The Chronicle
THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2009
the independent daily at duke university
ONE HUNDRED AND fifth YEAR, ISSUE S5
Admission yield steady in recession
by Julius Jones The chronicle
Members of the Duke and Durham community, as well as visitors from around the country, will gather to honor the memory of John Hope and Aurelia Franklin Thursday. “A Celebration of the Lives of John Hope and Aurelia Whittington Franklin” begins at 11 a.m. in the Duke Chapel. The event marks the couple’s 69th wedding anniversary. Aurelia Franklin died in 1999 and in accordance with the Franklins’ wishes, no funeral services were held. Former president Bill Clinton will give the featured remarks for the event alongside Vernon Jordan, a prominent attorney and civil rights advocate who was a long-time friend of both Franklin and Clinton. Other speakers Thursday include President Richard Brodhead, trustee emerita Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans and Thavolia Glymph, professor of African and African American studies. In addition to speakers, musical guests will perform during the service. Eric Pritchard, a violinist and associate professor of the practice of music and James Ketch, a trumpeter and professor in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s department of music will perform pieces composed in memory of Aurelia and John Hope Franklin, respectively. There will also be a performance by the Fisk University Jubilee Singers—representing the alma
by Toni Wei
The chronicle
More Blue Devil hopefuls than usual will be denied admission off the wait list for the Class of 2013. Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Christoph Guttentag estimated that about 100 students will be admitted off the wait list and 70 of those students will ultimately enroll at Duke, bringing the number of acceptances for the incoming class to a total of more than 4,100. With most offers of admission already accepted or rejected, Guttentag said he expects total yield this year to be around 41.5 percent, slightly higher than the Class of 2012’s 40.5 percent. “It’s not a dramatic increase, but a step in the right direction,” he said. “If we could continue this over time it would become significant. We see this as one step in the process and we would like to see this level of improvement every year.” Guttentag noted, however, that yield numbers are not final until move-in day in August. “In about two weeks, assuming nothing unusual happens, I would say we will tell people on the wait list that we’re done for the year,” he said. This year’s expected wait list enrollment is much lower than last year’s, when slightly more than 200 students were enrolled off the wait list. Guttentag attributed this decline to adjustments made by the admissions office after
See celebration on page 7 Chronicle File Photo
See admissions on page 7
Safety concerns may move Tailgate to Main Quad by Toni Wei
The chronicle
The early-morning raucousness and costumed debauchery that has come to characterize Duke Tailgate may no longer be the same this coming Fall. Administrators and student representatives from Duke Student Government and Duke University Union have been meeting for several months to discuss possibilities for the change, Dean of Students Sue Wasiolek said. “I think one of our greatest concerns about Tailgate is that it be safe.... I think that being said there are a number of ways that we can get there, and that’s why we’re continuing to talk with the students,” Wasiolek said. “My hope is that we will always have an opportunity for students and others to engage in Tailgate, but the dangerous behaviors that have come along with our past tailgates—I think most of us agree has got to come to an end.” Wasiolek said moving tailgate to the Main West Quadrangle is one option being considered. Other options include keeping it in its current location in the first lot of the Blue Zone and allowing cars in or dispersing students throughout the Blue Zone. “I think moving it to the quad is kind of declining in favor because we’re very opposed to it—it would be disruptive, and it would turn people off, and that’s not what we
would want to do,” said sophomore Pete Schork, DSG vice president for athletics and campus services. “Additionally, it would not be good for the grounds at all—having it in a lot just makes it easier to clean.” DSG President Awa Nur, a senior, said moving tailgate to Main Quad would force students who did not want to tailgate to do so, particularly during morning tailgates. “At the same time there’s a lot we can control in the Blue Zone—who’s getting in, what alcohol people are drinking—it becomes very different on the Main Quad, and I honestly don’t think it was a well-planned idea,” she said. Schork said he has been in favor of expanding Tailgate to have space for people who want to keep the current form of Tailgate and for those who want a more traditional tailgate that includes cars and grilling. “I think most students are either for or against Tailgate, it’s kind of a polarizing thing,” Schork said. “I think it’s an opportunity to turn it into something that can accommodate both sides. I think we can come up with a solution that makes everyone happy.” Nur said administrators and DSG representatives had several meetings earlier in the Spring and had their first
ONTHERECORD
“The creativity, the spontaneity, the way that it is really a participatory art, not passive.... It’s always surprising and interesting.”
—Durham resident Jodi Lasseter on the Southern Fried Poetry Slam. See story page 3
See Tailgate on page 6
chase olivieri/Chronicle file photo
Tailgate could be moved to the West Campus Main Quadrangle for the upcoming year after adminstrators expressed concerns about safety.
Baseball: Major League Four active Blue Devils and three recruits were taken in the MLB Draft Wednesday, PAGE 11
Few gets a new roof, Page 4