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Blog and Media Roundup - Wednesday, April 20, 2011; News Roundup
Topic Started: Apr 20 2011, 05:08 AM (1,169 Views)
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http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story_news_durham/12853078/article-Duke-announces--20M-collaboration?instance=main_article

Duke announces $20M collaboration
04.19.11 - 10:18 pm
Duke University News Service

DURHAM -- A $20 million endowment to foster research collaboration between bioengineers and clinicians, with the ultimate goal to develop new technologies to improve patient care, has been created by Duke University and the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation.

"The Coulter Foundation's vision for translating promising biomedical research into practical applications is perfectly aligned with Duke's commitment to knowledge in service of society," said Duke President Richard H. Brodhead. "Duke is grateful to the Coulter Foundation for being our partner in this endowment, which will continue to nurture exciting developments in the future of medicine."

The Duke Coulter Translational Partnership in biomedical engineering is being funded by $10 million from the Coulter Foundation, with additional investments from Duke and the Fitzpatrick Foundation that brings the endowment to $20 million for Duke's Pratt School of Engineering.

Project will 'benefit humanity'

"This program started out as a grand experiment to link the relatively new discipline of biomedical engineering to translational research," said Sue Van, president of the foundation. "With the capabilities and financial sustainability of this endowment, Duke is now a champion at the forefront of translational research and can systematically and successfully move innovation out of the university to benefit humanity."

In 2005, the Coulter Foundation chose Duke as one of nine universities to accelerate the movement of university biomedical engineering projects into commercial products and clinical practices.

A key requirement is that each project must be led by a biomedical engineering faculty member and a clinical or medical school researcher. The overall Duke program has been led by Department of Biomedical Engineering chair George Truskey, biomedical engineering professor Barry Myers, who is also director of Duke's Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization, and Melda Uzbil, the Coulter Program director.

"This program is a highly successful effort to create research collaborations between clinical faculty at the medical school and biomedical engineering faculty to develop promising approaches that address important unmet clinical needs," said Truskey. "Not only do the faculty benefit, but students participate in the research and learn first-hand about the process of moving a critical technology from the lab toward clinical application."

Support for promising projects

Since 2005, 19 Duke projects have been funded, focusing on such areas as detecting prostate cancer and esophageal pre-cancerous lesions, treating hemophilia and controlling urinary function for paraplegics. In total, the Duke projects have resulted in three startup companies, several licensing agreements, more than $35 million in venture capital and investments, and another $47 million in federal, state or foundation grants. The new endowment will allow the program to continue to support promising translational projects at Duke in perpetuity, Truskey said.

The start-up companies, all located in Durham's Research Triangle Park, have the potential to grow into thriving companies, thereby helping to provid\e an economic return to North Carolina.

An entrepreneurial pipeline

The Duke Coulter program helps establish a valuable entrepreneurial pipeline for the region and state, said Jesko von Windheim, the CEO of Zenalux, one of the new companies formed. Zenalux is working to market a photonic system that can tell the difference between benign and malignant tissue, with applications in cancer detection and other diseases. The lead researcher was biomedical engineering professor Nimmi Ramanujam.

"The tremendous resources of Duke's clinical expertise and biomedical engineering research and the Research Triangle Park -- a place dedicated to launching and nurturing new companies -- makes this area of North Carolina a natural fit for entrepreneurial efforts that address healthcare," von Windheim said.

Added Elias Caro, vice president of technology development at the foundation, "As a member of the Coulter program, Duke adopted the Coulter Process, an industry-like development process that includes a thorough commercialization analysis which assesses intellectual property, FDA requirements, reimbursement, critical milestones and clinical adoption. This attracted follow-on funding from venture capital and biomedical companies."
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http://www.dukechronicle.com/article/students-plan-beer-trucks-alternative

Students plan ‘Beer Trucks’ alternative
Chronicle File/The Chronicle : Though ‘Beer Trucks’ will not return in the same form, students are planning to create an alternative version to hold during commencement week.

Chronicle File/The Chronicle

Though ‘Beer Trucks’ will not return in the same form, students are planning to create an alternative version to hold during commencement week.
By Caroline Fairchild [4]
April 20, 2011

For senior and Duke Student Government President Mike Lefevre, “Beer Trucks”—the traditional commencement week event that was canceled this year—is worth fighting for.

Under Lefevre’s leadership, there has been a student-led effort to reinstate an event similar to Beer Trucks during commencement week. Last night, Duke University Union voted to postpone their decision on providing funding for the event until the DSG Senate makes a funding decision in tonight’s meeting. The two organizations’ combined decisions will determine if Lefevre’s plan could become a reality.

“All the seniors realized something needs to be done and it was just a matter of who is going to get the event off the ground,” Lefevre said. “We are beginning an initiative to get the event going again, and I have rallied some student leaders to help me in the process.”

Some members of Lefevre’s team include outgoing Duke Partnership for Service President Becky Agostino and Alison Lane, outgoing chair for Duke University Union’s annual events committee.

The seniors have worked out a plan that will not bring Beer Trucks back in its original form but will provide a chance for seniors to celebrate together one last time before they don their caps and gowns. Using the proposed funds from DUU and the DSG Senate, the group would organize kegs on the Bryan Center Plaza or in the Blue Zone for seniors to enjoy the night before graduation.

