Summer Issue 2012

RI ALcelebrating the Duke & UNC-CH connection

VOLUME 7 ISSUE 4 / SUMMER 2012

communities

PoliticalLeanings

page 8

page 15

2 RIVAL MAGAZINE • volume 7 • issue 4

LIVING FOR THE PRESENT...KIND OF. College is an awkward yet wonderful transition

period between childhood and adulthood. Although

these four years seem carefree, many people spend a

lot of time worrying about the future: Will I get a good

job? Will this look good on my resume? Will I be

fi nancially stable enough to support a future family?

Society — and oft en our own family — instills in

us the desire for an “ultimate plan.” During college, we

are supposed to get good grades and good internships

so that we can get a high-paying job. Aft er establishing

this introduction to a successful career, we are then

supposed to get married and start a family. And to

accomplish this, many people sacrifi ce enjoying the

present in order to prepare for future success.

Th is “big picture,” while attractive, isn’t standardized, and is not for everyone.

Because the future is so intangible and abstract, how can we actually prepare

for it? Of course we try to take steps that will lead us toward what we hope to

accomplish, but hope and reality are two completely diff erent things. Living

doesn’t start at some predetermined time; it is already happening and we are in

the middle of it. And as I continue to live, I know that what I want most in life is

happiness. I’m going to do everything I can to be happy now, and not make myself

miserable for what I think will make me happy in the future.

Th at is not to undermine the importance of long-term goals. Goals that require

extended commitment and times of fl eeting discomfort, such as college graduation

or weight loss, are invaluable. Th ose pesky “character building experiences” are

good for the person you are now, and thus are important to endure, even if it takes

a long time to do so.

However, joy is irreplaceable. I would much prefer to take my life one step at a

time, and be generally happy during each step. I don’t know what my future holds,

and I don’t know how long I’m going to live. What I do know is that I want to

enjoy life. So, as I become a senior and have many unanswered questions before

me, I’m not going to worry. Speculation won’t change anything — I don’t know

how I am going to change between now and the undetermined future. But I’m

going to make sure that the time I spend developing is as enjoyable as possible.

Cheers,

Allie Barnes

Editor-in-Chief

content editor-in-chief allie barnes

duke managing editor kathie sun unc managing editor carson blackwelder

photography editor julia wall art director shannon coffey editorial director trent tsun-kang chiang

unc contributing writers kasey el-chayeb caroline land caroline leland miranda murray stefanie schwemlein duke contributing writers alex bloedel akshatha kommalapati lauren paylor paula rambarat emily mcginty columnists alyssa bailey lilly knoepp becca ward

sports columnist laurel burk staff designers shannon coffey ga ming gao moira gill philip hoover tashiana wesley contributing photographers allie barnes katherine drye rodrigo martinez aleise preslar bloggers allie barnes

cover design shannon coffey cover photo rodrigo martinez

business public relations director bhumi dalia treasurer kirsten brown unc faculty adviser paul cuadros

letter from the editor

allie barnesis a junior at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She can be reached via email at [email protected]

Looking for something fun to do during the summer? The Duke Lemur Center, off of Erwin Road, is the world’s largest colony of endangered primates. Tours are available Monday-Saturday via reservation, and university students receive a discount. For late night activi-ties, UNC-CH’s Morehead Planetarium offers evening shows focuses on planets and star constellations. The show also offers updates on the upcoming astronomical events, such as meteor showers and eclipses.

SUMMER 2012

the mailbag:

And we’ll tell you what we think at rivalmagazine.wordpress.com

Rival is a joint publication between Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that seeks to reinforce and redefi ne the historic rivalry. Rival is independently recognized at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is also a member of the Duke University Undergraduate Publication Board.

Funding for Rival Magazine was provided in part by Th e University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Student Congress and the Duke University Publications Board.

All content, pictures, graphics and design are the prop-erty of Rival Magazine © 2011-2012. All rights reserved.

Tell us what you think [email protected]

LooRoSaties? did you know:

SUMMER 2012 • RIVAL MAGAZINE 3

in this issue

in every issue

Student Activismpage 8Students plan to make an impact on big political subjects such as the National Convention and Amendment One.

8

Constructing Communitiespage 15Although physically close, the two schools are structured extremely diff erently when it comes to on-campus living.

The Robertson Switchpage 18Two Robertson Scholars describe their experiences during the beginning of their fi rst semester at the “other” school.

Pregamepage 4Th e Community Empowerment Fund and the Kenan-Biddle Grant, develop bigger and better projects to make lasting impacts on the communities surrounding Th e University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University.

Top Vpage 6Want to know a secret? Check out what we wish we’d known as fi rst-years.

Devil’s Advocatepage 12Duke’s Becca Ward refl ects on her four years in college and off ers advice for the upcoming fi rst years.

Tar Trackspage 13UNC-CH’s Lilly Knoepp talks about how to make the most of summer opportunities.

Athlete’s Cornerpage 14Duke’s Laurel Burk discusses the virtues and vices of large sports programs at Division I schools.

The Width & Breadth Of Itpage 24Want a global perspective? Read what Alyssa Bailey, one of our abroad columnists, has to say about the city of love: Paris!

By The Bookpage 26Th ink you’ve got it bad? Rival compares Intro to Linguistic classes at each university.

Out of the Bluepage 27Tired of seeing the same old people? Get to know some new campus faces you won’t want to forget.18

2012: The Year in Reviewpage 21Duke and UNC-CH have seen big changes during the 2011-2012 school year. Rival reviews some of the most memorable.


O n a typical weekday aft er-noon, the Community Em-powerment Fund (CEF) offi ce on Franklin Street in Chapel

Hill, and Housing for New Hope’s Dove and Phoenix Houses in Durham are fi lled with energetic student volunteers help-ing members of both communities who wish to transition out of homelessness and poverty. Th ree years earlier, most of these community members would only have had the option to visit social service agencies for small cash grants that would not help individuals become fully fi nancially stable.

CEF is a local nonprofi t organization that was launched in the summer of 2009 by a group of students, shelter residents, faculty and community members in Chapel Hill. By creating partnerships with HOPE, Carolina Microfi nance Initiative and the UNC-CH Law School Center on Poverty, Work & Opportunity, CEF was able to successfully pilot the micro-loan program with eight student volunteer loan offi cers and fi ve pilot borrowers. Unem-ployed and underemployed individuals within Chapel Hill now have the oppor-tunity to not only gain assets to transition themselves out of poverty, but to develop relationships with other individuals within the community. “CEF is a great way to connect with the community,” says Clay Hackney.

Today, CEF is more than just a micro-fi nance model that provides small loans to start businesses in Chapel Hill. CEF has partnered with Duke University and expanded its personal development off er-ings. Individuals in Chapel Hill and Dur-ham can obtain savings accounts, attend small business and savings educational classes and receive personal support from student volunteers.

Aft er attending a series of opportunity circle classes, individuals in Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Durham are able to open a safe-savings account in their names through Self-Help. By depositing money into Self-Help credit union through CEF,

individuals are eligible for a 10% match from CEF funds once they reach their savings goal. Th is encourages individuals to continue to save over a long period of time with the hopes of sustaining them out of poverty. In total, members with safe-savings accounts have saved over $42,000 to date.

Additionally, individuals have the opportunity to attend a series of small business classes in English or Spanish to learn how to start and sustain a small business in Chapel Hill or Carrboro. Aft erwards, the individual can apply for a small interest-free loan. Small businesses such as Friendly Cleaning have been able to succeed based on the personal and fi nancial support of CEF funding based on grants and donations. Friendly Cleaning is a locally based business that provides good service at a fair price.

Although CEF would not exist without continuous outside fi nancial support; the core foundation of CEF depends upon the student and community volunteers who help these individuals that are seeking self-suffi ciency. Students and commu-nity volunteers are encouraged to attend a member advocate training where they obtain the necessary insight into helping an individual transition out of poverty. Additionally, students and community volunteers can attend or teach opportunity circles and small business trainings. Not only are students and community volun-teers giving back to the community, they are also learning personal fi nance skills that are applicable to their own personal development. “Attending business train-ings, opportunity circles and meeting with members has taught me a lot about personal fi nance,” says Vish Sridharan.

BY KIRSTEN BROWN, UNC-CHDESIGN BY MOIRA GILL, UNC-CH

Christine Dragonette, a CEF member advocate, helps CEF member Amanda Abbott, right, at the Community Empowerment Fund office on Franklin Street.

Lending a Helping Hand

pregamepregamequick, pick-me-up shortsquick, pick-me-up shorts

PHOTO COURTESY OF CEF


T he Kenan-Biddle Partnership was established last year to strengthen ties between Duke University and Th e University

of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and to provide opportunities for students to initi-ate, develop and implement innovative col-laborative projects that enrich scholarship and service on both campuses. Funded jointly by the William R. Kenan Charitable Trust and the Mary Duke Biddle Foun-dation, the partnership off ers $5000 to accepted project proposals.

