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FLOWER POWER
Duke’s Accent Teamplants flowers topaint the campusin color for spring.
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THE ROAD LESSTRAVELED
Gas prices got youdown? Considerforming a vanpoolwith colleagues tocommute to Duke.
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DUKEAPPRECIATION WEEK
Special activities givethanks and pay tributeto Duke faculty andstaff.
NEWS YOU CAN USE :: Volume 1, Issue 3 :: May 2006
 WORKING
@
DUKE
sDuke grappled with issues arisingfrom accusations that members of themen’slacrosse team sexually assaulted awoman, President Richard H. Brodhead con-vened several groups to investigate the socialissues raised by the allegations.
Over the past month,reporters and satellitemedia trucks have descended on Duke’s campus tocover the evolving storyand the controversy thattapped into broader social issues ofrace,genderand class,and the relationship between Duke andDurham.Consider:A web search in mid-April for “Dukelacrosse”produced more than 12.1 million hits.“The issues surrounding this situation reachfar beyond the behavior ofafewlacrosse players,”said Tallman Trask,executive vice president forDukeUniversity.“They hold broader implicationsfor our campus and our city.Duke and Durhamarepart ofthe same community.The majority of the people who work here also call Durham home. Together,we’veinvested much time and energy over the years to improve our shared community.Now,we must be willing to confront someunpleasant issues so not to undermine the progress we’ve made.”On April 5,President Brodhead announcedfive steps (see sidebar) Duke will take to addressthe issues raised from the allegations against themen’slacrosse team.Below are excerpts from hise-mail letter to the Duke community:
CONTROVERSY
~continued on page 2
A
This paper consistsof30% recycledpost-consumer fiber.
CONFRONTING CONTROVERSY
PRESIDENT BRODHEAD RESPONDS TO LACROSSE SITUATION
Duke Response
Investigation of men’slacrosse
.The committee will not be looking intothe criminal allegations against the team,but will investigate reports of misconduct byother relevant student groups to see ifthe players’conduct“stands out.”Report due by May 1.
Examination of Student Judicial Process and Practices
.The AcademicCouncil’s Student Affairs Committee will examine the way Duke deals withproblems ofstudent behavior.It will review the existing judicial system forstudents and make recommendations for change to faculty.Report due by May1.
Investigation of Duke Administration Response
.This committee willexamine the administration’s performance in responding to the allegationsinvolving the team.Specifically,the committee will address the perceptionthat the university did not respond as quickly as it should have and pointto lessons the episode can teach.Report due by May 15.
Campus CultureInitiative
.This initiative will be a rigorous self-examina-tion to evaluate and suggest improvements in the ways Duke educates stu-dents in the values ofpersonal responsibility,consideration for others,andmutual respect in the face ofdifference and disagreement.Progress reportdue at the end ofthis term and again in the fall.
In addition to the above steps,President Brodhead convened a “
PresidentialCouncil
.”This council will scrutinize Duke’s responses to the lacrosse teamincident;advise the president on best practices in other university settings;andconsider ways that Duke can promote these values.The first meeting will beheld this spring.
 
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U.S. News 
ranks Duke graduate programs
Duke University’s School of Medicine, School of Law and Fuqua Schoolof Business all rank among the top dozen institutions in their disci-plines, according to the latest
U.S. News & World Report 
rankings ofthe best graduate and professional schools in the country. The medicalschool ranked sixth for research and tied for sixth in primary care. Thelaw school ranked as 11th, and the business school tied for 11th place. Inrankings of doctoral programs, Duke is tied for 12th for doctoral pro-grams in the sciences, ranked fifth in ecology and evolutionary biology,tied for 21st in mathematics, tied for 25th in computer science, tied for29th in physics and ranked 38th for chemistry. The Pratt School ofEngineering was ranked 30th, and the biomedical engineering programranked fifth in the nation.
Don’t chuck it; DukeSwap it
Do you have something – maybe anold couch, computer or bicy-cle – that you do not needanymore but feelguilty about throw-ing away?DukeSwap it!The free programmakes it easy toget used items topeople who need theminstead of sending themto the landfill. To getinvolved, join the DukeSwap YahooGroup. Visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dukeswap/To swap something, send an announcement email todukeswap@yahoogroups.com and wait for someone to express interest.Or, read previous posts to see if someone has requestedan item. To get an item, post a “wanted” ad for whatever you need.The laststep is toarrange a time to deliver or pick up the item.
