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Blog and Media Roundup - Tuesday, November 9, 2010; News Roundup
Topic Started: Nov 9 2010, 05:11 AM (648 Views)
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http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/10210045/article-Duke-cancels-tailgate?instance=homesecondleft

Duke cancels tailgate
The Herald Sun
11.09.10 - 12:33 am
From staff reports

DURHAM — In an e-mail to students that called pre-game celebrations “increasingly dangerous,” Duke University canceled the official student tailgating party scheduled for Saturday.

The message from Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta said the decision was triggered by “an incident in tailgate ... involving a teenage youth which easily could have been tragic.”

Late Monday night, Keith Lawrence, the university’s director of media relations, confirmed that a security officer discovered a minor under the age of 18 who was intoxicated at the tailgate.

The Duke Chronicle reported that the teenager was found unconscious in a portable toilet after most students had left Saturday’s tailgate. Lawrence could not confirm those details or whether the teenager was male or female.

The teenager was not a student at the university, according to the Chronicle report, and was taken to the Duke Emergency Department.

“This incident has vividly revealed that tailgate as is practiced at Duke must come to an end,” Moneta wrote in an e-mail to students that was time-stamped 10 p.m. Monday. “It has long lost its value as a pre-football, spirit building activity and has become increasingly dangerous in every iteration.”

“This is not a decision we made as student leaders but it’s a decision we chose not to fight,” said Mike Lefevre, the Duke Student Government president.

The Duke Student Government monitors the party in the Blue Zone parking section at every home game.

According to guidelines posted on the DSG website, Saturday’s tailgate ran from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., ending half an hour before kickoff.

The guidelines for student conduct at tailgates limit guests to one per Duke Card holder and include rules for those bringing alcohol into the tailgate area. Tailgaters entering the area with alcohol were required to present ID verifying that they were 21; those who entered the area on foot were limited to six cans of beer; and “student groups ... using their vehicle [could bring beer] at a maximum amount of 30 cases per group, 9 cases per vehicle.”

“To be honest, there were a lot of problems with the tailgate structure as it’s currently set up,” said Chris Brown, the DSG vice president for athletics and campus services. “Tailgate can be a very beneficial thing for the student body. ... It is meant to be a pre-football game experience, but it had regressed to the point where they had become mutually exclusive events. That is not OK for Duke football or for Duke University.”

Duke has just two home games left in the 2010 football season: Saturday’s game against Boston College and a meeting with UNC Chapel Hill on Thanksgiving weekend.

Moneta said the university will solicit suggestions for “a new form of football game day celebration” that will begin in 2011. In the meantime, “Saturday’s tailgate against Boston College is off,” Lawrence said.

Sports reporter Steve Wiseman contributed to this report.
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http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story_news_durham/10209392/article-Students-grapple-with-ethics-at-NCSSM-event?instance=main_article

Students grapple with ethics at NCSSM event
The Herald Sun
11.08.10 - 11:09 pm
BY MATTHEW E. MILLIKEN

mmilliken@heraldsun.com; 419-6684

DURHAM -- A one-day conference held in Durham on Monday challenged nearly 300 high school students from around the state to think differently and deeply about a variety of topics.

The occasion was the Ethics and Leadership Conference, an annual event held by the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. Students from 27 different schools got to talk about abortion, animal rights, capital punishment, cyberbullying, drug legalization, euthanasia, genetic testing and other subjects.

Science writer and Duke professor Vanessa Woods gave the keynote address. The author most recently of "Bonobo Handshake," she has been studying what fundamentally distinguishes people from the great apes, who also can engage social structures, language and tools.

"If you can find out what the differences are, then you can solve the problem of what is unique," she said. "So we kind of play this spot-the-difference game with our closest living relatives because they're so similar to us that if we find some area in which we are different or individual or special, then this could be the key to what makes us human."

Although humans are closely related to chimpanzees and bonobos, a highly endangered type of ape, there has been relatively little study of bonobos, Woods said. The two species can behave very differently.

"Chimpanzees use violence to assert dominance and maintain control, which is what bullies do," the science writer said. "Whereas bonobos use violence to maintain the peace -- just more like a police force."

Ultimately, Woods didn't answer the question of what separates the species. But she did encourage her audience to keep exploring that and other important issues.

"All the answers have not been found, and it's still a really exciting world out there," she said.

After the keynote, the students split into groups of 12 or so for topical talks.

Duke professor Noah Pickus led one that wrestled with his field of expertise, immigration.

Pickus asked the high schoolers why American citizens deserve the benefits of living here, to which most of those born elsewhere are not legally entitled.

"It seems like to me we ought to reward people who are willing to work this hard rather than people who are not," Pickus said, comparing immigrants with multiple jobs to Americans who rely on welfare without seeking employment.

But Pickus also asked: "If immigration hurts other Americans economically, where does our loyalty lie?"

Sophomore Aysia Demby was part of a contingent from Raleigh's Ravenscroft School making a repeat appearance at the conference.

"I came back just because ... both of the people who led my discussions [in 2009] were really knowledgeable and they led them really well," she said.

During the small-group talks, she and her schoolmates heard strangers discuss how they or relatives had grappled with the problems and persecution that can come with being gay or mentally ill.

"I was surprised about how open people were about sharing their beliefs and stories," Demby said.
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http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story_news_durham/10206980/article-Police-Department-awards?instance=main_article

Police Department awards
The Herald Sun
11.08.10 - 05:28 pm
By KEITH UPCHURCH

kupchurch@heraldsun.com; 419-6612

DURHAM -- The Durham Police Department gave awards to more than 30 people at an awards ceremony Thursday at the Millennium Hotel on Campus Walk Avenue. They included Medals of Valor, Purple Hearts, Certificates of Merit, Distinguished Service Medals and Community Service Awards.

