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| Blog and Media Roundup - Thursday, Feb 12, 2009; News Roundup | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Feb 12 2009, 05:41 AM (766 Views) | |
| abb | Feb 12 2009, 05:41 AM Post #1 |
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http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/durham/4-1095265.cfm NAACP looks to 101 as it turns 100 By Gregory Childress : The Herald-Sun gchildress@heraldsun.com Feb 12, 2009 DURHAM -- On the eve of the NAACP's 100th birthday, the Rev. William J. Barber was more focused on the challenges ahead than the organization's many past victories on the civil rights front. That doesn't mean historic events such as Brown v. Board of Education, the 1964 Civil Rights Act or the Voting Rights Act of 1965 are ever far from the thoughts of the state president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. But these days, Barber, whose office is located in Durham, finds himself thinking more about the here and now and the many challenges that still confront people of color. Specifically, he's zeroed-in on Saturday's third annual Historic Thousands on Jones Street (HK on J) event during which Barber will push the state NAACP's 14-point agenda for change before state legislators. "The HK on J movement speaks with consistency and clarity about what we need at this moment in history," Barber said. "That means better schools and health care, equal justice, affordable housing, worker fairness, voting rights, environmental justice and more." And in these tough economic times, with the state and local governments struggling to balance budgets, Barber says elected officials must take care to not "balance the budget on the backs of the poorest people." "If we cut health care, education and wages, you're cutting the things that are going that are going to help stimulate the economy," Barber said. Economic justice, Barber said, noting that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was waging an anti-poverty campaign at the time he was killed, is the new frontier. "We put more money into our prison system than we do all of the HBCUs [historically black colleges and universities]" Barber said. "That's a modern day civil rights issue." The NAACP is well-positioned to lead efforts to correct that and other socioeconomic disparities, Barber said. "The NAACP has been an organization that has not just chased headlines, but one that has sought to fundamentally change this nation through agitation, legislation and litigation," Barber said. "America has become a more perfect union because of its work." While James Black, a former president of the Durham chapter of the NAACP, believes the organization will always be needed to fight racial discrimination, he also thinks it's time African Americans take a serious look inward. He said the leaders who founded the NAACP and those who sacrificed so much in the struggle for civil rights would be thrilled with the election of President Barack Obama, but would also find much with which to be disappointed. "Some would look at our youth and shake their heads," Black said. "We haven't done a good job with our youth. Black said that moving forward the NAACP has to focus more on families, and particularly black males and fatherhood. "We're going to have to go back to being fathers," Black said. "That's one of the greatest concerns right now." Repeating a common sentiment heard since the election of President Obama, Fred Foster, the current Durham chapter NAACP president, said in spite of stark disparities and lingering injustices, Obama's election signals forward movement. "We've got to be accountable. We can't blame everything on white America," Foster said. "We've got to step up to the plate." Still, Foster warns that the struggle is not over simply because the nation elected a black president. He hopes, however, that it will push America still closer toward her ideals, where men and women are judged by their deeds and accomplishments rather than their skin color. "We used to hit home runs and they used to still give us a zero," Foster said. "Hopefully, with the election of Obama, they're now going to give us a '1' like everybody else." As the nation moved closer to commemorating the birth date of its oldest civil rights organization, Foster couldn't help wondering about where the nation would be if a group of forward-thinking whites and blacks didn't come together in Abraham Lincoln's adopted hometown of Springfield, Ill., on the president's 100th birthday to discuss America's race problem. "I don't think we would be as far along as we are," Foster said. "Every time there was chance to open a door, the NAACP was there." |
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| abb | Feb 12 2009, 05:43 AM Post #2 |
