| Blog and Media Roundup - Monday, October 18, 2010; News Roundup | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Oct 18 2010, 05:12 AM (456 Views) | |
| abb | Oct 18 2010, 05:12 AM Post #1 |
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http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/9942312/article-Once-friends--conspirators---now-foes?instance=main_article Once friends, conspirators -- now foes The Herald Sun 10.16.10 - 06:52 pm Hunter, Edwards, Young all set to argue Thursday in court for protective orders BY BETH VELLIQUETTE bvelliquette@heraldsun.com; 419-6632 HILLSBOROUGH -- Once they were trusted friends and co-conspirators in keeping John Edwards' adulterous affair a secret. But their friendship and conspiracy dissolved when Andrew Young wrote a book called "The Politician" about Democrat Edwards' ill-fated run for president. It detailed the secret relationship between Edwards and Hunter on the campaign trail, even as Edwards presented himself to the world as the loving and devoted husband of Elizabeth Edwards. As the book was about to be published, Rielle Hunter filed a lawsuit against Andrew Young and his wife, Cheri, over ownership of a sex tape she made with Edwards and other photographs, but the case has turned into much more than who owns the tape. Now they argue over every nearly every issue, filing document after document at the Orange County Courthouse, as the lawsuit moves forward toward the scheduled trial date of Feb. 28, 2011. Although Hunter filed the lawsuit against the Youngs claiming they violated her privacy, the Youngs have turned the case around against her and are asking for even more private information from her they claim they need to go forward in defending themselves in the lawsuit. On Thursday in Orange County Civil Superior Court, attorneys for Hunter, Edwards and Andrew and Cheri Young are scheduled to argue for protective orders to keep some information private and to ask why the Youngs think it's necessary to ask so many personal questions of Edwards and Hunter. For example, the Youngs want information about the creation and circumstances of the "Slut Club," paper, a document Hunter wrote that lists the names of 34 men. She is trying to get that paper or any copies or photographs they made of it back from the Youngs in her lawsuit. Hunter claims the Youngs simply want to cause her further embarrassment by asking about what is in the document and why it was created, when the issue in her lawsuit is the circumstances of how the Youngs came to possess it and who owns it. Hunter claims the Youngs are seeking other personal information that is not relevant, such as cell phone numbers and Hunter's computer hard drives and camera. "They have no right to receive additional items of Plaintiff's property and have shown no legitimate reason that they would need to receive or even inspect such items," the motion states. On a list of questions the Youngs have presented to Hunter, they ask her to produce all written and verbal communication between her and various people, including Mimi Hockman, who was Hunter's partner in Midline Groove Productions, Pigeon O'Brien, a friend of Hunter's, John and/or Elizabeth Edwards, GQ Magazine correspondent Robert Draper, Barbara Walters, Oprah Winfrey, writer Jay McInerney, journalist Lisa Depaulo, who wrote the story about Hunter in GQ Magazine, and Tim Toben, a local developer who is a partner in Greenbridge, a high-rise multi-use building in Chapel Hill. The Youngs ask Hunter to produce any communications between her and those people related to the Edwards sex tape, nude photographs of Hunter, photographs of Hunter and her daughter, the Slut Club Document, Edwards Campaign and Edwards Campaign Videos. It also asks for documents that Hunter created with McInerney for a TV show "treatment" that Hunter referred to in her first deposition. The motion, which was filed Wednesday by Hunter's attorney, Alan Duncan, asks that if the court does not grant the motion for a protective order then it designate her responses as being "highly confidential," just as the sex tape and other photographs are. Edwards' attorney, Jim Cooney, is also expected to be in court Thursday on a motion for a protective order for Edwards' deposition. Edwards is not expected to be in court Thursday, according to a court clerk. |
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| abb | Oct 18 2010, 05:16 AM Post #2 |
