October 19, 2010 issue

Page 1

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

tuesday, october 19, 2010

ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTH YEAR, Issue 37

www.dukechronicle.com

RLHS takes measures to stop bed bugs

Grad students share LaSalle robbery stories

Highlighting safety

by Lauren Carroll

by Taylor Doherty and Ciaran O’Connor

THE CHRONICLE

This year, Residence Life and Housing Services fears that students might bring back more than just their luggage when they return from vacations. In recent years, complaints about bed bug infestations across the country have increased dramatically, according to a joint report issued by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in August. Bed bugs are small insects that tend to nest in beds, couches and undisturbed clothing. The bugs are not believed to transmit disease, but they do cause an allergic reaction when they bite. Although they have remained essentially inactive for the past few decades, bed bugs have made a reappearance due to a developed immunity to most pesticides. In light of the growing national concern about bed bugs, RLHS is establishing plans of action in case an on-campus infestation occurs. “There have been no confirmed cases of bed bugs this year” said Joe Gonzalez, associate dean of residence life. Gonzalez

THE CHRONICLE

joanna kim/The Chronicle

The Duke University Police Department hosted its first Tips n’ Treats, which provides a forum for students to speak with officers about safety concerns, at the Marketplace Monday. SEE SOUND-OFF PAGE 3

See bed bugs on page 6

As two Chinese graduate students new to the country, Ke Xu and Li Kan stuck together during orientation, even getting on the same Verizon family plan when buying cell phones. Two months later—in separate incidents but on consecutive days—both were robbed on or near LaSalle Street. The two met over lunch on the first day of school through a mutual friend—Kan’s roommate at Duke had been a classmate of Xu’s during her undergraduate years at Peking University in Bejing, China. A few weeks later on the morning of Oct. 13, Xu, a first-year master’s student in computer science, was robbed at gunpoint on her way to campus by a black female in a gray hoodie. Kan, a first year graduate student pursuing a Ph.D. in structural biology, was on his way to a party the night of Oct. 14 before being attacked by a black male in his 20s. “We are close friends,” Xu said. “You know, I [was] shocked when he got robbed just one day after me.” See robberies on page 7

DUKE UNIVERSITY STUDENT DINING ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Group discusses dining changes, renovations by Ray Koh

THE CHRONICLE

faith robertson/The Chronicle

DUSDAC discussed the effects of recent changes to Duke Dining—and its new place under Student Affairs—at its meeting Monday.

Franklin St. Halloween closed to Duke for third year, Page 4

Despite recent budget cuts and changes, Duke Dining is off to an optimistic start. Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee members and Director of Dining Services Jim Wulforst discussed the success of dining changes and tentative plans for the future. “I think that a lot of stakeholders in Duke Dining took some sort of sacrifice to make this year one of the best for dining in terms of revenue, number of people who are going out to eat and so on,” said DUSDAC co-Chair Alex Klein, a senior and former online editor for The Chronicle. Wulforst explained that students had to pay a higher dining administrative fee of $90 per semester, compared to last year’s $19.50 per semester. In addition, the 10 percent discount previously enjoyed by faculty, staff and employees at vendors was eliminated after University officials discontinued the program Aug. 1. These measures were efforts to reduce the $2.2 million Dining deficit which Executive Vice President Tallman Trask announced last year was no longer sustainable due to the economic downturn. Dining officials said last year they plan to eliminate the deficit over a two-year period.

The fee increase is expected to pay for about half of the deficit, and the elimination of the discount program should save the University $50,000 to $75,000. “The employee discount was a luxury for many years, but it was better to eliminate the discount than worry about raising food prices or cutting workers,” Wulforst said, noting that officials were initially concerned about the elimination of the employee discount having a negative impact on venders’ revenue. Dining also saw structural reform over the summer, Wulforst added. After Kemel Dawkins, vice president for campus services, left the University and the campus services department was dissolved this summer, Dining was taken under the umbrella of the Office of Student Affairs, allowing Wulforst to work directly with Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta. “I think the best thing that has happened this year is how well our relationship with Student Affairs turned out,” said DUSDAC co-Chair Andrew Schreiber, a senior. “Before, Dining did not get much support from anyone, but now things are much better.”

ONTHERECORD

“If only members of the Duke community were sampled, I bet the department’s approval numbers would be far lower.”

­—Senior Gregory Morrison on DUPD’s job approval rating. See column page 15

See dusdac on page 6

Carleton and Cunha take doubles crown, Page 9


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.