers inspire him.

“Hearing all the achievements of the brothers who were sitting next to me challenges me to do more,” Ir-win said.

Sophomore Sam Marks, also a member of Sigma Pi, said that the convocation made him realize that greek philanthropy is effective.

“I feel we actually do things that make a difference,” Marks said.

THANH HA NGUYEN/THE CHRONICLE

President of the Interfraternity Council Zach Prager was one of four greek council presidents to speak at the Greek Convocation Tuesday.

CONVOCATION from page 1

minimum payout for foundations.Endowed by Oklahoma financier and Democratic

fundraiser George Kaiser, GKFF gives to support early childhood education for the poor, to a University of Oklahoma program focusing on community medicine and toward the beautification of Tulsa.

But despite its name, the $4 billion foundation is not a private foundation under tax law. Instead, Kai-ser established the organization as what is known as a “supporting organization.” There are thousands of supporting organizations in the United States, and although they are perfectly legal, some reformers think they shouldn’t be, especially one that stock-piles $4 billion.

“In that case, that's not supporting anything but it-self,” Pablo Eisenberg of Georgetown University's Cen-ter for Public & Nonprofit Leadership said of GKFF. “I think it should be abolished.”

By law, Kaiser would be entitled to tax write-offs for cash and stock he donated to the organization.

In a written statement, GKFF stressed that it was law-ful and “not uncommon” for a supporting organization to include the word "foundation" in its name.

“The purpose of the structure is to support the community, state and other charities focused princi-pally on reducing the cycle of poverty, mainly in the greater Tulsa area,” the statement said. “We have in-creased donations as opportunities presented them-selves. Someday, we fully expect to achieve 5 percent giving, although we are under no legal obligation to do so.”

Since 2007, GKFF has made about $300 million in grants to charity, not including millions of dollars in loans and other direct support it has offered to com-munity improvement projects. The organization passed a “full audit” by the IRS, the statement said.

“The programs that the foundation has invested in, like early childhood development and reducing female incarceration rates in Oklahoma, have driv-en substantial behavioral and policy change in the community and state. GKFF will make an impact for generations to come and we are in the earliest stages of our giving.”

If GKFF were organized as a private foundation, it probably would be barred from owning a large per-centage of any single business, tax experts said. That could have precluded it from owning more than a third of Solyndra, they said. At the end of 2009, GKFF listed its Solyndra investment as worth $342 million, more than twice the value of any other securities the organization held. Solyndra said in filings made be-fore its collapse that it had agreed to consider build-ing a future factory in Tulsa.

NONPROFIT from page 4

FOOTBALL

Riley tries to catch on in NFLBreaking down bowl chances

After a disappointing 0-2 start to the season, skeptics criticized David Cutcliffe’s football team for not showing enough progress in his fourth year at the helm. His squad has battled back to .500, however, after a road conference win and a homecoming blowout.

The Blue Devils have won back-to-back games despite missing several key players due to inju-ries. Cutcliffe acknowl-

edged that the 12 scholarship play-ers Duke missed Saturday were more than he has

had to deal with in recent memory, but he believes the team is equipped with the depth to handle these losses.

Although next week’s bye may pro-vide much-needed recovery time, the Blue Devils face perhaps their most im-portant matchup towards reaching bowl eligibility against Florida International this Saturday.

The matchup with the Golden Panthers presents a tipping point for the year. Duke goes on the road to face a talented Florida International squad that won the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl last year. Oddsmakers in Vegas have the traveling Blue Devils as a three-point underdog, but Duke cannot af-ford to lose if it wants to reach its first bowl since the 1994 season.

“The goal is the bowl game,” linebacker Kelby Brown said. “That’s what we’re hunt-ing. That’s where we want to get. I’ve always got it in the back of my mind and I think everyone else does too.”

If the Blue Devils emerge victorious Sat-urday night, they will have half of the six wins necessary to qualify for a bowl bid. Looking at the remaining schedule, Duke faces three types of games in conference play.

The should-winsThere are two games on the slate that

stand out as expected wins for any team as-piring to postseason play.

On Oct. 22, Duke hosts Wake Forest. Although the Demon Deacons sport a 2-1 record, their two wins have come against lowly Gardner-Webb and N.C. State, argu-ably the worst team in the conference so far. Wake Forest was just 3-9 a year ago, but they beat the Blue Devils 54-48 in a shootout last season in Winston-Salem. If Duke can maintain the improvement it has shown in the rushing attack, it can control the clock against the Demon Deacons and should win this home game.

