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| Blog and Media Roundup - Tuesday, Feb 10, 2009; News Roundup | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Feb 10 2009, 05:40 AM (876 Views) | |
| abb | Feb 10 2009, 05:40 AM Post #1 |
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http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/durham/4-1093371.cfm Band leader charged with sex offenses BY LAURA BUTLER : The Herald-Sun lcollins@heraldsun.com Feb 10, 2009 DURHAM -- An already embattled high school took another hit Monday morning when the recently departed Southern High School band director was charged with sex offenses. Jamal Butler, 30, of Calibre Park Drive, was charged with two counts of felonious sexual offense, each involving a student. According to warrants, Butler "did feloniously engage in vaginal intercourse" with two 16-year-old students between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31. His bond was set at $20,000. According to Durham Public Schools officials, Butler was originally suspended with pay, but on Jan. 29 his resignation officially took effect. Butler had been the band director at Southern since 2005. He also taught band at the school to students in grades 9-12. Under Butler, Southern became the most decorated marching band in the state for the 2007-08 school year, according to band announcer Scottie Smith. Butler's charges mark the second time this school year that a Southern teacher has been under investigation for sex-related offenses. In mid-December, Willem Pet, 61, was suspended while under investigation by the state for allegedly sharing child pornography files over the Internet. The State Bureau of Investigations Computer Crimes Unit found more than 1,800 images of suspected child pornography from an Internet Protocol (IP) address registered to Pet, according to a search warrant. The IP address was attached to a computer at Pet's home, not a computer at Southern High. Pet, who taught English as a Second Language, was also hired at the beginning of the 2005-06 school year. Pet has not been charged. Southern High School Principal Kenneth Barnes said last week he had recommended a replacement for Butler. Barnes did not return calls for comment. |
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| abb | Feb 10 2009, 05:42 AM Post #2 |
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http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/durham/4-1093315.cfm Cultural plan funding on hold BY MATTHEW E. MILLIKEN : The Herald-Sun mmilliken@heraldsun.com Feb 10, 2009 DURHAM -- Action on funding two cultural master plan programs was delayed for three weeks after county officials and residents raised concerns Monday night. The chief issues that caused Durham's Board of County Commissioners to postpone action were getting N.C. Central University more involved in the plan and having it do more to reflect African-American culture and history. Lavonia Allison, the chairwoman of the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, railed against the presentation by Josh Parker, the chairman of the Cultural Arts Master Plan Advisory Board, helping to cause the delay. "Who had input in terms of these 12 items?" Allison asked, referring to a list of future projects. Allison said she was appalled and asked for a delay in approval. Victoria Peterson also asked for a delay, concerned that the Cultural Master Plan board was moving ahead with an Hispanic cultural initiative on which up to $20,000 will be spent. Peterson asked whether there was going to be a Native American-oriented project. Peterson, who frequently comments about the processes the county uses to fund nonprofits and award special marketing contracts to the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Durham Inc., also complained about an arts marketing venture with the chamber. "Tell me, what does that really mean, economic development?" Peterson asked, referring to one of the rationales behind funding the cultural master plan. "It seems like a lot of words have been thrown out to make everybody happy and satisfied." Parker said that the goals were set in 2004 after more than two years of receiving public input. He also said that there were NCCU professors guiding the plan and that his board's outreach to the university had been rebuffed. The board chairman agreed to make another effort to involve the university. Parker had been hoping to get action on three items: $20,700 in funding for two projects and the official acknowledgment for the submission of three planning reports. The projects in question involved an $18,000 contract to help the Durham Arts Council and the Chamber of Commerce affiliate with the national Arts and Business Council and a $2,700 payment that would create a Durham history museum Web site. The reports that were being submitted were a feasibility study on the creation of a Durham history museum, a consultant's report on public art, and a report recommending 12 new cultural master plan initiatives. Commissioner Ellen Reckhow pointed out an error in the history museum study: there are no plans to vacate either the "old courthouse," now the county administration building, or the "new courthouse," which will be vacated in about three years and renovated to house other county offices. Reckhow said, however, that it might be a good idea to make the current courthouse's first-floor lobby a temporary history museum site. |