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http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/9950308/article-Assessing-area-candidates%E2%80%99-support-of-right-to-know-?instance=hs_guest_columnists Assessing area candidates’ support of right to know The Herald Sun 10.17.10 - 11:32 pm By John Bussian Guest columnist It’s that time again. Voters are swamped with choice in races ranging from congress and the North Carolina General Assembly to sheriff. With so much hanging in balance, including another round of Congressional redistricting — following the census — it’s worth taking the time to focus on at least one part of the candidates’ record. At the risk of minimizing other important ways of assessing the candidates, consider paying extra attention to who is willing to honor the public’s right to know. In the state legislature, precious few incumbents can be counted on year in and year out to support openness in government. Notable incumbent warriers for the cause over the last two-year cycle of the state legislature on the Nov. 2 ballot are Speaker of the House Joe Hackney, D-Chapel Hill; House Speaker Pro Tem Rev. William Wainwright, D-New Bern; House members Bill Faison, D-Hillsborough; Larry Hall, (-Durham; Paul Luebke, D-Durham; Verla Insko, D-Chapel Hill; Jennifer Weiss, D-Cary; Harold Brubaker, R-Asheboro; John Blusi, R-Greensboro; Pricey Harrison, D-Greensboro; Jimmy Love, D-Sanford; and Thom Tillis, D-Charlotte; and senators Floyd McKissick, D-Durham; Dan Clodfelter, D-Charlotte; and Phil Berger, R-Rockingham. You would think that there would be many more, especially in light of the examples of bad government that keep surfacing in Raleigh. Still, this bunch fought, for the most part, to give the public first-time-ever access in North Carolina to the pay history of all government employees and to a few public employee firing records. (The public deserves more access. Depending upon who wins, the public may get more.) They also succeeded in putting some teeth in the state’s public records laws by giving the public the right to recover legal expenses incurred in filing a lawsuit against the government to ensure the public’s right to know. The races for elected judgeships tend to fall below voters’ radar. That’s understandable because its hard for most lawyers to know much potentially important information about the candidates for judicial office, let alone those who never see or hear of these candidates before their names appear on the ballot. All the more reason to focus on the judicial races this time. Again, I’ll confine my thoughts to those judges who have shown some commitment to ensuring the public’s right to know under the state’s Public Records Act and to ensuring open courts and court records. Among local, state court candidates, no one has more experience with keeping courtrooms and court records open than incumbent Durham County Superior Court Judge Jim Hardin. Beginning with his distinguished service as prosecutor in the Michael Peterson murder trial right through his current tour of duty as resident Superior Court Judge, Hardin hasn’t closed a courtroom, sealed a court record or forced a reporter to testify at the expense of free press rights. That kind of record is hard to find on the state court landscape. Beyond the race for Durham Superior Court Judge are five statewide races. Arguably the most important and least talked about is the race for the open seat on the state Supreme Court. Two sitting Court of Appeals judges, Bob Hunter and Barbara Jackson, square off. Hunter is a vocal proponent of the right to know and First Amendment rights generally. And while Barbara Jackson has served as a lawyer for a state government agency before she became a judge on the Court of Appeals — service that has caused judges with a similar background to read open government law in an access-restricting way — she has been on the side of the angels (for openness) in her two biggest opinion on public records during her time on the court in Raleigh. In the races for four seats on the state Court of Appeals in Raleigh, 13 candidates will be on the ballot in one race alone. Of the 13, only John Bloss has displayed unwavering commitment to open courts and court records. The race between incumbent Rick Elmore and Steven Walker is a close call. Walker has served as clerk and writer for long-time right-to-know proponent N.C. Supreme Court Justice Ed Brady. Elmore authored a big opinion for the forces of sunshine in a recent public records case. In another race, Wake District Court Judge Jane Gray sports a better openness record than incumbent Ann Marie Calabria. And in the last race, incumbent Court of Appeals Judge Marty Geer achieved all-star status by writing an opinion that preserves a citizen’s right to criticize government officials. Her opponent, Dean Poirier, is an unknown. The main point here is that these races are important, if for no other reason than preserving your right to know about your government and the courts. Take a minute to study the candidates. And, whatever you do, vote on Nov. 2nd. John Bussian, who lives in Durham, is First Amendment and legislative counsel for the North Carolina Press Association. |
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| abb | Oct 18 2010, 05:20 AM Post #3 |