On Nov. 12, the Blue Devils travel on the road to face Virginia. Not only does Duke hold a three-game winning streak in this se-ries, but the Cavaliers have lost consecutive games, at North Carolina and at home to Southern Mississippi.

The Blue Devils must beat both of these

MattLevenbergOn Football

MEN’S SOCCER

Duke dominates hapless Hose

TYLER SEUC/THE CHRONICLE

Nick Palodichuk scored the Blue Devils’ fourth goal, his second of the game, in the 86th minute.SEE LEVENBERG ON PAGE 8

Duke 4

Hose 1

by Andrew BeatonTHE CHRONICLE

Playing a winless out-of-conference opponent was not supposed to be in-tense for the Blue Devils. But after the Blue Hose took an early 1-0 lead, it quickly became that way.

Duke fought back from its ear-ly deficit, though, to defeat Presby-

terian 4-1 at Koskinen Stadium. With the win—the team’s fourth-straight victory—the Blue Devils (5-4) move above .500 for the first time this season.

Duke played with a starting lineup that did not include James Belshaw or Sebas-tien Ibeagha. Belshaw was given the rest in order to give fellow captain Jan Trnka-Amrhein a chance in net, while Ibeagha already has four yellow cards on the year, and head coach John Kerr wanted to make sure he was available for Friday’s game against North Carolina.

Duke controlled possession from the start, though both teams struggled early to put together good scoring opportuni-ties. The game’s first shot was not regis-tered until more than 10 minutes into play, when Andrew Wenger received a ball on the ground that put him in the

clear on the left edge of the 18-yard box, only to have his attempt saved by Blue Hose goalkeeper Ethan Watson.

Although the Blue Devils continued to register strong opportunities, junior Byron Quinatoa put the game’s first goal away for Presbyterian (0-8). Quinatoa fired a ball through the middle from just outside the 18-yard box in what appeared to be a pass attempt. Both the Duke defenders and the Blue Hose attackers whiffed on going for the ball, however, leaving Trnka-Amrhein out of position and unable to bat it away.

“Tuesday night games are always chal-lenging for us,” Kerr said. “We were sloppy tonight, and not as sharp as we normally are. We made life difficult for ourselves.”

Wenger finally converted on one of his many chances, putting away his 11th goal of the season with 12:10 left in the period. Chris Tweed-Kent set it up, poking in a lead pass that cleared the Presbyterian defense, giving Wenger a one-on-one opportunity with the goalkeeper.

With the game knotted at one, the Blue Devils kept the ball in Blue Hose territory and quickly put the game under wraps in the second half thanks to their freshmen. Nick Palodichuk gave Duke a 2-1 lead with

SportsThe Chronicle

www.dukechroniclesports.com

WEDNESDAYSeptember 28, 2011

ONLINENotes from Lunch with Cut, a weekly mid-week update from the football team.

An in-depth look at some of the numbers behind Duke’s win over Tulane.

CHRONICLE FILE PHOTO

Eron Riley has bounced between the practice squads of three teams in the same number of NFL seasons.

by Matt LevenbergTHE CHRONICLE

Editor’s note: This is Part 1 of a three-part se-ries looking at former Duke football players in the NFL. Today, Matt Levenberg writes about Eron Riley. Tomorrow, Scott Rich looks at Thad Lewis, and Alex Young covers Vincent Rey Friday.

It has been a decade since the last Duke player was drafted into the NFL, but that hasn’t stopped several recent graduates from trying to make their way to the pros. One of those is wide receiver Eron Riley, who played for the Blue Devils until 2009.

Riley exploded onto the scene during his junior year in 2007, racking up 830 re-ceiving yards and nine touchdowns on just 40 receptions on his way to a second-team All-ACC selection. The highlight of his col-legiate career came against Navy on Sept. 22, 2007, when he caught six passes for 235 yards and four scores, including two recep-tions of more than 65 yards.

He continued to have success through his senior year, and he currently ranks third in school history in career receiv-ing touchdowns.

“Obviously Cutcliffe is offensive-mind-ed, so I learned a lot from him,” Riley said. “Learning quarterback reads, screen cover-ages…I’m very appreciative for everything he taught me.”

