August 27, 2014

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The ChronicleT H E I N D E P E N D E N T D A I LY AT D U K E U N I V E R S I T Y

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2014 ONE HUNDRED AND TENTH YEAR, ISSUE 5WWW.DUKECHRONICLE.COM

Eric Lin | Th e ChroniclePresident Barack Obama, pictured above, shakes the hand of Daniel Dellinger, the American Legion’s national commander, prior to addressing the Legion’s 96th National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. Tuesday. Obama spoke about foreign policy and the Veterans Aff airs controversy.

Obama pledges VA reform during Charlotte visitJenna Zhang

Local & National Editor

Charlotte, N.C. — President Barack Obama pledged a new “culture of ac-countability” for the Department of Veterans Affairs during his address to the American Legion in Charlotte, N.C. Tuesday.

The president announced 19 execu-tive reforms in response to controversy surrounding allegations that VA clinics covered up treatment delays. The re-forms included improving employment opportunities for veterans, providing them better access to healthcare and making it easier for them to get loans.

Calling the delays in treatment of veterans at VA hospitals “inexcusable,” Obama assured the audience that in-competent senior officials will be re-moved—a statement met with general applause.

“What we’ve come to learn is that the conduct we’ve seen at too many fa-cilities…is outrageous,” Obama stated. “I want you to know, directly from me, that we’re focused on this at the highest level.”

Obama also said the White House will continue its endeavors to end vet-eran homelessness, announcing that the number of homeless veterans has dropped by 25,000, or approximately one-third, since 2010.

The president outlined new measures to assist veterans with loans and student debt. Interest on federal student loans will be set at 6 percent for veterans, and a new partnership with American banks will help simplify the process to obtain low interest rates for mortgages.

The White House will also take fur-ther steps to help veterans find employ-ment and transition back to civilian life.

“If you were a medic in a warzone, you shouldn’t have to take Nursing 101,”

Obama said.He added that veteran unemploy-

ment is currently lower than the nation-al average, whereas it had been higher several years ago.

The president’s remarks follow his signing of the Veterans Access, Choice and Ac-countability Act earlier this month. The over-whelmingly bipartisan measure seeks to over-haul the VA system by giving the Secretary of the VA the authority to remove incompetent senior executives.

VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, Duke Graduate School ‘76, resigned in May amid a growing scandal related to wait times at VA hospitals. Following the rev-elation that as many as 40 veterans died while awaiting care at the Phoenix VA hospital, calls for Shinseki’s firing came

from several members of Congress and high-profile veterans—including Ameri-can Legion president Daniel Dellinger, who was present at Tuesday’s address. Shinseki’s replacement, Robert McDon-ald, who served on the Board of Visitors

for the Fuqua School of Business from 2005-2012, was approved by the Senate in July.

“We are going to fix what is wrong, we are going to do right by you, we are going to do right by your families,” Obama said of the lead-

ership change. “That is a solemn pledge and commitment I’m making to you here.”

Obama also discussed U.S. foreign policy—focusing on the departure of American troops from Iraq and contin-

See Obama on Page 4

Our message to anyone who harms our

people is so—America does not forget. Our reach is long, we are patient.

— President Barack Obama

New Director for Muslim LifeImam Adeel Zeb will be replacing Imam Abdullah Antepli as the Director for Muslim Life and Muslim chaplain | Page 3

2 | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2014 www.dukechronicle.com The Chronicle

AAAS TownhallAAAS TownhalAAAS Townhall

With Professors: William Darity, Jr., Angel Harris, Karla Holloway, Wahneema Lubiano, Mark Anthony Neal & Luke Powery

Monday, September 1 at 7p.m. 115 Friedl BuildingRefreshments will be served

Academics Teaching #FergusonAcademics Teaching #FergusonAcademics Teaching #Ferguson

University fi nishes roadwork, Campus Drive pipesKali Shulklapper

University Editor

While construction continues on high-profile, long-term campus projects such as Perkins Library and the West Union, a number of smaller projects were completed over the summer.

Much of the summer’s work dealt with Duke’s roads, including repaving Campus Drive and reshaping the Chapel Drive Circle. On East Campus, crews widened the entrance to Brodie Gym—allowing two vehicles to pass at once—in addition to repairing a sinkhole in the

Brown Parking Lot.The Campus Drive project was the

last step of a years-long effort to install pipes that will bring chilled water to East Campus and eventually allow for air conditioning in more buildings. Crews began the project in 2012 and have been working during the Winter and Summer breaks that have followed—periods that have lower traffic and allow for the road to be shut down more easily.

Crews finished installing the pipes this summer and did a complete repaving of the road.

In addition to the projects completed over the summer, several other ventures

are supposed to wrap up in the coming months.

The waterproofing of Rubenstein Library’s foundation began this summer and will be completed by the end of September. The project required closing a section of Chapel Drive going from the West Campus Bus Stop to the Chapel steps. Work took a brief hiatus last week to allow for easy navigation during Convocation and student move-in, but is set to continue and be finished in the coming weeks.

During the last two weeks of August, the Rubenstein Library experienced the removal and replacement of windows and

roof tiles, the installation of mechanical ductwork, and the continuation of interior wall framing. A brief electrical shutdown in both Perkins and Bostock libraries allowed for the installation of new equipment in the Rubenstein Library’s main electrical room. Crews have also worked on exterior stone repair and restoration.