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| abb | Feb 10 2009, 05:43 AM Post #3 |
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http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/durham/4-1093312.cfm Uzzelle gets life for store clerk's slaying BY MATT GOAD : The Herald-Sun mgoad@heraldsun.com Feb 10, 2009 DURHAM -- In a second trial, one of the three men accused of robbing and killing a convenience store clerk in 2005 has been sentenced to life in prison without parole. Timothy Lamont Uzzelle had faced the death penalty for the crime until Durham Assistant District Attorney Jim Dornfried announced in October that capital punishment would not be sought. "After consideration, we decided that not pursuing the death penalty would be appropriate," Dornfried said Monday, adding that indications from the jury showed it was the correct decision. The jury convicted Uzzelle of first-degree murder on Thursday after deliberating for about 2 1/2 hours. He was sentenced Friday. Uzzelle had avoided conviction earlier when an October trial ended in a hung jury when the jury could not agree on whether to convict on charges of first- or second-degree murder. The jury Thursday again raised the issue in deliberations, defense attorney Mark E. Edwards said Monday, but eventually did agree on a conviction of first-degree murder and first-degree robbery. Robbery was considered an aggravating factor in the murder, which made it difficult for the jury not to find Uzzelle guilty of first-degree murder rather than second, if they found him guilty of robbery. "We're disappointed by this verdict, but I felt like the way the law is written, their hands were tied," Edwards said. Uzzelle and two co-defendants, Bruce Lee Garrett and Marque Sowell, were charged with murder in the shooting death of Ahmed Raja, 44, in his Hilltop Food Mart on Hardee Street in May 2005. A security camera from the store showed two young men enter the store, one of whom immediately shot Raja with a handgun. The other was carrying a shotgun. Uzzelle was accused of firing the fatal shot. The tape then shows the two men, one wearing a mask and the other a hood that covered most of his face, fleeing with the store's cash register. Uzzelle confessed to involvement in the crime when he was arrested in 2005, saying his gun went off accidentally, according to court documents filed by his lawyers. He also wrote a letter of apology to the victim's family expressing remorse. Dornfried has said Garrett served as a lookout and did not enter the store or have a gun, and will not face the death penalty. Sowell also will not face the death penalty because he was 17 at the time of the crime, one year below the minimum age for the death penalty in North Carolina. Garrett and Sowell were also charged with first-degree murder and are awaiting trial. Dornfried had identified two aggravating factors in seeking the death penalty against Uzzelle: the murder occurred during a robbery and financial gain was involved. The DA's Office also had indicated the crime was gang-related. Uzzelle's mother, according to court documents, was a crack addict and prostitute who died of AIDS when he was 10. He did not know who his father was, but the man he knew as his father died when Uzzelle was 14. Dornfried said Raja had just moved from Pakistan to the United States at the time of his death and was planning to bring his family here. |
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| abb | Feb 10 2009, 05:46 AM Post #4 |
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http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/orange/10-1093240.cfm UNC hate crime policy now on table BY DANIEL GOLDBERG : The Herald-Sun dgoldberg@heraldsun.com Feb 10, 2009 CHAPEL HILL -- Public university students engaging in hate crime activity may not face punitive punishment -- such as expulsion -- if the UNC Study Group reviewing student codes of conduct decides to move forward with a suggestion put on the table Monday. James A. Anderson, chancellor of Fayetteville State University and a member of the study group, championed a policy of "restorative justice," a system that emphasizes repairing the damage caused by certain behaviors rather than imposing a definitive punishment upon the offender. He said similar policies instituted elsewhere have included some form of education related to the offense, community service and mediation among the involved parties. Other members of the study group supported exploring the concept further. On Monday, the study group as a whole discussed specific recommendations for student codes of conduct related to hate crimes for the first time. They will make a recommendation as to whether such a policy is necessary to UNC President Erskine Bowles by the end of March. The study group seems to be favoring a more thorough definition of student responsibilities as a member of the university community rather than a policy that deals exclusively with hate crimes. Participants have pointed out the difficulty in creating a university policy that doesn't step on the toes of students' First Amendment right to free speech. Laura Bernstein Luger, the university system's general counsel and an ex-officio participant in the