October 24, 2005

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The Chronicle

MONDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2005

THE INDEPENDENT DAILY AT DUKE UNIVERSITY

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ONE HUNDRED AND FIRST YEAR, ISSUE 40

Facuity lean left with political contributions by

Andrew Gerst

THE CHRONICLE

TOM MENDEL/THE CHRONICLE

Journalists JudyWoodruff,Trinity '6B (above), and her husband Al Hunt spoke to fellow Duke parents Saturday.

Duke parents talk news media by

Jenna

Krueger THE CHRONICLE

A crowd of about 100 Duke parents and students filled the von der Heyden Pavilion Saturday morning to hear journalists Judy Woodruff, Trinity ’6B, and AI Hunt speak about politics and the media. The presentation, entitled “How Well Do They Mix? The Press, Politics and Public Policy,” was part of a series of inaugural events to celebrate the recent

openings of the von der Heyden Pavilion and Bostock Library. Robert Byrd, director of the Rare Book, Manuscript and Special Collections Library, welcomed parents and explained that every year the library invites new Duke parents to speak about issues relevant to their work—a Parents’ Weekend tradition called “The Library Presents Duke Moms and Dads.” Woodruff, a former Duke trustee who is married to Hunt, is

a TV newscaster who recendy left CNN to pursue other projects in documentary film and study as a visiting fellow at Harvard University. During her thirty-year career in daily news, Woodruffworked as a White House correspondent for NBC, hosted Frontline for PBS, anchored the nighdy news for CNN and hosted Inside Politics for CNN. Hunt is currently the Washington editor of Bloomberg SEE

JOURNALISTS ON PAGE 12

School program gives Wake hope by

Duke professors, researchers and administrators contributed nearly four times as much money to Democratic candidates and affiliated organizations than they did to Republican equivalents between 1990 and 2004, The Chronicle has found. As the debate about academic freedom continues, the data seem to quantify the notion that professors at Duke are on the whole more liberal than conservative. “There are no conservatives at Duke,” said Michael Munger, chair of the political science department. “Even the conservatives are liberal—there are no conservatives in academia in the sense of straight-up Republicans.” According to data from the Center for Responsive Politics, Duke administrators and faculty accounted for 1,564 separate political donations of $2OO or more—totaling $843,895—during this period. About 74 percent of those donations, or 1,157, went to groups formally affiliated with Democrats. Fifteen percent, or 229 donations, went to Republicans. Eleven percent of the contributions, or 178, went to independent and third-party groups. The majority of these groups consider themselves left-leaning. Breaking the funds down by cash amount, Duke professors and administrators provided

$605,875 to Democratic causes; $152,330 to Republican causes; and $85,690 to independent and unaffdiated groups. Only 73 professors and administrators made a donation to a Republican cause, compared with 251 who contributed to a Democratic group or candidate. Fifteen individuals donated to both parties, yielding 58 Republican-only contributors and 236 Democrat-only contributors. Contributions to Democratic causes steadily outnumbered donations to Republican ones in both frequency and cash amount. But the ratio between dollars given to Democratic groups and dollars given to Republican ones fluctuated. This ratio is the most meaningful criterion for determining political trends, said Department of Economics Chair Thomas Nechyba, because it accounts for an increasing faculty size and compares total dollar amounts rather than frequencies of contribution. Excepting 2002, this ratio has SEE DONATIONS ON PAGE 8

This article is the first in a two-part series. Tomorrow The Chronicle will take a look at the top ten donors between 1990 and 2004 and the extent of their ability to maintain a politically neutral classroom.

Orcun Unlu

THE CHRONICLE

For the last five years, officials for Wake County public schools have coordinated a program which integrates students by income. Some like it; some don’t. But one things is clear: Since the plan’s implementation, students’ test scores have risen significantly. Supporters have called the economic integration concept an ambitious program that will help low-income students get quality education by equalling the playing field in the classroom. Critics say they do not like the way some students are reassigned and bused to schools miles away from their neighborhoods. Regardless of current disputes, the success or failure of Wake’s program will likely affect the possibility of the plan being implemented in Durham County or other districts nationwide.

Durham Public Schools have not implemented a districting program like Wake County's, which integrate studentsby income.

The plan Five years ago the Wake County School Board SEE EDUCATION ON PAGE 10

$250,000

$200,000

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