In 2011, the grant initiative received around 90 project proposals. A selection committee, comprised of administrators from each university, met and discussed the project proposals that most aligned with the partnership’s mission.

“Th e selection committee looks fi rst to see whether proposed projects meet the basic requirements of the grant program, that is whether the project is year-long, truly inter-institutional, student-initiated, collaborative, furthers the scholarly and/or public service missions of the universities, and includes a public exhibition, presenta-tion, or performance,” says Carol Tresolini, the UNC-CH liaison to the program and Vice Provost for Academic Initiatives at UNC-CH. “ Th e committee then looks for projects that will have an especially broad impact on both campuses and, in the case of service projects, signifi cant benefi t for the community,”

In 2012, the program received 50 proj-ect proposals, however administrators are not worried about this lower number.

“Th e smaller number, we believe,

refl ected better understanding of what was fundable and thus, though fewer in num-bers, they [the project proposals] were all quite remarkable,” said Larry Moneta, the Duke liaison to the program and Duke’s Vice President for Student Aff airs.

From food initiatives and educational eff orts to poetry and micro-grants, the project proposal topics vary greatly and have caused much excitement amongst the program’s leaders.

“What is exciting to me is to see the great variety that the projects encompass, both in emphasis and approach,” said Tre-solini. “Some have involved global engage-ment while others have emphasized local service. Collaborations have been about everything from poetry to microfi nance to biodiversity conservation to computer education, and many points in between.”

Art, music, drama, lectures, gardening, tutoring, mentoring, panel discussions, partnership development, fi lm screenings, and many other approaches have been used to achieve the goals of the projects. “Th e creativity and energy with which the students approach their work is terrifi c,” said Tresolini.

Many of the projects from last year have been completed, and others continue without funding from the program this year. Angela Jiang, a senior Duke stu-dent majoring in Program II: US Health Disparities and Child Development from Troy, Michigan, recently completed her project proposal which sought to expand collaboration between the Duke and UNC-CH chapter of FEMMES, a student-run educational outreach program that

Kenan-Biddle Partnership a Smashing SuccessBY PAULA RAMBARAT, DUKEDESIGN BY MOIRA GILL, UNC-CH

seeks to encourage young girls to explore their potential in the sciences. She said that the Kenan-Biddle grant facilitated the growth and development of both universi-ties’ chapter of FEMMES. Nicole Page, a senior Duke student double majoring in Economics and Spanish from Commack, New York, who was also program direc-tor along with Jiang, added that the grant really helped boost the success of the club. “I think the initiative is fantastic,” Page says. “We helped to start up a chapter of FEMMES at UNC-CH recently, and it has been really rewarding to see the program help get girls in the Chapel Hill area more engaged in math, science, and engineer-ing.”

Th e program is making an impact on both campuses, and administrators are excited about the future. “Judging by the variety and strength of the proposals and the quality of the funded projects, I would say that the program is a smashing suc-cess,” says Tresolini.

BY RODRIGO MARTINEZ, UNC-CH

BY ALEISE PRESLAR, UNC-CH


Top V

Akai HanaAkai Hana is a Japanese restaurant and sushi bar in Carrboro. “Akai Hana is the best sushi in town,” said Sam Shearer, a UNC-CH senior and history major from Durham. A sushi meal doesn’t have to break the bank, as Akai Hana lowers their prices during the lunch hours. Th is restau-rant uses fresh ingredients and has been chosen Best Sushi by Triangle Citysearch.2 miles/ 7 minutes from campus

Mediterranean Deli“Th e Mediterranean diet is arguably one of the healthiest diets in the world. And the deli is vegetarian friendly,” said English major Christina Clark, UNC-CH senior from Chapel Hill, NC. Mediterranean Deli is an authentic Middle Eastern and Medi-terranean restaurant located on Franklin Street. Th e Franklin Street Mediterranean Deli has a large menu with many delicious and healthy options. Th e owner’s also operate a smaller version of the restaurant on campus in Lenoir Dining Hall, with a much smaller menu.1.1 miles/ 4 minutes from campus

EVOSEVOS is an alternative fast food restaurant located in Eastgate shopping center down East Franklin Street. Environmental stud-ies major Sean Murphy, a UNC-CH senior from Pickerington, Ohio, recommended the restaurant. “EVOS is a healthy and aff ordable alternative to traditional fast food in Chapel Hill.” Th is non-traditional restaurant serves healthier All-American burgers, shakes and fries by using the freshest ingredients and Airbaking instead of deep-frying.2.6 mile/ 7 minutes from campus

Weaver Street Market, located 2 miles from campus in Carrboro, and EVOS at Eastgate provide healthy, affordable alternatives to traditional fast food.

BY KASEY EL-CHAYEB, UNC-CHDESIGN BY SHANNON COFFEY, UNC-CHPHOTOS BY RODRIGO MARTINEZ, UNC-CH

UNC-Chapel Hill

Weaver Street MarketWeaver Street Market is a community-owned grocery store in downtown Car-rboro. Profi ts are returned to owners, donated to the community, or redistrib-uted back into the cooperative. Weaver Street sells organic products, has a great bakery, a hot bar and a cold bar. “I highly recommend Weaver Street’s breakfast hot bar,” says UNC-CH senior Peter Noone, a biology major from Chapel Hill. “It’s every day, but open later on weekends. It’s fun to grab some food and sit outside.” 2 miles/7 minutes from campus

Whole Foods Whole Foods sells natural and organic products of great quality. Located at Eliot Road and East Franklin Street, the Chapel Hill Whole Foods is a great place to grab lunch or dinner. Th e prepared foods sec-tion and bakery serve a wide variety of healthy choices. “It’s a great place to get a hot meal,” says Elizabeth Peterson, a UNC-CH senior and journalism major from Chapel Hill.” I also like making my own meal at the salad bar. Th ere are always a lot of great fruit and vegetable options.”2.4 miles/6 minutes from campus


BY AKSHATHA KOMMALAPATI, DUKEDESIGN BY SHANNON COFFEY, UNC-CHPHOTOS BY RODRIGO MARTINEZ, UNC-CH

Local Yogurt Aff ectionately nick-named “Lo-Yo,” Local Yogurt caters to those of us who love ice cream but who aren’t looking for a sugar overload. Th eir fresh fruit toppings and interesting fl avors (Irish mint, anyone?) make it easy and painless to have healthier desserts.

Jimmy John’s Famous for their late-night delivery runs, Jimmy John’s can become a great, healthy option if you can pull yourself away from the “bad” toppings and stick with veggies, tuna, turkey, roast beef and even ham. In the mood for a side? Try the Skinny Chips — they’re healthier than the other options.

ChipotleWho doesn’t love the HUGE portion sizes at Chipotle? Everything is made to order, so stick with the meat/protein choices and avoid the sour cream. You can even make your burritos and soft tacos go a long way by saving some for tomorrow.

Elmo’s Elmo’s believes that nutrition and good food are not mutually exclusive. For break-fast you can try their delicious pancakes, custom omelets, and cereals while during lunch the healthy menu includes savory salads, soups, and burgers.

Chopped Greens By redefi ning what constitutes a salad, Chopped Greens attracts both health nuts and people who like good food. Try building your own salad wrap using their local and fresh ingredients—you won’t be disappointed.

Duke University

Elmo’s Diner, with a locations in Carrboro and Durham, serves healthy and delicious break-fast all day long, as well as traditional lunch and dinner options.


P olitics is a hot topic among both liberal and conservative students at Duke and Carolina. Th e North Carolina Republican Presiden-

tial Primary, the Democratic National Convention, and the vote on Amendment One, an amendment to the North Carolina Constitution that would limit the types of domestic unions recognized, in the upcoming months have kept politically-minded students extremely busy.

CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENTCollege Republican groups on both

campuses hope to foster and provide an outlet for conservative minded students to get together to discuss issues and infl uence campus politics.

“We try to mobilize students who might feel as though the more liberal culture that we have [at Duke] doesn’t align with their beliefs,” says Sophomore Political Science major Taylor Imperiale of Arrowhead, Cal., secretary of Duke College Repub-licans. “We think a lot of students feel as though they’d like to have a group that has the same kind of common political ground, a baseline of ideas, and we try to provide that, mobilize and infl uence the conservative culture.”

Th e mobilization of students to partici-pate in the political processes has proven to take a diff erent route between the two campuses.

“I would say that Duke students are signifi cantly diff erent because most Duke students aren’t from North Carolina,” says Imperiale. “It is probably a lot easier for the UNC College Republicans to have a unifi ed eff ort because for the most part they have an interest in North Carolina politics and on things like Amendment One.”