study group, said Monday that students are already covered by state and federal laws regarding hate crimes. Further restrictions at the university level may be challenged in court. "The statutes are pretty specific about what is a hate crime in North Carolina," Luger said. The study group turned to an existing General Administration code that stresses the civic, professional and social responsibilities of people attending public universities in North Carolina. One passage in Section 608 declares that "All students shall be responsible for conducting themselves in a manner that helps to enhance an environment of learning in which the rights, dignity, worth, and freedom of each member of the academic community are respected." A policy option discussed Monday is to expand upon expectations of student conduct using Section 608 as a starting point. Harold Martin, the chairman of the study group, said a subcommittee will work on framing the language included in a possible conduct policy. The next study group session is scheduled for Feb. 26. |
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| abb | Feb 10 2009, 05:49 AM Post #5 |
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http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/opinion/hsletters/ Cover lacrosse What do Army, Georgetown, Yale, Cornell, Virginia, and Holy Cross all have in common? They are just six of the 11 teams that Duke lacrosse will play on their home field this upcoming season. Why do I mentions this? Because it seems as if the sports department of The Herald-Sun has forgotten that there is a whole lot more to Duke lacrosse than what takes, or took, place in a courtroom. How many of you happened to catch the article in the sports section that Duke was in the championship game for the NCAA lacrosse title against Johns Hopkins last year? If you had to rely on The Herald-Sun for hometown coverage, then you would have been hard-pressed to find in-depth coverage like The Herald-Sun gives the other two "major sports". Lacrosse is the fastest game on two feet and we have in this area two of the best programs in the country that you've read very little of: Duke and Carolina. If The Herald-Sun would cover Duke lacrosse like it covered Chapel Hill High School tennis this past fall then its readers would know that there is more action on the field than off. Prep lacrosse is the fastest growing sport in the Triangle; it would be nice to see more in-depth coverage. Oh yeah, pictures too. RON BYRD Durham February 10, 2009 |
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| abb | Feb 10 2009, 05:50 AM Post #6 |
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http://durhamwonderland.blogspot.com/ Tuesday, February 10, 2009 Law and Contemporary Problems Article My article from the most recent edition of Law and Contemporary Problems, on the role of the blogosphere in the lacrosse case. |
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| abb | Feb 10 2009, 06:00 AM Post #7 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1400207.html Published: Feb 10, 2009 12:30 AM Modified: Feb 10, 2009 05:07 AM Legal Aid in demand and in a bind The recession spurs a need for legal help for the poor, just as money gets tighter Sarah Ovaska, Staff Writer Comment on this story RALEIGH - Legal Aid of North Carolina and other groups that provide legal help for the poor are bracing themselves for an expected onslaught of requests as more North Carolinians find themselves unemployed, evicted and struggling to make ends meet. The uptick in need comes as donations and grant money, already fleeting, are shrinking as the recession deepens. "We're seeing more unemployment insurance appeals, foreclosures, efforts by creditors to collect," said Victor Boone, the senior managing attorney of Raleigh's Legal Aid office. "We simply can't help all of them." The lack of affordable legal help for the poor has long been described as a near-crisis in North Carolina and elsewhere, with providers having to turn away people with solid cases because there isn't enough money to take the complaint to court. Although lawyers are guaranteed for the poor in criminal matters, that doesn't apply to civil legal issues that often have life-altering effects: foreclosure proceedings, adoptions, child custody issues, domestic violence and workplace discrimination. Legal Aid of North Carolina, with 23 offices statewide and a staff of 250, took dramatic steps to make its $18 million budget this year, said George Hausen, the executive director of the statewide nonprofit. Twenty part-time positions for lawyers answering a toll-free number to assess cases and offer legal advice were cut. To avoid layoffs, staff members agreed to a freeze on contributions to their 401(k) plans, a savings of $550,000, Hausen said. The Raleigh Legal Aid office also found it received $29,000 less from United Way of the Triangle this year, an amount that equals a paralegal's salary. And there's still the possibility that Legal Aid offices across the state may have to shut down for a day or two each month in an attempt to stay in the black. "I'm dying from a thousand cuts," Hausen said. Next year may be worse, he added. This year, people in need are having a tougher time reaching lawyers. One woman Boone spoke with recently said she ran up a high cell phone bill