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Blog and Media Roundup - Saturday, April 16, 2011; News Roundup
Topic Started: Apr 16 2011, 05:49 AM (1,483 Views)
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http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story_news_durham/12811820/article-Police-honor-newly-promoted-workers?instance=main_article

Police honor newly promoted workers
04.15.11 - 10:38 pm
By KEITH UPCHURCH

kupchurch@heraldsun.com; 419-6612

DURHAM -- Twenty-three Durham Police Department employees were honored at a Friday night ceremony at Duke Memorial United Methodist Church.

They include Hector L. Borges, the first Latino to rise through the department's ranks to the position of sergeant, Durham Police Chief Jose Lopez said.

The promoted employees include a deputy chief, the department's second-highest rank, and an assistant chief, the department's third-highest rank.

Honored employees were:

Loretta L. Clyburn, deputy chief.

Larry C. Smith, assistant chief.

Mark T. Sykes, captain.

Brian D. Reitz, David W. Addison and Sheldon L. Perkins, promoted to the rank of lieutenant.

Stacy D. Somerville, Demetrius L. Mock and Hector L. Borges, promoted to sergeant.

Samuel T. Simmons, Andrew W. Lawson III, Mark A. Clancy and Scott A. Gursslin, corporals.

Jeffrey J. Ellsworth, Marvin T. Hembrick, Shawn M. Pate, Larry W. Cox and Kevin A. Hopkins, master officers.

Eboni L. Kilgore, Melinda A. Johnson, Lisa S. Gleason and Lisa L. Young, DCI/warrant squad leaders.

Ethel N. Coble, crime scene specialist.

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http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story_news_durham/12812388/article-Kareem-Fowler-s-murder-still-deeply-felt--a-year-later?instance=main_article

Kareem Fowler's murder still deeply felt, a year later
04.15.11 - 11:22 pm
Submitted<br> Kareem Fowler of Durham was murdered on April 17, 2010. Family and friends are still reeling from their loss.
BY DAWN BAUMGARTNER VAUGHAN

dvaughan@heraldsun.com; 419-6563

DURHAM -- A year ago tonight, 33-year-old Kareem Fowler began his evening out with a friend. By the end of the night, he had been shot multiple times and died on the street in Durham.

In the wake of his murder, there were more victims than just Fowler. His death left a gaping hole in the hearts of his family and friends.

For William Harp, Kareem Fowler's friend since high school, it doesn't feel like a year has passed. It could have been just a few weeks. That's how fresh the loss is.

The last image Harp has of his friend was on the dance floor, surrounded by women, when they went out for Fowler's 33rd birthday, April 3, 1010. Less than two weeks later, Harp got a call that Fowler had been murdered. Harp cried and screamed -- it felt like a dream, not real.

"Kareem was like a brother," he said.

According to the Durham police investigation, Fowler and a friend went to a party on Dupree Street near N.C. Central University the night of April 16 to meet up with a woman that Fowler knew. Outside, Fowler went to say goodbye to his female friend, who was talking to another man at a car that had pulled up at the curb. It was shortly after midnight. The other man drew a gun. Fowler shielded the woman as he was shot five times.

In July, Georgia man Brandon Kee was charged with Fowler's murder and is in the Durham County jail.

Fowler's friend Harp likes to cook out, and his buddy loved whatever Harp was cooking, especially oysters. When Harp cooks out now, his natural inclination is to call his friend to come over. Harp said Fowler was the kind of friend that always had your back and would make sure no one was messing with you.

They were part of a crew of 10 guys who were friends at Durham High School, graduating in 1995. Fowler was also "real fly - one of the best dressers in the whole city," Harp said. As their paths diverged, Fowler was the one who knit the group together. He never judged anyone, Harp said.

"He just loved you for who you were. He was that guy. He always came by to check up on you, to encourage you," Harp said. Now Harp feels empty. Any anger he had over the way his friend died has been pushed aside by the tremendous hurt and feeling of loss. He's comforted that Fowler is in heaven.

"It's hard to find genuine friends like Kareem. It's just a loss, a lifelong loss. Ten years from now, I will want to call him, and I just can't," Harp said.

Jessica Ross met Fowler a decade ago when mutual friends set them up on a blind date.

"He was a ladies' man all the way. He came with lines and a deep voice. I melted, but knew he did that to all the girls. He was honest," Ross said. She and Fowler became good friends. "He was just a lovely person all around," she said.

"Once you became his friend, you were always his friend," Ross said. Fatherhood changed him. Once a social butterfly, he went back to school and planned his future. Fowler came to Ross for advice when he got custody of his daughter, Aniya, now 5, when she was 2.

Aniya's grandmother Sherry Jones said that when Fowler began dating her daughter Jennifer, Aniya's mother, she found him to be a nice, kind, gentle man who was always respectful. Fowler was awarded custody after Aniya's mother became addicted to drugs. She is now in prison.

Jones said she is so proud and grateful that Aniya had Kareem as a father.

Now Jones lives close by Aniya and Glenda Fowler, Kareem's mom who is raising her granddaughter.

The little girl believes her dad is working for God in heaven. Fowler also has a 2-year-old son, Chaz, from another relationship. Chaz's mom brings him over to play with Aniya often. Glenda Fowler said the siblings love to see each other.

Kareem Fowler was a student at Strayer University, which awarded his degree posthumously. The Rev. Kelvin Thurman met Fowler in class, and they became close friends. Thurman is a pastor.

"He was so inquisitive about God and how I changed my life around. We became close. My son called him uncle Kareem. He called my wife 'sis,'" Thurman said. He saw Fowler the day before he was killed, and had planned to see him the day after and attend church together.

"Kareem was part of the family, part of us," Thurman said.

Fowler's father, Jalaal Aleem, as known as Al Fowler, said that as a Christian he must forgive to be forgiven, but he's not there yet. He still has anger toward the man who took his son's life.

"When I think of our son, it's like his life flashes before my eyes, from the time he was thought of until the time he left us," Al Fowler said. He and Glenda Fowler are separated, and there was a time that father and son were estranged. Al Fowler said that he had prayed they would reconcile.

"I'm so elated we had closed this gap. You never think your children will go before you," he said. Fowler said sometimes he wakes up at night and sobs for the life of his son.

"He's still in my heart, still in my spirit. I take it one day at a time. Some days are worse than others," he said.

On what would have been Kareem Fowler's 34th birthday April 3, Glenda Fowler had family and friends came over for a balloon release in the backyard. Many wore red, her son's favorite color.

"I could not have made it this past year without Kareem's friends and all the people who come by and check in," Glenda Fowler said.

"I have to find a way to overcome the grief. He's not coming back," she said. "God's shoulders are big -- He understands that I'm angry. Nothing is the same. Nothing. Everything is different," Fowler said. She is praying to sleep through the night tonight, to not wake up remembering what happened a year ago.
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http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story_news_durham/12811838/article-New-bean-counters-aboard-at-Duke--NCCU?instance=main_article

New bean counters aboard at Duke, NCCU
04.15.11 - 10:38 pm
By Neil Offen

noffen@heraldsun.com; 419-6646

DURHAM -- The new top financial officers at Durham's two universities are not new to the community.

Tim Walsh, who has served as Duke University's assistant vice president and controller for the past six years, is now vice president for finance, school officials announced Tuesday.

Wendell Davis, who has been deputy manager of Durham County since 1999, has been named vice chancellor for administration and finance at N.C. Central University.

Walsh begins his post immediately; Davis will start June 1.

