INC NEWS - [DukeDurhamTownGown] Duke's Central Campus

[Susan Kauffman]

---- Forwarded by Susan Kauffman/Allen/Admin/Univ/Duke on 05/03/2005 11:30
AM -----
                                                                                                                 
                      John F Burness                                                                             
                      <john.burness at duke.edu>        To:       DukeDurhamTownGown at yahoogroups.com                
                      Sent by:                       cc:       mpalmer at duke.edu                                  
                      DukeDurhamTownGown at yaho        Subject:  [DukeDurhamTownGown] Duke's Central Campus        
                      ogroups.com                                                                                
                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                 
                      05/03/2005 11:23 AM                                                                        
                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                 





Dear Listserve members,

I have received a number of communications -- both directly to me or copied
to the listserve -- in response to my note about John Schelp's taking
seriously a rather silly idea of putting a car wash on Central Campus, as
reported in the N&O.  I know Provost Peter Lange sent a follow-up email
clarifying he had scoffed at the idea of a car wash when asked by a
reporter and reaffirming that Duke has no interest in putting a car wash on
campus.

While some have applauded my candor, it is apparent from my email traffic
that some -- certainly not all -- people took offense at my wording. For
that, I express regrets.

It is probably worth remembering that on numerous occasions in the past
several months, including the meeting held at the Erwin Mill Building in
February, people with questions about Central Campus were urged to contact
Michael Palmer, director of Community Affairs, in order to avoid inaccurate
rumors or reports. It does seem to me that had this been done in this case,
there would have been no need for the initial comment to which I then
responded.

The good news is that there will be another community forum this Thursday
at 7 p.m. at Asbury United Methodist Church at 806 Clarendon Ave. Anyone
with a question will have the opportunity to pose it to Provost Lange or
Vice President Dawkins, who are co-chairing the internal planning process.
Duke also has established a new website that contains summary notes for the
campus discussions. http://www.duke.edu/web/centralcampus/

I hope that interested parties will attend on Thursday to hear first hand
the update on Central Campus planning -- and that people who do have
questions will take advantage of Michael Palmer's availability outside of
public meetings. Again, his phone number is 668-6274 and his email address
is <<mpalmer at duke.edu>>.  Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to attend
because of prior commitments in Washington DC, but I'm confident that it
will be a productive meeting.

Cordially,

John F. Burness
Senior Vice President for Public Affairs
   and Government Relations
Duke University