trying to get through on the group's line to get legal advice, he said. "It wasn't because nobody wanted to speak with her. She just couldn't get through because there were so many people calling," Boone said. "We're aware of it; we just don't know how to deal with it." Who provides money? Legal Aid of North Carolina gets most of its money from the federal government, through the Legal Services Corp., but leaders of the statewide nonprofit don't know what next year's grant from this source will be. Legal Aid groups also haven't heard what they'll get from the state. They'd like an increase, but this may be unlikely given that Gov. Beverly Perdue has already called for deep budget cuts; legal aid officials are now hoping to maintain money levels from the state. Hausen said he doesn't expect major cuts from the state this year, but he is already worried about 2010, which will likely bring further declines as fallout from the nation's recession is more fully realized. Another significant source of Legal Aid money comes from the interest on lawyers' trust accounts that is collected by the N.C. State Bar. In October 2007, the N.C. Supreme Court ruled that interest from these trust accounts, which hold money from real estate transactions and other short-term deposits attorneys oversee for their clients, must go to the State Bar and be distributed to nonprofits or projects that provide legal help to the poor. Legal Aid of North Carolina received the bulk of the $4.1 million distributed this year, but the Bar chose not to increase the amount it gave away in order to shore up some reserves, said Evelyn Pursley of the N.C. State Bar. Pursley runs the Bar's program that keeps track of the collected funds. North Carolina is in better shape than some other states, where interest money collected from lawyers' trust accounts has dropped as much as 50 percent as interest rates have tumbled, Pursley said. That's because North Carolina's program was made mandatory just a year ago, meaning there was an influx of new money coming in last year, and the State Bar negotiated rates that haven't dropped as dramatically as in other states. But Pursley said banks are calling her to renegotiate the rates, which may lead to the drop seen in other states. "I'm hopeful that some of our larger banks will hang in with us," Pursley said. A grateful client Felice Streeter knows the frustration of trying to find affordable legal help. The Cary woman called several lawyers to help her son, Ricky Streeter, a Special Forces soldier who returned from Iraq in November, and his wife, Courtney. In order to move to Germany, where Ricky Streeter is stationed, the couple needed a judge to sign a custody order for Courtney Streeter's 8-year-old daughter from a previous marriage. Felice Streeter took the lead in trying to find legal help for the couple. One lawyer she called asked for a $2,000 advance to draft a custody order, even though the custody had been amicably agreed upon years ago between Courtney and her ex-husband. "Other places wouldn't even tell you what they'd charge you without you coming in and paying a $250 consulting fee," Streeter said. "They're a young family, and they don't have a lot of money." The family got the help they needed from a lawyer at Legal Aid last week, paving the way for the family to be together in their new home in Germany. Felice Streeter said she now wants to return the favor and wants to see whether she can help Legal Aid by volunteering to answer phones. sarah.ovaska@newsobserver.com or 919-829-4622 |
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| abb | Feb 10 2009, 06:01 AM Post #8 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1400154.html Published: Feb 10, 2009 12:30 AM Modified: Feb 10, 2009 02:31 AM Ex-public defender is disbarred Bob Brown Jr. of Durham admits sexual harassment Anne Blythe, Staff Writer Comment on this story In a case that once again impugns the integrity of the Durham justice system, Bob Brown Jr., the county's first public defender, admitted to the N.C. State Bar that he sexually harassed three women while they worked for him. In a consent order, signed Friday and posted Monday on the Bar's disciplinary notice site, Brown agreed to surrender his law license for five years. The order portrays Brown as a public defender who repeatedly made sexual advances toward women who worked for him, wrapping an arm around them, massaging their shoulders and stroking one's stomach. He questioned them about their sexual preferences, the order states, commented on their figures and asked their bra sizes. The disciplinary action, effective March 8, comes nearly a year and a half after the Bar stripped former District Attorney Mike Nifong of his law license for prosecutorial misconduct during the Duke lacrosse case. Brown served in the public defender's office from 1990 until Jan. 31, 2006, when he agreed to step down under pressure from Judge Orlando Hudson. Danielle Bruno, an assistant public defender whom Brown admitted in the order to harassing, had sought to have her boss removed from office. Brown continued in private law practice after that. In 2007, Bruno, former paralegal Janice Ingram and former legal assistant Rachel Allen filed a sexual harassment suit against Brown in civil court. The Bar's detailed 10-page disciplinary order portrays Brown as