Second weekend soundoff

13 Sep 2011, Posted by Irina Danescu in News, 0 Comments

James Lee/The Chronicle

From freshmen naively referring to Gameday as “tailgate,” to seniors unaware that Gameday even took place, students on campus expressed starkly contrasting opinions—not to mention, sophomores that didn’t remember much of this weekend and those notorious unidentified Duke students who were warned not to comment on anything. Marked by the second Gameday for an important home football game against Stanford and the first weekend of section parties were permitted after an initial probationary period—this weekend proved that Duke has yet to settle down into a routine. New administrative regulations on social gatherings, regarding the midday Southern-style tailgate and late-night quad-ragers make it difficult to sum up Duke’s overall feeling towards the past weekend.

“I think the new Gameday makes it inherently easier for fraternities to be successful because they have the social structure to support it…. Also, it was f—ing hot.” —Danielle Roselius, senior

“There were simply not enough tu-tus at Gameday. I only saw like, one.” —Walker Schiff, sophomore

“I think it fractions the school community and creates cliques—there’s no camaraderie anymore.” —Winston Riddick, sophomore

“The administration’s draconian micromanaging of Football Gameday was frustrating. Knowing peope that have worked with the administration, it’s disappointing how often we hear ‘no.’ But the black light/’80s party was rad.” —Jacob Tobia, sophomore

“I actually liked Gameday. It really promotes school spirit and it was great seeing everyone in their colors on the quad… [However] I think the banning section parties for the first couple weeks sends mixed messages to the freshmen, making parties seem exclusive, as if you have to know the right people.” —Hannah Schechter, junior

“What’s Gameday?” —Shreyan Sen, senior, in what he thought of Football Gameday

“There’s nothing to get people hyped up about football games anymore. Tailgate was part of Duke, it was what football season was all about.” —Stephen Castiglione, junior

“To be honest, I didn’t even go to Gameday, and I never would have missed Tailgate.” —Sagar Naik, junior

“A lot of Duke is about the balance between studying and partying—I think that delaying the open, freshman-experience parties made this year a bit underwhelming.” —Ajeet Hansra, sophomore

“The section party was miserable. I got trampled and everyone was sweaty.” —Mary Damico, freshman

“Weekends at Duke are always fun. Tailgate was great and the section parties were awesome.” —Harley Grant, freshman

“The administration want to change the culture here, and I think they’re doing a good job. It remains to be seen if the fraternities, SLGs and other groups on campus will pay along for long enough. It’s an interesting battle of wills.” —Max Coar, sophomore

Duke, UNC basketball ranks among top football rivalries

11 Sep 2011, Posted by Melissa Dalis in News, 0 Comments

Margie Truwit/The Chronicle

The Duke-UNC basketball rivalry is so fierce that the Huffington Post ranked it 7th in its list of 10 best college football rivalries.

Our rivalry followed the Ohio State vs. Michigan, USC vs. Notre Dame, Alabama vs. Auburn, Oklahoma vs. Texas, Indiana vs. Purdue and Army vs. Navy football rivalries.

“Even though this is a football-centric list, there’s no way to ignore this legendary hoops rivalry,” according to the website.

Although it did give us a flattering ranking, the Huffington Post makes some outlandish claims about the rivalry.

“While the two schools annually meet on the gridiron, fanfare for the game is generally lacking,” according to Huffington Post. “Duke hasn’t had a ranked team for a while and North Carolina has recently been plagued by scandal. Really, all of the good stuff goes down on the hardwood.”

Nonetheless, this should validate many of the Cameron Crazies’ freezing couple of months in Krzyzewskiville.

With or without religion, we remember

11 Sep 2011, Posted by Margot Tuchler in News, 0 Comments

Sophia Palenberg/The Chronicle

To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, many Americans may find themselves in places of worship. An increasing number of citizens, however, may not have religious houses to which they can claim membership.

Although more than 90 percent of Americans say they believe in God, religious involvement is either stable or slowly declining based on other indicators, according to a recent study conducted by Mark Chaves, professor of sociology, religion and divinity in the Divinity School.

Dean of the Duke Chapel Sam Wells said he believes it is hard to track whether religious involvement has declined because of the shift of the student body from mostly white Protestant to a wider array of beliefs.

“Today we’re a much more diverse community. We’ve got a Muslim chapter and a Hindu chapter and a Jewish chapter and many more students with their own traditions,” he said. “There are probably fewer mainline Protestants but whether that’s because mainline Protestantism has declined or because Duke is a very diverse community is hard to assess.”

