Is having one house in congress better than having two? If two is better, should they both be elected or should they both have the same duties? It seems like two houses with the same responsibilities in the 21st century is just too inefficient. Would you agree?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Answer Person has always been uncomfortable leaving one group or person in charge of anything. Mob mentalities are difficult to deal with–it is reassuring that there are two mobs considering the same issues, perhaps with the same basic responsibilities but different perspectives.

Are ghosts real? If not, what is all the fuss about?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Is Santa Claus real? Is the Easter Bunny real? At least Answer Person has seen them. Ghosts? Well except for kids in white sheets, not much to them. Except for those who wear the funny hats at burn crosses. Now, THEY are scary!

I have a complaint about the online catalog. The option to search by date is flawed. On good card catalogs, one can enter the dates between which books can be filtered in a search; on Duke’s catalog, one has to choose between preselected options. For instance, I cannot limit a search to “after 1983”. I have to choose, 1980-1990, and then do two more seperate searches for 1990-2000 and 2000-2003. When will the online catagory catch up with more sophisticated libraries like Durham County??

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: It isn’t flawed–just marginally functional. It still is a lot more powerful than the DPL version–and just wait until we have the new system up next summer! (See the ILS Transition page for more info: http://www.lib.duke.edu/its/diglib/ilstrans/)

Can you be brought to the honor council for fouling in basketball? What if it is a basketball class?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Fouling in basketball is not necessary a criminal act; it is at times done as a non-threatening or harmless defensive maneuver–hence the “touch foul.” Furthermore, when appropriately witnessed the judgment is swift and the prescribed penalties are applied. The Honor Code does not, as such, address matters other than academic (“I will not lie, cheat, or steal in my academic endeavors”), but your question of potential violations in a basketball class is interesting–but not really difficult. If you misbehave within the realm of the sport and its rules, the sport rules. If you exceed those boundaries (e.g., cheating on a basketball written test or in a skills test), Duke’s honor may, indeed, be at stake.

If you were a student, what professor would you be sure to take a class with before you left Duke?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Sorry, the answer to that question is too dependent on subject interest, teaching style preferences, how far one has to travel between classes, and whether or not food is served as part of the educational experience. Besides, how can you expect Answer Person to break the hearts (yes, they do have them) of so many faculty hoping they will be the chosen one.

Why did the Christian Church only feel the need to define the Holy Trinity after almost 300 years instead of relying on the one God concept as was fitting with Judaism?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: The Roman Catholic Church developed this doctrine, as it did many others, over a long period of time. As evidenced by the fact that popes still issue doctrine, this process will probably go on and on. As to the specifics of this doctrine, see “Trinity,” Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, October 21, 2003, (access available to the Duke community).

Do you practice by finding the answers in the cross word puzzle?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Although Answer Person likes to do crossword puzzles, they are a poor training ground for the demands of the Suggestion Book. They are too confining (the answers are often proscribed and have to fit in those specific boxes), never involve solving the great problems facing AP’s constituency, and there is no opportunity for editorial (humorous?) interpretation.

Why hasn’t a group like the Green Party been able to successfully impliment Proportional Representation for the California Congress?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: The California Green Party seems to be pushing Instant Runoff Voting as its primary(!) electoral reform issue, not proportional representation (see http://cagreens.org/giwg/#democracy). The problem with PR (a.k.a. full representation), is that the concept is, for most voters, complicated and confusing. First, there are a lot of ideas on how it would be configured (by political parties, by ethnic groups, etc.); second, calculating the proportions can be very difficult and contentious. Just look at how much trouble we have at the national and state (Texas!) levels designating (proportional) voting districts!

At the Lilly Library on Sat., Oct. 18, 2003 at @ 5PM I stood directly in front of two of the people working at the front desk, one of whom told me they were busy and I would have to wait (she was putting stickers on books). So, I sat there and waited until she was finished. It seems to me that libray patrons should be the first priority of the staff who are assigned to being at the check-out desk. Making patrons wait while jobs which are not time critical, such as putting stickers on books, is disrespectful of the patrons and their time.

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Answer Person was not there, putting stickers on books or otherwise occupied, so AP could not time the delay or come to the rescue. I hope the inconvenience was not more than a minute or so. In any case, AP, and the Lilly Library administration, share your concern about the service we offer, and AP will send this on for further investigation. (10/18/2003 18:48:48)

Additional Response:

From all the staff at Lilly, I want to apologize for the inconvenience you experienced on Saturday. The student assistant you encountered putting stickers on books was assisting a patron that was in the library. The patron had brought a number of books to be checked out, including five that did not have barcodes. The activity you witnessed was the student barcoding the books for the patron. Barcoding can be time consuming, so I want to apologize for your wait. You should have been better informed about what the student was doing. We hope to see you at Lilly in the near future.

Kelley Lawton
Head, Lilly Library

Please make it faster. It jams up far more than any other online catalog I’ve used in recent years.

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: You are right. Over the last year or so we have struggled to deal with software architecture that is not up to the demands of Duke. So, although we try to keep it running at a reasonable pace, we are implementing a new, integrated library system, scheduled to debut July 2004. Check out the project at http://www.lib.duke.edu/its/diglib/ilstrans/.