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http://dukechronicle.com/article/lasalle-patrols-increase-after-recent-crimes LaSalle patrols increase after recent crimes Courtney Douglas/ The Chronicle After two students were robbed last week on LaSalle Street, Duke and Durham police have instituted additional safety measures in the area. By Joanna Lichter [4] October 18, 2010 In response to recent robberies of students on LaSalle Street, Duke and Durham police departments are taking collaborative measures to improve off-campus safety. To address safety concerns, Chief John Dailey of the Duke University Police Department hosted a meeting Friday with the Durham Police Department and University officials. DPD is immediately increasing patrols of LaSalle Street and assessing the area’s lighting to potentially increase visibility. The University is also extending evening operating hours of the LaSalle Street bus by two hours. Under the new plan, the bus will run until 11 p.m. Monday to Friday. Meeting attendees included DPD Chief Jose Lopez, the DPD commanding officer of LaSalle Street and senior University officials. “The fact that [Chief Lopez] came to campus to meet with us really speaks highly of his commitment and the city of Durham’s commitment... in trying to help with these matters,” Dailey said. “Patrols will be [on LaSalle Street] more frequently, do more license checks in the area... and that was done this weekend.” Dailey said license checks involve stopping cars more frequently to check the validity of driver’s licenses and registrations. DPD officials were not available for comment Sunday. Although the increased number of patrols comes in response to two separate robberies on LaSalle Street reported last week, Dailey called the incidents “crimes of opportunity” and believes that students were not specifically targeted in either case. At about 9:25 a.m. Oct. 13. a female student was approached by a woman on LaSalle Street who asked to use her cell phone. After the student gave the woman her phone, the woman pushed the student to the ground and stole her backpack. The suspect was described as a black female wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt with a pink vertical stripe. The following day, a male graduate student was robbed at about 10 p.m. “very close” to the location of last Wednesday’s robbery, Dailey said in an interview Thursday. The student was not seriously injured and only his cell phone was stolen. The perpetrator was described as a black, 5-foot-8-inch male in his 20s with medium skin tone. At the time of the crime, he was wearing a red and white hooded sweatshirt, Dailey added. Another student was robbed Oct. 9 on East Campus near Jarvis Dormitory shortly after 2 a.m. A stocky Hispanic male approached the female student, said he had a gun and demanded her purse. The student was able to escape the scene unharmed, and none of her property was taken. As of Sunday night, police had not identified any suspects associated with the crimes. Dailey said it is unlikely that any of the robberies are connected, given the varied descriptions of the suspects. A DukeAlert was sent to the Duke community in response to the Oct. 9 incident but not for either LaSalle Street robberies because the crimes occurred off campus. Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta notified students of both LaSalle Street robberies in separate e-mails following the individual incidents. The e-mails advised students to be aware of their surroundings and take safety precautions. The e-mails also directed students to DUPD’s website for safety tips. “It’s relatively common that at the start of the year we have a couple of circumstances like this,” Moneta said. “There’s a tendency for some criminals who think young students are easy targets to do just this kind of thing.... It tends not to last very long.” Moneta added that the Duke and Durham police departments meet regularly to ensure safety in the Duke area regardless of an increased number of incidents. “It’s not simply these two incidents that have brought these two [departments] together,” he said. “Students should feel good about the fact that Duke and Durham police work really well together and continue to do so.” Senior Angela Cai, who lives in the Belmont Apartments located near LaSalle Street, said the robberies have increased her awareness of personal safety, but she added that the events will not have serious implications for her habits. “I think that the only thing I can really do is be more aware of my surroundings,” Cai said. “I don’t feel incredibly unsafe in the area.... It’s just using good judgement and trying to be aware of my surroundings and avoid walking in the dark, which I would do almost anywhere.” |
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| abb | Oct 18 2010, 05:21 AM Post #4 |