Although some scouts and mock drafts projected Riley to be chosen in the mid-dle or late rounds of the 2009 NFL Draft,

SEE RILEY ON PAGE 8

SEE M. SOCCER ON PAGE 8

8 | WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011 THE CHRONICLE

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Soon after the draft, Riley was signed as an un-drafted free agent by the Baltimore Ravens and spent all of 2009 on the team’s practice squad. He received another opportunity to make the Ravens’ active ros-ter the next year, but he did not survive the final cuts. He was unemployed for over a month before the Carolina Panthers added him in October 2010. That engagement did not last long, though, and he was re-leased after spending less than a week with Carolina. Finding another job did not prove difficult, as the Denver Broncos came calling just three days after his release from the Panthers.

“It’s been a rough road,” Riley said. “It’s had a lot of ups and downs, but it’s what I have always wanted. I just have to keep going at it.”

Riley impressed in the preseason this year, catching two touchdowns, including a game-winner which was nomi-nated by ESPN as one of the top plays of the preseason. After his strong performance, many experts projected that Riley would make the active roster. Unfortunately for Riley, though, the Broncos made a surprise last-minute move.

One of Riley’s former ACC rivals, ex-Georgia Tech re-ceiver Demaryius Thomas, had missed most of the 2010 season with foot and ankle problems, and fully tore his Achilles’ tendon while working out in February. The re-covery process was expected to last six to eight months.

“We’re hoping to get him back maybe halfway through the season,” Broncos vice president of football operations John Elway told ESPN.

But the Broncos made a sudden decision to add Thomas to the roster, despite that the former first-round pick had not participated at all in the preseason.

“Somewhat,” Riley said when asked if he was sur-prised that he didn’t make the roster. “I know it’s a numbers game around here.”

Riley has not yet had his opportunity to shine on Sunday despite several injuries to Denver’s receivers. Top targets Brandon Lloyd and Eddie Royal have been banged up, and Thomas has required surgery to repair a broken pinky fin-ger suffered very soon after his delayed return to practice.

Also above Riley on the depth chart is Eric Decker, the Broncos’ third-round pick in 2010, who has truly secured his spot this year, catching two touchdowns in the first three games of the season.

Riley’s hopes of making the roster took another hit when the Broncos acquired former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Quan Cosby last week to handle their return duties. Although Riley returned kicks at Duke, he has not been asked to do so in the NFL.

“I mean…not necessarily [disappointed,]” Riley said when asked if he was upset that Denver traded for Cos-by last week. “I can’t control that. He’s a return man, though, and I’m not a returner. I don’t know exactly what they needed him for.”

So for now, Riley remains on the practice squad. The practice squad trains with the players on the active roster but is paid significantly less and is not eligible to appear in games. The Broncos’ coaching staff has given the former Blue Devil very little indication as to when his number will be called, but he must stay ready in case receivers above him on the depth chart get injured.

“Sometimes it’s just tough staying into it knowing I’m not going to play,” Riley said of his biggest challenge. “I have to keep practicing because it can be at anytime. I have to keep going and keep pushing to be ready at anytime.”

Riley is concentrating on his training and improving his skills as much as possible. He has not given much thought to life after football, but with a Duke degree, he is in better shape than most practice squad players. It is very difficult for a practice squad player to guess if and where he will ultimately find a home.

“I would love for Denver to be a [long-term situa-tion],” Riley said. “But wherever I get a chance to play, that’s where I’ll be ecstatic to go.”

Riley still remembers his roots and tries to follow his alma mater whenever he can. He keeps in touch with his former teammates and coaches, who also have been following his career closely.

“I’m glad to see that his work is paying off in the NFL,” current Duke defensive end Kenny Anunike, who knew Riley from his days playing tight end before a position change, said. “I saw he had a preseason touch-down catch…Eron is one of my good friends.”

And no doubt Anunike would be glad to say that one of his good friends has achieved his NFL dreams. Riley hasn’t yet reached that point, but he has cemented his status as a legitimate prospect after his brush with the active roster this season.

RILEY from page 7

weak opponents, the two worst team remaining on their schedule. That pair of wins would bring their total to five, just one short of a bowl bid.

The likely lossesThree games stand out as the most difficult remain-

ing on the schedule—Florida State, Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech. These programs clearly form the top tier of the ACC, and all rank in the AP top-25. Although the games will be in Durham, Duke will be a major under-dog, and will likely lose all three.

Still though, the Blue Devils can afford to drop these games and still have hope for a bowl bid.

