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
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2010
ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTH YEAR, Issue 63
www.dukechronicle.com
Suit challenges 19 DUKE DUPD power to make arrests
UNC 24 Ex-employee
charged with embezzlement
by Matthew Chase
by Joanna Lichter
Durham lawyers are challenging Duke police officers’ authority to make arrests due to the University’s long-standing religious ties. Two local attorneys filed a motion Nov. 23 challenging the arrest power of the Duke University Police Department because of the University’s ties to the state United Methodist Church congregation. Defense attorneys Bill Thomas and James Monroe are asking that an October driving-while-impaired arrest be dismissed and that the court suppress all evidence in the case because they claim the Methodist ties are a violation of the separation of church and state. Sophomore Thomas “Alex” Holloway, 19, was arrested at 3:54 a.m. Oct. 11 at the corner of Ninth and Main streets for driving while impaired and for underage consumption by DUPD officer Doreen Hogan. Holloway’s court date for traffic violations is scheduled for Dec. 13. Holloway declined to comment and Thomas could not be reached for comment Sunday. Although the case is not being filed directly against Duke, its outcome could challenge the University police force’s arrest power.
A former Duke employee allegedly embezzled $267,000 from the University, according to an arrest warrant from the Durham County Magistrate’s Office. John Cotton, age 49, is a former business manager in the Department of Surgery, said Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations. Cotton was removed from his position in August and has not been employed at Duke since then, he added. In addition to the embezzlement charges, Cotton is accused of securing property under false pretenses. He allegedly abused his position to order products and services worth $58,706 for personal use. “This kind of case is extremely rare, which is [why] we take it very seriously,” Schoenfeld wrote in an e-mail Sunday. “The University has a number of business and audit processes to protect against theft like this, but no system is absolutely foolproof.” Cotton, who lives in Raleigh, was released from Durham County Jail Wednesday after posting a $25,000 secured bond.
THE CHRONICLE
THE CHRONICLE
courtney douglas/The Chronicle
A late fourth quarter rally was not enough to push Duke over North Carolina Saturday. The Blue Devils lost their seventh straight game against the Tobacco Road rival, 24-19. See SPORTSWRAP page 5.
See dupd on page 8
See embezzlement on page 8
DSG secures undergrad rep. on student conduct boards by Anna Koelsch THE CHRONICLE
Students are getting more involved in University conduct policy after a recent push led by Duke Student Government. DSG and the administration created two student representative seats on the committee responsible for approving undergraduate conduct policies and one student representative seat on the Undergraduate Conduct Board’s appellate board, which reviews appeals from students or student groups who are not satisfied with an Undergraduate Conduct Board decision. Both groups previously had no student representatives. DSG President Mike Lefevre, a senior, said these changes were motivated by a noticeable disconnect between administrative decisions and student input. During the summer, Dean of Students Sue Wasiolek and Stephen Bryan, associate dean of students and director of the Office of Student Conduct, said members of the Office of Student Conduct Student Advisory Group unanimously approved the new alcohol policy of six beers per person during Tailgate, Lefevre said. “[Advisory group members] said ‘I didn’t vote on anything,’” Lefevre said. “That raised some red flags.” Lefevre and junior Pete Schork, DSG executive vice president, designed the revisions to the approval committee and the appellate board this summer, which were approved last week by Vice President for Student Affairs
Students celebrate Thanksgiving on campus, Page 3
Larry Moneta and Dean and Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Steve Nowicki, respectively. “Most students don’t think about undergraduate conduct until they go through it,” Lefevre said. “That process can be the difference between getting expelled and staying at Duke.” The student representative on the appellate board will likely be a member of the UCB or one of its co-chairs, and students on the approval committee will be selected through a DSG appointment process, Lefevre said. The approval committee was also rescheduled from meeting only once in the summer to meeting twice during the academic year, which should lead to “real discourse” since students will be involved, Lefevre said. The idea of adding students to the undergraduate conduct process is not a new one—former 2006-2007 DSG president Elliott Wolf, Trinity ’08, focused on restructuring the way student conduct decisions at Duke are made and proposed sweeping overhauls of the student conduct process, but was unsuccessful, Lefevre said. “[Wolf] was told that the time [immediately after the lacrosse scandal] was wrong,” Lefevre said. “That rationale continued.... It’s about time we start turning over those pages again.” See student reps on page 8
Duke dominates Oregon and Kansas State, SPORTSWRAP page 4
tracy huang/Chronicle file photo
DSG President Mike Lefevre has worked with the administration to create student representative positions on undergraduate conduct boards.
ONTHERECORD
“The materials alone are not a course any more than having a textbook is having a course.”
—Dir. of Academic Technology Lynne O’Brien on online classes. See story page 3