Meanwhile, the first floor of Bostock Library remains closed for its transformation into the new Research Commons, recently renamed “The Edge.” The space is anticipated to be

See Construction on Page 4

Th u Nguyen | Th e Chronicle

The Chronicle www.dukechronicle.com WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2014 | 3

Behavioral LabThe Fuqua School of BusinessDuke University

We need research participants! Participate in studies at the business school! Help us

find the answers to tough business questions!

Our studies are completely voluntary. You can sign up online at your convenience.

These are pen and paper or computer studies.

Registration is easy and convenient through our website: fuqua.sona-systems.com.

If you have questions, please contact the Behavioral Lab Manager at [email protected].

Research Participants Needed

Imam Adeel Zeb to replace Antepli as Muslim chaplain

Aleena Karediya Local & National Editor

Antepli praises Zeb’s background and personality: “Knowing that he’s coming, I have absolute confidence.”

Beginning Sept. 20, Imam Adeel Zeb will take on the role of Muslim chaplain at Duke.

Zeb will be replacing Imam Abdullah Antepli, an adjunct faculty member of Islamic Studies. Zeb has worked as a Muslim chaplain at Trinity College and Wesleyan University, both in Connecticut. He has also served as a chaplain nationally, delivering the Friday Khutba prayer on Capitol Hill and visiting several

hospitals across the United States.Zeb’s background makes him

perfect for the role at hand, Antepli said.

“Quite honestly, I’d be worried if someone without college chaplaincy [experience] came to work here,” Antepli said. “He has wealth of knowledge, incredible background, warm personality and is an outgoing person. Knowing that he’s coming, I

have absolute confidence.”Zeb received his master’s degree in Islamic Chaplaincy

at Hartford Seminary, and has taken on chaplain roles in a number of different settings outside of universities including at the Children’s Medical Center of Dallas.

Antepli also has an extensive background in Muslim studies. He completed his basic education in Turkey and then served as a missionary in Burma and Malaysia. He will continue to teach and be a part of the Muslim Students Association at Duke.

Antepli’s role as chaplain has laid the groundwork for Zeb tremendously, said Abdul Rahman Latif, a junior and MSA member.

“I haven’t met Imam Zeb yet, but I’ve only heard

good things about him,” Latif said. “I’m really excited for his arrival.”

The chaplain role at any university is three-pronged and deals with many different aspects of Muslim college life, Antepli said.

“The first goal is, obviously, to hold religious leadership for your own community—including teaching the Quran and giving sermons,” Antepli said. “[Chaplains] also have to provide personal care and mentorship and make sure a student’s Muslim identity

is a helpful companion to college education.”Antepli added that in addition to his formal

education, Zeb’s personal background makes him an excellent candidate in forging bonds with Muslim students.

“[Zeb] was born and raised American, went through college education and comes from a similar background as other students,” he said. “He’s much younger and can relate to difficulties of college students nowadays. I have full confidence in his abilities as chaplain.”

Special to The ChronicleImam Abdullah Antepli, pictured above, addresses members of Duke’s Muslim community at a Jummah on the Quad event last Spring. Antepli will be replaced as Director for Muslim Life and Muslim chaplain by Imam Adeel Zeb.

Imam Adeel Zeb

4 | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2014 www.dukechronicle.com The Chronicle

CONSTRUCTIONcontinued from page 2

accessible this winter and will officially open in January 2015.

Somewhat similar to the Link, the new research area is designed to provide a space for researchers and project teams to collaborate and experiment with interdisciplinary learning.

In a Duke Libraries blog post, Aaron Wellborn—the libraries’ director of communications—described the new name as multi-facted. The word “edge” suggests standing on the brink of something, he wrote. The name “The Edge” also comes with the subtle hint of gaining an advantage.

Emma Loewe | The ChronicleMembers of the Class of 2015 enjoyed a Senior Class Kickoff featuring a faculty-student basketball game and an appearance by Duke alum and NBA star Grant Hill.

One last hurrah

OBAMAcontinued from page 1

ued surveillance flights over Syria as part of a “broader strategy.”

While the president maintained that the U.S. would not entangle itself in foreign military conflicts in the future without the support of other countries, he vowed to seek justice against the “barbaric terrorists” of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria for the death of American journalist James Foley. Foley was beheaded by ISIS last week, alleg-edly in retaliation for U.S. air strikes.

“Our message to anyone who harms our people is so—America does not forget,” he said. “Our reach is long, we are patient.”

Following Obama’s remarks, McDon-ald took the stage to speak about his plans for reform.

Both of North Carolina’s senators—Republican Richard Burr and Democrat Kay Hagan—were present for Tuesday’s speeches.