Children ofCampus Servicesstaff attend campat Duke
They toured thePrimate Center. Theyvisited the chemistrylab and got a back-stage tour of the Reynolds Theatre. During spring break from March 27through March 31, 15 children of Campus Services employees attendedafree camp at Duke. “Spring Fling,” a pilot program this year, wassponsored by Campus Services of which Kemel Dawkins is vice presi-dent. The Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership assisted with theprogram. The children, who were in grades three to five, ate breakfastand lunch, exercised and enjoyed educational programs. “They experi-enced Duke like few others - visiting the 3D virtual reality lab, navigat-ing through the Sanford Institute's stairway maze, and makingasilent movie in the new Warehouse art studios,” said David Stein,educational partnership coordinator at Duke. Next year, organizershope to expand the program.
Special enrollment opportunity for disability benefit
The rates for Duke’s voluntary short and long term disability plansare being reduced, and employees can enroll at lower rates throughthe end of May. The short and long term disability income programpays a portion of a person’s income in the event of an illness or acci-dent until age 65.Employees who work at least 20 hours per week are eligible toapply for coverage and need to demonstrate insurability by answeringafew health questions. Information about the special enrollmentperiod has been mailed to eligible employees. In order to obtain thereduced rate coverage, enrollment forms must be submitted by May 31.Visit the Duke Voluntary Disability Web site at www.hr.duke.edu/bene-fits/disability/voluntary.html or contact Duke Benefits at (919) 684-5600 for moreinformation.
LOOKING
AHEAD
@
DUKE
MAY 8
::
FinancialFitness Week, budgetingand retirement workshops,www.hr.duke.edu/financialfitness/.
MAY 14
::
Duke 2006Commencement, 10 a.m., WallaceWade Stadium. John HopeFranklin, distinguished scholarand James B. Duke ProfessorEmeritus of History, deliverscommencement address.
MAY 20
::
Bird Walk,8a.m., Duke Gardens,Doris DukeCenter. Free.For more events, check theuniversity’s online calendarathttp://calendar.duke.edu
News
briefs
“Allegations against members ofthe Duke lacrosseteam stemming from the party on the evening ofMarch 13have deeply troubled me and everyone else at this univer-sity and our surrounding city.Ifthe allegations are verified, what happened would be a deep violation offundamentalethical principles and among the most serious crimesknown to the legal system.Such conduct is completely unacceptable both within the university and in our society at large. This university has cooperated and will continue tocooperate to the fullest to speed the ongoing investigationby the police,and I pledge that Duke will respond withappropriate seriousness when the truth is established.Butit is clear thatthe acts the police areinvestigating are only partofthe problem.This episode has touched offangers,fears,resentments,and suspicions that range far beyondthis immediate cause.It has done so because the episodehas brought to glaring visibility underlying issues that havebeen ofconcern on this campus and in this town for sometime—issues thatarenot unique to Dukeor Durham butthat have been brought to the fore in our midst. Theyinclude concerns about the survival ofthe legacy ofracism,the most hateful feature American history hasproduced.Compounding and intensifying these issues of race and gender,they include concerns about the deepstructures ofinequality in our society—inequalities of  wealth,privilege,and opportunity (including educationalopportunity),and the attitudes ofsuperiority thoseinequalities breed. To get the good ofthe current situation,we all needto face up to the profoundlyserious issues that recentevents have brought to light and address them in a positive,substantive,and ongoing way. The university is guided by the principles ofopenness,inclusiveness,mutual toleration,and mutual respect.Everything that furthers these causes advances our ability to work together toward the truth no individual or groupcan reachalone.Everything that hinders these causesretards the search for wisdom and knowledge.The univer-sity is also founded on the principle that we have an obliga-tion to seek the truth,and that truth is established throughevidence and disciplined inquiry.Reaching certainty with-out evidence or process is a double wrong in a university because it opens the door to injustice and violates ourcommitment to the truth.Durham is a proud city with a richhistory and adiverse population that responds to the challenges oftheday better than many other cities in this country.I’mresolved to seize the moment to do what I can tostrengthen what is in many aspects,but surely not all,apositiverelationship between our university and city.Nobody wishes trouble on one’s house and I regret thetrouble thatthis incident has brought to Duke and Durham.But when trouble arrives,it’s the test ofa community and itsleaders to deal with it honestly,act accordingly and learnfrom it.This is a deeply emotional time as well as a rareopportunity for education – for our students,faculty,admin-istrators,and members ofour community.Let’s move for- ward with a serious commitment to make progress on themany complex issues that confront us now.”
 -- Richard H.Brodhead  President  Duke University
CONTROVERSY
~continued from page1
Updates Availableat Special Web Site
Duke has established a spe-cial Web site that providesupdates and informationon the situation involvingmembers of the Duke men’slacrosse team.The siteincludesstate-ments from Duke adminis-trators,answers to commonquestions, sample mediacoverage, opinions andother related materials.You may access the Websitethrough Duke Todayat <www.duke.edu/today>or visit the site directly at<www.dukenews.duke.edu/mmedia/features/lacrosse_incident>.