Walsh, who has been serving for the last three months as interim vice president for finance at Duke, was selected following a three-month national search, officials said. He succeeds Hof Milam, who left in December to become the senior vice president for finance and administration at Wake Forest University.

The chief financial officer post at NCCU has been vacant since February 2010, when Alan Robertson left the school. Yolanda Banks Deaver has been serving as interim vice chancellor for administration and finance. .

As Durham County's second-ranking administrator, Davis has overseen daily operations in the areas of general administration, planning and development, public safety and human services. He has managed about 1,300 employees and an annual operating budget of about $300 million. He directed the county's multimillion dollar capital improvement program and served as interim county manager from Oct. 1 to Dec. 2004.

A 1987 graduate of NCCU with degrees in geography and sociology, he also has been an adjunct professor of public administration at the school since 2005.

Davis also earned a master's in urban planning from the University of Illinois and an M.B.A. from Southeastern University of Washington, D.C. Before taking the Durham County job 12 years ago, Davis was deputy county manager of Bertie County. Prior to that, he held a wide range of administrative positions in the governments of Prince William and Arlington counties in Virginia and in Baltimore County, Maryland.

"We are living in an era of considerable economic constraints as we engage the challenge of educating the next generation of business, industry and political leaders," Davis said. "I'm hopeful that my work will add value to the NCCU family in meeting these challenges."

Since joining Duke in 2004, Walsh has overseen the largest division of central finance. In addition, he recently led the analysis efforts for the Duke Administrative Reform Team, which has identified ways for Duke to save more than $60 million annually.

As vice president for finance, Walsh will oversee an array of accounting, reporting and financial functions, including the treasury, budgeting, procurement, real estate, stores and licensing, administrative systems, research costing and compliance, auxiliaries finance and controller's functions. He will be in charge of a staff of 375 people.
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http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story_news_durham/12810602/article-Quintiles-invests-in-clinical-trial?instance=main_article

Quintiles invests in clinical trial
04.15.11 - 08:24 pm
From staff reports

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK -- Quintiles will contribute a total of $2.6 million over four years to support I-SPY 2, a clinical trial designed to develop breast cancer therapies twice as quickly and at one-fifth the cost of current methods.

Current development costs typically exceed $1 billion and take 12 to 15 years to bring a single drug to market.

The I-SPY 2 clinical trial involves 800 patients with advanced breast cancer at time of primary diagnosis. It employs innovative adaptive trial design and genetic and biological markers from individual patients' tumors to screen multiple investigational therapies simultaneously.

The evaluation of multiple drugs concurrently allows investigators to quickly measure effectiveness.

The design of the I-SPY 2 trial represents a major advance in breast cancer research with promising implications for other cancers and other diseases. Quintiles will make its grant in support of I-SPY 2 through QuantumLeap Healthcare Collaborative, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation and a co-project manager of the trial.

"Quintiles' $2.6 million grant and our joining the I-SPY 2 management consortium reflect the company's unwavering commitment to patients," said Dennis Gillings, CBE, Quintiles chairman and chief executive officer. "Multi-party collaboration, adaptive trial design, biomarker use, and point-of-care data access are major steps in the right direction. Quintiles is proud to be part of this revolutionary effort."

The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health is the sponsor of I-SPY 2 while the U.S. FDA, National Cancer Institute and 20 leading academic cancer centers are collaborators in the effort. Quintiles joins The Safeway Foundation, QuantumLeap Healthcare Collaborative, several biopharmaceutical companies and individual donors as supporters.
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http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/04/16/1133996/judge-hears-arguments-in-lawsuit.html

Published Sat, Apr 16, 2011 06:37 AM
Modified Sat, Apr 16, 2011 06:48 AM
Judge hears arguments in lawsuit for UNC football records
By Luke DeCock - Staff writer
Published in: Education
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RALEIGH Differing interpretations of a federal student-privacy statute were debated Friday before Wake County Superior Court Judge Howard Manning as he heard arguments in an open-records lawsuit against UNC-Chapel Hill.

The lawsuit, brought in October by a consortium of news organizations led by The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer, seeks the release of records related to the NCAA investigation into the UNC-CH football program. The university has withheld information requested under open-records laws, citing the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

The N&O, Charlotte Observer and other plaintiffs say the records are public under state law, which says records, documents and other information generated by state agencies and institutions such as UNC-CH should be, with limited exceptions, made public.

The media group seeks the release of unredacted telephone records from phones provided to UNC-CH Athletic Director Dick Baddour, Head Football Coach Butch Davis, and former Associate Head Football Coach John Blake; parking tickets issued to 11 UNC-CH football players; and the names and dates of employment of student tutors who worked with the football team, among other records.

The university has said it believes FERPA applies to all educational records related to students, including the requested records.

“The bottom line is the information the plaintiffs are seeking is protected by FERPA,” Special Deputy Attorney General Alexander McC.Peterssaid. “The university has an obligation to abide by personnel-records law and FERPA as federal law.”

But attorney Amanda Martin, representing the media group, argued that FERPA protects student information such as grades, class schedules and Social Security numbers, not the phone records of football coaches or campus parking tickets. “This is not a case concerning … the guts of FERPA,” Martin said. “These are records elsewhere on campus that contain small pieces of info related to students.”

NCAA investigation

The NCAA began investigating UNC-CH’s football program last summer. The probe initially focused on improper benefits that agents delivered to Tar Heel football players. Eventually, it was expanded to include possible academic violations involving a tutor. Fourteen UNC-CH players were sidelined for at least one game, and seven for the entire 2010 season.

Manning did not indicate when he might rule, but he did express his apparent dissatisfaction with the university’s FERPA justification for withholding the phone records and parking tickets.

“At this point, I’ll tell all of you, to be fair, that no one’s going to win 100 percent,” Manning said at the conclusion of the hearing. “We’re still going to end up with a case. I’m not happy about the phones. I’m not happy about the parking tickets. The student tutors, that might be a little different.”

In addition to The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer, both McClatchy newspapers, the media group includes DTH Media Corp., which publishes the UNC-CH student newspaper The Daily Tar Heel; News 14 Carolina, a cable TV station operated by Time Warner Entertainment-Advance/Newhouse Partnership; WTVD Television; Capitol Broadcasting; The Associated Press; and Media General Operations.

The suit names UNC-CH Chancellor Holden Thorp, Baddour, Davis, and Jeff McCracken, head of the UNC-CH Public Safety Department.
luke.decock@newsobserver.com or 919-829-8947
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http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/12811226/article-Standards-for-magistrates?instance=hs_editorials

Standards for magistrates
04.15.11 - 09:36 pm
The North Carolina Magistrates Association describes magistrates as "the front-line protection of peoples' constitutional rights."

They are not judges -- in fact, they aren't required to have any legal training before their appointments -- but just as judges are responsible for ensuring fair trials, so magistrates are responsible for fairness in issuing search and arrest warrants and setting bonds.

But it doesn't always work out fairly.

In 2008, Johanna Foster, a student in UNC Chapel Hill master's degree program in public administration, published an analysis of bond amounts in Wake County. She found that black defendants charged with a Class 2 misdemeanor faced bond amounts that were at least 16 percent higher than they were for white defendants -- and 30 percent higher than bond amount suggested by Wake County's bond policy guidelines.

It could have happened in Durham. Until recently, Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson told Herald-Sun courthouse reporter John McCann, a suspect seeking bond in Durham would be at the mercy of a magistrate's discretion. When magistrates were forced to justify their decisions, it created "some strife," he said.

