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Health care and insurance are major 200 4 election issues
Shannon Rowbury steps up to lead the Blue Devils
Kerry trails Bush in state ——
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1100th Anniversary
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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2004
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ONE HUNDREDTH YEAR, ISSUE 47
THE INDEPENDENT DAILY AT DUKE UNIVERSITY
List system replaces matrix History bolsters
course offerings
Kelly Rohrs THE CHRONICLE
by
When class registration opens at 7 a.m. Friday, a group of seniors will undergo the familiar ritual of waking at up to a 6:55 a.m. alarm to ensure their spots with Duke’s handful of celebrity professors. But the once-infamous Curriculum 2000 matrix, which has guided students’ course selection for the past four years, will be missing. The University abolished the matrix this summer in favor of a list system as part of its efforts to help students understand the driving force behind C2K; the desire to integrate general education requirements with students’ majors. “The matrix gave the impression of a bingo game where you had to get a certain number, which I really think is antithetical to the way that people should be thinking,” said Steve Nowicki, dean of the natural sciences and chair of last year’s C2K revision committee. The old system included a multiplication-table style matrix with the Areas of Knowledge, such as Social Sciences and Civilizations, along the side and Modes of Inquiry areas, such as Ethical Inquiry and Research, running across the top. Students filled boxes in this matrix as they completed classes. The matrix
Deutsch initiates major department overhaul after 2000 external review by
Meg
Bourdillon
the chronicle
Change is not just a thing of the past for the Department of History, which has significantly reformed both its undergrade ate and graduate the -'qrams over
John French, diof undergraduate studies for this academic year, said responsiveness to students’ desires has improved, “We’ve developed courses in areas that people are interested , especially in, such as law,” French said. “We also went for much more aggressive ate Professor rector
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advertising.”
As a result, enrollnumbers are much stronger than they were during the 2000 review, and the number of majors has increased during the last year. An emphasis on research has also contributed to the department’s strength, said Associate Professor Edward Balleisen, who directs the senior thesis seminar. “The department is working very hard to continue to improve its underment
Senior Sarah Wingate ponders her ACES bookbag—withoi in preparation for course registration Friday. would also indicate which courses in students’ ACES bookbags filled requirements, allowing students to see how potential classes advanced their progress toward filling the quotas. “Our strength was in recognizing principles that used to be confined to general education and recognizing that they could
be learned reer,” Provost Peter Lange said, The revision committee’s report, completed last January, suggested a variety of changes that reduced the number of classes required for each area. The changes allowed students to earn SEE MATRIX ON PAGE 5
partment to initiate the recent changes. The revamped undergraduate program now features
more lecture classes and im-
proved coordination between courses. The challenge now is to suslain the progress the department has already made. Associ-
SEE HISTORY ON PAGE 5
Yoga promises students physical, spiritual gains by
Angela Munasque THE CHRONICLE
Since coming to Duke, senior Franklin Winokur has regularly participated in what he describes as one of the most demanding workouts he has ever undertaken. Senior Deirdre Hess, on the other hand, has found an exercise routine that allows her to concentrate on de-stressing. These two students are describing the same activity: yoga. Members of the Duke community can easily reap the physical and emotionalbenefits of an ancient form of exercise by participating in a variety ofyoga classes: traditional hatha yoga, yoga and pilates and yogaflow, just to name a few. Lisa Jindra, Duke’s program coordinator for group fitness classes, said a yoga and tai chi mix may be added to the list next semester. Yoga stems from the Hindu belief that knowledge, action, devotion and self-control are pathways to a higher consciousness. The counterculture of the 1960s brought the practice into vogue in Ameri-
ca, and Madonna made it even more
prevalent when she credited ashtanga yoga for her ultra-toned arms and lean look in the 19905. Since then, popular culture has largely disassociated yoga from its nonphysical benefits. While it is evident that yoga is a common practice among health-conscious members of the Duke community, Jindra stressed that it is still a fairly new fitness trend. ‘We only added yoga to the recreational fitness schedule four to five years ago,” she said. Since then, the demand for yoga has only increased, and Duke has responded with half-credit physical education classes, walk-in group fitness classes and even a full-credit course that allows students to leam both the practice and ideology behind kundalini yoga. “We offer three sections ofyoga [in the physical education department], and they’re always full,” said Michael Forbes, director of intramurals, sports clubs and SEE YOGA ON PAGE 6
The University's yoga classes,available daily on campus, have become increasingly popular with students.