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http://dukechronicle.com/node/153293/talk 2:33 AM October 18, 2010 Fact Checker * ✔Fact Checker here. ✔1) This article mentions "senior" university officials as joining the meeting. And in quoting VP Larry Moneta later on, leaves the impression he attended. NO. Moneta sent a deputy. The graduate school dean sent a deputy. And Tallman Trask, executive vice president, under whom Duke Police fall, of course was absent. Trask sent Human Resources VP Kyle Kavanaugh, who has made a very good impression since arriving here from Florida but nonetheless is someone who just picked up responsibilities for Duke Police in May from the (fired?) VP Kemel Dawkins. Hardly an expression of concern at the highest level, was it Mr Brodhead? And Chief Dailey borders on the pathetic when he states how grateful he is that the Durham Police Chief came all the way to campus to respond to a request for a meeting!!! ✔2) Last week, after the 2nd robbery on LaSalle St just off Erwin Road, the Chronicle said this: "In light of the incidents, Dailey said DUPD is concentrating its patrols in more areas." This certainly gave me the impression that Duke Police had added patrols; now we find that only Durham Police are assigned. ✔3) As for extended night hours for the LaSalle bus loop, FC notes that the more serious robbery, with a female pushed to the ground and stripped of her backpack, two robbers at the scene, occurred at 9:25 AM. The touted extended hours for this bus, which runs every half an hour, mean that between 9 and 11 PM, there will be four more bus trips Monday through Friday. Again, pathetic. ✔4) And I ask one more time: will the LaSalle robberies be included in our Clery Report or not? Clery has some fudge words, but embraces crimes such as this: immediately adjacent to university property, in areas impacted by members of the university community. Fellow Dukies, accept no other interpretation. Hiding the extent of the problem only weakens our resolve to address it. FC. |
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| abb | Oct 18 2010, 05:23 AM Post #5 |
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http://dukechronicle.com/article/finance-vp-take-wake-forest-post Finance VP to take Wake Forest post By Zachary Tracer [3] October 18, 2010 Duke’s top finance man is trading Devils for Demons. Hof Milam, vice president for finance and treasurer, will step down in December to become senior vice president for finance and administration and chief financial officer at Wake Forest University. “Wake Forest offered the very best match for me,” he said. “I felt like I was ready to operate at a little higher level within an organization.” Milam will have broader responsibilities at Wake Forest than he currently has at Duke. In addition to dealing with Wake Forest’s finances, Milam will oversee human resources, dining and facilities and will report directly to Wake Forest’s president. “Hof Milam brings to Wake Forest exceptional skills and experience, as well as a deep understanding of and appreciation for higher education and for this university,” Wake Forest President Nathan Hatch said in a news release. “He has demonstrated great success in working through complex financial and operational issues and will bring terrific leadership to our entire finance and administrative services divisions.” Milam said the opportunity to take on greater responsibilities and report directly to the president was the reason he decided to leave Duke. “It came down to just wanting to grow in my own career by having the opportunity to apply a little bit of my own judgement... and to be able to advise the leader of the organization,” he said. Milam earned both his undergraduate degree and MBA at Wake Forest and previously worked as an assistant dean at Wake Forest’s School of Medicine. But he said working at his alma mater was not a major factor in his decision to leave Duke. Milam said Duke administrators were aware of his desire for a bigger role. But a position like the one Milam will take on at Wake Forest—similar to Tallman Trask’s executive vice president post at Duke—was unlikely to become available at the University any time soon. “My interest in such a position was well known by Tallman, but I expect Tallman to be around Duke for a good while yet,” he said. When Milam departs, Tim Walsh, assistant vice president and controller, will take over as interim vice president for finance. Walsh is currently responsible for Duke’s external financial reporting, payroll and accounting records. “I’m excited about the opportunity,” Walsh said. “It’s an honor to serve Duke in any capacity, but the broader your impact, the greater the honor is.” Walsh said Milam has left him and the rest of the Financial Services staff well prepared for Milam’s