"Bond tends to become a big issue because it has a very significant impact on the defendant," said Jessica Smith, who trains magistrates at UNC's School of Government. "If a defendent is incarcerated, they can't work, they can't see their family. ... It really affects people's lives, so people get appropriately interested in bonds."

So Hudson worked with Dona Lewandowski, one of Smith's colleagues at the School of Government, to write a manual that defines ethical standards and policies for the county's magistrates.

It's an interesting exercise, although one that may be eclipsed by action from the General Assembly.

At least three members of the legislature found it unsettling that North Carolina's magistrates have such broad discretion -- arguably more discretion than is granted to judges. Under Article 30 of the N.C. General Statutes, judges are required to adhere to the state's code of judicial conduct or face disciplinary measures from the N.C. Judicial Standards Commission.

The General Assembly is mulling House Bill 517, which would require magistrates to adhere to the judicial code of conduct, too.

Does that mean that Hudson and Lewandowski wasted their time? Not a bit.

Magistrates share many ethical obligations with judges, but they work outside of the solemnity of a traditional court room. As Lewandowski said, "'front-line' work ... is often loud, messy and chaotic." In that environment, a magistrate needs clear, firm standards in order to offer clear, firm decisions.

So we welcome the local standards manual and encourage legislators to improve the state judiciary by passing H. 517.
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http://durhamwonderland.blogspot.com/2011/04/dukes-factual-semi-factual-non-factual.html

Friday, April 15, 2011
Duke's Factual, Semi-Factual, & Non-Factual Response

After the failure of the university’s efforts to have the civil rights lawsuit against it dismissed, Duke has filed its lengthy factual response to the unindicted lacrosse players’ complaint. Its general approach: deny anything for which there’s no open record; blame others (Nifong, the Durham Police) by inference regarding areas in which the facts can’t be denied.

Two general points: first, this response wasn’t due until June 14. I’m sure the fact that Pres. Brodhead is currently in China, and therefore unreachable by the local media, had nothing to do with Duke’s decision to file its response a bit early.

Second, it’s important to remember on what issue—thanks to Judge Beaty’s ruling—Duke doesn’t have to deny or shift blame: the university’s failure to enforce its own written policies regarding treatment of the lacrosse players. On this question, the university can breathe a sigh of relief that it’s not located 247 miles to the southwest—since, if it were so located, it would fall within the jurisdiction of the 11th Circuit. And, as this recent filing from FIRE points out, in the 11th Circuit, universities are legally obligated to enforce their own student bulletins and faculty handbooks, rather than treat them as mere scraps of paper.

As if to reiterate the point, Duke’s filing notes (in an oddly-worded passage), “Duke University denies that the language from the Faculty Handbook . . . sets forth Duke University’s policy regarding policy.”

When, if ever, will the university communicate this information to prospective parents?

A summary of the major elements from the University’s 252-page filing:

The Group of 88 Statement

“Duke University denies that the full-page, paid announcement that ran in The Chronicle, and that identified 88 individuals and contained unattributed quotations, made anything ‘clear’ about what its authors or sponsors believed about the evidence of rape. Duke University admits that the cost of running the announcement was paid, in part, with funds from departments within Duke University.”

For the first time, Duke has officially admitted that University funds paid for the Group of 88’s ad. The use of “in part” is intriguing: is Duke suggesting that private individuals partly financed the ad? If so, who were these people?

In any event, consider the significance of this admission. Not all the lacrosse players were on full scholarships. So Duke has now affirmed that some of the players’ own tuition moneys were used to produce an ad that publicly condemned them—an ad placed in violation of Duke rules, moreover. When considering where to send your son to college, what parent could ever even conceive of such behavior from an institution that gladly accepted your tuition check?

Tellingly, the university can’t bring itself to accurately describe the ad. It’s true that the ad did contain “unattributed quotations” that allegedly came from Duke students. But the statement also contained thirteen sentences in the voices of the signatories, not in the form of “unattributed quotations,” as well as an additional sentence falsely claiming that five academic departments at Duke endorsed the ad. What’s the purpose of describing the statement in a misleading fashion? To elide over the fact that those 13 sentences included a clear, unequivocal statement that something “happened”—not “allegedly happened”—to false accuser Crystal Mangum?

In any event, this mis-description continues Duke’s legal strategy of misrepresenting the lacrosse players’ claims to such a wild extent that it would have to undermine the university’s credibility with Judge Beaty.

Former SANE-nurse-in-training Tara Levicy

The university’s response concedes that Levicy had not, in fact, received her “certificate of completion” from her SANE training course until after she conducted her examination of Crystal Mangum—and that, therefore, she was a SANE-in-training when the botched exam occurred. Indeed, on p. 34, the University, for the first time, states it explicitly: “Tara Levicy was a registered nurse who was working as a staff nurse and as a SANE in training in the Emergency Department at Duke University Hospital.” [emphasis added] So why did the hospital allow her, without supervision from a credentialed SANE, to examine Mangum? Imagine how this case might have differed if the hospital had followed established procedures on this matter.

Moreover, the Duke response concedes how woefully inexperienced Levicy actually was at the time she examined Mangum: “DUHS and Nurse Levicy admit that Nurse Levicy began working in the Emergency Department at Duke University Hospital in February 2005. DUHS and Nurse Levicy further admit that this job was Nurse Levicy’s first nursing job following receipt of her nursing degree in December 2004. DUHS and Nurse Levicy also admit that Nurse Levicy began her SANE training in August 2005, and that her certificate of completion was effective on March 2, 2006, although she did not receive the certificate until the late afternoon of March 14, 2006 [which, of course, was after she examined Mangum].” Again, imagine how this case might have differed if Duke Hospital had a competent, professional SANE nurse instead of an inexperienced, ultra-feminist SANE nurse-in-training examine Mangum.

As to other allegations, the university affirms, over and over and over again, that “Nurse Levicy likewise denies that she made any statements to members of the Durham Police Department or to investigators working with then District Attorney Nifong that were inconsistent with the examination of Ms. Mangum.”

Based on the record of the case, Levicy’s stories undoubtedly shifted, always in ways convenient to Nifong and contrary to the written record of her exam. This passage would seem to represent an effort by Duke to shift the blame, setting up a claim that Levicy told the truth to Sgt. Mark Gottlieb and ex-Nifong investigator Linwood Wilson, but that they, in turn, lied (blunt force trauma, Mangum wasn’t sure about whether her attackers used condoms) about what she told them. Given that the Gottlieb/Wilson version of what Levicy told them was completely consistent with what Levicy told the defense attorneys in their interview with her, this strikes me as a difficult argument to make.

One other point: the university’s filing confirms for the first time the long-rumored extent of Levicy’s cooperation with the investigation. “Nurse Levicy admits that she met with or conversed with members of the Durham Police Department on a limited number of occasions and responded to questions from investigators . . . Nurse Levicy further admits that she met with former District Attorney Nifong in June 2006 and responded to his questions about the sexual assault examination.” The university’s filing contains no details about what transpired at this mysterious meeting, during which Nifong (it seems) took no notes. Nor does the university’s filing reveal how many the “limited number of occasions” were in which Levicy chatted with DPD officers—chats that do not appear to have been recorded in the official case discovery file.

Beyond these blanket, and almost comical, denials, Duke appears to be using an element of Beaty’s ruling (that Levicy owed a duty only to Mangum, and not to the public) to shield Levicy’s examination from any meaningful inquiry: “It is a violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act for the Duke SANE Defendants to disclose any of Ms. Mangum’s protected health information. Absent a court order authorizing such disclosure, the Duke SANE Defendants are unable to respond. Therefore, the allegations seeking information relating to Ms. Mangum’s protected health information are denied.”

