What should I do this summer? I want to be a sommelier and have no idea how I might get entrance into the field. I speak pretty good Spanish and would love to work abroad, perhaps in vidiculture. The career center has not been helpful. Also, does the term sommelier apply only to the wine guys in restaurants, or would it also be appropriate to refer to the guy from Wellspring, for example, as a sommelier.

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: You might want to start sooner in your job search, and perhaps with the Sommelier Society of America (http://sommeliersocietyofamerica.org/), The Court of Master Sommeliers (http://www.mastersommeliers.org/), and the American Sommelier Association (http://www.americansommelier.com/). By the way, a sommelier is an expert in wine and its appreciation, wherever he or she works.

Last year there was this amazingly cool trashcan in front of the Allen building that was shaped like a dolphin, but it was only there for a little while. I’m going to graduate, and I would love to have that guy (or more likely one of his buddies) back in front of the Allen building. Where did Duke get such an item and why? Also, if I get a lot of money some day and donate one, will Duke accept it and put a plaque with my name on it next to the dolphin?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: The dolphin trash can was an attempt to lighten up the trash problem on campus. The result was that someone lightened up our collection of trash cans. It disappeared, and even Duke police have been unable to track it down. As for the possibilities for new installments, you need to talk to Joe Jackson, Assistant Director of Grounds Services (660-4281, joe.jackson@duke.edu).

I’m not quite sure who I should be suggesting this to, but perhaps you could forward it.

In doing research I came across an excellent database on refugee issues/refugee studies. It would be particuarly useful to Humanitarian Challenges FOCUS students as well as PPS or History classes.

I’m not sure how the Library could incorporate it, but you’ll find the site at http://www.forcedmigration.org/

It’s run by, in part, Oxford University and Tufts University. Details at http://www.forcedmigration.org/partners/

Thanks!

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Answer Person is vetting your suggestion. Thanks . . . and stay tuned.

Update (4/21/03):

Check out the library’s “Resources for
International Public Policy” web page (http://www.lib.duke.edu/reference/subjects/pubpol/intlpubpol.htm). This very useful site as been added to the “Topical Resources” section.

Thanks!

Wouldn’t it be great if we got Bruce Springsteen for Springternational this year?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Do you think Bruce would appear on short (24 hours!) notice? It is a great idea, and you might want to suggest it to the organizers; see the website at http://ihouse.studentaffairs.duke.edu/springternational.html. If successful, it might even surpass last year’s live (virtual) appearance by Answer Person!

Dear Answer Person,
Could I borrow some diamonds?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Answer Person, while always wise and occasionally clever, is but a poorly paid librarian. Not many diamonds at this end. Perhaps you could check for recently engaged female classmates?

Don’t you think it is a little odd that we live in such a warm, humid climate and yet there are so few insects on campus?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Oh, Grasshopper, be patient. They will soon be here. They are only briefly intimidated by the high SAT scores.

Dear Answer Person,
I’ve heard that there was a very obscure film inspired by the song “Alice’s Restaurant” of the same name. Do you know anything about this or where I can find it?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: The record came out in 1967. The United Artists movie was released in 1968/9, and first appeared on the VHS market in 1984. The screenplay was written by Venable Herndon and Arthur Penn (we have a couple of copies at Lilly Library, at 792.937 H558A); Penn was also the director. Arlo starred in the movie, along with Pat Quinn, Tia Chen, James Broderick and M. Emmet Walsh. You can find details at several websites, including http://us.imdb.com/ and http://arlo.net/(!).

We don’t have the VHS (they do have it at UNC-CH, the Durham County Library and Durham Tech!), but you should be able to get it through ILL. It is also available for purchase through the usual gang of marketers.

Dear Answer Person,
What is the best way to scratch a glass bottle or vase?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: With a diamond. Actually, almost anything sharp and hard will do, but a diamond does it with class.

I’ve heard lots of rumors about tunnels at Duke University. What is the purpose of these tunnels? Who built them? Are there tunnels underneath both East and West Campuses? How do you get into them?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: You have heard of how there is a whole world underneath Disney World, from which the staff magically emerge as the magical characters? Perhaps this is where star basketball players, distinguished faculty and the Dancing Devils reside in their off hours? Actually, they are merely the campus “basements,” where a lot of mechanical equipment and pipes and conduits (that in a way do help to keep Duke a magical place) reside.

As to how to get there, heed the warning cited in the Perkins Lobby edition (3010C) of the Suggestion Book:

UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS/ENTRY
Access to roofs, ledges, attic space, tunnels, or other unauthorized areas is forbidden. [http://deanofstudents.studentaffairs.duke.edu/policies.html]

I understand the need for certain controls on the computers to the left of the reference desk (both the stand-up and seated stations). But some of the restrictions make researching on them a pain.

First of all, not being able to right-click on links to open them in a new window is very inconvenient because, most of the time, you are working from a long list of citations. So as not to lose your place or even the page altogether, you want to open a certain item in a different window. But the administrative settings on the computers won’t allow this.

So, to circumvent, you can try to go to the File menu and open a new window manually. But that option is also turned off by administrators. So, you can just open a new IE session – but it still doesn’t help because you can’t even right-click on the cite or web address to copy it to the new IE session.

It really is prohibitive and slows down the research process. Furthermore, some research pages are set as forms, so if you hit “Back” after a certain amount of time, you can’t bring back up the search results.

Lastly, several of the web databases try to open results in a new window. In Academic Index, there is even an option to search the Duke Library for the cite you’ve found. But neither of these works because the administrative settings won’t allow a new window to open. So a convenience tool that Academic Index has provided is utterly useless when using it from Perkins.

Please lessen the severity of the administrative settings on these computers. I understand the need for security, but just instituting a blanket restriction makes this more difficult for those using the library. Allow the right-click menu, allow the File menu option to open a new window and please allow IE to open links in a new window if the page asks for it.

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: The open new window option should be working on the library computers. If it isn’t, Systems Support needs to know which ones are not set correctly. Let the Reference Staff know where you have encountered the problem, and they will notify Systems Support.

Thanx!

Update 3/20/03: The machines have been fixed, but right clicking is still not an option–too many administrative & security issues at this point.