The Chronicle www.dukechronicle.com WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2014 | 5

ACROSS 1 Truffle-seeking

beast 5 Like some orders

or tales 9 Bits in marmalade14 Works of Goya,

e.g.15 Utah skiing

mecca16 Words after “You

can’t fire me!”17 Speed Wagons of

old autodom18 *Movie stand-in20 Toddler’s

banishment to a corner, say

22 Talkative bird23 It may be bid in

the end24 Singer/songwriter

Corinne Bailey ___

25 ZZ Top, for one29 *Crowd noise,

for example33 Devoid of wool,

now34 Keep in touch, in

a way

35 Palindromic girl’s name

38 Bach work41 iPhone data:

Abbr.42 Join, as a table44 End of a Greek

series46 *One’s physical

or emotional burdens

52 Love-letter letters53 A “little word” in

charades54 Enjoy to the max55 Like a soufflé’s

texture57 What the moon

does during a lunar eclipse

59 Complete freedom … and a hint to each half of the answer to each starred clue

63 Sign of virtue64 Tilter’s weapon65 Anthony’s

longtime partner on satellite radio

66 “___ option …”

67 Where sailors go68 Like odor-

indicating lines, in comics

69 The latest

DOWN 1 Tippler’s account 2 Tater Tots maker 3 Superprecise, as

some clocks 4 Tries for again,

as an office 5 Fragrance name

that’s forbidden-sounding

6 Jillions 7 Old Ford model 8 Nonprofessional 9 Promised Land,

to Rastafarians10 Where it’s always

zero degrees11 Benchwarmer12 Up to, briefly13 Fr. woman with a

63-Across19 Got away from

one’s roots?21 Should24 What your blood

may do when you’re frightened

26 Completely screw up

27 Infatuated with28 Praiseful works30 Pal of Pooh31 Humanoid

monster of myth32 Walk with an

attitude35 Nile reptiles36 Asset of an

oceanfront home37 First razor with a

pivoting head39 Diplomatic fig.40 Word before set

or service

43 With suspicion, as a look

45 Shiite leader who claims direct descent from Muhammad

47 Buster?48 “As I was saying

…”49 Anxiety-free50 The Brady Bill is

one

51 Popular printers

56 Certain superstore

57 604, in old Rome

58 Solution to the classic riddle “What force or strength cannot get through, / I, with gentle touch, can do”

59 Crunchy sandwich

60 Mekong Valley native

61 T or F, perhaps: Abbr.

62 Water-quality org.

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6 | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2014 commentary The Chronicle The Chronicle commentary WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2014 | 7

Yik Yak has wheedled its way to Duke. A so-cial media platform that has pervaded college campuses seemingly overnight, Yik Yak allows users to share anonymous posts with others within a 1.5-mile radius. Duke’s freshman class appears to have a particularly strong case of Yik Yak fever, using the platform to comment on the novelties of college life. The app is the latest reincarnation of anonymous social media—a tool that can be beneficial, if used carefully.

Anonymous platforms are no strangers to Duke. Outlets like HerCampus and Col-legiateACB, for example, have long drawn criticism for their facilitation of cyberbullying and damaging false accusations. Yik Yak, origi-nally designed in response to the popularity of anonymous Twitter and Facebook accounts about collegiate campus life, differentiates itself from its competitors with several com-mendable features. Users can curate the site by voting specific comments up or down, wielding the power to unilaterally remove or flag egre-gious language in a post. By crowdsourcing its regulation, the app places greater responsibil-ity on the users to shape the tenor of discourse

on the site. Yik Yak turns proximity into exclu-sivity, providing a barometer for campus and social activity.

More broadly, the recent trend of anonymous social media platforms raises deeper questions about the effects of anonymity on the way we in-teract with one another. Public posting without one’s name at-tached changes the outlook of both poster and receiver. For posters, the shroud of anonym-ity frees an individual to post a comment she might not have otherwise. Such freedom can lead to derogatory posts that are demeaning to Duke’s self-image, fuel cyber-bullying and raise privacy concerns. But anonymi-ty can also empower individuals hesitant to broad-cast their names online to share insights. Students may feel like they are contributing to the commu-nity, generating valuable discussions and feelings of belonging.

Anonymous platforms also affect how readers perceive the community. An anonymous post is amplified by the fact that anyone could have writ-ten it—a message wishing peers a happy first day

of class might reinforce belief in neighbors, while derogatory ones fuel distrust. In this way, Yik Yak shapes Duke’s image to its community and to prospective applicants. Though anything written on the site may be anonymous, the collection of posts represent the Duke community as a whole.

Potential students following the thoughts, opinions and im-pressions of current students in real time may be skewed by a vocal minority. For better or for worse, Yik Yak will shape the public opinion about the Duke community and the Duke expe-rience.

Anonymity can be the key to generating valuable discussion. PostSecret.com, a secret-sharing website that users submit postcards to, is the best example of anonymous sharing that offers poignant messages about each other. But anonymity cannot prevent individuals from abusing its power. It is up to users, then, to use the platform responsibly. It is too soon to see Yik Yak’s role on campus life, but as long as it is not used towards malicious ends, it seems harmless for now.

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A note from the columnist: Believe me when I say that the only reason I waited until the last day of Orientation Week to begin writing the first installment of my fall column is that I wanted to fully experience O-Week start-to-finish so as to provide my most accurate and realized reflection of my first week of college to you, dear readers. (Not that I may have done Wednesday Night Shooters or spent too much time in the Randolph common room.) What, you don’t believe me?

On my second day of Project BUILD, a

sophomore girl told me that I dressed well. I was surprised by this compliment—at my high school, where Nordstrom’s was considered to be the lowest-end department store worth shopping at and girls wore Tory Burch rain boots and Lululemon leggings to a swamp for a field trip, my simpler style went unnoticed more often than not. But there I was, in a remote West Campus dorm room, changing for dinner with girls I barely knew in various states of undress, being complimented on my outfit.

