With national media attention focused on Duke in the wake of the recent lacrosse scandal, it hasn't been easy finding dirt.
In fact, here at RM we had to scrap our plan to publish the downright scandalous news that some sorority girls occasionally drink alcohol and have sex with frat boys after that story was breathlessly scooped by Rolling Stone magazine.
NO-MARGARITAVILLE Fewer margaritas were enjoyed on campus this summer-and it wasn't only because Sigma Chi fraternity wasn't there to throw one of their infamous "green card" parties.
Armadillo Grill had its liquor license suspended for 45 days of the summer after the Alcohol Law Enforcement squad caught six underage students drinking there with fake identifications in March. When ALE asked the students for their IDs, the drinkers presented their real identifications and were caught. The bartender on duty, though, said they had different IDs when he carded them.
Director of Dining Services Jim Wulforst predicts that if an incident like that happens again, the 'Dillo will lose its license permanently.
"It's a mess," says Duke Student Government President Elliott Wolf. His advice: "If you buy alcohol with a fake ID, just don't sit there and drink it."
Wolf has choice words for the North Carolina law enforcement as well.
"ALE's stupid for coming in and even giving a crap," Wolf maintains.
UNDERRATED? In the back of their minds, everyone is wondering what effect negative PR from lacrosse-gate will have on Duke's reputation, and, of course, what kind of impact the scandal will make on the critics at the important U.S. News & World Report rankings. Here at RM we crunched the numbers and came to our own conclusion.
A whopping 25 percent of the ranking is calculated from "peer assessment," or what administrators at peer institutions think of a school. RM has a difficult time believing that this index will not plummet, what with literally hundreds of articles published nationwide about the University's rocky relationship with Durham and the story's racial undertones.
Although many peer institutions will recognize their own flaws in similar areas, the University's reputation has been tainted and RM anticipates that this score will be hurt, and Duke's overall ranking will drop commensurately.
FUZZY MATH The Class of 2010 has been lauded by the administration as the most selective class in Duke's history (a 21 percent acceptance rate vs. last year's 22 percent).
But look deeper: The University is admitting an extra 125 freshmen off the wait list because of a decrease in the admissions yield-perhaps another lacrosse legacy. Counting the additional acceptances, the overall acceptance rate remains at 22 percent.
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