THE INDEPENDENT DAILY AT DUKE UNIVERSITY
The Chronicle Class of 2013 Convocation Duke drops Brodhead welcomes freshman ‘invasion’ to 10th in
rankings by
Christopher Ross THE CHRONICLE
Duke slipped two spots in the U.S. News and World Report rankings of American universities this year, managing to land just inside the top 10. At No. 10, the magazine’s latest rank of the University released Thursday, Duke was placed at its lowest in at least a decade. “We are so tightly bunched together by the formula that U.S. News uses that small changes at the top can produce seemingly large changes in the overall ranking,” Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations wrote in an e-mail. “Duke is just as good a university this year as it was last year, and I would argue even better in some ways.” The University has been ranked No. 8 for the past three years, tied in 2009 with the University of Chicago and Columbia University. Both institutions remained at the same spot this year, while Harvard and Princeton tied for the top spot. U.S. News calculates its rankings by giving each university a score based on seven measures; peer assessment, retention, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial SEE RANKINGS ON PAGE 8
GLEN GUTTERSON/THE CHRONICLE
President Richard Brodhead speaks to the Class of 2013 during his convocation address Wednesday. Brodhead described freshman move-in day as "DOay without the hostile fire." His speech encouraged freshmanto take possesion of theireducation and use University resources to achieve their goals. by
Lindsey Rupp
the chronicle
As freshmen converged on East Campus with their brand new sheets, lamps and clothes, President Richard Brodhead got something new, too. Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Christoph Guttentag presented him with the Class of 2013. “Christoph, I love it. The new Dukies are just what I always wanted,” Brodhead said in his Aug. 19 convocation speech. Brodhead likened move-in day to
“D-Day, without the hostile fire,” and reminded freshmen that their mission was to take possession of Duke and their experience here. That task might not be too difficult for the freshman class, which was the most selective class yet with al7 percent acceptance rate. The Class of 2013 is the result of almost 24,000 applications to the University—3,500 more than last year—and is a class that is fluent in 66 languages besides English, Guttentag said in his speech
Guttentag said this year’s class ineludes the co-founder of a nonprofit organization, the Zimbabwean junior chess champion and the student representative to the Connecticut State Board of Education. Steve Nowicki, vice provost and dean of undergraduate education, Brodhead and Duke Student GovernmentPresident Awa Nur all reminded freshmen in their remarks that there is no typical Duke student or model Duke experience SEE CONVOCATION ON PAGE 5
Mold found in Edens delays move-in for many by
MADDIE 111
Residents of Edens 2A were unable to move-in to theirdorm after mold was found in theair conditional ducts of the building.
Rachna Reddy THE CHRONICLE
As sophomore Mallory Contois prepared to return to Duke’s campus last week, she learned she couldn’t move into her Edens 2A room because something else had. Custodial staff reported a strange substance Aug. 13. The substance was later discovered to be a common mold in the heating, ventilating and air conditioning ducts of the 2A tower. Last week, the University worked to remove the mold, delaying student move-in until Saturday. “There was some particulate that came out of some of the diffusers,” said Wayne Thomann, director of the Occupational and Environmental Safety Office, whose office tested the substance. “When I saw it, I was pretty sure what it was based on the particulate... it was obviously a Cladosporium species.” Mold of the genus Cladosporium is very common and found both indoors and outdoors, Thomann said. It is an allergenic mold, but students should not worry about having a reaction to exposure in the dormitory, as the mold is commonly found outside. “It’s a small subset of the population that would respond to this at all—we are uniformly exposed,” he said Gary Thompson, director of facilities, planning and operations for Residence Life and Housing Services, described the mold as being a dry and crumbly material, “like
ontheRECORD "The brain, this thing up here, will do whatever you tell it to do. If you say to it 'get it...' it will get it. It can't say no."
—Renowned author Maya Angelou in her address to the Class of 2013. See story page 3
a moss, almost—you could pick up a few.” Mold has been a guest in Edens before. It was found in several towers in 2007 and as a precaution, the University had special coating installed on ventilation ducts to prevent mold from returning. Now, however, officials think some sections may have been missed, said Joe Gonzalez, associate dean of Residence Life and Housing Services. Thompson said this type of mold is prevalent in duct work, because the meeting of cold air inside the building and warm air outside the building create moisture that can foster fungal growth. He added that both OESO and a third party ran tests on the mold and surrounding air to determine when the dormitory was clean enough for students to return. In addition to cleaning the vents, the University is also taking precautions against mold returning to Edens in the future. “It’s being physically removed by technicians and the duct is being treated,” Thompson said. “We’re putting steps in place to do annual testing so we can keep up with
everything.” Originally, 89 students had planned
to live in Edens 2A this Fall. Although the mold was not considered a danger to students, Gonzalez said the University felt student pres-
Women's Soccer: Strong Start Duke tops Gardner-Webb 3-0 at Koskiner Stadium in season opener, SW 11
SEE MOLD ON PAGE 6
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