I began to realize at that moment that Duke is not all Sperry’s and Jack Roger sandals, despite what I had read and been told, like that Duke boys only wore pink shorts. As the third and final grandchild to be sent off to Duke, I felt that I knew all about my school before I had even stepped onto campus as an official student—I knew what kind of backpack girls carried, what the PUMP was, the unofficial graduation requirements and how to get to Devine’s from East Campus. (My over-confidence of this knowledge proved tragic on Saturday night. I’m now much more familiar with Durham’s sketchier areas than I ever wished to be.)

In more ways than one, Duke has surprised me this O-Week and FDOC. It has caused me to ask questions about my time here, like “What extracurriculars will I get involved in?”, “What kind of people will I hang out with?”, and “Does Epworth dorm actually exist? I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone go in or out of it.” The following is a collection of the surprises I have encountered during my first week here at Duke.

Not everyone is a J. Crew model, thank God. It’s refreshing to see a bunch of different styles

of dress and meet the many kinds of people who wear them. Despite what I’ve heard, I’ve yet to see a single person bleed Nantucket red.

Not everyone is from New Jersey. Almost everyone is from New Jersey.

Shooters packs hundreds of people inside on Wednesdays and Saturdays but doesn’t have air conditioning. I would have seen my look of shock in the floor-to-ceiling mirror, but it was fogged up.

Everything is made into an acronym. It seems as if only a few things, like Cameron

Indoor, the Chapel and Shooters, are worthy of fully articulated names.

Marketplace brunch is enjoyable. Needless to say, the idea of being one of 1700 people—a substantial portion of which includes division I athletes—scared me. But I found myself enjoying brunch, or at least keeping it down, where the omelets aren’t half bad and I can get all the lukewarm eggs and hash browns I want. (Don’t bother me with the pizza or bagels though— I’m one of those kids from New Jersey who actually contends that pizza or bagel dough has to be made with water from New Jersey to be fit for consumption.)

The pamphlets haven’t lied (yet). Being a freshman, I imagined that my courses would be held in fairly unimpressive lecture halls and basement classrooms, much different from the classic Gothic buildings and rooms I saw advertised in admissions pamphlets. But my first class on FDOC was in a gorgeous lecture hall in French Family Science Center, and my next was in the Perkins Link. I felt as though I were one of those students in the glossy photos, and although I’m sure I’ll run into my fair share of musty classrooms over the next four years, it is nice to sit in Carpenter Reading Room, mindlessly glance out the window and see the top of the Chapel rising over the tops of buildings as a part of the normal scenery.

It’s impossible, I now see, to know just what Duke will be for my classmates and me over the next four years. But until that time, I will be looking forward to its surprises.

Mary Ziemba is a Trinity Freshman. This is her first column in a semester-long series.

Tyler Fredricks PATRICIANS, ETC.

It’s amazing what you can see when you change your vantage point. Just a few months ago, I stood atop the Golan Heights, a mountainous range in north-eastern Israel. I looked to the north and saw the gorgeous, rugged mountains

of Lebanon. Turning my gaze eastwards, I saw the rolling hills of Syria. Suddenly, a noise that sounded like a blast pierced the quiet and a small pillar of smoke emerged from the other side of a ridge several miles away from where I was stand-ing. All of a sudden the Syrian civil war, which has claimed nearly 200,000 human beings, became real.

The relatively low profile of that conflict and others in the region starkly contrasts with coverage pertaining to the ongoing crisis in Gaza that escalated this past summer. But Israel has always been unique in its ability to make headlines and attract international attention.

Why is it that since Israel’s conception, there have been 45 UN resolutions

condemning it? This is nearly half of all country-specific resolutions passed by the United Nations Humans Rights Council (UNHRC), making it the most denounced country by the international community. Undoubtedly the inimitable, atrocious qualities of the country have caused it to be the only standing agenda item of the UNHRC. With stalwart champions of universal human rights Algeria, Burkina Faso, China, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela weighing in on the issue (coupled of course with the collective, repeated abstention of almost every European country), it’s easy to see that the UNHRC is not an unbiased voice. UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer once compared the council to “...a jury that includes murderers and rapists.”

Satire and distasteful-but-appropriate comparisons aside, the double standard in international coverage on the situation in Gaza is astounding. When the Israeli air force bombs an UNRWA school, major television networks and media outlets decry it. But rarely do they mention that these schools were frequently found to be harboring mortars and rockets and that when these armaments were discovered UNRWA officials returned them to Hamas. Hamas, a terrorist organization, hides behind international symbols and uses these facilities both to store weapons and as launching pads for missiles.

A reasonable person might conclude that the UN is not an impartial body and would acquire the impetus to delve deeper. Operation Protective Edge is an asymmetric conflict that pits a country’s military against an organization intensely embedded in an urban environment. One side uses rockets to defend its civilians while the other uses civilians to defend its rockets. This indisputable reality on the ground contributes largely to the discrepancy in civilian deaths. It should go without saying that the number of deaths do not determine the righteousness of a side—after all, hundreds of thousands more German civilians died than American and British civilian in World War II.

Israeli conduct in the war has been remarkably compassionate. It makes extraordinary efforts to warn civilians to leave areas that are about to be attacked through leaflets, phone calls, texts, and taps on roofs called warning knocks. Whether setting up field hospitals or sending convoys of humanitarian aid, the Jewish state’s commitment to the well-being of enemy-noncombatants is well documented. Every civilian death in Gaza is a painful tragedy that should never have had to occur, but demanding Israel ‘do more’ without tangible suggestions on ways it can still secure itself militarily is paramount to asserting that Israel does not have the right to defend itself.

