Politics roundup: Romney ahead in Florida, Gingrich fights on

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

Sophia Palenberg/The Chronicle

Romney Pulls Ahead in Florida

After falling behind Newt Gingrich following the South Carolina primary last week, Mitt Romney has regained a comfortable lead in Florida. Newt Gingrich won the South Carolina primary last Saturday and the polls that were released the following Sunday showed Gingrich with a nine point lead over Romney in the Sunshine State.  Since then, Romney has slowly recovered and now has a comfortable lead, with many polls showing him up double-digits.

Romney’s quick recovery could be attributed to his clear monetary and organizational advantage over Gingrich and the other candidates. Florida is a large and diverse state and Romney was best equipped to reach out to all Floridians. Romney outspent Gingrich almost 5-1 in Florida, which gave Romney a huge advantage right from the start.

Another reason for Romney’s rise may be the two debates that took place in Florida this week. Although none of the candidates had exceptional debates this past week, Gingrich was unable to recreate the debate moments that helped him so much in South Carolina.

Gingrich Down but Not Out?

Although Newt Gingrich’s momentum coming off his South Carolina success didn’t last more than a few days, Gingrich is still arguing that the GOP presidential primary is anything but over.

“[Romney’s] not going to be anywhere near a majority by April… and so this is going to go on all the way to the convention,” Gingrich said Sunday.

Since it became clear that Romney is most likely going to take Florida, Gingrich and his campaign have been playing down the importance of winning the Sunshine State. Members of Newt’s camp have compared Gingrich South Carolina victory to the victory Romney will have in Florida on Tuesday.

As for the other candidates, Rick Santorum has left Florida, most likely due to the fact that there is a huge deficit in the polls between him and the frontrunners, and headed west to start campaigning in some of the February primary states, such as Nevada, Colorado, Missouri and Arizona. Despite no inclination from the Santorum campaign that they may be dropping out soon, Gingrich hinted Sunday that Santorum should drop out in order to help himself.

Ron Paul is also still in the race and will be for a while judging on his 2008 campaign, in which he stayed in the GOP primary even after McCain had secured the nomination. Unfortunately for Paul, the media doesn’t take his campaign seriously and he won’t be a huge factor, despite finishing second in New Hampshire and third in Iowa.

Pop Culture Grid: Douglas vs. Jones

29 Jan 2012, Posted by Annie Wang in News, 0 Comments

Duke is characterized in part by its multitude of organizations across campus and the types of people they represent. Some have distinct personalities attached to them while others boast a more varied eclectic mix. The Chronicle’s Annie Wang asked Stefani Jones, a debate team members, and Hunter Douglas, a member of Duke University Improvisation, questions to figure out a bit more about the groups they are a part of. 

Sophia Palenberg/The Chronicle

Duke trustee donates $7.5 million to repair Washington Monument

28 Jan 2012, Posted by Gloria Lloyd in News, 0 Comments

Special to The Chronicle

With the help of a $7.5 million donation from a member of Duke’s Board of Trustees, the Washington Monument will be repaired from the extensive damage it suffered in the August 2011 East Coast earthquake.

David M. Rubenstein, Trinity ’70 and vice-chair of the Board of Trustees, has a long history of donating to charitable causes—many to Duke. He is one of the co-founders of the Carlyle Group, the world’s second-largest private equity firm, and is #148 on the Forbes Billionaire list.

Rubenstein heard about the damage to the monument through news reports after the 5.8 magnitude East Coast earthquake, as well as his position on the board of directors of the Smithsonian Institution, Carlyle Group spokesman Christopher Ullman said. The donation, which National Park Service officials believe is the largest single individual donation in the agency’s history, matches a Congressional allocation of $7.5 million in December that required private matching funds.

“He decided that this would be an important means of giving back to America—he’s also a history buff and loves George Washington, so it was a nice intersection of interests,” Ullman said.

Although the large private donation might seem out of the ordinary for public entities, a historical precedent was set with the construction of the Washington Monument itself. The monument was built entirely through private donations in the 1840s, with giving limited to a dollar per donor so as to increase the number of donors contributing to the building.

“We are absolutely thrilled with the donation because it’s going to allow us to go forward with this,” National Park Service Spokeswoman Carol Johnson said. “The American people are very anxious and eager to get back into the Washington Monument. It’s one of our favorite destinations. We wouldn’t be able to do this without him.”

The earthquake caused six large cracks in the marble exterior of the 127-year-old monument’s pyramidion, as well as other damage that left the monument unsafe for visitors and vulnerable to further deterioration if not repaired.

Once the repairs are completed by fall of 2013, the monument will have been closed to the public for two years. The National Park Service plans to begin repairs on the monument sometime this September, depending on how contracting for the work proceeds. Once the repairs are underway, park officials estimate contractors will complete the job within 10 to 12 months.

Rubenstein is just one of a long line of individuals who have given their own funds towards the national monuments and parks located on the National Mall, Ullman noted.

Building on that history, the National Parks Service Trust has pledged to raise $350 million from the public to help fund $650 million of work that the organizations said is needed to restore the National Mall.

“The tradition of public-private partnerships is alive and well,” Ullman said.

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 by 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