November 13, 2002

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Wednesday, November 13,2002

Morning Showers High 55, Low 33 www.chronicle.duke.edu Vol. 98, No. 58

The Chronicle f

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Drowning Devils The men’s and women’s swim teams both fell to the Tar Heels in a matchup Tuesday night. See page 9

THE INDEPENDENT DAILY AT DUKE UNIVERSITY

Minority presence on West increases Issues of deeper diversity remain By MEGAN CARROLL The Chronicle

JESSICAWEST/THE CHRONICLE

SUBWAY EMPLOYEES prepare sandwiches hurriedly to deal with a nonstop rush of hungry Duke students to the newest eatery on campus. Wait times were as long as 35 minutes as Subway made its debut Tuesday, albeit months overdue.

Long-awaited Subway opens By KIRA ROSOFF The Chronicle

“Hell yeah! Finally!” The exclamation, from the back of a crowd of students waiting patiently for the newest addition to Dining Services, seemed to echo the sentiments of most of the line. Subway, which opened Tuesday morning, brought a horde of students, all eager to try the popular sandwiches. The inaugural sandwich was even handed out for free. Although ARAMARK Corp.—which runs several other campus eateries—had been promising to open Subway since the beginning of the school year, Dining Operations General Manager Steve Lewis said the company had to wait for

the city and county to approve permits, including ones from the board of health and the electrical company. “The process had taken longer than expected, and then, at the review, they decided they needed more electrical drawings because of the age of the building,” said ARAMARK District Manager David Randolph. “We had lighting and the ceiling fan drawings, but not drawings of the existing electrical systems. We didn’t want to put up the wallpaper or signs until we could be sure they would not want us to change the wiring.” Randolph said ARAMARK was expecting to open the West Union Building kiosk Monday See SUBWAY on page 8

The percentage of black and Asian or Asian-American students living on West Campus increased predictably since last year, the Office of Residential Life and Housing Services reported in annual housing statistics released this month About 54 percent of black students live on West this year, an increase from 33.2 percent since fall 2001. Bill Burig

West—and sophomores’ subsequent ineligibility to live on Central or in Trent Drive Hall. William Chafe, dean of the faculty of arts and sciences and vice provost for undergraduate education, said additional diversity was '

one of the major objectives of the new residential life system, much of which was based on a vision for West Camthat Chafe pus helped develop. “Creating a new sense of community among all students Meanwhile, the was a primary goal, black presence on Central Camand that would automatically make West a more diverse pus dropped by 10 percent. Additionally, 74.8 percent of campus,” he said. students of Asian/Pacific deBurig said the availability scent reside on West this year, of resources for sophomores on an increase from 64.6 percent West was just as important a consideration as diversity in in 2001. Bill Burig, assistant dean of shaping the new residential residential life, attributed the policies. “Sophomores are [now] in demographic changes to the new residential life system See HOUSING STATS on page 5 that placed all sophomores on

Kappa Sig may English revises major curriculum signal new trend By ANDREW COLLINS The Chronicle

After the news of Kappa Sigma’s decision to dissolve as a University-recognized group hit campus, members of fraternities said dissolution is becoming an increasingly viable option.

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By WHITNEY BECKETT The Chronicle

His freshman year, Mark Boyd rushed three very different fraternities: Phi Kappa Psi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Kappa Sigma. Despite their differences and even rivalries, three years later all three groups find they now share the same fate—they are no longer University-recognized fraternities Boyd, now a junior who ended up in Kappa Sig, gained “former fraternity member” status Saturday, when Kappa Sig dissolved in the face of looming sanctions from its national organization and the University. “[Saturday] was one ofthe saddest days of my life because my Duke experience would have been miserable without this frat,” Boyd said. “You can say it’s exclusionary and that we act like jackasses, but we’re also a

brotherhood.” Kappa Sig is the latest selective living group to have lost or given up University recognition in the last few See GREEK LIFE on page 6 .

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The English department will be overhauling its major with what Director of Undergraduate Studies lan Baucom called a “significant reimagination of the curriculum The revised major, approved last month by the University, will model itself in part on the freshman FOCUS Program, asking students to concentrate on a specific topic through focus clusters of about three linked courses. “What we’re going to do is ask students to pursue some common question or thematic across the subfield,” Baucom said. Possible clusters include The History of the Book, Creative Writing, Theory of the Novel, Gender and Sexuality,The Science of Literature, and Psychoanalysis and Literature. Students will also have the option to design their own focus in a chosen field. “[The new plan] provides a much more imaginative course of study” said Susan Willis, associate professor of English. “Students map their curriculum rather than take courses by rote.” Several professors said another benefit of the cluster system would be increased conversation and collaboration among faculty and students. Classes within a given cluster will apply fundamental texts used in previous cluster classes,

SHAKESPEARE, MILTON AND CHAUCER will no longer be among the for-

mal requirements for the English major—one of several curriculum changes.

Dean of the faculty of Arts and Sciences William Chafe stressec j at a pre ss conference that a faculty reduction of 50 is an unlikely last resort. See page 3

Three Duke students have founded a campus chapter of the Feminist Majority Foundation to try to empower feminists at the University. See page 3

See ENGLISH on page 8

Undergraduates can take a look at the stars up close with the aid of five new telescopes to be used in a physics class on astronomy. See page 4


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