Under this conception of the law, a SANE nurse could lie at will about an exam, and there would be no way to challenge her in a civil suit.

Levicy was Right, and the AG’s Investigation Was Wrong

Perhaps the most bracing element of Duke’s filing comes in repeated claims that the Attorney General’s investigation—upon which the declaration of innocence was based—improperly characterized the medical evidence, and that, as a result, objective medical evidence did exist that Mangum was raped. These assertions are nothing short of astonishing.

Two examples:

The Attorney General’s report stated, “No medical evidence confirmed [Mangum’s] stories. The SANE based her opinion that the exam was consistent with what the accusing witness was reporting largely on the accusing witness’s demeanor and complaints of pain rather than on objective evidence.” [emphasis added] But Duke now claims that “Nurse Levicy specifically admits that she remains both objective and neutral during such examinations.” [emphasis added]

“Nurse Levicy further admits that she told Investigator Himan that there were signs during the sexual assault examination that were consistent with sexual assault. Nurse Levicy specifically denies that she made any statements to members of the Durham Police Department that were inconsistent with the examination of Ms. Mangum.” Once again, the AG’s report stated, “The SANE based her opinion that the exam was consistent with what the accusing witness was reporting largely on the accusing witness’s demeanor and complaints of pain rather than on objective evidence.” Duke claims that Levicy was right, and the AG was wrong.

The FERPA Claim

The filing represents the first time that Duke offered any explanation as to the area of the lawsuit where it seems extremely vulnerable—that it provided keycard information, in violation of FERPA, to the DPD; and then it stood idly by as Nifong tried and failed to get (retroactive) court approval for that information.

“Duke University specifically denies that DukeCard reports were ‘illegally’ supplied by Duke University.” Why? Because “Duke University, Deputy Counsel Hendricks and former Director Drummond specifically deny that they had any knowledge that DukeCard information had been provided to members of the Durham Police Department.” As I understand FERPA law, willful ignorance doesn’t count as a defense.

Who at Duke improperly supplied the information? “Duke University admits that on or about March 31, Gary Smith provided DukeCard information to Sergeant Gottlieb for some of the members of the 2005-2006 Duke University men’s lacrosse team for the period of time from March 13, 2006 until March 14, 2006.” And “Duke University admits that it did not notify the lacrosse players, their families, or their lawyers of the disclosure.” Nor did Duke notify the Court, as it considered (and rejected) Nifong’s subpoena for the information. Why not? The University’s filing doesn’t say.

Odd Denials & Legal Niceties

“The Duke University Defendants and the Duke SANE Defendants further deny that President Brodhead or anyone else at Duke University suppressed or concealed any exculpatory information.”

The emphasis here would be on the word “any.” Of course Duke “concealed” some exculpatory information—to take an obvious example: the knowledge that, as Nifong and the DPD were waging their p.r. campaign accusing Duke students of having constructed a “wall of silence,” Duke knew that the captains (including one of the Carrington plaintiffs, Dan Flannery) had voluntarily given statements and DNA evidence to Durham. Yet the university remained silent. It might very well be that Duke considers this concealment legally irrelevant (and the university might be right). But to deny that the university “concealed any exculpatory information” is absurd.

“President Brodhead denies that he took no steps to enforce Duke’s anti-harassment policy and further denies that he condoned harassment of the players.”

The key words in this sentence are “no” and “condoned.” Duke’s statements could be legally true if (hypothetically) Brodhead placed an e-mail in his draft file, but never sent it, urging faculty and students not to harass the players—he would have taken a “step” to enforce the anti-harassment policy, but the “step” would have been a useless one. It’s pretty obvious that Brodhead didn’t actually do anything to stop either the in-class or on-campus harassment of the players, and it’s quite striking that even Duke doesn’t claim that its president acted in any meaningful way to stop the harassment of dozens of the university’s own students.

The remainder of the passage depends on how duke defines “condoned.” Take an obvious example—the Group of 88’s statement, through which dozens of Duke faculty members, basing their opinion solely on what Mike Nifong provided them, publicly affirmed in what they considered the highest-profile venue on campus that something “happened” to Crystal Mangum. That statement falsely claimed, in violation of Duke policy, that five academic departments had officially endorsed it. Yet Brodhead never compelled a retraction, nor did he order the African-American Studies Department to take the statement off its official duke.edu webpage. Duke appears to be claiming that Brodhead’s in the clear as long as he didn’t himself sign the statement, thereby “condoning” its contents, and that his administration’s failure to do its job didn’t constitute “condoning.”

“President Brodhead denies that any statements from him were designed to ‘impute guilt’ to the players or to ‘inflame’ public opinion against them.”

The key word in this sentence is “designed.” Brodhead’s April 5, 2006 statement—which didn’t even contain a token mention of the presumption of innocence—clearly “imputed guilt,” since it urged people to withhold judgment only until arrests occurred. The presumption, therefore, was that the arrested parties were guilty.

As to the claim that the statement wasn’t designed to “inflame” public opinion against the players: is the University really going to claim that its president, an English professor, didn’t understand how this statement would play in public opinion?

Obvious, but Damning, Admissions

“President Richard Brodhead admits that he played an active role in Duke University’s response to the rape allegations against members of the lacrosse team, and that he consulted with former Chairman Steel and members of the Duke University Board of Trustees in connection with the controversy. “

This admission was all but mandated by former BOT chairman Bob Steel’s ill-considered April 2007 e-mail, which affirmed, “Throughout the past year President Richard Brodhead consulted regularly with the trustees and has had our continuing support. He made considered and thoughtful decisions in a volatile and uncertain situation. Each step of the way, the board agreed with the principles that he established and the actions he took. As we look back and with the benefit of what we now know there is no question that there are some things that might have been done differently. However, anyone critical of President Brodhead should be similarly critical of the entire board.”

“Duke University admits that officers of the Durham Police Department informed officers of the Duke University Police Department that Ms. Roberts made a 911 call.”

This statement is damning for what it doesn’t say. One of Mike Nifong’s most dastardly deeds came in his late March 2006 (false) assertion that the DPD didn’t know Roberts made the 911 call. That left the impression that the lacrosse players were virulent racists, since two innocent black women, walking past the house, had been subjected to racial slurs. By the time the truth came out about Roberts, the damage was done. For the first time, this filing states that Duke knew that Roberts made the call. Tellingly, the filing does not reveal when Duke knew about Roberts. Did the university know before March 29, 2006, when Nifong made his false statement to the press? And if so, why did the knowledge that the DA was lying both about the players not cooperating with the police investigation and about the source of the 911 call not influence how the university approached the issue?

“Dean Wasiolek further admits that she had reason to believe that the accuser was not credible.”

No neutral party observing the Duke administration’s actions between March 25, 2006 and April 18, 2006 would ever believe that a key figure in formulating the administration’s response “had reason to believe that the accuser was not credible.”

“Duke University admits that the quote [‘We had to stop those pictures. It doesn’t mean that it’s fair, but we had to stop it. It doesn’t necessarily mean I think it was right—it just had to be done’] attributed to former Chairman Steel appeared in the New Yorker. Duke University denies that the quote accurately conveys former Chairman Steel’s statement.“

Why, then, didn’t Steel, at the time, write a letter to the editor, or issue a press release to make this point? Or could it be that former BOT chairman Steel only came to the conclusion that he was misquoted after Nifong’s case imploded? It strains credulity to believe that the New Yorker misquoted Steel and he did nothing to correct the record.