The toss-upsDuke’s bowl eligibility will likely come down to its ability

to pull off one road upset from its remaining two contests.The Blue Devils travel to Miami for a Nov. 5 game

against the Hurricanes, who have had an extremely bumpy season amidst a slew of suspensions following NCAA violations uncovered during the preseason. All of the suspended players will be back on the field by the time Duke arrives, but the Hurricanes have appeared vulnerable in early-season losses to Maryland and Kan-sas State. The teams’ last two matchups have been close, and the off-field distractions might be enough to get the Blue Devils over the edge.

The football rivalry may not garner as much atten-tion as the one in basketball, but the showdown with North Carolina on Thanksgiving Saturday has been extremely exciting in recent years. Even though the Blue Devils have lost seven consecutive games to the Tar Heels, five of the last six have been decided by eight points or less. You can be sure that if a bowl bid is in its sights, Duke will show up hungry and stand a real chance of winning this game.

LEVENBERG from page 7

33:35 remaining in the game, knocking the ball home after it had been batted by many players from both teams in front of the goal. Nat Eggleston slammed home his first career goal 20 minutes later, and Palodichuk sealed the deal with his second goal of the game—and fifth of the season—in the 86th minute.

“We should have all put more away,” Palodichuk said, “but I guess two is alright.”

Controversy emerged in the middle of the second half, when Tweed-Kent put home what appeared to be the third Duke goal. Wenger led the charge downfield for Duke, trying to sneak a pass to Tweed-Kent as the goalkeeper slid out for the ball. In his attempt to grab it, Watson ran into Wenger’s legs, injuring his rib. After a long delay, a foul was called on Wenger by the linesman, who observed the play from near midfield, drawing in irate reaction from Kerr.

Duke finished the game with dominant offensive sta-tistics, outshooting the Blue Hose 24-6, and notching 13 corner kicks compared to Presbyterian’s one. But to come out victorious against a stronger opponent such as North Carolina on Friday, it knows it will have to con-vert with fewer opportunities.

“I missed a ton of chances and we all missed a ton of chances,” Palodichuk said.

M. SOCCER from page 7

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Cultural groups at Duke may soon offer more than just a weekly meeting.

The Asian Students As-sociation, Black Student Alli-ance and Mi Gente have all ex-pressed interest in applying for their own hous-es in the house model. The administration has demon-strated willingness to support other student groups’ requests for space, and it is likewise ob-ligated to honor the requests of cultural groups.

Cultural houses could have immense potential at Duke. But, if handled poor-ly, they could also counter the house model’s pursuit of unity. This critique ap-plies across the board—the newly proposed Panhellenic houses could have the same

effect. For these projects to succeed, these groups should avoid structuring their houses along racial lines. Instead, they should aim to explore culture and

broaden stu-dents’ expo-sure to rich

traditions. We don’t mean to imply that these traditions are alien—merely that they are and ought to be of broad interest to Duke students.

To meet this end, house names should refl ect not a racial classifi cation but rather a categorical interest. For ex-ample, an “Asian language and culture house” might pro-mote inclusivity in a way that an “ASA” house could not. The objective of these houses should be to draw people in, rather than shut them out. In-

stead of posing the houses as a structured gathering space of a pre-existing club, they should be designed to attract new individuals.

In recruiting members for these cultural houses, ASA, BSA and Mi Gente should en-gage the broader Duke popu-lation. This would enable the groups to garner interest and best represent students that lie outside of their organiza-tion but still desire to live in the house.

Stanford University’s cul-tural houses offer an example that Duke students may want to mirror. They place a heavy emphasis on educational value within the house. Pro-gramming includes campus-wide cultural events, in-house classes, seminars and language tables. Each house encourages

faculty interaction with profes-sors in related academic de-partments. Such measures in Duke’s cultural houses might result in attracting members from a course of study relevant to the academic offerings of the house’s programming.

The proliferation of groups of all sorts requesting housing is not unexpected but may subvert the original goals of the house model. The principle purpose of this resi-dential shift is to foster unity and create communities, par-ticularly for independents. Part of this aim includes cre-ating more unaffi liated than affi liated houses.

But now, it seems that groups are trying to escape the house model—to remove themselves from randomiza-tion and uncertainty and sur-

round themselves with people whom they already know. The administration has honored the desires of student groups so far—and this is commend-able. But where does it end? The University may not be able to continue this trend without compromising the in-tent of house model. Eventu-ally, it may have to place some groups’ residential wishes in jeopardy.