departure. “He’s built tremendous relationships across all of Duke and has a great deal of respect across all of Duke,” Walsh said. “He leaves Duke with a great deal of confidence because of the great team he’s leaving behind.” In his seven years at Duke, Milam worked to keep the University community informed about Duke’s financial situation and improved the handling of research funds. He also guided Duke’s transition to an electronic payroll system and dealt with the effects of the recession. “He’s done many good things to make our financial affairs more solid,” Trask wrote in an e-mail. “He’s been especially good in research compliance and in helping us work through recent endowment issues.” Trask said a search for a new vice president for finance will begin around the end of the calendar year. Duke will consider both internal and external candidates, and Walsh said he is interested in taking on Milam’s role permanently. Walsh already has the backing of his former boss. “Personally, I’ll be very disappointed if he’s not my successor,” Milam said. “He certainly has my full support and confidence.” |
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| abb | Oct 18 2010, 05:23 AM Post #6 |
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http://dukechronicle.com/node/153294/talk 2:09 AM October 18, 2010 Fact Checker * ✔Milam's departure is unusually quick, without the long notice usually given by someone at the highest level of responsibility. He starts December 1st at Wake Forest as senior vp for finance and administration. Yes there are the usual bromides. But couple this, please, with the departure of VP Kemel Dawkins, believed to have been pushed out. This is the second turnover within six months of 4 VP's reporting to Executive Vice President Trask. This is unusual turmoil -- unhealthy turmoil -- in the key staff watching over Duke's finances during the continuing budget crunch. Milam was particularly valuable, having experience not only with educational budgets, but with health system finance and general management as well. The move comes just months after Trask eliminated Dawkins position (partially to save money according to the official news release), shuffled duties and gave Milam slightly more authority. But Milam did not pick up the swath of territory that Trask's two other VP's did -- and observers wondered why -- particularly since the ambitious Milam had quietly sought wider responsibilities. Milam joined Duke in 2003 and flew under the radar. The Chronicle archive has very little about him. For example he was listed as being on a panel of four administrators plus a moderator -- all white, middle aged men just like it was on plantations in the old South -- who outlined to employees -- many of them black on the lowest rungs of the pay ladder -- the prospect for layoffs and the details of incentives to get them to retire. But the Chronicle story on this briefing did not mention anything Milam said at all. Milam was responsible for -- or took the heat for -- the elimination of a Duke financial report that had a rather cryptic title: "Summary of Unrestricted Unallocated Budget Funds." This provided some of the best insight for stakeholders interested in the university's budgeting process, and the allocation of resources. For athletics, for example, rather than wet labs in Chemistry. And in the past few days, Milam has been in the news for suggesting there was little importance to the ten year average of returns on our endowment. When the average was riding high, he did not talk about irrelevance at all. When the average plummeted to a dangerous 6.5 percent this year, he pooh-poohed it. Milam never responded to Fact Checker, who asked why, if the average had no significance, his office compiled it and issued a graph showing its movement each year. Or why, good year after good year, the PR department issued news releases with the ten year average in the second or third paragraph, and why the Duke Management Company, the university's investment arm, featured a graphic and explanation of the ten year average on the home page of its weak internet site. With hypocrisy like that, it's a wonder that Brodhead did not promote him!! Milam is returning to his alma mater -- as well as that of his parents, his wife and his two kids. Immediately before Duke, he had another stint as an administrator at Wake Forest, serving as chief operating officer and chief financial officer of an HMO affiliated with Wake Forest University's Baptist Medical Center. With changes in IRS Form 990, Duke has not had to list Milam's salary since 2007-2008, when it was $317,500. A FC review of the salary structure at Wake Forest suggests that he may earn only marginally more. Trask has made a temporary appointment to do Milam's work, and spouted the usual pap about a nationwide search for a replacement. Thank you for reading Fact Checker. |