“I went to Beer Trucks last year and it was a great atmosphere with students and their families,” Agostino said. “It doesn’t have the same stress or gravity of graduation. I was upset it was canceled this year and I was glad that Lefevre was taking some initiative to continue the celebration in some way.”

Due to budget constraints imposed on commencement week activities, the Duke Alumni Association was forced to eliminate the event, which has cost approximately $65,000 in past years. But Lefevre said there are ways to maintain the integrity and value of the event without tacking on a hefty price tag.

“An event like this is really not that expensive to run,” he said. “A realistic budget is around $20,000 and we are asking [for] that from student groups, and any support we can get from local vendors in the form of donations is also really going to help us out as well.”

Lane, who is primarily helping with programming aspects of the project, said the group is trying to get the costs down to as low as $13,000, which would simply cover beer, snacks, security and housekeeping services. The major costs for previous year’s events were the tent itself, lighting, tables and outdoor restroom facilities. But by moving the event outdoors, Lane said they could use the Bryan Center, Great Hall or intramural gym as a reserved space in case it rains, thus cutting out all the big-ticket expenses. Other cost-saving ideas include only allowing admittance to Duke undergraduates and their families, which will reduce the number of people attending the event.

“Beer Trucks has been a part of graduation week for 20 years and is a great way for seniors to see each other one last time before graduation in a relaxed environment,” Lane said. “When you talk to students and read the comments on The Chronicle [website], it’s obvious [Beer Trucks is a] favorite part of graduation weekend.”

Kim Hanauer, DAA director of young alumni and student programs, wrote in an email that canceling the event was a tough decision but that she is not surprised by the student-led initiative to ensure the event happens.

“We understand that some students and parents are unhappy with this situation and that there are students working to plan an alternative event for Saturday night,” Hanauer said. “Duke students are smart and resourceful by definition, and it’s not surprising that they would explore other possibilities.”

Although the ideas are firmly in place, Lefevre said his group still needs DUU and Senate funding before it can move forward with planning. Despite the event’s name, he stressed that the alcohol is not what makes Duke’s Beer Trucks tradition special.

“The beer is inconsequential,” Lefevre said. “People are going to want to go somewhere when they come home after dinner before graduation and I think it would be a shame if we didn’t give seniors that.”
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http://www.dukechronicle.com/article/break-ins-plague-belmont

Break-ins plague Belmont
Management not responsive during series of incidents, students say
Chronicle File/The Chronicle :

Chronicle File/The Chronicle
By Yeshwanth Kandimalla [4]
April 20, 2011

Management not responsive during series of incidents, students say

A series of break-ins at the Belmont Apartments remains under investigation, law enforcement officials said Tuesday.

There have been four confirmed cases of breaking and entering—three of which also involved theft—and one attempted break-in since April 11, said Ron Christie, a detective with the Durham County Sheriff’s Office who has been stationed as a courtesy officer at the apartment complex since August.

Charges have not been filed in the burglaries, and the search for potential suspects is ongoing, Kammie Michael, Durham Police Department public information officer wrote in an email Tuesday. DPD is primarily handling the investigations.

Three of the homes broken into were those of Duke students.

Authorities believe the incidents are linked except for the fourth break-in, which Angela Toon, property manager for the Belmont, wrote in an email was an unrelated and isolated incident.

“For the most part if they pawn [the stolen items] we might get them,” Christie said of the incidents. “A lot of it is more or less trying to catch them in the act with more patrolling.”

The most recent incident, the attempted break-in, produced a description of one suspect. Christie pursued one of the two men he witnessed attempting a break-in Monday at approximately 10 p.m. in the 11,000 block of the apartments before both men escaped, he wrote in an email to Belmont residents Tuesday. He described one suspect as a black male, early to mid-20s, about 5’10’’ to 6’ with close-cut hair and a medium build.

The first in the series of break-ins took place in the 13,000 block between 11:30 p.m. and 1 a.m. April 11, according to a DPD incident report.

Senior Amalia Sirica said she and her roommate were away from their apartment when an intruder broke down a deadbolted door and stole a TV.

Sirica called the experience terrifying and said that although she had seen suspicious individuals lurking around the complex throughout the school year, she had not witnessed a break-in or attempted break-in previously.

The second break-in and theft of a Duke student’s apartment happened between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. April 16, said senior Rosie Gellman, one of the apartment’s residents. She and her roommate were out of the apartment when two TVs and cash were stolen.

The final break-in of a Duke student occurred Monday morning when senior Rachel Hanessian said she was watching a movie in her bedroom when an intruder appeared at her bedroom door. Hanessian said she had heard someone knocking at the door but decided to wait for a call or text before answering. The intruder kicked open the door—presumably after assuming no one was home, she said. When the intruder saw Hanessian, he fled without stealing anything.

“They bolted out the door.... I literally did not see the person,” Hanessian said, adding that she was unable to provide a description for the police.

Inadequate response?

Several students have said Belmont management has not responded as well to the incidents as they would have liked.

“The general sentiment among students is that they are not safe, and the Belmont is not doing a good job,” said senior Blake Horowitz, a Belmont resident.

Sirica said she believes the management is “brushing it under the rug” because they think that with the end of the students’ college careers approaching, most seniors will ignore problems with security or communication. For example, Sirica noted that the entry gates to the apartment complex are often left open for long periods of time.

“We’ve been very lucky that no one’s been hurt, but to be honest, this is laziness on the part of management,” she said. “I feel like they don’t have our best interests at heart.”

