The Chronicle DUKE STUDENT GOV'T
Senate votes ‘yea’ on fee referendum Increase tofimd student groups, DSG initiatives by
Diana Sheldon THE CHRONICLE
The Duke Student GovernmentSenate approved a measure to increase the $222 annual studentactivities fee by a total of $lOO over the course of the next two years at its first meeting ofthe academic year Wednesday night By voting for a $25 hike, the Senate also approved funding for all three new initiatives under consideration by DSG: low-cost legal counseling, a car-rental service and a bus tracking system. Undergraduates will vote on the activities fee ,ncrease in a referen .lonianGiordano dum Sept. 15. The referendum will propose to increase the current per-semester fee of $lll by $25—to $136 per semester—for the 2009-2010 academic year and another $25—to $l6l per semester—for the following year. Three different fee increases were proposed Wednesday night—a $lO, $l5 or $25 incremental hike per semester. All three -
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ELECTION 2008
Duke sees strong showing at conventions Ryan Brown THE CHRONICLE
by
Arthur Leopold had some explaining to do. The freshman failed to attend a single class last week. But the culprit was not a broken alarm clock or a late C-l bus. Leopold willingly traded a few of his first days of college for the ultimate political extracurricular: a trip to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colo. “It’s like the Olympics of politics,” he said. “It’s really thrilling to have the chance to see it all.” And see it he did. A New York delegate and the youngest member of Sen. Barack Obama’s finance committee, Leopold was front and center on the convention floor for the DNC’s biggest moments —including Obama’s Aug. 28 acceptance speech before a c heering crowd of more than 84,000.
And Leopold was not the only DNC attendee with ties to the University. While the rest of the country has followed the events in Denver and St. Paul, Minn. the site of this week’s Republican National Convention—from afar, several Dukies caught the action first hand. From volunteers and interns to delegates and members of the press, these political enthusiasts filled many roles as they immersed themselves in the excitement of two presidential nominations. “I think over the last three days I’ve had a total of six hours of sleep,” said Betsy Albright, a graduate student in the Nicholas School ofEnvironment, in an interview with The Chronicle Aug. 27. Albright, a DNC delegate from North Carolina, said she spent her days at the convention in a blur of delegate luncheons, meetings with elected officials and cheering as the party’s stars —
GOP delegates cheer for Michael Steele, chairman of a GOP political action comSEE CONVENTION ON PAGE 8
mittee, at the Republican National ConventionWednesday.