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FORMER LAW SCHOOL STUDENT TO WORK AT THE SUPREME COURT
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the chronicle 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
WWW.DUKECHRONICLE.COM
XXXXXDAY,MARCH TUESDAY, MMMM18, XX, 2014 2013
ONE ONE HUNDRED HUNDRED AND AND EIGHTH NINTHYEAR, YEAR,ISSUE ISSUEXXX 97
SAE prohibits Durham crime increases slightly in 2013 pledging nationwide by Jackson Stone The chronicle
The Sigma Alpha epsilon fraternity banned pledging rituals required of recruits, reflecting a long-standing national debate about the practice. calling its decision “historic,” the national organization overseeing Sigma Alpha epsilon said its ruling affects all its chapters immediately, including the one at Duke. Under its new program that SAe calls “The True Gentlemen experience,” all new pledges who are accepted and accept bids will immediately be “brothers.” new members will also be required to participate within 96 hours of acceptance in the carson Starkey Membership certification Program, a series of online alcohol safety quizzes named after a freshman who died of alcohol poisoning six years ago during an induction ritual at california Polytechnic State University in San luis obispo. The office of Fraternity and Sorority life received a letter from SAe headquarters informing the University that “all of our chapters and colonies have been instructed to initiate their new members (pledges) as full brothers.” clarybel Peguero, assistant dean and director of fraternity and sorority life, declined to comment, but provided a copy of SAe’s letter to the chronicle. “our new program does not have opt-in elements. rather, all of our chapters and colonies are required to adopt See Sae, page 6
gRaPHiC illusTRaTioN By RiTa lo/The ChroniCle
by Jenna Zhnag The chronicle
Although Durham’s property crime rate has increased in 2013, its violent crime rate declined, according to the Durham Police Department’s annual crime report released March 7. These trends relate to a slight increase in overall crime, following a 23-year record low in 2012. Although the number of violent crimes decreased, both homicides and rapes increased by 40 percent or more—with 21 homicides in 2012 increasing to 30 in 2013, and 73 rapes in 2012 increasing to 102 in 2013.
“Anytime there’s an increase, there’s cause for concern, but we’re still below the [department’s three year] average,” said lt. Brian reitz, executive officer to the Durham chief of Police. The report credited the increase in reported homicides and rapes to a change in FBi reporting standards. “Fondling and other things that did not involve unlawful carnal knowledge were counted as rape,” reitz said. “Before they changed the definition, rape involved a very specific incident. if you actually went by the old definition of a rape, the numbers are about the same.”
index crime rate per 100,000 residents is up 3.8 percent from 2012, according to the report. Burglaries and larcenies accounted for the majority of reported property and violent crimes, at 27 percent and 54 percent, respectively. Murder, rape and aggravated assault together constituted 8 percent of total property and violent crimes. operation Bull’s eye—an initiative focusing on reducing crime in a two-mile radius off of eastern Durham—has resulted in “significant reductions in violent See cRime, page 5
WISeR graduates first class with unprecedented bright futures By Patricia Spears The chronicle
The Women’s institute of Secondary education and research—a Kenyan organization for community development that is partnered with Duke—graduated its first class of 28 students from its secondary school March 7. With a focus on health and education to empower underprivileged girls in Muhuru Bay, Kenya, WiSer began in 2006 with a secondary school for women and now includes a primary school, a school garden and community projects to bring clean water and better nutrition to the area. This year’s inaugural graduating class marks a major success for the WiSer school system, which has never before seen a female student continue onto a university. “it’s everything,” said sophomore Zack
Fowler, president of Duke’s WiSer club. “it’s the first graduation, so we know now that this can happen, that you can have girls do things that have never been done in the community.” The graduation is a landmark not only for WiSer, but for Muhuru Bay. over the 30 years that Kenya has offered secondary education, only one woman in the Muhuru Bay area has received a qualifying score for university acceptance and enrolled, said Sherryl Broverman, president of the WiSer school and associate professor of the practice of biology. By comparison, 17 of WiSer’s 28 graduates received qualifying scores, and of those, 13 received full scholarships from the government. Broverman added that the graduates have a wide range of interests, including journalism, engineering and business. one-
third of the graduates are interested in healthcare. “The fact that they graduated from secondary school...it not only affects them, it affects their family, it affects their community,” said senior nupur Gulati, former president of the WiSer club. “it’s just this massive ripple effect.” Fowler said greater access to education for women is associated with many benefits for a community—including economic growth, female empowerment, improved male-female relationships and better health outcomes. For example, the daughter of a woman who has completed a secondary education experiences a 50 percent reduction in the lifetime prevalence of hiV, he said. The graduation ceremony was a community celebration with approximately 1,000 people in attendance, including three
members of the Kenyan parliament and six Duke alumni who were involved in the early stages of WiSer. “it was so gratifying to have them with me during the event,” Broverman wrote in an email Sunday. Broverman is humble about her role in the creation of the school. She wrote that she is an “accidental advocate,” noting that her desire to help girls in Muhuru Bay stemmed from visiting a colleague in the area. While in Muhuru Bay, Broverman met a child bride who was married to her school’s vice principal in order to pay her school fees. Broverman helped this young woman break the marriage but wanted to do more to help other girls facing child marriage, See WiSeR, page 5