a boss who repeatedly put the women in compromising positions and interfered with their ability to do their jobs. "Trust me," he repeatedly told the women, and offered to do personal and professional favors for them if they did, the Bar order states. In 2005, when a permanent job that Bruno was interested in became available, Brown told her "she had three days to be his friend" if she wanted the position, according to the order. Brown's conduct, the order states, "caused harm and significant potential harm to the public defender's office, to the legal profession" and "to the administration of justice." The Bar's disciplinary hearing committee considered censure and reprimand as penalties but decided such disciplinary action "would not sufficiently protect the public because of the gravity of the harm" caused by Brown and "the risk that similar conduct would occur in the future." This was not the first time the Bar had heard such complaints against Brown. In 1996, he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor assault charge. In that case, Brown was accused of grabbing a female client's buttocks. The State Bar reprimanded Brown and fined him. Under the disciplinary order filed this week, Brown could apply to get his license back in three years if he undergoes psychiatric evaluations and follows any treatment plans, pays all costs assessed by the Bar in connection with the disciplinary hearing and violates no state or federal laws. anne.blythe@newsobserver.com or 919-932-8741 |
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| abb | Feb 10 2009, 06:04 AM Post #9 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1400156.html Published: Feb 10, 2009 12:30 AM Modified: Feb 10, 2009 02:31 AM Atwater is accused of murdering Eve Carson. Federal kidnap charge added Anne Blythe, Staff Writer Comment on this story A federal grand jury revised the indictments against Demario Atwater to include a federal kidnapping charge several weeks after the U.S. attorney general gave prosecutors permission to seek the death penalty in his case. Atwater, 22, is accused of killing Eve Carson, the UNC-Chapel Hill student body president found shot to death 11 months ago. The murder case against Atwater is in state court, but federal prosecutors have accused him of carjacking, weapons and now kidnapping charges that could bring the death penalty if the actions were done in the commission of a homicide. In mid-January, several days before the transfer of presidential power, Michael B. Mukasey, the outgoing U.S. attorney general, issued his decision to seek the death penalty in the federal charges against Atwater. In late January, a federal grand jury indicted Atwater on the federal kidnapping charge, claiming he used automated teller machines, telephones and interstate and public roads in the commission of the offense. The grand jury's revised indictment, entered in federal court Jan. 30, also lists some aggravating factors that prosecutors plan to use in their push for the death penalty. The homicide was committed in such an "especially heinous, cruel and depraved manner" that it "involved torture and serious physical abuse to the victim," the indictment says. The first federal charges came in October, more than six months after Orange County prosecutors charged Atwater with murder. Atwater also faces the death penalty in Orange County, where no jury has sent anybody to death row since 1973. Laurence Alvin Lovette, 18, is also charged with murder and kidnapping in the Carson killing. Because he was 17 at the time of the incident, state prosecutors cannot seek the death penalty against Lovette. Investigators say Atwater and Lovette kidnapped Carson the morning of March 5 and forced her to withdraw $1,400 from automated teller machines before they shot her with a .25-caliber handgun and a sawed-off shotgun. anne.blythe@newsobserver.com or 919-932-8741 |
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| abb | Feb 10 2009, 06:19 AM Post #10 |
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http://media.www.dukechronicle.com/media/storage/paper884/news/2009/02/10/News/Duke-Gets.500m.In.Debt.Issue-3621705.shtml Duke gets $500M in debt issue Bonds account for less endowment spending By: David Graham Posted: 2/10/09 Duke issued $500 million in bonds late last month, opting to take on debt rather than liquidate assets in the University's endowment. The bonds, packaged into two tranches of $250 million each, have maturities of five and 10 years at interest rates of 4.2 percent and 4.15 percent, respectively. The bonds, which sold in one day, garnered bids of $4 billion, said Executive Vice President Tallman Trask. The sale will afford the University some breathing room after taking losses on its endowment in the mid-20 percent range in fiscal year 2009. Trask told The Chronicle last week that Duke would slash its annual budget by more than $100 million over the next few years in response to investment losses and declines in giving. Duke's endowment, which is managed by the Duke University Management Company, stood at about $6.1 billion on June 30, the end of fiscal year 2008. "The main reason for doing it is [to] fund the endowment distributions from DUMAC that way and allow them-not force them-to liquidate holdings at bargain basement prices," Trask said. "[The size of the