Column: UNC adds flavor to separate Duke from Ivies

I'm often asked to offer an opinion on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and my response draws curious looks: I believe that Carolina helps keep Duke unique and differentiates us from Ivy League schools.

The relationship goes beyond the greatest rivalry in college basketball. It's not just that heightened ESPN coverage recruits for us each winter and spring by doing features on both teams prior to the games. It's that rivalries undoubtedly lead to interaction--and such contact helps keep Duke from becoming the type of university where chess is played on Friday nights, fraternities are replaced by eating clubs and your college career is one big quest for a higher GPA.

Of course, interaction often leads to interesting stereotypes. Last year, I overheard a group of freshman guys talking about UNC girls. Judging from the way they were exchanging experiences and sharing rumors you'd think that Carolina girls were fallen angels who practice promiscuity instead of piety. I could have added more fuel to the fire by telling them the joke about Silent Sam, the bronze statue of a soldier near the Old Well on UNC's campus--he supposedly fires off his gun whenever a virgin walks by.

But the stereotypes cut both ways. My freshman year a good friend at Carolina introduced me to some of her hallmates. Their responses weren't what I expected.

"Everyone, this is my friend Marko. He goes to Duke," she said.

"Hmm, I thought your kind was too good to hang out here," said the first hallmate.

"ErrÉ uhmÉ no."

"So you drive an SUV, right?" asked another one.

But when I returned to the Gothic Wonderland and pulled into the parking lot I noticed for the first time the sea of SUVs around me. I began to see things a bit differently and visited UNC more often.

My subsequent visits to Chapel Hill have assured me that the proximity of UNC is one of Duke's greatest assets. Few other universities can compare to Duke's brilliant faculty, favorable climate and competitive sports teams. Add to that list the numerous choices generated by a superb public university with a bustling nightlife located only 10 miles away.

If you have not already, I encourage you to experience UNC in a non-basketball fashion--and not just on Halloween night. What you are bound to find is a university with a very different and more relaxed feel than our Dear Old Duke.

To me, the most prominent aspect of this different atmosphere at Carolina is the sincere "hello" that I often get from early-morning joggers or even random students. It serves as a sharp contrast to the brief flashes of tight-lipped smiles offered on the Bryan Center walkway at any point in time of the day. Imagine that--a stranger saying hello or taking the time to wish you a good morning. I bet that's not common in New Jersey or New York.

A quick stroll down Franklin Street also lets you see what Ninth Street will never be--a splendid combination of glamour consumerism and family-owned stores that's teeming with life. This isn't to say that human-sized frogs, late-night quesadillas or a deli owner who refuses to serve you ketchup because it blankets the taste of his carefully prepared food aren't cool--I'm glad they're near our campus. But it would certainly be nice if, in addition to such curios, Ninth Street were peppered with additional stores that offer you an opportunity to shell out $4.25 for a mocha grande when the urge strikes.

And a visit to UNC is likely to reveal the presence of pasty-skinned students with tattoos, alternative rainbow-colored hairdos and numerous piercings. It's been a while since I've seen anyone like that at Duke. I'm sure they exist, but their self-expression is probably drowned out of sight by Adonises in Abercrombie and Fitch outfits and ice queens with Kate Spade bags. And that's a shame, really. An image-oriented Duke girl whose self-esteem is often proportional to the combined daily total of the number of hours she spends on the StairMaster and the number of fat-free, protein-deficient meals she eats in a week would benefit from such an interaction.

So, whether you're about to come to campus as a wide-eyed freshman or a seasoned upperclassman, think about the ways in which UNC can augment your Duke experience. If nothing else, it will at least keep you from taking things too seriously--a common condition found in Ivy League schools.

But don't get too attached--the basketball season is just around the corner.

Marko Djuranovic is a Trinity senior and former health & science editor of The Chronicle.