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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061006/ap_on_sp_co_ne/duke_lacrosse_1
Blue Devils lacrosse moving forward

By AARON BEARD, AP Sports Writer 31 minutes ago

The Duke men's lacrosse team is taking another step back from the rape scandal that led to the shutdown of the program last season.

The Blue Devils will play in an exhibition lacrosse tournament in Rockville Centre, N.Y., on Saturday. It will be the first time the team has participated in an off-campus game since rape allegations against three players led the university to cancel the remainder of the season in April.

Duke begins play in the Long Island Fall Lacrosse Tournament with a two-hour exhibition against Towson, followed by hourlong scrimmages against Hofstra and Division II New York Institute of Technology. The tournament will raise money for charity.

Coach John Danowski, who left Hofstra after 21 seasons to take over in Durham in July, said the players haven't seemed too focused on the significance of representing the university on the field again.

"We're in the middle of midterms, and the guys have been grinding in the classroom," Danowski said Friday. "I've sensed they've been a little distracted by school relative to the event of this weekend.

"I'd like to see what the reaction is going to be at the airport and on the bus. My expectations will be some giddiness and excitement on the bus, which would be normal."

Duke returned to practice on Labor Day, the beginning of a five-week training camp that ends with this weekend's tournament. That workout marked the first time the team had practiced on campus since March 27, the day before the university suspended the team from play in the wake of the rape allegations.

The case began when a woman told police she was raped at a March team party where she was hired to perform as a stripper. All but one of the lacrosse team's players gave DNA samples to investigators and were considered suspects for weeks. A grand jury indicted three on charges of rape, kidnapping and sexual offense: Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and David Evans.

Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong eventually cleared the rest of the players of wrongdoing. But by then, the school had canceled the rest of the season, and coach Mike Pressler resigned. In addition, the university faced widespread criticism of the program and the players' behavior, which included alcohol-related criminal charges.

After an internal investigation and the players agreeing to a new code of conduct that they wrote, the school reinstated the program in June.

"I wasn't here last year," Danowski said. "So to me, I'm just excited to see whether some of the things they've been doing the past five weeks have taken hold. My enthusiasm for Saturday is probably a lot different."

At 4:51 PM, October 06, 2006, Anonymous said...

OH MY GOSH -did anyone see the show on vh1 last night about north carolina strippers who do porn hip hop videos- if these boys had hired a scores stripper or professional stripper this would never have happened- these north carolina girls were so illiterate -most were unwed mothers who had no high school education and just wanted money -one said "i would do anything for the green" they admitted they would get naked or have sex with a hip hop star to be in a hip hop video ...one can only imagine what they woud do to be able to sue some what they would see as rich white boys from duke

At 7:24 PM, October 06, 2006, Anonymous said...

Close watchers of the deeply racist, corrupt black Durham power structure will be not be suprised by this comment below from Judge Bushfan.

Bushfan is in charge of the Durham courts. And had previously let a suspected murderer and serial criminal out on $10,000 bail, where he promptly killed again.

Bushfan would have let this suspected serial murderer out on the streets again for a 2nd time but she (and Nifong) are getting community complaints for coddling violent criminals simply because they are black.

Durham man arrested on murder charge http://www.newsobserver.com/145/story/495376.html

"Chief District Judge Elaine Bushfan rejected pleas from Odom's attorney for a reduced bond.

"Even to me, someone who has empathy for the plight of the black man in America ... this is out of control," Bushfan said to Odom after rattling off about two dozen other charges against Odom in addition to the murder counts.

"At some point, someone's got to say, 'You need to stop.' If you can't stop yourself, we can."

Apparently the price of racial solidarity is two murders and a dozen felonies.

At 9:39 PM, October 06, 2006, Anonymous said...

I hope you all are aware of the statement posted on the N&O blog by Editor Linda Williams. It concerns the first interview with the accuser last Spring. Please note the references to what was with-held from the public.

"The reporter’s interview with the woman was brief, an encounter that lasted a few minutes outside the woman’s parents’ home in Durham. Only two things the woman said at that time did not make publication. She provided a description of the then-unidentified second woman who had also been hired to dance at the lacrosse team party. She also offered an opinion about the other woman’s actions that night. The latter was clearly an opinion, offered without any substantiation. Omitting from published news articles unsubstantiated opinions is a standard, normal part of the journalistic process. The description of the second woman proved to be accurate when Kim Roberts exposed herself at a later date. That description was withheld in March, not because of doubts about its accuracy, but because it was deemed irrelevant since we had no other information to tell readers about the second woman."

******
"She offered an opinion about the woman's actions that night."
*******

Remember in some of her early statements, the accuser claimed Kim assisted in the "rape" and/or robbed her.

She may well have told this THAT DAY to the N&O and they withheld it. This at a time when they printed every angry neighbor's negative opinion of the boys.They shaped that story.

Bloggers are livid at the N&O Editors Blog. One commented at the Liestopper blog..

"Imagine how different the second half of March and the first half of April would have unfolded if the discussion had included the AV's charge that Kim robbed her and assisted in the rape.

It's like a giant wrench in all the stereotypes that drove that period."

If you are as enraged as we are...call the N&O and let Melanie Sills and Linda Williams know.

Demand they release the details!

Post on the Editors Blog! Hold their feet to the fire!

http://friendsofdukeuniversity.blogspot.com/2006/05/general-topics-open.html

"This entire episode is Shameful, and the N&O's conduct in perpetuating and fueling the HOAX with it's abysmal early coverage is equally shameful. Do not add further to the shame by hiding the accuser's accusations against her fellow dancer."

Is The News & Observer deliberately and hypocritically concealing pertinent evidence that the voters of Durham County, North Carolina should be aware of before Election Day?

In a word...YES!

Should people buy such a newspaper?

NO!

http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/gaynor/061006

this "Welcome to Durham" has become legendary on Duke's campus. The older students have been talking about it since their freshman year. There is some incredibly incendiary stuff in the film. Once upon a time, pre-Crystal's mess, weezie jr met one of the main players in the film at the Cook Out (yes, there were plenty of other kids there, too) and he told the girls it was very intense getting the film in the can, so to speak. Talk about a field trip to the zoo! Just head over to the Cook Out any old time.

http://z9.invisionfree.com/LieStoppers_Board/index.php?showtopic=319

Interview with the director and producer of Welcome to Durham…

Brown: Okay, Courtney, what was the most shocking thing, I guess, that maybe people felt the documentary reveals, the things that they didn't know?

Conrad: A lot of people didn't know really anything. They didn't know that these kids. A lot of kids are involved in this and the fact that they do have guns, the fact that a lot of them are shot, I think they were pretty shocked to see the kids.

Brown: And when you say kids, how old are we talking about?

Conrad: We're talking like 10, 11, 12, 13; you know, teenagers, mostly teenagers. And that's the big thing about our gang problem. Like we have so-called OGs here, and it ain't like California where they're older; a lot of these OGs are like 17 years old.

Brown: And an OG is?

Conrad: Original Gangster.

Brown: Which means that.

Conrad: That they run their situation, like they're set in their neighborhood, so they're in charge. So you basically have got a teenager telling other people younger than them, to do things. So that's like the most shocking thing that they're so young. It's not really older guys.

http://www.unctv.org/bif/transcripts/2003/...script1919.html

This should scare the sh*t out of Durham residents! 17 year old OGs! This is serious…lots of children (yes CHILDREN) are going to die. It’s only going to get worse…a whole lot f’ing worse…

[credit: FODU, Liestoppers, Gaynor] Never a dull moment in the Bull City- Where Great Things happen!