INC NEWS - Letter: Things are looking up at Duke, still waiting to hear about DukeCard (Herald-Sun)

[John Schelp]

Letter: Praise for Duke actions
Herald-Sun, 28 May 2007

Things are looking up at Duke. Two recent developments
deserve praise, leaving us one to go. 

First, neighbors and merchants near campus led a
successful effort to work out twelve binding
agreements with Duke on the exciting re-development of
Central Campus. As a result, campus retail will be
capped, building heights along Erwin Road will be
limited, more green space will be protected, 12
remaining mill houses will be saved, Duke will plant
larger shade trees, Swift Avenue will retain its
residential character and twice the area along the
three stream hollows will be protected. (And Duke
administrators have promised in writing that they have
no plans to build a Barnes & Noble or other big box
bookstore on campus.) 

Provost Peter Lange deserves praise for the time and
energy he devoted to our conversations. 

Second, Duke recently announced the hiring of Durham
Tech president Phail Wynn as vice president for Durham
and the region -- a position that will include
community affairs. This is wonderful news. A year ago,
we asked Duke to move the Neighborhood Partnership
Initiative out of its PR office and into an area with
more substance and are delighted to see this happen.

Finally, we look forward to hearing back from the Duke
administration on our request to reform the DukeCard.
Current DukeCard policies prohibit students from using
it for off-campus purchases. Many other universities
have programs that allow student IDs to double as
debit cards off-campus, including UNC, NC State and
Elon. The university, DukeCard holders and our
community will all benefit from thriving local
business districts around campus. 


Carol Anderson & John Schelp
Durham, NC

Schelp is president of the Old West Durham
Neighborhood Association and Anderson is a Ninth
Street merchant.