Misguided Intentions

How much of your life would you be willing to give up for two hours of anything?

For instance, a two hour private concert from Billy Joel. Or a two hour meal with Bobby Flay? Or lets get really crazy-how about two hours with the President-elect or the politician of your choice?

Now, how about for two hours in an old, sweaty gimnasium? That would be significantly less desirable, one would assume.

With that in mind, it's not hard to believe that tenting for Duke basketball games was the result of a night of drinking games.

A quick history lesson for the unitiated: In March 1986, Trinity College senior Kimberly Reed and 15 of her friends took the tradition of "lining up for a game" a step further by setting up camp three days before the annual home game against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

"It was common for people to line up hours before a game," Reed told The Chronicle in February 2001. "We were playing 'quarters' one night and joking about how early we were going to line up for the '86 UNC game. Finally, someone said, 'Why don't we just pitch a tent [in front of Cameron]?' After a few rounds of 'quarters' it began to sound like a good idea."

Little did they know that they had given birth to Krzyzewskiville, a glorified shanty town on the edge of campus. Sure, the students scored plum spots on the NBC evening news and on the front page of USA Today, but who could have predicted a four-tent, two-night village morphing into a 100-tent multiple- month-long blight on Duke's idyllic campus?

Anyone who's walked past the hamlet, due to sprout up anyday now if it hasn't already, has to allow themselves a certain amount of natural revulsion.

Last season the UNC game was March 8, 2008. Translation: some lunactics tented for up to three months for the chance to wave at ESPN from the front row.

It doesn't take a doctor to figure out that the challenge of maintaining grades and body temperatures in the dead of winter leaves students unable to take advantage of normal campus life.

Things like the library, the Nasher Museum of Art or just plain ol' community service. Tenters are subject to random "tent checks"-miss any of those and you get the boot.

That's right, even after risking your health and grade point average during months of disgusting weather and sleeping in a mix of rain and dead Bud Light (plus the occasional pool of you-know-what), you can be forced to the back of the line.

Of course, the administration, intent on maintaining school spirit among an increasingly fractured student body, condones this ridiculous behavior by installing Wi-Fi and Ethernet ports in the light posts.

This is far from a new development, but it's an interesting public relations move in the current economic environment. As tuition rates continue to rise to astronomical levels-and as students' families lose jobs in a perilous economy-we're spending money on the ill-conceived notion that students can analyze Proust while their friends miss beer pong shots onto the frozen ground.

And it's not as if the village is hidden from the rest of campus. It's an eye sore to visitors and faculty traveling down Towerview Drive.

Without treading on the Provost's territory, I think it's fair to say that part of Duke's mission-similar to all elite universities-is to offer a superior education, foster intellectual growth and promote responsible, ethical leaders through community service.

Find me the evidence that K-ville, for all its virtues, has anything to do with that.

In fact, it may even be antithetical to the University's mission, inasmuch as there are students who cannot tent because are working jobs to fulfill scholarship obligations, mastering challenging classes (read: Not rocks for jocks) or excelling in community service?

We need to stand up for those kids and create a new personal seat licensing system to give all students the right to attend three games per year, based on a blend of seniority and merit.

The system would divide undergraduates by class. Seniors who display exemplary qualities (academic merit, outstanding community service, etc.), would gain first priority, followed by the balance of the senior class. Next in line will be outstanding juniors and the balance of their class, then sophomores and freshmen.

No, this isn't a fool-proof plan. I'm sure others have ideas to improve the system even more. Anything would be better than the current situation.

By allocating seat licenses in a way that at least does not make a mockery of the values of our institution, there will be more incentive to perform well in school and contribute to the community in a positive way.

Twenty-two years ago, the concept of tenting made more sense; I'll admit, camping out for three days doesn't sound too bad. Last spring, in fact, I sacrified to the K-ville gods because I wanted to see one UNC game in person.

After that test of endurance, I'd say three days is two too long. And that's being kind.

Josh Chapin is a Trinity senior. He will not be tenting this spring.