September 8, 2004

Page 1

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Seniors du>ke it out with cole slaw on East Campus

hurricane

sports

Gov. Mike Easley declares N.C. state of emergency

Duke spikes Campbell to even season record

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2004

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DAILY AT DUKE UNIVERSITY

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ONE HUNDREDTH YEAR, ISSUE 14

Teacher

OSAF

shortage in

completes reshuffle

N.C. rises by

4 new hires fill out reorganized advising

Laura Newman THE CHRONICLE

North Carolina’s statewide shortage of teachers has become critical, according to a report published in late August by the North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research. The report, “Addressing the Shortage of Teachers in North Carolina,” was published by the North Carolina-based Insight magazine and calls the teacher shortage an “impending crisis” that requires immediate state action. The report cites the growth in the school-age population, efforts to reduce class size and a high teacher turnover rate as reasons for the aggravation of the problem. Eddie Davis, president of the North Carolina Association of Educators, highlighted a particular need for more teachers in subjects such as science, math and special education. “Shortages in these areas are typical—they always seem hardest to fill,” he said. “We sometimes have problems with foreign language teachers, especially Spanish, and with teachers of English as a foreign language.” To staffits 117 public school districts SEE SHORTAGE ON PAGE 7

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Kelly Rohrs THE CHRONICLE

by

PETER GEBHARD/THE

CHRONICLE

Members of the Graduate and Professional Student Council discuss their goals for the school year.

GPSC sets top priorities in year’s first meeting Jennifer

Yang THE CHRONICLE

by

At the first Graduate and Professional Student Council meeting of the semester, GPSC President Heather Dean presented her objectives for the council in three major areas: communication, community building and continuing projects from the previous year. “My biggest goal this year is to work on better communication between stu-

dents, student groups and the administration,” Dean said. Members supported building a more informative website and creating a mentoring program between graduate and undergraduate students. Dean noted a joint effort that was in the works with Sheila Curran, executive director of the Career Center, for organizing five menSEE GPSC ON PAGE 8

motors to fifth place

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Lauren Hunt

THE CHRONICLE

Charybdis, an autonomous underwater vehicle built by the Duke Robotics Club, claimed fifth place at the annual Association for Underwater VehicleSystems International Competition last summer.

The Duke Robotics Club has taken on the national challenge to come up with innovations that will eventually reduce warrelated casualties by creating robots that can perform military roles that humans now have to do. This year the team built Charybdis, its autonomous underwater vehicle, for the annual Association for Underwater Vehicle Systems International Competition in San Diego, Calif. Charybdis was named for the Greek monster that formed a whirlpool by pulling water down and spurting it out of the bottom. “We wanted to say that it was tougher than the other robots,” senior team member John Felkins said. Bright blue in color and resembling a flying saucer, Charybdis moves through the water with two thrusters and a propeller. Duke’s robot features both a forward-facing camera and a downward-facing camera, an altimeter to measure distance from the bottom of the tank, a pressure gauge and a sonar system to calculate velocity. SEE ROBOTS ON PAGE 9

After a wholesale reorganization that left five former student advisors jobless, four new hires in the Office of Student Activities and Facilities are scrambling to navigate University red tape and guide students to do the same. When school began, the Office had only two staff members to help student groups plan the slew of events that mark orientation week, and one of the staff members arrived only weeks before the opening of dorms. The unacclimated advisors stalled event registration slightly, student leaders said, but most programming proceeded on time. “I’d be lying iff said it hasn’t been difficult,” said senior Kevin Parker, president of Duke University Union. “In general this is going to be a hard year, just getting everyone else acquainted.” Due to a. Duke payroll requirement, the new staff members could only start work at the beginning of a month and could not move into their positions before students arrived. The gap between the start of school and the beginning of a payroll period left OSAF clambering to accommodate students. “It would’ve been nice to have a couple of days under our belt, but it’s not too big a deal,” said Brian Crews, one of several new program coordinators. “They’re doing some training, but we’re jumping right in. School’s already in session, and there’s stuff that needs to be done.” Crews, along with fellow advisors Deborah Hackney and Marissa Weiss, arrived at Duke last Wednesday. Tari Hunter, also an advisor, arrived Aug. 1. Student leaders said the new staff s inexperience with Duke’s procedures is somewhat frustrating but has not been a major problem. “I had to figure out new contact people and ask a few more questions than I normally would have,” said senior Aileen Shiue, president of the Asian Student Association. Groups also bemoaned the loss of institutional memory. Several of the staff members who were forced out to make room for the new advisors had been at Duke for more than a decade, and their personal knowledge offered continuity and historical context to groups whose leadership changes every year. The changes to OSAF were part of a sweeping plan from the Office ofStudent SEE OSAF ON PAGE 8


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