T H E I N D E P E N D E N T D A I LY AT D U K E U N I V E R S I T Y
The Chronicle
MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2012
ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTH YEAR, ISSUE 33
WWW.DUKECHRONICLE.COM
SEXUAL MISCONDUCT STATUTE REPEALED by Julian Spector THE CHRONICLE
After months of student protest, the University eliminated the one-year statue of limitations on student sexual misconduct. The new statute means that the University disciplinary process can respond to reports filed
against a student until that student graduates, according to the revised policies. The change was proposed by a student task force. It reflected a reinterpretation of federal regulations under Title IX and resulted from several weeks of negotiations with the Department of Education’s Of-
fice of Civil Rights. Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta informed the student body of the change in an email Sunday evening. “We never made the change because we wanted to or because of an institutional desire to reduce the time,” Moneta said in
an interview. “There was no clarity in the Office of Civil Rights guidelines. It was an interpretation that we thought we had to comply with.” The statute of limitations for sexual misconduct—the period of time in which students can report an incident—was reduced
from two years to one year in January in order to comply with requirements that Duke negotiated with the Department of Education in 2011. The Office of Civil Rights stipulated that statutes of limitations for reporting SEE STATUTE ON PAGE 8
Blue Devils advance to 5-1 record by Alex Krinsky THE CHRONICLE
At the onset of the fourth quarter, with Duke up 28-17, senior wide receiver Conner Vernon dove and pulled down a 45yard bomb through double coverage for a touchdown. The play was an exclamation point on an already memorable win in which Duke moved within one game of bowl eligibility and Vernon became the ACC’s all-time leader in receptions. Led by Anthony Boone’s four touchdown passes and timely defensive stops, Duke defeated Virginia 42-17 Saturday at Wallace Wade Stadium. With the win, the Blue Devils (5-1, 2-0 in the ACC) are off to their best start since 1994—the last time they reached a bowl game. “We had a good time in the locker room SEE FOOTBALL ON SPORTSWRAP PAGE 4
CAROLINE RODRIGUEZ/THE CHRONICLE
Duke wide receiver Connor Vernon broke the all-time ACC receptions record in Duke’s 42-17 victory against Virginia Saturday.
Deadline nears, efforts to Grad student solves register voters increase composition mystery by Tiffany Lieu THE CHRONICLE
by Alexis Aria
With five days left to register to vote, students have redoubled their efforts to increase political activism on campus. The push to register Duke students to vote in North Carolina has increased recently because the statewide deadline to register is 5 p.m. Friday. But students who miss the Friday deadline can still register and vote at Duke’s on-campus one-stop early voting site, which opens Oct. 18 in the Old Trinity Room. Voting is an important way of shaping the country, especially for college students in North Carolina—a swing state—where they stand to greatly influence the elections, said state Sen. Floyd McKissick, D-Durham. “People think that one vote doesn’t make a difference, but it can,” McKissick said. “If you’re on campus for four years, you’re a stakeholder in that state and that
THE CHRONICLE
SEE VOTERS ON PAGE 4
ELISSA LEVINE/ THE CHRONICLE
Students register people to vote on the Bryan Center Plaza to get people to the polls on Election Day.
The question of the authorship of a musical manuscript has finally been solved thanks to musicology doctoral candidate Angela Mace. Mace began studying German composer Felix Mendelssohn during her undergraduate years at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music. In 2007, after enrolling at Duke, Mace began researching the “Easter Sonata” mystery—the longrunning search for the true identity of the Easter Sonata composer. Through interviews and extensive research, Mace located the original sonata manuscript in 2010. After an analysis of this manuscript, Mace discovered that the Easter Sonata was not written by Mendelssohn but instead by his sister Fanny Hensel. “When I saw that manuscript for the first time, it was such a great moment of excitement,” Mace said.
Mendelssohn expert Larry Todd, Arts and Sciences professor of music, was Mace’s inspiration for her pursuit. Mace came to Duke specifically to study with Todd, who she met in 2005 while studying Mendelssohn manuscripts at Oxford University the summer before her senior year at Vanderbilt. Todd introduced Mace to the Easter Sonata mystery in one of his classes when he played an original recording of the sonata and discussed the uncertainty around the composer. Mace said her intrigue was immediate. Mace’s research led her to Berlin in 2009, where she looked at original Mendelssohn family manuscripts and documents that held no further clues. By 2010, she was able to visit pianist Eric Heidsieck, who had recorded the 1970s version of the sonata that Todd played in class. Mace said that through Heidsieck’s connections, she SEE MYSTERY ON PAGE 3