Daily Newsletter Print Edition Advertising Classifieds Housing

Columnists

Andrew Kragie

Ashley Camano

Benjamin Silverberg

Bryan Somaiah

Chris Bassil

Colin Scott

Daniel Strunk

Ellie Schaack

Gracie Willert

Joline Doedens

Lillie Reed

Lydia Thurman

Monday Monday

Mousa Alshanteer

Nourhan Elsayed

Patrick Oathout

Prashanth Kamalakanthan

Scott Briggs

Zubair Akram
Cbfb143963ebeea4fe37f51f3d384f99bb9c6b19

Andrew Kragie

Trinity 2015

elevator pitch

Boy scouts: inclusion or irrelevance?

I’m a straight Eagle Scout, and I care about the Boy Scouts of America. I want the organization to survive so that I can be an adult leader for my own children someday.

Drink with your parents

I turned 21 last month. Not gonna lie: It’s great to be legal. I love a cold Yuengling or a drink at the on-campus bar (farewell, fair Dillo). I know alcohol can be a healthy part of social life.

'On the Heels' of a Dream

A conversation with Duke Chapel's first black dean

Racing in Venezuela

Almost 15 million Venezuelan voters went to the polls for the first truly competitive presidential race in 14 years.

"Wannabeaner"

Sometimes Dukies are driven by what they’re told to do: study French flashcards, practice clarinet, get good grades, become a doctor. Sometimes, though, we’re driven by what people tell us we...
0e34720f17b61b134d82bdc9084c6d4e2b726fb7

Ashley Camano

Trinity 2014

going camando

The places you will be from

“Welcome back, Class of _______!”

Our imagined communities

I looked up for what seemed like ages at the grandeur of stone and history as I stood, trivial and minute, in front of Westminster Abbey.

The controversy of controversial

I am a straight, white girl. A straight, white girl who writes a bi-weekly opinion column.

The NCAA's pinkest elephant

“Am-a-teur [am-uh-choo r, -cher] (n). A person who engages in a study, sport or other activity for pleasure rather than for financial benefit or professional reasons. Compare professional.”

The glorification of busy

I am an investor. And so are you. Every day, we buy into things. We buy into people. Investment of any type is a difficult task and a formidable foe. We invest our trust and our time into a task or...

Brand new, resolute you

It happens every January, like clockwork. Millions undertake a lifestyle of promised purity and resolution on the first of every year.

Simple little addiction

Ruthless addiction. Incomparable dependence. You need it. You can’t function without it.

Quit being such a girl

“Quit being such a girl, Ash.” I heard this phrase on innumerable occasions from my older brothers during my childhood, and as a product of the phenomenon of familial Darwinism, I learned the keys...

Our worst night of mischief

It’ll just be a couple days of rain and wind. Maybe a power outage, we thought. And the rain stopped. The wind slowed. But what remains made history.

A function of fate

At my parents’ wedding, my father pulled a pair of blue and white, polka-dotted boxer shorts out from under my mother’s dress instead of a garter.
5922ef9855c321b8111cc97019db35b3e42a6a2e

Benjamin Silverberg

Graduate School 2014

gringo loco

Personal demons

Without intending to, I confronted my own mortality that night. I also came up against a stereotype I did not want to acknowledge.

Let's begin at the end

Ten years later and I’m already “the old guy.”
9729def04b8ab1ffb65dbbf6a60402621c249c2c

Bryan Somaiah

Trinity 2016

breaking barriers

Hook-up culture or hype

As a high school junior just two years ago, I had barely scraped the surface of understanding the college admissions process.
53c2e132b16ef8d86a14d2a8a01731f304177359

Chris Bassil

Trinity 2012

human action

The war for California

Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act just over three years ago, the heated debate surrounding the law’s effects on health care and insurance boils on between its critics and proponents.

Apples to interest rates

Last week, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) added to her reputation as a populist heroine when she brought her first piece of stand-alone legislation to the Senate floor.