While the proposed cul-tural houses possess the po-tential to foster a more racially segregated Duke, they could also encourage just the oppo-site. By making a concerted effort to engage the Duke community, cultural houses could temper the age-old self-segregation problem and put us one step closer to achieving a more unifi ed Duke.

If you’ve asked me how I am doing lately, you might have noticed that my response has ranged from “shambling around,” to plain

“shambling,” to, more frequently, the slightly more disillusioned “my life is in shambles.”

Like Randy Jackson’s “In it to win it!” on American Idol, “my life is in shambles” has become a sort of defi ning catchphrase. It’s my most frequent Twitter hashtag—if it were set to a bodacious beat, it would be my theme song.

All of this is probably a sign that I’m becoming stale in the vernacu-lar and need to learn some new, wittier vocabulary (#mylifeisnin-shambles). Still, in my ridiculously hectic Duke University experience—where I’m shambling 24/7, running around and attempting to fulfi ll my multitudinous obligations—it’s become a sort of life constant.

So why is my life in shambles?I’ll admit it. I’m, well, overexerting myself.

Drastically. I won’t go into specifi cs, but this se-mester, I’ve overloaded and taken on a few too many obligations. Perhaps, like many Duke stu-dents do, perhaps more. In any case, it’s too much.

All of this is probably the result of the achieve-ment culture that I, and many Duke students, have been raised in. My family has always encour-aged me to “do better” (stereotypical Indian/Asian Tiger parenting not withstanding). Regard-less, my mom’s insistence that I raise the bar has forced me to raise my own expectations, and now I’m the one encouraging myself to “do better,” challenging myself to as much as possible.

Let’s be real here. I have way too much work. My obligations run rampant, such that I have no idea what to do with myself, and my only way to come to terms with my academic ordeal is to utter the ubiquitous phrase “my life is in shambles.”

Call it falsely moralizing, but “do better” has been the cause and result of my shambling par-rot-cry. It’s my desire to do better, you see, that has caused me to overexert myself in the fi rst place. And it’s that same desire that has made my life so full of shambles—in order to do better, to fulfi ll my load to my best ability, I have no choice but to struggle and shamble around.

And, weirdly enough, it works! Faced with the relentless pressure of my workload, and a desire not to spend my post-graduate years living in a box, I have no choice but to, well, work. To work, work and work some more. And, even more strangely, I actually get my work done (most of

the time). Sure, I’ve fl aked on readings, or done fewer physics problems than I should before a quiz, or come running, out of breath, to class,

having fi nished the assignment only seconds before, but for the most part, I’ve been doing just fi ne.

Before this semester, my time management skills were at a big fat zero. I was lazy. I lived by the motto of “If you do it at the last minute, it’ll only take a minute!” Frankly, I spent long periods of time doing next to nothing, and scrambled to fi nish all my work at the last minute. Needless to say, I didn’t do as well in my classes as I

would have liked to, but, given free time, I just couldn’t do anything with it. How could I bring myself to do work when I had so much time ly-ing in front of me?

Now, no longer able to idle away large amounts of free time, I am forced to thoroughly plan out my workload. I do readings in between classes. I plan out essays in the shower. I even fi nish some assignments early. My productivity has increased a hundredfold.

That’s not to say my new lifestyle is a walk in the park. My newfound productivity and orga-nization have proven incredibly stressful. I feel as if I’m constantly climbing into an avalanche, unsure if I can fi nish my work. Oh, and I average about four hours of sleep a day—that’s why my given mood always revolves around “shambling.”

But this semester has taught me that these drawbacks of overexertion may be a fair price to pay for its rewards. I’ve done some of my best work so far this semester, even while shambling. So far, my grades haven’t suffered (disclaimer: I probably only have about fi ve grades total at this point). So I believe that perhaps taking on a little more than you can handle can actually prove to help more than it hurts. I’d even encourage it.

After all, every time I proclaim that “my life is in shambles,” it’s because I’m just trying to do better, to fulfi ll all my obligations to the best of my abilities. It’s because I’m challenging myself academically and pushing my limits well beyond what I thought they were.

In short, a desire to do better signifi es that you care, that you’re passionate about learning, understanding and delivering. At the end of the day, isn’t that the most important thing about a college education?