While Duke College Republicans may have more of a national focus rather than on state level politics, that does not mean that they are not preparing for the North Carolina Primary on Tuesday, May 8, 2012.

Duke College Republicans put together a Voter Awareness Week with the Duke Po-litical Union, Duke Democrats and other campus organizations to increase voter registration in North Carolina among students.

Students cannot vote for state issues if they are not from the state. Th is restric-tion can have a negative impact because students reside in the state for a couple of years.

“We’re hosting a lot of diff erent events like political trivia, showing political ef-forts and having tables to increase mem-

POLITICS STORY BY CAROLINE LAND, UNC-CH DESIGN BY GA MING GAO, UNC-CHPHOTOS BY RODRIGO MARTINEZ, UNC-CH

“ We think a lot of students feel as though they’d like to have a group that has the same kind of common political ground, a baseline of ideas, and we try to provide that, mobilize and influence the conservative culture.”

-Taylor Imperiale, Secretary of Duke College Republicans


bership,” says Imperiale. “Th ere is a focus on getting people to register in North Carolina, instead of where they are origi-nally from if they so choose.”

A LEFT LEANLike College Republicans, there are

Democratic organizations at Duke and UNC-CH that hope to engage liberally minded students.

“I like to say Young Democrats at UNC-CH is an umbrella association,” says the Vice President of this organiza-tion, Junior Political Science and Global Studies major Lauren Hovis of Winston Salem. “We like to try to advocate for dif-ferent progressive issues and we try to be a community for those who want to ad-vocate those issues. A lot of our members have diff erent stances on issues such as abortion, but we try to include everyone and their opinions.”

While there seems to be a divide in

participation on the state political level for College Republicans, Young Demo-crats at UNC-CH and Duke try to work together in order to promote more aware-ness and reach out to more students.

“We do a lot of similar things, we’ve tried to collaborate in the past,” says Hovis. “Duke Democrats come to our cocktail and we do a lot of things together through College Democrats of North Carolina. We hope to do even more with them in the future; they’re a great group of people.”

UNC-CH Young Democrats’ agenda stresses a focus on state and local level politics in non-presidential election years, while they shift their focus to the national level during presidential election years.

“Last semester in the fall we worked really hard on Lee Storrow’s campaign for Town Council,” says Hovis. “We always try to have a presence on Town Council and get to know the people doing it. I

think it is really important to know the Orange County politicians as well as the state and national level.”

Th is year, the presidential election brings more than just a national focus to student organizations in North Carolina. Th e Democratic National Convention will be held in Charlotte this upcoming fall. Th is will be the fi rst nominating conven-tion of a major party ever held in North Carolina and Democratic student organi-zations are hoping to participate.

“We are trying to reach out to the Davidson Democrats to see if we can do anything with the Convention,” says Ho-vis. “We are willing to do anything, even if that means setting up chairs and take out trash. We’re working on it right now.”

With the Democratic National Con-vention being held in September, Demo-cratic student organizations have a lot of time until then to commit to other issues such as Amendment One.

The UNC-Chapel Hill Young Democrats celebrated “Proud to be a Democrat Week” March 19-23. Members and leadership set up a booth in the Pit from 10am-2pm everyday promoting safe sex practices, selling UNC Young Dems T-shirts, and providing voting registration forms.

BY KATHERINE DRYE, UNC-CH


“We are a big grassroots group, so we do a lot of campaigning,” says Hovis. “We go knock on doors all of the time and make phone calls. Th is semester we are really focusing on state level politics with Amendment One coming out and then in the fall we’ll be doing both state and national level politics with the presiden-tial election.”

DISCRIMINATION COMMUNICATIONDuke Together Against Constitutional

Discrimination was created to fi ght the passage of Amendment One. North Caro-lina is the only southern state that does not have a constitutional amendment banning same-sex unions.

“We are a coalition of student groups, faculty and staff from Duke and across the entire institution and we are a coali-tion dedicated to mobilizing the entire community against Amendment One,” says Sophomore Jacob Tobia of Cary, the chair of Duke Together.

Amendment One on the ballot has outraged many on both campuses who believe the amendment is constitutional discrimination. Th e amendment would not only aff ect homosexual couples, but heterosexual couples as well. It would change domestic abuse laws, as well as, the adoption laws for both straight and gay individuals.

“Personally, I think it is aff ront to all families across the state,” says Tobia. “It is a threat to our state and it is ignorant legislation that has been poorly thought out. It is the result of bad politics, bad leg-islative process and it is a deeply personal attack in order to garner conservative political support.”

“Overall, Amendment One is an amendment that takes people’s rights away,” says Junior Psychology and Sociol-ogy major Adryen Proctor of Garysburg, N.C., co-president of UNC-CH’s Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgendered Straight Alliance. “It’s the fi rst amendment that I know of that is taking away rights. I don’t think the state of North Carolina should

“We like to try to advocate for different progressive issues and we try to be a commu-nity for those who want to advocate those issues. A lot of our members have different stances on issues such as abortion, but we try to include everyone and their opinions.”

-Lauren Hovis, Vice President of Young Democrats at UNC-CH


be able to do that.”Tobia’s work with Duke Together

Against Constitutional Discrimination has sought to engage many facets of the Duke system in garnering support against Amendment One than with just students.

“We got Duke to issue a statement against Amendment One,” says Tobia. “We had a big rally at Bryan Plaza and had people all across campus speaking out against the amendment. We are organizing a second rally and we are working on get-ting a resolution against the amendment.”

In addition, Tobia’s group has also held a phone-a-thon, as well as organiza-tion of “dorm captains” that will work on their student communities, an eff ort at engaging more students. Duke Together Against Constitutional Discrimination is also creating a “Make It Better” campaign in which well-known people at Duke have contributed and held that they will be vot-ing against the amendment.

“The government is communicating that the LGBTQ community are not people of worth [with Amendment One].”

-Jacob Tobia, chair of Duke Together

“Th e government is communicat-ing that the LGBTQ community are not people of worth [with Amendment One],” says Tobia. “Th ey are communicating that we are not welcome or valued and should just go away. If I can’t raise a family here, I know that I will be moving. Th ere is a national emphasis on LGBTQ bullying and it is ironic that the biggest bully has been the government.”

Many other campus groups that have felt similar sentiments are fi ghting against the passage of Amendment One by pro-moting awareness.

“[UNC-CH Young Democrats] are partnering with Coalition to Protect All North Carolina Families and have been selling shirts to vote against Amendment One,” says Hovis. “Students have been wearing the shirts across campus. In addi-tion, we’ve been canvassing, knocking on people’s doors, making phone calls, and we’re supporting groups on campus against

Amendment One. We’re trying to get the word out.”

In addition to promoting awareness, many groups on both campuses have secured early voting sites on both cam-puses in order to garner more voter par-ticipation, whether in the North Carolina Primary or in regards to Amendment One. Both the North Carolina Primary and Amendment One votes are the same day, May 8, 2012.

“Securing a one-stop early voting site on campus for the primaries will be perfect for Duke because most Duke students are out-of-state,” says Tobia. “Th ey can register and vote in the process and it will make a huge diff erence because more people will be able to have a voice.”

For many students, being involved in campus political organizations has led to an outlet in which their voices and opin-ions cannot only be heard, but also acted upon.

“Being involved and working against Amendment One has helped me fi nd my voice and engage everyone in the fi ght against discrimination,” says Tobia. “It has broadened who I engage with in a beauti-ful way. It has brought the Duke commu-nity generationally in a way I could have never imagined. I am going to be so much stronger coming out of this fi ght no matter who wins.”

Former Republican presidential contender Herman Cain spoke at UNC-Chapel Hill on Thursday, March 22. The event was hosted by UNC College Republicans, the UNC Economics Club and Young America’s Foundation, and cost the organizations $10,000.


becca wardis a senior environmental policy major at Duke University.

1. Don’t text when you walk. Seems simple, right? Keep your head up and actually look where you are going. Interact with the people you pass. It’s a small step that translates into a more cognizant and intentional lifestyle. It becomes all too easy to move on autopilot, so try to combat that mesmerizing gleam of your iPhone’s screen.

2. Have the courage to do it sober. If you like someone, or if you just fi nd someone attractive and want to have some fun, don’t swill liquid courage to make yourself take the fi rst step. It may make the night easier, but it almost always makes the next morning a lot worse. Th e fi rst kiss is a quintessential memory of a relationship… try to do it in a state where you’ll actually keep the memory.

