Opinion | Student Voices Columns

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OPINION  |  STUDENT VOICES COLUMNS

The man from Lubbock

Maybe it’s a note your mom sent you in the mail, maybe it’s a kind gesture from a friend, maybe it’s a man from Lubbock reminding you just how amazing it is to stroll into one of the most legendary stadiums in the country whenever you feel like it. 


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OPINION  |  STUDENT VOICES COLUMNS

Make the Blue Devil less sexy

Our society is moving forward. And when the Blue Devil mascot comes out at sporting events, the sight of his ears so clearly designed to be nibbled on gently, or of his eyes that are so easy to get lost in, is no longer as welcome to a modern audience. Sporting events are for celebrating the athletic achievements of our student body, not admiring the Michelangelesque sculpting of the Devil’s body.


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OPINION  |  STUDENT VOICES COLUMNS

I am rich on campus, but not rich at Duke

I am so incredibly grateful for the economic resources that allow me to be here. I’m grateful that I get to play rich at Duke. I get to choose what sounds good at WU instead of gravitating towards the cheapest meal. I get to say yes to dinner dates and coffee chats without the anxiety induced by a price tag. And the best part: I get to use this power to do good.


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OPINION  |  STUDENT VOICES COLUMNS

Duke does not have a proper arts requirement

When discussing my desire for a better arts requirement, a friend disagreed, saying that the lowest grade they ever received was in an arts class. This is a fair point given the Duke obsession with perfect GPAs; however, to quote one of my Economics professors “it’s not about the grade, it’s about what you learn.”


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OPINION  |  STUDENT VOICES COLUMNS

The Bryan Center is anti-human

If you happen to love the Bryan Center, then I can only applaud you for what amounts to building a house on the side of a steep mountain and making the best of poor circumstances. My aim here isn’t to make everyone hate the BC, just to expose some of the implicit ways its structural arrangement fails to foster the kind of integrated, collaborative, equitable environment that Duke’s current values align with. Your emotional reactions, attachments, or rejections of the building are your own to cherish or abhor, but in either case my aim is to provoke a closer, more critically engaged look at the built spaces that make up Duke.


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OPINION  |  STUDENT VOICES COLUMNS

Uninspired? Take a shower

A quick Google search will inform you that great ideas arise in the shower due to the interplay of distraction, relaxation and sensory stimulation that produce a neurological dopamine high. It isn’t that the mindless, automatic nature of showering activates creative sweet spots in the brain. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Our brain is released from high-order activities and instead engages its appropriately named “default mode network.” Showering liberates our minds from the outside noise and allows us to do something we rarely let ourselves do: be present.