Indu Ramesh is a Trinity junior. Her column runs every other Wednesday.

commentaries10 | WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011 THE CHRONICLE

The C

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The Ind

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Dai

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uke

Uni

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editorial

#Mylifeisinshambles

The house model: not just for hellenophiles

”“ onlinecomment

Keep in mind that these groups are creating houses so that their members have the OPTION to live in such a house should they wish it. No one is being forced to racially segre-gate, and by equal logic, no one should be forced to racially desegregate if they really do want to live in a cultural house.

—“veritasaeternum” commenting on the story “Cultural groups consider forming housing sections.” See more at www.dukechronicle.com.

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commentariesTHE CHRONICLE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011 | 11

I honestly don’t remember when I fi rst read about Troy Davis’ case. Using reference points—namely when New Jersey abolished the death penalty—I can

safely say it was sometime in late 2007 or early 2008. I was a card-carrying member of Amnesty International who lobbied my Congressmen and State Senator to abolish the death penalty in New Jersey with a group of high school friends. I also sent letters. I sent a lot of letters.

Most injustices we fought against took place in far off places such as China or Russia or Saudi Arabia. The New Jersey death penalty case was arguing for a formality—the last execution in the state took place in 1963. Despite being jaded about these distant countries and their lackluster commitment to human rights, I knew that I lived in a country that val-ued justice.

Waterboarding? Extraordinary renditions? Sup-porting dictators? These were war tactics. My belief in this country faded but still stood, albeit on very shaky ground. Then I heard about Troy Davis. I was naive about most things then and probably still maintain a blissful innocence on many subjects to this day, but it was then that I realized that our justice system was im-perfect.

I do not know if Troy Davis is innocent or guilty. Rather, my argument centers on the idea of “beyond reasonable doubt.” In the case of Troy Davis, all but two of the state’s non-police witnesses from the trial have recanted or contradicted their original testimony. Many of these witnesses have stated in sworn affi davits that they were pressured or coerced by police into testi-fying or signing statements against Troy Davis. Dorothy Ferrell, for example, stated in a 2000 affi davit that she felt pressured by police to identify Davis as the shooter because she was on parole for a shoplifting conviction. One of the two witnesses who has not recanted his testi-mony is Sylvester “Red” Coles —an alternative suspect, according to the defense, against whom there is new evidence linking him to the crime. At this point nine individuals have signed affi davits implicating Sylvester Coles. The ninth witness initially told the police that he could not identify Davis at the crime scene before later incriminating Davis. There was no DNA evidence.

After this information came to light, the Associat-ed Press set out to fi nd the 12 jurors in 2009, some of whom spoke publicly for the fi rst time since the verdict. In interviews or affi davits, at least four said they were having second thoughts, based on claims by Davis’ at-torneys that key witnesses have backed away from their court testimony. One of the jurors, Brenda Forrest, gave a signed statement of her own saying she felt Davis

had been sentenced based on “incomplete and unreli-able evidence.”

If you suddenly feel there is “reasonable doubt,” know that you aren’t alone. As of Sept. 18, nearly one million people signed petitions urging the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles to grant clemency. Prominent politicians and leaders, in-cluding former President Jimmy Carter, Rev. Al Sharpton, Pope Benedict XVI, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former U.S. Congressman from Georgia and presi-dential candidate Bob Barr and former FBI Director and judge William S. Ses-sions called upon the courts to grant Da-

vis a new trial or evidentiary hearing.Davis’ appeals were hindered when the federal

funding of the Georgia Resource Center, which helped represent Davis, was cut by 70 percent, leading to the departures of most of the center’s lawyers and investiga-tors in 1995. According to a later affi davit by the execu-tive director of the center the “work conducted on Mr. Davis’s case was akin to triage.... There were numerous witnesses that we knew should have been interviewed, but lacked the resources to do so.”

The appeals failed, the last ditch efforts for clem-ency and a stay were dismissed and Troy Davis was ex-ecuted on Sept. 21, 2011.

The only way to reverse this injustice is to do away with the outdated and out-of-touch penalty known as capital punishment. According to a survey of the for-mer and present presidents of the country’s top aca-demic criminological societies, 88 percent of these ex-perts rejected the notion that the death penalty acts as a deterrent to murder. A 1993 Duke University study by Philip Cook and Donna Slawson found that “the death penalty costs North Carolina $2.16 million per execu-tion over the costs of a non-death penalty murder case with a sentence of imprisonment for life.” Studies in California, Maryland, Kansas, Florida and even Texas have come to similar conclusions. Since 1973, over 130 people have been released from death row with evi-dence of their innocence.