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| abb | Oct 18 2010, 05:25 AM Post #7 |
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http://dukechronicle.com/article/where-are-we-safe Where are we safe? two points for honesty By Doris Jwo [3] October 18, 2010 Duke students are well aware of the crime that occurs on and around campus. Despite the illusion of the Duke bubble, students travel outside campus all the time, whether it’s to head back to their off-campus apartments or just to grab a bite to eat at Chipotle. We know that we live in a city and that we are constantly surrounded by the associated dangers that come with the territory. To that end, most of us have enough common sense to follow the basic rules of campus safety. We know to lock our doors and keep an eye on our laptops in the library. We generally stay away from walking alone on the fringes of campus after dark and try to use the Duke Vans service (formerly known as SafeRides) when possible. As students around campus all the time, we also know exactly where there are gaps in security and, just as importantly, gaps in responsibility for students’ safety. But, as students with busy schedules, we can’t always control when we have to travel around campus and off campus around the clock. For example, Duke Vans run from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m., but would a student living on Central Campus who needs to ePrint their homework at midnight call a Duke Van to drive a street over to the closest ePrint station? Probably not, but then who is responsible if that student runs into trouble on the way over? What about the student who lives just off campus and must walk to Science Drive at odd hours to check on his lab work? Because Duke Vans only provides service from campus to certain off-campus locations, not the other way around, that option isn’t even available. And, as it turns out, you can get mugged in the daytime too. The female student who was robbed on LaSalle Street last week was out walking at 9:25 a.m. Is it the Duke or Durham Police Department that is responsible for improving patrols in that area? You could argue that students living off campus should be aware of these dangers and arrange for other means of transportation. But, many students choose to live off campus because rent is significantly lower. More relevantly, with Duke’s housing limitations, we simply don’t have room for all students on campus. Given the situation, the responsibility falls on Duke to ensure safety for students who live just off campus because such areas are essentially an extension of the Duke campus. In the federally mandated annual Clery Security Report that Duke releases, crimes committed on “all public property, including thoroughfares, streets, sidewalks and parking facilities, that is within the campus, or immediately adjacent to and accessible from the campus” are included in the statistics offered. This suggests that crimes committed in the LaSalle area are covered in the report. When Duke Police patrols, campus “help phones” and Duke Vans fail students, what’s next? If the solution is to ask the Durham Police Department to step up patrols, it is neither responsible nor sufficient. When I met last month with Dean and Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education Steve Nowicki to discuss the Campus Council house model proposal, we spoke briefly about improving safety on Central. “If you look at the statistics,” he said, “Central Campus is not actually an unsafe place.” He commented, however, that the administration had discussed adding security cameras to Central to make students feel safer. From last week’s string of robberies and in looking at past crime data, it is true that crime is not isolated on Central and is probably not significantly more prevalent there either. If the idea of security cameras is being considered for Central, however, then why not consider them for the rest of campus? In 2005, Johns Hopkins began using a “smart” closed-circuit TV system that alerts operators in their Communications Center when suspicious activity is taking place on their 140-acre Homewood campus. Such cameras are programmed to look for strange activity such as slow-moving vehicles, odd patterns of movement, abandoned objects, etc. Partly because of this system and despite its location within the city of Baltimore, Hopkins was ranked number one in 2008 by Reader’s Digest in its campus safety and security survey and 20th for low crime in a simultaneous study. Duke did not participate in the campus safety survey, but the University was placed 244th out of 285 schools in Reader’s Digest’s low crime ranking. Since Duke’s campus is much larger than Hopkins’ Homewood campus, security cameras would be significantly more expensive. But, if placed in strategic locations where students are likely to be walking alone, it could cut down on robberies near Campus Drive, Erwin Road, the area behind the Marketplace, etc. If not security cameras, perhaps it’s time Duke considers other innovative solutions for filling in the security gaps because it is unequivocally responsible for all aspects of student safety, on or off campus. For motivation, just take a look at our Reader’s Digest ranking and imagine that was our men’s basketball ranking for the season. Coach K would probably have a fit. Maybe the Duke Police Department should, too. Doris Jwo is a Trinity senior. Her column runs every other Monday. |
