I'm writing my final column at the beach in Charleston, South Carolina. I'm here with three new friends from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, none of whom I knew at the beginning of the semester. It took awhile to feel at home at UNC, but now it is hard to believe that my time studying eight miles down the road is almost over. I've met amazing people, taken some great classes and grown to love the relaxed, laid-back feeling that pervades the Chapel Hill campus.
There are a lot of things I have missed at Duke, and I am excited to come back, but I've come to love our neighbors, too, and there is a lot at UNC I wish I could bring back with me.
I really like how the fraternities at UNC are removed from the main campus. Fraternity life is not supposed to define a school's social scene, so it makes sense for UNC's "Frat Court" to be a few blocks off campus. Greeks are a minority at Duke, too, even if it is easy to forget with the number of fraternities right off main West. If we are going to have our fraternities on campus, why not put them all in Edens? It is great that our fraternity parties are open to everybody, but we don't have to let a minority of students define the whole school's social scene.
Earlier this semester I wrote a column about the social activism so apparent every day at UNC. I continue to be amazed as I cross the center of Chapel Hill's campus and see hundreds of students gathered, talking and sharing ideas.
To be fair, West Campus really seems to have come to life these past few weeks, but there is lots of room for more energy. If only more students could forget about what profession or graduate school they are preparing for and just try something completely different.
I have also talked about SLICE, the on-line forum UNC has developed this year so that every group can place their activities on a master campus calendar and students can see everything with one quick glance.
With our student activities fees rising considerably next year and only vague assertions as to why this is necessary, we should have plenty of money to develop our own version of SLICE so we too can know what is going on before it happens.
Someday, though, I would hope we could integrate the two school's calendars into a giant database of everything happening on both campuses. As I have often traversed 15-501 this semester, I have realized just how many opportunities we have at both schools. I'm tired of hearing someone on either campus say, "I wish I had known.".
Let's change that.
UNC has its negatives too, and I definitely have come to appreciate much of what I used to take for granted at Duke. For all the plusses of UNC social life, most of its policies are considerably stricter. Parties in the dorms? Forget it. Any sort of alcohol outside? UNC students wouldn't think of it. When I explain our concerns about tailgate being cancelled or K-Ville being changed, I don't find a lot of sympathy.
Before we complain too much, we should remember it could be a whole lot worse. A compromise with an administration just concerned about our safety seems to make a lot more sense.
I've missed some of the academics at Duke, too. Instead of individual professor advisors, at UNC most students just meet with walk-in advising staff. There, it is much more difficult to build a close relationship with a professor whose interests match your own and to have that one-on-one advice throughout your college career. The major advising at Duke is amazing; we shouldn't take it for granted.
The same is true with programs like FOCUS, the abundance of small seminar classes and faculty in residence. When I talk about these programs at UNC, I realize just how lucky we are. UNC has great professors, too, but there are few other schools in the country where undergraduates can research with famous authors or prize-winning scientists. Here, there is a whole lot more money for grants, travel and research. We also get to enjoy class gifts, LDOC concerts and free festivals on the quad.
And whatever else may be true, watching a basketball game in the Dean Dome sucks. The first time I watched the Tar Heels play, I couldn't believe that everyone in the stadium was sitting. Who sits at a basketball game? As I cheered politely and watched Boston College destroy UNC, I realized nothing could ever compare to the Cameron Crazies.
David Fiocco is a Trinity sophomore. This is his final column.
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