A Lot in Common
Freshman elections Thursday
Coach Cutcliffe and Kansas head coach Charlie Weis to meet again Saturday | Page 4
The freshman class will elect 12 students to the DSG Senate’s seven committees Thursday | Page 2
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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014
Fight for increased minimum wage escalates nationally
ONE HUNDRED AND TENTH YEAR, ISSUE 14
Hands-free entry comes to Blue Zone
After Durham protest last week, issue of higher wages resonates with several Duke employees Jenna Zhang Local & National Editor Thousands of fast food workers walked off the job Thursday, demanding higher wages and union representation and, for many of Duke’s fast food employees, the demonstration hit close to home. The walkouts—which took place in Durham and more than 150 other cities across the nation—were part of a two-year national campaign to raise fast-food wages to $15 per hour, more than double the current federal minimum wage of $7.25. Across the country, hundreds of protestors participated in sit-ins and marches, and nearly 500 were arrested, including one congresswoman. In an event organized by southern workers’ association Raise Up for 15, Durham protestors blocked traffic on Morgan and West Main streets for three hours before local police arrested 26 participants. “No one, no matter where they live, can live on a minimum wage of $7.25,” said MaryBe McMillan, secretary-treasurer of North Carolina’s division of The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. “This is already a poverty-level starvation wage.” The North Carolina minimum wage currently matches the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour, which has been criticized as an unlivable wage by fast-food employees and See Protests on Page 3
Anthony Alvernaz | The Chronicle Card readers, such as the one pictured above, have been installed in the Blue Zone and allow drivers to enter and exit the lot hands-free.
Samantha Neal The Chronicle Driving into the Blue Zone just got a little easier. Tuesday morning, Duke Parking and Transportation launched a hands-free access system for the parking lot. Instead of swiping a DukeCard or parking pass to enter or exit, the new system can detect
from a distance the embedded microchip that hangs from a tag on the car’s rearview mirror. Duke began introducing the system in various parking lots across campus in February and will continue to phase in the system over the school year. “Generally, user responses have been positive,” Melissa Harden, interim director of parking and transportation, wrote in an email Tuesday. Duke has adopted the system not
just to increase convenience but also to obtain more precise data on parking, Harden said. The new system—which uses technology known as radio frequency identification detection—can provide real-time information, which will allow the University to better track parking usage and behaviors. After the system’s first day in use in the See Parking on Page 3
Students’ off-campus partying met by criticism Jessica Hennacy The Chronicle The first two weeks of school identified certain off-campus houses as potential party spots for the year—and some neighbors are less than pleased. For residents of Trinity Heights, which borders East Campus, student parties are an annual cause for concern. But with different groups of students renting different houses each year, the addresses that tend to host the most parties are prone to changing—making it difficult for neighbors to target the problem. “As wonderful and responsible and intelligent as Duke students are, there’s going to
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come a point when some of them are none of those things,” said Trinity Heights resident Cathy Shuman, a lecturing fellow in the English department. Trinity Heights is a historic neighborhood that houses families alongside temporary student tenants. Adjacent to East Campus, the neighborhood has strong ties with the University due to its geographic proximity and the high volume of Duke faculty residing there. A number of residents agree that loud music, excessive public urination, yelling from students heading to and from parties and postparty litter are just a handful of the issues that stem from off-campus partying. “It’s not a new issue, and it’s an issue that you really have to pay attention to each and ev-
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ery year,” Dean of Students Sue Wasiolek said. The beginning of the school year typically brings more noise complaints than other times of year. “Usually when the students first get here, the first two weeks, that’s when they have the parties,” Durham Police officer J.B. Griffith said. “They just come back and have wilder parties.” Griffith noted that his squad has not noticed a particular increase in parties in the neighborhood this year. Shuman noted that efforts have been made in past years to improve relationships between off-campus students and permanent residents. These include “Knock and Talk” sessions that link off-campus students to local law enforce-
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ment and members of the Durham community that foster conversation about partying policies. Knock and Talks were reformed in 2012 to include more students. But efforts put in to heighten awareness of the residents’ concerns have limited lasting effects, because each year brings in a new group of students living in different off-campus rental homes. “One of the problems is these houses change location. They pop up in different places each year,” said Durham City Council member Steve Schewel, a visiting assistant professor of public policy.
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