INC NEWS - Woman Banned from Charlie's on Ninth Street

[kjj1 at duke.edu]

See the article below from today's N&O. Although the official name is 
"Charlie's Neighborhood Bar & Grille," the fact that they banned the woman 
who wrote about seeing members of the lacrosse team drinking and acting up 
at the bar and kicked her off their softball team raises questions about 
what "neighborhood" they see themselves serving.

I guess its hard for a bar to give up the business of the lacrosse team.

Kelly J.

From: News & Observer, Saturday, April 1, 2006
P. 18A

Tension spreads in lacrosse case
Woman who wrote about rowdy behavior says she has been banned from bar

A woman who wrote about seeing lacrosse players slamming down shots of 
alcohol and shouting "Duke Lacrosse" at a bar two days after they submitted 
DNA samples in a rape case said Friday that she is no longer welcome in the 
popular watering hole and has been kicked off the bar's softball team.

The reaction is one more example of flaring tensions from the investigation 
into whether a woman was raped at a Duke University lacrosse team party.

On Friday afternoon in front of 610 N. Buchanan Blvd., the site of the 
March 13 team party, a painted toilet disparaging violence against women 
was in the front yard. Painted on the toilet bowl in red was: "Don't use us 
as a toilet." The message on the tank was "Flush hate."

Later in the day, police quickly broke up a party attended by some members 
of the team at a house several doors down from the one where a woman said 
she was raped last month.

Jill Hopman, a 2005 graduate of Duke and a UNC-Chapel Hill law student who 
wrote about seeing rowdy behavior at Charlie's Neighborhood Bar & Grille, 
said she doesn't regret speaking up and has received an outpouring of 
community support.

Her article appeared in Duke's student newspaper, The Chronicle, and she 
wrote a letter to the editor of The Herald-Sun newspaper.

A woman who answered the phone at Charlie's on Friday said she could not 
comment on the incident because she knew nothing about it. The manager was 
not available.

Hopman said she was surprised by the bar's reaction.

"Are these guys serious?" she asked Friday. "I'm being banned for saying, 
'Hey, respect the Durham community.' "

Meanwhile, lacrosse players tried to carry on with their lives Friday under 
the spotlight of national and local media.

They practiced on the field next to Duke's Koskinen Stadium for a couple of 
hours. For the first 30 minutes of practice, TV cameras and newspaper 
photographers followed every move.

The team is uncertain, though, whether it will play more matches this 
season, since Duke officials announced Tuesday that there would be no more 
competitive play until the case is resolved.

"It's weighing on their shoulders, but it's kind of returned to business as 
usual," said Art Chase, Duke sports information director.

As the case gets more attention across the country, people in Durham 
continue to plan events.

N.C. Central University students planned for a vigil and other events on 
campus that will begin at 6 p.m. Monday to support the accuser, a fellow 
student.

(Staff writer Samiha Khanna contributed to this report.)
Staff writer Jane Stancill can be reached at 956-2464 or 
janes at newsobserver.com.
© Copyright 2006, The News & Observer Publishing Company
A subsidiary of The McClatchy Company