distribution] is down, but it used to be roughly $90 million a quarter." The first quarterly distribution-the amount withdrawn from the University's managed investment accounts-has been covered by the issuance, and the rest of the cash has been put in conservative investment vehicles, Trask said. The bonds were underwritten by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs. Duke is not alone in issuing bonds. In some of the highest-profile sales, Harvard and Princeton universities issued $1.5 billion and $1 billion in debt in December and January, respectively, according to Bloomberg News. Both those issues were rated AAA, the highest possible credit rating. The two major ratings agencies, Standard and Poor's and Moody's, rated Duke's bonds AA+ and Aa1, both one step below AAA. Higher ratings indicate a lower chance that the issuer will default on its debt. But despite the lower rating, Duke sold its bonds at lower interest rates than those schools. Harvard sold bonds with maturities ranging from five to 30 years at rates from 5 to 6.5 percent. Princeton's bonds, with 10- and 30-year maturities, sold at 4.95 and 5.7 percent, respectively. The lower rates mean Duke will have to pay its bondholders a lesser amount per dollar than its peer universities. "We just happened to hit the market a little better than they did," Trask said. "Interest rates came down a little bit by the time we got out. We deliberately did it in the last 10 days of January because that's a period when a lot of corporations who have filed aren't in the market because they're being reviewed, so it's sort of an opening." In a report, S&P analyst Marc Savaria indicated that the rating was based upon Duke's large application pool, high five-year graduation rate and high freshman-to-sophomore retention rate. Duke compares favorably with most universities in these areas. But its smaller endowment as compared to Harvard and Princeton likely contributed to Duke's slightly lower credit rating, S&P spokesperson Ed Sweeney said. S&P also considers annual percentage endowment draw, debt load and fundraising in assigning credit ratings. Although the University is expected to face budget cuts, Duke's bond issue may be as much a clever move as it is a crisis-management measure, said John Graham, D. Richard Mead, Jr. professor of finance at the Fuqua School of Business. "My interpretation is that Duke was smart to obtain a half billion of relatively cheap debt in a time when credit markets are very tight," he wrote in an e-mail. "Obtaining a little extra liquidity right now, just in case things get much worse, is prudent because if things do get worse, there is a scenario where it might be hard for even credit-worthy institutions to have a hard time borrowing in the future. Graham said bonds from institutions like universities are an attractive investment. Interest rates on Treasury notes, considered the safest investment available, are currently very low-between 1.48 and 1.85 percent for five-year notes and between 2.40 and 2.87 percent for 10-year notes during the period when Duke sold its bonds, according to the U.S. Treasury Web site. "Four percent on a very safe Duke bond sounds very good compared to that," Graham said. "At the same time, 4 percent on a sure thing at Duke might also sound better... than the stock market to a lot of investors right now-this is called flight to quality and is a big influence right now." Simultaneous with the $500 million issue, the North Carolina Capital Facilities Finance Agency sold $280 million in bonds for the University. Trask said these bonds were not for new projects, but simply to refinance earlier projects. But although bonds are a useful tool in Duke's toolbox, Trask said he hopes to stay away from any issuances in the near future. "Debt is a wonderful thing," he said. "It has one drawback, though-you have to pay it back. We have enough debt right now. I don't think we need any more." |
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| abb | Feb 10 2009, 06:20 AM Post #11 |
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http://media.www.dukechronicle.com/media/storage/paper884/news/2009/02/10/News/Fai-Reached.Stated.Goal.Awaits.Ideal-3621706.shtml FAI reached stated goal; awaits ideal Aid Initiative aimed to up endowment coverage By: Zachary Tracer Posted: 2/10/09 With a $308.5 million haul, Duke's Financial Aid Initiative surpassed its widely-touted goal of $300 million as 2008 drew to a close. But a less publicized optimal goal of the Initiative-to fund 50 percent of financial aid from the University's endowment-has yet to be realized. Since 2005, the proportion of financial aid funded by the endowment has increased by 2.1 percent, to 21.4 percent in fiscal year 2008, according to numbers provided by Peter Vaughn, executive director of alumni and development communications. Comparable figures are not yet available for the current fiscal year. In July 2005, the year the Initiative kicked off, Executive Vice President Tallman Trask told The Chronicle that the endowment would ideally cover half of the financial aid budget. It is now unclear when Duke might reach that milestone. Asked about the goal Wednesday, Trask said, "I don't think we're going to get there any time soon." Funding a higher proportion of financial aid from the endowment would give the