3. Look deeper before you judge some-one’s intelligence or character. Above everything I’ve learned at Duke, a key realization was that people have more depth than you can imagine. Before you call people ‘dumb blondes,’ ‘stupid jocks,’ ‘socially challenged,’ ‘common grounders,’ or ‘frat stars,’ get to know them and their interests. You’ll be shocked at what’s un-derneath the pinnie or lettermen’s jacket.

4. Every day, make someone’s day. You know those days when you feel like you live for work, and you might as well move your mattress into Perkins Library? Th ose days are part of an undergraduate lifestyle, but try inserting –random acts of kindness every so oft en: compliment a stranger, buy your friend a cookie from Von der Hyden, or write someone a note- the specifi cs don’t matter. Connecting with those around you helps you realize there is a reason you are working to the bone to eventually make the world a better place, and you can start by making someone’s world a little better. (Or, if you just want to

T hese days, I fi nd myself sitting through more and more inspirational speeches that claim to prepare me for the outside world. Th ey vary in quality and sub-stance, but m ost are reduced to kernels of wisdom that are supposed to help us ‘make sense’ of this upcoming transition to ‘adulthood’ and the lessons I was

supposed to have internalized from my college experience. I fi nd these kernels unpalat-able if not mind-numbingly generic. So naturally, I’m going to do the same thing to you poor, young, unsuspecting souls. However, in sharing with you the things that I felt most changed my outlook or habits during college, I hope to avoid the torpor of nonspecifi c platitudes and move to things I believe are more applicable to an undergraduate’s life.

make bank right out of school, you better at least start building up some good karma).

5. Fake it. Not something you typically hear as good advice, but I am talking about those days you wake up and feel like nothing can go right; you’re sick, tired, and stressed, and all you want to do is brood in the tenth ring of hell you’ve created. On those days, ditch the pjs, fi x your hair and slap a smile on your face. If you walk out of your room acting like everything is spectacular and you are ready to take on the world, you may start to believe it. Act with confi dence, smile to the world and it will make your daily grind a lot more manageable.

6. Relationships are supposed to make you happy. If they don’t, you shouldn’t be in them. Th is goes for both romantic relationships and friendships. You are surrounded by a very eclectic group of individuals, and not everyone will be right for you. Find people (or a person) who make you appreciate who you are and enable you to be better. You should never tolerate a relationship that makes you act and feel like someone you’re not and you don’t want to be. College will be over faster than you think, so surround yourself with people that make you happy.

7. It doesn’t matter who you were yesterday, be who you want to be today. It doesn’t matter what chronic mistakes you’ve made or whether you have fallen into certain undesirable patterns. Discard the excuse, “but I always do that,” and take the opportunity to be person you strive to be. Let past mistakes be informative experiences rather than templates for how you live your life.

With those tidbits hopefully internalized, I’m off to the real world… with a small lay-over in Myrtle Beach. Duke, it’s been real.

devil’s


‘‘

lilly knoeppis a sophomore journalism major at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Summer should encourage change and adventure

I n college we become consumed in our own worlds, and only things that happen at UNC-CH seem to matter to us. Everyone’s life revolves

around class, homework, friends, clubs and work. Th e student body was collec-tively distraught when point guard Kendall Marshall broke his wrist. It seemed like the only important news of the day.

But as summer approaches, we have many choices about what to do outside this small university world in Chapel Hill.

A number of my friends have chosen to go far away to study abroad for the summer in places from Copenhagen to Prague. While there, they will physically get out of this little bubble and learn about the culture of another country hopefully realizing that other things are important besides what classes you’re taking next semester. Studying abroad in the summer is a great opportunity for people who do not have enough time during the regular school year to spend a semester in another country.

But if you are unable to get out of the country this summer, there are still ways that you can make summer diff erent from your school year.

Many students try to gain valuable work experience through summer internships. You can intern practically anywhere, and whether it is paid or unpaid, it will teach you valuable life skills, even if it’s just how to make a great cup of coff ee for your boss. Hopefully you will be able to fi nd work that is a bit more rewarding than that, but any experience can be a good experi-ence. Working in any setting can teach

you about employment as an adult in the future. In many industries, an internship is the gateway to a full-time career. Th is is how many powerful people in the world fi rst got their start, by climbing their in-dustry’s ladder from the bottom up.

Th is summer, making a huge change in my life might be hard since I am planning to stay in Chapel Hill for summer school. Nevertheless, I still think that it can be a whole new world. I will be trying to get an internship in addition to taking classes, and it will also be my fi rst experience liv-ing away from my parents outside of the dorms. By changing what I am doing in Chapel Hill from solely going to school to working and living in a new place, I will be making a change in my life this summer.

Living in North Carolina, there are other ways that you can do something diff erent and make a change. Th is summer the state will be a political battleground as the presidential election heats up. Th e N.C. Congressional race will also be tak-ing place, and many bills are up for public vote. By far the most controversial bill up for vote is for the amendment to the state constitution, commonly referred to as Amendment One. Th is amendment will put a state constitutional ban on any mar-riage that is not defi ned as being between a man and a woman in North Carolina,

though it is already illegal in this state for same-sex couples to wed. But by adding this to the constitution it will make the law much more permanent, as it is harder to change the state constitution then to enact a bill in the state legislature. Th is amend-ment will be up for a vote on May 8 on the primary ballot. Voting, or even campaign-ing for either side, is something that you can do to make a diff erence in your life and in that of others as it makes your voice heard. Making that diff erence is meaning-ful to me.

I think that the reason that I am so set on making a diff erence in my life this summer is because of the way I spent last summer. Last summer, I went home and lived with my parents. I was rehired at my high school job at Dairy Queen. It was so weird to be back in the world outside of college where school isn’t as important as what time my dad is going to be cooking dinner.

I had a good summer there, but the whole time I was home I wished that I had something meaningful to do. Something that would help me in the next year besides the few dollars I saved from making ice cream cones. I want this summer to give me the feeling that I am doing something worthwhile, and hopefully you can fi nd something that gives you that feeling too.

I want this summer to give me the feeling that I am doing something worthwhile, and hopefully you can find something that gives you that feeling too.


athlete’s

laurel burkis a sophomore English major from Duke. She is also a member of Duke’s student athletics club, The Inferno.

cornerA merican colleges and universi-

ties cannot decide what to think about the role of sports in higher education. Do they,

as an admissions offi cer might say, build campus community and refl ect indi-vidual character? Is a professor’s in-class reference to the Duke-Carolina rivalry a legitimate example of an academic concept or forced pandering to student interests? Especially in the case of Divi-sion I programs, is athletics’ infl uence on the university benefi cial, detrimental, or a combination of both?

In one corner, you have your abolition-ists. To these people (oft en faculty mem-bers, but sometimes students as well), major athletics have no place at a uni-versity like Duke or UNC-CH. To these folks, sports are not just a distraction from studies —they are profoundly anti-intellectual. Th ese are the people who, in discussions of athletic subsidies, spout in the school newspaper or Th e Chronicle of Higher Education something resem-bling the following argument: ‘If Martians landed on campus tomorrow and saw the amount of space and money we devote to our football and basketball stadiums, they would be confused about the purpose of our institutions.’ Well, for my part, I don’t think any Martians are coming tomorrow, and even if they are, I don’t see why they should be shaping institutional policy. Associated arguments that fall just short of athletic abolition are those calling for an end to athletic scholarships or a conversion of all academically serious D-I schools into D-III schools. Acceptable athletic topics in the classroom might in-clude discussions of scandals as indicative of a toxic culture in sports, and exclusion, discrimination, or homophobia in sports.

Another, more moderate university stance on athletics is taken up by the sport-as-an-extracurricular camp. Th is mentality is best exemplifi ed by admis-sions offi cers. Every information ses-

sion and brochure is going to include that picture of the smiling kid with the painted face at a basketball game. Sports, at the varsity, club, and intramural levels, are considered part of student life and enhance the sense of campus community. Applicants are encouraged to list their athletic participation as extracurricular activities and are told that sports partici-pation fosters leadership and commit-ment. Some professors seem to see it this way too. Th ey are the ones who tell you not to expect an e-mail response during the game. Th ey use the occasional sports example in lecture and tend to be aware of the athletic affi liations and accomplish-ments of their student-athletes. Sports are a common experience and an acknowl-edged part of students’ college lives.

A third perspective challenges both of these positions. Sports are not a malig-nant tumor threatening the viability of the university’s brain, but neither are they mere extracurricular activities. Th ese are the professors who make sports part of the curriculum. Here is a sampling of academic courses about athletics of-fered at Duke or UNC-CH: Baseball in Global Perspective, Sport as Performance, Philosophy of Sport, Issues in a World Society: Sports and Competition, Ameri-can Women in Sports, and Embodying Japan: Th e Cultures of Beauty, Sports, and Medicine. I’ve argued before in this column that sports are interdisciplinary undertakings, and this diversity of classes supports that claim. Th is isn’t a case of one rogue department dreaming up a throwaway elective; it is a trend across institutions and across disciplines. Rather than decrying the infl uence of sports on intellectualism, this approach intellectual-izes sports. Instead of warning that sports are a threat to the life of the mind, those teaching these courses trust in the power of knowledge, scholarship, and analysis to annex athletics and bring them into the intellectual fold of the university.

