(10) The Boy Next Door

NAME John Schelp

PROFESSION Neighborhood activist

HOME BASE Rose Hill Ave., Durham

AGE 44

Sure, he was in the Peace Corps, works at the National Institute of Health and volunteers at Duke. But for all the good he does, Schelp mostly enjoys being a thorn in the administration’s prickly town-gown side.“It’s frustrating, but at the same time it’s kind of enjoyable because these guys are being paid all these bucks to improve public relations, and we’re,” he chuckles, “we’re doing well.”

A neighborhood rep for the area next to Duke’s campus, Schelp’s been a lobbyist for nearly a decade. But with the redux of Central Campus threatening—at least in broad terms—to give small businesses a run for their money, Schelp has been hounding bigwigs about every detail of planning.

Even though he won “a victory for common sense” when Duke decided to zone Central for university-only purposes, Schelp’s ready to run the gamut this year for every item on Duke’s wish list. “They at some point have no choice but to have to come home and talk,” he says.