What's wrong with Bitcoin?

In the end, there are plenty of criticisms to be made of Bitcoin. The fact that it, like every other thing on the planet, is subject to the reality of opportunity cost is probably not one.

Open access academia

In the late 19th century, when prestigious journals such as Science, Nature and others first appeared, their exclusive subscription-based business models made sense.

But it might work for us

In the fictitious world of television series “Battlestar Galactica,” a popular religious refrain holds that “all of this has happened before, and all of this will happen again.”

Krugman, Warren and the minimum wage

In his most recent State of the Union address, President Barack Obama advocated for an increase in the minimum wage.

Is Medicaid a magic bullet?

As President Obama’s Affordable Care Act continues to unfold, recent debate has returned to the role that Medicaid might end up playing in the future of our health care industry.

Minimum wage wars

In his recent State of the Union address, President Barack Obama advocated for a raise in the minimum wage, from $7.25 an hour to $9.00.

The return of depression misconceptions

In the wake of the Great Recession of 2008, innumerable comparisons have been drawn between the current state of affairs and the Great Depression of the 1930s.

What makes the workplace safe

David Michaels was recently published as saying that “employers recognize that managing safety is useful not only to prevent injuries and fatalities, but in fact leads to a more profitable company.”

Colin Scott

Trinity 2014

the view from carr

New kid, old threats

The pariah state of North Korea has been on the minds of many international observers for the last couple weeks.

The problem with state-sanctioned love

My home state of California is responsible for the hearings last week in the Supreme Court surrounding Proposition 8, which prohibits homosexual couples from marrying.

Wake up

Last week I was lucky enough to travel through the ancient city of Athens. The birthplace of democracy and Western philosophical thought is going through a period of tremendous upheaval.

The case for intervention

Now is the time to act. Now is the time to provide diplomatic legitimacy to the Syrian opposition council and military support to the Free Syrian Army.

Why drone strikes matter

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, has reached dizzying new heights, threatening the integrity of our foreign policy and the safety of our constitutional rights.

Is history silent?

What do we do with history? I’ve been toying with this question over the past two weeks after seeing “Django Unchanged.” It’s an important idea to consider.

3f6c13432ff44dbe93905f9e1de021033612dc3f

Daniel Strunk

Trinity 2014

questions not asked

All by myself

I oxymoronically invite you all to join me in spending more time alone.

Re-characterizing an unfair portrayal

Oftentimes I feel as though the views of the Republican Party are not properly characterized in Duke campus discourse.

Fourth grade inmates and the Republican Party

If you read at an average pace, it will take you four minutes to finish this column. By the time you’re done, approximately nine U.S. students will have dropped out of high school.

An open letter to Gov. McCrory

Though I’m fortunate enough to hail from Ohio, the greatest state in our union, I still keep abreast of what’s going on in North Carolina—my second, wonderful home state.

Why respect a Republican/Democrat?

“Why should I respect a Republican or Democrat’s political views on campus when he or she draws conclusions completely contrary to my own?” Some of us at Duke answer this question with, “I...

A Response to the Newtown, Conn. shooting

It is the painful emotions, and not the politics, that resonates with me now.

Defining circumstances

There was a moment during my cancer therapy that I now distinctly remember as an emotional turning point.

May the Force be with you

It’s not often in a person’s life when he or she experiences news that becomes a flashbulb memory.

Sophomore existential angst

About a year ago at this time I was going through a major soul searching process. Some might have even called it a sophomore mid-college crisis.

Being told you're wrong

I was told I would get beaten up at least once in college for telling people I was a Republican.
A9b6bed328194db6668ffa4be28c635eb4a708bf

Ellie Schaack

Trinity 2015

brave new world

Gay marriage is a right

Once we truly see gay people as equals, it does begin to seem incomprehensible to infringe upon their right to be treated equally under the law.

