November 18, 2002

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Monday, November 18,2002

Sunny High 54, Low 32 www.chronicle.duke.edu Vol. 98, No. 61

The Chronicle I

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All Tchoued Up The field hockey team ended its NCAA tournament run with a loss in the Elite Eight to Wake Forest. See Sportswrap, page 3

THE INDEPENDENT DAILY AT DUKE UNIVERSITY

Athletics cedes Sears Cup Court of Appeals Duke releases new athletics department mission statement denies S2M penalty By ALEX GARINGER The Chronicle

A U.S. Court of Appeals filed its longawaited decision on the Heather Sue Mercer case.

Maintaining the status quo, a new athletics department mission statement is conceding defeat for the foreseeable future in one of the prestigious measures of collegiate athletic programs. The statement admits that winning the Sears’ Directors Cup, an annual award given to the most successful college athletics program in the nation, is no longer a realistic goal for

Duke athletics. Released last week prior to the Nov. 21 Academic Council meeting, it calls for strengthening the University’s current track—in which some teams will continue to compete at the highest national levels, while others will remain competitive only at lower regional levels. “We do not believe that we need to fundamentally change what we are attempting to do or how we are attempting it,” reads the statement, drafted by Associate Athletics Director Christopher Kennedy. “In some programs, we need to find ways to achieve our current goals more effectively, but within the

current structure and philoso-

phy, as embodied in the tiered nature of the department.” With the current ESPNdriven world of college athlet-

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By DAVE INGRAM The Chronicle

After eight years and four court rulings, a former Duke football kicker’s gender discrimination lawsuit is likely

nearing an end. In a ruling released Friday, the U.S. Court ofAppeals for the Fourth District voided a $2 million award to the former kicker, Heather Sue Mercer, Trinity ’9B. By siding with the University, the ap-

peals court reversed

ics in mind, the statement updates the University’s nearly 20-year-old guidelines on issues like Title IX, admissions standards and financial commitment. President Nan Keohane, who was unavailable for comment, will present the statement to the Board of Trustees at the body’s December meeting. In order to be competitive for the Sears Cup, the state-

A discussion featuring law professor James Cox and New York Times reporter Stephen Labaton focused on corporate ethics Saturday See page 3

ment said Duke would have to restructure and refinance the department, by adding 76.9 more scholarships and $2.8 million in financial aid and augmenting coaching staffs in non-revenue, nonscholarship programs like track and rowing. Although Duke currently spends $8 million on athletic See ATHLETICS on page 9

the

awarding of damages—but not the verdict—handed down by a federal district court jury in October 2000. Marking the latest decision in the landmark case that began when Mercer tried out for the football team in 1994, the appeals court ruled that punitive damages are not allowed in private actions brought to enforce Title IX, the federal statute meant to ensure equality in collegiate

athletics. Mercer had argued that restrictions on her team activi-

Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity has found there’s life after

disaffiliation—and plenty of pledges as it looks toward rush season from off campus. See page 3

ties, after her placement on the inactive roster in fall 1995, constituted violations ofTitle IX. In its six-page ruling, the panel cited a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Barnes v. Gorman, that ruled against the allowance of punitive damages in several other non-discrimination laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The judges wrote that they were waiting for the Barnes v. Gorman decision before ruling in the Mercer case, which they heard over one year ago. The appeals court ruling

reversed an initial decision

that drew national attention

to questions of Title IX enforcement. “We are pleased by the unanimous decision of the three-judge panel of the U.S. Fourth Circuit to throw out the $2 million in punitive damages,” John Burness, Duke’s senior vice president for public affairs and government relations, said in a statement released Friday afternoon. “Duke University remains committed to aggressively advancing our support See MERCER on page 8

Iraq and US, a group of faculty and students, are planning a series of forums about the possibility of war in Iraq. See page 6


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