Although Duke Student Government and most students agree that this year's tenting policy was much improved compared to previous years, DSG is forming an unofficial advisory board to explore additional modifications.
The committee-arranged by DSG legislator Brian Stempel-includes some of the most ardent tenters in Krzyzewskiville, said Cat Saleeby, a Trinity junior and tent three member. Saleeby was asked to spearhead the group and to suggest other interested students.
"This is a sounding board for people who expressed deep interest in this year's policy and the way it was implemented," said Saleeby, who recommended 10 tenters.
Although the committee has not yet met, some expect its recommendations will be taken seriously by DSG.
"[DSG Executive Vice President] Rusty Shappley is really interested in what people say," said committee member and engineering sophomore Dave Bixler. "I would be surprised if they ignore us."
Stempel, an engineering junior, refused to comment on the committee's function or makeup, saying only that the group was "unofficial."
Still, committee members and other campers have already highlighted issues they would like to address.
Saleeby said she predicts that "tarping" will be a major topic for the committee because it encapsulates the three sticking points for this year's tenting policy-self-regulation, duration and difficulty of the process.
Trinity junior Luis Villa, captain of tents three and four, said that any limits on camp-out length will inevitably fail.
Still, he said the tarping system worked fairly well this year.
"I think that the only problem that occurred at that time was a lack of agreement over who exactly was in charge," said Villa, who is not on the committee.
DSG Head Line Monitor Al Prescott, an engineering junior, said he anticipated the tarping.
"None of [the happenings before official tenting] were an accident," he said. "We planned on that... if two or three people get here early, we don't want to say no."
Some tenters complained about Prescott's decision to spread out personal tent checks during the 48-hour period before the UNC game, when temperatures were below freezing.
"The whole point of camping out is to cheer on the basketball team, and I honestly don't believe that forcing students to sleep outside in the winter weather is a good way of keeping people energized and healthy," said Geeta Arora, a Trinity senior and head of tent five. She is not on the committee.
But Bixler said tenting should be more difficult.
"The people who are the most hardcore should get in," he said. "Make [tenting] hard-none of this bull crap we've been seeing."
Other tenters criticized the fact that some tenters slept in nearby commons rooms where they could hear tent checks instead of sleeping outside.
Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs Sue Wasiolek added that the debris left in K-ville is "unacceptable."
"People always comment to me that the students should not be allowed to enter Cameron until they clean it up," Wasiolek said.
Jaime Levy contributed to this story.
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