Duke University - Grad student murdered last night - lived off campus

Westcoastmon · January 19, 2008, 4:52pm

This is the final straw as far as I am concerned even though it occured off campus one murder of a student is too many.

[Grad</a> student shot at off-campus apartment complex - News](<a href=“http://media.www.dukechronicle.com/media/storage/paper884/news/2008/01/18/News/Grad-Student.Shot.At.OffCampus.Apartment.Complex-3158792.shtml]Grad”>http://media.www.dukechronicle.com/media/storage/paper884/news/2008/01/18/News/Grad-Student.Shot.At.OffCampus.Apartment.Complex-3158792.shtml)

Less than a week ago a student was robbed near the East campus. The student lived off campus.

In December an employee was robbed outside a restaurant near campus. Another staff member was also robbed on campus at the beginning of December.

In October three students were robbed in a parking lot across the street from the East campus.

If you look at their weekly crime reports the Duke Medical Center is a crime magnet. Other areas of campus fall into the petty crime arena.

<a href=“http://www.duke.edu/web/police/info/[/url]”>http://www.duke.edu/web/police/info/</a>

Duke needs to be a better job managing its on campus crime. I have personally sent them the following information from this website run by a former college administrator. One of his articles was used by the FBI Office of Law Enforcement Coordination in their work with colleges and universities.

[Great</a> Service Matters: campus safety](<a href=“Great Service Matters: campus safety]Great”>Great Service Matters: campus safety)

My own D does not feel comfortable walking the short distance from the library to her dorm. I spoke with the Duke University Police about personal safety alarms for students and they didn’t even know what a personal alarm is. The Duke University Police Department does have an arrangement with the City of Durham to patrol in areas surrounding the campus, but it doesn’t seem to have helped any.

danas · January 20, 2008, 2:17am

I’m not sure why this is generating no responses. Is it because the victim is a graduate student? From overseas?
Suppose the victim were a lacrosse player or an African-American.

newmassdad · January 20, 2008, 12:14pm

This is generating no responses because these boards are not working well today. It took ten minutes for this page to load on my machine, for example.

This is indeed sad and reminds me of the murder at U. Chicago just a few weeks ago. That incident, the first murder of a student there in over 20 years, has led to a revamping of police patrols and an increased emphasis on safety. Let’s hope the same happens at Duke.

Booklady · January 20, 2008, 12:37pm

Does Duke have a system in place where students can call campus police for an escort? I know that’s the case at a number of universities.

emeraldkity4 · January 20, 2008, 1:14pm

This was my first google hit.
Call to Escort Service Began a Night of Trouble at Duke

[Duke</a> University Admissions: Campus Safety](<a href=“http://www.admissions.duke.edu/jump/thed/forparents_safety.asp]Duke”>http://www.admissions.duke.edu/jump/thed/forparents_safety.asp)

They do apparently.
My daughter made use of her security services when she would work late in her lab senior year- sometimes not going home till 3am.
She was also very good about connecting with other people who were working late- so they weren’t going back alone.
Pretty safe neighborhood though-

citygirlsmom · January 20, 2008, 3:10pm

were is security? just having cars drving around, and people on campus in uniform patrolling can be a deterant

Westcoastmon · January 20, 2008, 3:20pm

Yes, what Duke says on its website is one thing - the reality is totally different. Last year my D called for a Saferide to a location off campus. Saferide covers a specific area surrounding the campus.

She was told the address she was going to was not within their parameters. So, she decided to walk to it. She called me when she got lost. I checked the Saferide map myself and found the address she was going to was well within the area supposedly covered by Saferide.

I contacted the university and was thanked for my email. They told me they would follow up to see what happened and I never heard from them again.

It was a severe disappointment that a program decided to enhance student safety abdicates its purpose on a regular basis. My D said she is not the only student this happened to.

In another incident my D called them and they told her to wait until they showed up. No one came after 15 minutes. She called again and they said they would get there when they got there. There is no excuse for this type of response, but again no one at the university seemed to care and the response was we will look into it.

Most students don’t even bother to use the service as they know Saferides will never show up. But, of course, there are no statistics on how many calls they receive vs. how many pickups they make and calls are not recorded. It’s another case of reality vs. appearance.

newmassdad · January 20, 2008, 3:35pm

IF posts like WCM’s are true about Duke, then this is truly sad. Other schools have effectively put in place “safe ride” programs. For instance, campus police in Hyde Park will shadow students on request (no rides in the police cars just for fun, though…), and they now define the campus patrol zone very liberally.

xiggi · January 20, 2008, 3:37pm

Welcome to the neighborhood …don’t stop believing

The entire article is available at:
[The</a> Chronicle - Welcome to the neighborhood](<a href=“http://www.dukechronicle.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticlePrinterFriendly&uStory_id=08ed69c3-5edc-4759-8077-815dd42c6ae9]The”>http://www.dukechronicle.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticlePrinterFriendly&uStory_id=08ed69c3-5edc-4759-8077-815dd42c6ae9)

I never expected to spend my senior year of college fearing for my life. But at the beginning of my final semester at Duke, that is exactly what has happened. More importantly, however, is the casual manner of the administrative response to growing security issues at Duke. In the wake of the tragedy at Virginia Tech and the rise in violence at schools across the country, our university has apparently done little to address the problem.
Despite Moneta’s (and the Duke University Police Department’s) standard security advice, precaution and common sense only go so far.