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http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/durham/4-1095197.cfm Krzyzewskiville camper diagnosed with meningitis By Gregory Childress : The Herald-Sun gchildress@heraldsun.com Feb 12, 2009 DURHAM -- An unidentified first-year Duke University student who had been camping out in Krzyzewskiville in preparation for Wednesday's Duke-UNC game was diagnosed with meningococcal meningitis on Tuesday. Because the infection was caught early, Duke Health officials say the young woman is expected to fully recover. Also known as bacterial meningitis, the disease can be fatal if not treated early. Duke Health officials said in a news release that people who were in close contact with the woman, including her roommate and her K-Ville tent mates, began receiving prophylactic antibiotic treatment Wednesday morning. Students with symptoms for the disease -- high fever, severe headaches, stiff neck and vomiting -- are urged to seek medical attention immediately. Bill Purdy, director of Student Health, said friends took the woman to the Duke Hospital emergency room Tuesday morning. When her condition worsened, doctors performed a spinal tap which confirmed meningitis. Purdy said treatment for meningitis usually takes seven to 10 days. He said the woman will likely spend seven days in the hospital. Bacterial meningitis is contagious and is spread by intimate contact such as coughing or kissing. But according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Web site, "none of the bacteria that cause meningitis are as contagious as things like the common cold or the flu, and they are not spread by casual contact or by simply breathing the air where a person with meningitis has been." Purdy said university officials will continue to closely monitor students to make sure no one else has contracted meningitis. Duke officials estimate that between 50 and 75 percent of the university's students have received the vaccination for meningitis, which reduces the risk of contracting the disease. "We don't expect to see another student with this illness, but we're going to be very vigilante," Purdy said. Will Brody, an 18-year-old freshman from Greenville, who was one of the students camping out in K-Ville, said news about the woman contracting meningitis was "mildly concerning." "When you sign up for K-Ville you take into account that something of that sort might happen," Brody said. Purdy has a different perspective about K-Ville, however. "It's not our favorite thing at Student Health," he said. |
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| abb | Feb 12 2009, 05:52 AM Post #3 |
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http://www.johnincarolina.com/ N&O’s Interest Conflict In Lobbyist Newsletter Deal The McClatchy Company’s liberal/leftist Raleigh News & Observer claims to be “a “watchdog” that looks out for the public’s interest. Last December N&O public editor Ted Vaden, self-described “ readers’ advocate,” penned a column - “The watchdog still barks -- and bites” – in which he gushed about he N&O’s “continuing commitment to performing the watchdog function.” But just this past Sunday Vaden's column was a justification of “the public’s watchdog's” entering into what’s meant to be a moneymaking deal for both a lobbyist whose clients include pharmaceutical and other health care companies and the N&O. Here, in italics, is some of what Vaden said, with my comments interspersed in plain - - - The "readers' advocate" began - - - The relationship between one of The News & Observer's subsidiary publications and a Raleigh lobbyist has raised questions about independence of news coverage. The N&O last month launched an e-mail newsletter called N.C. Legislative HealthWatch to cover health-related legislation in the General Assembly. The newsletter is written by Harrison J. Kaplan, a lawyer with the firm of McGuire Woods in Raleigh. It is produced in partnership with The Insider, a state government affairs newsletter owned by The N&O. The Insider does the production, distribution and marketing of the health care newsletter, for which a subscription costs $399 a year. Kaplan’s ties to health care interests prompted questions from Adam Searing, project director of the N.C. Justice Center's Health Access Coalition. "(T)his new partnership raises questions about whether a health industry lobbyist should be joining with one of the largest media companies in the state to report on health issues," Searing wrote in a blog for N.C. Policy Watch, a liberal public policy advocacy group. "What gets reported on in this sort of newsletter may well end up in the more mainstream media. And, even with good will and the best of intentions all around, Kaplan's business provides an appearance of a conflict of interest regarding how and what he chooses to cover." . . . I can't see any problem with Kaplan writing a newsletter, covering whatever he wants and charging what