October 30, 2009

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THE

INDEPENDENT DAILY AT DUKE

UNIVERSITY

The Chronicle Duke costs distorted in rankings by

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Students react to new K-vifle policy

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by

SamanthaBrooks THE CHRONICLE

You may have read recently that Duke is the 27th most expensive college in' the U.S. But what you read was probably inaccurate.

Every year, several, publications release lists of the nation’s most expensive colleges to compare the costs of schools across the country. But these publications often have difficulty finding a common metric to use for their cost comparisons. This year, CampusGrotto.com’s “100 Most Expensive Colleges” list shows flaws in its information as a result of neglected data. The list, titled “Colleges with the Highest Total Cost 2009-10,” compiles its rankings by calculating each college’s total for tuition, room and board, according to the Campus Grotto Web site. These calculations misrepresent schools that publicly report fees—such as health insurance and student services costs —as part of their tuition prices. Currently, reports Campus Grotto Duke’s total cost as $50,250 annually. A note at the end of the rankings states that

Duke travels to Charlottesville, Va. Saturday to face Virginia with a chance to improve to 3-1 in conference play. The Blue Devils defeated theCavaliers 31-3 at WallaceWade Stadium last season.

Joanna

Lighter THE CHRONICLE

This basketball season, securing a coveted spot at the Duke-UNC game may involve more than tenting in Krzyzewskiville. Changes to tenting regulations and a range of other new proposals affecting Cameron Indoor Stadium’s student section —including the introduction of a “Greek Night”—have recently sparked debate among undergraduates. In a town hall meeting Sunday, Head Line Monitor Zach White, a senior, considered various proposals to determine the best way to sequence tents in K-ville. White said this year, University administrators will ban pre-blue tenting over Winter Break. Instead, White proposed that tent ordering could be based on a group’s performance in various competitions. These events will vary widely, ranging from basketball trivia to designing creative signs and engaging in athletic contests. In past years, Cameron Indoor Stadium’s craziest have pitched tents as early as Christmas to secure prime realty for the Spring game against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. At Sunday’s forum, several students raised concerns regarding the proposal’s

SEE CAMPUSGROTTO ON PAGE 7

SEE K-VILLE ON PAGE 6

UNCs online S anish courses mediate budget woes by

Matthew Chase THE CHRONICLE

Students at a variety of schools, including UNC, are beginning to take online hybrid courses, which are a combinationof Internet lectures and in-person office hours with the professor.

Every week, UNC freshman Zealan Hoover stares at his computer for one of his Spanish 101 sections. He is not on Facebook. He is not on Twitter. In fact, he is doing what he is supposed to do, as Hoover’s Elementary Spanish 1 course is taught partially online. As part of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s hybrid program for Spanish 101 students, every week, Hoover attends one Spanish lecture, a small group session and then conducts the rest of his Spanish coursework on his computer. “The online aspect of it, I have to admit, leaves a lot to be desired,” Hoover said. “It’s a lot of tedious busywork.” Next semester, many other Tar Heels will be doing the same—but even more often than Hoover. As part ofa move to avoid larger class sizes, all of UNC’s beginning Spanish courses will be conducted entirely online. Bruce Carney, UNC interim executive vice chancellor and provost, wrote in an e-mail that the decision to make the course online was largely because of class size limitations. Enrollment in UNC Spanish courses increased 9 percent from Fall 2008 to Fall 2009, he said. The decision also comes partially because ofUNO’s recent budget cuts, which have forced the university to cancel about 200 classes this year, The Daily Tar Heel reported Aug. 28.

ontheRECORD —lt becomes a hard situation because you don't want to disenfranchise the independents."

—Senior Tracy Gold on common room usage. See story page 5

Larry King, chair and director of undergraduate studies of romance languages at UNC, wrote in an e-mail that the romance languages department is cutting its budget by 7 percent this year. He added that money saved from running the hybrid program—the combination of online and classroom coursework that Hoover is taking—for the past three years has helped offset that cut. Hosun Kim, director of the UNC Foreign Language Resource Center and a Spanish 101 professor, said students in the online program will watch instructional videos, complete online assignments and work with assigned partners to develop Spanish skills. The students will also attend mandatory weekly office hours with their professor to receive “tips about Spanish language and culture.” As a part of the hybrid program, Hoover said he is required to complete 15 to 20 online exercises a week, which range from fill-in-the-blank questions to sentence prompts. Hoover said the hybrid course is a good solution to some of the university’s space and budget issues, but his thoughts on the completely online course model differ. “It’s kind of funny because the school is constantly

Volleyball: Rejected Duke's blocking unit has kept the Blue Devils near the ACC's summit, PAGE 8

SEE ONLINE COURSES ON PAGE 4

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