Toon said Tuesday that the North Carolina Detective Agency, a private security company, has been hired to conduct random identification checks at the Belmont entrance and run nightly patrols from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. The entry gate—which has been broken since April 7 after being hit by a vehicle—will be repaired within the next week.

Toon noted that Belmont management has also collaborated with Duke University Police Department’s crime prevention unit to host a community awareness program for residents April 26.

“Together we will discuss safety tips and make residents aware of various resources such as police services and counseling,” she said.

Christine Pesetski, assistant dean for off-campus and mediation services, said the administration is trying to reach out to Duke students living in the Belmont. She added that difficulties often arise as some students may not disclose their Duke affiliation to DPD, which relays information to DUPD and the administration when an incident involving a student occurs.

Pesetski noted that the University will accommodate students at the Belmont who wish to move onto campus for the remainder of the year. Residence Life and Housing Services has confirmed that there is some housing available on Central Campus, she added.

Senior Anita Raheja, a Belmont resident who was not victim of a break-in, wrote in an email Tuesday that she was dissatisfied with the administration’s response to the situation.

“I have been in touch with someone from [RLHS], and they were only made aware of the situation yesterday,” Raheja said. “We have not heard anything officially from Duke. That is very disappointing to me.... I would believe Duke would want to make sure its students are safe, wherever they may live.”
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http://www.dukechronicle.com/article/don-t-lower-burden-proof

Don’t lower burden of proof
guest column
By Mike Lefevre
April 20, 2011


A recent directive from the Department of Education mandates that all universities that receive federal funding must lower their standard of proof significantly in deciding cases of sexual assault. As The Chronicle’s independent editorial board correctly reported last week, a guilty verdict for sexual assault at Duke will now be based on “a preponderance of evidence,” rather than the current standard at most universities, which is “clear and convincing” evidence of guilt. Let us leave that decision aside—it is well reasoned and, more importantly, we’re legally bound to it.

What is more troubling (and has gone unreported) is that Duke is now considering extending that lowered standard of proof to all cases. Yes, to maintain a uniform judicial code, Duke may enable the Undergraduate Conduct Board to convict students in all situations based on a certainty of guilt somewhere between 51 to 75 percent. This is commonly summarized as the threshold where guilt is “more likely than not.” I can think of no greater injustice to the student disciplinary process and the rights of Duke students.

If it is extended to all cases, the “preponderance of evidence” rule will truncate due process and reduce the depth to which the Undergraduate Conduct Board must investigate cases. Quite simply, the student disciplinary process is too important to convict based on a 60 percent confidence level. As it stands, “clear and convincing” is already a lower standard than what is used in the court system, and students are not afforded a number of basic legal protections. A uniform reduction in the burden of proof is a reduction in the protections for our students.

The Department of Education’s directive was based on concerns over circumstances that are unique to sexual assault. It was certainly not intended to set the precedent for a nationwide standardizing of university judicial codes. And yet the rationale Duke administrators have given for the potential extension of this standard is just that—that we should maintain consistent judicial policies. But in practice, Duke already has a different judicial process for cases of sexual assault. Conduct Board members hearing those cases receive specific sexual assault training, and physical partitions are placed between complainants and the accused. Furthermore, the finding of responsibility for sexual assault must be unanimous if suspension or expulsion is being considered, while for most other cases all that is needed is a majority. There is no compelling reason to establish a standardized burden of proof when we already have an un-standardized judicial process.

A second and less discussed component of the directive gives complainants the right to appeal the UCB’s decision, just as the accused may do. Extending this privilege to all cases would be almost as destructive as lowering the burden of proof, except that it seems much less likely to happen at Duke. Thankfully, nobody involved with student disciplinary policies seems intent on giving all complainants the right to appeal a ruling on the accused.

In 2007, then-Duke Student Government President Elliot Wolf, Trinity ’08, wrote a series of columns for The Chronicle on disturbing trends in Duke’s judicial code. Wolf believed that, in trying to maintain a disciplinary process that both adjudicates and educates, Duke was sacrificing its students’ basic rights. Under the direction of Stephen Bryan, director of the Office of Student Conduct, the concept of finding “teachable moments” had become an excuse for shoddy protections in the student conduct system. Four years later, the situation has not improved, and the Office of Student Conduct continues to build a framework that leans too heavily toward the presumption of guilt as it tries to teach lessons about owning up to one’s actions.

When the student conduct administrative advisory group meets May 17 to discuss whether Duke will determine guilt on “a preponderance of evidence,” I hope its members will base their decision on the policy’s impact on Duke students, and not on a perceived pressure to standardize our judicial code. (I’ll be there to make sure.) Sexual assault is a unique offense with its own set of challenges, and our judicial policies should reflect that distinction.

Mike Lefevre is a Trinity senior and is the President of Duke Student Government.
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http://www.dukechronicle.com/article/sensible-beer-trucks-solution

A sensible Beer Trucks solution
By Editorial Board
April 20, 2011

The Duke Alumni Association’s announcement last week that it was canceling “Beer Trucks” during graduation weekend aroused significant student backlash. Almost immediately, students and recent alumni began clamoring for the reinstatement of this cherished tradition for seniors’ last night on campus before graduation.

It now appears that Duke Student Government and Duke University Union will collaborate to ensure that a Beer Trucks event or something similar takes place. While the specifics are still being ironed out, the principle elements of funding and function are set and will likely be implemented.