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| abb | Oct 18 2010, 05:26 AM Post #8 |
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http://dukechronicle.com/node/153302/talk 2:48 AM October 18, 2010 Fact Checker * Excellent. Stay after them on the issue of whether these crimes will count in the Clery Report. Last year, Duke reported seven robberies, but sent out 9 press releases and had 11 victims, one shot in the gut. And Deputies are currently working on checking whether the 9 includes everything. |
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| abb | Oct 18 2010, 05:47 AM Post #9 |
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http://justice4nifong.blogspot.com/2010/10/duke-could-learn-thing-or-two-from-york.html Saturday, October 16, 2010 Duke could learn a thing or two from York Properties The blog that was posted on October 16, 2010, has been removed because it has caused grief to someone who I love very much. She asked me not to post the blog on the subject, but I thought that I could successfully navigate through the topic without causing distress for her, but that was not the case. I took much caution in writing the article not to cause offense, but I did, and for that I am truly sorry, and I offer her my deepest apology. Finally, I would like to mention that I believe that the discrimination against the lesbian couple at Cameron Village was despicable, and in no way did I intend to minimize its egregious nature when writing the blog. Posted by Nifong Supporter at 2:16 PM |
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| abb | Oct 18 2010, 11:48 AM Post #10 |
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http://www.doublex.com/blog/xxfactor/yale-incident-wasnt-isolated-one The Yale Incident Wasn't An Isolated One By: Miranda Lewis Posted: October 15, 2010 at 6:51 PM SEO Headline: Yale needs to fix a larger problem. Emily Y. [1] posted earlier today about an incident that happened at Yale on Wednesday night: A group of members and pledges of the frat Delta Kappa Epsilon were heard around campus yelling chants like, "My name is Jack, I'm a necrophiliac, I f*** dead women, and fill them with my semen." Emily asked, "Where are the adults here? Why hasn't the administration already taken action?" and she called for DKE's suspension. These men should be punished, but banning DKE won't solve the problem. The problem is pandemic across many groups on campus. The chant is actually a typical rally cry for another frat and for the men's rugby team. These events aren't isolated. Yale needs cultural change, and banning a fraternity without much more discussion won't help. In the past, Yale has set a precedent for trying to cover up the real issues at hand by attempting to settle issues quickly and quietly, without making a fuss. Three years ago, men in Zeta Psi [2] stood in front of the Yale Women's Center and posed for photographs with a sign that said "We Love Yale Sluts." When Yale didn't react, the Women's Center threatened to sue the frat. Yale discouraged them from suing and the frat went by unpunished. At the beginning of last year, a group of upperclassmen sent around an e-mail that soon found its way into the inboxes of most Yale students. It was called a "Pre-Season Scouting Report [3]," and it ranked freshmen girls' attractiveness based on how many beers it would take to have sex with them. Yale did nothing other than issue a statement saying this was not OK. In each of these events, the first to respond has been the student-run Yale Women's Center, not the president or provost's or college dean's offices, or any other official part of the university. The university needs to tackle these issues head-on by involving all the fraternities involved in a cultural change. It's time for the university to step up and start taking these incidents seriously. They reflect a real problem. |
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| Quasimodo | Oct 18 2010, 12:15 PM Post #11 |
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Why wasn't this national headlines like the Duke list? More evidence of how the lies of Mangum and Nifong (and the failure of Duke to rebut them) are still damaging people? |