the market will bear. His clients can decide if they’re OK with what he does. The serious interest conflict involves the N&O, which is supposed to report the news, and its readers who expect the paper to do that. If the N&O reports what’s newsworthy in Kaplan’s newsletter, than who’s going to pay $399 for it when they can read Kaplan’s news in the N&O which anyone can buy now at close to giveaway subscription prices? The N&O knows that. So why would it do anything which would hurt the subscription sales of Kaplan’s $399 newsletter and the profit the N&O will make from The Insider's producing and distributing it? Kaplan said that criticism reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of the newsletter. It is intended not as a traditional news coverage medium, he said, but as an insider tip sheet for health care attorneys and other professionals following bills in the legislature. Don’t insider tip sheets often contain important news? Isn’t that why “attorneys and other professionals following bills in the legislature” pay big bucks for them? Do you think Kaplan, Vaden, and everyone else at the N&O don’t know that? "The purpose is not to report the news like the newspaper does," he told me. "It was to let people know what is happening down at the legislature from someone who is down there all the time." But isn’t that what the N&O assures readers it does? Dowell said Kaplan is compensated based on the success of subscription sales. (Of course. Kaplan and Dowell both said they saw no conflict between Kaplan's reporting product and his representation of clients who might be affected by the material he covers. Once again, the very serious conflict here does notinvolve Kaplan and his clients who can cut him loose anytime. The conflict involves the N&O, which if it reports the newsworthy material in Kaplan’s newsletter will take away people’s motivation to pay $399 for its tip sheet information and the N&O's readers who count on it to report that information in the paper. With that in mind, look at what Vadan tells readers next. John Drescher, executive editor of The News & Observer, said he doesn't see any conflict with The N&O's news coverage mission because the Insider and HealthWatch are separate entities not associated with his newsroom. "We're completely independent from them. I have no control over them, and they have no control over me. So it's not anything that would compromise the independence of the newsroom." Drescher and Vaden really want you to believe that. That's why throughout his column Vaden shills the red herring of a possible lobbyist-newsletter conflict while ignoring the N&O's very serious news reporting conflict. Drescher said material from Kaplan's newsletter would not end up in The N&O. Of course not. As I've already said if the N&O did that, it would be killing what it hopes will be a nice moneymaking arrangement. Without making some money, how can the N&O pay Drescher, Vadan and its other employees salaries? Can you believe there are N&O readers who swallow the N&O's baloney about its "public watchdog" role? There’s a lot more in Vaden’s column, all of it meant to justify the Kaplan-N&O moneymaking partnership and to leave readers ignorant of the N&O's serious conflict of interest. You can read it all here in Vaden's column with the misleading headline:"Looking at a lobbyist-newsletter relationship" |
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| abb | Feb 12 2009, 05:57 AM Post #4 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/2932/story/1402967.html Published: Feb 12, 2009 12:30 AM Modified: Feb 12, 2009 05:26 AM Fullwood had ordered an investigation of a toppled plant. Probation manager steps down James Fullwood oversaw the region that includes Wake, Durham and Orange and that had high-profile problems Joseph Neff, Sarah Ovaska and Anne Blythe, Staff Writers Comment on this story The resignation of a key manager in the state's probation system signals that the shakeup continues in an agency with deep problems that affect public safety. James "Woody" Fullwood, the regional manager of a 21-county probation judicial division area that includes Wake, Durham and Orange counties, abruptly stepped down from his job Tuesday evening. Fullwood had spoken in earlier interviews about looking forward to working for Gov. Beverly Perdue. In January, probation chief Robert Guy retired when Perdue said she would not retain the longtime director of the division. Guy had earlier blamed Fullwood for problems in the probation system. The personnel changes were welcomed as good first steps by officials worried about the probation system's failings. "They're making steps in the right direction," said Eugene Brown, a City Council member in Durham, where some probationers were ignored for months before going on to commit murders. The Durham probation office has been plagued by poor case