Blue Devils win fourth straight
Duke screens ‘The Hunting Ground’
Panelists discussed the mishandling of campus rape cases after the documentary | Page 2
Duke men’s soccer knocked off Jacksonville 1-0 in OT after a Brian White header | Sports Page 6
The Chronicle 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
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2015
WWW.DUKECHRONICLE.COM
ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVENTH YEAR, ISSUE 40
Students frustrated with Duke’s dating scene Claire Ballentine The Chronicle At Duke, a date might be harder to find than a Science Drive bus. The Chronicle recently asked 50 random students when they had last been on a date. 16 students responded that their last date occurred more than a year ago, and 26 said they had been on a date within the month, with the remainder answering in between. Many, however, were in agreement that Duke is a difficult place to date and find a significant other. “The dating scene is nonexistent,” junior Steven Katsohirakis said. “It’s really hard to find someone.” Gary Glass, associate director for outreach and developmental programming for Counseling and Psychological Services, wrote in an email that he has heard many students express their frustration with the inadequate dating scene at Duke. In addition, a 2012 study called the “Duke Social Relationships Project” and a 2014 report from Duke Inquiries in Social Relations found that approximately 75 percent of the student body wishes they were dating more. Possible reasons offered for the current dating culture include Duke’s unique academic and social culture. Rigorous coursework and career goals may contribute to the issue, wrote Maralis Mercado, program coordinator for health and wellness at the Wellness Center, in an email. “Academics are very important to students and some may feel that engaging in a romantic relationship may distract them from their goals,” she wrote. Junior Bridget Dou noted that schoolwork may contribute to the lack of dating, especially for engineers.
Graphic by Lucy Zhang; Photo by Alex Deckey | The Chronicle The Chronicle recently asked 50 random students when they had last been on a date.
“Some of it might come down to us being engineers because we’re busier than other people,” she said. Glass agreed that students may perceive forming relationships as compromising their academic or social goals, adding that he also believes students at Duke are very protective of their emotions. Other undergraduates noted the prevalence of a “hook-up” culture—in which students form short-term, casual romantic affiliations—at Duke, with many expressing negative opinions about it.
“I never understood the hook-up culture,” senior Ben Balin said. “It just seems like a bad life strategy in general.” Senior Kyrstin Lulow explained that she thinks that many Duke students buy into the hook-up culture even though it is “corrosive.” Despite the perceived prevalence of the hook-up culture, Mercado noted that trends in students’ dating change over time, adding that the she thinks the dating scene at Duke is similar to that of other campuses. “From ‘Netflix and chill’ to dating off campus, the trends come and go like
students do,” she wrote. Glass also noted that the lack of dating on campus may stem from the widespread notion that dating does not exist. He wrote though that he thinks forming real relationships can be beneficial to students. “There are a number of skills that one develops in a relationship, including communication on different levels, navigating emotions in more nuanced ways and greater self-awareness,” he wrote. See DATING on Page 5
Mental health groups confront culture of perfectionism Sydney Sarachek The Chronicle
Chronicle File Photo CAPS and other campus groups have tried to help students cope with a fast-paced campus and a culture of “effortless perfection.”
|
|
Midway through his freshman year, Khalouk Shahbander had hit rock bottom. While his peers went through their everyday lives, Shahbander had not slept in more than four days. He felt anxious, paranoid and depressed, occasionally experiencing panic attacks and hallucinations. But despite the severity of his illness—he would eventually be diagnosed with bipolar disorder—Shahbander did not want others to see that he was suffering. Shahbander, like many other Duke students, grappled with the culture of “effortless perfection” at Duke—the idea that Duke students seem to always have everything under control. The term, coined in a 2003 study by the Women’s Initiative
|
|
INSIDE — News 2 Sports 6 Classified 9 Puzzles 9 Opinion 10
|
at Duke, initially referred to the pressure on women to feel smart, fit, pretty and accomplished, but has since taken on a more global meaning, incorporating men as well. Students believe the pressure to appear perfect has an adverse effect of mental health. “Anyone on Duke’s campus knows that we have a tense campus culture of ‘busy-ness’—a sense of anxiety, of always having to reach for the next piece of work to do,” said sophomore Razan Idris. “[This culture] tends to always dominate our interactions and conversations, and has a brutal effect on mental health.” This mentality creates a fast-paced campus environment that leaves students feeling as though they cannot keep up, said sophomore Cole Wicker. As a result, students often find themselves needing support that can be difficult to find from their peers. “Duke students dismiss each others’ worries
Serving the University since 1905
|
by always saying something like ‘But you’re so great, I’m sure you’ll be fine!’ instead of actually offering to help,” Idris said. “It can be hard to get help because people, having idealized each other, can’t imagine that other people are down.” Part of the problem is that failure is a foreign concept to most of the current generation of Duke students, said Dean of Students Sue Wasiolek. “Everything that I know about failure says that it makes us stronger,” she said. “That in and of itself is making striving for perfection even more difficult.” Gary Glass, associate director for outreach and developmental programming for Counseling and Psychological Services, explained that elite, competitive institutions
@dukechronicle
|
See PERFECTION on Page 5 © 2015 The Chronicle