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THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2005
THE INDEPENDENT DAILY AT DUKE UNIVERSITY
1 KNEW HIM, AND I LIKED HIM'
Date rape leaves victims searching Kelly Rohrs THE CHRONICLE
by
The moment when November 12 turned scary is still blurry. It was Friday, and a sophomore was running down the hall ofher dorm, trying find the perfect earrings to go with her pink lipstick. This was the night that guy, the one she sat next to in her introductory writing class last year, was finally taking her out. To dinner. Off campus. They had been friends, or maybe more like casual acquaintances, for about a year. Her friends had met him, and in latenight games of “do, dump or marry,” his name always came up. When he IM-ed her about dinner tonight, she knew this was her chance. It would be just the two of them. Dinner was great. Then they met up with their group ofabout 10 friends. Six shots and two hours later, she was ready to take the guy to her room. “That’s just the way these things go,” she said. “I was drunk, and I knew him, and I liked him.” The sophomore woke up the next morning alone, hangover and with a deep burning feeling in her crotch. She went next door and told her friends she had sex with the guy. A virgin
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until that night, she remembered telling him no. She could not recall telling him yes. She told the police. She went to the doctor for an emergency medical and evidence-gathering exam. She told an officer everything she remembered. After a brief investigation, she said the police told her there was not enough evidence for a trial. There was nothing she could do. “I was raped, and I am dealing with that,” the woman said. “I know who did it and I still see him. He’s still friends with people I know.” The Chronicle does not identify victims of sex crimes. The man is not being named because no charges have been filed. Going into that November evening, the sophomore, who attends Columbia University, never expected she was putting herself at risk. After all, the man she brought back to her room was a friend and he was a student. His ID card could have gained him access to her commons room. She knew better than to bring a random guy home with her. “I never thought,” she said, “about safety.” Familiarity of accuser and as-
ONE HUNDREDTH YEAR, ISSUE 122
DSG POLLS OPEN TODAY by
Tiffany Webber THE CHRONICLE
After nearly two weeks of anticipation, Duke Student Government’s election day has finally arrived. This year’s ballot features 10 rising juniors and seniors vying for positions as DSG officials for 2005-2006. Three candidates seek the DSG presidency; candidates in three of the six executive offices are running unopposed. Voters will also weigh in on a referendum to amend section of the DSG Constitution dealing with Academic Rights and Re-
sponsibilities.
Exec
DSG election bylaws stipulate that a candidate must obtain a 6 percent plurality over his next closest opponent in order to be declared a winner. If that does not occur, the DSG Election Commission will administer a run-off election between the top two vote-getting candidates no later than Thursday of next week, said senior Elizabeth Ladner, DSG attorney general and chair of the Election Commission. Students will receive e-mail notification of the DSG polling website, which requires NetlD identification. Students can vote between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m., and DSG representatives will man polling stations at the Marketplace, Bryan Center and Great Hall. Juniors Emily Aviki, Russ Ferguson and Jesse Longoria are SEE ELECTION ON PAGE 6
SEE DATE RAPE ON PAGE 4
Mother tells Kristin’s Story Lobbyists protest N.C. death penalty by
Collin Anderson THE CHRONICLE
Kristin Cooper should be celebrating her 30th birthday tomorrow night. Instead, her mother, Andrea Cooper, spoke to Duke students Wednesday night in Page Auditorium about how rape and its emotional aftermath claimed the life of her daughter, in order to raise awareness during Sexual Assault Prevention Week. “During her spring break as a freshman, her car rolled after sliding on black ice while driving in Colorado,” Cooper said. “I was thinking, ‘Oh God, I hope that was the worst thing that will ever have to happen to my daughter.’” Litde did she know merely a year later, on New Year’s Eve SEE KRISTIN ON PAGE
7
Adam Eagun THE CHRONICLE
by
RALEIGH Life or death? Currently in North Carolina, judges and juries are at times required to determine whether a convicted murderer deserves the harshest punishment of all: death. But recently, many state residents have begun to question the legitimacy of this system and demand that the government do so as well. Lobbyists at the Museum of History in Raleigh Wednesday showed their support with speeches, seminars and press conferences for a moratorium a bill that would suspend capital —
TOM MENDEL/THE CHRONICLE
Andrea Coopertells her daughter's story to raise sexual assault awareness Wednesday.
punishment in North Carolina for two years. “There is nothing else like [the moratorium bill] anywhere in the country,” said Jeremy Collins, a consultant for the moratorium campaign. Alan Cell and Darryl Hunt, two men who were wrongly convicted of murder, spoke to audience members in the afternoon about the moratorium and their experiences in jail. Cell spent nine years on death row and Hunt was incarcerated for 18 and a half years before both men were exonerated. The two men
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SEE DEATH
PENALTY ON PAGE 7