My club basketball team plays a tournament at the University of Vir-ginia almost every year. Painted in the lobby of UVA’s recreation center are the words of Th omas Jeff erson, founder of the university and founding father of our country, extolling the value of exercise and demanding that students set aside two hours a day for it. In fact, Jeff erson reportedly went so far as to say, “Leave all the aft ernoon for exercise and recreation, which are as necessary as reading. I will rather say more necessary because health is worth more than learning.”

It is hard to imagine that anyone would want to refute this sentiment and stress the value of intellectual engagement over physical well-being. Disagreement comes when we consider the university’s role in promoting this message. Should the university concern itself solely with academic learning and leave it to the in-dividual student to develop healthy habits of exercise? Or, as is currently the case, should schools like Duke and UNC-CH continue to endorse athletics as part of their ‘brand’ and encourage the develop-ment of community through physical activity? I don’t see Duke and UNC-CH ever distancing themselves from major athletics, nor do I think they should. But now I’m talking to you, prospective fi rst years (or ‘p-frosh,’ as we call you at Duke): though the Tobacco Road univer-sities are oft en stereotyped as universally sports crazed, whatever your views on sports and higher education, you’re likely to fi nd both sympathizers and challengers on both sides of the rivalry.


W hile strolling around either campus, it is clear to the casual observer that residence halls play a ma-jor role in campus culture at Duke and UNC-CH. From the architecture to the large-scale layout, the

diff erences in housing at the respective universities seem obvi-ous. But how much do students really know about the housing systems, even at their own home campus?

THE BASICSUNC’s on-campus housing is occupied by 46 percent of all

undergraduates. Th e average semester’s rent is $2,865, which includes all utilities, high-speed internet and cable television. All UNC-CH dorms, and many Duke dorms, have air conditioning—although many rooms only have window units. Duke dorms don’t have cable TV except in common areas. 85 percent of undergrad-uates live on campus at Duke. Housing at Duke costs $13,240 on average per year.

Comparing Duke University’s and UNC-CH’s housing systems can be diffi cult because there are very few parallels between the schools’ respective models. At UNC-CH, fi rst-year students are required to live in university housing; however, there are no designated “fi rst-year” dorms. Th at said, 85 percent of fi rst-year students live in dorms in the southern region of campus. Th e

increased distance from class buildings typically makes that area less desired by upperclassmen, who have priority in selecting residence halls. UNC-CH recently decided to stop reserving space for fi rst-years on North Campus, so starting with the 2012-2014 school year, the number of fi rst-year students on South Campus is likely to be even higher than it is now.

Duke, on the other hand, requires all students to live on cam-pus for the fi rst three years of enrollment. Additionally, all fi rst-year students are required to live in one of the 14 dorms on East Campus, which is a separate area removed from the apartment complexes on Central Campus and the upperclassmen dorms and classroom buildings on West Campus. Th e intent in this separa-tion of the fi rst-year dorms is to foster a strong sense of commu-nity within the class, encouraging close relationships between new students. Duke’s multiple bus lines, including the C-1, C-2, and C-3 buses, run between East, West and Central campuses for the students’ convenience.

THE DUKE HOUSE MODELWhile the setup on East Campus will remain the same, Duke is

currently in the process of signifi cantly changing the way it orga-nizes student living on West and Central Campus. Duke is tran-sitioning to the new Duke Houses model, which entails breaking

A closer look at UNC-CH and Duke housing communitiesSTORY AND PHOTOS BY CAROLINE LELAND, UNC-CHDESIGN BY TASHIANA WESLEY, UNC-CH

A Living ExperienceCollege:


‘‘Approximately 600 students of UNC-CH’s 18,600 undergraduates are involved with a living-learning community.

down West and Central Campus into smaller communities called houses. Th ese houses will be granted certain abilities and rights, such as the right for students to return to their house in subsequent years. Joe Gonzalez, Duke’s associate dean for housing, dining and residential life, said many student groups that exist as recognized organizations but not as living communities have jumped at the opportunity to secure housing. Next year, 20 new or existing groups will be granted group housing for the fi rst time on West and Central campus, nearly doubling the number of student groups living together on campus at Duke. Th e houses, which will total 45 in number next year, will consist of groups of 20 to 110 people. Th is

change creates much smaller communi-ties than the current setup of quads on West Campus, which typically house 550 people each.

Currently, students not in selective living groups have no guarantee that they can return to a given living arrange-ment from year to year. Th e new house model adds continuity to student hous-ing by guaranteeing students the ability to return to their houses in subsequent years. “We’re really inviting them to start personalizing their house,” Gonzalez said. He said students will be encouraged to come up with names and start their own traditions. Another aspect of the new model is a more intentional three-class representation to foster connections

between students of diff erent years. He especially hopes to build mentoring-based relationships between older and younger students. Each house will have its own funding for projects and events, and some will have live-in faculty to foster student relationships with faculty members. Next year, unaffi liated students will be randomly assigned to houses. Th is process has received mixed response from students, some of whom were frustrated at not being able to express a preference for Central or West Campus.

LIVING-LEARNINGCOMMUNITIES

According to UNC’s assistant director of housing and residential education Rick Bradley, Approximately 600 students of UNC-CH’s 18,600 undergraduates are in-volved with a living-learning community. Carolina’s living-learning communities, according to the UNC-CH Housing and Residential life website, are designed to be “a unique, inclusive residential learn-ing experience that connects classroom learning with residence life.” A student applies for a group that interests him or her when applying for housing at UNC. Living-learning communities, which are based within residential halls, bring together students who share a similar in-terest. UNC-CH currently has ten living-learning communities whose focuses range from Chinese or Spanish language and culture, to service and leadership, to substance-free environments, to environ-mental sustainability, and more.

Duke also has living-earning commu-nities, but signifi cantly fewer. UNC-CH does not have any LLCs exclusively for fi rst-year students, but three of Duke’s freshman dorms have specialized themes: wellness living (Brown Residence Hall), the performing arts (Pegram Residence Hall), and interdisciplinary opportunities (the Focus Program). Duke has similar communities on West Campus, including a group focused on wellness living and the selective Baldwin Scholars program for women.

Some of Duke’s most popular and visible housing programs are selective living groups (SLGs), of which there is no true equivalent at UNC-CH. Gonzalez confi rmed that 1,600 students will live in SLGs next year. SLGs are student-run or-ganizations where current members select incoming members through a rush pro-cess. “I rushed diff erent groups because I liked the idea of being part of a larger community,” said Kevin Lieberman, a se-


nior Mechanical Engineering major from Washington, D.C. Lieberman, who is in the SLG Brownstone, said he enjoys the supportive nature of SLGS, and the fact that each group has its own personality.

GREEKAt UNC-CH, Greek housing

is privately owned, managed, and operated. Of the 54 Greek organiza-tions recognized at UNC-CH, 30 have houses. All Greek houses are off -campus but are immediately adjacent to the University. Th e town of Chapel Hill actually has an ordinance that prohibits more than four unrelated people from living together in a dwelling that is not an apartment or rental complex, but Chapel Hill makes a special exception for sorority and fraternity houses. In eff ect, sororities and fraterni-ties recognized by the University are granted their own zoning category by the town of Chapel Hill, which allows such large groups of unrelated individuals to live together despite the law that normal-ly prohibits these arrangements. Aaron Bachenheimer, Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life at UNC-CH, said at the last consensus, 867 students occupied 29 Greek houses (Th e sorority Pi Beta Chi just bought a house this year). However, it is important to note that not all Greek organizations at UNC have houses.

Duke does not have traditional Greek houses for fraternities and sororities. Instead, these groups can reserve sections of dorms for their members to live in to-gether. Th e University reserves that space for the group in subsequent years, as long as they are able to fi ll all the spaces allot-

ted to them. Gonzalez said it is rare for a group to lose housing, explaining that in the past eight years, only three groups “sort of disappeared” due to insuffi cient student interest. UNC-CH does allow such blocking in dorms, but allots the space on a year-to-year basis and does not permanently reserve any space for groups other than LLCs.

All but one of Duke’s fraternity chap-ters have housing reserved in residence halls, and the majority live on West Campus. Gonzalez added that all nine of Duke’s Panhellenic sorority chapters, which currently do not have housing, will be granted housing on Central Campus under the new Duke Houses system.

