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Nurses consider
ByANYASOSTEK The Chronicle
69 WINSTON-SALEM Gathered in a huddle 64 with about three minutes Kansas left in the game, Nate James gave his teammates a simple message: “We’ve been in this situation before. Let’s do what we’ve done over and over again. Let’s win this game.” The team took that message to heart, playing heads-up defense and nailing every free throw down the stretch to ensure that this one didn’t slip away. “We beat a hell of a basketball team today,” coach Mike Krzyzewski said of the 69-64 victory over No. 8 seed Kansas (2410). “I’ve been in over 60 of them in the NCAA, and this was a big-time game.” Duke (29-4), which advanced to the Sweet 16 for the third straight year, will play No. 5 seed Florida (26-7) Friday in
Duke
unionizing By MARKO DJUKANOVIC The Chronicle
Citing lost career opportunities, mandatory overtime and lowered staff levels, a number of Duke Hospital’s nurses are considering forming a union David Miller, a spokesperson for the International Union of Operating Engineers—the organization that launched the petition drive to organize the nurses —said the likelihood of forming a union depends largely on how much the nurses want it, and on whether they can be clearly informed about their options. “We are holding regular meetings [about unionization] —we want an educated workforce,” said Miller, adding that many nurses do not realize that they have a federally protected right to form a union. Because the issue is so contentious, many nurses at Duke Hospital declined to comment or would not give their names. But some wear badges that read “NUPA,” or Nurses Unionizing for Patient Advocacy. Improving the quality of care for patients is the main goal of unionization, some nurses said. “Our primary responsibility is to help the patients, and we cannot do that if we are overworked,” said
Syracuse, N.Y. But for a brief second late in the game, it didn’t look like the Blue Devils would ever make it to Syracuse. With Duke clinging to a two-point lead and under a minute left, Kansas
forward Nick Bradford recovered the deflection off Shane Battier’s eighth and final block of the night and powered the ball through the hoop and drew the foul from Jason Williams. Bradford’s ensuing free throw gave Kansas its first lead since the 19-minute mark. But freshman Carlos Boozer, who dominated the post in the second half, would then make the two biggest plays ofhis young collegiate career in the next 30 seconds. First, Boozer tipped home a miss to put Duke back out in front by one. And on the Jayhawks’ next possession, Boozer intercepted an errant pass by Bradford near midcourt and chased the ball down near the sideline, giving Duke the possession and the lead with under 30 seconds left. The ball eventually found its way to Chris Carrawell, who was fouled. Carrawell then hit two clutch free throws to put Duke up by three. On the ensuing Kansas possession,
one nurse.
SHANE BATTIER recorded an astounding eight blocks and scored a game-high 21 points
Kirk Hinrich, who had already sunk three three-pointers in the game, lost his defender behind the three point line, but his potential game-tying shot with seven seconds left sailed wide. Carrawell chased down the rebound and called timeout while on both knees to give Duke posses-
sion and pave the way for Jason Williams’ two free throws that sealed the victory. “I thought our freshmen hit amazing free throws down at the end,” said Krzyzewski, who won his 50th NCAA tournament game. See KANSAS on page 5, SPORTSWRAP
The push for unionization has captured local media attention in the past weeks, resulting in coverage that Duke Hospital CEO Mike Israel says might tarnish the Hospital’s credibility and reputation for providing quality care. “These articles could undermine See UNIONIZATION on page 15 W
Brackets be damned: Weekend brings upset after upset By ADAM GANZ The Chronicle
WINSTON-SALEM Chris Carrawell had an idea why Duke was just one of three higher-seeded teams to survive Upset Sunday, the NCAA Tournament’s most upside-down day in recent memory. ‘You have all these teams going out there with tight asses,” Carrawell said after a scrappy defensive performance keyed No. 1 Duke’s 69-64 win over eighthseeded Kansas. “They’re playing tight.” The battle-tested Blue Devils looked anything but afraid as they improved to 9-3 in games decided by less than 10 points. But that was not the case for South region top seed Stanford, which fell 60-53 to No. 8 North Carolina, or for No. 2 seeds Cincinnati and Temple, upset by Tulsa and Seton Hall, respectively.
rnament Bracket
Ohio State, a 1999 Final Four participant, also fell by the wayside, as did de-
fending champ Connecticut, though the fifth-seeded Huskies’ loss to No. 4 Tennessee was technically not an upset. When the second-round dust had settled, Duke and Michigan State were the only No. 1 seeds still standing. In fact, the Sweet 16 contained just four of the top 12 seeded teams.“You have to go out firing all your bullets,” Carrawell said. “You have to shoot the shots you normally shoot. You can’t say, T have to be perfect.’ You have to go down playing the way you’ve been playing all year.” The Blue Devils escaped the upset bug, but by the time they took the floor in the final game of the second round, they were well aware of its victims.
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