We commend this collaboration as a necessary and valuable stopgap measure. We anticipate this year’s event will provide valuable feedback toward establishing a memorable and sustainable festivity for students to enjoy with their parents and families on the eve of commencement.

Many students were undoubtedly counting on this event to occur, and the timing of the DAA announcement made alacrity of student response pivotal. Next year, we would expect the DAA to announce their intentions in a more timely fashion to allow students a more appropriate time frame to plan and execute graduation week activities.

Seniors and students in general have enjoyed the Beer Trucks event for more than two decades due to its ability to foster community during undergraduates’ final night on campus.

It is important that the University maintain a central and cohesive event for the night before commencement rather than force students to attend fractured, disjointed gatherings. Students should have the opportunity to attend an on-campus, inclusive event to celebrate their sense of unity and school pride as undergraduates before they leave campus.

We anticipate that this occasion will serve to showcase a new era of collaboration between DSG and DUU. In light of the DSG-Campus Council merger, these groups are the two remaining bastions of student representation and programming. This event can and should serve as a valuable trial run for their cooperation in executing student events going forward.

We appreciate DSG’s quick response to what was a late-term announcement by the DAA. Recognizing the elevated degree of student concern, the student government appears to have acted quickly in conjunction with DUU to find funding for an event students cared about.

The Duke Alumni Association’s initial reaction should not have been to outright cancel the event. While we understand the budget concerns and agree that the price tag became exorbitantly high, we hope the DAA will reach out to DSG and DUU about sponsoring this event or contributing to it in some form in the future.

As seniors prepare to embark on the first steps of their journeys as alumni, the DAA should capitalize on the opportunity to send them off with a positive, memorable celebration. In deciding to entirely forgo any association with seniors during potentially their last communal experience as students before commencement, the DAA is choosing to miss out on a beneficial opportunity.

In the short term, we appreciate the student efforts that have created this sensible and responsive solution. We look forward to an effective system of review that will establish an equally enjoyable and more financially sustainable model for this tradition going forward.
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http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/04/20/1141455/prisons-leader-faces-charges.html

Published Wed, Apr 20, 2011 05:51 AM
Modified Wed, Apr 20, 2011 12:07 AM
Prison's leader faces charges
BY MICHAEL BIESECKER - Staff Writer

RALEIGH The head of one of the state's largest and most secure prison facilities has been charged with felony obstruction of justice after he allegedly ordered the destruction or withholding of video evidence relevant to a criminal investigation.

Richard L. Neely, who until last week was the administrator of Lanesboro Correctional Institution, was charged Thursday with a single count of common law obstructing justice, a Class H felony punishable by up to eight months in prison.

Court records indicate the arrest warrant was served by an agent with the State Bureau of Investigation.

State and local officials familiar with the criminal investigation have refused to provide any further detail about the arrest or the broader criminal investigation.

Keith Acree, the director of public affairs for the N.C. Department of Correction, issued a brief media release at 4:18 p.m. Friday announcing that Neely had been "reassigned to the division's Piedmont Region Office pending the outcome of an internal (DOC) investigation."

The release made no mention of Neely's arrest.

Opened in 2004, Lanesboro is a 1,000-inmate prison in Polkton, about 40 miles southeast of Charlotte. It has a reputation as one of the toughest, and most brutal, places to serve time in the North Carolina prison system.

Neely, 52, could not be reached for comment.

Following a request Tuesday from The News & Observer for comment about an SBI probe at the facility, DOC director of external affairs Pamela Walker responded in an email message.

"This was not DOC's indictment," Walker wrote. "We did not request SBI investigation. You need to talk to the DA."

Reece Saunders, the district attorney for Stanly, Anson and Richmond counties, declined through his assistant to speak to a reporter about Neely's arrest.

A request for information about Neely's arrest to Jennifer Canada, spokeswoman for Attorney General Roy Cooper and the SBI, also received no response Tuesday.

A copy of Neely's indictment, released by DOC Tuesday evening, alleges Neely "unlawfully, willfully and feloniously did obstruct justice by ordering evidence, ... CD of video surveillance fromLanesboro prison, to be withheld and/or destroyed that was directly relevant and related to an ongoing investigation of Lanesboro inmates."

A 30-year veteran of the state's prisons who started his career as a guard, Neely was named head of Lanesboro in November 2009 after The Charlotte Observer reported on the use of excessive force at the facility. The newspaper's report led to the abrupt retirement of the then-administrator; five others were disciplined.

The newspaper reported that inmate Bill Rayburn was repeatedly pepper-sprayed by correction officers after requesting medical help.

Rayburn said correctional officers pepper-sprayed him four times, twice after he had been stripped naked. The officers then refused to let him wash off the burning chemical or get prompt treatment for his injuries.

An internal DOC investigation found that employees violated the agency's use-of-force policies. The prison system settled a lawsuit by Rayburn, paying the inmate $10,000.

Neely, who previously served as the administrator of Charlotte Correctional Institution, was still on the DOC payroll Tuesday. His annual salary is $71,846.

The indictment alleges that Neely engaged in obstruction involving the surveillance footage for more than a year, from the month he took over until December 2010.