“Dean Wasiolek admits that she gave the name of Wes Covington to then Senior Associate Director of Athletics Kennedy as a name of a local attorney that players could contact. Dean Wasiolek further admits that she was complimentary of Mr. Covington and referred to his experience as a former Assistant District Attorney.”

Covington, of course, was the “fixer” whose intent appeared to be to end the case quickly and quietly, by giving Gottlieb access to any and all the players. The university’s filing repeatedly denies that any connection existed between Covington (who has since died) and Duke.

“Duke University, President Brodhead, and Deputy Counsel Hendricks admit that on March 28, 2006, the four lacrosse co-captains met with President Brodhead. Duke University, President Brodhead, and Deputy Counsel Hendricks further admit that other representatives of Duke University, including Deputy Counsel Hendricks, were present, as well as the co-captains’ own attorney. Duke University still further admits that some representatives of Duke University were interviewed by members of the Durham Police Department as part of the Durham Police Department’s investigation into the rape allegations, and they answered questions posed by the members of the Durham Police Department.”

This is Duke’s description of the meeting at which Brodhead blandly—and, obviously, falsely—assured the captains that anything they told him would stay within the walls of the room.

“Nurse Levicy, the Duke University Defendants, and the remaining Duke SANE Defendants further deny that they had any authority or obligation to rebut or correct any assertions in any NTO application regardless of the truth of the allegations.” [emphasis added]

Wow.

When There’s No Written Record (Yet), Duke Denies

“Dean Wasiolek denies that she advised the members of the team that they should not consult with an attorney. Dean Wasiolek further denies that she advised the members of the team that they should not tell their parents about the rape allegations.”

“Duke University and Executive Vice President Trask deny that they ever claimed the existence of a ‘student-administrator privilege’ and further deny that they misled the plaintiffs into providing statements that were contrary to their attorney’s advice.”

To my knowledge, no tape recordings exist of any of the discussions that Duke denies above. But the problem with these denials is obvious: contemporaneous witnesses with whom the lacrosse players spoke verify the players’ version of events. (If the lacrosse players had first mentioned any of these conversations not right after they occurred but instead in, say, March 2007, that would be a very different matter.) So Duke will have to ask the court to believe that in March 2006, the lacrosse players made up—for no apparent reason—versions of conversations that would prove damning to Duke once the case imploded.

Odd Clauses

“President Brodhead admits that he did not meet with the lacrosse players’ lawyers to review ‘evidence.’”

The use of “scare quotes” in this sentence is bizarre. Is Duke really intending to suggest that the lacrosse players’ attorneys—some of the most highly-regarded attorneys in the state—were offering to share tainted “evidence” with Duke? If not, why use the quotation marks?

“Duke University and Richard Brodhead admit that Richard Brodhead has served as President of Duke University, including during the period from March 13, 2006 (the date of Plaintiffs’ party) to the present.”

This description of March 13, 2006—which the university’s attorneys repeat over and over again in their filing—appears to be a not-so-subtle dig to suggest that the lacrosse players were to blame for what happened to them for attending the party in the first place. Yet by not qualifying the remark with “some of,” the statement is legally inaccurate and therefore inflammatory. Several plaintiffs, most notably Brad Ross, did not attend the party. In what way could the event be described as Ross’ party?

“Duke University denies that it has no rules or policies ‘with respect to the hiring of exotic dancers to perform at student parties.’”

This statement is particularly odd—first, because no such rule appears to have existed in the Duke Student Bulletin of 2005-6 (a document, of course, which Duke maintains it didn’t have to follow anyway); and second, because having made the claim, the university’s filing doesn’t even attempt to identify the previously unknown rule and/or policy it claims existed.

Here’s how the Duke filing describes the DNA evidence improperly withheld in Brian Meehan’s report: “The Duke University Defendants and the Duke SANE Defendants further admit that evidence has also been presented at those legal proceedings that would tend to show that Ms. Mangum had engaged in sexual activity with multiple males.” [emphasis added] “Tend to show”? Does the University have another explanation for the DNA findings?

“Duke University further admits that on March 25, President Brodhead decided to forfeit the next two lacrosse games, in part as punishment for the wrongdoing [‘which at a minimum included unlawful underage drinking and the provision of alcohol to minors’] which the players admitted, and in part because of concerns for the safety of the players.” He did? If so, why didn’t he mention the latter point in his cancellation statement? And with regard to the former, why did he begin his statement not with the (now-alleged) reason for the cancellation but instead with the following: “Physical coercion and sexual assault are unacceptable in any setting and have no place at Duke. The criminal allegations against three members of our men’s lacrosse team, if verified, will warrant very serious penalties.

(A note for the record: Brodhead’s March 25, 2006 statement was his most due-process friendly one until the late fall of 2006.)

Regarding the potbangers’ rally: “The Duke University Defendants admit that some individuals who were employed by Duke University engaged in their constitutional right of free speech by participating in gatherings such as the one that occurred on Sunday, March 26, 2006.” Regarding the “wanted” poster: “Duke University admits on information and belief that a poster with the photographs of the Duke University men’s lacrosse team was created and distributed by Sam Hummel, who is a former employee of Duke University.” And regarding the more general anti-lacrosse players’ attitude on campus: “Duke University admits that it follows a practice of academic freedom and that faculty and students are free to exercise their individual First Amendment right to free speech.”

Duke’s affirmation of “constitutional right of free speech” would ring a little less hollow if such a clause were contained in the university’s anti-harassment code. But no such qualifier exists. Imagine if, for instance, “some individuals who were employed by Duke University” chanted the N-word outside a house rented by black Duke students. Does anyone really believe the University would suggest that such behavior didn’t fall under its anti-harassment code, and instead was an example of the “constitutional right of free speech”?

Unexplained

Duke’s response essentially makes no explanation to the allegations that higher-ups pressured Duke officer Christopher Day to modify his March 14, 2006 report, which correctly stressed the evidence of Mangum’s unreliability. Duke concedes that at least three administrators, however, knew of Day’s report by March 15, 2006.

----------------

So we have learned that: University funds paid for the Group of 88’s ad; Duke believes the AG’s conclusions about the medical evidence were wrong; senior administrators knew of Officer Day’s report almost instantaneously but did nothing to disseminate it either publicly or to the lacrosse players’ attorneys; and Duke as an institution, along with its senior administrators, believe they have no obligation to act when they know of factually erroneous legal filings regarding their students. And all of this has come before any discovery has occurred.

No wonder Duke was so desperate to have this case dismissed.
Posted by KC Johnson at 5:41 PM
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History Repeating: Another Hoax College ‘Hate Crime’ Charge in North Carolina

Posted By Bob Owens On April 15, 2011 @ 7:16 am In Uncategorized | 63 Comments

The story, as reported in the local news, was horrific. A University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill student claimed that he was brutally injured in an attack that left third and fourth degree burns on his arm, simply [1] [1]for [1] [1]being [1] [1]gay [1].

The university community immediately called the alleged attack a “hate crime,” and Chancellor Holden Thorp vowed to “bring the strongest possible charges against the attacker.”

As the UNC student newspaper the Daily Tarheel revealed [2], freshman Quinn Matney claimed that he:

… ran into an acquaintance on the Craige Residence Hall footbridge. As the two spoke, a man sitting at a nearby picnic table stood up and grabbed him by the wrist, he said.

“Here’s a taste of hell you f***ing fag,” Matney remembered the man saying.

The man branded Matney, who is gay, on the left wrist with an unidentified object, causing third- and fourth-degree burns that damaged three nerves and a tendon, leaving the freshman with no feeling in his thumb and limited mobility in his index finger, he said.