Conversely, each and every rocket fired by Hamas is indiscriminately aimed towards population centers with the intent of murdering civilians. Simultaneously, Hamas commits a double war crime by using its civilians as human shields to protect weapons caches and other strategic locations within Gaza. Human beings constituting collateral damage is an injustice that should make any moral person question why such things occur.

But more disturbing is the use of people as part of a deliberate scheme to skew international opinions and enhance an entity’s propaganda. Methodically and intentionally putting civilians in harm’s way is a crime so horrid it should raise the hairs on the back of your neck and send chills down your spine.

So where does all of this leave us? Up a stream and without a paddle.Some call on Israel to unequivocally accede to Hamas’ demands to grant

the Palestinian people the statehood and autonomy they have yearned for. Acquiescing to demands because a terrorist organization entrenched in an urban setting is willing to let its own people die and encourage a culture of martyrdom sets a terrible precedent that would encourage violent resistance groups to employ similar tactics not only to Israel but to liberal democracies around the world. For the peace process to continue and any semblance of a solution to be achieved, there has to be mutual trust.

It’s often forgotten that in 2005 when Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza, leaving behind billions in horticulture, it also dismantled four settlements in the West Bank as a gesture of good faith. The move was met with the election of Hamas in Gaza, the destruction of the Israeli-made agricultural infrastructure and the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit. With a history like that, trust is a hard thing to mend.

Tyler Fredricks is a Trinity Junior. This is his first column in a semester-long series.

Silence is knowing something is morally un-just but lowering your head and walking the other way. Silence is discrimination, vio-

lence and war. Silence is comfort. Silence is the privilege of thinking our world is acceptable just the way it is. Silence is pervasive all around us.

We spend so much time discussing what is being said we ignore what is not being said. Silence is powerful, but silence is also destructive. And if we look deep enough, we will recognize that we all can be silent at times. If we’re critical enough of ourselves, we can also recognize when it’s time for us to be our most courageous selves and speak out.

This summer I was abroad for three months and decided to remove myself from

American journalism—partly because I really wanted to and partly because no one outside of the United States cares what CNN or FOX has to say. The conflict between Palestine and Israel began to escalate and my eyes, although normally trained to see statistics, began to see something different. Behind every number was a person. A father, a doctor, a Christian, a Muslim, a teacher, an orphan—these were not combatants nor were they a homogenous group. These were people, like you and me, with dreams and hopes to carve out their own futures and identities. Regardless of what ‘side’ you are on, hundreds of innocent lives were shed and that was something to mourn and discuss. This wasn’t a political problem anymore. This was a human problem.

Once I returned to the United States, I was jolted awake to a change in the narrative. CNN describes it as the “Israeli-Hamas” conflict, although approximately 80 percent of the causalities have been civilians. After attacks on middle schools, hospitals, beaches, and playgrounds, this was a war on innocent Palestinians, not Hamas. Communicating this misnomer to millions of Americans alters the narrative of the conflict, thus altering the support. Other news outlets reduce the conflict to videos of Palestinians throwing rocks at Israeli tanks but fail to mention those rocks are being thrown at an army among the tenth greatest in the world. Silence propagates false information to bystanders of the conflict. Silence continues the American support in Israel, whether through divestments or foreign aid. Silence kills and silence is genocide.

Silence has thankfully not followed in the death of 18-year old Michael Brown, but silence is one of the reasons America has continued to find itself with ‘Ferguson’s’ on its hands. Prior to Brown’s death, numerous black males had been killed because of convenient stereotyping. 21-year-old John Crawford was shot dead in WalMart by police after Crawford picked up a toy gun from the store. 43-year-old father of six Eric Garner from New York was confronted by police for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes, then killed after the police put him in a chokehold. The chokehold is banned by NYPD. 36-year-old

Daily Press pressman Dante Parker was shot with a stun gun after police received a call about a robbery suspect. Not only was Dante innocent, but he also had no criminal background other than a DUI. 25-year old Ezell Ford was unarmed when he was shot dead on August 11. He was also mentally ill. All of these deaths happened in the past two months alone.

Deaths such as these are not new to the narrative. We can start talking about Ferguson and Michael and racial profiling, but that would mean we would be discussing the end without understanding the beginning. We need to begin at the start of the narrative and acknowledge that we have not yet corrected our tainted history. It’s not okay that Ferguson, Missouri is 67 percent

black but has only three black officers and one black school board members. It’s not okay that one in three black men can expect to go to prison in their lifetime compared to one in 17 white males. It’s not okay that many in America believe racial discrimination only exists in the past. It still survives and will continue to thrive if we remain docile.

Silence hurts even when we are on the right side of history. Recently, Khmer Rouge leaders Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan were given life sentences for the atrocities they led during the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia. This trial came 35 years after nearly three million Cambodians were killed in the genocide. This is huge progress towards protecting human rights not only for Cambodians, but for all humans. By ignoring and leaving this out of our conversations we are diminishing the long road Cambodians took to receive justice. Cambodia’s story is conveniently not part of our history (think, have you ever read about the Cambodian genocide in high school?) because it’s not in America’s political interests. But we’re bigger than our governments. We are not products of the poor decisions our representatives are making. Learning from history helps prevents us from repeating mistakes, but by not learning from stories such as Cambodia’s, we make the path more difficult to attain our own civil liberties and fight for that of others.

