camp us Sexual Assa ult Prevention Week begins on a lighter note, PAGE 4
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Candidates for VP spots discuss goals for next year, PAGE 3
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Duke takes on UConn tonight for Final Four berth, PAGE 11
The Chronicle?
TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 2006
THE INDEPENDENT DAILY AT DUKE UNIVERSITY
ONE HUNDRED AND FIRST YEAR, ISSUE 121
ARAMARK will not bid Unrest hits Main West to renew Duke contract 6 companies remain in contention for role as new provider; decision expected by late April by
Rob
Copeland
THE CHRONICLE
Campus food provider ARAMARK Corp. has turned down the opportunity to rebid on its contract at the University, company officials and Duke dining administrators confirmed Monday. The surprising decision was made last week following months of speculation about the company’s future at Duke. “ARAMARK respectfully declined to participate in the process at this time,” Karen Cutler, the company’s director of corporate communications, wrote in an e-mail. Five other companies—including Meriwether-Godsey, Inc., a relatively small provider, and Sodexho, an international conglomerate—remain in contention for the right to manage several on-campus dining facilities when ARAMARK’s contract expires June 30. ARAMARK’s decision came quite unexpectedly, explained Jim Wulforst, director of dining services. Wulforst received notice from the company Mar. 23—a day before all six bidders were scheduled to meet on campus with several administrators for a question-and-answer session. He said he sent each company a fact
sheet March 22 that outlined the wants and needs ofDuke dining. In it, he noted, “the University reserves the right to award management of these operations to one firm or to split [the operations]” among more than one company. The stipulation leaves open the option of having more than one of the bidding companies manage operations in the fall, Wulforst said. For instance, a smaller firm could concentrate on the East Union building while a larger one takes control of the Great Hall, Subway and Chick-fil-A, he explained. Cutler wrote that ARAMARK reached its decision “after careful review and consideration of the dining service configuration as outlined in the University’s
request.”
Several student leaders said they are pleased with the week’s turn-of-events. “I’m surprised that ARAMARK would give up without more of a fight, but after three DUSDAC votes of no confidence.... I can’t say I didn’t expect it,” said senior Andrew Wallace, co-chair of the Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee. SEE ARAMARK ON PAGE 5
SYLVIA
QU/THE CHRONICLE
In front of the Allen Building Monday, students and local residents protest Duke's response to rape allegations.
DPD gives lacrosse players' DNA to crime lab, protesters'speak out'against alleged assault by
Emily Rotberg THE CHRONICLE
Durham Police Department Sgt. M.D. Gottlieb delivered DNA samples taken from 46 members of the Duke men’s lacrosse team to the State Bureau of Investigation Monday afternoon, District Attorney Mike Nifong said. Also Monday, community members gathered on campus to protest the team’s silence and Duke’s actions in response to accusations three of the athletes sexually assaulted a local woman over Spring Break. Police photographed 46 of the 47 lacrosse team members and collected DNA samples in the form ofcheek swabs Thursday afternoon following allegations that the athletes gang-raped, sodomized and
strangled a dancer at a March 13 party. Nifong confirmed that police took DNA samples from three students who said they were not present at the party. “Given that the lacrosse team provided very little information to the police, they decided to sample all the Caucasian members rather than allow the people who weren’t there off,” he said. Police exempted the only black team member from testing because the dancer identified her attackers as white men. Despite earlier reports from DPD suggesting that it would have the DNA results Monday, Nifong said he expects answers from the SBI next week. “I talked to the SEE LACROSSE ON PAGE 6
Participants in admissions tours respond to community protest outside Allen Building by
Jared Mueller
THE CHRONICLE
On the surface, Monday appeared the to showcase the University to prospective students: The sun was out, and the Duke Chapel was framed against a brilliant North Carolina sky. But the atmosphere that greeted visiting high schoolers and their families was darker. Protesters and the media flooded the Main West Campus Quadrangle in response to the alleged March 13 rape of an exotic dancer by Duke men’s lacrosse players. “Of course it doesn’t make the school look good when one of their teams is associated with something like this,” said Elizabeth Deane, a high school senior
perfect day
SEE ADMISSIONS ON PAGE 7
SYLVIA QU/THE CHRONICLE
A protester speaks out against administrators while prospective studentstoured MainWest Quadrangle.