GENDERED HOUSINGAnother signifi cant

diff erence in the housing policy of the two Universi-ties is currently a hot top-ic: gender-neutral housing. UNC-CH has four female-only dorms and two male-only dorms, whereas all of Duke’s dorms are co-ed. UNC-CH residents must be of the same gender in order to share a room. Despite a petition that garnered more than 1,100 signatures, UNC Chancel-lor Holden Th orp vetoed

a gender-neutral housing proposal last month. He said his decision was based on concerns about understanding and support from “stakeholders off -campus.” Although the eff ort was delayed, the students who led the initiative resolved to have the proposed policy implemented for the 2013-2014 school year.

At Duke, gender-neutral housing was made available last year aft er two years of discussion. Co-ed apartments are avail-able on Central Campus, but individuals of the opposite sex may not share a bed-room. Duke currently off ers gender-neu-tral housing on a case-by-case basis, but the organization Duke Students for Gen-der Neutrality, led by junior Jacob Tobia, is pushing for a gender-neutral housing policy for all campus housing. “Students have massive support for gender-neutral housing,” he said. Tobia said his group is committed to making all houses co-ed by the 2013-2014 school year. Th e group submitted a proposal to Duke housing administration and expects to hear a response sometime this week.

It’s apparent that there are vast dif-ferences in housing at each university—both on the surface and on a deeper, more systemic level. It’s interesting to think about how something seemingly as simple as a cluster of buildings can have such a profound impact on the lives of individual students, because where, how and with whom a student is permitted to live is a major aspect of his or her college experience.


I am currently in transit on the now incredibly familiar stretch of High-way 15-501 that connects Durham and Chapel Hill. Th e particularly

uncharming expanse of this urban sprawl fl ies by, and I look on as the “Duke Uni-versity” bumper stickers travel by along-side a fl ock of Carolina blue-clad vehicles. For literary eff ect (read: gross exaggera-tion), I oft en tell people that this eight-mile stretch is one of the longest in the world, separating two of history’s greatest rivals. I liken this complacent patch of concrete and car dealerships to the DMZ. Or the West Bank. Or the Mason-Dixon line.

I have spent countless hours this semester on this stretch of contested pave-ment, constantly between the two univer-sities. Flitting back and forth for classes, meetings and events, I oft en fi nd this juxtaposition of the two schools and cul-tures rather dizzying. Th is time in transit has given me the chance to consider and appreciate the contrast between departure and destination. I have learned to value those diff erences, and in doing so my

appreciation for my “home” institution in Chapel Hill has grown tremendously.

In my fi rst article about my experience living in “enemy territory at the height of war,” I recounted an embarrassing blunder that occurred while I was still getting used to the quirks of living in a new place as an outsider. Th is time, I want to discuss what I have gained from the collection of all the social blunders, conversations, academic experi-ences, and new friendships I have experi-enced since then, and which now defi ne my Switch.

It can be somewhat diffi cult to articu-late the benefi ts of this distinctive piece of the Robertson experience. On the surface, it can seem like a burden, maybe even a major hindrance to success as a leader on a scholar’s home campus. Living on a diff erent college campus quite literally separates a student from commitments, friends and sometimes from academic pursuits. Driving back and forth for meet-ings and classes can be a huge time sink.

However, like most Robertsons I know that my time at Duke has shaped me as a student, a leader, a friend and an indi-vidual, perhaps more than anything else during my time in college. So why would that be, when on the surface it looks like all I’ve done is switch rooms and develop my deep personal knowledge of the local traffi c patterns?

I think it’s actually all these little inconveniences that pushed me to start developing in new and real ways. Having less time for schoolwork meant I spent it more wisely. Th e fear of losing friendships prompted me to work harder to maintain old ones and build new ones. Exploring more opportunities forced me to shave off commitments that I had not realized I was less passionate about. My time away from Carolina has also taught me to love the things I had previously taken for granted: the beauty of the quad, the openness

RobertsonSwitch

the

BY

RODR

IGO

MAR

TINE

Z, U

NC-C

H

The Robertson Scholars’ bus traverses a far greater divide than the 8-mile distance suggests.

PHOTOS BY ALLIE BARNES, UNC-CH // DESIGN BY PHILIP HOOVER, UNC-CH

This library may look boring, but just wait until the weekend...


F ebruary 8 was a long day. It was also a really, really good day. (If you don’t recognize the date, check Duke or UNC-CH’s 2011-

2012 Men’s Basketball schedule.) Aft er fi nally getting out of class at Duke at 7pm, I rushed to dinner with a professor and some friends. By 8:30pm, I sat in Perkins trying to fi nish a problem set that just wouldn’t end. Two hours later, I caught the last Robertson bus back to Chapel Hill and, checking the half-time score of the Duke-UNC-CH game on my phone, sighed with another Duke rider about what seemed like a defi nite defeat.

Forty minutes later, I was a covert operative, deep in enemy territory at the height of war. I was watching the last few minutes of the game in Cobb common room, a UNC-CH dorm. Anyone who watched the game knows what happened then. Th ree, two, one… Rivers’ shot drops, and the room explodes. One of the other Dukies runs through the hallway, cheering. Elated, I try to tame my grin. Angry shouts around me included various combinations of “Duke,” “Austin Rivers,” and a slew of four-letter words that I’m not allowed to write.

And that is why February 8 was a great day. Victory is, aft er all, that much sweeter when you see fi rsthand how much your op-ponent wanted to win; or, in the words of a Duke meme, “that awkward moment when your [opponent’s] team goes to Hell.” I went

to bed a happy fan at 4 a.m. that night.Flash-forward a month, to March 3: it’s

Saturday and spring break is offi cially in session. Since Personal Checks on Th urs-day night (the most intense set of “tent checks” conducted during the whole tent-ing process) virtually every undergraduate still on Duke’s campus has been in K-Ville. Spirits are at an all-time high. What’s more, by 7:30 pm, the Tar Heels should be well on their way to hell for the second time in the 2011-2012 season.

Of course, that last part didn’t turn out as the Blue Devils planned. And while the Duke basketball fan in me hates myself for writing this, I’m kind of glad about the loss. Blasphemy, I know, but hear me out.

Consider an alternate world in which the victories were reversed so that both

teams win at home. I shrug off the away loss and then promptly forget about it while burning benches aft er the win in Cameron. More fun? Probably. But that would have spoiled the main takeaway.

What I’ve come to realize over the course of this Semester Switch is perhaps best expressed as a variant on the old ad-age that you don’t realize how important a thing is until it’s gone. To really under-stand what is going on in your day-to-day life, you need to step outside of it for a bit. It’s all too easy to walk through life both shortsighted and with a bad case of tunnel vision – especially as a student at a highly competitive university like Duke or UNC-CH. It’s always about the midterm coming up, that sweet frat party on Friday night, or how to get the coveted internship next

and passion of the student body, and the appreciation for relaxation. Th e world beyond Chapel Hill is not always like that, and it took a semester eight miles away for me to realize that.

My time in Durham has taught me to value and appreciate Duke as well. It is truly a land of extremes. “Work hard, play hard” is no exaggeration. Th e competi-tiveness and drive of the student body to reach success, whatever form it takes, is remarkable. Th e friends I have made and people I have met at this university work incredibly hard to reach their goals, and they know their priorities while still knowing full well how to have fun come Friday night… or earlier. While there are

certainly high achieving and incredibly academic students at Carolina, the student body on a whole does not reach the level of academic competition and dedication I have seen at Duke. Of course, every gener-alization I can make about each university has huge contradictions—large segments of the populations of Duke and Carolina serve as excellent examples of how I am completely incorrect. One semester can only give me so much insight into the diff erences between these two universities. Indeed, I doubt that four full, switch-free years would be enough to understand each school.

So what use has this all been? What have I learned from my time as a Duke

student? I have learned more about my-self. I have learned to appreciate my very limited time in college. I have learned that Duke and Carolina are more similar than many students may want to admit. I have learned that choosing Carolina was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I have learned to love Duke. I have learned how to love my community—whether that be by sharing tears of disbelief aft er a one point buzzer beater, by rushing Franklin Street aft er an 18-point demolition, or by allowing 3 hours to fl y by in conversation with a new friend from a rival university. I have learned… a lot. Switch gauge at week ten: Still a Tar Heel, but perhaps my Caro-lina blue blood runs slightly darker.

UNC-CH fans may hate to admit it, but Duke also has a beautiful campus and filled with open spaces and exquisite architecture.


summer. Don’t get me wrong, universities like ours work a great deal to expand their students’ horizons, out of the classroom by bringing them together with a diverse group of exceptional men and women from around the world. In the classroom, we directly connect with and learn from some of the world’s eminent scholars.