I was, shall we say, less [3] [3]convinced [3] of the story’s veracity. Why?

Matney’s story was rife with improbabilities from the outset. It was highly improbable that he would be attacked by a random stranger as he happened to be conversing with another person. It is improbable that the stranger would know his sexuality, much less attack him for it. It seemed even more unlikely that the alleged attacker would be armed with a weapon that was both extremely portable and capable of causing fourth degree burns in the split-second before a person’s natural reflexes kicked in and caused them to rip their arm away from the searing pain.

Crucially, while Matney claims that the attack happened in front of multiple witnesses, not a single person had corroborated the story.

As a long-time resident of the area, it seemed to me that history was repeating.

UNC-Chapel Hill is but a few short miles from Duke University in Durham, where the overwrought political correctness pervading the area allowed a false hate crimes allegation to rip the campus and the city apart in 2006. A black stripper named Crystal Mangum falsely [4] [4]accused [4] white members of the university lacrosse team of rape. The university community, led by a lynch mob of faculty members known as the “Gang of 88,” found the team members guilty in the court of public opinion long before there was ever a trial, and played up the angle of a racially motivated hate crime.

The entire case was a sham.

Mangum, who has a long criminal history (to which she keeps [5] [5]adding [5] [5]charges [5]), was proven to be a liar. Prosecutor Mike Nifong was found guilty of criminal contempt and disbarred for his behavior. The accused players were declared innocent by state Attorney General Roy Cooper.

Students just a few miles away in Chapel Hill, however, did not want to learn from recent history.

They threw caution to the wind and jumped on the hate crimes bandwagon, uncritically supporting Matney’s claims, despite a raft of obvious questions regarding the allegations. But perhaps as disturbing as the suspect allegations themselves was the instantaneous assumption by Chapel Hill’s university community that Matney’s claims must be believed, and that dissenting views must be silenced. Nowhere was that in evidence more than in comments to the Daily Tarheel article [6] about the allegation. You won’t find much evidence of that now, unfortunately.

By midafternoon Wednesday, skeptics had poked holes in parts of Matney’s story, especially after seeing photos [7] [7]of [7] [7]the [7] [7]wound [7] posted on several news sites. The comment I left below was just one of the responses to the article in the Daily Tarheel questioning Matney’s story:

I just had a good look at the burn, which is posted on several other sites. The commonly available device that would leave such a mark is your average cheap butane grill lighter, used to create two separate but closely spaced burns.

Here’s the problem.

While it is possible to get the tip of one of these lighters very hot, the metal used is both thin and cheap. They lose heat very rapidly (they are designed to as a safety requirement) and to get that severe of a wound, you would have to have the flame going for at least 10 or 15 seconds, and then immediately applied to the skin. But that would only cause one burn or this severity. To create the other burn, it would once again have to burn for 10-15 seconds, and then be reapplied to the flesh. The lines around the burns are very crisp; he never flinched. These have all the hallmarks of self-abuse.

Within an hour, this comment and several similar comments had been censored by the staff of the Daily Tarheel, and the comments section to the article was closed, with the editors stating: We’ve closed comments on this item because of the nature of the post and the nature of comments being posted.

Editors of the newspaper tried [8] [8]to [8] [8]claim [8] that the comment posted above was deleted because it violated their commenting polices:

We won’t tolerate posts that insult others by using gender, race, class, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual preference or disabilities.

When called to cite the specific violation of policy for this comment, the Daily Tarheel could not, or would not, provide an answer. They didn’t have one, because this comment, like most of the other comments the student paper deleted, did not violate anything other than the editor’s presupposition that a hate crime had occurred, obvious problems with evidence and allegations be damned.

Like journalists in the mainstream media, these young student journalists had an ideological mindset that disallowed any challenges to the conventional wisdom within their insular community. The hate crimes allegation served a “larger truth” the community has accepted that the outside world was less tolerant than they, and darned if they weren’t going to resort to censorship to prove just how accepting of ideas they are!

Jon Sanders at the John Locke Foundation skewered [9] [9]the [9] [9]Daily [9] [9]Tarheel [9]’ [9]s [9] [9]censorship [9] just as soon as Matney’s story was revealed as a hoax. Yet UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp vowed to “bring the strongest possible charges against the attacker.” I hope that means criminal charges against Matney, and expulsion for criminal behavior and a rather obvious breach of the university’s honor code.

Whether Chancellor Thorp and the UNC Journalism faculty are willing to bring the forces of politically correct suppression of dissent by editors of the student paper up on charges is another matter entirely.

The student body at UNC is intent on ignoring any possibility of learning from this hoax, and plans on holding a “ [10]Bandage [10] [10]from [10] [10]Branding [10]” [10]protest [10]. It seems even a fake hate crime is enough when the protesters only real goal is delusions of equality.
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http://dukefactchecker.blogspot.com/2011/04/brodhead-in-china-peter-provost-zips-up.html

4/14/2011
Brodhead in China ||| Duke's lax lawyers pile it on with 732 more pages of paperwork ||| Peter the Provost zips up on faculty retirement incentives
✔ Fact Checker here. Welcome Fellow Dukies, to the blog that is read every morning -- first thing -- on the 2nd floor of Allen Building.

✔✔ A group of three senior professors in the Arts and Sciences is putting final touches on a petition demanding a formal faculty investigation into the Kunshan Initiative. The timeline is to get faculty to sign on, and present the petition at the next meeting of the faculty senate -- Academic Council -- on April 21.

The first paragraph in the current draft sets the tone quite well, quoting from the minutes of the December, 2009 Council meeting:

“... the Academic Council is not prepared to endorse future plans... until the faculty have had more time to understand fully what it means in terms of cost and other commitments to establish high-quality educational programs in China..."

The petition organizers say the Brodhead Administration has just steam-rollered over faculty and other stakeholders with no strategic plan or participation.

There is particular fear that Kunshan -- and other international initiatives -- are eating into the Arts and Sciences budget on the Durham campus. The generalized statements by interim A and S Dean Alvin Crumbliss on Thursday about a balanced budget did not address these concerns at all.

The petition will pose again a question that has been kicked around since the word Kunshan became part of our vocabulary: is this the best that we can do? Why?

There apparently is a second, similar petition in Fuqua, addressed to Dean Blair Sheppard, and we are urgently trying to pin down information. We are indebted to our Loyal Readers for their continued confidence in giving us so much vital information. Duke.Fact.Checker@gmail.com

✔✔✔ A Duke news release -- personally from the Brodhead Administration's mouthpiece, Michael Schoenfeld, and not
from the news bureau which is the usual formula -- reveals Brodhead is in China for two days of the annual Boao Forum.

Huh? That's what we said, until we used that research tool which Dean Sheppard introduced us to, Wikipedia, to check out Boao. Sometimes Bo'ao. This Forum, apparently put together by bankers and others seeking to do business though-out Asia, likes to identify itself (in the second sentence of the Duke news release) with Davos, the annual Swiss gathering that draws economic heavyweights. This is akin to talking about the Super Bowl and an intramural football game in the same breath.

We checked this news release very carefully, recalling that in 2008 Schoenfeld touted Brodhead's "address" to a "plenary session" of a New York "summit" of leaders concerned with volunteerism. Turns out, this was a Time Magazine publicity stunt, and Brodhead was one of seven speakers plus a five member panel crammed into lunch hour. He spoke for two minutes, 23 seconds. Back in Durham, the Dean of the Arts and Sciences breathlessly told the A and S Council that at that very moment, Brodhead was briefing candidates Barack Obama and John McCain, together, about DukeEngage. No briefing. No together. By about 2,000 miles.

