Bonk

[Lavabe]

Yes folks, James Bonk made the April 11th cover of the Chronicle of Higher Education (bottom, but with a color photo). The story is entitled:
"Legends of the Fall, and Spring." It's all about the chemistry final, the excuse, and one simple question:

"Which tire?"

Sorry, but it's a subscription site.

The cover photo has Bonk sitting on a tire, smiling, with a tire wrench.

In the last line or two, Bonk reveals that he can't remember "for sure."

Nice guy!!:D
Cheers,
Lavabe

[duke74]

Yes folks, James Bonk made the April 11th cover of the Chronicle of Higher Education (bottom, but with a color photo). The story is entitled:
"Legends of the Fall, and Spring." It's all about the chemistry final, the excuse, and one simple question:

"Which tire?"

Sorry, but it's a subscription site.

The cover photo has Bonk sitting on a tire, smiling, with a tire wrench.

In the last line or two, Bonk reveals that he can't remember "for sure."

Nice guy!!:D
Cheers,
Lavabe


Ahhhh..memories. Freshman Chem, September '70

[Bostondevil]

Bonkistry! Do freshman still take chemistry with Dr. Bonk?

I've always wondered if that story was truth or urban legend. (I've always hoped it was true.)

[allenmurray]

Okay, somebody has to tell the story. Some of us are DBR regulars, but didn't go to Duke as ugrads, and we have no idea what you are talking about.

[Channing]

could someone please share this story?

[JulesInLA]

http://www.snopes.com/college/exam/flattire.asp

[Lavabe]

According to Claire Howell Major, the author of a paper on college urban legends, the Bonk story is typical. From the piece in the Chronicle of Higher Ed, the Bonk story fits the usual pattern of embellishment for these sorts of stories. [Note to self: don't slip into Ol' Roy-isms and call them story tales.];) ]

The reporter for the Chronicle of Higher Ed asked Bonk if the story was real. Bonk "can't prove its veracity." Here's the quote from Bonk in response to the reporter's question about whether the tire story actually occurred: "I don't remember for sure... but I've always been willing to take credit."

Oh man!!:D
Cheers,
Lavabe

[Bluedog]

Bonkistry! Do freshman still take chemistry with Dr. Bonk?

No, he doesn't teach Intro Chem anymore. He teaches Chem 83 (Chemistry, Technology, and Society), which is considered one of the easiest courses at Duke. Every test is multiple choice, open-note and open-book, and the answers are apparently stated directly in the notes he provides... It's intended for non-science people so I didn't get to take it...

[77devil]

I thought Dr. Bonk's ability to write formulas on the blackboard simultaneously with both hands was impressive. His Chem 12 final that I took was the most creatively conceived exam I've ever had.

If the story is not completely true, I would believe there is a reasonably close true alternative. He had a wry wit.

[dukepsy1963]

I was beginning to think that everything had changed since I was at Duke.. Not so.... Bonk was my teacher too!!!! I remember him fondly....also with a bit of a "nervous stomach." What a teacher...such dedication! Jeez, he even outlasted me on the teaching front...!!

I found this piece interesting....

http://www.dukemagazine.duke.edu/dukemag/issues/070801/bonk.html

------------
Trinity '63

[sbpollo]

In the midst of the Pie Hit days, Dr. Bonk was pied in class. Being in excellent shape as an assistant Tennis coach, he chased down the hitman in the woods, down in a stream. The hitman was none other than Bob Fleischer Should have been obvious from his height! Bonk's first Chem 10 exam weeded out about 1/2 of the pre-meds in our lecture hall. I remember the chalk exploding on the board as he wrote!!

[gotoguy]

I have it on good authority from my contacts in the Divinity School that Patrick Davidson is Dr. Bonk reincarnated.

During my years at Duke, Dr. Bonk helped coach the tennis team. One afternoon while walking over to Card to play some hoops I saw Dr. Bonk serve two aces simultaneously, a racket in each hand, into the right and left service courts during a doubles demonstration.

Yeah, I remember the exploding chalk too.

[DukeDevil]

Yeah, for those who don't know, he used to teach Chem 11 and 12 (I think those were the numbers) when I was there. Or maybe 10 and 11. Either way, when he stopped, During my Junior year (2001-2002) they had a ceremony where they retired the chemistry numbers. I believe they are now chem 21 and chem 22, as they felt that chem 11 and 12 could only be taught by Bonk. They even had tennis polos with the numbers on them in frames for him like a basketball jersey retirment. It was a really touching ceremony.