The medal of valor is the highest recognition given by the department. It is given to members who distinguish themselves by gallantry and bravery in an attempt to preserve life or property at a risk of personal safety. The act must be so conspicuous that it clearly distinguishes the member as one who acted far beyond the call of duty. Those medals went to:

- Officer Bill Boone. During the early morning hours of Oct. 4, 1992, a man called 911 and threatened to harm law enforcement officers. Officers spotted the man, who was a suspect in an earlier shooting on Morehead Avenue, on Alston Avenue but he fled, leading them on a chase into downtown Durham where he wrecked his vehicle near the railroad tracks on West Chapel Hill Street. The man fired shots at a state trooper and Durham officers who attempted to approach him. "In defense of his life and the lives of the other officers," a DPD news release said, Boone returned fire, fatally wounding the man. It was later discovered that a bullet fired by the man had lodged in the patrol car Boone was using for cover.

- Officers Archie Massie and Bradley Holliday. Holliday and Massie responded to a traffic accident Jan. 24 at Old Chapel Hill and Shannon roads. The dispatcher told them that a man was trapped in an overturned vehicle that was on fire. Officers found a smoking minivan on its side, wedged between two trees. The officers determined that the only way to remove the trapped driver was through the sunroof. Holliday tried without success to break the sunroof with his flashlight, but was able to grab the front of the sunroof and pry it open. Holliday and Massie pulled the driver to safety, and he recovered from his injuries.

"This heroic act goes beyond the officers' training," the officers' supervisor wrote in a letter of commendation. "It directly illustrates what is at the heart of police work, having the courage to put the life of others before your own. Officers Holliday and Massie are to be commended for their quick thinking and heroic efforts."

Distinguished Service Medals

Distinguished Service Medals are awarded to employees who apprehend or cause to be apprehended a dangerous person causing grave and/or imminent danger to the officers, or to officers who perform an act that warrants such recognition. The awards were given to:

- Officer Jonathan Meade. On Oct. 2, 2009, Meade responded to an armed robbery in progress call at the Town 'n' Country convenience store on East Club Boulevard. A man wearing a ski mask entered the store, pulled out a gun and demanded money. The clerk refused to give the man any money; the robber hit the clerk on the head with an unknown object. A witness called 911 while the suspect continued to argue with the clerk. When Meade arrived, he saw a man inside the store with a gun and confronted and arrested the man as he fled from the business. The man was charged with attempted armed robbery and six prior robberies. His commendation notes that Meade knew he was dealing with someone who had just committed a violent crime but he did not hesitate.

- Officers Kevin Williams and Jeffrey Kenyon. Officers were dispatched to a "shots fired" call at 1:19 a.m. on Oct 29, 2009, at an apartment complex at 1737 E. Cornwallis Road. Officers searched the area and found a man lying beside a Dumpster in the parking lot. The 25-year-old man had been shot and stabbed and was pronounced dead at the scene. As Williams and Kenyon were driving to the call, they saw a man matching the description of one of the suspects run out of the woods near Fayetteville Road and Belgreen Road. Williams quickly exited his vehicle, detained the suspect and found a loaded revolver in his pocket. Williams and Kenyon also found a second male suspect in the same area. The two men were arrested, charged with murder and placed in Durham County Jail without bond. Officers recovered two weapons during the arrests. Due to the decisive and quick actions of these officers, their citation said, two very dangerous individuals were taken into custody. Their actions also helped investigators quickly solve the crime.

- Officer Timothy Wilson. Officers were called to an armed robbery at Hardees, 3912 N. Duke St., at 9:45 p.m. Nov. 13, 2009. A man wearing a hoodie and a blue bandana over the lower half of his face entered the business, pointed a gun at employees and demanded money. The robber took cash from the registers and ran toward Newby Drive. Wilson, who was working off duty at Hampton Forest Apartments on Chalk Level Road, heard the description of the suspect and went to an apartment complex on Newby Drive where he thought the suspect might go to hide from police. Wilson saw a man without shoes running through the apartment complex and arrested him. The man was charged with robbery with a dangerous weapon and assault by pointing a gun. Officers recovered a handgun, a pair of sneakers, a hoodie and the stolen money.

- Officer Lauren Mazziotto. On Jan. 11, two armed robberies occurred within minutes on Anderson Street on the Duke University campus, and a description of the suspects was sent out to all Durham officers. Mazziotto responded to the area within seconds of the call being dispatched and spotted two men matching the suspects' descriptions in a parking lot. Mazziotto got out of her vehicle, drew her gun and challenged the suspects, taking them into custody without incident. Mazziotto searched the men and recovered a firearm and items stolen from the victims. Both men were charged with robbery with a dangerous weapon and one was also charged with possession of a weapon on educational property.

- Officer Monte Southerland. Southerland was off duty and walking through the Atrium Apartments on Meriwether Drive on Jan. 18 when he heard a female screaming for help and saw three boys running away from the screams. One male was carrying a purse. Southerland identified himself as a police officer and chased the boys toward the woods. Hea caught one, a 12-year-old who fought with Southerland, who was able to detain him until other officers arrived. The woman who had been attacked told officers that three young men approached her and asked to use her cell phone. They grabbed her phone and purse and ran. Investigators later charged a 16-year-old and two juveniles with the theft.

