February 1, 2011 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, FEBRUARY 1, 2011

ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTH YEAR, Issue 87

www.dukechronicle.com

Open forum UCONN 87 sheds light on merger

Employees, community 51 DUKE funds cut by Ciaran O’Connor

by Chinmayi Sharma

After a significant loss of outside funding, Duke has less money and fewer people dedicated to engaging the Durham community. Late last year, the Duke Endowment decided to stop funding the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership, an organization created in 1996 that works in the 12 neighborhoods closest to campus to improve quality of life and educational achievement. In response to the funding cuts, along with broad economic pressures, the University chose to eliminate two positions within the Office of Community Affairs, one of which belonged to Michael Palmer,

A policy aimed to streamline two major student organizations is still a work in progress—and many members of the student body appear to be unaware of the potential change. In an attempt to alleviate this issue, sophomore Alex Swain, member of Duke Student Government’s Rules Committee, organized an open forum for students to learn about the proposed merger of Campus Council and DSG. Although the event’s goal was to bridge the gap between students and their representatives in campus organizations, attendance at the Monday session was low.

THE CHRONICLE

THE CHRONICLE

margie truwit/The Chronicle

In a game that was over soon after it began, Duke fell to Connecticut last night, 87-51. Before the contest, the Blue Devils were the nation’s only undefeated team. PAGE 9.

See duke-durham on page 8

See merger on page 5

meetthegraduateYoungTrusteefinalists The three graduate Young Trustees were selected Sunday night. The Graduate and Professional Student Council will elect the candidate at its Feb. 15 meeting. —compiled by Matthew Chase

ESG looks to better serve Pratt students by Nicole Kyle THE CHRONICLE

Joshua Makaron, second-year MBA candidate Involvement: Co-Chair of the Duke Conference on Sustainable Business and Social Impact, peer mentor to Fuqua foreign exchange students, career mentor to Duke undergraduates What do you hope to accomplish if you are elected Young Trustee? “I would like to include the graduate perspective as much as possible and continue in the building of Duke’s programs in an increasingly competitive marketplace.... My goal is to help enhance Duke’s presence and standing globally and ensure that all of Duke’s graduates are considered in the implementation of the strategy.”

Ali Saaem, fifth-year biomedical engineering candidate Involvement: GPSC Community Affairs Coordinator, Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership, Duke Building Opportunities and Overtures in Science and Technology, member of Sigma Xi scientific research society What do you hope to accomplish if you are elected Young Trustee? “There are a couple of things that I would want to get done. Firstly, I want to make sure that all of the voices on campus are accounted for. There are issues related to career services that I feel very passionate about and I believe that Duke going forward needs to be a global leader... [while] also staying involved in the Duke community.”

Jennifer Snook, third-year MBA and Master of Engineering Management candidate Involvement: Co-President of FuquaPride, Co-Founder and CoPresident of MEM/MBA Club, Corporate Sustainability Fellow of the Duke Center for Energy, Development and the Global Environment What do you hope to accomplish if you are elected Young Trustee? “Generally, to fulfill the role of representing the graduate and professional interests. To be a unique voice in the room and I think... right now there is a big push for interdisciplinary studies and I think that I could help provide insight to that as a former undergraduate [at Duke].”

Duke engineering students are known for their work ethics and relative independence, and their student governing body is no exception. Over the course of the last year, the Engineering Student Government has made a significant effort to expand its presence and better serve the Pratt School of Engineering community, said ESG President, David Piech, a junior who was elected internally to the organization’s top post Jan. 17. ESG’s steady expansion and increased influence in the engineering school is a result of academic assessment initiatives and a shift in programming styles, he added. “We’re a much more multifaceted, true governing body,” Piech said. “Previously, our main efforts were towards programming, but now we’re branching out.” ESG’s Academic Action Committee is one of the most significant additions this year, Piech said. The subcommittee, which began meeting in October, is responsible for promoting and communicating Pratt See esg on page 7

ONTHERECORD

“Disagreement, dissention and anger with the Judiciary are not the products of a broken system”

­—Senior Gregory Morrison in”The robes.” See colulmn page 15

Unrest continues Opposition to Egyptian leadership call for protest, PAGE 3

NC bill would outlaw K2 in the state, Page 3


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