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Blog and Media Roundup - Thursday, February 27, 2014; News Roundup
Topic Started: Feb 27 2014, 05:58 AM (364 Views)
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http://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2014/02/tone-down-the-willingham-hatred

Tone down the Willingham hatred

TO THE EDITOR:

I am extremely shocked and disappointed with how the media and other institutions are covering Mary Willingham’s research about literacy among student-athletes. Like many others, I find parts of her research to be unripe, but I believe that bashing her and undermining her hard work is contributing nothing to the actual problem. While there may be faults and mistakes in her research, let us not lose focus on the actual problem and the purpose of her research.

I respect Willingham for her sacrifices taken to better our community and increase literacy among students. Instead of referring to her in such negative light, she should be referred to as a change maker. What she is doing is bettering our world today and for generations to come. We often lose sight of our goals when something unexpected occurs. I hope that Willingham and UNC will bounce back from this minor setback and remember that the fight to ensure that student-athletes read on an acceptable grade level is not over. We will better our fight if we quit doing immature things like pointing fingers and name calling.

We must unite and push through this issue together. Student-athletes have been cheated of a great education for a while, but now is the time to give them what they deserve — superb athletics and a superb education.

Andre Eugene Tyson ’17
Political science
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http://www.wbir.com/story/news/local/2014/02/26/christian--newsom-families-meet-with-governor-lawmakers/5844161/

WBIR Staff, and Heidi Wigdahl, WBIR 2:05 a.m. EST February 27, 2014

The families of Chris Newsom and Channon Christian traveled once again to Nashville on Wednesday to meet with lawmakers and the governor about two bills they hope will change the way the state justice system works.

The House Civil Justice Subcommittee unanimously voted both bills through.

The young couple was carjacked, tortured, raped and murdered in 2007. Five people were convicted in connection with their deaths.
channon and chris

Channon Christian and Chris Newsom(Photo: Submitted)

Their parents have worked with local lawmakers to draft two separate pieces of legislation that they hope will spare other families what they had to endure during the trials and two retrials of those responsible for the murders.

The first bill is the Chris Newsom Act, which would effectively do away with the state's "13th Juror" rule, which says a judge must validate the receipt and acceptance of a jury verdict by signing a document. That rule was the reason two of those convictions were overturned and the families had to endure the trials and convictions once again.

The second bill is called the Channon Christian Act. It would prevent defense attorneys from introducing allegations of previous behavior that calls into question the character of a victim.

On Wednesday, the two couples met privately with Governor Bill Haslam. They said he supports the legislation.

"He could see that as a father a lot of the things that drove me nuts would've affected him the same way. And I think he's behind us," said Gary Christian, after the meeting.

They then testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee to encourage members to support the bills.

"I still struggle daily with the fact that I couldn't protect my daughter," Deena Christian told the lawmakers.

State Sen. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, and Rep. Ryan Haynes, R-Knoxville, are co-sponsors of the bills.

Rep. Haynes got emotional while speaking to the committee members; he knew Channon Christian.

"We obviously never wanted to do this until we were asked by the family and when they asked I was happy to do it," Rep. Haynes said.

Now that the House Civil Justice Subcommittee voted unanimously in favor of both the bills, it will go to the full House Civil Justice Committee for a vote, then the House for approval.

"That's about the best thing we can do to support the kids and remember the kids, and not forget the kids," Mary Newsom said.

Hugh Newsom went on to say, "There's nothing for us to gain personally from it beyond the satisfaction that we can keep another family from having to go through that."

The two bills have already passed unanimously in the Senate.

The bills must pass both the full House and the Senate, before the governor could sign the legislation into state law.
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Duke attracts unwanted spotlight over student’s work in porn

By Jane Stancill
jstancill@newsobserver.comFebruary 26, 2014

DURHAM — When “Duke” and “porn star” appear in the same headline, the university gets a public relations headache.