Moreover, I have personally experienced the monumental difficulty of successfully procuring transportation from a SafeRides vehicle, despite my best attempts at impersonating a scared female student. I’m fairly confident that now they just screen my calls, because that’s what I’d do if I knew I’d never be held accountable for dereliction of duties.

We should also establish an after-dark transportation service for off-campus students so that they are never forced to walk to their residences at night. At the very least, SafeRides should be required to perform this duty and actually follow through on it, instead of not answering the phone and refusing legitimate requests when they are received.

Westcoastmon · January 20, 2008, 3:40pm

newmassdad - I looked into the information about the murder of a grad student at the University of Chicago.

I noted the difference in how the U of C responded vs. Duke and it did not surprise me. In the U of C forum there are copies of the bulletin sent out by the school to students by the President. In contrast Duke has a “news” type story posted from the Office of News and Communication:

<a href=“Updated%203%20p.m.%20Jan.%2019”>url=http://news.duke.edu/2008/01/shooting.html</a> Shooting Victim Identified As Duke Grad Student

I have received no notification from Duke about this incident. The only reason I even knew about it was that I received was a “Breaking News” email from the Duke student newspaper and that is only because I subscribe to the on line version of the student paper.

You can draw your own conclusions.

2by2 · January 20, 2008, 3:48pm

I had always wanted my kids to go to duke since it is close by- when we toured it didn’t feel like a fit for them- even I who had prayed this would be their school of choice for years could feel it. I doubt our kids are completely safe anywhere- but I want to know that at least the odds are in their favor. I’ll mark Duke off our list now with much more confidence. So many times schools get so full of themselves because of the number of apps and rankings that they forget about the basics. This is really a bummer to hear.

ThoughtProvoking · January 20, 2008, 4:08pm

Duke did send out this email to students. There do seem to be a lot of them (alerts) these days…

from Duke Alert <a href=“mailto:police@duke.edu”>police@duke.edu</a>
to undisclosed-recipients,
date Jan 19, 2008 4:36 AM
subject Duke Alert: Shooting Death

A man believed to be a Duke University graduate student was found shot to death at an apartment complex in the 1600 block of Anderson Street, several blocks south of the Duke campus, at approximately 11:30 p.m. Friday. According to Duke Police, the incident is under investigation and more information will be shared as it becomes available. Updates will be posted on [Duke</a> Today](<a href=“http://www.duke.edu/today]Duke”>http://www.duke.edu/today). Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Durham Crimestoppers at (919) 683-1200 or Duke Police at (919) 684-2444.

JeepMOM · January 20, 2008, 4:29pm

One thing that I will say about college safe-ride programs - most of them are all student volunteer programs - very little funds - so maybe the students of Duke need to step up a bit here - if they are understaffed - and become a solution. I would think that part of the safety issue at Duke is the fact that the campus is pretty large and spread out - if there are very few participants for the safe ride program - but several calls at the same time - someone is going to have to wait a while. Seems like Duke students need to find out how this program could be made better and take some action - jmho.

Things that happen off campus - outside the perimeter covered by safe-ride - should not be blamed on the safe-ride program - students choose to live there - the school does not make them live there. Yes - the murder of a student is always a tragedy - but I don’t find the school at fault - murders - assaults - robberies - rapes - crime in general - etc… happen everywhere - The police and campus security can only do so much - it is also up to the students to take an active role in the own security and safety.

Having spent quite a bit of time at Duke Medical center - I will agree that it is not the safest part of town - was a bit nervous a couple of times myself - but I would always take an action - ask the guard or police officer to keep an eye on me til I got to my car - sure it took a bit of effort on my part to do this - but I felt it was necessary.

Maybe it is time for the students to take some action and to find out exactly how/who is involved in the safe-ride program and then work to fix it to make it better.

warblersrule · January 20, 2008, 5:32pm

Chicago’s campus covers 211 acres. Duke’s three campuses (East, West, Central) cover 1000 acres, and that’s not even including the medical center and the WaDuke.

Penn
[cbs3.com</a> - UPenn Student Opens Fire On Drexel Students](<a href=“http://cbs3.com/topstories/University.Of.Pennsylvania.2.307114.html]cbs3.com”>http://cbs3.com/topstories/University.Of.Pennsylvania.2.307114.html)

Hopkins
[Johns</a> Hopkins Magazine](<a href=“Johns Hopkins Magazine”>Johns Hopkins Magazine)

Yale
[Yale</a> Daily News - Nine years later, murder of Yale senior still unsolved](<a href=“http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/22831]Yale”>http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/22831)

…and there’s more you might want to mark off.

Yes, Duke also has a student-run program I’ve participated in. It only runs on weekends (Thursdays-Sundays), but it’s an alternative to SafeRides.