University greater flexibility in how it spends its operating budget, said Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations. Duke maintains an eight-figure reserve fund to ensure it can meet its financial aid commitments, and it would dip into the operating budget to cover any shortfalls, Trask said. According to the Financial Aid Initiative Web site, the budget for this academic year includes $63 million for undergraduate financial aid, an $11 million increase from last year. To keep pace with its 50 percent goal, the University would need to increase endowment spending on financial aid by about $2 million this year, according to Chronicle calculations. This figure uses the same percentage of financial aid that would be covered by the endowment as last year, at approximately 21 percent. Duke's endowment paid out $245 million in fiscal year 2008 and was worth $6.1 billion as of June 30, according to 2007/2008 Financial Reports. Since then, the endowment has lost more than a fifth of its value. But because the average endowment performance was strong over the past three years-the period used to calculate endowment spending-endowment payouts will not drop this year, Trask said. If losses continue to mount, endowment spending will decline, but he said Duke will not cut financial aid spending. If, however, Duke is forced to draw more aid funding from its operating budget, the percentage of aid spending from the endowment could shrink. Trask said Duke's distance from the goal is in part a result of the recent poor performance of its investments. "A lot of the money in the Financial Aid Initiative has come in late, and as a consequence, it is not generating any revenue because it is underwater," he said. Despite the downturn, the University is still committed to reaching the 50 percent mark for aid funded by the endowment, Schoenfeld said. Schoenfeld did not say when Duke might reach its goal, explaining that it depends on the endowment's performance. "The fact that the percentage of aid that is covered by the endowment continues to go up says we're making progress toward it," he said. "When the University said back at the beginning of the Initiative that our ultimate goal was to fund 50 percent of financial aid from the endowment, I don't think anybody realistically expected that would happen in a short amount of time." David Graham contributed reporting. |
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| abb | Feb 10 2009, 06:21 AM Post #12 |
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http://media.www.dukechronicle.com/media/storage/paper884/news/2009/02/10/News/Carroll.Speaks.On.Journalisms.Future-3621708.shtml Carroll speaks on journalism's future By: Julius Jones Posted: 2/10/09 John Carroll, former editor of the Los Angeles Times, addressed a captivated audience about the future of journalism at the Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy Monday. Carroll largely focused his remarks on the Internet and corporate culture, and their impact on reporting and the ethics of journalism. The speech was part of the DeWitt Wallace Center for Media and Democracy's 2009 Ewing Lecture on Ethics and Journalism and attracted about 120 attendees. "I sometimes think of a newsroom as a teeming swamp of considerations, including ethics," Carroll said. "We developed ethics in newsrooms simply to survive all the things that were coming our way and needed to be dealt with." Carroll said the culture of the newsroom is changing. More stories are being covered through the Internet, and as newspaper businesses also need to turn a profit to run, corporate interests can stand in the way of reporting and, in turn, challenge the ethics of journalism, he added. "The swamp is being drained," he said, referring to the changing newsroom. The convergence of corporate and journalistic culture is, in many regards, incompatible, Carroll noted. Although businesses are primarily concerned with turning a profit and pleasing shareholders, journalism's mission is to serve the reader and the public, he said. "The clash between values is quite real," Carroll added. "It's quite uncomfortable. It is more intense now that the economy is collapsing." An increase in the number of people getting news from Internet sources, such as online newspapers and amateur blogs, has forced companies to offer online content for free, he said. This, Carroll added, has complicated matters further by leading to many of the financial difficulties that currently plague print journalism. "Some very clever people, without malice, have invented the World Wide Web and every newspaper has swooned, perhaps never to rise again," Carroll said. Some students in the audience said they agreed with Carroll that society still needs the traditional media to dig up news. He also noted that it is not the medium or technology that determines ethics-it is the people involved themselves. "I think the newspaper is a vital resource to keep the public informed," senior Jessica Adam said. Ultimately, Carroll noted, the people who report the news determine the quality of what is produced. "At any good newspaper, the staff, the rank-and-file, regards itself as the guardian of the paper's good name," Carroll said. "They are perfectly content to allow the editors to make the decisions until the editors stray from the path of