The Chronicle Gulf natives weather Gustav news Dll execs reply to DSG referendum Union laments lack of student input on fee BY
Shuchi Parikh THE CHRONICLE
LM OTERO/THE
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Evacuees from Hurricane Gustav use a towel to avoid the rain as people line up for food outside a shelter in Louisiana Tuesday. Following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the University accepted displaced students and, threeyears later, administrators are extending support to students with ties to the Gulf region. by
Naureen Khan THE CHRONICLE
While most students spent their first days at Duke dodging the occasional thunderstorm, sophomore Tony Thomas watched the weather in a different part of the nation with baled breath. Hailing from Slidell, La., a city situated about 30 miles northeast of New Orleans, Thomas closely tracked the progress of Hurricane Gustav throughout the first week of classes—hoping that despite predictions to the contrary, it would not leave the widespread devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina three years ago. When Gustav did come ashore 70 miles southwest of New Orleans Monday with far less force than forecasted, many Duke students with ties to the region breathed a collective sigh of relief.
“No one wants to go through all that again,” said Thomas, who relocated to At-
to a Category 2 storm shortly before it made
landfall helped avert a catastrophe the scale of Katrina, the hurricane nevertheless left million 1.4 h ouse holds in Louisiana withoutpower go* * as of Tuesday Th morning, Gov. Bobby Jindal of Tony ThoniClS, announced in thing scares sophomore fromLouisiana a press conferthe hell out on Hurricanes Katrina and Gustav of politience. cians now. In addition, Gustav I think the city was definitely better prepared this necessitated the exodus of 2 million resitime because it was such bad press last dents from the Gulf Coast, with a mandatime.” tory evacuation order for New Orleans Although betteremergency preparedness and Gustav’s downgrade from a Category 3 SEE RECOVERY ON PAGE 8
lanta for the second semester ofhis Junior year of high school1 after Katrina left ~
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No one wants to LLthrough all that again.
Members of Duke University Union’s Administrative Board called for “measured consideration” and greater student input into Duke Student Government’s proposed increase in the student activities fee Tuesday. After spending much of their meeting Tuesday night discussing the proposal which was submitted as a letter to the student body by DSG’s Executive Board in The Chronicle Tuesday—Union leaders drafted a unanimously approved statement on the issue. DUU’s statement was sent to DSG President Jordan Giordano and others and decried DSG for not engaging campus leaders in a discussion about the referendum, which is slated to be voted on by the student body Sept. 15. Also Tuesday, DSG Executive Vice President Sunny Kantha, a senior, clarified that the fee’s increase would not be $25 compounding per semester —he said DSG leaders misspoke in the letter—but rather increase $25 per year over the next two —
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Fulbright now under OUSF CAPS hires Exchange program grants counselor for scholarships to 17Duke grads Asian students by
Christopher Ross THE CHRONICLE
Some of the nearly 200 Asian-American and Asian international students who sought therapy from Duke’s Counseling and Psychological Services last year may have (bund their cultures to be underrepresented on the other side of the waiting room. As a result, CAPS hired counselorVan Li over the summer to specialize in the unique issues Asian-American and Asian international students face as a minority group on campus in the effort to expand their multicultural staff.
Seventeen Duke graduates will be scattered across five continents in the coming year, but they all have one scholarship to thank: the Fulbright Program. The number of grants given out this year is on par with statistics from the last decade: 15 to 22 Duke students have received scholarships each year on average, according to records from the Office of Undergraduate Scholars and Fellows. In the past year—the last year that Fulbright advising was still under the International Studies department—the number of Fulbright applicants increased to 45, with approximately 40 percent of those receiving the scholarship,
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SEE FULBRIGHT ON PAGE 6
by
Ally Helmers THE CHRONICLE
SEE COUNSELOR ON PAGE
The Fuibright Program has seen the numberofDuke applicants decline for the past several years.This year's yield, however, was one ofthe highest ever.