Reading, period

Remember that girl in elementary school who always had her head in a book?

Generation Supertramp

Sometimes I think we’re all Alexander Supertramps.

Double conviction: Israel in stories

Israel knows the importance of the high ground.

On liberty again

Last summer, I studied abroad at Oxford. Feeling the urge to be obnoxiously stereotypical, I decided to take a Shakespeare class.

Why I'll try (and fail) to change the world

It was LDOC, and I was sitting in my last class of the year, crying. The sounds of partying on the quad filtered in with cheery sunlight through the windows. The room felt festive. Yet there I was,...

Apologizing for America

One of the biggest joys of U.S. elections is the forgetting. For months, airwaves are dominated by ridiculous rants, preposterous political posturing and candidates who are caricatures of themselves.

20 children, six adults

As we all finished our finals and prepared to leave for break, somebody turned on the news in your common room.

YBTT

There’s nothing quite like a mother’s wisdom.

0d4373ac9d90dc250e74d74d93359792ef637554

Gracie Willert

Trinity 2014

read me maybe

Splenda

The nagging beep of a wire coming loose somewhere drones on as a new rescue skids through the side door.

Careless people

"They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back to their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together …”

You're still a rockstar

I sat in the third-floor Perkins-Bostock bridge, pretending to read my math textbook. Why now? Out of all times, why now?

A piece of dental floss

A piece of dental floss dangles from my bathroom counter, a congealed glob of Colgate Total toothpaste to its left, a Crest lump to its right.

DukeEngage Duke

I don’t want to write today. Not today because—although I love writing this column—this past week has been too much.

Dancing in the eddies

Life is good. I think you might agree. You may have said it on a beach somewhere, beer in hand, or at sunrise on a snowy February morning.

Too smart

I’ll probably never see him again. You can almost be assured.

Duke is for Yale rejects

“Duke is for Yale rejects.” Those were the first words little, early-decision Gracie heard when she ventured through the doors of Southgate dorm for Blue Devil Days.

Cannabis has risen

What do Boulder, Colo. and the Amish have in common?

A Willert family vacation

What’s hot this summer?
3193e31485ff1b5a39a0c892cf806fc6411a0884

Joline Doedens

Law 2015, Trinity 2012

wait a minute

Immigration nation

During their first elementary school social studies lesson, American students learn that we live in a nation of immigrants...although perhaps not in so many words.

Gruesome Gosnell

On Feb. 18, 2010, the FBI raided the Women’s Medical Society, with the aim of collecting evidence that it was illegally selling prescription drugs.

Sea change

Last week was one for the history books, or at least constitutional law case books, at the Supreme Court.

Dolphin dynamos

I do not pretend to be an expert on international military affairs. But it seems we have entered a new age of post-Cold War war craft.

Hypocritical hero

The United States prides itself on being the hero. When a dictatorship or communism raises its anti-American head, the stars and stripes swoop in to save the day with democracy and capitalism.

Economically illegal

Last October, Savita Halappanavar, was admitted to an Irish hospital with severe back pain. She was 17 weeks pregnant and in the process of miscarrying.

A socialist's dream

Sometimes, living under a tyrannical socialist dictator for a couple of years seems like a good idea. I know that sounds absurd and exactly like Glenn Beck’s worst fear, but ...

Superficially shattered

Last year was a banner year for women. A record number of female athletes competed in the Olympics. The women of the U.S. Olympic Team dominated their male counterparts in the gold medal count.

Chronic zipper malfunction

It happened again. A man in power developed a case of chronic wardrobe malfunction.

Lost in translation

Language is more than just English, Spanish, Chinese or Arabic.

A7c9bf193369a1497baf0a5ea45726680f1da3af

Lillie Reed

Trinity 2014

wumbology

The point of pointlessness

Nostalgia is inherent to this part of the year. The holidays, a full year to reflect on and exams to procrastinate for can always provoke a hearty reminisce.

Screenshotted!