- Officer Larry Cox . Officers responded to a robbery and possible shooting on Jan. 21 on Old Chapel Hill Road. A man armed with a gun approached the victim in his shop, demanded money and hit the victim in the face with his gun. Officers were given a description of the suspect; Cox spotted a man matching the description and chased him on foot on Old Chapel Hill Road, catching and arresting him on University Plaza. Officers also recovered a gun. Investigators charged the suspect with attempted armed robbery, breaking and entering, attempted kidnapping and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

- Officers Alton McCallop and Corey Thompson. Officers were called to a shooting call in the 2900 block of Chapel Hill Road on Sept. 4. One person was pronounced dead at the scene; another was transported to the hospital. The suspects fled in a red Toyota RAV4 heading toward University Drive. Thompson and McCallop were working off duty for the Durham Housing Authority at 2519 S. Roxboro St. when they heard the broadcast with the vehicle's description. They immediately decided to go to the intersection of Cornwallis Road and South Roxboro Street to see if the vehicle was heading in their direction. As the officers approached the intersection, they spotted a red RAV4 going in the opposite direction. They chased and stopped the RAV4, which was occupied by three young men, in the 2500 block of South Roxboro Street. One occupant jumped out of the vehicle and ran but Thompson and McCallop placed the other two occupants into custody. They were charged with murder and other offenses.

Purple Hearts

Purple Hearts are presented by the department to an officer who sustains a serious injury while in the performance of duty.

- Master Officer Charles Burroughs. On Sept. 7, 2007, Burroughs and other members of the Gang Unit responded to 3309 Mordecai St. to check complaints about illegal narcotics. Burroughs saw a man with drugs on the second floor of the apartment complex and attempted to arrest him. The suspect resisted and pushed Burroughs down a flight of stairs. Burroughs sustained serious knee and leg injuries. Other officers on the Gang Unit chased Burroughs' assailant but lost sight of him in the woods. After a search, they found the suspect hiding in a drainpipe under Morreene Road and charged him with felonious assault and drug offenses. Burroughs was taken to Duke Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery to repair his damaged leg. The injuries required an extended hospital stay with multiple surgeries and extensive physical therapy.

- Cpl. Jeffery Love. On April 23, at the 600 block of South Alston Avenue, Love tried to arrest a suspect who was wanted on multiple charges. The suspect fled. During the chase, Love suffered a concussion and broke his wrist in three places but continued to pursue the suspect into the southbound lane of South Alston Avenue. The crew of Durham Fire Department's Engine 4 drove up on the scene and helped Love make the arrest. Officers searched the male and found cocaine, marijuana and a large amount of cash. The suspect was charged with assaulting Love and drug offenses. Love underwent surgery to insert a metal plate and a dozen screws in his wrist. Love has recovered from his injuries and returned to duty.

Community Service Award were given to three firefighters in connection with this incident -- Fire Capt. William Green, Fire Technician David Odell and Firefighter David Lester.

The crew of Durham Fire Department's Engine 4, Squad B was returning from a call when they drove up on the scene and saw Love fighting with the suspect. The crew immediately went to Love's assistance and helped him handcuff the suspect. The fire crew also treated Love's injuries.

Certificates of Merit

Certificates of Merit are presented for outstanding performance or devotion to duty, possibly involving personal safety.

- Lt. Robert McLaughlin, who was a sergeant when this incident occurred. On May 25, 2006, officers responded to a domestic burglary and hostage situation on Colfax Street. A man had broken into his ex-wife's home, held her hostage, stabbed her in the neck and back and slashed her leg. The woman's femoral artery was damaged and she was having difficulty breathing when officers entered the house. McLaughlin put direct pressure on the wound and started resuscitation. McLaughlin's medical knowledge and swift and effective actions sustained the victim until paramedics arrived, according to his commendation. An EMS supervisor said McLaughlin's actions helped save the woman's life.

- Sgt. Denise Campbell, Cpl. Brian Schnee, Officer Aaron Ligo, Officer Thomas Thrall and Officer Marvin Hembrick receive certificates of Merit and Duke Capt. Sara-Jane Raines received the Community Service Award.

On Sept. 21, 2009, a recruit officer suffered a heart attack while participating in the Police Officer Physical Aptitude Test at the Durham Police Department Firearms Range. The recruit told instructors he was not feeling well and then collapsed. Instructors quickly determined that the recruit was not breathing and had no detectable pulse. Schnee, Ligo, Thrall and Hembrick began CPR on the recruit while Campbell notified 911 and requested medical assistance. Raines got an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) which Ligo used to evaluate the recruit's heart. Ligo used the AED to shock the recruit, which caused him to regain consciousness. Emergency responders transported the recruit to Duke University Hospital for treatment. The recruit recovered due to the rapid and professional response from the officers on the scene.

- Officer Adam Junker. Officers responded to a shooting/attempted armed robbery call on Waterford Drive shortly after 2 a.m. on Oct. 31, 2009. The victim suffered a gunshot wound to his neck during an attempted robbery. Junker was looking for the suspects on Mahone Street when he heard a shot and heard two males yelling that someone had just fired a shot at them. Junker chased the male on foot and caught him in a creek behind an apartment building. The suspect was arrested for attempted armed robbery, kidnapping and numerous other charges in connection with both violent felonies. Officers returned to the scene with a police dog and investigators to look for the gun, which was believed to be in the creek, but officers could not find it. Junker went home and put on a pair of hip boots and got a rake. He returned to the creek and found a 9 mm handgun believed to have been used in both incidents.

