RSS 2.0
The Chronicle's Sports Blog
The Chronicle Blogger
February 18th, 2008
Restricted region changes not always for the worse
By on February 18th, 2008
The neatness and simplicity of Duke’s new Restricted Regions List belies the amount of careful consideration that goes into it. Evaluating where in the world is safe and where is not is complicated precisely because we never know what’s going to happen. Changes can be “sudden and devastating,” as Margaret Riley, director of the Office of Study Abroad, put it. Strangely, however, the suddenness of these changes is not always for the worse.
Gilbert Merkx, vice provost for international affairs and chair of the International Travel and Oversight Committee, told me that some once-violent regions are now quite peaceful – and that the changes have occurred quite quickly.
Read the rest of this entry »
February 13th, 2008
OpenCourseWare is no substitute for lectures, students say
By on February 13th, 2008
As students become increasingly busier and as more students overload with courses, I expected to encounter more people who would welcome the idea that Duke might be offering online courses. That wasn’t the case. Instead, students and professors tended to lean more favorably toward a Duke version of OpenCourseWare but wane away from full courses on the Web.
In an e-mail, Steve Carson, external relations director for OpenCourseWare, said OCW is not distance learning.
“MIT published the course materials precisely because they felt online courses couldn’t represent the MIT learning experience,” he said. “The materials are offered as tools for other educators, for students and for independent learners. But they are not offered as courses–they are course materials.”
Read the rest of this entry »
February 12th, 2008
Sex Workers’ Art Show sparks controversy
By on February 12th, 2008
At Duke, the disapproval of last week’s appearance of the Sex Workers’ Art Show didn’t seem to be a sentiment commonly shared within the student body—most undergraduates weren’t even aware any drama had occurred.
Annie Oakley, the founder of the show, said a miniscule faction of the students fueled much of the storm, naming senior Ken Larrey as one of the main instigators. Larrey, the founder of Duke Students for an Ethical Duke, gained the support of Jay Schalin from the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy, according to Ruth Sheehan’s Feb. 6 opinion column in The (Raleigh) News & Observer, “Duke shows it’s clueless.”
“[Larrey is] out to cause controversy and went to the show with the intention of being offended,” Oakley said. “As far as I’m aware, there’s no one else who went and was offended except for those two.” Read the rest of this entry »
February 8th, 2008
A history of bench-burning regulations
By on February 8th, 2008
In a comment posted on The Chronicle’s Web site Thursday, an alum mentioned that fire permits were once acquired for both home and away games against the Tar Heels, which lead me to do a little digging in our archives. And here’s what I found:
- March 1994, a student was injured during a bonfire celebration, which sparked conversation about bonfire safety and future regulations
- February 1998, a foam party was apparently organized in place of bonfires. Needless to say, students were not pleased
- September 1998, administrators started talking about bonfire regulations. This is where our current stipulations that bonfires are allowed after certain victories and at certain spots around campus came from
Read the rest of this entry »
February 6th, 2008
Students weigh in on candidate buzzwords
By on February 6th, 2008
The ability of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., to attract youth supporters is undeniable. According to a CNN poll taken shortly after the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses, approximately 58 percent of Democratic participants ages 17-29 caucused for Obama.
“There is a lot of enthusiasm around [Obama’s] campaign,” said John Aldrich, Pfizer-Pratt University professor of political science. “Obama tends to hit the liberal part of the student body fairly strongly, compared to Bobby Kennedy’s campaign in 1968.”
Obama’s campaign has run on the motto “Change We Can Believe In.” Although some students said change appeals to young voters dissatisfied with the traditional political process, others said his campaign is too vague and idealistic.
Read the rest of this entry »
February 5th, 2008
Duke students receive various letters from RIAA
By on February 5th, 2008
The entertainment industry, including the Recording Industry Association of America, sends out several kinds of letters and e-mails to students.
Freshman Pat Light said the e-mail that he received from RIAA was forwarded from Duke Office of Information Technology. The file name and the date of the illegal upload were also included in the e-mail.
“OIT basically told me to stop sharing a file in Limewire by uploading it,” Light said. “I haven’t heard from them since.”
