Letter from the Editors

Dear Readers,

Whether you consider yourself to be a glass-half-full kind of person or a cynic, you’re probably a bit of an optimist because you believe in the value of a college education. We want to better ourselves, maybe make a difference in others’ lives and eventually make our marks on the world. (Wouldn’t even the cynics among us agree?)

Fall is our season because it’s ripe with opportunity. Maybe it’s something in the air, or the fireflies that glow at night. We want to get out of the classroom, dorm room, library and do things this fall. It might not happen at all, but we make hopeful plans anyway, and because we hope and plan, some of it might just happen.

Ergo, we’ve put some thought into our fall bucket lists.

We want to climb to the top of the Duke Chapel and get a new perspective on the miniscule students rushing around below.

Before we got into Duke, tour guides told us about having a faculty lunch with a cool professor. It’s time to gather up the courage to actually “flunch.”

Many Blue Devils sleep in tents to get into Cameron Indoor Stadium for the Duke-UNC basketball game, but how many show up to support our lesser-known teams like cross country or wrestling? We want to check out every Duke team in competition at least once. (Check out our profile of head football coach David Cutcliffe).

We’re going to embarrass ourselves while salsa dancing at Cuban Revolution on Thursday nights.

It’s time for Ashley to take her dog, Misty, to the quarry for an afternoon runaround.
In October, we’re going to gorge ourselves on fried Kool-Aid and hopefully not get sick on our friends on the rides at the N.C. State Fair.

How have we not yet been to the Durham Farmers’ Market? We published a photo essay of it in Towerview’s summer issue, for goodness’ sake.

The Duke Teaching Observatory holds regular open houses, and we’re going to watch the Orionid Meteor Shower there Oct. 21.

Everyone settles into a routine at Duke, but not all routines are good ones. Why not get out of Perkins and study in one of the 10 spots that our writers selected for our October Watch List? Ashley got a head start on her bucket list when she and Sharif Labban went to Paint Nite at the West End Wine Bar for a less conventional date. Later in the issue, three Duke professors reflect on what motivated them to partake in the Moral Monday protests, and the repercussions of their arrests.

It’s time to jump into the Fall semester.