management, high turnover and vacancies. But at a time when crowded state prisons have lawmakers contemplating sending fewer criminals to prison, Brown wants state legislators to pump more money into the probation system so additional officers can be hired. Quick fixes, such as management changes, aren't enough, said Colon Willoughby, Wake's district attorney. The structured-sentencing system can leave judges with no choice but to put an offender on probation, he said. "We ought to look at who we're putting on probation; are we putting people that any reasonable person would say they're not going to succeed?" Willoughby said. "If we are, then we're probably overburdening probation officers with people that we all know will not be successful." Others have suggested using more pre-sentencing reports to determine who is a poor risk for probation. Fullwood's resignation came less than a week after The News & Observer reported that he had ordered a two-day investigation into a potted plant found tipped over in the office of a Harnett County probation supervisor. Fullwood was also the manager who oversaw the Wake and Durham offices, described by Guy and others as the worst-run in the state. Fullwood, 60, sent an e-mail message to his staff late Tuesday afternoon, telling them he was retiring after 36 years with the Department of Correction. His departure was immediate. "Effective today at 5 p.m., I will be utilizing leave until March 31, 2009," Fullwood wrote. "As I depart, I challenge each and every one of you to omit the word try and replace it with I will. Stand tall." Fullwood, who made $89,144 annually, had been in charge of the the state's Judicial Division 2, one of four regional divisions in the state. Fullwood declined to comment when reached at home. Fullwood's leadership had come under scrutiny after an N&O series published in December. Statewide, the investigation found that 580 probationers had killed since the start of 2000. The series also showed that the probation system had lost track of nearly 14,000 convicted criminals. Many of the problems were in counties under Fullwood's management, including the highly publicized killings last year of UNC-Chapel Hill student body president Eve Carson and Duke graduate student Abhijit Mahato. The men accused in their killings had received scant attention from probation officers in Wake and Durham counties. In 2006, Fullwood ordered an investigation of a toppled potted plant in the office of probation supervisor Joyce James. Two probation managers from other counties questioned 20 officers and a janitor and examined time cards. They concluded: "It is undetermined as to whom or how the plant located in chief probation/parole officer James' office got overturned." Fullwood will be replaced temporarily by Diane Isaacs, who had been his assistant administrator. Guy's position has yet to be filled; Tim Moose, a longtime probation employee, is serving as the interim director. joseph.neff@newsobserver.com or 919-829-4516 |
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| abb | Feb 12 2009, 05:59 AM Post #5 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/news/education/story/1402964.html Published: Feb 12, 2009 12:30 AM Modified: Feb 12, 2009 05:27 AM Lawyer: Right to learn violated Girls suspended with no alternative Sarah Ovaska, Staff Writer Comment on this story RALEIGH - Two teenage girls who got into a schoolyard fight at a Beaufort County high school may end up paving the way for all North Carolina students to have access to schooling after long-term suspensions, a guarantee that doesn't currently exist. Viktoria King and Jessica Hardy, now 16 and 17, drove up from coastal Beaufort County together with their mothers to attend arguments Wednesday at the N.C. Court of Appeals in Raleigh. The arguments centered on the girls' months-long suspension for a January 2008 fight and the school system's decision not to offer them spots in an alternative school. Neither girl was seriously injured in the fight. "That is a pathway to the prison system and teenage pregnancy," Revondia Harvey-Barrow, Viktoria's mother, said after the hearing. Janet Wettach, a lawyer with Duke University's Children's Law Clinic, argued that the teens' rights to an education had been violated. If the justices agree, their decision would apply to other North Carolina students who are suspended for long periods. An estimated 4,400 North Carolina students each year are given suspensions of more than 10 days without going on to attend an alternative school, according to a brief filed by Wettach. It could be weeks or months before a decision is made by the three justices who heard the arguments -- Ann Marie Calabria, Rick Elmore and Martha Geer. Attorneys for Beaufort County's school system argued that it had a right to deny the girls alternative schooling because they violated school rules by fighting. Decisions