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T H E I N D E P E N D E N T D A I LY AT D U K E U N I V E R S I T Y

The Chronicle

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28, 2012

Duke to launch home subsidies for employees

ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTH YEAR, ISSUE 123

WWW.DUKECHRONICLE.COM

University streamlines admissions

Call to action

by Maggie Spini

Process adapts to rising number of applicants

THE CHRONICLE

Duke administrators are trying to make Durham a little more like home for some employees. The University has proposed a partnership with the city of Durham to reduce the cost of housing in Durham’s Southside neighborhood for University and University Health System employees, said Phail Wynn, vice president for Durham and regional affairs. Duke’s new initiative would allow employees to purchase new homes at subsidized costs with no down payment. “Duke is… the largest employer in the community, and establishing an initial critical mass of home-buyers in this challenged neighborhood will contribute to success and hopefully attract additional home buyers,” City Manager Tom Bonfield wrote in an email Tuesday. “By identifying qualified employees and providing assistance for credit counseling and credit repair, Duke would be an invaluable resource.” Some details of the project have yet to be determined, and the University has not formally announced the initiative, Wynn said, though he has discussed it with city leaders. “The project that we’re looking at is where the city has placed a priority in some of its inner-city neighborhoods and also some of the neighborhoods that have been impoverished for a long time,” Durham

by Kristie Kim THE CHRONICLE

TRACY HUANG/THE CHRONICLE

Due to a massive increase in applications to Duke, the admissions office has expedited the decision-making process for candidates whose applications may not meet the University’s standards. In this year’s early and regular admissions cycles, regional admissions officers, who are in charge of subsets of the applicant pool, are now the first University officials to read a given application and have the ability to recommend a prospective student be rejected without further in-depth review. This replaces a system in which no applications were rejected before they were read by two readers and considered by either a senior officer or an admissions committee. Admissions made these changes to relieve stress on a process that was designed to handle 12,000 applications annually, said Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Christoph Guttentag. This year, Duke received 31,565 applications, which itself is a 6 percent increase from last year.

Members of the Duke and Durham community gathered on the steps of the Duke Chapel Tuesday to hold a vigil in memory of Trayvon Martin. SEE SOUNDOFF PAGE 4

SEE ADMISSIONS ON PAGE 6

SEE SUBSIDIES ON PAGE 12

Court decision may impact Duke employee health benefits by Tiffany Lieu THE CHRONICLE

NATE GLENCER/THE CHRONICLE

Duke and the city of Durham are discussing a project that would result in subsidized housing costs for Duke employees in Durham’s Southside neighborhood.

Duke increases Internet bandwidth, connection still slow, Page 3

Duke’s health care policies may see changes after the Supreme Court passes jurisdiction on ObamaCare this week. In hearings taking place between March 26 and 28, the Supreme Court will examine evidence regarding the constitutionality of President Barack Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signed into law March 2010. The act, which some call ObamaCare, would require all Americans to purchase health insurance or pay a fine beginning in 2014. But the law can be stopped if the court deems it unconstitutional. The court’s ruling, projected to be released in June, is expected to greatly influence both voters in the presidential elections

this coming November, as well as Duke employees’ health care benefits. “If deemed unconstitutional, it will be a real blow to the act because the whole notion of [the act] was to increase insurance coverage,” said Frank Sloan, J. Alexander McMahon professor of health policy and management and professor of economics at Duke. Sloan added that an unconstitutional ruling by the court would be a setback for the country’s goal to provide health insurance to a wider population of Americans. Duke and the community Regarding Duke’s health care policies, the University is functioning under the assumption that ObamaCare will be

ONTHERECORD

“Why do we accept Katniss so fully, and yet reject Bella so vindictively?” —Ellie Bullard in “As we know it.” See column page 10

approved by the justices, said Kyle Cavanaugh, vice president for administration. If the act is deemed unconstitutional, the University will assess and adjust its policies accordingly, he added. Duke currently spends $200 million on health care coverage for University employees and their dependents, Cavanaugh said. If the act is approved by the Supreme Court, state-based health exchanges will be enacted in 2014, which would provide employers the option to offer either private or state insurance for employees. Whether Duke maintains its current private policies or opts into public state insurance hinges on North Carolina’s health policies. SEE HEALTH CARE ON PAGE 5

Duke Lax edges past Brown, Page 7