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
TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2009
Duke.edu makeoverto debut Sept.
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH YEAR, ISSUE 3
Insurance shift raises concerns
Hot days, hot dogs
UnitedHealthcare rankings vary widely
by Ashley Holmstrom THE CHRonICLE
After three and a half years with the current Duke University Web site, a new site is set to launch by the end of September, said Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations. The new home page will incorporate audio and video feeds, helpful campus links and social media links, including a calendar and mobile access, Schoenfeld said. He added that extra tools such as an interactive campus map and an “A-to-Z” directory of University departments could be added over the coming months. “The Duke home page is the most visible and busiest ‘front door’ to the University,” Schoenfeld said. “We get well more than 1 million visitors a month…. The Web has evolved into a very dynamic medium and we want to be able to present Duke in a compelling, intuitive and interactive way, while at the same time making it even easier for visitors to find and navigate to the information they are looking for.” Blackwell Interactive, a Web site design division of the office of Information Technology, has been responsible for much of the production, design and testing of the
by Jinny Cho THE CHRonICLE
JaMes lee/The ChroNiCle
undergraduate and graduate students gathered for food and music at the annual Forever Duke event outside the Forlines House Monday evening. SEE STuDEnT SOunD-OFF PAGE 5.
SEE WeB site on pAGE 7
UnitedHealthcare, Duke’s student medical insurance administrator, was listed among the top three health plans in overall member satisfaction in the South Atlantic region, according to a national study. But another survey placed its health plan well below other options. The insurance provider came in just behind Humana in the J.D. power and Associates 2009 national Health Insurance plan Study released in April. Also in the top three was Blue Cross Blue Shield of north Carolina, which had provided health insurance to Duke students for 30 years ending in April 2008, said Jean Hanson, administrative director of Duke Student Health. In its third year, the study measured member satisfaction among 131 health plans in 17 regions across the country. north Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia make up the South Atlantic region. The survey examined seven factors, including coverage and benefits, provider choice, SEE iNsuRANce on pAGE 4
After price hike, Shooters ups security staff by Julia Love THE CHRonICLE
ChroNiCle File phoTo
Shooters ii, a nightclub located off East Campus, has increased its entry fees and hired additional employees to monitor the dance floor.
Admission to Shooters: $10. Riding the bull, caging your inhibitions and bathing in the sweat of your lab partner: priceless? Shooters II, the giant of off-East Campus nightlife, welcomed students back to Durham with a significant price hike. Underage partygoers hoping to sweat off the stress of orientation week were billed $10, double last year’s entry fee. Students over 21 paid $5, up from the previous price of $3. Despite the price increase, a mob of students jostled to enter Shooters II Friday night. The air inside the club was thick with the perspiration of about 800 people. But some students opened their wallets with a hint of remorse. “Shooters is worth $2 and a bottle of Aristocrat—nothing more,” sophomore Ari Bar-Mashiah said. Kim Cates, manager and owner of Shooters, said she increased the fee over the summer to make the Westernthemed watering hole a safer environment for student patrons. In recent months, the club has improved lighting and installed more surveillance cameras. Cates has also increased the number of employees patrolling the bar and dance floor from four to 15 in an effort to curtail underage drinking. “We are concerned that it might slow the business down some, but how else do you pay the bills?” Cates said. “If we drop the price, then we have to drop some of the staff, and
ONTHERECORD
“I have always been a supporter of the death penalty, but I have always believed it must be carried out fairly.”
—Governor Bev Perdue on the N.C. Racial Justice Act. See story page 3
then where’s the safety of the children?” Cates met for the first time with Vice president for Student Affairs Larry Moneta, Sue Wasiolek, dean of students and assistant vice president for student affairs, and Tom Szigethy, associate dean and director of Duke’s Alcohol and Substance Abuse prevention Center, to discuss safety issues potentially presented by the club about two weeks ago. Szigethy plans to meet with the owners of other local bars as well, but he began the year by sitting down with the Shooters management. “We’ve heard from students who have been returning to campus intoxicated, and sometimes Shooters is the last place they’ve been,” Wasiolek said. In response to administrators’ concerns about students traveling to and from the saloon on foot, Cates decided to reinstate the “Shooters bus,” a vehicle that links the club to the East and West Campus bus stops as well as several off-campus apartment complexes. The bus is free and will be in service on nights when the management expects particularly heavy student traffic, but there is currently no regular bus schedule. “I thought the bus was great, except the door was open the whole time,” sophomore Dan Haughton said. “I don’t know how safe that is.” Cates noted that the increased entrance fee for underage students seems to have played a part in reduc-
Women’s Golf: Replacing a legend The Blue Devils hope to replace All-American Amanda Blumenherst with three freshmen, PAGE 10
SEE sHOOteRs on pAGE 5
Men’s Basketball: “Rucker of the South” Duke players take part in former UNC star Jerry Stackhouse’s summer league, PAGE 9