Our conversations are marinated in wars, deaths, discriminations and battles. It’s on all of us to change the narrative. We need to be proactive and reactive. Get out of your comfort shoes and befriend the ‘other.’ There are untold stories and people are dying because we’re not looking for them. America has been silent—too silent—in its discussions. But we don’t have to be. If nothing else the past few weeks have taught us, remember that:

Silence is the Palestinian genocide.Silence is Ferguson.Silence is the Cambodian genocide.Silence is…..(something you could prevent).

Leena El-Sadek is Trinity Senior. This is her first col-umn in a semester-long series.

Stories that go untold

Interested in reading more Opinion?Check out the Opinion pages at

www.dukechronicle.com/opinon

View from the Golan Heights

Expectation vs. reality

LeenaEl-Sadek(DIS)EASED (RE)PRESENTATION

MaryZiembaEASTERN EXPOSURE

The app is the latest reincarnation of

anonymous social media—a tool that can be beneficial, if used carefully.

The Chronicle www.dukechronicle.com WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2014 | 7

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6 | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2014 commentary The Chronicle The Chronicle commentary WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2014 | 7

Yik Yak has wheedled its way to Duke. A so-cial media platform that has pervaded college campuses seemingly overnight, Yik Yak allows users to share anonymous posts with others within a 1.5-mile radius. Duke’s freshman class appears to have a particularly strong case of Yik Yak fever, using the platform to comment on the novelties of college life. The app is the latest reincarnation of anonymous social media—a tool that can be beneficial, if used carefully.

Anonymous platforms are no strangers to Duke. Outlets like HerCampus and Col-legiateACB, for example, have long drawn criticism for their facilitation of cyberbullying and damaging false accusations. Yik Yak, origi-nally designed in response to the popularity of anonymous Twitter and Facebook accounts about collegiate campus life, differentiates itself from its competitors with several com-mendable features. Users can curate the site by voting specific comments up or down, wielding the power to unilaterally remove or flag egre-gious language in a post. By crowdsourcing its regulation, the app places greater responsibil-ity on the users to shape the tenor of discourse

on the site. Yik Yak turns proximity into exclu-sivity, providing a barometer for campus and social activity.

More broadly, the recent trend of anonymous social media platforms raises deeper questions about the effects of anonymity on the way we in-teract with one another. Public posting without one’s name at-tached changes the outlook of both poster and receiver. For posters, the shroud of anonym-ity frees an individual to post a comment she might not have otherwise. Such freedom can lead to derogatory posts that are demeaning to Duke’s self-image, fuel cyber-bullying and raise privacy concerns. But anonymi-ty can also empower individuals hesitant to broad-cast their names online to share insights. Students may feel like they are contributing to the commu-nity, generating valuable discussions and feelings of belonging.

Anonymous platforms also affect how readers perceive the community. An anonymous post is amplified by the fact that anyone could have writ-ten it—a message wishing peers a happy first day

of class might reinforce belief in neighbors, while derogatory ones fuel distrust. In this way, Yik Yak shapes Duke’s image to its community and to prospective applicants. Though anything written on the site may be anonymous, the collection of posts represent the Duke community as a whole.

Potential students following the thoughts, opinions and im-pressions of current students in real time may be skewed by a vocal minority. For better or for worse, Yik Yak will shape the public opinion about the Duke community and the Duke expe-rience.

Anonymity can be the key to generating valuable discussion. PostSecret.com, a secret-sharing website that users submit postcards to, is the best example of anonymous sharing that offers poignant messages about each other. But anonymity cannot prevent individuals from abusing its power. It is up to users, then, to use the platform responsibly. It is too soon to see Yik Yak’s role on campus life, but as long as it is not used towards malicious ends, it seems harmless for now.

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A note from the columnist: Believe me when I say that the only reason I waited until the last day of Orientation Week to begin writing the first installment of my fall column is that I wanted to fully experience O-Week start-to-finish so as to provide my most accurate and realized reflection of my first week of college to you, dear readers. (Not that I may have done Wednesday Night Shooters or spent too much time in the Randolph common room.) What, you don’t believe me?

On my second day of Project BUILD, a

sophomore girl told me that I dressed well. I was surprised by this compliment—at my high school, where Nordstrom’s was considered to be the lowest-end department store worth shopping at and girls wore Tory Burch rain boots and Lululemon leggings to a swamp for a field trip, my simpler style went unnoticed more often than not. But there I was, in a remote West Campus dorm room, changing for dinner with girls I barely knew in various states of undress, being complimented on my outfit.

I began to realize at that moment that Duke is not all Sperry’s and Jack Roger sandals, despite what I had read and been told, like that Duke boys only wore pink shorts. As the third and final grandchild to be sent off to Duke, I felt that I knew all about my school before I had even stepped onto campus as an official student—I knew what kind of backpack girls carried, what the PUMP was, the unofficial graduation requirements and how to get to Devine’s from East Campus. (My over-confidence of this knowledge proved tragic on Saturday night. I’m now much more familiar with Durham’s sketchier areas than I ever wished to be.)

In more ways than one, Duke has surprised me this O-Week and FDOC. It has caused me to ask questions about my time here, like “What extracurriculars will I get involved in?”, “What kind of people will I hang out with?”, and “Does Epworth dorm actually exist? I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone go in or out of it.” The following is a collection of the surprises I have encountered during my first week here at Duke.

