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health Vaporizers pose benefits for sneaky smokers, risks for others
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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2005
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THE INDEPENDENT DAILY AT DUKE UNIVERSITY
ONE HUNDREDTH YEAR, ISSUE 126
Aviki out, DSG set for runoff Ferguson, Longoria remain on today's presidential ballot by
Sarah Ball
THE CHRONICLE
PETER GEBHARD/THE CHRONICLE
Brandon Jenkins and Matt Dorsey paint paddles Tuesday on the porch of Epworth, which will becomeacademic space next year.
Epworth Kelly Rohrs THE CHRONICLE
by
The University will likely turn Epworth Residence Hall into an
academic swing space that would temporarily house departments during renovations of their permanent spaces. Although plans are not final, the new East Campus dorm, which opens in August, will allow Residence Life and Housing Services to find rooms for all incoming freshmen. Bell Tower Residence Hall,
to convert currently under construction, will house 138 beds—more than enough to accommodate Epworth residents and 50 additional freshmen when the Pratt School of Engineering expands its class size this fall. George McLendon, dean of the faculty of Arts and Sciences, said Epworth was “scheduled to come out of dorm-dom” this year. Given the schedule of impending renovations, the Department ofLiterature will likely occupy the space next year.
for profs has long several of the academic buildings on East Campus. When the Duke University Museum of Art moved out, the building jumped to the top of the renovations list. The former museum lacks modern amenities such as wireless Internet access, and some of its piping is outdated. Because of the extent of the necessary renovations, the literature The
planned
University
to renovate
SEE EPWORTH ON PAGE 9
State seeks death in Pitt case by
Dan Englander THE CHRONICLE
to state law, the judge must make
sure the defendant is represented At a hearing Tuesday afterby two lawyers at a pretrial hearing. Two attorneys had already noon in Durham County Superibeen appointed to repreCourt, District Attoror sent Pitt. David Saacks ney Orlando Hudson, declared the state plans resident Superisenior the death to pursue or Court judge, allowed penalty for Thomas Anthe state to proceed thony Pitt, who has conwith first-degree murforfessed to murdering der charges and seek mer Duke employee the death penalty, sayCurt Blackman last May. ing he thought there said Pitt The defense Thomas was “at least one aggrathe actual court case may not begin for another year vating factor.” An aggravating factor is a cirand a half. cumstance that adds to the seriSince the prosecution is pursuing capital punishment, according ousness of a crime. Capital ag-
gravators are factors that allow to file
prosecuting attorneys
capital charges. Saacks defined the capital aggravator in this case as financial gain from theft—Pitt allegedly stole and pawned a digital camera and a DVD player from Blackman’s apartment and the particularly “heinous, atrocious and cruel” nature of the murder. According to the autopsy report, Blackman was stabbed 30 times. Pitt told police that the killing was an act of self-defense, but Saacks will try to prove the —
SEE PITT ON PAGE 7
After a majority vote of the Duke Student GovernmentElection Commission disqualified her Tuesday night, junior Emily Aviki will not appear on the ballot for today’s runoff. Candidates Russ Ferguson and Jesse Longoria, both juniors, will square off for the presidency instead. The decision to disqualify Aviki came after Ferguson—who trailed his opponents in the original March 31 race —appealed the commission’s Sunday night ruling to keep Aviki on the runoff ballot with Longoria but sanction her for prohibited campaign activities. Aviki was found guilty of illegally posting a live link to the DSG voting website on her AOL Instant Messenger profile. “I looked through the bylaws and found that [the original ruling] wasn’t in accordance with them,” Ferguson said. “The only option was to appeal.” The DSGJudiciary Committee ruled that Ferguson’s appeal —a four-page letter urging the Election Commission to rethink Aviki’s inclusion in the runoff—was a valid complaint. Committee members decided early Tuesday morning that the Election Commission’s sanction on Aviki, which barred her
JuniorEmily Aviki was removed from the ballot intoday's runoff election after she posted an illegal link online. from campaigning before the runoff, was unconstitutional. Following the ruling, Election Commission members reconvened Tuesday night to structure runoff plans. “Of their possible options, it was felt that simply running a three-candidate runoff was not a sanction or did not provide severe enough consequences for the violations,” said senior Elizabeth Ladner, attorney general of DSG and head of all election activities. Ladner added that Aviki’s 33 percent of the original vote will SEE DSG ON PAGE 9