美国国家公共电台 NPR Why Duke University Won't Honor Freshman Roommate Requests This Fall

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Meeting your college roommate used to be one of the anxieties of the first week of school - but if you'd been paired with B.J. Leiderman, who writes our theme music. But these days, many freshmen¹ meet in advance online and arrange to room together. Now some schools have decided² to bring back largely random³ pairings. Duke University announced their change earlier this year. Larry Moneta is Duke's vice⁴ president of student affairs and joins us from Durham. Thanks so much for being with us.

LARRY MONETA: My pleasure.

SIMON: And why did Duke decide to make this change?

MONETA: Well, we have a pretty distinctive⁵ first-year experience where we have worked hard to create an environment where students really get to know people who are different from themselves. And we'd watched over the last several years when an increasing number of students were preselecting roommates, taking advantage of social media or friends from home or - and it began to become a much larger percentage of the class than we would have liked. There was more homogeneity among the students who chose their own roommates. And so we just reached the conclusion that students would be best off, for the most part, going back to a random assignment process.

SIMON: Well, what was wrong with students finding each other and seeking - I'll say compatability rather than homogeneity.

MONETA: Well, I wouldn't put it on the top 10 list of things that kept me up at night. But to the extent that we're being very deliberate about the kind of first-year experience that we think would best suit our students, we just thought that this would be a better approach.

SIMON: I wonder what you think about this, Mr. Moneda. A quick online search will show you that there are schools across the country - and I'll just rattle⁶ off the earliest ones - U of Colorado, Boulder⁷, Cal State, Los Angeles - where African-American or lesbian, gay, and transgender students, usually at the request of students, ask to room together. There are even all African-American dorms at some schools. What do you think of that?

MONETA: I think there is not a one-size-fits-all model that works for every school. And this is not to suggest that the only way roommates will occur is by letting the computer do the assignments. What we're dropping is the self-selection by a student of another student. If there's a unique need where we have to accommodate a student of color, the system will permit us to do that. And we'll still make sure that no one is in a situation that's incompatible⁸ or uncomfortable for them. Well, uncomfortable maybe but not incompatible.

SIMON: Do you at Duke make some effort to get people of different backgrounds together?

MONETA: We do. We don't want to force it. I don't want to put a student of color in a position of having to be the educator of a Caucasian student. I don't want a gay student to feel like their job is to educate students who have not been exposed to gay students. But we would like the experience to be one in which students are going to encounter the full range and spectrum⁹ of the kinds of students we're admitting.

SIMON: What kind of reaction have you had on campus so far?

MONETA: Overwhelmingly positive both on and off campus. You know we've certainly heard from a handful of the incoming class who thought they were coming under under one set of conditions. But I would say dramatically higher percentages of existing students, alumni, parents who've all said this is a good thing. This is what college is all about.

SIMON: What about the food in Duke? Is that your next frontier?

MONETA: Actually, we are arguably the best food program in the country and getting rave¹⁰ reviews from our students. So when students rave about food, the only thing left is for the faculty¹¹ to rave about parking.

SIMON: (Laughter) Larry Moneta is vice president for student affairs at Duke. Thanks so much for being with us, sir.

MONETA: It's my pleasure.

(SOUNDBITE OF SLEEPING STATES SONG, "RIVERS")

1 freshmen   

n.（中学或大学的）一年级学生( freshman的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We are freshmen and they are sophomores. 我们是一年级学生，他们是二年级学生。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• University freshmen get lots of razzing, but they like the initiation. 大一新生受各种嘲弄，但是他们对这种入门经验甘之如饴。 来自辞典例句

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

4 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

5 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

6 rattle   

v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓

参考例句：

• The baby only shook the rattle and laughed and crowed.孩子只是摇着拨浪鼓，笑着叫着。
• She could hear the rattle of the teacups.她听见茶具叮当响。

7 boulder   

n.巨砾；卵石，圆石

参考例句：

• We all heaved together and removed the boulder.大家一齐用劲，把大石头搬开了。
• He stepped clear of the boulder.他从大石头后面走了出来。

8 incompatible   

adj.不相容的，不协调的，不相配的

参考例句：

• His plan is incompatible with my intent.他的计划与我的意图不相符。
• Speed and safety are not necessarily incompatible.速度和安全未必不相容。

9 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

10 rave   

vi.胡言乱语；热衷谈论；n.热情赞扬

参考例句：

• The drunkard began to rave again.这酒鬼又开始胡言乱语了。
• Now I understand why readers rave about this book.我现明白读者为何对这本书赞不绝口了。

11 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。