DukeEthicist: paint brushes vs. test tubes

23 Sep 2011, Posted by Duke Ethicist in Backpages, DukeEthicist, 0 Comments

What does the Trinity-Pratt rivalry look like from an ethical standpoint?

Rivalry. It isn’t always a bad thing; in fact, it’s often quite the opposite. A healthy dose of competitiveness precludes higher levels of engagement and personal investment, and typically promotes better performance. It’s when competitiveness takes on a malicious edge and becomes equally about debasing the adversary as helping oneself that it becomes morally problematic.

Unfortunately, this is the case with the Trinity-Pratt rivalry. Its defining feature is also its ethical downfall: the better-than-you mentality. Fully immersed in Duke’s high achieving environment, and perhaps not achieving quite as highly as would be ideal, many a student has turned to the I’m-in-Pratt-[or-Trinity]-and-so-I’m-better-than-you mentality to justify themselves and their work.

It goes something like this: I am an engineer (or a premed, or a prelaw, or insert any other path of study here) and what I do is more important than what anybody else does. It’s also far more difficult, and takes far more work than anything those slackers in Trinity–or Pratt, if spoken by a Trinity student–could ever deal with. I’m obviously smarter than them, and more dedicated; and I’m going to do far better things with my life. I deserve a pat on the back, a gold star, about five million dollars, and a boatload of respect.

Okay, that may be a bit of an exaggeration.

Then again, it may not be.

And that’s why the rivalry is a problem. The dual ethical shortcomings of perceived entitlement and lack of regard transform the Trinity-Pratt divide from a benign classificatory difference into a legitimate threat. Not an exaggeration.

To combat it, let’s bring respect back into the picture – respect of the varied abilities and affinities that make us the unique and successful people we are. I sure as hell couldn’t do that math and physics stuff you engineers do, and I’m forever in awe of all the lab time you put in and the exams you sit for. It’s damn impressive, and important, and I’m glad you all exist to take to it. But please don’t knock my essays, novels, or artistic compositions. Or my career path. What I do is just as important, just as vital to a balanced world, and just as deserving of respect.

So get started on your problem set, I’m going to paint a picture.

The Duke Ethicist is a project of the Honor Council which responds to ethical questions posed by the Duke community. Our purpose is to provide a medium through which students may anonymously seek advice or spark dialogue. Got a question? Send it to dukeethicist@gmail.com, and look out for a response on our blog.

The education trade-off

22 Sep 2011, Posted by Andrew Karim in Backpages, 0 Comments

Jisoo Yoon/The Chronicle

Remember when school used to be fun? Okay, remember when school wasn’t absolutely dreadful?

For most of us, this time period probably ranged somewhere in between elementary and middle school. According to recent studies, however, fun times in grade school are witnessing a steady decline due in large part to the decreased importance given to the arts.

With such a strong focus on developing reading and math skills for state-administered examinations and so little time spent on the arts, science and non-tested subjects, students are becoming less and less motivated in their respective classroom settings. Student satisfaction has also declined due to a lessening of allotted recess hours during the day.

The gradual decline of arts eduction in public schools could perhaps be attributed to the implementation of No Child Left Behind, which stressed strong practical skills and high progression rates. A 2007 study by the Center on Education Policy found that 44 percent of elementary schools were spending less time on arts instruction since NCLB policies were implemented.

Strong reading and math skills unfortunately translated to less arts in public schools. The whole recession and recent budget tumult place further limits on the amount of funds available for arts education.

Katie Demcio, a kindergarten teacher at the Douglas Creative Arts and Science Magnet School in Raleigh serves as a program coordinator for the the North Carolina A+ Schools Program.  The A+ Schools Program is an initiative that advocates for arts education reform in North Carolina schools. A+ focuses on arts-integrated instruction that combines interdisciplinary teaching and daily arts instruction.

“Teachers need professional development to learn how to teach the arts through integration,” Demico said. “As far as recess, that time is required by law, so my only suggestion would be that the principal hold their teachers accountable for making sure that it happens.”

Although designated A+ schools do integrate the arts into everyday curriculum, the program is limited in the range of schools it is available to—it leaves thousands of students across the state with less than average exposure to the arts.

ArtsConnect is a student-run service organization at Duke that seeks to engage Durham elementary school students in the arts. Every Friday, ArtsConnect volunteers teach self-designed lesson plans to youth in the Emily K Community Center in Downtown Durham. President of ArtsConnect Kavita Chapla commented on the success of the program.

“The kids we work with are all minorities from socioeconomically underprivileged backgrounds, and I’m not sure that they would have access to art outside of school or the community center,” Chapla said. “Just last Friday, I was talking to a new first-grader’s mom and she told me her son was feeling unwell the previous day but told his mom that he had to go to school and the Emily K Center the next day because he had art. It was amazing to see how much of an impact the arts lessons are having on the kids we work with.”

The issue of arts—or rather, a lack thereof—in public schools is pressing, but programs such as A+ and ArtsConnect serve as art mediums of expression in an otherwise artless educational system.

Academics should remain an essential goal of the educational system, but administrators should perhaps reexamine the what they define as a successful curriculum.

“[Art] can motivate kids to succeed,” Chapla said.

