OPINION
Engaging in DukeEngage
By Leah Abrams | September 1, 2017A two-day training academy does not suffice in providing students with a comprehensive understanding of how unique cultures operate.
A two-day training academy does not suffice in providing students with a comprehensive understanding of how unique cultures operate.
Privilege deserves to be acknowledged, but it does not deserve to censor.
Banning bikes from the quad shifts the risk to other locations; it does not remove it.
As students finally settle back into the academic year, it seems that the Duke bubble — the seemingly impervious metaphysical barrier that prevents the many problems of the troubled outside world from disturbing the utopian tranquility of the Gothic Wonderland — has yet again set the mood of campus life. However, it would behoove us to remember that the lives of our fellow students do not begin or end within the walls of Duke. It is specifically pertinent to regard the experiences of students of color, who may be faced with assimilating back into campus life after a racially charged and emotionally taxing summer.
It is a sorry state of affairs when, concurrent with one of the most devastating natural disasters to ever face this country and untold suffering and misery yet to come, our students can muster complaints regarding culinary options available to them at a lavish on campus dining facility, and the school’s newspaper finds this newsworthy, devoting front page, above the fold coverage to such a trivial matter.
That’s why we’re joining with fast food workers on strike today.
“Drab, Monotonous Whinge,” according to Rolling Stone. A “lifeless and anodyne pop record,” according to Pitchfork. “The worst album of 2017?” according to USA Today.
The time has come for the Democrats to choose: to talk progress into being, or to act to make it happen.
Rather than simply holding press conferences once a disaster strikes, it is time we develop a plan for systematically addressing infrastructure and natural disaster preparedness deficits at the national level.
Often, Duke students view integral staff as cogs of the greater Duke machine rather than as people with the same basic needs as anyone else. While random acts of kindness from students like cakes or cards are appreciated, they aren’t enough to balance out financial precariousness among workers on campus
For this reason, I only see one explanation as to why so many people choose to wear Vineyard Vines, and that is to advertise—be it truthfully or falsely—that they come from money. Some may do this consciously, others more subconsciously, but I highly doubt anyone at Duke just happened to stumble into a Vineyard Vines store and buy a polo because they thought it looked cool without knowing anything about the brand or its reputation.
The start of the semester has brought more changes this year than just new classes and construction projects.
Just as in the Russia investigation, every American, regardless of political affiliation ought to hope for the same result in Menendez’s trial: that it reveals the truth and administers justice so that the nation can proceed accordingly. If Senator Menendez is indeed innocent, may his day in court fully exonerate him, and if he has erred, may the court’s decision condemn his mistakes.
But when confronted with the reality, when everyone else seemingly wants to be this busy, when people both at and outside of Duke praise the resource-rich environment, when large empty blocks on my Google Calendar worry me, can’t we acknowledge that stress and busyness aren’t some sort of status symbol, and that it’s actually just… kind of stressful?
Despite the objections from political figures like Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, Senator John McCain and Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, President Donald Trump officially fulfilled his controversial promise to pardon America’s most infamous sheriff, Joe Arpaio.
The Justice Department was recently reported to be preparing to re-allocate resources from its civil rights division to sue universities for discriminating against white applicants.
If we as Americans want to remedy our fractured political landscape, we must reinstate pure freedom of speech and look back to Berkeley, not as it is now, but as the university was half a century ago.
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Transforming my smartphone from a drug into a tool is just one step in that journey.
But, as the program directors emphasize, it isn’t just seeing poverty that helps Duke students grow—it’s about experiencing poverty.