But precisely because of this – because we’re so driven to squeeze every drop out of the opportunities granted to us – it’s very easy to stop thinking critically about the little things or, for that matter, to step out-side your own little bubble. For example, for those at Duke: how many new faces

have you randomly said “hi” to since your fi rst semester here?

To be fair, now that I’m relatively settled into life at Chapel Hill, I’ve begun to settle back into my own bubble – perhaps more so than I would have liked. But in the past three months, I’ve come to realize just how refreshing – and vital – it can be to chal-lenge those personal boundaries. For these months, I’ve been an outsider to some degree wherever I’ve been. At Duke, I’ve had multiple friends ask me which team I was rooting for. It’s oft en said that there’s no such thing as a stupid question. Aft er hear-ing that, though, I beg to diff er. And while

BY RODRIGO MARTINEZ, UNC-CH

“While the Duke basketball fan in me hates myself for writing this, I’m kind of glad about the loss.”

I’ve done reasonably well assimilating at Chapel Hill, I’m still clearly not a Tar Heel. Just the other day, for example, I was called out by the server at Subway in Chapel Hill for accidentally wearing my Duke shower sandals . Luckily for me, he too is secretly a Duke fan.

What does this have to do with basket-ball? In February, I saw the losers’ pain. In March, I felt it. My home is now at UNC-CH, and I love it. But whenever I get off the Robertson bus at Duke, I take everything in with a fresh set of eyes, a more open mind, and can’t help but smile like I did my fi rst day here.

No matter how many differences might separate the two schools, Duke and UNC-CH will always have one thing in common: They both beat NC State in basketball this year. And last year. And the year before that...


STORY BY TRENT CHIANG, DUKE // DESIGN BY SHANNON COFFEY, UNC-CH

the year in

review

Rival reflects on the most memorable moments of the 2011-2012 school year.


SEPTEMBER

Th e UNC-CH Football team opened its season against James Madison University in the newly expanded Kenan Football Stadium. Th e $70 million project added three fl oors of seating, a blue zone seating among other facili-ties to the stadium. Tar Heels rolled past the Duke Blue Devils 42-10.

SEPTEMBER

NOV 12A group of “occupiers”, many of them not associated with Occupy Chapel Hill, moved into the vacant Yates Motor Company building on Franklin street, which led to a police raid 18 hours later. Chapel Hill Police was later criticized with the way its forces handled the raid and for handcuffi ng two journalists.

Aft er deciding to cancel tailgate activities aft er a incident in the 2010 football season, the administration decided to replace tailgate with Football Game Day. Game Day attracted criticism with its decentralized location and stringent alcohol and noise rules. Student participation in Game Day has been relatively low compared to tailgate, but administration still considered Game Day a success in providing a safe alternative to promote Duke football.

SEPT 3

OCTOBER

Occupy Chapel Hill was founded following the nationwide “occupy movement” in the fall, and started as a few tents on the Peace and Justice Plaza on October 15. Th e encampment soon started to grow and led to both sanitation concerns and an aggregation of the homeless population. Aft er three months on the plaza, Occupy Chapel Hill decided to move out of the plaza in January due to dwindling size and poor weather.

OCT 15

NOVEMBER

A game between Duke and Michigan State, two traditional basketball power-houses, is always exciting to watch, but the victory that resulted from the game on November 15 between the two had far more meaning than just another Duke win. It was the 903rd career win of the head coach Mike Krzyzewski, which made him the all-time winningest coach in Division I college basketball. With 927 wins aft er the disappointing end to the 2011-2012 basketball season, Coach K has proved to be one of the most successful coaches in the nation throughout his career.

Duke House model: Residence Life and Hous-ing Services (RLHS), which decided to make the controversial switch to the House Model, held a lottery to decide where living groups will be located. For the fi rst time in the history of Duke University, all nine Panhellenic Association sororities will have housing sections located on Central Campus. In addition, fraternities and non-Greek selective living groups (SLGs) all participated in the lottery, which relocated many of these groups to Central Campus.

NOV 15

OCT 26


BY JULIA WALL, UNC-CH


MARCH 3

MARCH 21

UNC-CH and Duke faced a familiar situation- the basketball game between the two decided the ACC regular season champion. While Duke students can still reenact the winning shot made by Austin Rivers in the game between the rivals in February, the Tar Heels did not allow that to happened again at the March rematch in Cameron Stadium. UNC-CH started this game with a large lead and held onto it throughout the match, cementing its title as the ACC regular season champion.

Th e University institutionalized a $20,000 fund for the Black Student Alliance Invitational, a yearly recruitment event to bring black prospective students to campus for a weekend, based on the recommendation of the Black Culture Initiative organized by the Black Student Alliance (BSA). BSA started these negotiations followed by a rally on Main West Quadrangle on January 24.

DEC 1

DEC 21

Th e new housing plan, which would have ended the practice of reserving North Campus residence halls for freshmen, was axed aft er student groups complained. Students took issue that the change intended to reduce unused beds in North Campus and encourage upperclassmen to live on campus.

Laurence Alvin Lovette Jr, one of the two men who allegedly killed then-student-body-president Eva Carson in 2008, was found guilty of fi rst-degree murder and will spend rest of his life in prison.

DECEMBER

Chairman of the Board of Directors Bruce Karsh and his wife, Martha, donated $50 million dollars to Duke as a permanent endowment supporting the university’s need-blind fi nancial aid policy and fi nancial aid for internation-al students. Th e donation is the largest ever received by Duke University from an individual.

DEC 5

FEBRUARY

Austin River’s buzzer beater silenced Dean Smith’s Center with an 85-84 victory for Duke in a game where UNC-CH led most of the second half. Tyler Zeller accidentally tipped the ball in for Duke and then missed a second free throw in the last moments of the game. UNC-CH was forced to seek redemption for the game in Cameron Indoor Stadium on March 3.

FEB 8

UNC-CH’s 18th Rameses (UNC-CH’s goat mascot) died at the age of 8 due to natural causes, just one day aft er the heart-breaking basketball loss to Duke. Th e 19th UNC-CH ram, Bam-Bam, will have his fi rst public appearance in the fall.

FEB 9

UNC-system Board of Governors approved a historic 8.8 percent tuition hike system-wide, which translates into a $695 tuition increase for in-state students for the 2012-2013 academic year and $600 for 2013-2014 academic year for UNC-CH. Th e board also approved a $1622 tuition increase for out-of-state students starting 2012-2013 academic year.. Two hundred students from across the state rallied in the Pit on the following day to protest this measure.

UNC-CH student body voted 57.4 percent to 40.8 percent to remain in the UNC-system’s Association of Student Governments (ASG), which is funded by an annual $1 fee from UNC students around the state. ASG has been consistently criticized with its ineffi cient use of student money.

FEB 10

FEB 21

MARCH

Th e NCAA imposed additional penalties aft er learn-ing about the infractions of the UNC-CH football team with sports agents and impermissible benefi ts to players. Th e NCAA banned the UNC-CH foot-ball team from the 2012 postseason and will reduce the team’s number of eligible scholarships by 15 over the course of a three-year span.

MARCH 12

A new course numbering system will become live for Fall 2012. Instead of the original 1-399 system for undergraduates, Duke University adopted a new system ranging from 1 to 999. In addition, Duke will also start to use Sakai instead of Blackboard for course management starting Fall 2012. at Duke



the width and breadth of itSmoother Sailing...STORY AND PHOTOS BY ALYSSA BAILEY, UNC-CHDESIGN BY SHANNON COFFEY, UNC-CH

Every issue we take an outside perspective from one of our columnists who is studying abroad. Alyssa Bailey is a junior at UNC-Chapel Hill studying abroad at the Sciences Po school in Paris, France.

I was running the other day along the Seine, idly taking in the view. Having been in Paris for two months, and I have memorized my routine; Down the Seine, along the Right Bank, past the Louvre, a lap around the Jardin des Tuile-

ries. It was striking the fi rst time, but now it’s just habit.I was jogging in place, waiting for the crosswalk light to

change by the Pont Neuf metro stop, the halfway point on the river portion of the run. I looked left toward the Seine, mentally reviewing my day’s to-do list: shower, get dressed, go to a muse-um with a friend –wait, what’s that fl ash of green (and it’s not the stoplight)? I did a double take, covered my mouth, and gasped. I run every other day in Paris, but it wasn’t until that moment that I noticed the usually skeleton-like trees were getting leaves. Winter was over. It was fi nally spring.

Last issue, I wrote about my experience studying abroad in Paris aft er my fi rst week. It had been rough; I defi nitely wasn’t in love with the place. Th e language barrier took me off guard. I stumbled doing everything; I couldn’t understand anything. But I had hope: that my days in Paris would become the best of my


life. I just had to get through winter, that adjustment period.

