With Head Line Monitor Jeremy Morgan expected to hold a town meeting in April to discuss changes to the tenting policy, many residents of Krzyzewskiville are agreeing that next year's policy could stand for some improvement.
Among the concerns likely to be aired at next month's meeting - which Morgan said will take place after a new head line monitor is selected by incoming Duke Student Government president Matthew Slovik - are many students' perceptions that this year's tenting season was too long and too hard, which led to decreased attendance at games in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Tenters faced especially cold weather and one continuous, six-week tenting period this year, compared with separate tenting periods in years past.
Self-described as one of Duke's most dedicated Cameron Crazies, sophomore Pasha Majdi said that nearly all the problems can be met with better tenting policies and that to remedy this year's problem of empty seats, there need to be improvements in publicizing how easy it is to get into games.
"There's a widespread misconception that its really hard to get in [to games], but people can walk into the Maryland game if they line up a half hour beforehand," he said.
Tenter Rebecca Logsdon said that this year's tenting season, which began before the semester started and continued through the home game against the University of Maryland Feb. 19, was too long.
"It shouldn't be a continuous tenting period because six weeks is a really long time," Logsdon said. "Everyone in my tent was completely frustrated by the Maryland game, which made it less fun."
Logsdon, a freshman, said the weather was probably the biggest problem this year. "People know what they're getting into when they tent," she said. "The thing we didn't know about was the weather, but it's a hazard of choosing to tent. I still had a good time."
Most Krzyzewskiville residents agreed that a shorter tenting period would lead to an increase in tenters, but might have other drawbacks, including a decrease in enthusiasm.
Sophomore tenter Merrill Roller said that a shorter period would hurt the most dedicated tenters. "There are about 10 tents that will, for every game, be there no matter how long it takes to tent," he said.
Freshman tenter Andrew Schmidt said that a shorter period would be worthwhile, but added, "I don't know how to implement it."
One idea, which has been advocated by Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta, is to have a kickoff event at the beginning of the season.
"I think that's a great idea," Logsdon said. "The social scene [at K-ville] was kind of dead this year, as there were not a lot of events. Any sort of idea that would get people excited, like more food or more bands, would be good."
Another idea Moneta offered is to have some sort of student spirit competition, possibly judged by Dick Vitale, to determine who gets the very best seats. This idea, however, has not been as warmly received.
"I think that idea is kind of ridiculous," said sophomore Kirk Donahoe, captain of tent 77 for the UNC game. "Seating should be determined by will, not by any special talent people have. I don't think it would go over well with the students."
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