February 16, 2015

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Okafor Shines in Duke Victory

‘You don’t want to be missing out’

The star freshman scored 15 of his 23 points in the second half of Duke’s 80-72 win at Syracuse | Page 6

Students are taking advantage of nontraditional study abroad options in the Summer and Spring | Page 2

The Chronicle T H E I N D E P E N D E N T D A I LY AT D U K E U N I V E R S I T Y

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015

WWW.DUKECHRONICLE.COM

ONE HUNDRED AND TENTH YEAR, ISSUE 80

New MCAT poses hurdles Fraternity houses cause tensions off campus residents are advocating for pre-meds Durham for enforcement of ordinances at Thu Nguyen | The Chronicle

Beginning April 17, the exam will test more content and skills over a longer period of time

off-campus fraternity houses

Abigail Xie

Town-gown relations in some Durham neighborhoods have been put on shaky ground as residents raise complaints against the behavior of Duke’s fraternities. Durham Neighborhoods United—a group formed in 2014 due to frustration over fraternity parties in residential neighborhoods—has been advocating for stricter enforcement of University and city ordinances at fraternity members’ off-campus houses. The city of Durham has recently launched an investigation into several fraternities houses, including residences on Vickers Avenue and Chapel Hill Street, for violations of zoning ordinances and other restrictions. Alisa Johnson, who has spearheaded the DNU project, noted that the organization is designed to target the specific disturbances that some residents feel are created by fraternity houses. “Our goal was to come together and find a way to quiet these disruptive houses using applications of ordinances and to find other tools to quiet these houses,” said Johnson, who works at Meredith College in Raleigh as an English professor. For some local residents, fraternity houses are more than just irksome. Neighbors describe everything from frequent sleepless nights to consistent trash issues as factors that have made their house location frustrating. “I’ve lived in this neighborhood for seven years, and every year we’ve had some fraternity and every year we’ve struggled with being up late,” said Loralie Bible, who lives near one of the houses under investigation on Vickers Avenue. “Often times I’ve had to be outside at three in the morning asking people to be quiet or not throw trash in my yard. I think we would have reconsidered if we had known we were moving next door to a house that was

The Chronicle A new version of the Medical College Admission Test will be administered across the nation beginning April 17, posing potential challenges for students applying to medical schools. Compared to the old exam, the new MCAT aims to reflect recent changes to science and medicine, and will test more content and skills over a longer period of time. The new exam will take seven and a half hours to complete, an increase of nearly two hours from the previous version. New sections on psychology and sociology as well as questions on biochemistry will now be part of the test. In addition, the writing section of the MCAT will be removed and the exam will be scored on a new 528 point scale. “Periodic review and updates of standardized tests are considered a best practice, esSee MCAT on Page 3

Brianna Siracuse | The Chronicle The new MCAT features additional sections on biochemistry, psychology and sociology.

Neelesh Moorthy The Chronicle

habitually rented by a fraternity.” In addition to the house on Vickers Avenue, DNU has flagged twenty houses who they feel have been disruptive to the neighborhood—including houses on Burch Avenue, Chapel Hill Road and Norwood Avenue. “Not all of the houses are equally rowdy,” Johnson noted. “But they are all on the list because they have held what appeared to be fraternity related events that were loud and disruptive at one point in the past.” Depending on how disruptive the houses’ residents have been, they have been dealt with by different groups—from neighbors to Duke administrators to city officials. Bible noted that the fraternities have not always been inclined to cease their activities when asked by neighbors. “It depends on the individual group of students,” Bible said. “But in previous years

when we have spoken with different groups of students, they often nod and agree and promise to remain respectful, but then it just doesn’t happen.” But when Duke’s Office of Student Affairs has gotten involved, the behavior often stopped, Bible said. Sue Wasiolek, assistant vice president for student affairs and dean of students, said disciplinary action has been taken against some individuals accused of disruptive behavior. The administration’s focus, however, is on reforming the behavior, rather than simply punishing the students. “Members of the Student Affairs office might go and visit these houses,” Wasiolek said. “They let them know that a subsequent complaint may result in disciplinary action. Our process is to really give the students the See Fraternities on Page 3

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