Pop culture grid: Moneta & Nowicki

22 Sep 2011, Posted by Christina Yuting in Backpages, Pop Culture Grid, 0 Comments

Sophia Palenberg/The Chronicle

Duke’s most amusing gargoyles, part 2

21 Sep 2011, Posted by Hong Zhu in Backpages, 0 Comments

One post just wasn’t enough to fully capture the range of interesting gargoyles on campus. The exposé of amusing Duke gargoyles (see part 1) continues, complete with pictures and unlikely descriptions. 

All photos taken by Irina Danescu.

The extraterrestrial gorilla

If E.T. and King Kong somehow spawned another creature, this would be it. As if his facial features weren’t distinctive enough, he also sports superhero glasses. With a look that is both alien and gorilla-esque, this gargoyle is tucked away in a back wall in Few Quad.

The Grinch

This gargoyle’s devious grimace and sideways glance can be found next to the Extraterrestrial Gorilla in Few. He has so far rebuffed E.T.-Gorilla’s attempts at conversation, but the latter remains hopeful that they can be friends. Although he has a limited number of interests, he does enjoy theft and is currently plotting a DukeCard heist.

The Hunchback of Crowell Quad

Despite his hunchback, this gargoyle maintains a cheerful attitude and wears a sincere, dreamy smile. When he’s not reading Victor Hugo, he spends his days gazing at the clouds. This gargoyle’s unique posture can be found atop a walkway between Kilgo and Crowell, where he awaits his own Esmerelda.

The tree climber

This outdoorsy, adventurous gargoyle overlooks the main residential quad from Few. He enjoys tree-climbing and physical exercise almost as much as he loves bragging about his biceps.

See no evil

Along with his two pals below, this gargoyle reenacts their favorite saying, “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.” See-no-evil has an air of self-importance that comes from knowing that the proverb references him first. He enjoys playing hide-and-go-seek and moisturizing his eyelids.

Hear no evil

Hear-no-evil suffers from middle child syndrome and longs to be viewed as an individual in his own right. He will, however, probably never realize this dream since the three gargoyles all reside inside one doorway in Craven Quad.  Although hear-no-evil still yearns for own place, he is gradually coming to terms with his cramped conditions.

Speak no evil

The final member of the proverbial threesome is a bastion of patience. Even when passersby put gum on his mouth and drew on his eyeballs, he didn’t make a peep. Despite his generally likeable personality, this gargoyle has a tumultuous relationship with his dentist as a result of his poor oral hygiene and refusal to cooperate.

Freshmen 104: Get your nerd on

19 Sep 2011, Posted by Shucao Mo in Backpages, 0 Comments

Sophia Palenberg/The Chronicle

Whether you are a frivolous dandy whose intellect needs constant stimulation with music or casual conversation in order to keep the brain neurons firing or you are an all-too-studious smartie who abstains from any human or machine-generated sounds, this compilation, I hope, will add some useful knowledge to your potential best-study-places-at-Duke repertoire. I will attempt to avoid the cliché places—for example, the Von Der Heyden, the Carpenter room on third floor Bostock or the tanning salon on East Campus.

1. Back seats in the chapel

Although it doesn’t seem like the most socially amiable or religiously appropriate place to crack your Economics 51 or Organic Chemistry, the chapel organ music could be quite soothing and relaxing to ease your stressful mind. There is nothing so surreal as the comfortable quiet of the chapel.

2. Language lab

On the first floor language building, this room is packed with old computers that emit heat. For those who think far ahead beyond the beautiful sunshine of North Carolina and for those light-orientated warm-blooded moths that seek coziness, the language lab is your fated destination during wintertime—both for hibernation if your home lacks sufficient heat and for brain labor. Personally, my brain freezes if not taken good care of with the right temperature, temperament and titillation.

3. Hanging “corridor” of Babylon between libraries

Between Bostock and Perkins on the top floor lies a corridor that makes the Perkins library complex an organic and dynamic whole. Flowery couches that have a faint European touch, views extending to the Hospital South hidden amid lustrous trees and the occasional distraction of pedestrians holding piles of books walking past and into their own ivory tower. Again, awfully terrific place in winter.

4. Rehearsal studio behind Sheafer Theater

Go down the stairs of the Bryan Center, squeeze between the Sheafer lab theatre and the Griffith theatre and get past the 400 students swarming in and out of their Econ 51 class at noon every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to walk up another staircase—on your right-hand side is the rehearsal studio for Theatre Studies. Extensive space, beautiful lighting, a century-old wooden drawer that creates the illusion of homeliness—the rest is silence. Only a mirror is absent—for narcissists during their study breaks.

5. Porch on Mill Village

The porch is located right next to a gym, a swimming pool, a general store, a Food Factory, a basketball court, a bus stop and an e-print station—it is surrounded by residential Duke apartments. Comfortable swing chairs are available. What else do you need in life apart from (potential) friends, food and fun?

6. Basement level two in Perkins

Time stops underneath the Link among economic and political science treaties, classics and academic journals that close in upon you. I once stayed in this secluded area for more than 37 hours before walking out of the library entrance with my eyes dazzled by the first snow I have ever seen in this country.

7. Coffeehouse, the only oasis on East Campus

Just as squirrels occupy the zone between earth and heaven on West Campus, the hipsters claim their own territory at the Coffeehouse.

8. Common areas in Women’s Center and LGBT center

Both of these centers host study places for those who care about social activism—decorated with, among other things, boxes of free condoms. Take what you are learning in textbooks into practice for the betterment of the human condition.

9. Few Tower

Fantastic sceneries in four directions, especially on a rainy night. The only puzzle is finding the key to unlock the heart of this tower.