After meeting with Larry Moneta last week, Duke Student Government representatives proposed to repeal funding for DukePie, a peer-to-peer file sharing service.
In a meeting Tuesday, senior Greg Halperin said Moneta, vice president for student affairs, raised concerns about the service regarding sharing illegal files. Moneta said other universities with similar programs, like the University of Connecticut and Cornell University, are trying to eliminate these services due to the large number of legal issues that have surfaced.
“We don’t want the possibility of DSG going through with something the administration is uncomfortable with and has fears of illegal issues with,” said Halperin, an academic affairs senator. “It was very clear coming out of that meeting [with Moneta] that the program is dead.”
DSG did not vote to repeal the funding as Vice President for Student Affairs Gurdane Bhutani was not at the meeting. Bhutani, a sophomore, is in charge of the project’s development.
In an interview Tuesday night, Bhutani said he will continue to consult with administrators regarding DukePie over the next few weeks. Although Bhutani believes the administration raised valid concerns, he thinks DukePie is still possible.
“The argument [the administration] made is essentially that DSG is functionally a part of the University, and to have the Duke name on [DukePie] is dangerous,” Bhutani said. “Honestly, the funding [repeal] is not really a big deal... we can just as easily get it back. It is primarily a formality... the money is still sitting there in the account.”
DukePie was granted $2,265 from the legislative discretionary fund at last week’s meeting. At that time, Bhutani said he had discussed DukePie’s legality with a lawyer who voiced no objections to the service. But Halperin insisted that the funding should be repealed given Moneta’s concerns.
“There’s a large amount of the discretionary fund in limbo... it’s best for now to rescind the funding,” Halperin said.
In other business:
Vice President for Athletics and Campus Services Chris Brown, a sophomore, discussed the upcoming Tailgate forum, at which students can provide suggestions for alternatives. Brown said DSG may establish a Tailgate committee next year to devise the new structure of the popular Saturday morning ritual.
The Senate also discussed how DSG and individual quad councils will interact given the recent merger of DSG and Campus Council, which will take effect next year. DSG Executive Vice President Pete Schork, a junior, said he would like the governance structure to “develop organically” to maintain the independence of the quad councils.
“The structure appears to be a little less DSG heavy... maintaining the autonomy of the quad councils, but providing them with a legislative link,” he said, adding that the residential governance bylaw outlines possibilities for collaboration.
The quad councils will remain in place until the University completes its transition to the house model, after which house councils will be formed.
Additionally, DSG approved more than $4,000 for the Duke Student Think Tank Symposium, a March 19 event which seeks to expose students to the world of corporate think tanks and how they attempt to tackle world challenges like the energy crisis.
DSG also approved $2,725.12 to fund advertisements in The Chronicle for the Student Organization Finance Committee to improve student awareness about SOFC events.
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