The New Graduation Requirements

Oh, you'll look back on your college graduation with pride. Your family will sit in the bleachers of Wally Wade, baking in the windless and humid 96 degree weather; you'll be decked out in some hideous gown and a hat almost as goofy as the pope's, and you'll get a piece of paper that'll supposedly ensure you a life of financial stability and happiness....

My big fat ass! The truth is: There's less than three months left until graduation, most of us are jobless and apathetic and success ain't really knockin' the door down. So, there's only one real solution to the pre-diploma blues - filling up your remaining 82 days with as much activity as possible.

We've taken the liberty of compiling a list of things to do before you leave for the corporate world, or in my case, my mom's couch, and there's enough variety here that you shouldn't be heard saying, "There's nothing to do around this hell hole," for the rest of the semester. Also, feel free to get a head start if you're an underclassman.

Play on, playa:

Morehead Planetarium

If your last trip to a planetarium was in fourth grade, maybe it's time you gave the (fake) night sky a second look. Take the Robertson Scholars Bus over to Chapel Hill and you'll get dropped off right outside the Morehead Planetarium on Franklin Street. This favorite field-trip destination - one of the largest planetariums in the world - features special programs and continuing education classes for all ages and also offers star shows on the weekends.

Go for "Carolina Skies," an informal introduction to the current night sky, at 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, and impress your friends with your constellation smarts. Or try a "Sky Safari" and 8 p.m., and take a wild ride through the cosmos. Tickets are only $3.50 for students, $4.50 for everyone else, and hey, stars are cool, so check it out.

• Macy Parker

Maybe it's not the best idea to complete this last and sadly forgotten graduation requirement. But, who said everything you do in college has to make sense?

*Recess frees itself from any liability and ain't bailing your poor ass outta jail.

• Greg Veis

Camping on the Eno

I quit the Boy Scouts at the first sniff of the woods, I rank petting zoos at the top of the "worst crap ever invented" list and, except for goldfish, I generally dislike all forms of wildlife. But I'll be damned if the Parklands of the Eno River aren't great - and generally underappreciated - Durham destinations. However, since there are several separate components that compose the Parklands, it can be difficult to decide how and where to start. Here are some suggestions:

1) Every Sunday through the rest of the school year, there will be a free, instructor-led Winter or Spring Wildflowers Hike through the Eno River Valley. The tours all begin at 2 p.m. at the Eno River State Park Headquarters down I-85 on Cole Mill Road, and they are worthy starting points for the less adventurous.

2) Round up a couple of tuna salad sandwiches and some lube and head out to the Fanny's Ford Trail at park headquarters. It's a fairly short hike, but it snakes all around the river and is one of the few trails that has remained open through the tough winter. Hey, if you grab your tent and the canoe lying around the ol' dorm room, you can even spend the night camping in the Few's Ford section of the park.

3) A mere 10-minute drive from campus, you'll run into the West Point of the Eno. It's open from 8 a.m. until sundown, and every one of the 388 acres is so exquisite you won't believe you're still in the frickin' "City of Medicine." If you're lucky enough to be here during the summer, make a point of attending the Festival for the Eno there and take in all the music, craft booths and hippie Durham folk.

• Greg Veis

Target Practice

If you thought that taking 21 shots on your 21st birthday was manly, or that streaking across the Cameron floor proved you had balls, then you are sadly mistaken. Though firing a gun might not make you a man, the feel of cold steel pressed against your flesh as you fire 14 rounds through a picture of Osama Bin-Laden robbing a little old lady will get you pretty damn close. Before you graduate head down to the Personal Defense and Handgun Safety Center at 301 Tryon Rd. in Raleigh, because you can't claim to be educated until you know how to operate a firearm.

I know what you are thinking, "I am a scared, liberal Yankee, and I am just uncomfortable around a gun." Well, to be honest, so was I! But now, after a simple test (so simple, in fact, that if you make a mistake, they just point to the right answer) and a small deposit, you can be armed with an automatic handgun, a bag of bullets and a paper target. Once inside the range, make sure you keep your eyes and ears protected at all times and don't even think about pointing that barrel anywhere but at the target. Squeeze the trigger and let the metal fly. Now you can really call yourself a man.

Added bonus: All the targets are just a dollar, making them the cheapest posters you can hang on your dorm-room wall.

• Yoav Lurie

Bulls' First Day

I've heard people argue for sex and hard drugs, but there really is nothing like Opening Day of the baseball season. The hot dogs taste better than they do all year, the field is in mint condition, and even for Cubs fans, there is a sense of rebirth and hope. At no other time during the year is life so pure, so reminiscent of our Little League days when life's biggest worries involved trading cards and bike races.

So, when the Richmond Braves march into town April 3, there will be nothing more satisfying than ditching your Thursday afternoon classes and taking to the Durham Athletic Park. The Bulls will defend their International League crown, but the fate of the team is almost incidental. It's not the victory you're there to see--it's the pre-game player introductions, the goofy mid-inning contests and the post-game fireworks display.

Opening Day, especially with the Bulls, is so American it hurts - a Rockwell wrapped inside of an Alger. But who cares? It doesn't hurt to lose the cynicism every so often, grab a bag of peanuts and transport yourself to simpler days.