to bar students from county schools should be left to local school officials, said Trey Allen, a Raleigh-based attorney representing the coastal system. "We contend that they temporarily forfeited that right through personal misconduct," Allen said. The girls were among several students suspended in January 2008 after a series of brawls. Both were told they weren't welcome back for the rest of the school year but weren't offered a chance to go to an alternative school or other schooling paid for by the school system, their lawyers said. State law requires every school system to have an alternative school for its students. But the law does not require school officials to offer alternative schooling to students suspended for longer than 10 days, Wettach said. "What we've done is banish these children to at least a year of abandonment in this society," said state Rep. Marvin Lucas of Spring Lake, a retired principal. "I don't know if we can afford it." Though policies vary in North Carolina school districts, decisions about which students are offered alternative schooling are generally made jointly by a principal and superintendent. In an annual report to state legislators about school suspensions, the N.C. Department of Public Instruction said there were 4,682 long-term suspensions statewide in the 2006-07 school year, with some students racking up multiple suspensions. Those students did not attend alternative schools as part of their suspensions, said Vanessa Jeter of DPI. Viktoria and Jessica are back in school this year. The yearlong legal fight has piqued Viktoria's interest in the law, and she may consider studying that or occupational therapy, her mother said. Jessica is hoping for an eventual career as a chef or in communications. "People that bring drugs to school, they're back in classes," Jessica said. "It was unfair." sarah.ovaska@newsobserver.com or 919-829-4622 |
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| abb | Feb 12 2009, 06:02 AM Post #6 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1402943.html Published: Feb 12, 2009 12:30 AM Modified: Feb 12, 2009 01:04 AM Durham man, 19, recovering after being shot in the back From Staff Reports Comment on this story DURHAM - A 19-year-old man is recovering after being shot in the back Tuesday afternoon, Durham police reported Wednesday. No arrests have been made. Police say one person stepped out of a gray sedan occupied by several males at Cook Road and Tripoli Drive and shot Alexander Fisher. Fisher was taken to Duke University Hospital with serious injuries. |
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| abb | Feb 12 2009, 06:04 AM Post #7 |
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http://www.laxmagazine.com/college_men/DI/2008-09/news/021009_mcfadyen No Longer Villain, McFadyen Fires Up Duke 'D' by Matt DaSilva | Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff Defenseman Ryan McFadyen says he learned how to hit harder as a special teams player for Duke’s football team, a skill that could translate to big impact on the lacrosse field. © John Strohsacker/LaxPhotos.com Ryan McFadyen knows the e-mail was a wretched thing to write. That’s why he wrote it, to get a yuk out of what he thought was a private audience by quoting a book (and movie) whose protagonist makes Marilyn Manson look like Mother Theresa – shock value. Little did he know that e-mailing teammates in jest about skinning and killing strippers (among other vulgarities) would become national news in the Duke lacrosse nightmare. “You Google my name, there are all these links to the e-mail saying this kid’s a psychotic lunatic,” said McFadyen, whose e-mail paraphrased a passage from American Psycho. “Dialogue is the best way to overcome any preconceived notions people have about my character. Talk to me for 10 minutes. I’m not that person.” Vilified publicly when Durham police released the contents of the e-mail as part of District Attorney Mike Nifong’s “tragic rush to accuse,” as the false rape allegations against three of his teammates were later declared, McFadyen could hardly be blamed if he bolted campus. But he didn’t. Instead, when reinstated following a brief suspension, McFadyen rededicated himself to the university and Blue Devils. The last two seasons, he helped anchor Duke’s defense in runs to the NCAA championship game and semifinals, respectively. “I could never play lacrosse for another school,” he said. In the fall, McFadyen took it a step further, earning a scholarship as a walk-on to Duke’s football team in part because of a challenge issued unintentionally by men’s lacrosse coach John Danowski. In a sports psychology exercise last spring, Danowski told the team about his life, and how much he regretted quitting football as a third-string quarterback his senior year at Rutgers, where he also played lacrosse. “I told them how I got