- Officers Landon Harvey and Judy Rodriguez. On Nov. 3, 2009, District 2-C officers responded to a cardiac arrest call on Wyldewood Road. When they arrived, they found a 33-year-old man in full cardiac arrest. Rodriguez and Harvey began assisting the lone medic on the scene by administering CPR. After the officers switched off several times administering chest compressions, the man regained a pulse, was stabilized and transported to Duke Hospital. Other officers at the scene helped by calming the patient's wife and children, gathering equipment from the ambulance and getting medical information.

- Officer Trent Hall. Durham police officers were dispatched to assist EMS with a cardiac arrest call on Feb. 6 in the parking lot of Kroger on North Roxboro Road. When officers arrived, they found a chaotic scene with a large and panicked crowd around an unconscious man in the parking lot. Hall used his emergency medical training to assist with CPR on the man. The male's breathing had been restored by the time EMS arrived and his blood pressure and pulse had returned to normal ranges by the time he arrived at the hospital. Paramedics who responded to the call described the rescue efforts as "near textbook perfect." The paramedics added in an e-mail to the police chief, "Quick action and dedication to help definitely made a difference in a life today."

- Cpl. Eric Peterson. On April 16, Peterson responded to a shooting call in the 1200 block of South Roxboro Street. When officers arrived, they found an 18-year-old man bleeding profusely from his femoral artery. Peterson recognized that the man's condition was rapidly deteriorating and applied a tourniquet to slow the bleeding. Peterson used training he received in the military in order to provide medical attention until EMS workers arrived. Without this act, the victim was likely to have bled to death, according to Peterson's commendation.

Community Service Awards

The Community Service award is presented to citizens for outstanding service to the community and public safety. The awards were to:

- Barker French, Bryan Hall; North Carolina Child Response Initiative's Dr. George "Tripp" Ake, Dr. Karen Appleyard, Kathryn Smith and Jennifer Candon; Brandon Howell and Charles Stewart.
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http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/10205946/article-Nov--9--2010?instance=opinion_hs_letters

Splendid irony

Certainly the American electorate has issued a stern rebuke to the current Congress and administration.

Not in this county, though. The balloting results show Republican candidates with single-digit totals in many precincts. Once again the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People has marched its legions to the polls in behalf of the other party's entries.

There is a splendid irony here. The Democrats are historically the pro-slavery party. Many of its present officeholders in North Carolina are from white families whose political influence has endured for generations. Their surnames are found also in the black community. In short, descendants of the slaves are working for descendants of the slaveholders. Some things never change.

FRANK HURLEY

Chapel Hill
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http://www.dukechronicle.com/article/suspended-cancer-trials-terminated

Suspended cancer trials terminated
By Julia Love
November 9, 2010

Anil PottiThe University voluntarily canceled three clinical trials that drew from the research of Dr. Anil Potti, a cancer researcher whose research is currently under investigation.

The trials had previously been suspended. Duke researchers stopped admitting new patients to the two studies on lung cancer and one study on breast cancer July 18. The principal investigators made the decision to permanently end the trials following the Oct. 22 retraction of a key paper published by Potti and his mentor Dr. Joseph Nevins, said Dr. Michael Cuffe, vice president for medical affairs. Clinical oncologists and principal investigators are in the process of contacting about 100 patients who were enrolled in the three trials, Cuffe added.

“That request to retract represents a retraction of some of the foundational science for these trials.... It became less appropriate to move forward,” Cuffe said. “The question of patient safety is always a top priority—that’s something that has been looked at repeatedly by a lot of parties and continues to be examined.”

Duke and the Institute of Medicine are each conducting investigations into Potti’s research, which concerns the use of gene-based models in predicting patient response to chemotherapy drugs. Potti is currently on paid administrative leave.

Two biostatisticians from M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Keith Baggerly and Kevin Coombes, first approached Duke with concerns regarding the research about a year ago. In light of the questions raised about the research, the three trials were suspended in October 2009, but the University restarted them in January after an internal review did not find problems meriting their termination.

“Do we wish that we had known this earlier? Of course,” Cuffe said. “I think everyone involved would have liked to understand whether that paper was correct or not, but that’s why we set up all trials with great caution.”

In late October, Nevins requested the retraction of a paper that influenced the two lung cancer trials which he published with Potti in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Nevins is director for the Center for Applied Genomics and Technology and the Barbara Levine Professor of Breast Cancer Genomics. All three canceled trials, however, cited Potti’s paper, “Genomic signatures to guide the use of chemotherapeutics,” which was published in Nature Medicine, possibly opening the door to another retraction.

“It leads me to believe that either retraction or some definite clarification of [that paper] is underway,” Baggerly said. “Either it means they don’t trust the paper or they trust only bits of it, in which case they need to be very explicit about which bits of it they trust.”

A clinical trial that lists Potti as a sub-investigator is currently recruiting patients, according to the National Institutes of Health database. Although that trial also cites the Nature Medicine paper, the questions surrounding the research have not posed problems for the study because the paper is not central to the inquiry, Cuffe said.

Dr. Paul Kelly Marcom, the principal investigator for the breast cancer trial that has been canceled, said he is still in talks with the Department of Defense to determine what will be done with a $7 million grant that supported his work. In the study, Marcom and his team assigned patients in the experimental group to one of two standard chemotherapy options depending on the genetic signatures identified by Potti, while the control group was randomly assigned. Marcom said he believes the risk of harm to patients involved in the study is minimal.

“If the science is invalid, then the likelihood of harm to patients is extremely low,” Marcom said. “To say that the signatures would have assigned them to the wrong chemotherapy is to say they had some kind of validity.”

