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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2004
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THE INDEPENDENT DAILY AT DUKE UNIVERSITY
Kelly Rohrs THE CHRONICLE
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cited about the idea ofrelief from the alltoo-familiar and crowded confines of Hudson Hall and Teer Engineering Library. The building comes on line just before the expansion of Pratt to include 50 more students per class, set to begin in Fall 2005. First-year graduate student Debby Chang, who is concentrating on mechanical engineering with an emphasis on biology, said Duke’s dedication to improving Pratt and its facilities factored into her decision to attend the University. ‘There was definitely a pull to come to Duke because of the new building,” Chang said. “I definitely see myself spending a lot of time here.” Other students, such as Pratt sophomore Chris Morecroft, praised the interdisciplinary ideals that goverened the design of the new center. “The interdisciplinary program at Duke makes it unique from other programs in the country,” Morecroft said. “[CIEMAS] is an outstanding building that will really
Durham Regional Hospital is at risk of losing $67 million of Medicare funds following a patient’s leap from a fifthfloor window Aug. 11. After Durham Regional, which is a part of Duke University Health System, reported the incident, die federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services placed the hospital in “immediate jeopardy” of losing all reimbursement from Medicaid patients —which amounts to about 40 percent of the hospital’s total revenue. The patient, whose name and patient care information has been withheld dm to federal privacy guidelines, smashed the window with a bedside tray and jumped, landing two floors below on a gravel-covered roof. He was then transferred to Duke University Hospital in critical condition. Two CMS inspectors visited Durham Regional Aug. 13, and late Friday it received the designation of “immediate jeopardy.” If satisfactory action is not taken by Sept. 5, the hospital will lose Medicare funding until is passes a review. “What it would mean is until such time that they lift the sanction, any patient that comes through with Medicare or Medicaid will be treated but the hospital will not receive any reimbursement,” said John Burness, senior vice president for public affairs and government relations. The hospital was most recently put on probation by Medicare officials in 2002, over an incident regarding management of a contract of an inpatient dialysis unit. Administrators quickly addressed the issues and was not penalized. The hospital has already put in place an “action plan” designed to remedy the problems noted by CMS, said Katie Galbraith, director of marketing and corporate communications at Durham Regional. Hospital officials expect CMS to check the hospital and remove the designation by the Sept. 5 deadline. “It is important that people know that we take the concerns raised by CMS very seriously and welcome the feedback from them,” Galbraith said. ‘We are committed to take all the necessary steps to always serve our padents.” The action plan involves a small change in Durham Regional’s patient
SEE CIEMAS ON PAGE 8
SEE HOSPITAL REGIONAL ON PAGE 10
WEIYITAN/THE CHRONICLE
A student takes advantage of Safeßides, which is struggling to keep up with the demand for its services.
plement bus service and is not a taxi serv-
ice for community members. The dispatch center takes an average of 300 calls per night from students, visitors to the Medical Center and employees. During peak periods, calls frequently come in six or seven at a time. Although Safeßides administrators said more than two-thirds of ride re-
quests are answered within 10 minutes,
they have been working to shave minutes off the response time. “When someone’s waiting for service, 10 minutes can feel like an hour,” said Catherine Reeve, director of parking and transportation services. SEE SAFE RIDES ON PAGE 8
opens, cafe to come soon Tiffany Webber THE CHRONICLE
After years of anticipation, the University’s engineers and scientists have a new place to collaborate on research —and just as importandy, a new place to eat—with the opening of the nearly-completed CIEMAS building. The building’s full name is the Center for Interdisciplinary Engineering, Medicine and Applied Sciences; it consists of two wings that will include faculty and
GEBHARD/THE CHRONICLE
Steve Veres
THE CHRONICLE
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PETER
ONE HUNDREDTH YEAR, ISSUE 4
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CIEMAS
The nearly-complete CIEMAS building will relieve crowding in other buildings on Science Drive.
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Durham Regional placed on probation
Callers say Safeßides is unreliable The only thing junior Shahrazad Shareef wanted to do Sunday night was get home safely. She had been with friends all evening at 220 Alexander St., and by midnight the gathering was breaking up —so Shareef called Safeßides. “There had been that robbery the other night, and I didn’t want to sit at the bus stop by myself, and everyone else I was with lived on Central,” she said. The Safeßides dispatcher told Shareef that buses were running and if she felt unsafe waiting then she could call the police department for a ride to West Campus. A friend eventually drove Shareef to her dorm in Edens Quadrangle, but she remained frustrated with the transit service. Shareef is not the only one. Over the past year, undergraduate dissatisfaction with the surface has ballooned, and students often complain to one another about rude dispatch officers and slow or denied service. Students allege that Safeßides’ occasional reluctance to pick people up is unsafe, especially given the multiple reports of armed assaults on campus since November. Officials who run the service explained that Safeßides is meant to sup-
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administrative offices, laboratories, student areas, a “cave”—an advanced visualization room that will provide virtual scenarios on its six-sided surface—and the brand-new Twinnies Cafe. All of these venues will boast some of the hottest technological innovations available and are aimed at furthering the University’s emphasis on interdisciplinary research and collaboration. Many students and faculty in the Pratt School of Engineering have been eagerly awaiting the completion of the building. They’ve already checked out some of its state-of-the-art features, undoubtedly ex-