consumed with my ego – what a jerk,” Danowski said. “What Ryan heard was the no regrets part.” McFadyen had always been told he’d make a good football player. And despite no previous gridiron experience, he wanted to prove it to himself. He also felt guilty asking his parents to pay for him to return to Duke for an NCAA-granted fifth year of eligibility without the scholarship he previously had in lacrosse. At 6-foot-6, 245 pounds, but with the shiftiness of a lacrosse player, McFadyen got playing time as a tight end and on special teams. He helped block a kick against Vanderbilt and made a fair catch against Miami. But he was a man amongst beasts. “I go from being the strongest guy on my team to not even being in the top 10,” he said. “Guys are benching 500 pounds, and I’m like, ‘Do you need a spotter?’” Now he knows how Max Quinzani feels. Already the enforcer of Duke’s defense, McFadyen said the most important skill he gleaned from football was learning how to hit the right way. Hard. “I’m used to a kickoff return or cover, running down and throwing my body full speed into someone,” he said. “If anyone on our lacrosse team complains, I’ll tell them to do a Bloody Tuesday session. It speaks for itself – full pads, and you’re not holding anything back.” The Blue Devils, ranked No. 8 in Lacrosse Magazine's preseason poll, host No. 20 Bucknell in both teams' season-opener Saturday. |
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| abb | Feb 12 2009, 06:06 AM Post #8 |
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http://blogs.nypost.com/sports/backpage/archives/2009/02/selena-roberts.html February 11, 2009 Selena Roberts and the Duke case Those who choose to come to Alex Rodriguez's defense by shooting the messenger -- in this case Sports Illustrated reporter Selena Roberts -- are using her coverage of the Duke lacrosse rape case as their ammuntion. Looking back to the Duke situation, in late-winter 2006/07, it's clear Roberts was heavily criticized for the columns she wrote while working for the New York Times. This isn't to say she's right or wrong in the case of Rodriguez. From the blog TimesWatch: "As columnist Selena Roberts reportedly leaves the Times to write for Sports Illustrated, her execrable treatment of the Duke lacrosse team should not be forgotten. Three players were falsely accused of raping a stripper, a hoax Roberts not only fully embraced but used to tar the entire athletic department as a racist, woman-hating bastion of white privilege." More from TimesWatch: "Times sports columnist Selena Roberts attacks innocent Duke players with sarcasm and accusations of white privilege: 'Don't mess with Duke, though. To shine a light on its integrity has been treated by the irrational mighty as a threat to white privilege....lay off the lacrosse pipeline to Wall Street, excuse the khaki-pants crowd of SAT wonder kids.'" From the blog Fanhouse: "Sports columnist Selena Roberts is a gifted writer who usually sounds just the right notes in writing about the way sports intersects with issues like race, class, politics and the law. But she was dead wrong about the Duke lacrosse case." |
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| Quasimodo | Feb 12 2009, 06:39 AM Post #9 |
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Nice that someone at Duke cares about students missing out on their education because of an alleged rule violation... (Does that concern extend to Duke students whose education was suspended because of alleged misconduct? Should Duke have arranged for alternative ways those students could have continued their education while they were on suspension? Did anyone at Duke make that argument?) |
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| abb | Feb 12 2009, 09:25 AM Post #10 |
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http://media.www.dukechronicle.com/media/storage/paper884/news/2009/02/12/News/Precautions.Taken.For.Meningitis-3626831.shtml Precautions taken for meningitis Most students had received vaccination By: Emmeline Zhao Posted: 2/12/09 Several students, following University recommendations for illness prevention, visited Student Health Wednesday following the announcement Tuesday night that a student was being treated for meningococcal meningitis. Fifteen students, including those who were in close living contact with the ill student, received prophylactic treatment Wednesday morning. Several other students voluntarily sought diagnosis, but none showed symptoms of the disease and no similar cases have surfaced, said Dr. William Purdy, director of Student Health. "Sometimes people with the flu or viral illnesses have somewhat similar symptoms, but not as severe," he said. Meningococcal meningitis is a bacterial form of the disease, which infects the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. It can be fatal if left untreated, but the disease