Marcom acknowledged that he is concerned that the controversy will undermine patients’ trust in clinical trials. But he does not believe that his study—which began in July 2008—was a worthless effort.

“It’s certainly not time or resources well spent to answer a question that’s not... valid,” he said. “I still wouldn’t say it’s a waste of time because science is a very start-andstop process. We’ve learned a great deal about how to conduct a trial like this, so that is still a very valuable experience.”

Marcom added that patients who have been notified about the cancellation of the trial have taken the news well so far.

“For the most part, they have understood that the goal of the trial was to see if these genomic signatures worked, but we were picking between standard therapies that they would have received anyway,” he said.

But he noted that he is concerned that the scandal will pose a setback for the field as a whole.

Baggerly said it may be challenging for scientists to reconsider their understanding of the role of genomics in chemotherapy, which was influenced by Potti’s publications.

“These papers have had major effects, and if they are wrong, it’s going to require a reset of quite a few things,” he said.

Yet Marcom said he is confident that his colleagues’ naturally doubtful posture will help them move forward.

“The papers may have influenced other groups’ research, but I don’t think it had a major steering effect,” he said. “ I think the papers raised people’s hopes that genomics would be able to help us with something that we had strived for for a long time—a way to individually guide chemotherapy research.... It’s been tried over the last 30 to 40 years in oncology. There’s always a great deal of skepticism when someone says we have a test because we all know how many things haven’t worked.”

But the scandal may raise doubts about the University, Baggerly said.

“There is a piece of this story that does question Duke’s actions as an institution,” he said. “This is a big deal. This is one of the bigger scientific controversies in this rather abstract field that I’ve seen.”
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http://dukechronicle.com/article/irons-court-date-postponed-january

Irons’ court date postponed to January
By Chronicle Staff
November 9, 2010


Former Trinity sophomore Eric Irons will face rape allegations in district court Jan. 27—more than two months after his original scheduled date. His court date was recently changed from Nov. 9 on the North Carolina Court System’s website.

Irons was arrested Sept. 8 on charges of second-degree rape and first-degree kidnapping of a female student by the Duke University Police Department. In an October interview, Irons’ attorney Bill Thomas said his client plans to face the allegations in court.

“Eric Irons is an innocent man,” Thomas said in October. “We have located witnesses and have evidence that the allegations made against him are entirely false. I have every confidence that, once all of the facts are known, that Eric Irons will be completely exonerated of any wrongdoing whatsoever.”

Irons, a 19-year-old from Hong Kong, was charged and released Sept. 8 on a $75,000 bond, according to court records. He withdrew from Duke Sept. 9 following his arrest.

Irons allegedly assaulted a 20-year-old female student April 17 at a Central Campus apartment party, according to the probable cause affidavit, part of the application for a search warrant for DUPD. Many witnesses said the female student was “very intoxicated,” the affidavit reads.

In October, Thomas declined to say whether Irons has returned to Hong Kong since withdrawing from the University, adding that he is unsure whether Irons will re-enroll at Duke if he is found innocent.
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http://dukechronicle.com/node/153622/talk

3:33 AM
November 9, 2010
The Truth Seeker

*

This is unbelievable. The Chronicle will report this, but ignores the fact that Duke allows a student (current senior) charged with "sexual exploitation of a minor" to remain enrolled on campus without anyone being the wiser. Is there a cover up?
5:05 AM
November 9, 2010
Multipack

*

From all the information posted to the public so far, all this did was show us that the "victim" is completely unreliable. Everything doesn't add up, specially with Eric TEXTING the "victim" the very next day. What type of a sex offender does that?! Adding to the fact that the "victim" has been drinking since 5 pm, assuming she drinks like every other college student she probably wouldn't have been able to even tell what was going on. This was just a clear case of hooking up with the wrong person, because clearly the "victim" is just out there trying to get some dignity back by attempting to slander and ruin another person's life.

Once Eric is exonerated of all charges, I sure hope that the "victim"s name be posted.
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http://dukechronicle.com/article/administrators-cancel-tailgate-calling-it-embarrassment

Tailgate canceled after incident with minor

Melissa Yeo/ The Chronicle

After a minor was found unconscious near the end of the Nov. 6 Tailgate, administrators announced that the event in its current state has been canceled.

By Matthew Chase
November 9, 2010


Updated November 9, 2010 at 3:08 a.m.

Tailgate as students currently know it has been canceled, Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta confirmed Monday.

A minor, who was the guest of a student, was found unconscious in a Porta Potty at the end of the Nov. 6 Tailgate, said Chief John Dailey of the Duke University Police Department. A security officer found the teenager after most students had left Tailgate, and Emergency Medical Services was called to transport the teenager to the Duke Emergency Department, Dailey added.

Moneta confirmed that to the best of his knowledge the teenager is OK, adding that the minor was the sibling of a Duke student.

This incident was the “predominant deciding factor” for the decision to end Tailgate, Moneta said. The Tailgate that was originally scheduled for Nov. 13 has been suspended, and Tailgates in upcoming years will likely be very different, he added.

“Tailgate has become an embarrassment—it has no connection to our football team,” Moneta said in an interview Monday. “Now it has to end. I think the notion that a young teenager could be discovered under these conditions just crosses the line.”

Moneta sent an e-mail to the student body about the decision to end Tailgate around 10 p.m. Monday.

Following this “very scary incident,” Moneta said he met Monday afternoon with Duke Student Government President Mike Lefevre, a senior, and sophomore Chris Brown, DSG vice president for athletics and campus services.

“Although Tailgate is something that we all know and love... we really need to ask ourselves some questions about the event, about the culture surrounding it and look past the one pro everyone knows about—that it’s an event open to everyone,” Brown said.

