Chronicle tenting editorial missed the mark

The Chronicle usually makes a reasonable effort to report news accurately, with an eye for giving a balanced and coherent account of events. The "Reckless In-tent-city" editorial in the Dec. 1 edition of The Chronicle was not one of those times. The Chronicle, searching for a controversy where none existed, picked the wrong non-issue to bring up. Proclaiming "something is rotten in the state of K-ville," the editorial proceeded to lambaste both the line monitors and the freshmen who "flouted" policy days before Thanksgiving break, accusing the line monitors of failing miserably in their attempts to enforce tenting regulations and allowing the "reckless freshmen" to use a loophole to circumvent the 10 day tenting limit.

This "tunnel sized loophole" was nothing of the sort. The rules, available for everyone to read, were posted on the net (www.duke.edu/dsg/kville). The Duke Student Government website policy description leaves no room for misinterpretation: "The 10-day limit states that no tent is permitted before the ten-day mark prior to that registration." Even more explicitly, "In addition, students registering during the initial registration will form a line prior to that registration." Oblivious to the fact that the policy clearly states what is allowed, the editorial goes on to brazenly claim the policy "does not reward the die-hard tenters," but only those "cynical, crafty or well connected enough to realize it would never be properly enforced."

Cynical? Crafty? Well-connected? Wrong. Any tents that arrived before the ten-day period demonstrated their ability to read. They read the tenting policy, something that The Chronicle-in misguided haste to condemn the line monitors and first tents-apparently neglected to do. The line monitors explained the policy and the die-hard tenters followed it, excited enough about Duke Basketball to exercise a level of determination high enough to allow them to maintain their place in line. The "Reckless In-tent-city" editorial characterized this determination as the heart of what is "rotten in the state of K-ville," an awkward reference to the beginning of Hamlet that shows just how badly the editorial misses the point. The play offers a much better description of the state of K-ville. Hamlet, feigning madness, prompts Polonious to remark aloud, "Though this be madness, yet there is method in 't."

There is method in the madness of Krzyzewskiville. We're all afflicted with the same insanity. We love Duke Basketball.

Chris Wilkins

Trinity '02

Matt Burton

Trinity '02