February 7, 2007

Page 1

Lax c ase A member of the Grand Jury calls cha es improper, PAGE 3

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Nic School

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Professors are hard at work on studies of conservation, PAGE 4

Game time Let's

go Duke, beat Carolina! 9 p.m. tonight, Cameron Indoor

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The ChronicleA O^iXVli

focus on | Duke grades

Data shows rising trend for grades by

Shu cm Parikh

THE CHRONICLE

When freshman Sharmistha Rudra chose her courses this semester, she aimed for balance. To even out the heavy workload of her biochemistry and physics classes, she looked for a couple of “easy” humanities courses, deciding on a “Water and Conflict” seminar because it carried the lightest workload, ac-

cording to www.ratemyprofessor.com.

Rudra’s instinct that the University’s liberal arts classes give out

higher grades was not unfounded, according to data from the Office of the University Registrar. And some evidence indicates that there has been consistent grade inflation in recent years. Latin honors, awarded to the top 25 percent of each graduating class, have had steadily increasing GPA cutoffs since the Class of 2001, the last year data was publicly available. Summa cum laude, honoring the top five percent of the class, had a GPA cutoff for Trinity College graduates of 3.868 for the Class of 2005, but rose to 3.894 for the Class of 2007. The summa cum laude GPA cutoff for Pratt School of Engineering graduates rose from 3.905 to 3.950 over SEE GRADE TRENDS ON PAGE 6

CHRONICLE FILE PHOTOS

Last season, then-freshman Tyler Hansbrough led theTar Heels to an upset victory over Duke.This year, No. 5 North Carolina is thefavorite in Cameron Indoor.

MORE THAN A RIVALRY GAME Blue Devils search for win to get back on track in by

Tim Britton

THE CHRONICLE

It’s the game they dream about—the game they’ve played out hundreds of times in the driveway, the game they’ve each won with a shot at their own buzzer. But unfortunately, in those games in the driveway, the Blue Devil players did not have to defend Tywon Lawson, Brandan Wright or Tyler Hansbrough. And they were not coming off two straight gut-wrenching conference losses. When No. 16 Duke (18-5, 5-4 in the ACC) takes the floor against fifth-ranked

North Carolina (20-3, 6-2) tonight at 9 p.m. in Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Blue Devils will be looking to do more than just beat their arch-rivals. They’ll be looking to get their season back on track. “The rivalry means a lot,” junior DeMarcus Nelson said. “For our team, it means that much more because of where our team is at as of today—coming off of two losses that we felt like we let slip through our hands. We just have SEE M. BBALL ON PAGE 12

conference play

thebreakdown The Chronicle covers all angles of the game, including an analysis of the likely matchups, a Q&A with ESPN analyst and Duke alum Jay Bilas and much more.

see pg. 8

Permit pending, win may ignite Main West bonfire BY ZAK KAZZAZ THE CHRONICLE

Tonight’s final score in the men’s basketball game against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will determine whether students can throw in wood, clothing and benches to feed the fire of victory. Duke requested fire permits again this year, according to an advertisement published in Tuesday’s Chronicle by Executive Vice President Tallman Trask and Duke Student Government President Elliott Wolf, a junior. Fire permits were revoked after the Durham Fire Marshal deemed the 2005 bonfire “out of control.” The Fire Marshal may permit bonfires SEE BONFIRE ON PAGE 5

An "out of control"fire in 2005 caused the Durham Fire Marshal to revoke Duke's permits for bonfires.


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