Editors' Note

Dear Readers,

For some reason, when we became Towerview editors, we thought that editing a magazine would be a glamorous job. Now that we’ve led Towerview through Volume 15, it seems like a big part of our job is actually crisis control—particularly when writers decide at the last minute that they don’t want their stories to be published, writers don’t turn in what we expected, writers don’t turn in anything at all or senior administrators are displeased with a story. We also appreciate how heavily we rely on students and community members (like our freelance illustrator, Alan Dippy) who volunteer their time and talents to make Towerview happen.

Towerview’s staff deserves a big shout-out. The camaraderie we developed during brainstorming sessions with our associate editors eventually trickled into our social lives. For a story published in our November issue, we all went on a ghost tour and pub crawl through Durham. Another one of our favorite memories is walking for an hour through the snow to get from our off-campus houses to The Chronicle office on a snow day. We had to finish the March issue before sunset to we could walk home, and chased students on the quad to get last-minute responses for The Inquisitor. And how could we ever forget posing with snowmen and our unofficial mascot, Misty, for our editors’ note photo?
Daniel Carp and Danielle Muoio take over Towerview after this issue, and we wish them the best of luck! But first, we invite you to delve into our last issue. You’ll find our version of the Duke student body’s unofficial graduation requirements in the Watch List (p. 8). Sid Gopinath takes us on a creative tour of Shooters II Saloon (p. 10), and Sharif Labban shows us how tattoo culture has changed in Durham over the past 20 years (p. 5). If you’ve noticed an increase in the number of mopeds you see around campus, then check out Emily Feng’s story about Durham’s very own moped gangs (p. 15).

You’ll also find stories about returning home. Ryan Zhang interviewed international students who take a break from Duke to serve in their home countries’ militaries (p. 22), and Daniel Carp looked at the trend of former Duke basketball players who return to Duke as coaches (p. 18). Finally, our cover story details the history of the Duke Lemur Center, from its early days as a somewhat unregulated behavior station to the thriving research hub it is today (p. 26).

See you later, and thank you for a great year!