To put it simply, there is no actual need for the death penalty to exist ... it does anyway. And as long as it does, people like Troy Davis will be executed despite doubts. It is time the United States caught up with the rest of the developed world. Take action and use your voting power and voice to make change. Troy Davis may be gone, but his memory will go a long way to make sure no one will follow in his footsteps.

Antonio Segalini is a Trinity junior. His column runs every Wednesday.

I could write an exhaustive list detailing all the egre-gious things that Larry Moneta has done to the stu-dents at Duke during his time here. One offense,

however, stands above the rest. Last week, Larry Mon-eta verbally confi rmed what I already knew: as the vice president for student af-fairs, he does not care about the students or what they have to say.

Since I am sure that Larry Moneta would never lay eyes on the opinion sec-tion of a student newspa-per, I decided to attend last week’s House Model Forum, wishfully thinking that my voice would be heard. I was initially shocked at just how little thought had been put into a system that will be implemented next year. For example, the house model will employ a quota system for all houses under which 50 percent of a house is to made up sophomores, with the other half being juniors and seniors. Joe Gonzalez, associate dean for residence life, at one point said the goal is to have 20 percent of seniors live on campus. That would seem to contrast with the “right of return” policy that was harped on endlessly.

I was already amazed at the ineptitude portrayed by the administrators when one of my friends asked this question: “For a system that affects every student at Duke, why were the students not given the opportunity to vote on any aspect of the house model?” Up to this point, Joe Gonzalez and Esosa Osa, DSG vice president of residential life and dining, had fi elded all the ques-tions. This time, though, Larry Moneta decided to pipe up. He said “In a university setting, some decisions are consumer driven, and some are not. Just as the curricu-lum for a major is not decided by the students, neither is the housing model we choose to implement. It is an administrative decision.” At that moment, I immediately questioned Moneta’s understanding of basic economics. A university is a business just like any other. It thrives on high demand, and must offer high consumer value rela-tive to other “products” in the marketplace. As corpo-rate managers of Duke University, Larry Moneta and his colleagues should understand that everything in a busi-ness is, at least to some degree, “consumer driven.” With-out consumers, there is no company and Larry Moneta would be out of a job.

The House Model Forum ended in apropos fashion. A student bluntly asked “What would it take, in terms of number of people or amount of money, to make the house model die.” Larry Moneta quickly responded saying that there was nothing the students could do to prevent the implementation of the house model, fur-ther driving home his point that no amount of student protest could influence his beliefs about what the stu-dents want.

If Laurie Patton, the dean of arts and sciences, were to say that she didn’t care about what the students thought, that would be one thing. After all, students are not the best possible judges of which courses need to be mandatory within a major. They are, however, the best judges of their own residential experience and their input is invaluable. Certainly, executive decisions have to be made somewhere along the line, but for the vice president for student affairs to be so blatant about his lack of regard for student input is appalling. It is almost as unacceptable as his stance on transparency. Regard-ing the recently embattled accountability policy, Larry Moneta was quoted in The Chronicle as saying that “It has always been our prerogative to extend accountability to anyone we thought was accountable—we’ve just nev-er been transparent about it.” If the discontent student body has told the administration anything, it is that they want more transparency and more input in the decision process. Larry Moneta leads the offi ce that is most suited to address these concerns, but he is without a doubt the administrator who cares about them the least.

Here’s how I see it: We need a VP of student affairs who will put the student back in student affairs. Larry Moneta is not that person.

Scott Briggs is a Trinity sophomore. His column runs every other Wednesday.

The inevitable injustice The best of Larry Moneta

scott briggsas i see it

antonio segalinimusings

12 | WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011 THE CHRONICLE

to avoid the stale sample and ate exclusively from the fresh box. Frequent moviegoers who habitually ate popcorn in the theater, however, were indiscriminate in their pop-corn preferences, eating both stale and fresh popcorn in roughly equal amounts, according to the study.

“When people are in an environment in which they associate with a certain behavior, they tend to perform the action before think-

ing about it,” Neal said. “By the time they real-ize, it’s already too late.”

Some students said they agreed with the study’s findings, especially given their share of personal experiences.

“I could definitely see myself eating the week-old popcorn,” said freshman Robert Ansel, a self-described, avid moviegoer. “If I go to the movies, I get popcorn—it’s just what people do.”

Some members of the Duke community, however, remained skeptical.

“I just can’t imagine people eating week-

old popcorn out of habit,” said freshman Michael Gloudemans. “It’d be too unappe-tizing to stomach.”