Freshman Qi Dong said she deemed herself a “free-thinker.”

“I think there is some high existen, but I really don’t have any clear idea about what it is,” she said. “My parents are not religious.”

On the other hand, freshman Stephen Cameron is a practicing Roman Catholic.

“I attend mass every week,” he said.

Furthermore, Cameron indicated that he will be praying for victims of 9/11 this Sunday at mass.

Wells believes that Cameron will not be alone.

“I think it’s perfectly natural for people who feel their deepest convictions threatened and attacked to gather together to reaffirm them,” he said.  “I wouldn’t be surprised if there were more people than average in churches this weekend.”

He said that people who do not regularly attend church and are “spiritual” rather than participating in organized religion are not getting a complete experience by going to church this coming Sunday.

“If you’re not in the habit of gathering together and exchanging understandings of truth and expressing the best truth you know on a regular basis, if you do face a time of public crisis, you have to borrow somebody else’s tradition,” he said. “A number of people will go to church who don’t normally—and they’re very welcome—but in some ways it’s a little naïve to think we only gather together at times of crisis. We gather together all the time because there are matters of great public concern all the time.”

People across a wide spectrum of religious beliefs will be thinking of 9/11 on Sunday. Even though organized religion may be on the decline, churches across the country will likely be filled with people praying for the nearly 3,000 people whose lives were lost ten years ago.

Duke ranks in top 10 for Mrs. degrees

10 Sep 2011, Posted by Melissa Dalis in News, 0 Comments

Special To The Chronicle

Maybe Duke’s hookup culture isn’t so bad after all.

According to YourTango.com’s list of top 10 colleges to meet a husband, Duke ranked 6th, behind Williams College, Princeton University, Stanford University, Harvard University and Amherst College.

Criterion for the rankings include university rankings, graduate salaries, alumni generosity and campus beauty.

One reason Duke was chosen was because of its “successful, strong guys” who have graduated, including president of CBS News Sean McManus, actor Ken Jeong from The Hangover and journalist Charlie Rose.

Additionally, Duke’s graduate average midcareer salary is $113,000, and Duke ranks 9th in last year’s U.S. News and World Report’s university rankings.

“When it comes to attractive mates, Duke’s up,” according to the website.

It’s time to start looking for husbands, girls.

Eating bagels the healthy way

08 Sep 2011, Posted by Jamie Moon in News, 0 Comments

Thanh-Ha Nguyen/The Chronicle

The hustle and bustle at Alpine Bagels every morning says it all—we love our bagels.

My personal favorite is the toasted cinnamon raisin bagel with enough “not-so-plain-cream cheese” that it oozes out with every bite. It’s the perfect combination of crispy, soft, sweet and savory. It’s awesome—actually.

However, it would be a lot more awesome if my everyday breakfasts were less than 500 calories and 20 grams of fat.

It’s no secret that cream cheese bagels are not number one on the list for healthy and nutritious breakfasts. Compared to what were once popular breakfast options—Krispy Kreme donuts, for example—bagels appear to be the healthier, non-fried choice.

In reality, however, bagels have four times more carbohydrates than regular slices of bread. Slather on that cream cheese—that’s 10 more grams of fat you don’t need.

So tips? Here are some things that you probably should avoid eating everyday at Alpine:

1. Good Morning Camper with sausage and cheese: 598 calories, 29.3g fat
2. Bagel with cream cheese: 530 calories, 20g fat
3. Bagel with Honey Cinnamon Butter: 490 calories, 12g fat

Thankfully, I don’t have to compromise my fondness for bagels in exchange for a healthier and more balanced meal. Although I may need to bid my everyday relationship with cream cheese (and probably PB&J and honey cinnamon butter) goodbye, Alpine offers plenty of different healthier options other than your average cream cheese bagel.

Try these healthy options instead:

1. Bagel with Creamy Seasoned Hummus: 411.5 calories, 9g fat
2. Bagel with Avocado Spread: 340 calories, 6g fat
3. Rise-n-shine: 358 calories, 8.7g fat

For those still seeking a low-carb alternative, Alpine also offers flatbread for their menu choices. Other changes this year include wheat options for everything.

Darnetta McCray, Alpine’s supervisor and “health-nut,” recommends the Western Omelet, Rise-n-shine, and Get Yo’ Veggies for an everyday meal choice.

“Get Yo’ Veggies comes with all the veggies—hummus or avocado choice spread,” McCray said. ”You get to choose between the two. That’s what I would recommend.”

I may have to say goodbye to oozing cream cheese for now, but at least I don’t have to part with Alpine.