• Greg Veis

Starlite Drive-In

If you've never been to the Starlite Drive-In, shame on you - you're obviously not taking advantage of the opportunities available to you as a Durham resident. This may be the only place in the world where you can drop the kids at the playground, rent a video, browse through a flea market, buy a gun and see a first-run movie, all from the comfort of your car, all in the exact same location. The Starlite Drive-In appears to defy the laws of physics - or maybe some other sort of law - but it is a reality, and it's only in Durham, folks. Located down a gravel road off of East Club Boulevard, the "theater" consists of an open field with a large projection screen at one end. Instead of those cool window radios you see in 50s movies, the Starlite has its own, even cooler, FM radio station, so you can listen to the movie while you make out in the back seat without even having to roll your window down. Rolling your window down might not be the most appealing option anyway, especially if you're there on an off night and the only other car is a large nondescript van. Still, the Durham experience is decidedly incomplete without a visit to the Starlite, and with a ticket price of only $5, you truly can't afford to miss it.

• Macy Parker

Primate Center

So the first time I went to the Primate Center as a Biological Anthropology and Anatomy minor, I asked one of the researchers what he was feeding the lemurs and he said, "Purina monkey chow." I laughed, figuring it was some kind of "lemur humor." But no, it's true--and that's just one of the many interesting experiences I've had among the little prosimians. Duke's Primate Center is the largest housing of prosimian primates anywhere in the world--and it's just around the corner off Erwin Road, on Lemur Lane (of course).

You have to plan ahead a little to get the tour-call two weeks in advance to book a date--but the $4 admission fee with your Duke ID is more than fair to see the exotic little Malagasy animals. One of my favorites is the Coquerel's Sifakas-the black and white little vertical leapers, one of whom stars in the PBS kids' show Zoboomafoo. Rumor has it that one of the females just gave birth about two months ago to a little one that's now riding jockey-style on her back. The ringtail lemurs roam a large enclosed area of the Duke Forest, and BAA students, who may soon become as endangered as some of the lemurs they study, can often be seen charting their behaviors.

• Meg Lawson

Paul Jeffrey's Jazz

He's got three jazz schools in Italy named after him, a musical rap sheet spanning performances and recordings with jazz greats from Thelonious Monk to Dizzy Gillespie, and he also just happens to be a Duke professor. For years, Paul Jeffrey - inspired saxophonist, composer, and Director of Jazz Studies at Duke University - has lead Duke students through the intricate genre and stylings of jazz, within an otherwise classically weighted Duke music department. He fosters creativity in and demands excellence from his students.

Don't worry though, it's not like he keeps his sax hidden away in Biddle. Aside from the shows that he plays off campus, he also directs the first-rate Duke Jazz Ensemble, which collaborates with leading world jazz figures as part of the North Carolina International Jazz Festival - an event in its 20th year that Jeffrey founded and continues to direct. On Friday, Feb. 28, don't miss the opportunity to see Jeffrey, the Duke Jazz Ensemble and a collection of Italian jazz all-stars get intellectual on all of your asses in Baldwin Auditorium.

Other upcoming events that Jeffrey'll be a part of include performances by NYC jazz lion and pianist, Jeb Patton (March 28-Baldwin) and funny-man-turned-jazz-player, Chevy Chase (April 18-Page). You have no excuse, but you really shouldn't need one anyway.

• Scott Hechinger

Places to Explore

Here are some other ideas on how to spend your pre-graduation days. No (or little) explanation necessary!

Take in a film at the Rialto Theatre - Raleigh's oldest movie house

Attend a Baptist Revival

Frickin' go to the Coffee House on East and the Carolina Theatre for once

Go spearfishing for Koi in the Sarah P. Duke Gardens

Jet ski at Jordan Lake

Concoct a ceramic gift at Glaze `n' Blaze on Ninth Street

Spend a decadent night in Raleigh - don't overlook the Flying Saucer or the 42nd Street Oyster Bar

Wake up for a church service at the Chapel (even if you're not a goy)

Wander around the Medical Center and eat lunch at the Hardee's

Play basketball at the courts near the turf fields

Museum of Life and Science or N.C. Museum of Natural Science

Tour the Stagville Plantation in Durham - one of the South's biggest antebellum plantations

Visit UNC-CH, N.C. State, Wake Forest and North Carolina Central University Bike the Dairyland Loop in Chapel Hill

Spend a night in a local hotel - anywhere from the La Quinta to the Washington Duke

Drink a milkshake and check out the old-school trinkets at the McDonald's Drug Store on Ninth Street

North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh

Restaurants to Sample

Here are some restaurants you should try at least once before you walk out of Wally Wade.

Durham

Biscuit King

Blue Express

Bullock's

Four Square

Greenhouse Cafe

Latin Grill

Magnolia Grill

Nana's

Pasta Bella

Saladelia

University Club in the University Tower

Wimpy's

Chapel Hill

Cafe Parvaneh

Carrburritos

Crook's Corner

East End Oyster and Martini Bar

La Residence

The Lantern

Mama Dips

Margaret's Cantina

Mellow Mushroom

Panzanella

Top of the Hill

Raleigh

Angus Barn

Krispy Kreme