righteousness, and then they take charge." After his speech, Carroll spoke to The Chronicle about his start in journalism and how he personally dealt with ethical dilemmas over the course of his career. "My father was a newspaper editor in Winston-Salem, and I wasn't really interested in journalism, but I liked the people who worked there," he said. "They were interesting characters." Although he said he lacked interest in journalism as a child, Carroll noted that this field was the perfect outlet for his naturally curious personality. "It gave me an excuse to go ask people questions about what they're doing and why," he said. Carroll added that throughout his career, he has faced many ethical challenges, but one in particular resonated in his memory. In 1969, he was assigned to cover the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, a campaign staffer who died in the vehicle of Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., when he drove it into Poucha Pond in Chappaquiddick, Mass. Carroll chose to report on the aftermath of the accident, despite the fact that Kopechne was a family friend. "I always felt torn because I did know her parents but I didn't want to take advantage of them," he said. "And I ended up wishing I never got involved in that." The experience taught Carroll that it was best to remove himself from a story if conflict of interest was at all possible, he added. Carroll said that although there have been ups and downs in his career, he feels his journalism was an important contribution to society. "Over time you get deeper satisfactions. You might write a story that gets someone out of jail that shouldn't be there," he said. "At the end of your life, you may be able to look in St. Peter's face and say, 'I actually did something good.'" |
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| abb | Feb 10 2009, 06:22 AM Post #13 |
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http://media.www.dukechronicle.com/media/storage/paper884/news/2009/02/10/News/Jury-Adjusts.Atwater.Case.Indictment-3621714.shtml Jury adjusts Atwater case indictment By: Staff Reports Posted: 2/10/09 An updated indictment issued by a federal grand jury includes new allegations that could make it easier for federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in the murder trial of Demario Atwater. Atwater, 22, is accused of killing former University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill student body president Eve Carson in March 2008. The revised indictment, filed Jan. 30, alleges that Carson was physically abused and tortured before she was killed. Former U.S. attorney general Mike Mukasey granted approval Jan. 16 to seek the death penalty in the case, according to The (Raleigh) News & Observer. North Carolina currently has an unofficial moratorium on the death penalty. The indictment includes an additional charge of kidnapping. The indictment also outlines several aggravating factors that the grand jury will consider in its decision on whether to administer federal capital punishment, The N&O reported. "Atwater... committed the homicide offense in an especially heinous, cruel and depraved manner in that it involved torture and serious physical abuse to the victim," the indictment reads. Laurence Lovette, Atwater's co-defendant in the Carson case, is also facing charges for the January 2008 murder of graduate student Abhijit Mahato. Lovette is not eligible for the death penalty because he was 17 at the time of the alleged crime. |
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| chatham | Feb 10 2009, 08:04 AM Post #14 |
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Speaking of Duke Lacrosse , Ryan McFayden's father was at the Duke Miami game the other night wearing a LAX hat with 41 on the back. |
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| Locomotive Breath | Feb 10 2009, 08:38 AM Post #15 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/story/1400160.html Blogs and libel law A bill filed last week would specify that blogs can be libelous. Sen. Steve Goss said he wrote the bill over concern that "fast-moving Internet technology" may be outstripping existing libel laws. He wants the law to specifically say that blogs and other online media can be considered libelous. "I believe these blogs are getting out of control," he said. Legal experts say blogs are already covered under common law, though they may not have as many protections in North Carolina statutes as newspapers and magazines. Mike Tadych, a First Amendment lawyer with the N.C. Press Association, said there have been a number of cases of people suing for libel over things published online. But he was not aware of any cases where bloggers used the state's libel laws to protect themselves. "We would make that argument, but I don't know that it's been tested in North Carolina," he said. One statute forces the potential plaintiff to first notify the publication. If the publication issues a "full and fair correction" within 10 days, any fine is limited to one penny. A second statute puts a one-year statute of limitations on libel and slander suits. The bill calls for making libel conveyed through the Internet, a blog, a bulletin board, news group or e-mail a Class 2 misdemeanor criminal offense. |
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