The other day, I set out on a mission—a humanitarian effort, if you will—to benefit mankind. My goal: Make everyone in the world get Snapchat.

Let's get naked

It’s your freshman year, and you’re at the activities fair.

The quarter-life crisis

A few days ago I went to UNC. Cue the booing, hissing and newfound passion for football.

Candy Land and other terrible games

My first crush on a boy was in the first grade. The playa that I am, I’d obviously had boyfriends before, but there was never an emotional connection—a trend I would carry into college, but that’s...

The Duke administration's guide to 2012

I hope you enjoyed the swimming good time that was Homecoming weekend, and that you’ve decided that as alumni, you will donate even more money to Duke than you paid to actually attend.

Abroadpocalypse now

Welcome to the abroadpocalypse. It is the first semester of your junior year, and you have decided to stay at Duke.

Your final FAC chat

Hello! Welcome to Duke, and congrats on the whole puberty thing. My name is Lillie Reed, and I have decided to take on the role of your new FAC!

Let the complaintition begin

It’s exam time at Duke, and I guarantee you, half of your conversations are about to start sounding like this:

In our minds we’re gone to Carolina

I thought at first that it would go away.

B3ee024f133fb8a9c72575107635a8652be7a182

Lydia Thurman

Trinity 2015

doubly a lie

Summer home, some are not

I don’t think 12 weeks will do anything to change my mind on these accounts, but to some degree, I know that the national autonomy of Ugandans must be respected.

Qat in the middle

Sometimes I miss the eco-reps of freshman year. I miss the “Green Dorm Room” sign that my roommate and I earned by virtue of living in a non-air conditioned room with a broken radiator.

Monsters, cockroaches and dogs, oh my!

A French journalist named Jean Hatzfeld has devoted his life to special correspondence and war reporting.

Couch po-tay-toe, couch po-tah-toe

Whether you twang your “ay”s or opt for the posher “ah,” it all comes down to the same thing: We’re lethargic.

They, the people

About two years ago, Mohammed Bouazizi set himself on fire in Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia, sparking a string of democratic revolutions across the Arab world.

Skirting legality

There’s nothing worse than a sequel. Aside from grossing nearly $150 million, what did “American Pie 2” do for us that “American Pie” didn’t do funnier, sooner and better?

Pillbillies

People kind of expect those darn kids, the ones who trample lawns and tag underpasses and egg cats, to graduate on to more serious transgressions.

A New Year's resolution

2012 has come and gone, and the new year brings a measure of introspection that, if we’re lucky, is bound to last at least a week or two.

The short end of the stick

When I turn in my physics homework, I have to jump. The box is well above an arm’s reach, and when I hold my arm straight up, problem set in hand, the top of my paper just reaches the mouth of the...

Resetting rhetoric

Barack’s acceptance speech did exactly what it had to. It thanked all the right people and reminded us that he is at heart a family man.

Monday Monday

Undergrad

dear dookie

Flushing it out

Dear Dookie, Question: Why do you suck so much? You’re the worst. Not one word of your “advice columns” offers valuable advice. —Not Amused

It doesn't get better

It’s spring now and I’m suddenly realizing that this “graduating” thing is actually happening. These have been the best four years of my life, and I don’t know what I’m going to do in the real world.

Bring it back

Hi! I’m a newly admitted student here for Blue Devil Days!! Boy, is Duke swell! I was wondering if you had any advice for a kid picking colleges—potentially a new Dookie!

Inception

I’ve just started reading your column and I’m a little confused. Do you mean what you’re saying? I don’t really get satire, so I’m having trouble understanding the point of your articles. Help!

The R-word

I saw statistics in The Chronicle about gender issues at Duke. I was shocked at the gender disparity shown in the data, and at how common sexual assault is. What can I do to stop this problem?