is rare-fewer than 5 out of 100,000 people contract the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Purdy said 66 percent of the Class of 2011 and 70 percent of the Class of 2012 had received the meningitis vaccination. The student who contracted meningitis, however, had not received the vaccine, he said. Although the vaccine does not eliminate chances of contracting meningitis, it dramatically lowers the risk, Purdy said. The vaccine is expected to last three to five years, according to the CDC, but Purdy said seniors should not be at risk because meningitis is more common in dormitories where students live in close proximity. "Students should be careful, but this is not something people should panic over," he said. "Usually when someone gets meningitis, it's obvious they are very, very sick. Studies have shown this is a very, very rare case to have right away." The student had been tenting in Krzyzewskiville since last month, one of the student's tentmates said. She began exhibiting symptoms Monday night or Tuesday morning, after she had already left K-ville following personal checks Saturday. Purdy said he does not believe the K-ville environment contributed to the student's illness. All of her tentmates were able to attend the men's basketball game against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Wednesday night, a tentmate said. "Weather changes and people get sick-it was unfortunate what happened to her," another tentmate said. "Things happen sometimes, but there's no reason to change how I am day-to-day. We're not worried about ourselves, all our concerns are for her. But from what we hear, she'll be just fine." Some tenters expressed concern about the nature of the K-ville environment. Freshman tenter Jon Bedell said K-ville should be quarantined and sanitized by bleaching every tent, and freshman tenter Cameron Blake said she thought cold weather and crowded conditions in K-ville may have been catalysts. Neither was tenting with the student. Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta notified the student body of the instance in an e-mail Tuesday at 11:45 p.m. The student had been diagnosed that evening. "The atmosphere was electric [when we found out]. I was shocked," said freshman Greer Mackebee, who was in a separate tent in K-ville. "It sounds like [administrators'] response was pretty swift." Although one of the hospitalized student's tentmates said they were well-informed by administrators about the disease, freshman tenter Cameron Albin, who also was not tenting with the student, said he would like more information about meningococcal meningitis and the current case. The Student Health Web site has been updated with information about the disease, including links to newspaper articles, Purdy said, adding that students who show any symptoms should consult Student Health. "Mainly we're concerned about high fever, stiff neck, vomiting, just feeling awful-we should at least talk to you," he said. "If you're just concerned, we would be happy to see you too." Julia Love contributed reporting. |
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| abb | Feb 12 2009, 09:26 AM Post #11 |
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http://media.www.dukechronicle.com/media/storage/paper884/news/2009/02/12/News/Gossip.Sites.Raise.Thorny.Ethical.Issues-3626832.shtml Gossip sites raise thorny ethical issues news analysis By: Ashley Holmstrom Posted: 2/12/09 JuicyCampus.com is no more, leaving students at Duke and Internet surfers afar without the inside scoop-the gossip people dared to anonymously write, regardless of whether it was true or false. The Internet has made it easier to connect with others, calling into question whether it has also made spreading the "wrong" easier than before. But the underlying ethical issues are not different from issues that people have always faced: an individual's well-being and autonomy, or privacy, said Professor of Philosophy Wayne Norman. "There is a normal, healthy form of social interaction," Norman said, adding that in real life, people tell different things to friends on the basis of familiarity. "When an Internet act invades a person's privacy, that can harm people." Although JuicyCampus Founder and Chief Executive Officer Matt Ivester, Trinity '05, cited economic reasons for shutting the site down last week, there may be underlying reasons for its demise, Norman said. Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta added that regardless of content, any business' goal is to generate revenue, and JuicyCampus was no exception. "JuicyCampus attempted to make money on gossip, just like Gossip Girl on TV," he said. "The question is, 'How far will people go? When will ethical boundaries [stop] greed?'" Those boundaries, in addition to a lack of advertisements, may have prevented the site from being profitable. Norman said he hoped people also felt too uncomfortable reading such pernicious gossip. If true, he said this may indicate something healthy about human nature-a basic level of respect for other people's dignity and privacy. "There may have been a failure of the site to be sustainably amusing and entertaining," Norman said. He added that he had heard the Web site was slow and difficult to navigate, which may have caused people to lose interest-an issue that junior Alaina Pleatman said may have been a factor. "I just don't remember it coming up in conversation last semester compared to last year," she said. "I went on it once last Fall and it was talking about who the cool freshman boys were." To illustrate JuicyCampus' shortcomings, Norman compared it to Facebook, a widely used social networking tool. "The fact that a Web site like Facebook allows old friends scattered around the world to reconnect is... enriching and meaningful," he said. "We need to give them credit for a technology that makes people happier." JuicyCampus, on the other hand, has provided a forum by which people can post content that may damage reputations without anyone's consent or any controlling mechanisms, Norman said. The ability to post specific names on the Web site probably made it more appealing, he added. "Naming made the site edgy and dangerous," he said. "It was a sugar rush-a fairly quick buzz that died down quickly." Norman also noted that the anonymity kept people from feeling accountable for their actions. "JuicyCampus just wiped out the normal sanctions that keep people from spreading that type of gossip," Norman said, adding that there are normally social rules people subconsciously follow. Like Norman, Moneta said that he does not see JuicyCampus as a novel form of changed ethical behavior, but noted that it is far more visible than typical rumors. "It is the same as anonymous gossip written on the bathroom walls of a high school, except that [because it is on the Internet], the information spreads much further," Moneta said. Moneta said he does not believe that another site created to emulate JuicyCampus would ever gain as much attention as the original. JuicyCampus showed that Internet fads can also have a quick demise, he added. Even though the site has been shut down, Norman said he believes anybody harmed by JuicyCampus still has a right to take action. "A reputation is one's most valuable asset," he said. "It can literally be stolen from you on completely false grounds-anybody would absolutely have the right to sue someone behind that." Norman said it is possible to look at the past year, and people's varying interests in JuicyCampus, as an interesting social experiment, comparing it to "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding. In the novel, Golding explores what human instinct dictates in the absence of civilized constraints. "This was like a social experiment on Duke's campus," Norman said. "We were like guinea pigs in a psych lab that have acted and evolved.... If you take away who said what, [gossip can spread] like a virus." |
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| Quasimodo | Feb 12 2009, 09:40 AM Post #12 |
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Just wanted to repeat that... |
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| abb | Feb 12 2009, 10:14 AM Post #13 |
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http://cancelthebee.blogspot.com/ Sacramento Bee management warns: "mass layoffs" a possiblity at the Bee beginning in March |
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| abb | Feb 12 2009, 10:39 AM Post #14 |
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As a reminder... http://guide.sacbee.com/100/story/4.html Melanie Sill, Editor and Senior Vice President: 916-321-1002 |
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| sceptical | Feb 12 2009, 01:49 PM Post #15 |
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(Collin Finnerty's Loyola team faces a battle against Notre Dame in Georgia (of all places) this Saturday) http://insidelacrosse.com/page.cfm?pagerid=2&news=fdetail&storyid=197325 THE STAGE: The No. 7 Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team will open the 2009 regular season with a showdown against No. 17 Loyola (Md.) on Saturday (Feb. 14) in Powder Springs, Ga. The game will be played at McEachern High School. Game time between the Fighting Irish and Greyhounds is slated for 1:00 p.m. (ET). The Irish are ready to embark on the 29th season of varsity men’s lacrosse at Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish finished last season with a 14-3 mark and made the program’s fourth trip to the NCAA Championship quarterfinals. The Greyhounds had a 7-7 record in 2008 and fell in the first round of the NCAAs. Edited by sceptical, Feb 12 2009, 01:50 PM.
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7:36 PM Jul 10