Two assistant superintendents at Lanesboro will continue to manage daily operations at the facility until DOC completes its internal investigation of the allegations against Neely.
michael.biesecker@newsobserver.com or 919-829-4698
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http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/04/20/1141466/unc-ch-loses-fight-to-shield-records.html

Published Wed, Apr 20, 2011 05:51 AM
Modified Wed, Apr 20, 2011 06:02 AM
UNC-CH loses fight to shield records
BY KEN TYSIAC AND LUKE DECOCK - Staff Writers

UNC-Chapel Hill withheld documents that should have been provided to The News & Observer in response to an open-records lawsuit filed by a consortium of media groups against the university, Wake County Superior Court Judge Howard Manning ruled Tuesday.

The university had cited FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, as justification for withholding phone records and parking tickets requested by The N&O. But in a memorandum regarding his decision, Manning wrote, "FERPA does not provide a student with an invisible cloak so that the student can remain hidden from public view while enrolled at UNC."

Manning did rule that the identities of student tutors working with athletic teams are protected by FERPA. Lawyers for UNC provided the plaintiffs with a list of non-student tutors at the beginning of a hearing Friday.

Manning directed lawyers representing the media groups to prepare an order implementing his decision. Once the order is signed and entered, UNC will have 30 days to decide whether it wants to appeal.

The lawsuit, brought in October by a group of news organizations led by The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer, sought the release of records related to the NCAA investigation into the UNC-CH football program.

Still to be decided is one major area of the lawsuit, which is the request for all documents relating to investigations into the UNC football program. Manning and the lawyers for both sides agreed at a hearing last week that it was necessary first to decide the three other areas of dispute: phone records, parking tickets and tutor identities.

Through a school spokesman, UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp released a statement on the decision.

"We are pleased that Judge Manning appears to have affirmed the privacy of student tutors. We are disappointed with the court's apparent interpretation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act(FERPA) as it applies to student records related to phone numbers and parking tickets," Thorp said. "This has far-reaching implications for all of our students and their records that we believe federal law protects. When the judge's instructions are finalized in an order, the University will review the ruling and evaluate its options for appeal."

Thorp also said in the statement that the university has already provided more than 23,000 pages of documents in response to 85 record requests filed at the time of the lawsuit. "A number" of the documents, Thorp said, were produced in unredacted form or with minimal redactions.

"We did so as part of the University's commitment to meet its obligations under North Carolina's Public Records Law and to respect the privacy rights of our students and employees," Thorp said.

Tickets in previous case

Amanda Martin, the lawyer representing the media consortium, said in an email message that she preferred to hold off on commenting on Judge Manning's order until it is signed.

Parking tickets were upheld as a public record in a previous lawsuit when the University of Maryland student newspaper sued for documents the school said were protected by FERPA after it was discovered in 1996 that a basketball player owed $8,000 in parking tickets. The student newspaper won the case.

In his memo, Manning wrote that a student's telephone number is not part of the education record protected by FERPA, and that the records provided will not include the content of any of the phone calls.

The N&O and Charlotte Observer, both McClatchy newspapers, joined in the suit with the 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 Thorp, athletics director Dick Baddour, football coach Butch Davis and Jeff McCracken, head of the UNC-CH public safety department, as defendants.

What was provided

The original suit contained six items of contention, but both sides agreed at last week's hearing that UNC had complied by providing two of the six:

The names of individuals and organizations that provided impermissible benefits to UNC players.

The names of recipients of athletic scholarships.

The other four items were placed before Manning. All parties agreed to set aside the issue of documents related to the investigation in order to decide on the phone records, parking tickets and student tutor records.
ktysiac@charlotteobserver.com or 919-829-8942
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http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/04/duke_lacrosse_accuser_charged.html

April 19, 2011
Duke Lacrosse accuser charged with murder
Rick Moran
It seems a fitting coda to the entire sordid affair and makes those who championed this lying criminal's cause against the innocent appear that much smaller.

This was never about rape; it was about an effort by campus leftists to prove how bad racism was at Duke by any means necessary including lying, smearing, exaggerating, and ultimately, denying reality. The Durham police, and of course, Nifong, played along for local political purposes.

CNN:

A North Carolina woman who stirred national headlines when she accused three Duke University student-athletes of rape is now herself accused of murder, a county law enforcement official said Monday.

Crystal Mangum, 32, was charged Monday with murder, five days after her boyfriend succumbed to stabbing-related injuries at a Durham, North Carolina, hospital, according to Candy Clark, a spokeswoman for the Durham County District Attorney's Office. She also is now facing two felony charges of larceny.

Prosecutors reassessed the charges against Mangum after the death of Reginald Daye at Duke University Hospital on Wednesday.
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http://www.themoralliberal.com/2011/04/19/the-mainstream-media-and-the-bonds-case/

The Mainstream Media and the Bonds Case

April 19, 2011

Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William Anderson

The federal conviction of Barry Bonds for obstruction of justice has the mainstream media looking the wrong way. Instead of examining the government’s conduct, the media quote government agents as though they speak for God, rarely soliciting opinion critical of the State’s heavy-handed tactics. The New York Times quoted U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag:

This case is about upholding one of the most fundamental principles in our system of justice — the obligation of every witness to provide truthful and direct testimony in judicial proceedings. In the United States, taking an oath and promising to testify truthfully is a serious matter. We cannot ignore those who choose instead to obstruct justice.

The Times might have pointed out that prosecutors regularly and deliberately withhold exculpatory evidence, yet I cannot find in any recent example in which a government employee was indicated, let alone tried, for obstruction of justice. So the notion that the government cannot ignore regular people’s alleged obstruction justice is a joke, but it’s on those of us who are not employed in the government’s “justice” system.