Erin Go Blegh

Dear Dookie, It’s St. Patrick’s week!! Soooo excited to wear my green and have some fun! Any tips on how to make this St. Patrick’s the best one EVER? —Irish

Higher ground

I just got back from Common Ground and let me tell you: Life? CHANGED! But I’m having some trouble translating my tolerance back at Duke. I take my coffee African American now, but no one notices.

Collegiate confessions

Dear Dookie, Recently, I’ve noticed a surge in anonymous hate on the Internet about Duke. The worst part is, this time, the hate is from Duke students themselves!

Not our rivals

Dear Dookie, I’m a line monitor, and I’m worried that since the UNC game is over, people will stop caring about Duke basketball. How do we keep students excited about the Blue Devils?

Prime parties

Dear Dookie, I go to UNC, but I’ve heard from a few national news outlets that y’all throw some sick theme parties. I was wondering if you had any party planning tips. Peace, UNC Brah
E67c97a654eb0b7e01a8caa0b4e87a75a91f1e54

Mousa Alshanteer

Trinity 2016

you don't say?

Stepping on the rungs of opportunity

The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported that 12.6 percent of current college graduates are unemployed.

You don't understand what that's like

Three days into my summer internship, I found myself with only a glass wall separating me from our defendant.

Love in a time of need

At times throughout my life, it served me well to find solace in a prolonged period of silence.

We are what is wrong

When I was a high school senior applying for college, my teacher requested that I send her a copy of my essay so that she could offer me some comments and advice.

Our mothers

Abraham Lincoln once said, “All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.”

Hunger relief is everyone's responsibility

He slowly took the apple off of his lunch tray, wiped it with the cuffs of his jacket, looked around to make sure no one was looking and discreetly hid it in his backpack.

Will Duke be ashamed of us, too?

Richard Nixon once described “the great American legend as to how presidential candidates are born and made.”

Respect is the key

Many still hold the sentiment that a woman ought to play the primary role in raising children and caring for the family and, therefore, ought to forgo certain opportunities that were historically...

Our journey is not complete

“Opportunity,” my father answered. “Opportunity is why I decided to come to this country.”

A miracle, indeed

“Cerebral venous thrombosis,” explained the neurologist as I gasped for air and rubbed the streaming tears from my eyes.

Cc706bab577516fa1af1d254ac2528992090c8d3

Nourhan Elsayed

Trinity 2016

a world unveiled

Silence is complicity

While anxiously awaiting my order of frozen hot chocolate from Serendipity Cafe in Georgetown, my friend Shajuti remembered that she hadn’t prayed Maghrib.

Anger, shame and other drugs

The tiny, yellow pills were spilled all over the big pouch of my book bag. At first, I thought I forgot to close the pill bottle correctly the last time I’d taken my medication.

Global health at Duke receives C+

The University Global Health Impact Report Card, the first of its kind administered by the UAEM, aims to promote medical innovation and public interest in global health.

Baldwin Scholars endorse Bhutani for Young Trustee

The Baldwin Scholars are proud to announce our endorsement of senior Gurdane Bhutani for Young Trustee.

First Duke online course launches Monday

The biomedical engineering class will be taught by professor Roger Barr.

Study ties obstetric fistula to mental illness

Women with obstetric fistula are prone to depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Health care inaccessibility plays role in Arab Spring

For people living in the Middle East and North Africa, the current health system holds political ramifications.
Ab3b664f1856f026add733bc7745794671efc97b

Patrick Oathout

Trinity 2014

realpolitik with patrick

Stop suggested donations

Unfortunately, many student groups have found a loophole that raises funds while keeping the event superficially free: suggested donations.

Gamer infinite

If you are ever around my siblings and me there is a good chance you will hear an obscure reference to a video game.

Shrink dialogue

I have been seeing a therapist since my sophomore year of high school. Not because I have any particular mental problem, just to have someone objective to speak with.

I rise in flame

Three-and-a-half years ago, I received a call from Duke admissions telling me that I’d gotten off the waitlist. Duke was better than my other options in nearly every way.

