Duke graduation rate May 18, 2009
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Duke, Study , comments closedWhat is the undergrad graduation rate for each class from 1937 to 2008?
A knowledgeable archivist isn’t so sure that the University consistently tracked graduation rates. You may need to calculate this yourself from raw numbers. You should first check with the Registrar’s Office to see if they kept that stat on a regular basis. The University Archives has statistics from the Registrar’s Office back to the 1920s, and you could go in and look through the records. See the Inventory of the Office of the University Registrar Records, 1853 - 2000. For instance, the annual statistical reports they used to publish included number of attritions, and would tell how many students withdrew. From the total enrollment, you could subtract the attritions, then figure out a graduation rate. (You should probably consult with a statistician to make sure you’re making a valid calculation.)
There is a web page on on Graduation and retention rates - Undergraduate that starts in the mid-1990s, provided by the Provost’s Office of Institutional Research.
Duke doctorate programs May 15, 2009
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Duke, Medicine , comments closedWhat doctorate programs does Duke offer (besides Nursing related ones)?
My goodness, you’ve only heard of Nursing? Here’s a list (and it’s pretty long, and Nursing is of course one of them).
Behind parents’ backs May 15, 2009
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Computers , comments closedhow do i get internet to my computer witout my family knowing (note: family computer in liviing room has internet not mine)
Answer Person will not be a party to crime! You could discuss with your parents a compromise where you’d get Internet access but allow them to install some sort of filtering software. You’d be able to read this sort of junk, but be blocked from the sites you really want to see. There are a million parental control software packages. PC Magazine reviews some of them.
Duke premed requirements May 15, 2009
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Duke, Medicine , comments closedCould you give me a list or a website of the Pre-Med requirements?
The Duke Office of Health Professions and Advising has such information. The “preparing” tab deals with what classes you should take and how else your should prepare while an undergraduate at Duke. On the right there are links regarding course requirements, sample schedules, etc. The requirements you need to worry about are those of the med schools where you’ll be applying.
Requirements to enter Duke May 15, 2009
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Duke , comments closedwhat SAT score and ACT score do i need to attend your college and what GPA
This has been answered in detail in an earlier post and subsequent comments. Summary: there are no specific minimum requirements, but all aspects of a person’s academic and personal life are considered.
Constitutionally prohibited laws May 15, 2009
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Government , comments closedExplain the nature of the laws that Congress may not pass
including: writs of habeas corpus; bills of attainder; ex post facto laws
Suspending writs of habeas corpus (with certain exceptions), enacting bills of attainder, and enacting ex post facto laws are prohibited by Ariticle I, Section 9, Clauses 2 and 3 of the U.S. Constitution. In the annotated version of the Constitution linked to from here, there is much discussion of the legal issues involved. Please see pages 363 through 371 in the book (pages 309-317 of the .pdf). As a librarian, Answer Person can’t give any legal interpretation, but the sources noted should lead you to volumes of information on the topics.
Boiling water May 15, 2009
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Food, Science , comments closedYou know how some people add salt or other things to water to help it cook faster when they are making a meal? Well, is there a valid reason for that, scientifically?
What is the fastest and most economical (uses the least energy) way to boil a pot of water?
Cheers, eh.
You should go to a very high elevation, and it will boil at a lower temperature, so I assume will require less energy. But, the energy costs of travel to a place like La Paz may cancel out your cost savings in boiling the water.
You also want pure distilled water. Dissolved substances will raise the boiling temperature and thus require you to heat it longer to boil. If boiling water is your goal, this makes it boil slower, not faster, but on the other hand if you need hotter water in which to cook something then the salt does help increase the temperature of the liquid. (At high elevations, the lower boiling temperature makes it more difficult to cook something without using a pressure cooker.) The amount of salt typically used, however, may not have a noticeable effect. This topic is authoritatively discussed by a bunch of PhD types at a U.S. Department of Energy webpage.
Immigration studies May 15, 2009
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Study , comments closedGood day,
Where can I go to get a phd in immigration studies or something reasonably close to that? I am interested in any programs in the US, Canada or Britain, but I am having a difficult time finding universities that approach immigration evenly loosely, eg as an offshoot of sociology. So far I have found a program at York University that looks good.
Thanks!
I think you need to identify key researchers in this area and go to where they are (after verifying that they’re likely to stay). You very likely will want to gravitate toward a school of public policy, although I’m sure many sociologists and economists and political scientists deal with the subject. I would search literature in databases such as PAIS to determine who’s doing research in your specific areas of interest.
It appears that there are interdisciplinary programs relating to immigration at some universities, but you may not be able to get a PhD in “immigration studies,” per se. An example is at UC, San Diego and Arizona State has a “graduate certificate” in immigration studies. These may not offer a PhD, but it indicates interest in the subject there by researchers.
Does smoking pay? May 14, 2009
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Duke , comments closedI have come across a persistent rumor amongst my students that Duke University has or had (at some point in its history) a student scholarship that required applicants to write about the ‘virtues’ of smoking. It strikes me as a great local legend but is there any truth to the claim at all?
An archivist in the University Archives with a deep knowledge of Duke history had never heard of such a scholarship and is pretty sure that this is an urban legend. You are welcome, however, to look through the Scholarships Reference Collection in the University Archives. “Collection includes materials concerning scholarships and fellowships awarded by the University and notable scholarships won by Duke students.”
Duke Chapel construction May 14, 2009
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Duke , comments closedWhere can I find a timeline of the Duke Chapel’s construction?
This isn’t very detailed, but on page 35 of The Architecture of Duke University it says that the Chapel was planned in 1923, the cornerstone laid 10/22/1930, was first used for a commencement in 1932, and was formerly dedicated on 6/2/1935. For more detail, if you search the library catalog using the Subject Heading Duke Chapel (Durham NC) you’ll find a number of detailed sources in the library and University Archives, and some of these might help if you need something more day-to-day. There’s also the Subject Heading Duke University–Buildings and, more generally, any Subject Heading beginning with Duke University might prove useful (narrow this down using the facets in the left-hand column of the catalog).
