T H E I N D E P E N D E N T D A I LY AT D U K E U N I V E R S I T Y
The Chronicle
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2012
ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTH YEAR, ISSUE 95
WWW.DUKECHRONICLE.COM
Hazing incidents increase
LMFAO’s Redfoo to headline LDOC
It’s not easy being green
by Margot Tuchler THE CHRONICLE
A spike in reported hazing incidents has coincided with a University-wide effort to prevent the dangerous practice. In the 2011-2012 academic year, 17 reports of hazing have been filed at Duke to date, said Stephen Bryan, associate dean of students and director of the Office of Student Conduct. This is a marked increase compared to last year, when seven reports were filed. In 2009-2010, only three reports were filed. This Spring, Duke administrators are keen on eliminating this behavior. So far, none of the reports this year have been filed by individuals who claim to have been hazed. Rather, reports are coming from other students, parents and residence life staff, said Clarybel Peguero, director of the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life “It’s an issue affecting a lot of different organizations,” Peguero said. “We want to make sure students are aware of what their responsibility is to end it.” Duke’s policy on hazing, as articulated in the Duke Community Standard, was updated this year to include the state of North Carolina’s laws on hazing. “[It helps so] students can understand the repercussions not just from the Duke perspective, but from a legal perspective—through the state of North Carolina,” she said. In an email to the student body Jan. 24, Bryan
by Raisa Chowdhury THE CHRONICLE
SOPHIA PALENBERG/THE CHRONICLE
Duke University Improv performs Thursday evening in Reynolds Theater along with the Pitchforks, a student a cappella group.
SEE HAZING ON PAGE 4
“We gonna make you lose your mind”—Redfoo of LMFAO is set to party rock this year’s Last Day of Classes celebration. In addition to DJ and rapper Redfoo, the lineup includes mashup artist 3LAU, Swedish singer and songwriter Basshunter and hip-hop artist Macklemore. The LDOC Committee, cochaired by senior Nate French and sophomore Jacob Robinson, announced the lineup via text message at midnight Thursday. “The lineup has a lot of high energy artists with dance and kind of electronic vibes,” French said. “The number one thing about this lineup is everyone is just a great live performer.” Electronic-rap duo LMFAO will only feature Redfoo this April because his partner SkyBlu received a back injury in December, limiting his ability to perform. Redfoo, however, will still perform all of the duo’s major hits, including “Party Rock Anthem,” “Sexy and I Know It” and “Shots.” Redfoo will also be accompanied by LMFAO’s internationally acclaimed dance group Party Rock Crew. For the first time this year, DUU oversaw the LDOC committee, which was previously an independent group funded primarily by student SEE LDOC ON PAGE 12
Duke Athletics Freshmen left uninformed upholding pledge during sorority recruitment of sustainability by Joel Luther THE CHRONICLE
by Andrew Luo THE CHRONICLE
As its teams aim to reach a high level of efficiency in games, Duke Athletics is doing its part to lower energy consumption and waste, administrators said. As part of a University-wide effort to achieve carbon neutrality by 2024 as stated in Duke’s climate action plan, the athletic department has taken some action to reduce its carbon footprint and spread on-campus awareness. In recent years, athletic facilities have met the standards of Leadership in Energy and Environ-
ment Design, like all other new and recently renovated facilities at Duke since 2003. Duke Athletics has also responded to the high volume of garbage at sports games by partnering with Duke Recycles to increase recycling efforts during these events. In 2009, Duke Athletics adapted one particular measure for energy efficiency—a temperature scheduling program that tailors heating and cooling to the daily climate, Vice President of Facilities John Noonan said in an email Feb. 6. SEE ATHLETICS ON PAGE 12
Duke hosts CHAT conference, Page 3
The specifics of next year’s new house model came as a surprise to some freshmen who participated in sorority recruitment last month. Some new sorority members said the Panhellenic Association was unclear in communicating housing requirements before and during recruitment. Freshman Kayla Bakhshian, a new member of Alpha Phi, said she was first informed of her sorority’s housing requirements in late January. “The sororities were not allowed to talk about housing during rush because they didn’t want it to factor into the decision-making process,” Bakhshian said. Junior Kelsey Woodford, incoming Panhellenic president, wrote in an email Wednesday that Panhel encouraged sororities not to mention any aspects of housing—such as placement of the hous-
ONTHERECORD
“It was just a moment. It passed, and blurred into a hazily awesome night at Shooters.” —Harry Liberman in “The blue devil rising.” See column page 10
es, apartment layouts and the chapters’ attitudes toward the houses—that could cause competition with other sororities. “The motivation for this was to eliminate any unfair advantages in recruitment,” Woodford said. Bakhshian noted that omitting housing details was a good decision on Panhel’s part. “Ultimately, you should pick a sorority based on how you click with the girls, not based on anything else,” she said. The location of sororities on Central Campus did not factory into discussions of housing during recruitment, Woodford said. Freshman Aly Breuer, who asked not to disclose her sorority, recalled that before rush, she was told that not all new members would have to SEE SORORITIES ON PAGE 6
QS requirement changes approved, Page 3