Race Issue

At least one commentator focused on race rather than government conduct. Times sports columnist William Rhoden claims to understand why Bonds was prosecuted:

The trial of Barry Bonds has always been more than a simple case of pursuing a bad guy and proving that he lied. The chase and the subsequent trial have been as much about a baseball era driven by vanity and greed, and fueled by performance-enhancing drugs.

But the eight-year pursuit of Bonds also reflects America’s discomfort with prominent, powerful, wealthy black men.

Ironically Rhoden’s employer helped drive the prosecution, and it along with media outfits like Sports Illustrated (SI) and ESPN enabled the police-state tactics used in the case. The dirty secret of the Bonds case is not steroids, but rather that journalists teamed with government agents to pursue Bonds. Furthermore, we will experience déjà vu as these same forces join to destroy the great cyclist Lance Armstrong.

The Bonds case was the brainchild of IRS agent Jeff Novitsky, who illegally searched Bonds’s garbage and was the main source for former Times reporter and columnist Selena Roberts, who now is at SI. (Duff Wilson, of the Times, who disgraced himself in coverage of the infamous Duke lacrosse case by propping up Mike Nifong long after his case fell apart, also was part of this coverage.)

Evidence Lacking

The government did not have laboratory evidence that Bonds took steroids (Bonds told a federal grand jury he had not taken them). Moreover, Greg Anderson, one of Bonds’s personal trainers and also a target of the feds, refused cooperate with the investigation. So, with the help of the Times and SI, federal authorities unleashed one attack after another on Anderson and his family. He was jailed three times for contempt of court, and his mother-in-law’s home was raided by 20 heavily armed agents in a tax investigation that Anderson’s attorney believes was retaliation for not testifying before a grand jury. (Earlier he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute steroids and money laundering, and was sentenced to three months in jail and three months at home.)

These Gestapo-style tactics worked. No mainstream news publication to my knowledge editorialized against this abuse of power. One columnist, Buzz Bissinger of the Daily Beast, called for the charges to be dropped, mincing no words against Novitsky, but even Bissinger failed to condemn some of the worst government actions against no-name people who had no strong media connections.

This silence is instructive. The New York Times published hundreds of attack articles condemning August National Golf Club (which hosts the Master’s Tournament) for not having female members, but never questioned government tactics in the Bond and Armstrong cases. Sports Illustrated burnishes its “liberal” credentials, but salivates at information Novitsky supposedly gave Selena Roberts on the sly.

When I was in journalism school nearly 40 years ago, my professors solemnly told me that the media were the “watchdogs of government.” If the Bonds case tells us anything, it’s that the watchdogs are foxes guarding the henhouse. As for the rights of Barry Bonds, well, he was surly and a lousy interview, anyway.

William Anderson is an associate professor of economics at Frostburg State University. He blogs at Krugman-in-Wonderland.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/19/us-lacrosse-murder-idUSTRE73I6WS20110419

Former Duke lacrosse accuser now faces murder charge
Tue, Apr 19 2011

By Ned Barnett

RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) - The woman whose false accusations of sexual assault against Duke University lacrosse players drew national attention has been indicted on a murder charge after the death of a man she allegedly stabbed.

A grand jury indicted Crystal Gail Mangum, 32, in Durham, North Carolina, on Monday. She will have her first hearing on the charge the week of May 2, the Durham District Attorney's Office said on Tuesday.

Mangum has been held in the Durham County jail since her April 3 arrest following the stabbing of boyfriend, Reginald Daye. She originally faced a charge of assault with a deadly weapon.

Daye, 46, died April 13 at Duke University Hospital, where he was being treated for multiple stab wounds to the torso.

Woody Vann, an attorney appointed to represent Mangum in the stabbing case, was replaced this week by private attorney Chris Shella. Shella declined to say who retained him.

The delay in Daye's death may complicate the murder prosecution. Vann said there has been speculation about the cause of death, which won't be known until an autopsy report is released.

Shella would not comment on the cause of death.

"All I can tell you is my client asserts her innocence, and I plan on mounting a vigorous defense on her behalf," Shella said.

The murder charge comes five years after Mangum accused three Duke lacrosse players of sexually assaulting her at a team party she attended as a hired stripper on March 13, 2006.

The case drew national attention, mixing explosive elements of race, sex and class. But it fell apart as players effectively rebutted Mangum's claims and were declared innocent after a review led by North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper.

In December, Mangum faced felony arson and lesser charges related to a domestic dispute. She was convicted on the lesser charges and sentenced to the 88 days in jail she had already served awaiting trial.

(Edited by Colleen Jenkins and Greg McCune)
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http://www.news-register.net/page/content.detail/id/554238/Innocent-Until-Proven-Guilty-.html?nav=511

Innocent Until Proven Guilty?
April 20, 2011
By The Intelligencer , The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register
Save | Comments (2) | Post a comment | Bookmark and Share

Crystal Mangum is innocent until proven guilty, of course - which is a more just attitude than was taken toward the Duke University lacrosse players she accused of rape in 2006.

You may remember the case: Mangum, a stripper hired to perform at a party in Raleigh, N.C., claimed the three players raped her. She is African-American; the players were white.

So eager were the prosecuting attorney and others in the community to avoid accusations of discrimination over race and social class that, for a time, the three students were railroaded. Eventually it came out they were innocent. Serious misconduct by the prosecutor was proven.