Ahh...Gross Chem. I spent 4 years there as a Chem major. Why you ask? I ask myself that same question. Perhaps I was inspired by the fortress like qualities of the building. I still think that, should all the science drive majors have a battle, Chem would win over bio and engineering as our building is clearly designed like a castle for a seige, plus we have lots of fun chemicals on site to use. Engineering might have taken us with some sort of Trebuchet but I'd like to think we'd have their number.

[Udaman]

I had the pleasure of working with Dr. Bonk (one of the very few professors I still almost regularly address with the "Dr." title, as he has earned every measure of respect possible). You cannot find a more admirable, kind and caring human being. He's been battling cancer for several years, and might be the one person out there who can actually win. One great thing about him, is that pretty much every time I saw him and asked, "How are you, sir?" He would respond, "Well, I'm still here." He's a person who loves life and treats every day as a gift. One day when I asked him how things were, he said, "Let me tell you one thing - growing old ain't for wimps." He might be the toughest person I've ever met - you would never guess that he's ever anything but 100% when often that is not the case.

He also has so many wonderful stories (I've heard him talk about the pie incident - it was great - and numerous stories of alums, students, and various antics in and around the classroom). As for the "tire" story, he told me he did something similar, but the urban legend has grown and he's happy to let it be that way.

As for Gross Chem - it no longer houses Chemistry. They moved into the French Family Science Center (behind Bio Sci and Physics) back in January 2007. Gross Chem will be demolished starting this summer and a new building will go up for the Nicholas School.

[DukeDevil]

They can try, but they will fail. I envision a wrecking ball hitting a wall and shattering into pieces.

I wonder if I can get a piece of the concrete...I might have to come on the day they take it down, just to say goodbye. Those newbies at Duke no longer have to walk up the weirdly spaced steps up to Gross Chem. I've heard all kinds of weird rumors about why they were spaced that way, not sure what's true though.

Dr. Bonk is a truley remarkable man. I introduced myself to him once, ONCE my freshman year. Sometime into my junior year I said hi to him in the hallway and he referred to me by name, pronounced correctly. Awesome man.

[DevilAlumna]

I didn't have to take Chem at Duke, as I passed out via AP exams, so I didn't get the full Bonkistry experience.

I did, however, attend one of his intro chem classes as a p-frosh. He was covering material that I'd already covered in the AP class, but it was so interesting and well presented, I still ended up taking notes!

[billybreen]

I didn't have to take Chem at Duke, as I passed out via AP exams, so I didn't get the full Bonkistry experience.

I opted out of the whole Natural Sciences area of knowledge, so I also missed out on the Bonk experience. Probably the best move for my GPA. :)

[Kdogg]

Ahh...Gross Chem. I spent 4 years there as a Chem major. Why you ask? I ask myself that same question. Perhaps I was inspired by the fortress like qualities of the building. I still think that, should all the science drive majors have a battle, Chem would win over bio and engineering as our building is clearly designed like a castle for a seige, plus we have lots of fun chemicals on site to use. Engineering might have taken us with some sort of Trebuchet but I'd like to think we'd have their number.

Well Bio Sci has most of the same chemicals plus radioactive isotopes and a few biological agents. You might have take Hudson and Physics but not Bio Sci.

[devildeac]

I remember the Bonkistry semesters, but not too well. I remember his lectures as clear and concise and very representative of what what the quiz and test questions would be. I did well both semesters. Wish I could say the same for Orgo:(

[dukepsy1963]

I opted out of the whole Natural Sciences area of knowledge, so I also missed out on the Bonk experience. Probably the best move for my GPA. :)

Wish we had had AP in my day....but had that been the case, I may not have had "Bonk" or Bonkistry. He was worth it...and his lectures in that dark old building were great! Can't say I loved Chem, but did love Bonk and another professor by the name of Wintermute...I think religion department.

[ArkieDukie]

I remember the Bonkistry semesters, but not too well. I remember his lectures as clear and concise and very representative of what what the quiz and test questions would be. I did well both semesters. Wish I could say the same for Orgo:(

I didn't ever work directly with Bonk, but he seemed like a nice person. I was a TA for organic lab during my grad school years. When did you take the course?

[devildeac]

I didn't ever work directly with Bonk, but he seemed like a nice person. I was a TA for organic lab during my grad school years. When did you take the course?

Fall-72 and spring-73 for Bonkistry and fall-73 and spring-74 for Orgo.

[ArkieDukie]

Fall-72 and spring-73 for Bonkistry and fall-73 and spring-74 for Orgo.

You took organic before my time at Duke. I can rest easier now! ;)

Unfortunately, you also took organic before the big change in pedagogy for that particular subject. At that time, mechanistic understanding was minimal, so it was mostly taught as a memorize-and-regurgitate class. Many people now teach it as more of a mechanistic-based class. In other words, lots of emphasis is placed on how and why the reactions occur. If you understand what's going on and recognize that you're really looking at maybe 10 reaction types over and over again, it's much easier to make it through the course.