In the Monday meeting with Moneta, Lefevre said he and Brown planned to tweak Tailgate policies by potentially eliminating the guest policy in light of this weekend’s incident.

“Larry was not interested in tweaking policies,” Lefevre said.

Administrators and students will use the Spring to devise a new policy for pre-football celebrations, Moneta said.

“I have committed to use the Spring... to develop a plan for... pre-football gatherings that preserve the kernel of value that Tailgate offered,” he said.

Lefevre said this year is his third year trying to save Tailgate “the way most students know it.”

“We knew there would be one incident that [would take] the fight out of us,” he said. “It wasn’t our idea [to suspend Tailgate], but I don’t have the heart to fight it.”

Although Brown said DSG considered creating an alternative event for Tailgate Saturday, DSG executive board members planned to contact students for feedback before planning any kind of immediate replacement.

Many students have expressed their desire to continue the Tailgate tradition. Some students created a Facebook event entitled “Main Quad Throwdown” that is set to take place Saturday morning. Approximately three hours after its creation around 10 p.m. Monday, more than 1,000 students were listed as attending the event, with about 4,400 guests awaiting reply.

Moneta gained the support of many administrators, including President Richard Brodhead, Provost Peter Lange, Executive Vice President Tallman Trask and Vice President and Director of Athletics Kevin White, in deciding to alter the nature of Tailgate. Moneta said these administrators were “totally, 100 percent” in favor of eliminating the event.

This does not mark the first time administrators have discussed changing Tailgate, however.

Duke’s version of Tailgate—which allowed student groups to bring in a car and cases of beer and was known for loud music and students spraying beer on each other—has elicited some controversy in the past.

In Spring 2009, administrators and student representatives from DSG and Duke University Union met to consider different possibilities in light of Tailgate safety concerns. Options included moving Tailgate to Main West Quadrangle or dispersing students throughout the Blue Zone.

Tailgate has also had safety issues in the past. At the fist Tailgate in 2009, there were nine EMS calls and six people were transported to the Emergency Department.

Many students have reacted negatively to the news of Tailgate’s suspension. In a June 2009 DSG survey of 1,326 undergraduates, 57 percent of respondents indicated that they have no problem with Tailgate.

Seniors were looking forward to the last Tailgate this weekend, senior Catherine Cordeiro said.

“I think it’s kind of harsh of [the administration] to not give us a last hurrah,” Cordeiro said. “I feel like the administration has been trying to get rid of Tailgate for some time. I would say that Tailgate is one of the primary reasons why I came to Duke, and I think it’s a major part of what makes the Duke social scene so unique.”
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http://dukechronicle.com/node/153620/talk

dozens and dozens of comments.
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http://dukechronicle.com/article/letter-tailgate

Letter on Tailgate
By Mike Lefevre [3] and Erskine Love [4]
November 9, 2010

Fellow students,

We have been proud to support Tailgate over the years and provide a venue that is open to all but unique to Duke. Tailgate stands out among social events for its ability to bring students together and build remarkable cohesion. Indeed, the battle cry “save Tailgate” has echoed in our heads these years as we have put in place measures to make the event safer and more inclusive to our community. But an incident last Saturday sent a strong message to all of Duke that something must give, and we are compelled to find a better way to celebrate.

As you have likely heard by now, Tailgate has been suspended. It will be up to us—the students—to determine how we bring tailgate back. We look forward to the coming of a new tailgate tradition at Duke, with pregame events that bring the celebration into the stands. This Saturday, fraternities, selective living groups and all students are encouraged to reserve grills, dress up and enjoy a spirited day of Duke Football.

If you attended the UVA showdown, you know the rush of the players jumping the wall into the student section when the clock has run down, but you also know the shame of cheering alone because the rest of the fans never came. Having fought hard to keep Tailgate afloat, we know that if tailgate is going to work in the future it needs to rebuild its connection to Duke Football. Nothing would go further toward securing that future than a huge turnout at the game against Boston College. If you are planning a pregame event, please plan it in a way that culminates at Wallace Wade.

Be assured—there will always be a tailgate at Duke. We hope that next year, students will define their own tailgate tradition just like our predecessors did in 2003, when they began the costumed revelry we have known ever since. We can only imagine what Duke students will think of next.

Most sincerely,

Mike Lefevre, Trinity ’11

President, Duke Student Government

Erskine Love, Trinity ’11

President, Interfraternity Council
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http://dukechronicle.com/article/let-s-stop-pretending-we-re-solving-problem

Let’s stop pretending like we’re solving the problem
By Metty Fisseha
November 9, 2010

Duke undergraduate women: we are in danger. Not only are we at a place where one out of four of us will be sexually assaulted, but we are also subject to an administration that is challenging our agency through the implementation of paternalistic policies by way of the Duke Sexual Misconduct guide. As a result, somewhere between a culture of binge drinking, casual hooks ups and gender roles subliminally reinforced by campus policy, we have fostered an environment where women who graduate Duke are leaving with less self esteem than they had when they came in.

It is no mystery that the Duke environment is one that places much pressure on women—academically, socially and emotionally. In an attempt to address this, there has been a surge in women-oriented efforts on campus, such as the Women’s Initiative, established by President Nannerl Keohane in 2003, to the more recent Moxie Project and Saturday Night women’s publication.

In 2007, The Campus Culture Initiative (CCI) Steering Committee, charged by President Brodhead to examine campus culture, published a report in 2007 that spoke specifically of the propensity of “sexual assault fueled partly by a party scene that includes significant amounts of drinking, and the control of social space predominantly by heterosexual males.” This report came at a very crucial time, as it was less than a year after the Lacrosse scandal had surfaced and questions of sexual assault and campus politics were circulating around Duke’s campus.

