Issuu

Blue Devils fall in ACC title

An Alzheimer’s discovery

Duke men’s lacrosse dropped a nail-biter to Syracuse Sunday afternoon | Page 7

Duke researchers explore a new possible cause for the disease | Page 3

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, APRIL 27, 2015

WWW.DUKECHRONICLE.COM

Students launch campaign to support Nepal earthquake victims

ONE HUNDRED AND TENTH YEAR, ISSUE 115

LDOC 2015 deemed a success

Rachel Chason University Editor Four Duke students from Nepal have started a GoFundMe campaign to help the country recover from the devastating earthquake that struck Saturday. The earthquake, which measured 7.8 on the Richter scale, is estimated to have killed more than 2,400 people and injured approximately 5,900, according to The New York Times. When it struck near Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital, it flattened sections of the city’s historic center and sent thousands of the city’s residents fleeing into the streets. Hours after the earthquake hit, freshmen Pratiksha Sharma and Suman Bajgain, junior Abhishek Upadhyaya Ghimire and senior Laxmi Rajak created a GoFundMe campaign with the goal of raising $15,000 to aid the relief process. Rajak, who grew up outside of Kathmandu, was studying when she received word of the quake, which struck at 2:11 a.m. She immediately began trying to contact family and friends still living in Nepal. Although she has heard back from most of them, there remain a few she has not been able to reach. “There’s so much going on right now— trying to balance receiving reports from Nepal, connecting with family and studying for exams,” Rajak said. “But the support we’ve received from the Duke community has been amazing, and I want to thank everyone who has contributed so far.” As of Sunday night, 291 people had See Earthquake on Page 4

Victor Ye | The Chronicle The LDOC lineup—which featured household names like T-Pain and Jeremih—was balanced by the up-and-coming group MisterWives.

Claire Ballentine The Chronicle Whether they most enjoyed the men’s basketball team dancing on the stage, energy at the concerts or massages on the Chapel Quadrangle, students across campus saw improvement in the Last Day of Classes. LDOC committee co-chairs David Soled and Anton Saleh, both sophomores, were pleased with how the day went and said that they experienced no overwhelming problems. This year, the committee emphasized daytime activities, tried to choose artists whose music would appeal to a larger portion of the student body and focused on

The Chronicle

including a silent disco, massages on the Chapel Quadrangle and food trucks. These features were especially popular among students. “The massages were my favorite activity,” sophomore Michael Wang said. “They were really well organized, and they seemed longer than last year.” Another aspect of LDOC the committee focused on was improving the selection of artists from past years. After receiving feedback that some students were disappointed with unfamiliar performers last year, the committee tried to choose artists that more students knew, Soled said. Several students expressed their See LDOC on Page 5

Dining options shifting entering summer Samantha Neal

Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

getting students to the Main West Quadrangle early for the concerts, which opened with American indie pop band MisterWives. “It went fantastic,” Soled said. “Feedback wise, I’ve heard great things, and the [LDOC] committee did an awesome job.” One of the committee’s largest accomplishments was high student attendance for the earlier concerts, Saleh said. He noted that the committee hoped to get students out of their dorms earlier in the day to build community spirit and shift LDOC’s focus away from drinking. In order to accomplish this goal, Soled explained that the committee emphasized daytime activities—

With another year of construction left on the West Union and upcoming construction on Marketplace, dining options on campus remain in flux at the end of the 2014-15 academic year. Without many dining vendors on campus, Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee has been tasked with ensuring a variety of options for students through food trucks and the Merchantson-Points program. Although food trucks

INSIDE — News 2 Sportswrap Classified 9 Puzzles 9 Opinion 10

remained consistent, this year saw an unusual amount of turnover among MOP vendors, with several potential new MOP options either falling through or being delayed, said DUSDAC co-chair Brian Taylor, a junior. “Usually, we try to set the program a year ahead of time,” Taylor said. “This year, we tried to make some changes that didn’t quite pan out and then we spent a lot the year adding new [options].” After the Pizzeria—commonly referred to as Cinelli’s—unexpectedly closed in September, DUSDAC faced the

Serving the University since 1905

task of replacing its spot on the MOP program. Instead of opting to replace the Italian restaurant with a similar vendor, the committee decided to look into adding a delivery sushi option. Vine Sushi and Thai was the initial frontrunner to fill this role, but after a change in management, the restaurant was no longer interested in joining the program. Sushi Love was eager to join the program in its place, however, and was met with student enthusiasm.

@dukechronicle