Duke bucks the trend

27 Jan 2012, Posted by Nandini Srinivasan in News, 0 Comments

Sophia Palenberg/The Chronicle

Duke’s pool of applicants grows my leaps and bounds, regardless of a national trend of decreasing applications to elite universities.

Early application trends tend to vary broadly across the many universities, which offer Early Action and Early Decision options. Each year, however, the more selective institutions across the country have experienced an increase in applications. This year marks the first time in recent memory that multiple colleges have seen a significant drop in interested high school seniors.

After discontinuing their single-choice Early Action programs in the mid-2000s, Harvard, Princeton and University of Virginia elected to reinstate them for the class of 2016. They all received an incredible volume of applications: 4,245, 3,547 and 11,417 respectively. Notably, this restoration had a negative affect on other top ranked universities, such as Yale, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania and Stanford. Each of these universities saw drops in their application numbers, from one percent to 18 percent. Even Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with its non-restrictive Early Action program saw a 4.7 percent drop in applications. In an age where more high school seniors are applying to college each year, it is easy to assume that these drops are a direct result of the new early application programs.

Even with these new programs, Duke’s Early Decision application numbers soared. An increase of 23 percent from last year, the admissions office received 2,716 applications, of which they accepted 650. This constitutes 38 percent of the incoming class of 2016.

Kelly Williams, a Trinity junior, is surprised at this result.

“Considering our exposure to the world is mostly through sports and scandals, I would expect the application numbers to drop” she said.

Some could chalk the increase up to Duke’s wide appeal. It’s social, smart and sports-friendly. The campus is to die for and the weather is (almost) unbeatable.

“Duke is a very well-rounded school,” junior Ashvin Kapur said. “Even if you think you know what you want to do when you come into college, if you change you’re mind, there are still other options. Unlike the Ivy League, we have a strong sense of cooperation and community. There also aren’t any nets under our bridges…”

Dean of Undergraduate Admissions, Christoph Guttentag, could not be reached to comment on whether recruiting efforts have increased or changed.

Sound-off: Recruitment

25 Jan 2012, Posted by Katie Hillyer in News, 0 Comments

Tyler Seuc/The Chronicle

After two harrowing weeks of recruitment activities, sororities and fraternities welcomed their incoming freshman with a flurry of bid day excitement.  The Chronicle’s Katie Hillyer spoke with students who survived rush to get a better sense of their feelings about the process.

“There’s no way around it—rush is exhausting. But I really trust the system and feel like you really end up where you’re supposed to be!”

-freshman Rebecca Kass, Kappa Kappa Gamma

“I’ve never seen such a cool group of diverse freshman come together under one fraternity house.”

-sophomore Sam Miller, Alpha Epsilon Pi

“If you thought finals were stressful, try girl flirting with freshman for two weeks.”

-sophomore Leilani Doktor, Kappa Kappa Gamma

“This year’s rush was a great experience for everyone involved.”

-sophomore Lewis McLeod, Sigma Nu

“It was exhausting but worth it in the end because we really love our pledge class.”

-sophomore Sarah Tufono, Alpha Phi

“I thought it was kind of a roller coaster. Lots of up and down, pros and cons. But ultimately I do think it all turned out for the best and now I am so excited to be a part of Zeta and finally get to know my new sisters!”

-freshman Jennifer Levin, Zeta Tau Alpha

“Rush is an experience you love to see coming and leaving.”

sophomore Jacob Robinson, Wayne Manor

“Our new pledge class is adorable. We are incredibly happy.”

-sophomore Lindsey Barrett, Zeta Tau Alpha

“This is the best way to get babies without giving birth.  I love the new pledge class and I look forward to getting to know them all better.”

-sophomore Ainsley McWilliams, Kappa Kappa Gamma

“Rush was very different this year but we still got a great pledge class that we’re very excited about.”

-sophomore Shane Stone, Alpha Epsilon Pi

Trending: Now accepting submissions!

25 Jan 2012, Posted by Minshu Deng in News, 0 Comments

Sophia Palenberg/The Chronicle

Although we do love surfing the Internet for interesting cultural finds, our personal interests here in the Online Department inevitably limit us in terms of what we find worth writing about, and thus trending posts can only be so varied. It’s time for some change, and the Chronicle Blog is looking for some new voices and perspectives.