In an extended effort to address these issues, Student Affairs set forth a new Sexual Misconduct Policy in 2009. However, this document did not quell these concerns but perhaps may have amplified them. The new Sexual Misconduct guide provides very prolific definitions of sexual assault and consent, to the extent that critics argue pretty much any sexual interaction can fall under the umbrella of assault. Wendy Kaminer in her article for The Atlantic comments, “a committee of virginal bureaucrats would be hard pressed to draft a more ridiculous policy” and goes on to argue that Duke administrators, by giving sexual assault such a broad definition, were ultimately weakening the sexual assault prevention efforts on campus.

The Sexual Misconduct guide reads: “It is important not to make assumptions; if confusion or ambiguity on the issue of consent arises anytime during the sexual interaction, it is essential that each participant stops and clarifies, verbally, willingness to continue.”

Any modern day Duke student, or any college student, can tell you that this is far from being a reasonable expectation. As Kaminer points out, “Duke’s new rules governing sexual misconduct are so vague, subjective…and oblivious to the dynamics of consensual sexual relations” that they risk accidental sex offenders, misconstrued gender dynamics and over-victimization. We should be finding realistic ways to prevent students from finding themselves in a potentially dangerous position to begin with instead of drafting policies that seem to have no purpose other than as a tool to protect the University against legal liability in the event that assault does happen.

What are even more outrageous are the assumptions that are made within the text with regard to gender relations on campus. Near the end of the Sexual Misconduct guide are scenarios where examples of sexual assault are given. In one example, Angela and Aaron, who have been dating for a year and a half, engage in sexual intercourse that is unwanted by Angela and is cited as a violation of the sexual misconduct policy. However, entwined in this story are subliminal assumptions of the way that men and women supposedly interact in the Duke community. The vignette reads: “Again, Angela tells [Aaron] that she doesn’t want to have sex, and then is silent. Aaron decides she has given in, and proceeds to have sexual intercourse with her.” In an article for the Boston Globe, reporter Cathy Young questions why it is assumed that Angela wouldn’t have put up more efforts of dissent and discomfort. Young argues that these are not the situations that are predominantly leading to cases of sexual assault in the Duke community, and accuses the Sexual Misconduct Policy of being a text that “infantilizes women, redefines much consensual sex as potentially criminal, and ultimately does a great disservice to both sexes.”

We need to stop pretending that our efforts to prevent sexual assault are enough. Duke has been struggling to address this issue for quite some time now, and it seems that we still haven’t found an effective solution. We should be lobbying our policymakers while at the same time raising questions of how to address sexual violence against women on campus. In addition, the Administration must revise its stance as well. The University must first understand the society in which Duke women are contributing to today, and use this context to draft policy accordingly. In doing so, Duke administration can get a glimpse into the realities of the problem as it exists on campus and thereby have a greater chance in coming up with a solution that is actually effective.

Metty Fisseha is a Trinity senior. Her column runs every Tuesday.
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http://dukechronicle.com/article/breaking-cycle

Breaking the cycle
By Eliza French
November 9, 2010

Instead of perpetuating the cycle of sexual inequity and providing fodder for the 24-hour news cycle to continuously re-affirm its existence, Duke students should be modeling a progressive alternative for the future. We need to stop embarrassing each other and ourselves and work toward an environment of respect on campus.

We attend a university that at least at one point was known for producing leaders and respected for the intelligence of its student body. Unfortunately, insensitivity and thoughtlessness have at times temporarily undermined the leadership and intelligence that characterize Duke students.

We have ample opportunity to discuss gender issues from a distanced, theoretical standpoint, in the relatively removed environment of the lecture or classroom; indeed, there is no shortage of course offerings on the subject. History faculty have also organized a series of informal gatherings, the first of which was “Sex and the Student: Historical Perspectives on Karen Owen’s Sex List?” Whether this was an effective forum for discussion or a misguided attempt that only gave more credence to something that was never worth discussing in the first place doesn’t matter. I’m told only two undergraduates and one graduate student showed.

Gender inequality hasn’t been lying dormant among our myriad institutional maladies, only to wreak its viral havoc in the past months. We have repeatedly self-diagnosed and tried to remedy it with what have proved to be only palliative measures. From 2002 to September 2003, the Women’s Initiative Steering Committee, chaired by former Duke President Nan Keohane, compiled a report “to assess the situation of women at Duke and evaluate the role of gender in the everyday life of female students, faculty, employees, alumni and trustees.”

The report’s “disturbing” findings included several social, academic and professional difficulties for women at Duke and a culture that could “hold women to unreasonable standards, be detrimental to their physical and mental well-beings and inhibit their professional development.”

The report became the impetus for many changes, chief among them the creation of the Baldwin Scholars Program in 2004. This and other administrative moves were baby steps in the right direction. We overvalued this progress instead of capitalizing on it to generate forward momentum.

From April 2006 to February 2007, the University once again saw a time for critical self-evaluation. As part of Brodhead’s “culture of initiative,” the steering committee for the Campus Culture Initiative—with subcommittees on gender and sexuality, alcohol, race and athletics—attempted to compile a comprehensive report. The much-maligned CCI yielded at least a few useful recommendations, including some relevant to gender relations. Even so, the administration failed to implement a key recommendation that had the potential to dramatically change gender dynamics in campus social life—“discontinuing the practice of assigning housing to selective living groups and social/affinity/interest groups.” We missed the opportunity to displace the housing mechanisms that leverage the power of male social groups and have yet to find a way to give a significant portion of the female population a similarly empowering living situation.

