Cameron Crazies Go High-Tech At Krzyzewski-ville

At Krzyzewski-ville, the tent city that springs up every year at Duke during basketball season, the students are camping out for tickets to the Carolina and St. John's games.

They pass the time listening to tunes, reading, playing cards and this year, students can surf the Internet.

"We don't have power, but we have Ethernet," said Duke freshman Kathryn Townes. "We can connect into the campus network which is nice."

Students can plug their laptops into phone jacks that were installed in street lamps. Some tents even have their own Web sites.

Students can use PCs to download assignments, keep up with classwork and even schedule tent time.

"With the program, you enter your schedule, and it'll figure out who can be here without missing work or class or practice, so that's been really great," said Duke senior Eily Hayes. In other ways, Krzyzewski-ville has not changed at all. The Cameron Crazies still cram ten sleeping bags into each tent.

Students said the annual ritual is what being a Blue Devil is all about.

"Coach K says he doesn't want anything named after him on campus," said Duke junior David Wecksburg. "He's already got K-ville, which is enough for him."

As much as students enjoy camping out, no one wants to pitch the first tent. This year, a freshman pitched the first tent last week, a month before the Carolina game.

Once the tents start going up, everyone is stuck here until game day.