From the Duke PR handout on Boao: Brodhead was invited as a panelist for a Friday session entitled “Rethinking Education: University Presidents vs. Corporate CEOS,” featuring "leaders from business and educational organizations in a discussion of the challenges of educating the next generation of the world’s workforce."

Well, that's what it's about in Schoenfeld-speak. Here's what the official program says: "millions of university graduates cannot find jobs each year." And the panel will explore "should the education system be changed" to address this.

More context: this is one of four conflicting events at the same time, including a reception for the forum heavyweight, former Goldman Sachs honcho and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, rabbi for Duke's own erstwhile board chair Robert King Steel. See, all these people reinforce each other and invite each other around.

The conference is on an island in the South China Sea, southwest of Hong Kong, east of Hanoi, nowhere near Kunshan and we do not know if Brodhead will swoop on by his pet project.

✔✔✔ As it does every year, Duke is milking the loopholes in federal income tax law that allow it to file its returns late. (Yes, non-profits have to file even if they pay no tax.) We are talking about returns for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2010, and we want to see Form 990. That's the portion that must be made public.

Fellow Dukies, make sure you understand this. The numbers we are waiting for are almost a year old. Duke's auditors (KPMG) signed off on them last October 6th. Executive Vice President Trask used them later that month in his annual report, which leaves out all the good stuff.

We cannot help but believe Duke delays the Form 990's hoping they will go un-noticed. Or perhaps that they will be "stale news" that no one will cover.

Loyal Readers, you must be chuckling by now. You know me too well!!

While limited in scope, Form 990 does yield additional, useful information. It was the source of discovery that Duke paid one lacrosse defense lawyer -- Jamie Gorelik -- $2 million in one year! It also was the source of our expose last year that some administrators were getting h-u-g-e bonuses even though the rest of the campus was experiencing cutbacks and layoffs.

The Academic Council grilled President Brodhead on this, and in a convoluted explanation, he claimed the payments are not bonuses at all. Rather, he said they were "at risk," to be awarded for good performance and withheld if goals are not achieved. If that's not a bonus, then I'm not Fact Checker.

Oh yes, the Form 990's themselves use the word "bonus."

Fellow Dukies, FC has you covered.

✔✔ Buried on Duke PR's website, a hint that Duke may yet cut its gold-plated fringe benefits -- although they are safe in the year ahead. There's only so much money in the pot, explained Kyle Cavanaugh, vp for human resources, and the need to increase salaries may require trimming fringes in the future. "We are pleased that this year, we can once again offer the option for performance-based merit increases, but this is a balancing act that we will continue to face in future years."

Our question is how administrators determined to put the beans in fringe benefits rather than base salary. Was this based on input from employees? Were there surveys? Were there focus groups? Or was there just the Imperial Administration?

A student working in Perkins Library has wondered how the end of the two year wage freeze will affect work-study. Answer: good question. The starting wage in the library system has been $8.25 per hour at the circulation desk, $8.75 in the stacks. There is no word on whether this will change.

President Brodhead -- in the preliminary announcement of the end of the freeze, effective July 1 -- stated "It is appropriate that the whole Duke community should benefit from our improving financial circumstances."

No no no. Not the whole community at all. It will be interesting to see how many people do get raises, as it is based upon evaluation of job performance.

Brodhead will appear for one hour before 200 of Duke's 35,000 employees who manage to get a seat in Reynolds Theatre. Noon on April 27. The royal staff is collecting questions in advance so they can be very carefully screened. FC working on a list of questions to be submitted, even though we are not Duke employees.

Hey Dick, is the new system for awarding pay hikes any different from the one in place three years ago?

You are reading Fact Checker Too. Shorter articles in addition to our traditional in-depth essays. Duke.Fact.Checker@gmail.com


✔✔ The Algernon Sidney Sullivan Award flies under the radar for the most part. It was started generations ago by a New York lawyer (founder of the esteemed Sullivan and Crowell) throughout the south with the original intent of honoring people who work toward racial harmony. Over the years this has broadened to a new definition: "when one goes outside the narrow circle of self-interest and begins to spend oneself for the interests of humankind."

This year's winners at Duke: Sarah Woodard from the office of the chief human rights officer at Duke Medicine, and Barbara Lau, director of the Pauli Murray Project in the office of the Duke Human Rights Center. Both are involved in much more.

✔✔ In the last edition of Fact Checker Too, we told you about eight-month-old Seth Petreikis, coming to Duke from Indiana for life and death thymus transplant surgery. Duke... because it's the only place in the country where this is attempted.

Seth was not able to travel on Monday because of a fever. Doctors are not sure what's causing this because there are not the usual signs of infection. He has no immune system, and the transplant is designed to correct this.

This is big news in the Midwest. We have you covered here too.

✔ The Wall Street Journal headline was "Doctors May Heal Themselves Differently." A report on a study by professors at Duke and the University of Michigan. OK here goes.

The first hypothetical involves colon cancer. 100 people. One treatment option cures 80, 16 are not helped and will die in two years, and four percent will go through hell with a chronic diarrhea and other unpleasantries.

The other option cures 80 people without any complications, but 20 percent will die in two years.

A second hypothetical involves avian flu, with similar choices: a lower risk of death, a higher risk of complications.

The study shows that doctors pick the option of the higher death risk for themselves, but recommend just the opposite treatment for patients. Duke's Peter Ubel: "When you put on the doctor hat," it changes how you decide.

✔ The latest version of the federal budget -- which will guide us through six months until the next fiscal year -- shows substantial cuts in areas that would seem to impact Duke.

We stress this is only one version -- the $40 billion or so compromise -- likely to get worked over a bit more by that wonderful institution we call democracy.

National Institutes of Health, cut $260 million.

National Science Foundation, cut $53 million.

Americorp (Teach for America) cut $23 million, narrowly escaping extinction.

Pell Grants saved at $5,550 max, but students who have managed to double-dip are out of luck.

✔ We've heard plenty about the federal debt, something like $14.26 trillion and growing since you started to read this sentence. Well the New York Times reports that for the first time, student debt for college loans has hit $1 trillion. In the article, a husband and wife who both borrowed, and their monthly payments exceed their mortgage.

Here's the problem, not necessarily at Duke: the more loans that are available and the higher Pell grants go, colleges and universities feel they can continue to suck up all the new cash with tuition increases far in excess of inflation. It amounts to a giant transfer of wealth -- from poor students to middle class and upper middle class faculty.

✔✔✔ From a Deputy Fact Checker: We had high hopes for Peter the Provost when we first heard him pledge "transparency" during the fiscal crisis. In fact Duke's TV cameras captured his words, transmitted them via the internet, and they are on file in the FC database.

Couple, please, this pledge with the incentive program for senior faculty to retire, to make possible hiring of new blood that would not otherwise occur with tight budgets.

The Chronicle tried several times (as did FC) to get details. Each time Peter ducked, saying the full program was not yet in place.

This seemed odd, since professors were getting offers simultaneously with the Provost's assertion he did not know the dimensions of the program.

Move forward. This semester Fact Checker again has asked Peter for details. We have one report -- we are not able to confirm -- that some professors walked off with $1 million and more.

Peter the Provost has zipped up, becoming Peter the Silent. Members of the Brodhead Administration ignore e-mails that they think will result in essays that are not favorable to them. Notice I said to them, not to Duke.

We do not think Peter, the PR department, the Dean of Fuqua and the others should try to censor people who speak with differing conclusions, by refusing to provide information.

Peter, we had expected better from you. Shame.