 
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T
hree weeks to plant more than 30,000 flowers. That is the challenge for six Duke employees who will pull up 30,000 pansies and 12,000 tulips and re-plant as many begonias,petunias and other flowers to paintthe campus in hues ofblue,purple,yellow and pink forspring and summer.And Duke’s Accent Team will do it allby hand,one plant at a time. The twice a year flower rotation began immediately after alumni reunion weekend in April.Between reunions,the NC Festival ofthe Book and commencement on May 14,Duke expects about 30,000 visitors on campus,and the Accent Team will complete the bulk ofthe flower rotationbefore commencement weekend.“We will have a bunch ofpeople on campus,”said Joe Jackson,assistant director for Grounds and SanitationServices.“We want to put our best foot forward.” The Accent Team,one ofseven teams in the FacilitiesManagement Department’s Grounds and Sanitation ServicesUnit,is responsible for helping make Duke’s campus look its best throughout the year.The team was organized about10years ago when Tallman Trask III,who had recently become Duke’s executive vice president,asked why there weren’t more flowers on campus. Jackson,a former landscape planner for the City of  Winston-Salem,created a plan and a group dedicated tojust that. The Accent Team is led by Jenny Gordon,who has amaster’s degree in biology.She develops the overall designsand selects the plants for nearly 75 flower beds on Duke’s West,Central,East and Medical Center campuses.Thebeds’sizes range from the dimensions ofa typical desk to the traffic circle on Chapel Drive.Over the years,Gordon has compiled an alphabetical,three-page list ofthe different types ofblue flowers thathave been planted on campus – from the
 Agapanthus
 African Lily to
Veronica
Sunny Border Blue.“Our job is to enhance the experience ofthose whocome to Duke,including students,employees,visitors andpatients,”Gordon said.“We pay special attention to areas wherepatients visit.”Gordon said she uses a host ofbutterfly plants andfragrance flowers in areas such as the Tranquility Garden
Flower Power
Did You Know?
p
Some items found in Duke’s flowerbeds: pipe,token for a carrousel ride,lug nut,and scattering ofcrematedashes.
p
The Accent Team is one ofseven teamsfor Grounds and Sanitation, which iswithin the FacilitiesManagementDepartment.
p
Water truck holds 500 gallons. It canbe refilled up to five times in a day towater flower beds.
p
Facilities Management received theProfessional Grounds ManagementGrand Awardin 2001 from theProfessional Grounds ManagementSocietyand
Landscape Management 
magazine.
p
After alumni reunion weekend, theWest Quad is reseeded, watered andrepaired in preparation for commence-ment in May.
outside the entrance to Duke Clinic to appeal to cancerpatients and otherswho visit for comfort and reflection.She credited her team members for the extra effortand care they put into their work to make the campusshine – people like Wade Tilly,who has been with thegroup since its inception.He received the MeritoriousService Award from the president this year.On a recent morning,Tilly explained some oftheunique challenges they face as he weeded a flower bedoutside the School ofNursing.“A couple ofweeks ago,this bed wasn’t doing so wellbecause we had a squirrel that was eating all the buds off the flowers,”Tilly said.“The squirrel got run over one day,and now we have lots ofblossoms.” While most people appreciate the beauty ofthe flowers,not everyone understands the process to keep them in bloom.“I was pulling up some pansies one day as part ofourspring rotation,and a woman walking by called me a flowerkiller,”said seven-year Duke employee Herbert Williams,ashe laughed.“She just didn’t understand that we have to dothis each year to prepare for the next season.” The flo wersalso playarole in a much bigger plan – Duke’s Master Plan.University Architect John Pearce helpedcreate this plan,which guides the development ofbuildingsand landscape across Duke to preserve and enhance theuniversity’s uniquely historic and dynamic campus.“Most universities develop budgets to build buildings,”Pearce said.“But you haveto plan for the spaces betweenbuildings as well.” While Pearce helps ensure that development projectsremain consistent with the principles ofthe Master Plan,people on the ground bring the plan to life,he said.“It’sabout taking ownership,”Pearce said.“I met withagroup in Facilities recently and told them that this is really your university.You’re the people who really make the uni- versity look good.”For Terrence Williams,a member ofthe Accent Teamfor five years,it is a matter ofpride.“It’s a lot ofwork,butyou get to see how beautiful it is when we’re done.You getto see what a difference you make.”
—By Paul Grantham Director,Office of Communication Services
PAINTING DUKE’S CAMPUS IN COLOR
L
Mona McAdams, a four-yearDuke employee tends toflowers outside the Schoolof Nursing.
The Accent Team’s six members include Wade Tilley, left, Rhonda Goolsby,Terrence Williams, Jenny Gordon, and Mona McAdams.
Our job is toenhancethe experience of thosewho come to Duke.”
—Jenny Gordon
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