Vote yes on the DSG bill of rights

Since September, Duke Student Government has been working to codify an official bill of rights in the DSG constitution. The bill received the required two-thirds vote in the Senate and was moved...

The wisdom of enterprise

Last April, I attended the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGIU), a yearly meeting “where students, youth organizations, topic experts and celebrities come together to discuss and develop...

A rainbow system

Uganda’s parliament plans to pass a law before Christmas that imposes harsher penalties on same-sex acts.

The buck stops here

President Harry Truman kept a walnut-wood sign on his Oval Office desk engraved with the words, “The buck stops here.”

Broken legs

Last Friday I sat on a student panel that discussed DukeEngage with parents visiting for the weekend.

Duke (students) forward

Last Saturday, I attended the gala for the launch of the capital campaign, christened “Duke Forward: Partnering for the Future.”
2e35bb658b8825f9043b480db98eb3afa67db05e

Prashanth Kamalakanthan

Trinity 2014

subalternatives

North Carolina: Stand up, fight back

The North Carolina General Assembly, firmly in the grip of closet theocrats, libertarian extremists and corrupt corporate shills, is engaged in an attack on our state’s underprivileged communities.

U.S. imperialism destroys humanity

Last week marked 10 years since our country brought the long plague of invasion, occupation and mass murder to the Iraqi people. The least they deserve is a moment of reflection.

Time to end the silence on Aycock

In the aftermath of another race scandal at Duke, maybe it’s finally time to deal with that shining monument to racism still standing on our campus.

Race politics is every day

Through the public flogging of Kappa Sigma, Duke has congratulated itself for its progressivism, yet on precisely the issues of systemic racial injustice so routinely raised in the scandal’s...

Finance, or career sociopathy

A team of researchers at a Swiss university confirmed what much of regular society has long suspected: bankers’ behavior is more reckless and manipulative than that of psychopaths.

Only Obama could spy, torture and assassinate

The U.S. military camp at Guantánamo Bay recently celebrated two solemn anniversaries.

Our funeral for the First Amendment is a demand for political liberty

Amidst the fog of the American imperial state, one finds it increasingly difficult to think clearly.

Scott Briggs

Trinity 2014

as i see it

I've been hazed

The University’s recent crack-down on hazing has been the forbidden fruit of conversations around campus this semester.

Selling Duke

Generally speaking, I’m not someone whose mood changes with the season.

The devil’s in the details

By now, it should surprise no one that I’m not the biggest fan of the new house model.

What’s in a house?

I hate to admit it, but I wasn’t surprised when The Chronicle announced on Monday that the Social Justice House and Latino Cultural House were being disbanded due to lack of interest.

At the cost of control

It’s common knowledge that Duke Dining is not one of the most lauded aspects of this University.

Post-rush analysis

For the next four hours, I am stuck sitting in a room on the second floor of the Marketplace, waiting to accept bids from students deciding to pledge one of the 16 IFC fraternities.

Musing on majors

Winter break is a unique period in college; it is the only time when it is perfectly acceptable to do nothing for three weeks.

Why I still love Duke

Last year, my final article of the semester was titled “Why I love Duke.”

Learning from the rankings

University rankings can be a touchy subject for some people.

Social action without action

As part of the Duke bubble, it is refreshing to take a step back to look at the political and market structures of the world and to challenge the beliefs that most Americans hold as fact.
72a8f6b010300d9afbeaa4a8d113bc740bf3ba0d

Zubair Akram

Trinity 2016

to think again

American interests and our role in Syria

As the Syrian Revolution rages on between President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and the opposition materializing, no ceasefire seems on the horizon.

Duke Medicine to train Rwandan doctors

The Duke School of Medicine and School of Nursing will soon join a consortium in structuring a viable health system in Rwanda.

Cartoon

23fb4a283829557bd19781252abe1c8be03d016f
Mariah Hukins