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
The Chronicle
MONDAY, MAY 2, 2011
ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTH YEAR, ISSUE 144
WWW.DUKECHRONICLE.COM
BIN LADEN KILLED BY US FORCES Obama confirms terrorist leader’s death, sparking celebrations nationwide
by Scott Wilson and Craig Whitlock THE WASHINGTON POST
Osama bin Laden has been killed in an American operation in Pakistan, President Barack Obama announced from the White House Sunday, calling his death “the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat al Qaeda.” In a statement delivered from the East Room, Obama said a small team of U.S. personnel attacked a compound Sunday in Pakistan’s Abbottabad Valley, where bin Laden had been hiding since late last summer. After a firefight, Obama said, the U.S. team killed bin Laden and “took custody of his body.” “We will be relentless in defense of our citizens and our friends and allies,” a somber Obama said in his nine-minute statement. “We will be true to the values that make us who we are. And on nights like this one, we can say to families who have lost loved ones to al Qaeda’s terror: Justice has been done.” The killing of bin Laden—which set off cheers outside the White House gates and lit off the Internet with celebration— will provide a clear moment of victory for Obama at a moment of deep political turmoil overseas that is upending longstanding U.S. policy in much of the Muslim world, particularly the Arab Middle East. The operation took place in Abbottabad, a city of about 100,000 in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, about 100 miles north of Islamabad. Named for a British military officer who founded it as a military cantonment and summer retreat, it is the headquarters of a brigade of the Pakistan army’s Second Division. A senior U.S. official, who had been briefed on the operation for months, said it
Community reacts to bin Laden’s demise by Ted Knudsen and Nicole Kyle THE CHRONICLE
A saga that began when many Duke students were still in middle school reached a sudden conclusion late last night. Leader of al Qaeda and international face of terrorism Osama bin Laden was killed in an operation led by a small assault team of American forces. Bin Laden, the man behind the Sept.
SEE BIN LADEN ON PAGE 5
11 attacks and approximately 3,000 American deaths, died in a raid led by a U.S. forces, President Barack Obama said in a speech late Sunday night. “Justice has been done,” Obama announced. Duke students celebrated the news with fireworks along Towerview Drive and on Main Quad, though many students remained in the library due to upcoming exams.
“He’s dead?” sophomore Won Song said. “We were studying, so we didn’t know.” Some students, however, took a break from studying to watch Obama’s announcement and subsequent news reports. Other students were more vocal and enthusiastic about bin Laden’s death, taking the opportunity to reconnect SEE REACTION ON PAGE 5
Despite Chapel vandalism, Duke ready to move out of admins laud safe LDOC recession, Brodhead says by Michael Shammas THE CHRONICLE
Administrators and students said that LDOC 2011 was one of the best Duke has seen in recent memory—with one, unfortunate exception. From breakfast on Main Quadrangle, to a late-night Ludacris concert, this year’s Last Day of Classes was one of the safest in Duke history, said junior Lindsay Tomson, co-chair of the LDOC committee. “I went to bed with texts from friends saying best LDOC yet and woke up with emails from administrators saying safest LDOC yet,”
Tomson said. “I think the [new safety] policies have continued to be successful in lowering the risks of the event.” But while students were enjoying the festivities, an act of vandalism was committed on the Duke Chapel. According to a report from the Duke University Police Department, rocks were thrown through three stained glass windows of the south side of the Duke Chapel between 12:15pm Wednesday afternoon and 8:03a.m. Thursday morning. The vandalism caused
Lester Brown discusses economics and global warming, Page 4
SEE LDOC ON PAGE 7
by Lauren Carroll THE CHRONICLE
After two years of difficult financial decisions, Duke is on its way out of the economic downturn, President Richard Brodhead announced Wednesday. In his Primetime address, Brodhead advised employees to remain prudent as the University rebounds from the financial recession, noting the importance of future ventures and construction projects in Durham and abroad. About 50 people attended the event in Reynolds Theater and another 4,500 watched online.
“We shouldn’t fool ourselves, we are in better times partly because we helped put ourselves in better times,” Brodhead said. “I would hate to for us to loosen up this year and then find that next year we had another problem.” Brodhead said the University made “calculated strategic solutions” meant to eliminate a budget deficit of approximately $100 million. He noted, however, that Duke continued to be a good place to work throughout the recession. SEE BRODHEAD ON PAGE 4
ONTHERECORD
“Durham, N.C., is something to be drunk straight, not sipped from a mile-long, blue-and-white straw.” —Senior Alex Klein in “Food Points.” See column page 10
Officials consider cable alternatives, ONLINE