So now it’s done. I’m more than half-way through my classes. I’m an editorial intern at Women’s Wear Daily, the publi-cation I interviewed for that fi rst Friday; it’s been a wonderful experience. Th e edi-tor who gave me the encouragement I so desperately needed, then, is now my boss. I have a great group of friends from my journalism program. It’s getting warmer — slowly but surely. Last Th ursday, it was 72 degrees before it dropped back to the mid-50s. It was a perfect teaser for the beautiful weather ahead.

My French comprehension is steadily improving. What was once just a slur of indistinguishable words on the metro have become conversations of which I can make some sense. Th e things that once terrifi ed me — oral “exposés” or French presentations, street interviews en fran-çais — I’m tackling now one by one. I’m surviving and somehow, these challenges aren’t as dreadful as I imagined.

I’m also doing more activities with friends: my roommate and I are planning a trip to Euro-Disney this weekend, a girl from my program and I are talking about a group trip to Rome in May once classes end, and my father and I have booked our tickets for London when he comes over during my last week here.

Paris is on the upswing. So best days ever, right?

Not quite, but good days. Better days. And that’s good enough for now.

Study abroad advertising is a bit misleading. Th e experience is pitched as the ultimate semester-vacation. ‘Go ex-plore Europe or Asia or Africa! Have the adventure of a lifetime! It’ll be your best experience ever, we swear!’ What they don’t tell you is that your experience can’t be pigeonholed like that. It’s really one-of-

a-kind, diff erent and individualized.Th ey can’t tell you what it’ll be like

for you in Paris. I can tell you that unless you’re fl uent in French and have lived in a city, there will be some kind of adjust-ment. But no one can promise that you will have a good experience just because you’re physically in Paris. Being in Europe or wherever else doesn’t automatically make your life amazing despite what the brochures say. It’s just a pretty backdrop, and setting is just one component of your life’s script.

So, live boldly and enjoy it while you can. Be your own director and plan, plan, plan. And if there are moments where you miss the U.S., know it’s OK. I can give you a list of things I miss in a heartbeat; we all can.

I used to be confused when I’d read the excited statuses of students abroad upon their return to the States. Counting down the days. But why? You’re in Spain for only a week more. Shouldn’t there be tears? How are you excited to return to U.S. mediocrity when you have all that around you?

Being here now, I realize that previ-ously I just didn’t get it. It’s impossible to, until you’re feeling it. Th ere’s a big diff er-ence between living and vacationing, but you don’t know it until you experience it. Study abroad isn’t a semester-long vacation no matter what pictures you see on brochures or on Facebook suggesting

‘‘

Left: Rue Royale, where my internship is, at night by Place de la Concorde. I snapped the picture of traffic at 7 p.m. on my way to the Concorde metro.Right : The impres-sive roof of the Palais de la Decou-verte’s lobby. The museum’s interior reminds me of the Smithsonian Natural History museum from home.

otherwise.You still have classes — that’s not

played up as much. You can’t just skip off to the Musée D’Orsay or to Brussels when you have an 8 a.m. lecture. It’s a little pricy to go to that little cafe you’ve claimed as your own when a drink costs nearly as much as the entrée would in dollars.

At the end of the day, it’s a good expe-rience. But let’s be frank, there’s no way to adequately describe it. My experience will be nothing like yours and nor will anyone else’s. You can’t compare so, please, get on that plane with no expectations. Erase the idea of the “best experience ever” and just let it be your own engaging experience.

“But what’s it like?” “What should I expect?” Th at’s what I wanted to know before I left . I wish I could tell you, but I know now that no one can. I can tell you the practical tips: get a Navigo for the metro, have plenty of passport photos on you, use such-and-such for a phone provider, take such-and-such metro line, but what it’ll be like for you? You’ll fi nd out. Don’t be afraid..

You will probably have bad days, but that’s normal. Give it time. Come with a good attitude, be happy with ‘good enough’ and never lose faith in things getting better. Soon enough, you’ll be jogging in your little place and notice the green too. Gasp, smile, and enjoy the rest of the ride.

You will probably have bad days, but that’s normal. Give it time. Soon enough, you’ll be jogging in your little place and notice the green too. Gasp, smile, and enjoy the rest of the ride.

RIVAL MAGAZINE • volume 7 • issue 426

In our By the Book section, we compare the syllabi of two similar courses—one from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and one from Duke University. This issue we take a quick look at the introductory linguistic classes at each university.

by the book:THE ART OF VERBAL LANGUAGE

UNC-CH DUKE

course name: Introduction to Linguistics*sample syllabus

Introduction to Linguistics*sample syllabus

course number: LING 101 LINGUIST 101

professors: Misha Becker Jim Fitzpatrick

offered in fall 2012? yes yes

required books: Contemporary Linguistics: An Intro-duction, 5th edition

by: William O’Grady

Language Files, 10th editionby: Ohio State Department of Linguistics

number of quizzes: 0 daily

number of exams: 3 0

course grade: attendance/participation: 10%assignments: 15%test 1: 25%test 2: 25%final: 25%

option 1: The average of all the daily quizzes, excluding the worst three.

option 2: The average of all the daily grades, excluding the worst three- 75%Final exam- 25%

attendance policy: mandatory mandatory

beyond the classroom: office hours, appointment office hours


OUT OF THE BLUEMohamed Ismailaka Moh, has been a tree-hugger since his childhood in Los Banos, Philippines, a town in the middle of a tropical rainforest. Moh grew to love the sight of wild animals and the sounds of rain in the trees, and saw

the effects of environmental degradation on both nature and human living conditions. At Duke, he is working toward greener solutions. Moh is a junior studying Civil Engineering with a certificate in architecture. He wants to work in sus-tainable design, and improve recycling habits and reduce waste. He is active in environmental groups as the Direc-tor of Publicity in Duke’s Environmental Alliance, and is involved on the recycling and waste reduction teams in both the Duke Campus Sustainability Committee and Sustainable Duke’s Students for Sustainable Living. This year, Moh’s efforts in increasing awareness about waste and recycling garnered him an award from the Environmen-tal Management Action Committee at Duke. Though the problem he is tackling is difficult and systemic, Moh hopes to teach others how to live more “green” on and off campus.

By Kathie Sun, Duke (photo self-submitted)

Qiudi Zhang didn’t have a typical study abroad experience in Germany last sum-mer. Zhang, a UNC-CH senior music major from Omaha, Neb., received the Summer Undergradu-ate Research Fellowship with

fellow student Crystal Wu to commission a new piece of music from living German composer Georg Katz. Zhang also had the chance to meet the composer in Germany, which she said was the coolest part of the experience. “Most musicians play music written by composers who have been dead – and decomposing – for the last 200 years, but I got to meet the guy who wrote my music,” she said. “He is the sweetest German old man, and getting to have tea and cookies with him and his wife at his house was more than any musician can ask for.” Zhang, who is also the principal clarinetist of the UNC-CH Symphony Orchestra, plans to continue pursuing music in graduate school after she finishes her undergraduate studies in May.

By Miranda Murray, UNC-CH (photo self-submitted)

Cody Poplina senior political science and peace, war and defense double major from North Wilkesboro, N.C., helps to widen student’s world-views beyond campus. Poplin, who was a teaching assistant for the

Great Decision series that brings speakers from vari-ous areas of the world to campus, recently received the Luce Scholarship for a year of study in Asia. With the scholarship, Poplin will study democratization and conflict management in India before he plans to return to graduate or law school to continue his studies in the field. He also received a fellowship in 2010 to study at King’s College London, where he did research on American efforts during the Cold War to perpetuate de-mocracy that he is now using as the basis of his honors thesis. Poplin is also vice chair of Student Congress, as well as president of Pi Kappa Phi fraternity.

By Miranda Murray, UNC-CH (photo self-submitted)

Jessica Kima senior Public Policy major at Duke University, will be traveling a long way from her hometown of Los Angeles this summer after she graduates. With a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship in hand, she

will be working with a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Seoul, South Korea for a year with defec-tors from North Korea to aid them find stable employ-ment. Her plan was to conduct research in another country, and alongside her work at the NGO, she will also examine how these defectors who come from a communist background and tend to lack the education and job skills requisite in modern service economies adjust once they try to make it in South Korea’s capital-istic society. After she completes her Fulbright, Jes-sica is interested in attending law school and possibly studying tax and trade law. For now, though, Jessica is excited to spend a year in South Korea and to take a much-needed break from academics.

By Kathie Sun, Duke (photo self-submitted)

JJJeaa DaLLsF

ill b ki ith

Ca pmhvw

G t D i i i

rivalmagazine.wordpress.com

JOIN OUR STAFF!Contact us at [email protected]

Documents

Summer Issue 2012