✔✔✔ Defense lawyers representing Duke in the continuing lax litigation apparently didn't hear the judge two weeks ago when he said keep it simple from now on.

On Thursday, Duke's lawyers filed 732 more pages of legalese in two of the lacrosse lawsuits. Hell, when I'm being paid by the hour, I write long stories too.

For the first time, Duke is contending that its leadership did not know a Duke police sergeant gave Durham cops key-card data showing team members movements around campus after the party with stripper Crystal Gail Mangum.

Just so happens, disgusting disgraced dishonest disbarred D-A Michael Nifong issued subpoenas for the same information months later. The lawyers for the players say Duke cooked up this strategy (conspired is the word) with Nifong to hide the original disclosure.

Duke told the judge it wanted a court order before releasing medical records of Miss Mangum (now resident of the Durham jail, floor four, awaiting murder charges). These are relevant to the conduct of Rape Nurse Trainee Tara Levicy. She concocted her own medical scenario to support Mangum's false claim of rape.

732 pages. We told you Duke's tactic is to wiggle, delay, obfuscate and try to wear out the plaintiffs. It is spending H U G E sums of money on these lawsuits.

Bottom line: we want Brodhead and former Trustee chair Bob Steel under oath, under subpoena, bringing records, testifying in depositions about their roles.

✔ Promotion from within. Tim Walsh has been named Vice President for Finance, replacing Hof Milam who departed for a senior position at his alma mater, Wake Forest. Walsh has been an assistant VP and university controller for six years. Graduate of Notre Dame, MBA Virginia. Staff: 375 people.

✔✔ There's no end to the turbulence abroad. In Cairo -- which Duke says is OK for students and teachers again -- extreme violence rocked the main Tahir Square. That's very close to the Egyptian Museum with its King Tut treasures and the best tourist hotels along the Nile.

In China, the repression grows, though we all know Kunshan will be an island of illumination. The latest: violent arrests of hundreds of people who tried to pray in public after their unauthorized Christian church was seized.
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http://fromoldvirginia.blogspot.com/2011/04/game-preview-duke.html

Friday, April 15, 2011
game preview: Duke
Date/Time: April 16; 11:00 AM

History against the Devils: 49-24

Last matchup: Duke 14, UVA 13; 5/29/10; NCAA semifinals (Baltimore, MD)

Last game: UVA 11, UNC 10 (4/9); Duke 18, Presbyterian 6 (4/11)

Opposing blogs: it's a basketball school, man

It's a Dooky Dook weekend with both the baseball and lacrosse teams taking on the Blue Devils. You know how it's gone on the lacrosse field lately. One win in the last however many tries; of course, it was a biggy last year since it advanced the Hoos to the ACC final, which they would also win. But one win does not break a curse, and it's hard to be overly optimistic with this game on the road.

HOW WE CAN WIN

- More zone defense. The zone was probably the #1 reason for the win over UNC. Dom Starsia said he'd be scaling back on it (I wish I could remember where I saw that but he did) and that's fine because you don't want to give the whole world a chance to find out how to pick it apart. So, man-to-man will probably be featured. But there should still be a reasonably heavy dose of the zone. It's a good treatment for the off-ball ills and it helps cover up the loss of the team's best on-ball defender in Matt Lovejoy.

- Play aggressive. Not stupid, just aggressive. You always prefer to avoid penalties, but if the refs are calling things tight on both teams, that benefits UVA. Duke's special teams (to borrow a hockey phrase) are awfully mediocre, both when they're a man up and a man down. UVA is outstanding in those situations. One common theme in Duke's losses has been a total failure to take advantage of a significant penalty advantage.

HOW WE CAN LOSE

- Keep trying to make silly low-percentage passes. That was the culprit behind most of the derpitude last week. Nerves? Maybe, since they were trying to break the first losing streak any of this team had ever seen at UVA. Koskinen Stadium at Duke is not a place where we've found any success at all this decade and so the nerves could easily be back this week.

- Faceoffs. The broken record strikes again. It so happens Duke is actually pretty good at faceoffs. Say it with me: Uh-oh.

HOW THE GAME WILL GO

Another uh-oh for good measure. I never like our odds against Duke - nobody ever does - and I especially don't like them on the road. And I don't know how the team will show: will we get the kind of solid, quality, well-played lacrosse that won the game against Carolina or the showoffy, braindead variety that almost lost it? Duke is not a consistent team either. Statistically they're pretty ridiculously good. They dominate ground balls in a way that we once did and no longer do, they can match UVA almost goal for goal this season, and they've got a goal-scoring machine in Zach Howell, while our goal-scoring machine is slumming around on one good foot and trying to make it work. On the other hand: three goals against Penn and a loss to Denver (though Denver is turning into quite the force and really that says more about Denver than Duke's vulnerability.)

The only thing I can say with much confidence is that we're in for an old-fashioned shootout here. The defense held Carolina to 10 goals last week which is pretty good considering how many of those were the unsettled result of facepalm-inducing passes. We should be so lucky this week. If the score is 18-15 it won't surprise me one bit. But who gets the 18? I'm a little less confident there.
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http://billlumaye.blogspot.com/2011/04/what-should-happen-to-unc-student-and.html

Friday, April 15, 2011
What Should Happen To the UNC Student and the Hoax?
Bill and Internet Legend Bob Lee Talk about the UNC Student who said he was attacked and it was a hoax. Also, they discuss the Duke Lacrosse Case and the Hoax there.

MP3 File
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Quasimodo

Quote:
 
The media group seeks the release of unredacted telephone records from phones provided to UNC-CH Athletic Director Dick Baddour, Head Football Coach Butch Davis, and former Associate Head Football Coach John Blake; parking tickets issued to 11 UNC-CH football players; and the names and dates of employment of student tutors who worked with the football team, among other records.

The university has said it believes FERPA applies to all educational records related to students, including the requested records.

“The bottom line is the information the plaintiffs are seeking is protected by FERPA,” Special Deputy Attorney General Alexander McC.Peterssaid. “The university has an obligation to abide by personnel-records law and FERPA as federal law.”

But attorney Amanda Martin, representing the media group, argued that FERPA protects student information such as grades, class schedules and Social Security numbers, not the phone records of football coaches or campus parking tickets. “This is not a case concerning … the guts of FERPA,” Martin said. “These are records elsewhere on campus that contain small pieces of info related to students.”


Yep. Take it to Judge Beaty. The standard in the Fourth Circuit is that FERPA does not apply to anything
not classified as "Top Secret". UNC is out of luck... (hope they're happy)

Besides, FERPA is a toothless bit of administrative law; it's penalties are never enforced (at least not in NC).


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http://thebonafidenewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2011/04/jackie-wagstaffs-podcast.html

This is Jackie Wagstaff's Podcast. Today's topic is the recent arrest of Crystal Mangum.
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Summation:

Duke Lax case never went to trial, so innocence was not proven.

Crystal suffers from "O. J. Simpson Effect" - he was finally hounded into jail so will she eventually.

Duke Lacrosse case colors everything about Crystal - she is unfairly targeted.

Court of Public Opinion has convicted Crystal.

Both men were abusive and she was defending herself.

Crystal the same as Charlie Sheen, yet he gets a pass.

Dukies "bought" justice.

Crystal is the victim!!
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Apr 16 2011, 10:07 AM
http://thebonafidenewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2011/04/jackie-wagstaffs-podcast.html

This is Jackie Wagstaff's Podcast. Today's topic is the recent arrest of Crystal Mangum.
What is that, just a pic?

Posted Image

Does that represent Crystal ...fading away as we progress?
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