Not everyone is a J. Crew model, thank God. It’s refreshing to see a bunch of different styles

of dress and meet the many kinds of people who wear them. Despite what I’ve heard, I’ve yet to see a single person bleed Nantucket red.

Not everyone is from New Jersey. Almost everyone is from New Jersey.

Shooters packs hundreds of people inside on Wednesdays and Saturdays but doesn’t have air conditioning. I would have seen my look of shock in the floor-to-ceiling mirror, but it was fogged up.

Everything is made into an acronym. It seems as if only a few things, like Cameron

Indoor, the Chapel and Shooters, are worthy of fully articulated names.

Marketplace brunch is enjoyable. Needless to say, the idea of being one of 1700 people—a substantial portion of which includes division I athletes—scared me. But I found myself enjoying brunch, or at least keeping it down, where the omelets aren’t half bad and I can get all the lukewarm eggs and hash browns I want. (Don’t bother me with the pizza or bagels though— I’m one of those kids from New Jersey who actually contends that pizza or bagel dough has to be made with water from New Jersey to be fit for consumption.)

The pamphlets haven’t lied (yet). Being a freshman, I imagined that my courses would be held in fairly unimpressive lecture halls and basement classrooms, much different from the classic Gothic buildings and rooms I saw advertised in admissions pamphlets. But my first class on FDOC was in a gorgeous lecture hall in French Family Science Center, and my next was in the Perkins Link. I felt as though I were one of those students in the glossy photos, and although I’m sure I’ll run into my fair share of musty classrooms over the next four years, it is nice to sit in Carpenter Reading Room, mindlessly glance out the window and see the top of the Chapel rising over the tops of buildings as a part of the normal scenery.

It’s impossible, I now see, to know just what Duke will be for my classmates and me over the next four years. But until that time, I will be looking forward to its surprises.

Mary Ziemba is a Trinity Freshman. This is her first column in a semester-long series.

Tyler Fredricks PATRICIANS, ETC.

It’s amazing what you can see when you change your vantage point. Just a few months ago, I stood atop the Golan Heights, a mountainous range in north-eastern Israel. I looked to the north and saw the gorgeous, rugged mountains

of Lebanon. Turning my gaze eastwards, I saw the rolling hills of Syria. Suddenly, a noise that sounded like a blast pierced the quiet and a small pillar of smoke emerged from the other side of a ridge several miles away from where I was stand-ing. All of a sudden the Syrian civil war, which has claimed nearly 200,000 human beings, became real.

The relatively low profile of that conflict and others in the region starkly contrasts with coverage pertaining to the ongoing crisis in Gaza that escalated this past summer. But Israel has always been unique in its ability to make headlines and attract international attention.

Why is it that since Israel’s conception, there have been 45 UN resolutions

condemning it? This is nearly half of all country-specific resolutions passed by the United Nations Humans Rights Council (UNHRC), making it the most denounced country by the international community. Undoubtedly the inimitable, atrocious qualities of the country have caused it to be the only standing agenda item of the UNHRC. With stalwart champions of universal human rights Algeria, Burkina Faso, China, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela weighing in on the issue (coupled of course with the collective, repeated abstention of almost every European country), it’s easy to see that the UNHRC is not an unbiased voice. UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer once compared the council to “...a jury that includes murderers and rapists.”

Satire and distasteful-but-appropriate comparisons aside, the double standard in international coverage on the situation in Gaza is astounding. When the Israeli air force bombs an UNRWA school, major television networks and media outlets decry it. But rarely do they mention that these schools were frequently found to be harboring mortars and rockets and that when these armaments were discovered UNRWA officials returned them to Hamas. Hamas, a terrorist organization, hides behind international symbols and uses these facilities both to store weapons and as launching pads for missiles.

A reasonable person might conclude that the UN is not an impartial body and would acquire the impetus to delve deeper. Operation Protective Edge is an asymmetric conflict that pits a country’s military against an organization intensely embedded in an urban environment. One side uses rockets to defend its civilians while the other uses civilians to defend its rockets. This indisputable reality on the ground contributes largely to the discrepancy in civilian deaths. It should go without saying that the number of deaths do not determine the righteousness of a side—after all, hundreds of thousands more German civilians died than American and British civilian in World War II.

Israeli conduct in the war has been remarkably compassionate. It makes extraordinary efforts to warn civilians to leave areas that are about to be attacked through leaflets, phone calls, texts, and taps on roofs called warning knocks. Whether setting up field hospitals or sending convoys of humanitarian aid, the Jewish state’s commitment to the well-being of enemy-noncombatants is well documented. Every civilian death in Gaza is a painful tragedy that should never have had to occur, but demanding Israel ‘do more’ without tangible suggestions on ways it can still secure itself militarily is paramount to asserting that Israel does not have the right to defend itself.

Conversely, each and every rocket fired by Hamas is indiscriminately aimed towards population centers with the intent of murdering civilians. Simultaneously, Hamas commits a double war crime by using its civilians as human shields to protect weapons caches and other strategic locations within Gaza. Human beings constituting collateral damage is an injustice that should make any moral person question why such things occur.

But more disturbing is the use of people as part of a deliberate scheme to skew international opinions and enhance an entity’s propaganda. Methodically and intentionally putting civilians in harm’s way is a crime so horrid it should raise the hairs on the back of your neck and send chills down your spine.