Read the rest of this entry »
January 31st, 2008
Durham: Safest drunks and most eligible bachelors
By on January 31st, 2008
Apparently behaving with the bottle isn’t the only thing the Bull City does well. As part of its MetroGrades series, Men’s Health has also lauded Durham as one of the Best Places to Live for Men, Fittest Cities for Kids, Least Workaholic Cities and one of the top places for women to meet men.
Most Duke students couldn’t vouch for Durham as a place to rear children or hold a full-time job, but they could respond to the magazine’s verdict on the city as a stomping ground for men and the women who pursue them–and raise eyebrows.
Read the rest of this entry »
January 30th, 2008
Durham renovation faces possible roadblocks
By on January 30th, 2008
When I spoke with Mayor Bill Bell concerning the ongoing downtown Durham renovations, he described downtown as “the living room of a community.”
“I think we’re seeing that it’s a new face for downtown Durham and hopefully it represents a new face for Durham,” Bell said. “Impressions are important, whether you’re downtown for the first time or have been downtown for some time.”
He said he was pleased with the progress thus far, and—expressing a sentiment I heard over and over throughout my interviews—stressed the importance of creating a vibrant downtown, both economically and culturally. But the renovations aren’t complete yet, and several potential obstacles stand in the way.
Read the rest of this entry »
January 30th, 2008
Josh Sommer fights back
By on January 30th, 2008
Junior Josh Sommer is not your typical cancer patient. In fact, there’s not much about him that could be described as “typical.” What struck me most about our interactions over the past week was the sheer amount of energy and passion for the Chordoma Foundation he had bottled up inside. When he spoke, the countless hours of research and planning came through, and I could tell I was talking to a rare type of person. He didn’t need to look up facts or figures during our conversations. His memory served as a working encyclopedia on chordoma and the foundation’s fight against it.
Read the rest of this entry »
January 28th, 2008
Coal plants center of environmental debate
By on January 28th, 2008
Just west of Charlotte, a cluster of five innocuous looking power plants sit at the crux of North Carolina environmental history. Depending on who you ask, the coal burning plants are decrepit or innovative, belching hazardous chemicals or turning out remarkably clean low-emission air. These plants, collectively known as the Cliffside Steam Station, have become the centerpiece of the debate over clean energy in North Carolina.
The debate has received wide news coverage, from major papers such as The (Raleigh) News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer, as well as advocacy blogs and other smaller Internet media outlets. Both sides, however, have come to distrust the media’s portrayal of their cause and the facts surrounding it. Jim Warren, director of the environmental activism group North Carolina Waste Awareness and Reduction Network, said the media has “allowed Duke Energy to get away with key and major distortions of fact” about the Cliffside project. Marilyn Lineberger, a spokesperson for Duke Energy, told me that new coverage tends to gloss over “all the [environmental] benefits” of building more efficient coal plants like those proposed at Cliffside.
Read the rest of this entry »
About This Blog
Check back for exclusive material chronicling Duke news
Blog Archives
Recent Comments
- John in Carolina on David Graham responds to John Matthews, a.k.a. John in Carolina.
- The Chronicle on .
- BiPolar Disorder blog on Inside scoop: annual legacy student luncheon.
- John in Carolina on Student witnesses Gaza attack.
- bi polar, bi polar disorders, bi polar disorder, manic depression on Meet the Board of Trustees.
- bi polar, bi polar disorders, bi polar disorder, manic depression on Meet the Board of Trustees.
- bi polar, bi polar disorders, bi polar disorder, manic depression on Meet the Board of Trustees.
- bi polar, bi polar disorders, bi polar disorder, manic depression on Meet the Board of Trustees.
- bi polar, bi polar disorders, bi polar disorder, manic depression on Meet the Board of Trustees.
- bi polar, bi polar disorders, bi polar disorder, manic depression on Meet the Board of Trustees.
Recent Posts
- Is college a health problem?
- At Duke, sex is always controversial
- ROTC leadership course crucial for future placement
- Is Duke's crime really that bad?
- YouTube viewers delight in Dukie spelling bee moments
- Young Trustees respected, not dismissed by Board
- Through the Lens: Wake Forest
- Restricted region changes not always for the worse
- OpenCourseWare is no substitute for lectures, students say
- Sex Workers' Art Show sparks controversy
