Animal House at Duke
Hoos spoil homecoming
The Chapel hosts annual animal blessing service for furry friends | Page 3
Virginia took advantage of 6 Duke turnovers in a 34-20 win Saturday afternoon | Sports Page 5
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
MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016
WWW.DUKECHRONICLE.COM
ONE HUNDRED AND TWELFTH YEAR, ISSUE 19
‘Hey, is the wifi down?’: Checking in on Dukeblue Kenrick Cai
Jeremy Chen | The Chronicle
The Chronicle Students and staff expressed their frustrations with “Dukeblue,” the new, mandatory wireless network for Duke’s campus. “Dukeblue” was introduced across the University in January to replace the former network, “DUKE,” which was phased out at the start of the Fall semester. The network’s new features add an additional layer of security for the University’s 70,000 users, said Richard Biever, Duke’s chief information security officer. Many students noted, however, that its implementation has not been without issues. “I normally consider Duke to have one of the better wifi systems that I’ve known,” senior Adam Schutzman said. “And so this year has definitely been a downgrade from that.” A post on the Fix My Campus Facebook group Wednesday—which detailed issues with the new network—received 123 likes, making it the most popular post of the Fall semester so far. Connectivity and speed issues Several students said that they were sometimes also disconnected from “DUKE” in the past, which most Duke community members used until August, but noted that they felt this issue has worsened under the
new network. “This year, the network has dropped a lot more and it’s harder to keep a constant connection,” Schutzman added. The Office of Information Technology website reports scheduled maintenances and widespread wireless outages, but some students have also experienced unreported, smaller-scale disconnections.
“The wifi’s very inconsistent,” wrote junior Andrew Bihl in a email. “It will randomly disconnect your device, and then reconnecting can take a long time.” Schutzman described instances where his devices did not display the “Dukeblue” network as an option to connect to. Students also complained about the unreliability of network speed, even when they
were successfully connected to “Dukeblue.” “I’ve found that the wifi in general is slower than the previous network now that it has the password on it,” senior Jessica Van Meir said. “The fact that it takes longer to connect in the beginning when I start up my computer is annoying, and then there are times when it See DUKEBLUE on Page 4
Duke prepares grad students for careers outside the Ivory Tower Heather Zhou The Chronicle
Han Kang | The Chronicle The University received a grant in August to expand career opportunities for grad students in the humanities.
As job prospects in academia become grimmer, Duke’s graduate programs in the humanities are helping its students explore other career options. In August, the University received a three-year $350,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, which will be used to enhance curriculum and expand career opportunities, said Paula McClain, dean of the Graduate School and vice provost for graduate education. “Getting the grant from the NEH is recognition of Duke’s effort in preparing
its Ph.Ds in humanities for different career pathways,” she said. “We don’t call it ‘alternative pathway.’ Our view is that there are so many things that an individual can do with a Ph.D. in humanities, [and that] we just need to help them decide what they will do.” She added that the graduate school is in the process of hiring a professional to work with Ph.D. students in the humanities on internship opportunities and additional professional development. While acknowledging that the number of tenure-track teaching positions has indeed became fewer, McClain said that humanities Ph.D. students in the past have found their niche in fields such as academic administration, non-governmental
organizations and academic publishing. Current Ph.D. students echoed McClain’s sentiments, saying that they are generally aware of opportunities for careers outside of academia. “People are exploring both options simultaneously as they move on to the completion of their degrees, weighing their options and making their decisions,” said Claire Scott, a fourth year Ph.D. candidate under the Carolina-Duke Graduate Program in German studies. “I definitely have explored other options, and an alternative career path is something on my radar too.” Scott—who graduated from Dartmouth See GRAD STUDENTS on Page 4
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