So where does all of this leave us? Up a stream and without a paddle.Some call on Israel to unequivocally accede to Hamas’ demands to grant

the Palestinian people the statehood and autonomy they have yearned for. Acquiescing to demands because a terrorist organization entrenched in an urban setting is willing to let its own people die and encourage a culture of martyrdom sets a terrible precedent that would encourage violent resistance groups to employ similar tactics not only to Israel but to liberal democracies around the world. For the peace process to continue and any semblance of a solution to be achieved, there has to be mutual trust.

It’s often forgotten that in 2005 when Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza, leaving behind billions in horticulture, it also dismantled four settlements in the West Bank as a gesture of good faith. The move was met with the election of Hamas in Gaza, the destruction of the Israeli-made agricultural infrastructure and the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit. With a history like that, trust is a hard thing to mend.

Tyler Fredricks is a Trinity Junior. This is his first column in a semester-long series.

Silence is knowing something is morally un-just but lowering your head and walking the other way. Silence is discrimination, vio-

lence and war. Silence is comfort. Silence is the privilege of thinking our world is acceptable just the way it is. Silence is pervasive all around us.

We spend so much time discussing what is being said we ignore what is not being said. Silence is powerful, but silence is also destructive. And if we look deep enough, we will recognize that we all can be silent at times. If we’re critical enough of ourselves, we can also recognize when it’s time for us to be our most courageous selves and speak out.

This summer I was abroad for three months and decided to remove myself from

American journalism—partly because I really wanted to and partly because no one outside of the United States cares what CNN or FOX has to say. The conflict between Palestine and Israel began to escalate and my eyes, although normally trained to see statistics, began to see something different. Behind every number was a person. A father, a doctor, a Christian, a Muslim, a teacher, an orphan—these were not combatants nor were they a homogenous group. These were people, like you and me, with dreams and hopes to carve out their own futures and identities. Regardless of what ‘side’ you are on, hundreds of innocent lives were shed and that was something to mourn and discuss. This wasn’t a political problem anymore. This was a human problem.

Once I returned to the United States, I was jolted awake to a change in the narrative. CNN describes it as the “Israeli-Hamas” conflict, although approximately 80 percent of the causalities have been civilians. After attacks on middle schools, hospitals, beaches, and playgrounds, this was a war on innocent Palestinians, not Hamas. Communicating this misnomer to millions of Americans alters the narrative of the conflict, thus altering the support. Other news outlets reduce the conflict to videos of Palestinians throwing rocks at Israeli tanks but fail to mention those rocks are being thrown at an army among the tenth greatest in the world. Silence propagates false information to bystanders of the conflict. Silence continues the American support in Israel, whether through divestments or foreign aid. Silence kills and silence is genocide.

Silence has thankfully not followed in the death of 18-year old Michael Brown, but silence is one of the reasons America has continued to find itself with ‘Ferguson’s’ on its hands. Prior to Brown’s death, numerous black males had been killed because of convenient stereotyping. 21-year-old John Crawford was shot dead in WalMart by police after Crawford picked up a toy gun from the store. 43-year-old father of six Eric Garner from New York was confronted by police for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes, then killed after the police put him in a chokehold. The chokehold is banned by NYPD. 36-year-old

Daily Press pressman Dante Parker was shot with a stun gun after police received a call about a robbery suspect. Not only was Dante innocent, but he also had no criminal background other than a DUI. 25-year old Ezell Ford was unarmed when he was shot dead on August 11. He was also mentally ill. All of these deaths happened in the past two months alone.

Deaths such as these are not new to the narrative. We can start talking about Ferguson and Michael and racial profiling, but that would mean we would be discussing the end without understanding the beginning. We need to begin at the start of the narrative and acknowledge that we have not yet corrected our tainted history. It’s not okay that Ferguson, Missouri is 67 percent

black but has only three black officers and one black school board members. It’s not okay that one in three black men can expect to go to prison in their lifetime compared to one in 17 white males. It’s not okay that many in America believe racial discrimination only exists in the past. It still survives and will continue to thrive if we remain docile.

Silence hurts even when we are on the right side of history. Recently, Khmer Rouge leaders Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan were given life sentences for the atrocities they led during the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia. This trial came 35 years after nearly three million Cambodians were killed in the genocide. This is huge progress towards protecting human rights not only for Cambodians, but for all humans. By ignoring and leaving this out of our conversations we are diminishing the long road Cambodians took to receive justice. Cambodia’s story is conveniently not part of our history (think, have you ever read about the Cambodian genocide in high school?) because it’s not in America’s political interests. But we’re bigger than our governments. We are not products of the poor decisions our representatives are making. Learning from history helps prevents us from repeating mistakes, but by not learning from stories such as Cambodia’s, we make the path more difficult to attain our own civil liberties and fight for that of others.

Our conversations are marinated in wars, deaths, discriminations and battles. It’s on all of us to change the narrative. We need to be proactive and reactive. Get out of your comfort shoes and befriend the ‘other.’ There are untold stories and people are dying because we’re not looking for them. America has been silent—too silent—in its discussions. But we don’t have to be. If nothing else the past few weeks have taught us, remember that:

Silence is the Palestinian genocide.Silence is Ferguson.Silence is the Cambodian genocide.Silence is…..(something you could prevent).

Leena El-Sadek is Trinity Senior. This is her first col-umn in a semester-long series.

Stories that go untold

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8 | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2014 www.dukechronicle.com The Chronicle