The Chronicle CC solicits Loft policy draws critical response Campus Council to opinions for ask for rule change New Campus by
Nathan Freeman THE CHRONICLE
by
Ally Helmers THE CHRONICLE
Their days as Blue Devils will be long gone by the time New Campus is bom, but current Duke students can still have a voice in the housing design their legacies will experience. To gather student input on the residential design ofNew Campus, Campus Council opened an online survey of undergraduate residential preferences Sept. 2. The anonymous questionnaire evaluates the housing preferences of independent students, students in selective living groups and Greek-affiliated students and will remain available to undergraduates for at least another week, said Campus Council President Molly Bierman, a senior. “I’m optimistic that [the responses] will have an input in the design of New Campus, although I don’t know the extent to which,” she said. “I don’t think the survey would have been approved if some of the commentary wasn’t going to be taken into consideration.” As of Monday, the surveyhad garnered 559 responses to questions about living preferences such as carpet versus hardwood floors, quiet or social common rooms and an increased, SEE SURVEY ON PAGE 4
Last May, Campus Council leaders sent a unanimously approved recommendation to Residence Life and Housing Services urging them not to ban studentmade lofts on campus. But with the announcement of the policy against custom lofts, the leadership of Campus Council is sending out a new message: RLHS didn’t get the memo. Campus Council is currently drafting a new policy resolution asking administrators to reconsider the decision and find away to compromise student safety and student freedom. Council Campus Vice President Kevin Thompson, a senior, said he hopes to have the new resolution approved by the Campus Council policy committee Monday, by Duke Student Government next Wednesday and by the Campus Council general body at its meeting next Thursday. Eddie Hull, dean of residence life and executive director of housing services, said RLHS’s policy strayed from the policy supported by Campus Council in order to temper the fire concerns that could accompany a room full of flammable wood. He added that the dedication to crafting a loft policy with fire-safe dorms could
Campus Council officials are lobbying administrators to rethink the new loft policy, which permits only the use of University-sanctioned lofts on East Campus, to accommodate students' choice and safety. make it difficult to alter the core of the policy: the ban on student-built wooden lofts. Other aspects of the policy, however, may be up for discussion, Hull said. “Fire safety is the biggest issue—while there’s room for judgment, the University will seek to always protect the safety ofits students,” he said. “Are we willing to talk about things that are reasonable? Absolutely.” Campus Council President Molly Bierman, however, said non-flammable wood is
not as indicative of a safe loft as the
pres-
ence of a safety rail—an element that she said is not included for free by either of the loft companies RLHS recommended. “To me, safety in structure is more important than fire safety,” said Bierman, a senior. “I’ve never heard of a loft catching on fire; I have, however, heard of people drunkenly falling out of their lofts and breaking their SEE LOFTING ON PAGE 5
Munger kept out ofWRAL debate Mascotrelives ‘Bull Durham’memories by
Will Robinson THE CHRONICLE
WRAL held a debatebetween N.C. Gubernatorial candidates Beverly Perdue and Pat McCrory Tuesday night.
The two major party candidates in the North Carolina governor’s race competed for votes in a televised debate on WRAL Tuesday night, but one of Duke’s own failed to make the cut. “Our threshold for inclusion in the debate is that a candidate should have 10 percent among likely voters in a WRAL news poll or in another independent poll,” saidLeesa Moore Craigie, director of news operations and special projects for WRAL. “Currently [Michael Munger] does not meet that thresholdand was not invited to participate.” Libertarian candidate Munger, a Duke professor of political science and economics, currently trails Democratic candidateLt. Gov. Beverly Perdue and Republican candidate and Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory in the race for the state’s top post. The latest PPP poll conducted between Aug. 20 and Aug. 23 shows Perdue with 43 percent ofthe vote, McCrory
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with “Bull Durham?” SEE MASCOT ON PAGE 8
SEE DEBATE ON PAGE
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