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| abb | Oct 18 2010, 04:05 PM Post #12 |
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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303496104575560053868772146.html?mod=WSJ_hps_MIDDLEForthNews * OCTOBER 18, 2010, 3:27 P.M. ET Publisher Shuts Russian Newsweek By GREGORY L. WHITE And ALEXANDER KOLYANDR MOSCOW—Russian Newsweek, one of the last remaining independent national news publications in the country, published its final issue Monday as its owner said it would no longer support the money-losing title. Axel Springer AG, the German media conglomerate that has published Newsweek in Russia under license since 2004, said the decision to shut it down was "economic." People close to the situation said efforts to find a buyer for the magazine—which was racking up losses of more than €1 million ($1.4 million) a year—were unsuccessful, though at least one wealthy Russian investor had expressed initial interest. Media-industry officials said Newsweek's demise highlights the difficulties facing outlets that seek to challenge the Kremlin-friendly version of the news that permeates the national landscape. Nearly all of the country's major national television networks and print outlets are controlled by the state directly or by companies closely linked to the authorities. People close to the situation said that while Newsweek was often critical of the Kremlin—and had been targeted for attacks by pro-Kremlin youth groups—the closure wasn't the result of direct pressure from the authorities. A Kremlin spokesman declined to comment. Axel Springer's license agreement with Newsweek in the U.S. was up for renewal at the end of this year. Newsweek, which has struggled with losses and was sold over the summer to audio-equipment mogul Sidney Harman, referred queries to Axel Springer. Though he has defended the Russian media as unbiased, President Dmitry Medvedev has also called for greater openness. So far, however, industry officials say there's little sign of a thaw. "There's no demand for public political journalism here because there's no public political life," said Leonid Parfyonov, a prominent television journalist who was Newsweek's editor in its first years in Russia. "There is demand for it in Poland," where the local version of Newsweek is popular and successful, he said, "but not in Russia." Other major independent publications that cover general news are subsidized by their owners, according to industry executives. "We're in unequal conditions with the state media," said Alexander Lebedev, a billionaire banker and industrialist who said he subsidizes losses at Novaya Gazeta, the muckraking independent newspaper he owns. "Business is scared to bring ads to Novaya." Novaya's editors warned in a blog post Monday that the paper could face closure after a court upheld an official warning against the paper issued earlier this year for a story about radical nationalists. Russia's media law allows authorities to shut down outlets after the second official warning within a year. Axel Springer launched Russian Newsweek and the Russian edition of Forbes, also under license, in 2004, when the media climate was not as chilly in Russia. Forbes quickly earned a reputation for hard-hitting investigations of Russian business and its rankings of the country's richest. The magazine's American-born editor, Paul Klebnikov, was gunned down in a contract killing outside his Moscow office just months after the first issue debuted. Investigators never found those who ordered his murder. Despite the tragedy, Forbes thrived thanks in large part to advertising from foreign luxury brands drawn by its upmarket audience. Newsweek was also popular, but never as successful with advertisers given its middle-brow market niche. Newsweek earned a reputation for covering topics largely avoided by the official media, ranging from Russia's growing AIDS problem to Islamist terrorism and police and other government abuses. In recent years, it provided one of the few windows into the close-knit world of Kremlin politics. This spring, for example, Newsweek published a leaked Kremlin document outlining a less-confrontational foreign policy. Newsweek's editor was targeted this spring by an internet campaign that used surreptitiously recorded footage showing him, as well as opposition politicians, in compromising situations. Pro-Kremlin youth groups at the time called on Newsweek to remove him, but the company stuck by the editor. This week's closing of Newsweek is the title's second departure from Russia. In 2001, it pulled out of a joint venture when its Russian tycoon partner fell afoul of the Kremlin. Write to Gregory L. White at greg.white@wsj.com and Alexander Kolyandr at Alexander.Kolyandr@dowjones.com |
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9:15 AM Jul 11