So, what have you discovered lately wasting time on the internet? Hilarious Facebook statuses from last night, your favorite blogs to follow, new TV shows or music, hilarious memes, or anything even marginally related–share it with us! Every Monday the Chronicle Blog will feature the week’s best finds. Now accepting submissions at chronlinetrending@gmail.com. #doit

Politics roundup: Gingrich shakes up GOP race heading into Florida

22 Jan 2012, Posted by Walker Schiff in News, 0 Comments

Sophia Palenberg/The Chronicle

Gingrich Takes South Carolina

After two impressive debate performances last week, Newt Gingrich found himself over 12 percent above Mitt Romney after the votes were counted this past Saturday in the South Carolina GOP primary.  Gingrich garnered just over 40 percent of the vote while Romney took just under 28 percent. Following Romney, Rick Santorum took 17 percent and Ron Paul took 13 percent of the vote.

Gingrich’s win comes as a surprise since Romney looked to have the nomination locked down after taking both Iowa—the Iowa results have since been changed as uncounted votes showed that Santorum truly won the state—and New Hampshire, the first two states to hold primaries. Polls published after Romney’s New Hampshire win, a week before the South Carolina primary, showed Romney with a comfortable lead in the Palmetto State.

Gingrich’s surprise win stems from Gingrich’s performances in the two debates in the week leading up to the election. Gingrich debated like a candidate with nothing to lose, attacking everyone from Romney to the debate moderator for asking him personal questions. Gingrich’s outlandish debate performances won him South Carolina and helped him cement his position in the race as the anti-establishment, anti-Mitt Romney candidate.

Republican Primary Race Moves to Florida

Florida, the fourth state to hold its GOP primary race, will have their election day next Tuesday, Jan. 31. In almost every poll published since the beginning of January, Romney has held a double-digit leads over Newt Gingrich. Having said that, Newt’s momentum from winning South Carolina will almost certainly carry over to the Sunshine State.

Most pollsters had Gingrich with leads over 20 percent during his mid-December surge so it is clear that Gingrich has the capacity to take Florida. The question is whether or not Gingrich has the resources and time to turn it around.

Gingrich has a couple factors going against. First, Florida is a big state and big states generally favor candidates with more money and better organized campaigns. Romney’s campaign is clearly better organized and funded.

Second, early voting is very popular in Florida. Many voters have already cast their ballots in Florida and those votes would not be affected by a late Gingrich surge. Some analysts would argue, though, that early voters are generally the voters that have their minds set and wouldn’t be affected by a late candidate surge.

Though Gingrich faces hurdles, Florida is by all means still up for grabs. Many people still see Romney as the inevitable nominee, but a Gingrich win in Florida could shake up the political establishments view of this race.

Late Update: The first Florida poll since the SC primary just came out and it has Gingrich up 9.

Strength in numbers

22 Jan 2012, Posted by Ashley Mooney in News, 0 Comments

Gary Sheng/The Chronicle

With group fitness, those trying to lose some winter weight don’t have to sweat in solitude anymore.

Group fitness classes are available for free to students at both Wilson and Brodie Recreation centers throughout the year at multiple times a day. Classes offered include various types of yoga, weight training, dance, cycling and other cardio or toning exercises.

“The group fitness classes at Duke are great because, no matter your fitness level, they’re always challenging enough to make you feel good and want to come back,” senior Allyson Morton said.

Senior  Morgan Carney teaches the most popular group fitness class offered—Cardio Dance—Lisa Jindra Wright, coordinator of group fitness and physical education instructor, wrote in an email Sunday. She added that the Carney averages 70 students per class.

Carney, a dancer since she was three-years-old, said she began teaching Cardio Dance her freshman year.

“[It is] hard to say my favorite aspect [of the class]… I just love it in general!” she said. “It’s not a workout for me—it’s an awesome dance party with fun music and a ton of friends.  The hour long class flies by every time.”

Morton also noted that the class draws in people who don’t want to work out on their own.

“It’s a dance class to top 40 hits with your friends, and if you feel shy or insecure about shaking it or jumping up and down, the feeling quickly goes away when you see people of all ages and genders also doing it,” she said.

Other popular classes include Body Tone and Zumba, Wright said, which usually have 30 to 50 participants.  She added that group fitness recorded over 13,000 participants overall in the Fall.

This semester, Wright said, Duke will be offering a new format for the hip-hop and Bhangra-hip-hop fusion classes. They have also added a 45-minute express indoor cycling class and Kripalu yoga­.

According to the Duke Recreation and Physical Education website, Kripalu Yoga practice focuses on breath and meditation along with standard yoga poses.

Some specialty classes are also offered for a small fee, Fitness Directory Mary Ann Dobbins said. One is Cardio and Core, a small-group personal training class, which combines walking and running intervals with Pilates-type core exercises.

Regardless of one’s skill level or interests, group fitness classes offer an array of opportunities to anybody looking to get in shape.

“I started going to the group fitness classes to change up my workout and do things out of my comfort zone,” senior Ellie Proussaloglou said. “I love to run, but fitness classes are a great way to do something new.”