Now Mangum is back in court. She is charged with murdering her boyfriend.

We trust Mangum will benefit from a presumption of innocence until guilt is proven that, in many ways, was denied the Duke lacrosse players.
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http://whatmenthinkofwomen.blogspot.com/2011/04/nancy-grace-and-amanda-marcotte-where.html

20.4.11
Nancy Grace and Amanda Marcotte: Where is the retraction and Apology?
Both those women vilified and announced the Duke False Rape Claim to be a foregone conclusion. Both these women vilified and denigrated all Duke boys without waiting for a trial or explanation but declared them guilty because they were males and for no other reason. Both of these male-hating feminists convicted them on feminist doctrinal principal where you are automatically guilty purely because of your sex regardless whether or not a false rape claim had been made..

Amanda Marcotte..
Link to OverLawyered..

Marcotte has now (1 p.m. Friday) yanked down her original post of Jan. 21, and appears also to have deleted several comments, but GoogleCache still has it for the moment. Here is its text, in the spirit of Fair-Use-ery:Naturally, my flight out of Atlanta has been delayed. Let’s hope it takes off when they say it will so I don’t miss my connecting flight home.
In the meantime, I’ve been sort of casually listening to CNN blaring throughout the waiting area and good f**king god is that channel pure evil. For awhile, I had to listen to how the poor dear lacrosse players at Duke are being persecuted just because they held someone down and f**ked her against her will—not rape, of course, because the charges have been thrown out. Can’t a few white boys sexually assault a black woman anymore without people getting all wound up about it? So unfair.

And let us not forget this anti male rager as well..

Duke Lacrosse Scandal
Nancy Grace..

Also in 2006, Grace took a pro-prosecution stance throughout the 2006 case in which a female North Carolina Central University student falsely accused three members of the Duke University lacrosse team of raping her at a party.
This position gave Grace the opportunity to show off her comedic side. One zinger came when she sarcastically said, "I'm so glad they didn't miss a lacrosse game over a little thing like gang rape!" The joke killed.
After asking fellow reporter Clark Goldband for "the stats," Grace was appalled when he jumped into a report on lacrosse statistics. She then berated him on live television, screaming "I don't mean the athletic stats. I meant the rape stats." Grace is an avid rape statistician, and presumably collects Rapers Cards (similar to baseball cards).
When the three players were acquitted of the charges, Grace acted like any dick would: On the following broadcast of her show, Grace was conveniently absent and a substitute reporter announced the removal of all charges.
Link..
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http://www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=durhama&date=110419

Author: Andrew T. Durham
Date: April 19, 2011

Topic category: Other/General

Michael Savage Gets a Belated Birthday Gift: Duke Lacrosse Accuser Gets Arrested For Murder
"Did you ever get the feeling the truth is less revealing than a downright lie?" - The Rutles
On March 31st, Independent Conservative talk show host Michael Savage celebrated his 69th birthday. On Monday of this week Savage received a late birthday gift: the accuser in the now infamous Duke Lacrosse Rape Case has been arrested for murder.

On March 31st, Independent Conservative talk show host Michael Savage celebrated his 69th birthday. On Monday of this week Savage received a late birthday gift: the accuser in the now infamous Duke Lacrosse Rape Case has been arrested for murder. This creature – I refuse to write its name – was shown to have falsely accused members of Duke University’s lacrosse team of raping her. Savage called her The Durham Dirtbag. And because the law enforcement system in Durham, NC didn’t have the spine to arrest her for falsely reporting a crime, she effectively destroyed the lives of completely innocent men and got away with it…to apparently be free to kill someone.

Apparently Andy, Barney and the Mayberry police department didn’t want to be accused of racism by the disgusting political correctness of the media in this country if they arrested her. Good job, boys.

But now, she allegedly has killed her boyfriend. Imagine that. I’m not going into this current case because I just don’t care. She will no doubt cry self-defense and claim that she was attacked.

All that aside, it is the victim culture in this society that allows creatures like this to destroy the lives of innocent people, regardless of the facts. Because of her race and because of her gender she will always be seen by some as the obvious victim. And people play this card to their advantage all the time. The FACT that this woman lied about being raped by lacrosse players at Duke will not register with those afflicted by the mental disorder of knee-jerk liberal brainwashing.

Back to the present case of alleged murder: Folks, there are some things worse than death. I have lived through many of them. The damaged reputation of the Duke boys will follow them completely regardless of the actual truth of the situation. It is virtually impossible to fight a blatant lie. Often it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and some end up becoming the lie just to get it off their back. Others can have the strength to persevere. Nothing, it seems, is ever happening to the liar, accuser or self-appointed victim.

No one other than Michael Savage covered the original Duke Lacrosse Case. I followed the case to its close and subsequent lawsuits. And, at the time, I was the only one in media to point out that Savage was right at the very beginning. It takes certain skills to smell a rat. Having been a therapist, I can say it begins to become an instinct. Others – myself included – have grown up with that intuitive muscle that kicks in. The hard part is waiting for the proverbial “what goes around comes around.”

While I try not to take joy in the downfall of others, in this case the creature that went completely free for destroying numerous lives is now facing the very real possibility that she will go down for literally snuffing out a single life. I have absolutely no compassion for this “woman” at this time. Nor will I.

So, Dr. Savage, kudos yet again for calling it like it is. It was a long time coming, but patience may be the only virtue some of us have left.

Happy belated birthday!

