http://www.dukechronicle.com/media/storage/paper884/news/2006/10/24/News/Voting.Activist.Urges.Student.Participation-2384787.shtml?norewrite200610240810&sourcedomain=www.dukechronicle.com
Voting activist urges student participation
Catherine Butsch
Posted: 10/24/06
When Jehmu Greene looks in the mirror, she sees a young college student who was once denied the right to vote.
Greene, former president of Rock the Vote and current national director of Project Vote, spoke Monday in the Gross Chemistry Building as part of Community Service Week and Campus Life's Election Affection.
During the talk, Greene urged students not only to register to vote but also to encourage their peers to register and to work against efforts to curtail the political voice of young people.
The American-born daughter of Liberian exiles, Greene said she attempted to exercise her right to vote as soon as she came of age.
"My family, as political exiles, made sure that politics was always part of the discussion in my household, so registering to vote was something I was absolutely going to do," Greene said.
While studying at the University of Texas at Austin, Greene was registered to vote by a fraternity. When she arrived at the polling place, however, a woman said Greene's name was not on the list.
"In that moment that woman took away a lot of my dreams," Greene said. "So it's really an honor to get to do the work that I do because it's all about making sure that other young people, other college students, don't have to go through the same experience that I did."
Greene served as president of Rock the Vote from 2003 to 2005. Rock the Vote is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that "engages youth in the political process by incorporating the entertainment community and youth culture into its activities," according to its website.
In the months before the 2004 presidential election, Rock the Vote registered 1.4 million new voters.
College-aged students' recent activism on issues such as Social Security and Darfur has attracted candidates' attention-something students should try to retain, Greene said.
"If we don't carry that through on Nov. 7 of this year, we will lose all of that momentum," she said. "We will lose all of that attention and respect."
After leaving Rock the Vote, Greene took over at Project Vote, an organization dedicated to facilitating voter engagement and participation in low-income and minority communities.
Greene said the government has discreetly worked to disenfranchise students, minorities and the poor.
"There are very specific efforts happening right now in this country to stop the votes of students from being cast and from being counted," she said.
At the University of Michigan, Greene once overheard the Michigan Secretary of State warn students against registering to vote, saying they would lose their car insurance and their scholarships, Greene said.
She has also fought recent legislation in some states that attempted to forbid non-profits to register voters.
"[Greene's speech] made me realize that we take a lot of rights for granted," freshman Elizabeth Malcolm said. "It really makes you want to spread that message to your peers."
Organizers of the event agreed.
"Civic engagement is so important and necessary," said senior Kyle White, one of the Community Service Center's student directors. "It's a responsibility you can't take lightly. [With Community Service Week this year] we're really trying to focus on community. Durham isn't just someplace outside the walls of Duke."
Greene said the speech's meager attendance-about 40 people-did not discourage her.
"I know you can look around this room and say 'Wow, there are so many empty seats,' but I don't see empty seats," Greene said. "I see every individual in this room who can turn 20 people into voters.... I see activists that have the ability to change the world at the push of a button."
http://www.dukechronicle.com/media/storage/paper884/news/2006/10/24/Columns/The-Administrations.Mismanagement.Of.Lacrosse-2384801.shtml?norewrite200610240812&sourcedomain=www.dukechronicle.com
The administration's mismanagement of lacrosse
Guest column
Steven Baldwin
Posted: 10/24/06
Last April I wrote to The Chronicle in support of Mike Pressler, former coach of men's lacrosse at Duke. At that time I was concerned that the decision to fire him had been premature, coming only a few weeks after the fateful Buchanan Street party, and certainly long before all of the facts were known. Now, six months later, it is quite clear that my concerns were justified.
I do not ascribe to President Brodhead's position that someone had to fall on his sword to atone for the March 13 lacrosse party. But even if one does buy into that silly notion, why was it coach Pressler? Certainly the several reports emanating from President Brodhead's committee's looking into the lacrosse incident identified a number of individuals more culpable than Pressler. If the goal were to send a message, wouldn't firing Executive Vice President Tallman Trask, Athletics Director Joe Alleva, Vice President Larry Moneta or Dean of Students Sue Wasiolek-or all of them-have been more appropriate?
As displeased as I am with Pressler's firing, my biggest concern has always been with Duke's treatment of the student athletes at the center of the storm. These kids were abandoned by their university. At least one of the indicted students, perhaps all three, was trespassed from Duke property. They were denied the presumption of innocence, despite the mounting evidence that the case against them is made of smoke and mirrors and is fatally flawed procedurally. They have been pilloried by their faculty and scorned by the administration. They are pariahs.
As a Duke faculty member I regard my students in much the same way I regard my children. When my kids do something wrong, I demand accountability. When they break the rules they pay the price, whatever that might be.
With that accountability, however, comes support. My kids know I love them and that I will do everything I can to help them through the rough times. That is what families do. I treat my students the same way.
Duke students should expect nothing less from their university. The day they set foot on the Duke Campus for the first time they became members of the Duke family. For most this was the beginning of a life-long relationship that generates intense loyalties and deep love. The assumption is that the relationship is reciprocal, that Duke holds all of its students in high esteem-loves them-and will support them through the rough times as well as the good. Instead, Duke has disowned its lacrosse-playing student athletes. Their treatment has been shameful.
Over the past six to eight years, I can recall having only a single men's lacrosse player in one of my undergraduate classes. That young man was bright, focused, respectful and engaged. He earned one of the highest grades in a large, difficult and very competitive class. He is now in medical school, well on his way to a career as an orthopedic surgeon.
I mention this because I believe the young man would not mind my describing him in these terms. On the other hand I do not believe that a faculty member publicly describing any student in pejorative terms is ever justified. To do so is mean-spirited, petty and unprofessional, at the very least. The faculty who publicly savaged the character and reputations of specific men's lacrosse players last spring should be ashamed of themselves.
They should be tarred and feathered, ridden out of town on a rail and removed from the academy. Their comments were despicable. I suspect they were also slanderous, but we'll hear more about that later.
Finally, I urge the Duke community to take a reality check. Speak your minds. Do what you think is right. Tell the administration that you are not satisfied with the way they have handled the lacrosse affair. Demand better.
Steven Baldwin is a professor in the Chemistry department.