$600,000: NOT YOUR USUAL POCKET CHANGE, MONETA
You know how the old saying goes-$300,000 here, $300,000 there and pretty soon you have some real money. That's how much Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs, stands to pad his office's coffers by next year with each student paying an additional $100 in administrative fees, tacked on to the student activities fee.
The money is part of a 4.5 percent increase in total fee hikes approved by the Board of Trustees. Moneta insists that the additional funds he asked for would've gotten to his office even if they weren't part of the student activities fee. But this way, the money will come directly from students instead of Duke.
Moneta says none of the money will go toward paying for the new plaza-still short nearly $4 million in funding. He could use the $5-million gift given by Bill and Melinda Gates in 2002 for student life initiatives, but he has repeatedly said he hopes to raise the money from other sources.
Instead, he says money from the fee increase will go toward lowering student groups' room rental rates and refurbishing the Bryan Center and the West Union Building.
But this move begs the question: is this just a shell game to transfer funds from the Gates gift-that would have been used for these renovations-to covering plaza costs?
The McDonald's renovations have finished. How much does it take to install new furniture, and why is Moneta in such a rush to get his hands on the dough?
THE REAL BMOC
What campus symbol is taller than Shelden, gets visitors snapping photos faster than an sighting of Coach K and draws more praise for form and structure than J.J.'s free throw arc?
The Chapel, of course.
It's the symbol of campus. The first thing prospective Dukies with stars in their eyes see as the buses come lumbering up Chapel Drive. And, illuminated at night, it's one of the most beautiful spectacles at Duke.
But Main West's landmark was left in the dark for about two weeks this semester.
Calls made to both the Chapel and the Facilities and Management Department yielded lots of puzzled responses and few answers at first.
But rest assured: the lights have since returned.
"Since we didn't know the lights had been out, we investigated and found the bulbs were burned out," Lucy Worth, director for development and administration at the Chapel, wrote in an e-mail. "The bulbs were replaced today and we're grateful to have been notified that there was a problem."
It seems that those who are charged with keeping the Chapel lit are rarely around to see it at night and had no idea when the floodlights were down.
Glad we could shed some light on the problem.
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