Despite the influence of environment in eating behavior, there are still ways to combat bad habits, Neal noted.

“A lot of bad habits are attributed to the en-vironment—make sure you are not exposed to these triggers, then you will slowly begin to break your habits,” said Neal. “For example, if you have a habit of going to the McDonalds in the Bryan Center because it’s on your way to class every day, switch up your route so you

don’t put yourself in that situation.” From this popcorn study, the next step

is not only to conduct further research, but also to take the findings to more practical applications.

“Many current help programs have this ingrained perception that bad habits are controlled by preferences and not by the environment,” Neal said. “The next step would be to figure out what types of pro-grams will help people break their habits effectively so that they can live healthier lives in the future.”

HABITS from page 1

native. For example, Tijuana has a popu-lation of 1.3 million, but 3.6 million cross through its border everyday.

Femicide, the deliberate killing of women, is one of the most significant crimes in Ciudad Juarez that results from confrontations between immigrants and border patrol. Between 1993 and 2010, 887 victims were registered in Ciudad Juarez alone, Alarcon noted. Justice for Our Daughters, made up of relatives of the affected women in Juarez, reported 187 women killed in 2011. A similar hu-man rights organization, Return Our Daughters, reported 42 youth missing from 2008 to 2009.

The statistics from society and gov-ernment conflict because there has been no further investigation of the hundreds of missing people cases, Alarcon said.

The community and the Mexican gov-ernment have dissenting views on the border conflicts and the number of ca-sualties due to the lack of investigations into many cases, Alarcon added.

High-ranking officials in the Mexican government’s immigration agency are

not doing enough to find solutions to the border conflict, Alarcon noted. Given the persistent conflict, the incentive to mi-grate has diminished. Corruption among police officers makes it difficult to distin-guish between trustworthy law enforce-ment and crooked cops, she added.

Alarcon explained the impact of the “maquiladoras,” which are businesses that assemble, manufacture and pro-cess or repair materials that undergo the manufacturing process in Mexico and are later re-exported for sale in the United States. At one point, about three million agriculture and railway male workers were hired to work in these “maquiladoras,” she said. Technically, “maquiladoras” were not legal under the Mexican constitution, but they played a significant economic role in Mexico as a whole in the past and continue to do so in Ciudad Juarez.

Alarcon also noted how the now-de-funct Bracero Program may have con-tributed to tensions along the border. The program, which existed from 1942 to 1964, gave more than 4.5 million jobs to temporary workers. After the program ended, many of those workers came to the United States as illegal immigrants.

“I thought that [Alarcon] provided a good supplement to when a ‘maquila-dora’ manager came to Duke to speak,” senior Stella Dee said.

In 1993, the U.S. attempted to seal the border while negotiating with Mex-ico on the North American Free Trade Agreement, Alarcon said. The agree-ment required Mexico to change its constitution so that it no longer allowed communal land ownership. The Mexi-can farmers could not compete with the larger American farmers, so the migra-tion to the U.S. and the number of “ma-quiladora” workers grew.

New groups of people also began to migrate, including women and people of higher education. Unfortunately, Alar-con said, the number of deportations and people who died trying to cross the border grew as well. She cited five thousand people who have died trying to cross the border, adding that people who were brought to the United States as young children have been deported.

Mothers and children without docu-ments are separated from their fathers and children born in the U.S., Alarcon said. She described one example of a girl who has a deep fear of deportation.

“The border is inside of her,” Alar-con said. “Even going to the market is scary.”

Violence that has resulted from immi-gration confrontations is widespread in Mexico, Alarcon noted. The violence is concentrated in certain cities, like Dur-ango, Chihuahua and San Luis Potosi.

Drug cartels often buy their weapons from the United States, Alarcon said. For example, Los Zetas, one of the most powerful drug cartels in Mexico, was highly trained in the use of weapons in the U.S. before it became corrupt and orchestrated routine killings in Mexico.

Freshman Liliana Fiorenti said she liked that Alarcon related the border situation directly to the U.S.

“We have to discuss this problem,” Fiorenti said. “This is connected to the U.S.—it is not just Mexico’s problem.”

Family members of victims and or-ganizations like Las Casas del Migrante and Familiares de los Desaparecidos are working to bring awareness to the prob-lems and reconstruct the social fabric of Mexico.

Alarcon noted that people must come together as a community to try to find the solutions.

BORDERS from page 1