September 27, 2001

Page 1

Thursday, September 27, 2001

Partly Cloudy High 73, Low 43 www.chronicle.duke.edu Vol. 97, No. 25

The Chronicle

Rain, rain, go away Rain forced organizers to cancel the NCAA Women’s Golf Fall Preview, scheduled to finish Wednesday. See page 11

THE INDEPENDENT DAILY AT DUKE UNIVERSITY

Economics

department looks ahead The biggest planned change so far requires students to take core introductory and intermediate courses in a specific order. By KEVIN LEES The Chronicle

GWEN LE BERRE/THE CHRONICLE

A MUSEUM FUNDED in large part by Dallas philanthropist Raymond Masher’s $7.5 million gift to the University has been planned for three years. Duke will likely begin construction after the December meeting of the Board of Trustees.

Final museum plans head to Trustees Project moves slower than expected, costs more than initially planned By JAMES HERRIOTT The Chronicle

Nearly three years after Dallas philanthropist Raymond Nasher donated $7.5 million to construct a new facility for the Duke University Museum ofArt, the project may finally move from the abstract to the concrete. Ron Djuren, Duke’s project manager, said he will present final designs for the museum at the Board of Trustees meeting Oct. 5 and 6, and if all goes well, the Board will give final approval in December, with groundbreaking to follow that month or in early 2002.

The project has not always run on schedule, and the budget has expanded slightly over time. Original plans called for construction to break ground in late 2000 or early 2001. But difficulties in securing institutional support for the project, delays in choosing an architect and a gradual increase in the scale of the facility—and with it the budget—caused the project to be waylaid. “In a sense, the stars had to align between the resources available, the vision of the architect and the ability to balance the two as you realize the

costs are higher than originally envisioned,” said John Burness, senior vice president for public affairs and government relations. Djuren said he had hoped the project would move faster. “We had hoped that we would be further along at this point in time, but we are weighing in on some important decisions,” he said, adding that he is satisfied with the final construction date. Before the building can be constructed, he must determine the materials to be used for the shell of the See MUSEUM on page 7 P-

To accommodate an increasing number of majors, the Department of Economics is beginning to implement significant changes to its undergraduate curriculum. The department is streamlining introductory courses—the lectures are already larger—and next year, it will begin to plan courses to avoid repetition of information. “It’s part of a large effort to rework a lot of the aspects of the major,” said Thomas Nechyba, director of undergraduate studies. “It’s the kind of thing that happens in a department every 10 or 15 years.” Most notably, the department will require students to take Economics 51, 52, 149 and 154—the core introductory and intermediate microeconomics and macroeconomics courses—in that order. In addition, the department will no longer accept transfer credits for introductory courses and advanced placement credits for introductory macroeconomics. See

ECONOMICS on page 9

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Students meet, prepare to establish gay fraternity at Duke By MATT BRADLEY The Chronicle

Delta Lambda Phi, a nationally recognized social fraternity for gay, bisexual and gay-allied men, hopes to establish itself at the University by the end of the year. Forming a colony is the first step in what founders hope will become a nationally recognized chapter in

the gay and greek communities as political polar opposites.

“There’s an impression, whether it’s real not, that you can’t be gay and be in a fraternity or sorority,” Poynter said. “There are a lot of stereotypes about LGBT people, and there are a lot of stereotypes about people who are in fraternities, and there is a notion the future. that the two communities don’t fit together. After a meeting Sept. 22, the club—cur- This is not correct.” rently designated as an interest group—had Although Holley participated in rush last six members and hopes to begin rush in the year, he decided not to join a fraternity. He spring along with the rest of the University’s said he has friends in fraternities but felt that fraternities. joining the greek system would compromise “Right now, we’re in the interest group his identity. “There was a negative perception of frat stage, and we still have to write our colony petition,” said sophomore Nathanael Holley, brothers from independents. Frat guys are exDelta Lambda Phi president. “Everything’s pected to do certain things, to have certain friends, to look a certain way... all the cliche going smoothly; we haven’t hit any snags.” things, and at Duke, they’re also expected to Holley said the colony is a precursor to establishing a residential fraternity, but that be straight,” Holley said. But Dave Rak, a gay senior and member of securing housing on Duke’s campus is far down the road. Theta Chi fraternity, said his experience has Kerry Poynter, programming director at the provided a strong sense of support. Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans“It’s great, because to me, it should be a gender Life, said the concept of a gay social non-issue. It’s part of who I am, but it’s not everything about me. My fraternity brothers A POSTER in the Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Life advertises fraternity may surprise many at Duke beSee FRATERNITY on page 8 5s a gay fraternity some students hope to bring to Duke. cause it challenges traditional perceptions of or

Learning-disabled students face a unique challenge at a top-notch university, but they get the help they need from the Academic Resource Center. See page 4

Perkins Library placed security cameras in the hallway outside the first floor computer cluster following the theft of a photograph last summer. See page 5

Duke Student Government heard about the new tenting policy from Head Line Monitor Greg Skidmore at its Wednesday night meeting. See page 6


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