Andrew T. Durham
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http://www.wral.com/news/national_world/national/story/9471976/
Roommate hit with bias charge in Rutgers suicide
Posted: 10:59 a.m. today
Updated: 35 minutes ago

TRENTON, N.J. — A former Rutgers University freshman was indicted Wednesday on bias intimidation and other charges after allegedly using a webcam to spy on a same-sex encounter involving his roommate, who committed suicide shortly afterward in a case that started a national conversation on bullying.

A 15-count indictment was handed up Wednesday by a Middlesex County grand jury against Dharun Ravi, of Plainsboro, who had already faced invasion of privacy charges along with another student, Molly Wei.

The indictment charges Ravi with bias, invasion of privacy, witness and evidence tampering, and other charges stemming from the suicide of 18-year-old Tyler Clementi in September. The indictment said charges against Wei would not be presented to the grand jury "at this time."

Clementi jumped off the George Washington Bridge into the Hudson River shortly after authorities say Ravi and Wei used a webcam to peek at his liaison. Lawyers for Ravi say the webcam stream was viewed only on a single computer and did not show the men having sex.

The death of Clementi, a promising violinist in his first weeks at college, came amid a string of high-profile suicides of young people who were gay or perceived to be gay.

Partly because of his high-profile death and the other circumstances surrounding his suicide, Clementi became a face of the issue.

President Barack Obama and celebrities including talk show host Ellen DeGeneres and sex columnist Dan Savage have talked publicly about his death and said that young gays and lesbians need to know that life gets better.

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http://colorlines.com/archives/2011/04/crystal_gail_magnums_dark_twisted_past.html

Crystal Gail Mangum Isn’t Innocent, But She’s a Victim Just the Same

by Akiba Solomon

Wednesday, April 20 2011, 1:17 PM EST

If you’re the type to follow maddening, pathetic stories, you’ve already heard how Crystal Gail Mangum, the Durham, North Carolina, mother who wrongly accused three white Duke lacrosse players of rape, has been indicted for the murder of her boyfriend, Reginald Daye. She allegedly stabbed Daye, 46, in the torso during a domestic dispute on April 3; he died in the hospital 10 days later.

I’m not going to rehash the emerging details of Daye’s killing. I’m not going to do the “humanize her” two-step, either; a man is dead. But I still feel compelled to note what the hell happened to Crystal Gail Magnum’s body and mind long before she lurched into Duke rape case infamy.

Several events stand out:

According to a 2007 News and Observer profile: “She was 14 when she took up with a man twice her age. Three years after that, in 1996, she told police that the boyfriend had “shared” her sexually with three friends in a trailer home on a country road in Creedmoor. She filed a police report but never provided a written account of what happened, as an officer had requested, and the case was not pursued.”

Also from this profile: “Her parents say the assault left her depressed and that she saw a therapist for a year after and took prescription medicine. But they insist she didn’t suffer lasting psychological damage.” … Her big brother, Travis “TJ” Jr., 36, told the paper, ‘I might be wrong but I feel my sister had to grow up too fast. She was under a lot of stress. She lost her mind one time.’ His father countered, ‘She didn’t lose her mind. She was just depressed and got counseling.’

And this: “[Hospital] records indicate that she had a long history of psychological problems, including being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and that she named two anti-psychotic drugs that she had been prescribed. People with bipolar disorder experience swings in behavior.”

By 2006, when Mangum accused three Duke lacrosse players of raping her, she was a divorced mom of two who had been kicked out of the Navy after a short stint. She was stripping part time and studying psychology full time at North Carolina Central University. According to the state attorney general’s final report of the racially charged case, Mangum encountered the Blue Devils when the escort service she worked with assigned her to what was supposed to be a small bachelor party. The host had requested two white dancers. What he got was Mangum, another black woman—and about 40 male guests. The women, who didn’t know one another, were reluctant to perform for a group that large but relented and collected $400 apiece. During the performance, Mangum, who had been drinking, “appeared to be unsteady on her feet and fell to the ground.” After a spectator held up a broomstick and “suggested its use as a sexual object for the dancers,” the women stopped dancing and retreated to a bedroom. Eventually, partygoers demanded a refund. Mangum, who later blacked out on the lawn, used a racial and sexual slur and claimed to be a cop. At some point during the melee, a white guest screamed, “Thank your grandpa for my nice cotton shirt!”

Mangum was combining the prescription drugs methadone, Ambien and Paxil. She was clearly impaired during at least one meeting with investigators.

In February 2010, a little over a year before Daye’s stabbing, Mangum was arrested for assaulting another boyfriend, Milton Walker, and setting his clothes on fire in her bathtub. By then she was a mother of a 3-, 9- and 10-year-old. Her kids were in the next room. Mangum’s daughter, called police because she believed her mom was going to die. But when cops arrived, they reportedly heard her threaten to stab Walker. Mangum—who denied she’d set the fire and insisted that Walker had beaten her—was charged with a slew of felonies including attempted first-degree murder and arson. The jury deadlocked on the felonies; Magnum was sentenced to time served for misdemeanor child abuse, resisting arrest and injury to personal property.

Mangum isn’t what TV newsmagazines and tabloids call an ‘innocent victim.’ But she seems to be a victim, nonetheless. Perhaps if her parents, community and law enforcement had realized the severity of her mental problems and confronted the sexual violence she suffered as a teen, her life might be different. Now a man is dead. And it’s too late.
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