Monday, December 9,2002
Mostly Cloudy High 41, Low 28 www.chronicle.duke.edu Vol. 98, No. 72
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THE INDEPENDENT DAILY AT DUKE UNIVERSITY
Community thaws its way out of storm damage More than half of Durham residents remain without power By RUTH CARLITZ The Chronicle
The snow and freezing rain had stopped falling and temperatures were climbing out of the freezing range by midday Thursday, but for many Durham residents, the worst had just begun. Wednesday’s ice storm caused massive damage to power lines, leaving over a million North Carolinians without electricity. Durham was hit especially hard—about 95 percent of households were without power right after the storm. City and county officials responded quickly, providing emergency services and setting up shelters for cold citizens. In addition, Gov. Mike Easley dispatched the North Carolina National Guard Saturday to assist residents in the state’s hardest-hit areas. Guardsmen knocked on 1,200 doors in Durham to ensure that residents were okay. The city and county declared a state of emergency Thursday night—including a driving curfew and a ban on al-
cohol sales. The curfew banned citizens from
driving between the hours of 5 p.m. Thursday night to 6 a.m. Friday morning and was again in effect Friday and Saturday nights, beginning at 10 p.m. “We kept it in place because we still felt that people should use extreme caution at night,” said said Deborah Craig-Ray, Durham County’s See DURHAM on page 6
ALEX
GARINGER/THE CHRONICLE
A STUDENT enters the Old Chemistry Building Thursday amid falling branches and icy sidewalks. Classes were postponed from Thursday until Friday last week after an icy winter storm wreaked havoc on North Carolina.
Duke provides shelter for Durham residents following ice storm By ALEX GARINGER The Chronicle
With its own electricity supply secure this weekend, the University served as an oasis and a refuge to off-campus students, Durham residents, city employees and faculty and staff who were left without power following last Wednesdays severe ice storm. From a special needs shelter in the Intramural Building to hot meals for storm cleanup crews, the University opened its doors to the community as its own students and faculty coped with the aftermath of the storm just days before final exams were set to begin.
Although more than 100,000 Durham residents were left without power, the Universitys electricity was unaffected because it is connected to the power grid that provides energy to Duke Hospital—a supply that is almost impossible to shut down, officials said. Only the Washington Duke Inn, the Primate Center and a few otherbuildings on the periphery lost power, and some of those were still connected to generators to keep operations running. The American Red Cross authorized Duke to open the IM Building Friday and Saturday to serve as a special needs shelter. University officials, volunteers and
doctors provided more than 30 Durham residents—most of whom had illnesses with cots to sleep on, medical assistance, hot food courtesy of Dining Services and basketball tickets for children to attend the men’s game versus Michigan. “Everyone was doing whatever they could to help and all of our guests were treated wonderfully,” said John Burness, senior vice president for public affairs and government relations. Burness said the University also provided meals for the city’s 100-member storm cleanup crew, vans to transport —
See DUKE STORM on page 8
Campaign shoots for SSOM more Two seniors win Rhodes awards By ALEX GARINGER The Chronicle
University fundraising officials are looking forward to a generous holiday season to boost The Campaign for Duke closer to its $2 billion goal, but they say it will not likely top that goal before February. Current funds pledged sit at $1.9496 billion, about $50.4 million short ofthe overall goal originally targeted for December 2003, according to numbers released by the Office of University Development this weekend. Peter Vaughn, director of communications and donor relations, said that at the current pace and barring any very large gifts, Duke will break the goal in early February. Vaughn noted, however, that even when the $2 billion is reached, there will likely be areas still left unfulfilled.
Dave Chokshi, a double major in chemistry and public policy, and Jacob Foster, a physics major, both won the prestigious scholarship and will pursue graduate study in Oxford, England. By KEVIN LEES The Chronicle
Two Duke seniors were selected over the weekend for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship for graduate study in Oxford, England. Seniors Dave Chokshi and Jacob Foster, both of whom were recipients of the University’s A.B. Duke scholarship and the Faculty Scholar award as well, were chosen as two of 32 Rhodes Scholars in the United States, out of an initial pool of 981 applicants. “This is a complete shock. I actually was convinced up until the day before the deadline that I wasn’t going See RHODES on page 13
See CAMPAIGN on page 5
IneiHa lllS,de
The Board of Trustees abbreviated its business this weekend because of last week's storm. It will take up most of the work at its regular May meeting. See page 3
A memorial lor Maggie Schneider will be held Tuesday
at 12:30 p.m. in Duke Chapel. Schneider, who was a ior, died last week. See page 4
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The Sarah P Duke Gardens sustained major damage atter last week s ice storm and officials estimate that c ean up wi e very sow. ee page