Column: 2004's got possibilities

So here we are. The exam break issue. The last Chronicle of the year. When thinking about how I would leave off for the semester, I came to an impasse. So, as I've done in the past, I looked to my friends and peers for topic suggestions. After responses of "write about how much Duke sucks" and "write about me and my fraternity", I decided to do a little year in preview. As we prepare to close the chapter on another academic year, here's what we have to look forward to in 2003-2004.

I'll start with beach week. The death of the Rockin' K and Royal Palms means the end of easy years of drunk wandering between the two locales in North Myrtle. Groups are now scattered around various hotels, motels and houses. The question on everyone's minds: How exactly is this going to work? I call now to my fellow greeks. Get the social chairs together and plan nights at the different places so people know when and where to go. Better to have organized chaos than entropy.

2004 marks not only my last year as a student, but Nan's last year as president. Much of the coming months will be spent finding her successor. We will be reading about the candidates and watching the contestant pool diminish like a less interesting version of American Idol. Maybe Provost Lange can do a rose ceremony each week in the gardens as a way to pump up student involvement and support for the presidential decision. At least it would give Cable 13 a show that people might actually watch.

Basketball promises to add the usual excitement to spring next year. With the men's and women's teams both ranked in the top 5, and (thankfully) no one jumping ship for the NBA, 2004 should prove to be amazing seasons for both teams. One thing that needs to change: support for the women's team. This year they showed the Final Four game in the Great Hall. In 2001, the men's Final Four game was shown to a packed house in Cameron. There is no reason that our women should receive any less attention from the fans. If anything, supporting two teams is a challenge that could revive the dying Crazies. We're losing status as fans to the battery and Snapple bottle-throwing maniacs from Maryland. Next year, we need to pack the rafters and do it up old school.

(Intro Queen's "Another one bites the dust"). Frats. Each year one goes. SAE/Delta Phi Alpha in 2001, and in 2002 Kappa Sig, no I mean Eta Prime, no that name is illegal too, damnit. You get the point. Sigma Nu is the latest in the hot seat, so we'll see if they can withstand the pious behavior expected of them by administration or if they will be forced to dissolve like the rest. The tradition reminds me of when the mafia drive you to the side of a bridge, put a gun to your head and tell you that you don't have to jump. But the students haven't seen through that thinly veiled "it was their decision to leave campus" bit. No, not at all.

Campus looks like the Long Island Expressway: tons of construction and traffic with workers standing around talking and smoking cigarettes. When I came to campus, it did not look like a war zone. Hopefully come August, or sometime before next May, the orange fences will be gone and most of campus will not be upheaved earth.

Of course, next year comes with some major change as well. We're saying good-bye to the class of 2003. And with them goes some things we've gotten used to. We'll have a 1.5 second mourning period for the loss of Chronicle columns based on fictional friends and hook-ups the sole intention of which is to name a designer, liquor or Duke stereotype in each paragraph. I'll bring the Kleenex.

But I think the biggest readjustment will be taking on the senior position. In high school it came easy. But as I prepare for the next year, I don't feel ready to be a senior. I don't think we look old enough and I can't see freshmen looking up to us just yet. Watching two other classes move on didn't faze us; it only becomes real when it's the year directly above you.