Duke University has recently found itself in the national spotlight not for basketball glory or research prowess, but for the salacious story of a freshman who claims to be working her way through school as a porn actress. And once again, a sex story about Duke has taken on a life of its own, with nasty online commentary and fierce debate about the sexual climate and status of women on campus.

The story first sizzled on the Internet, then spread to the network morning shows and gabfests. Cosmopolitan magazine’s website published this: “The elite North Carolina college has a heinous reputation for slut-shaming, double standards and overall sexual hostility towards their female students.”

It seemed too far-fetched to be true. “Portrait of a Porn Star,” a story based on an anonymous interview, was first published in the Duke Chronicle on Valentine’s Day. The paper called the student “Lauren” (not her real name) and “Aurora” (not her real porn alter-ego). In the story, the student described herself as a bisexual Republican who leans libertarian, a feminist and a women’s studies and sociology double major.

Lauren told the reporter she had given up a waitress job for porn to help pay the nearly $60,000-a-year tab at Duke. She said she was hired by Matrix Models and was flown to Los Angeles during school breaks for the porn filming.

She said she had been outed by a male classmate who recognized her from her work, and then blabbed her identity to his fraternity. Soon she was flooded with friend requests on Facebook, and a college gossip website was electric with discussion about the freshman porn star.

She told the Chronicle she felt victimized and harassed, not by the porn industry, but by the reaction online and at Duke.

Lauren A. later told her story in her own words on a website called xoJane.com, writing, “I saw a way to graduate from my dream school free of debt, doing something I absolutely love. Because to be clear: My experience in porn has been nothing but supportive, exciting, thrilling and empowering.”

She fought back against characterizations that she had participated in “rape fantasy porn,” calling it instead “rough sex.” The student described porn as “my love, my happiness, my home” but added that some sex workers have been abused and exploited in the industry.

What Duke says

Duke officials said they could not comment on any student’s specific situation and said they are committed to protecting students’ privacy and safety.

“Whenever we identify a student in need of support, we reach out to them and offer the many resources that we have available on campus to assist them,” Duke spokesman Keith Lawrence said.

And, he added, Duke’s financial aid program meets 100 percent of students’ demonstrated need based on a review of family circumstances. More than half of Duke students receive financial aid, he said, and students can request a review if their financial status changes.

Every few years, it seems, Duke attracts attention for some students’ behavior. In 2010, an alumna’s 42-slide PowerPoint display detailed sexual dalliances with Duke athletes. The racy document ended up on the Internet.

Unfairly demonized

Chronicle student journalist Ellie Schaack wrote in a column this week that the porn star coverage had unfairly demonized Duke. She pointed out that the 2006 lacrosse saga – in which three players were accused of raping a stripper but were later cleared – still loomed large on the Durham campus.

The university had taken on the early persona of the lacrosse players, she wrote: “The narrative that now makes sense is the story of the dominance of the Dukebag: the rich, white, smart-but-unintellectual misogynist unaware of his privilege.”

It’s not a true characterization, she wrote, and the reaction would be no different if a porn star attended Yale or UNC or Brigham Young.

Schaack told parents they shouldn’t hesitate to send their children to Duke. “There are a lot of screwed up norms on this campus – just like there are everywhere else,” she wrote. “We’re just lucky enough to be so infamous that we confront them regularly.”

Stancill: 919-829-4559

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/02/26/3656545/duke-porn-star-puts-university.html#storylink=cpy
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http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/2014/02/27/bot-journeys-stanford-retreat

BOT journeys to Stanford for retreat

By Raisa Chowdhury | February 26, 2014


Stanford University will host the trustees for a retreat where Board members and senior administrators can talk about the ways in which each institution approaches different aspects of higher education. Topics will include undergraduate education, research, graduate education, professional education, athletics, alumni affairs, facilities and finances. The Board will also approve the tuition for the next academic year.


“It will be an opportunity for our trustees and leadership to interact with counterparts at Stanford,” said Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations. “We have a lot in common.”


He noted that the two universities are similar in scale, the type of students each attracts and the strong school spirit around athletics.