I hate to hear that Gross Chem is being demolished, but I'm sure it's a bit out-of-date now. Someone else mentioned the oddly spaced steps leading to the building; my theory is that they were designed by a disgruntled former chemistry student that went into engineering. :rolleyes:

Now back to the regularly scheduled program...

[devildeac]

You took organic before my time at Duke. I can rest easier now! ;)

Unfortunately, you also took organic before the big change in pedagogy for that particular subject. At that time, mechanistic understanding was minimal, so it was mostly taught as a memorize-and-regurgitate class. Many people now teach it as more of a mechanistic-based class. In other words, lots of emphasis is placed on how and why the reactions occur. If you understand what's going on and recognize that you're really looking at maybe 10 reaction types over and over again, it's much easier to make it through the course.

I hate to hear that Gross Chem is being demolished, but I'm sure it's a bit out-of-date now. Someone else mentioned the oddly spaced steps leading to the building; my theory is that they were designed by a disgruntled former chemistry student that went into engineering. :rolleyes:

Now back to the regularly scheduled program...

Wonder if my son realized that when he was there recently? If not, too bad. At least now I can pass that info on to my daughter who is there now and will be taking Orgo next year. Can you tutor her via PM if she has any questions or problems;) ?

[Lavabe]

Wonder if my son realized that when he was there recently? If not, too bad. At least now I can pass that info on to my daughter who is there now and will be taking Orgo next year. Can you tutor her via PM if she has any questions or problems;) ?

Got to think that podcasting Orgo has to help students an awful lot. Aren't they doing that w/Orgo at Duke?

Cheers,
Lavabe

[devildeac]

Got to think that podcasting Orgo has to help students an awful lot. Aren't they doing that w/Orgo at Duke?

Cheers,
Lavabe

I do not know but will find out recent history and future likelihood/reality. Make sense to me.

[DevilAlumna]

I hate to hear that Gross Chem is being demolished, but I'm sure it's a bit out-of-date now. Someone else mentioned the oddly spaced steps leading to the building; my theory is that they were designed by a disgruntled former chemistry student that went into engineering. :rolleyes:

Now back to the regularly scheduled program...

not just yet... I had always heard that the gross chem stairs were spaced perfectly for an average sized woman' running stride, so she could outrun a theoretical attacker. of course, the path between gross chem & the bryan center used to be a lot more scary and wooded than today....

[ArkieDukie]

Wonder if my son realized that when he was there recently? If not, too bad. At least now I can pass that info on to my daughter who is there now and will be taking Orgo next year. Can you tutor her via PM if she has any questions or problems;) ?

In my former life, I was an organic chemistry professor at the undergrad level. Let me know if I can be of help.

My words of wisdom for today: almost any organic chemistry question can be explained using some combination of Le Chatelier's Principle, steric hindrance, pKa, resonance, and inductive effects. :)

[ArkieDukie]

not just yet... I had always heard that the gross chem stairs were spaced perfectly for an average sized woman' running stride, so she could outrun a theoretical attacker. of course, the path between gross chem & the bryan center used to be a lot more scary and wooded than today....

That's interesting. I never heard that, but it makes sense. My friends and I could go up the steps far easier while running due to the spacing.

[DevilAlumna]

That's interesting. I never heard that, but it makes sense. My friends and I could go up the steps far easier while running due to the spacing.

Yeah, even when I was walking to the building, I still ended up nearly speed-walking up the stairs, just because it was the "easiest" way to approach them.

I always thought it was wrong that my only class in gross chem was a poli sci class. :p

[sbpollo]

Devildeac we had the same classes 72-74! I have always thought that the two B's-Bonk and Baldwin prepared me for the critical thinking side of my career better than any other at Duke. Can't believe Gross will be gone. I still feel the panic of my first quizz in Chem 11, running out of time, because the dumb freshman from Ky. had a slide rule rather than a calculator (the model I finally got could only do square roots and cost $100 by Corvus)!! Dr. Bonk was my section leader and was very understanding although he did snicker a bit. How things have changed.

[devildeac]

Devildeac we had the same classes 72-74! I have always thought that the two B's-Bonk and Baldwin prepared me for the critical thinking side of my career better than any other at Duke. Can't believe Gross will be gone. I still feel the panic of my first quizz in Chem 11, running out of time, because the dumb freshman from Ky. had a slide rule rather than a calculator (the model I finally got could only do square roots and cost $100 by Corvus)!! Dr. Bonk was my section leader and was very understanding although he did snicker a bit. How things have changed.