It’s easier to blame administrative missteps and institutional organization than to admit that they are just one factor in an over-arching issue that is more broadly determined by each student’s individual behavior. Faculty and administrators can support us in our efforts to change and show us the empirical evidence that should serve as the impetus to do so. They can just as easily block our progress.

But it is up to us to continue to acknowledge social issues and persist in solving them.

Students, too, have documented and recognized these gender disparities. In the April 2010 issue of Towerview, the article “Ladies First” delved into barriers blocking women’s opportunities for leadership positions on campus. It highlighted the history of female under-representation, not only in undergraduate groups like Duke Student Government, but also in key administrative roles.

And we have a student body president, Mike Lefevre, a senior, who doesn’t hesitate to place the burden of solving these problems where it belongs—with students. As he wrote in a letter to the student body published in The Chronicle, “But there is a problem, and fortunately the blame lies not in any immutable legacy of sexism at Duke, but on us. Campus culture is written every year, and we’re the authors.”

This is something we all acknowledge, on some level, and then collectively shrug our shoulders. And if we still refuse to acknowledge this as an issue on our campus and in our nation, then we are hurting each other with our stubborn denial.

Duke students should expect more of themselves and more from each other. We have shirked individual responsibility and relied on student groups to create our dissatisfactory culture.

We consider ourselves among the best and the brightest. We should move beyond glass ceilings, double standards and other detrimental clichés we have allowed to define us.

Eliza French is a Trinity senior. Her column runs very other Tuesday.
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Quasimodo

A Passage to India...
Quote:
 

http://www.mydigitalfc.com/education/duke-university-mulling-india-entry-179

Duke University mulling India entry

By PTI[Press Trust of India] Nov 08 2010, New Delhi

The Duke University[sic] is looking to enter the Indian education sector for which it
is currently holding negotiations with some domestic institutions to offer courses here, according to the consultancy adviser to the US- based varsity.

(snip)

As currently, no foreign universities are allowed to set up campus here, Duke is looking at tying up with some domestic institutions and start some courses, he added.

Vickery said the Bill to permit foreign universities to set up campuses in India is very crucial and uncertainties over its passage Parliament is delaying the process.

"In China the government is setting up a 650 million dollar campus and Duke is providing curriculum and other things. In India also Duke would like to do similar campus," Vickery said.

Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, US. It has about 13,000 undergraduate and graduate students. It was ranked 14th in the 2010 QS World University Rankings.


ETA: Is it odd that none of Duke's announcements are trumpeting President Richard Brodhead's trip to India with President Obama? (Thus far, AFAIK, it's not even been mentioned.)

Also AFAIK, no news stories even mention Brodhead by name.

If Brodhead were the head of the USSR, that would be signalling something...

(of course, Duke's admin. has nothing in common with the former Politburo...) :confus:

Edited by Quasimodo, Nov 9 2010, 10:20 AM.
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Quote:
 
http://www.college-reporter.com/news/424-campbell-leads-transparent-task-force

CAMPBELL LEADS TRANSPARENT TASK FORCE

(Nov. 8, 2010)

(snip)


John Burness
’67, interim president of the College, appointed the task force last month to examine the College’s finances and priorities and to make suggestions for budget management moving forward. Burness also asked the task force to conduct its operations with utmost transparency.

“We commit to a transparent process, one that is inclusive of faculty, students, professional staff and the Board of Trustees, which is ultimately responsible for the College’s fiduciary health,” Burness wrote in the guiding principles for the task force.

(snip)



Just like at Duke...
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Quasimodo

Quote:
 
http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/2010/11/india.html

Duke Partnerships in India Draw Obama's Praise

Efforts cited during president's visit


[but no mention that Brodhead is accompanying Obama, and no quote from him?]

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

DURHAM, NC -- When President Barack Obama announced a new export initiative during his visit to India this week, he pointed to Duke as an example of how American institutions are tapping into India's emerging economic strength through $14.9 billion in new joint projects.

An official White House announcement cited a Duke Medicine partnership with Medanta Medicity to launch a new clinical research facility in India and with another Indian firm, Jubilant Life Sciences, to conduct research studies and co-develop promising discoveries. The Obama administration could have cited other Duke examples as well. A growing number of ties link Duke with India--some new and many others the result of long-term collaborations. From DukeEngage students working on sustainable development issues in Jodhpur to Nicholas School researchers partnering with Indian scholars on ocean ecology research and Sanford School faculty training Indian civil servants, Duke's interactions with India now reach across dozens of disciplines in six schools.

Duke's campus currently includes 384 students and 87 faculty and staff members from India, and 432 Duke alumni now live in India.

Duke officials foresee these ties growing even stronger. The Indian government recently has taken steps to allow foreign universities to operate campuses there, and Duke is investigating potential sites and funding options for a permanent conference center-style facility to house its programs.

Duke joins Brown and the University of Chicago in planning offices, research centers and campuses in India, according to Bloomberg News. Other universities, such as Cornell and Yale, are seeking to establish new collaborations. Several U.S. university officials accompanied Obama on his trip to India.

"In an increasingly global world, it would be hard to have a truly complete education without having some experience with India and China," Michael Schoenfeld, Duke's vice president for public affairs and government relations, told Bloomberg.

One key issue is whether the Indian parliament will approve legislation allowing foreign universities to set up degree programs in India. The Wall Street Journal this week also pointed to Duke's role on the issue.
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