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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
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2017
DUKECHRONICLE.COM
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTEENTH YEAR, ISSUE 11
Students list problems with parking
Duke drops one spot in U.S. News rankings
Claire Ballentine The Chronicle
Staff Reports The Chronicle Duke dropped to ninth in the U.S. News and World Report annual college rankings after being ranked eighth for the past three years. The new rankings placed the University of Pennsylvania one spot ahead of Duke at eighth. Other changes in the top 10 list included the Massachusetts Institute of Technology moving up from seventh into a tie for fifth place with Columbia University and Stanford University. Additionally, the California Institute of Technology moved back into tenth place after being displaced by Johns Hopkins University last year. Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations, said the new rankings were likely due to “small changes in the See RANKINGS on Page 4
Everyone knows that Duke students despise UNC, but one thing they may hate even more? Parking on campus. Although students may not chant for it to go to hell, interviews with undergraduates revealed that the high cost of parking passes, difficulty finding spots on campus and the inconvenience of moving their vehicles during football games have left students with negative views of Duke parking. A post by The Chronicle on the All Duke Facebook page inquiring about undergraduates’ opinions on the current state of campus parking resulted in 69 comments, 45 of which expressed explicitly negative sentiments. The remaining comments tagged friends to alert them to the post. “I have not met one person at Duke who is satisfied with the way they handle parking—everything from how expensive it is to the few number of spots we get,” junior Chandler Richards told The Chronicle. “I think it’s a symptom of a larger problem in that Duke cares more about making money than it does about its students.” However, having a car ended up being worth it despite high costs for Richards
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The cost of a Blue Zone pass is $402, a price many students think is too high. because he can visit his family close nearby and take frequent roadtrips. Carl DePinto, director of Parking and Transportation Services, wrote in an email that parking at Duke is a costrecovery operation. “All revenue goes directly to covering the costs associated with providing parking facilities, transportation services and ongoing maintenance,” he wrote. Despite repeated requests, DePinto declined to talk with The Chronicle via phone, answering questions only by email.
Steep prices One of students’ main complaints this year was the cost of parking passes—$402 for an annual pass. “That’s really expensive for parking, and I think they charge that much because they know that we’ll pay it because we have to get to campus, but it seems like extortion,” said senior Delaney Thompson, who lives off-campus. Junior Nadia Ford also noted that the price is much too high, especially See PARKING on Page 16
DGSU criticizes tuition fees for seventh-year Ph.D. students Aaron Slutkin The Chronicle
Courtesy of Duke Photography Paula McClain, dean of the Graduate School, announced about a month ago that the University would now be providing tuition scholarships to sixth-year Ph.D. students.
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On August 21, tables were set up on Abele Quad, piled high with peanut butter treats, chocolate chip cookies and mini chocolate cakes. The Duke Graduate Students Union was holding the first of a series of bake sales called “Cookies for Continuation Fees” to help fund Ph.D. students in their seventh year and beyond. Previously, the Graduate School had guaranteed tuition funding for Ph.D. students for their first five years. In August, Paula McClain, dean of the Graduate School, announced that new “tuition scholarships” would be offered for sixth-year Ph.D. students who do not have external or departmental funding. Although DGSU’s official statement about this recent change called it “a big win,” where Ph.D. students past their sixth year will obtain funding still remains a question.
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Much of the debate about whether or not Ph.D. students in their seventh year or later should pay fees hinges on a difference in what those fees represent. Ph.D. students who are in their seventh year or beyond spend most of their time working on their dissertations. The $7,000 they must pay covers collaboration with faculty and school resources as they finish the papers. But DGSU views the fee as a consequence for not finishing their dissertations sooner. “[These charges] are just an additional fee that’s slapped on top of the other things [students] have to pay” like health insurance and recreation fees, said Casey Williams, a second-year Ph.D. student and member of DGSU. However John Zhu, senior public affairs officer and communications strategist at the Graduate School, said the $7,000 charges are simply a part of the deal. “It’s tuition, plain and simple,” Zhu
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