[I can think of a lot of ways in which they are dissimilar...]


The Duke trustees will also meet with alumni in the area, visit Google to talk about innovation and entrepreneurship and have a conversation with Apple, Inc. CEO Tim Cook, Fuqua ’88.

The Board has a retreat every February that tends to address broader, strategic topics such as the future of higher education, though it has not typically involved travel to another university, Schoenfeld said. Board Chair David Rubenstein, Trinity ’70, is personally paying for the retreat.


Stanford and Duke share similar histories, said Philip Taubman, Stanford's associate vice president for student affairs and board secretary. He noted their recent establishments in 1891 and 1838, respectively, compared to older institutions such as Harvard, Princeton and Yale universities.


“They are both very young institutions, but they’ve both thrived, even though they came later in the game,” he said. “They ascended in the ranks of top global universities. They’ve both been pretty agile in responding to the changing needs of our society and some to the global needs.”


He added that common ground for the universities include significant fundraising efforts such as Duke Forward, Division I athletics and proximity to entrepreneurship centers in Research Triangle Park and Silicon Valley.

The Council for Aid to Education found Stanford to be the university that raised the most money in 2013 with $931.57 million. Duke ranked 10th with $423.66 million raised. As of August 2013, Stanford had a $18.7 billion endowment, while Duke's endowment sits at $6 billion as of June 2013.


Taubman attributed Stanford’s success to effective planning, grassroots involvement and compelling educational ideas among faculty that serve as the base for fundraising campaigns.


“There’s a reason to give money to Stanford because [donors] get excited about the academic programs here,” Taubman said. “Obviously it helps to be adjacent to Silicon Valley and the wealth in Silicon Valley. Stanford has benfefited from some of the companies that have grown into powerhouses that were started by faculty, students and graduate students.”


It is not uncommon for universities to host trustees from other institutions and share strategies and thought processes, Schoenfeld said. Although universities compete for students and faculty, he said collaboration is common on topics such as how to deal with new Title IX regulations, facilities or financial aid policies on a general level.

“A building that is built at Duke is not competing with a building that is being built somewhere else,” Schoenfeld said. “Whenever we undertake something major, we look at other universities.”

Duke hosted Yale’s board of trustees in 2005. Stanford hosted Williams College earlier this academic year, and the Stanford board has traveled to Yale in the past.

The Duke attendees left Wednesday for the three-day retreat.



Some day they may actually spend three days on the Duke campus...



Edited by Quasimodo, Feb 27 2014, 07:57 AM.
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http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/2014/02/27/dku-receives-2-million-donation-fund-scholarships

DKU receives $2 million donation to fund scholarships


By Carleigh Stiehm | February 26, 2014


An anonymous Chinese citizen donated $2 million to fund scholarships for Duke Kunshan University and establish Duke’s Talent Identification Program in China.

The donation—gifted by an alumnus of the Fuqua School of Business who is a permanent U.S. resident—will fund a scholarship for Chinese and international undergraduate students attending the Global Learning Semester at DKU, according to a Duke News press release.

“This is an extraordinary gift from a Duke graduate who fully understands the value of the global education and global living experiences that Duke provides,” said Provost Peter Lange in the release. “Through TIP and the DKU semester program, this gift will make global educational experiences possible for many young people.”

The Undergraduate Global Learning Semester is a one-semester, liberal arts learning experience in China for undergraduate students that are enrolled at other universities in China or around the world. The program provides students with Duke course credit for their work.

“The DKU Global Learning Semester is a transformative educational experience for undergraduate students from around the world,” said Mary Brown Bullock, DKU’s executive vice chancellor, in the release. “We are incredibly grateful for both the gift and the donor’s vision, and the role both will play in bringing outstanding students to DKU.”

Using the donation, Duke TIP—a program that identifies academically gifted students—will expand its reach and educational services to include high school students in China.

The gift is part of the Duke Forward fundraising campaign—which has a goal of raising $3.25 billion.


[Ed Rickards, where are you now...? We miss your expertise and analysis...]

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