Durham & Duke: New web site fans flames of ignorance

Ever wonder where the stereotypes of Duke-Durham tensions (which I find, personally, to be highly overrated and inaccurate) come from?

You'll be dis-pleased to know, prospective admits and their parents can get their share of misinformation and falsehoods even before they arrive on campus, thanks to theU. TheU is a startup that encourages high-schoolers to "hook up" with the right college, and whose website features a matchmaker tool to allow you to select the right U for you on criteria ranging from Greek Life (none vs. animal house) to Guys (dogs vs. studs) to Drug Scene (straight edge vs. Bobby Brown). Yes, you can now choose a college based on how high the students are, not just how highly it's ranked.

Nauseated yet? Wait, there's more -- you haven't even seen their Duke video, which purports to tell you "the setting" of Duke U:

For those who aren't down with the YouTube or who don't have time to watch the above vid, here are a few of the groaners it contains:

• Notes the setting of Duke University as "Suburban" (huh?)
• ...followed by the claim that the campus is beautiful, "but as for the town, not so much."
• A single voiceover from one student telling us, "...it's kind of a poor area of North Carolina, it gets perceived as very dangerous," overlaid on top of a couple of downtown empty storefronts and pictures of a Duke University Security car and the Durham PD headquarters. (Mind you, with only a single brief shot of Ninth Street, with no recognizable businesses.)
• "But don't worry, Duke's actual grounds are the poster-child for gorgeous American campuses," we're reassured. The video then spends almost a minute talking about the Duke Forest and Duke Gardens, instead of the town itself. (Along with an odd sidenote about the Duke Forest being perfect for 'smoking the ganja.')
• The kicker? The final slide, which claims that the closest major city is "Charlotte, NC (150+ miles away)."

My thoughts? Someone over at theU was smoking some ganja when they put this together. Of course, looking the vids from my alma mater and some other schools, it's clear that their view of American higher education is superficial at best, pandering at worst. Then again, when the best you can do for an Executive Producer is to hire the annoying kid from the failed WB series Everwood, you're not hitting it out of the park on the rep meter.

Comments

[GK]

Love the other video - "The Scene" - that spends quite awhile on Duke's fraternity/sorority scene before dissing Durham again (with a drive-by shot of the McDonald's on Morgan St.) and following with praise for real-college-town Chapel Hill, where you can get "the college town feel that Durham lacks."

Eck.

[Lenore]

The part where they talk about the "disturbing" wall around the campus and simultaneously show the sides of buildings is particularly ridiculous.

Unfortunately, they probably didn't have a hard time finding students to complain about Durham. I heard plenty of that when I was a student. Oh my gosh, like really, I mean there's no good place to go clubbing and you certainly wouldn't want to raise children here.

[KeepDurhamDifferent!]

It's definitely a cheesy video, but I think most Duke applicants are smart enough to read the princeton guides rather than rely on some stupid video.

I don't see what's so bad about the images of Duke Security and the DPD building. It's certainly dangerous to live an area where the corruption of the police and district attorney can lead to the circus of last spring; where Duke Police will make sure you get home safely if you've had too much drink, but Durham Police will haul you in and execute unwarranted searches of your home because Gottlieb and others have it out for the students.

[Michael Bacon]

Don't make me come over there, Rollins...

At this point, I don't mind Chapel Hill getting billed as the "real college town." I'd pretty much agree with that, and I'd like to keep it that way. Why not concentrate all the late night clubs and meat market scene in one place -- outside of town, for that matter?

We just need a rail line to Chapel Hill, and we'd be set.

[Joe]

Chapel Hill wouldn't allow a rail line from Durham in there. They'd stage a sit-in at the Orange County line, to keep out all the Dukies, Darkies, Yankees, and other undesirables. :)

[Michael Bacon]

Funny you should mention that. It wasn't quite the Orange County line, but apparently, one of the reasons Carrboro exists as a town is because the state legislature had a law that no train station could exist within 1 mile of UNC. (Trains were thought to bring in undesirable loose women and other unsavory characters, which would spoil the young students at University.) Initially, the closest train station was either in Durham or at University Station in western Orange County, but the railroad eventually built the spur that ran west of Chapel Hill, and found a spot almost exactly 1 mile from Phillips Hall, at the time the westernmost extent of the University. That site became the old train station in Carrboro, right next to Carr Mill.

I still say our rail line should run on that track. It's out of the way, but it's largely unused, and if the train could average 40 mph (not too hard), it could make the run from downtown Durham to Columbia street in under 30 minutes, and could link to Carolina North (Sorry, dreaming again...)

[GK]

My reaction to the 'college town' comment was not that Durham should look like Chapel Hill - it was to the idea that CH still represents the kind of town college students should pine for. May have been more true back in '88 when I was a freshman at Duke - Durham's nighttime activites were pretty limited and Chapel Hill's were actually interesting, but I think those days are long over.

[Mike Woodard]

On the UNC-Chapel Hill video, they note that the "closest major city" is...Durham, NC (8 miles).

[Joe]

Chapel Hill *is* more of a college down than (say) Raleigh or Durham. And C.H. will probably never be anything more than a college town. Maybe most of its residents are happy with that.

Michael: Kinda sounds like Duke's attitude toward the proposed train terminal on Erwin across from Duke Hospital.

[gails14]

Know any teenagers? Ask any teen about their favorite stores on Ninth Street or Downtown Durham? Get a are you kidding response? That is what college students are - teenagers.

There are some great places to eat on Ninth Street, Brightleaf, etc. In fact, Duke's Student Government funded an evening bus to Ninth Street and Brightleaf for weekend evenings for better student access.

But where is the shopping? Teens have disposable income and Durham needs to tap into this market. Otherwise the dollars will keep going to Chapel Hill, which personally I don't think has such great shopping either, but it is a long street with shops and restaurants that appeals to a larger demographic.

On top of that - where is the shopping to appeal to the alumni groups that visit the campus in droves for weekend reunions or sports events? This is another untapped market.

Some businesses have already tapped into this market - selling posters, carpets, and other dorm room decor items at the beginning of school.

Ninth Street is just a walk away from 1,600 consumers with disposable income who all live on the East Campus. Not to mention the residential staff as well as the day employees. Come on - there are loads of business opportunities here - who is interested?

And I agree - there are a lot of empty storefronts in Durham. The March 2006 WHH Neighborhood Association newsletter on page three mentions "...all those Ninth Street empty storefronts..." and begs for a chocolate shop!