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mi DUKE UNIVERSITY Ninety-Ninth Year, issue 120
DURHAM, N.C.
TUESDAY, MARCH 23,2004
WWW.CHRONICLE.DUKE.EDU
RCs work
Second assault reported
to define position by
Megan Carroll THE CHRONICLE
by
Andrew Collins THE CHRONICLE
According to the position’s official job description, a residence coordinator is responsible for supervising resident advisors, graduate assistants and between 400 and 800 students in a residential quadrangle. But, in practice, what does that actually mean? As part of the fledgling 20-month-old Office of Residence Life and Housing Services, residence coordinators have not yet had their job defined beyond its formal description. Residence Life and Housing Services Director Eddie Hull said the RCs’ chief duty is to elevate the academic climate outside the classroom and to make residence hall rooms more than just an address and a place for be-
longings.
‘The RCs have a responsibility to challenge the way things have been,” Hull said. “It’s not about the place, but about the people.” Even though all the RCs share the same main responsibilities, there is significant autonomy in terms of how each RC chooses to perform his or her daily tasks, said Edens Quadrangle RC David Montag, who was among the first batch of RCs in July 2002. Montag added that there is a degree of discretion when dealing with students who violate the University’s standards. But he said he does not see the RCs’ role as policing students. ‘To the extent that they are seen as someone with a badge is unfortunate and SEE RCS ON PAGE 10
ANTHONY CROSS/THE CHRONICLE
A screening of"Welcome to Durham" was followed by a panel of Duke and Durham leaders Monday.
Film, panel detail gang violence in Durham by
Will Rosenthal THE CHRONICLE
The film “Welcome to Durham” opens with familiar images of Duke basketball, but the rest of the film shows a side of Durham that most students probably never see: the lives of local gang members. The one-hour documentary, which Durham natives Cicero Leak and Courtney Conrad produced with a meager $3,000 budget, had its second showing Monday night at Griffith Film Theater. More than a thousand people viewed the film between two screenings—one
for local residents and one for Duke students—and many stayed for a panel discussion featuring local leaders that followed. In a frank look at gang violence in Durham, the film features confessions of local gang members as young as 12, who proudly display their guns, drugs, gang signs and bullet wounds. These adolescents have joined local gangs in Durham such as Life on Barnes, known as L.0.8., as well as others with ties to the Bloods and the Crips.
Less than 36 hours after a student was reportedly raped on West Campus by an unknown assailant, another forcible sexual assault was reportedly committed by a Central Campus intruder early Sunday morning. Police consider the assaults to be unrelated at this time. The first incident involved a 21-yearold woman who was returning home from a party Friday night at around 10:15 p.m. A man ambushed her from behind and reportedly raped her in the wooded area between Edens Quadrangle and Wannamaker Drive. The woman returned home after the incident and was taken to the Duke University Medical Center and released. Duke University Police Department ChiefClarence Birkhead said he had no information about the suspect’s idendty other than the fact that he is male, but officers were “doing some knock and talk” around the area of the reported rape to accumulate information about the incident. The second incident occurred at about 6 a.m. Sunday morning. According to a police report, a man entered an unlocked Central Campus apartment at 1913 Erwin Rd. that was occupied by three women. As one woman described the incident, she was asleep inside her bedroom when she heard her door open and saw a man standing in her doorway. The man immediately fled, taking with him another woman’s Canon SDIOO Power Shot Digital Camera, serial number 7023521104.
SEE GANGS ON PAGE 8
SEE SEXUAL ASSAULT ON PAGE
6
Duke minority programs remain unchanged ft£made couple By Emily Almas THE CHRONICLE
Junior Tameeka toNorton is
the first in her family attend college, but Norton doesn’t intend to stop her studies there. Instead, the political science and African American studies major plans to earn a doctorate in political science, crediting the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship as a key factor in her decision to pursue a post-graduate degree. “Being a Mellon fellow has opened a world ofresearch and academia to me,” Norton said. “I probably would have had the opportunity [to pursue an additional
degree without the fellowship], but I wouldn’t have known about it or had the advantages [of research and mentorship] in general.” The MMUF, which aims to increase the presence of underrepresented minorities in academia, is one of several other national programs, however, that have recently decided to expand their eligibility criteria to allow students ofall ethnicities to apply. In light of last June’s U.S. Supreme Court rulings on affirmative action at the University of Michigan and pressure from lobbying groups, several top universities—including Harvard Univer-
sity, Princeton University and Yale University—have decided to alter their programs that aim to increase or support minority students by opening them up to all qualified students. Duke, however, stands by its programs, holding that its endeavors promoting underrepresented groups in specific fields or academia are in line with current
legislation.
“We’ve done a very careful review of the [Michigan] decisions and our programs. We made a couple of adjustments where we felt we were out of compliance with the rulings, but beyond that
we’re pretty comfortable,” said Provost Peter Lange, noting the existence of a “gray area” for higher education on these issues. “[We] are satisfied that Duke’s programs are appropriately structured to provide opportunities for members of groups that have historically been disadvantaged, without disadvantaging others who do not participate,” added President Nan Keohane in an e-mail. Many of the nationally-based programs with chapters at Duke have already changed their requirements, but other programs, SEE PROGRAMS ON PAGE 7
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of adjustments where we felt we were out of compli-
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comfortable, ww Provost Peter Lange