Bonk-yes; Baldwin-not so much so. I switched to Bradsher my 2nd semester of Orgo and found his lecture and test approach to me much more rational/relevant than Baldwin.

What's a calculator?(jk). I owned a slide rule also cuz I could not afford a calculator. I did very well in Bonkistry.

[DukeFencer]

not just yet... I had always heard that the gross chem stairs were spaced perfectly for an average sized woman' running stride, so she could outrun a theoretical attacker. of course, the path between gross chem & the bryan center used to be a lot more scary and wooded than today....

I often heard this staircase referred to as the "rape stairs" based on this theory. I really would like to know the true reason those stairs were so awkwardly built. I did often find the least awkward way to conquer them was to run down them.

[-jk]

I often heard this staircase referred to as the "rape stairs" based on this theory. I really would like to know the true reason those stairs were so awkwardly built. I did often find the least awkward way to conquer them was to run down them.

I always thought they were the Mike Gminski Memorial Stairs!

-jk

[kexman]

I loved Dr. Bonk. One of the amazing things about Dr. Bonk was that he never lectured with notes...it was all off the top of his head (and this was before powerpoint...he wrote everything on the board) I asked him once and he stated that his old advisor told him that at least one person should know what they were talking about in lecture. One day when I stopped by his office I noticed that he was practicing his lecture on the dry erase board in his office. I don't know another professor who completely practices his lecture!!!
I just started lecturing so I practice my lectures before I give them. However, I also use powerpoint so I have lots of notes with me in the room. Not a chance I could do it unscripted each day. Dr. Bonk was amazing!

p.s. with the number of students in chem 11 and 12 and the duration of Dr. Bonk's tenure, I'm guessing that he has probably taught more Duke students than any other!!!

[hurleyfor3]

I always thought it was wrong that my only class in gross chem was a poli sci class. :p

I was an engineering major, and the two classes I had in Gross Chem in four years were... macro- and microeconomics. (I placed out of Bonk with a 5 on the AP exam.)

[DukeDevil]

not just yet... I had always heard that the gross chem stairs were spaced perfectly for an average sized woman' running stride, so she could outrun a theoretical attacker. of course, the path between gross chem & the bryan center used to be a lot more scary and wooded than today....

i heard the same thing, but I thoguht it might be ridiculous so didn't want to repeat it here. I remember that if you walked them, you took the step with the same foot every time, but the joke amongst the chem majors that you coudl recognize us by our one massively ripped and chisled leg and one puny one.

[UncleBill]

I, too, have heard the stairs called the "Mike Gminski Memorial Steps".

I may be misremembering (I sometimes do), but I took Chem 11 in the Fall of 1984, and I swear the covers of his text and lab book (republished each year, I think) had three pressure guages printed on them, one guage indicated single digits, one tens, and one indicated hundreds, and all three were on the number "6", for an aggregate reading of "666". Bonk was the Devil! Or an oblique homage to the Blue Devils, or Nero.

Then again, maybe it didn't say that.

It was because of that class I found I needed glasses. I sat near the back, next to a pretty smart lady I liked who ended up majoring in Physical Chemistry and becoming an MD, and I'd like to blame my poor vision for the variance between her grade and mine.

[pigs2k1]

I was an engineering major, and the two classes I had in Gross Chem in four years were... macro- and microeconomics. (I placed out of Bonk with a 5 on the AP exam.)

That brings up the subject of my only encounter with Dr. Bonk. I too made a 5 on the AP exam, but when I matriculated, they made AP students take both semesters of Chem condensed into one, taught by someone else (not Bonk). I felt this was a colossal waste of my precious time normally spent playing foosball in the commons room. So I typed up a flaming email and sent it to Bonk. I was slightly embarrassed when he replied and requested that we meet to discuss my concerns. I guess I wasn't really expecting him to take the time to respond to a whiny freshman, but he was pretty cool about it. We met and he said something to the effect that the AP material didn't adequately prepare students to jump straight to Orgo. I think he was right, because I never went to class (9:10am on Science Drive!) never did any homework, never studied, fumbled through the labs, and failed about 20% of the material that wasn't covered in AP Chem. I'm guessing I would've had to learn that stuff if I ever took Orgo.

[bqkdevil]

I had Chem 11 and 12 in '68-'69 in an old building near the divinity school. I believe the "new" chemistry building opened that school year. Hard to believe it's 40 years old now. When I was visiting Duke with my daughter ('06) prior to her starting classes I ran into Dr. Bonk. He was immediately recognizable in spite of my not having seen him since 1969. He was very gracious to my family and said he even remembered my class. Indeed a class act