Heard Around Campus

"We just noticed, finally, that all the Catholics were in Gilbert-Addoms. We realized that every Catholic roomed with a Catholic and every Jew roomed with a Jew.... My first fight was to try to integrate Duke. And we lost. It was the biggest shock of my life."

Eleanor Smeal '61,
president and founder of the Fund for the Feminist Majority,
speaking to students and faculty

"It was almost as fun as Cameron. I've never seen so many people up at 6 a.m."

Trinity sophomore Jonathan Haack on Good Morning America's campus visit

"Scandal has a thousand stringers. Good news can't even find the editor's phone number."

Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist William J. Raspberry,
speaking on "Media, Race, and Polarization",
at the Sanford Institute of Public Policy

"We can no longer rely on increases in the student activities fee.... We cannot afford to string student activities along on a discretionary fund."

DSG President Peggy Cross, a Trinity senior,
addressing Duke's board of trustees in December,
wherein she proposed a university-wide funding effort for student activities,
including gifts from alumni to groups with which they had been involved as students

"It ranged from the truly aesthetic --almost the divine--to a kidney stone."

Adam Russell '95,
one of Duke's latest Rhodes Scholars,
on the scholarship's applications process

"Thanks to Duke's generosity, we have assurance that Philadelphia will once again be host to one of the more important zoo collections of endangered species. It's a wonderful blessing for the New Year."

Mayor Edward G. Rendell, quoted in the Associated Press,
on the Duke Primate Center's gift of a dozen rare lemurs to the Philadelphia Zoo,
replacing those lost in a Christmas Eve fire that destroyed the zoo's primate building

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Point/Counterpoint

"There are those who argue that the chapel should permit same-sex unions based on their belief that such unions are the equivalent of marriage. I do not believe this is accurate. The State of North Carolina does not issue licenses for same-sex unions, and virtually no Christian group considers same-sex unions the equivalent of marriage. While it is true that some denominations, including my own, the United Methodist Church, are engaged in heated discussion about this matter, it is likely to be some time before there is any change in existing opinions. Indeed, Muslims and some Jews join with most Christians in their beliefs on this issue. These groups may someday modify their stance, but it would be arrogant and inappropriate for Duke Chapel unilaterally to decide now that all these groups are in error....

It is my judgment that if Duke Chapel were to take it upon itself to decree that same-sex unions are the equivalent of marriage, there would be an unprecedented outburst from the church, from many of those who worship regularly in Duke Chapel, and from our alumni."

William H. Willimon, dean of the chapel,
in his "Statement Concerning a Request for the Celebration of Same-Sex
Unions in Duke University Chapel"

"What we have here is a policy that says heterosexual love is legitimate and should be recognized, but homosexual love is not and should be penalized. This perverted way of thinking extends way beyond the Duke Chapel. It is inherent in the American mindset, and if we are ever to achieve the fundamental right to live our lives free from prejudice, discrimination, and ignorance, it must end."

Trinity senior Seth Persily,
president of the Duke Gay, Bisexual and Lesbian Association,
in a Chronicle article on Duke Chapel's policy toward homosexual unions

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Pop Quiz

We asked six seniors:
How would you rate graduate- and professional-school admissions tests (the GRE, LSAT, MCAT, and GMAT)?

"Generally, I don't think that standardized tests are a fair judge of ability, but, unlike the other tests, the LSAT seems like it would be a more accurate indicator of law-school proficiency."

Jennifer Brune,
political science major

"I understand why these tests are necessary, but I wish they would devise a more accurate and comprehensive way of testing."

Kristin Lyttle,
public policy major

"I think they're necessary. You need some kind of universal evaluation standard, but I think that you can buy your scores. There shouldn't be so many prep classes available. Granted, I took one because it was available, but I don't think it makes it a very fair system."

Jennifer Hogan,
English major

"I took the GRE, which is basically a glorified SAT. I never thought I would need to know the volume of a cylinder past tenth grade."

Katherine Suiter,
Spanish major

"On the one hand, I never think standardized tests are a fair measure of someone's potential, but I understand the need for some consistent means of evaluation. The MCAT is a unique test because unlike the others, which focus on logic skills, it is very much knowledge-based."

Andrea Scadron,
pre-med, economics major

"I don't think that any of the tests are actually specific to the areas they are supposed to be testing. To go to engineering grad school, you're only required to take the general GRE because the engineering test that is offered covers four disciplines when the average undergraduate only studies one."

Lou Virelli, biomedical and mechanical engineering major