[Duke</a> University Safewalks: Home](<a href=“http://www.duke.edu/web/dus/index.html]Duke”>http://www.duke.edu/web/dus/index.html)

Durham is a bit odd like that. It’s very much like a patchwork quilt; you have patches of good and bad. There really isn’t a “nice” or “bad” side of town. One of my professors last year was an emeritus professor and practically an invalid, so I walked three blocks from East on a regular basis to meet with him for an independent study. I never felt unsafe, and the people I’d run into were generally pretty friendly. As I said before, however, some patches are not as nice, and there are sections of Durham I would definitely not feel safe walking through.

mafool · January 20, 2008, 7:07pm

Who or what operates "Safe Rides?’ Anyone know?

JeepMOM · January 20, 2008, 7:12pm

I think it depends on the school MAFOOL - for some it is part of the security dept - at others it is a completely volunteer program - tho the school provides the vehicles used usually - just depends on the school and how it is set up - not all schools have it either - which is a good question for prospective students to ask about.

newmassdad · January 20, 2008, 8:34pm

Warblersrule,

Yes, UofC’s campus is smaller, but their police department patrols from “north to 39th Street, south to 64th Street, east to Lake Shore Drive, and west to Cottage Grove Avenue”. This is an area of approximately 3.6 square miles or 2,300 acres, by my calculation.

Westcoastmon · January 20, 2008, 8:42pm

Jeepmom-Saferides at Duke University is not operated by volunteers. It is operated by the Duke University Parking and Transportation Services.

As far as the comment about “students choose to live there - the school does not make them live there.”

Yes, Duke does make them live there. Although Duke advertises that students are required to live on campus there is not enough on campus housing for every student who wants to live on campus. And there is NO grad student housing on campus.

In fact the Study Abroad program alleviates the housing need for the Fall semester every year. When students return for the Spring they are told:

[The</a> Chronicle](<a href=“http://www.dukechronicle.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticle&uStory_id=6d7d4bae-d786-406d-8ff4-ea3b3cf91d0e]The”>http://www.dukechronicle.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticle&uStory_id=6d7d4bae-d786-406d-8ff4-ea3b3cf91d0e)

“Residence Life and Housing Services, though, cannot guarantee returning juniors will get their preferred roommates.”

So, in many cases juniors and their roommates who are also returning are forced to live off campus due to lack of double rooms. The housing coordinator for off campus housing admits the situation is not the best. Most close in off campus housing is completely full by the time the junior students return for the spring.

To compound this problem next year one of the dorms on West Campus will be closed for renovation. The renovation was unexpected. At the same time Residential Housing plans to tear out additional student bed space to build apartments for faculty in dormitory space. This will further compound the issue.

However, these details are not readily available to high school students who look at Duke. If a school requires you to live on campus for three years you would think housing would be available, wouldn’t you? Instead Duke gives the impression that housing is available for three years when it is not.

And Duke University Police in 2004 made an agreement with the City of Durham to patrol in the area around East Campus and 9th Street. Not that it has done much good as many of the recent robberies have occurred in this area.

Yes, I agree with you that students should take action - but even my emails and verbal inquiries about Saferides were never answered. Duke Administrators have a history of being unresponsive to students and as I now know, parents.

The grad student who was murdered at the University of Chicago did not live on campus either. Here is the thread about that incident:

<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-chicago/419807-graduate-student-shot.html?highlight=murder[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-chicago/419807-graduate-student-shot.html?highlight=murder</a>

Westcoastmon · January 21, 2008, 3:30pm

Another Indian student shot dead in US university
20 Jan 2008, 2257 hrs IST,Chidanand Rajghatta,TNN
WASHINGTON: Yet another Indian doctoral student has been shot dead - the third in a month - on a US university campus, raising questions about the safety of the American university environment.

The bullet-riddled body of 29-year old Abhijit Mahato was found inside his Anderson Street apartment in North Carolina’s Duke University on Friday, nearly a month to the day after two other Indian PhD students were killed execution-style at Louisiana State University.

Police are still investigating the cause and motive for Mahato’s killing, even as the December 17 LSU murders are yet to be solved.

Mahato, originally from Kolkata and Tatanagar, India, was studying for an engineering doctorate degree focused on computational mechanics at Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering, university officials said. He was in his second year.

Earlier, he had earned his mechanical engineering degree from Jadavpur University in 2001 and an M.Tech from the Indian Institute for Technology (IIT) in Kanpur in 2004.

Before coming to Duke, Mahato worked for two years for the GE Global Research Center in Bangalore, where he focused on finite element analysis, a computer-simulation technique used in engineering. The experience prepared him well for his graduate work, according to Mahato’s adviser, engineering professor Tod Laursen.

“We were working together on an industry-funded research project and Abhijit’s prior industry experience helped him develop close working relationships with our partner,” Laursen said. “He understood their needs as a business and was a pleasure to work with.”

Even as the incident sent shock waves among the huge Indian student community in the US – the biggest from any foreign country, Duke officials tried to reassure the students.

Some 80,000 students come to the US each year for studies and the total Indian student population in the US is said to be over 250,000 at any given time.

Duke is one of the biggest campuses in the US with one of the racially and ethnically diverse student population (from 117 countries) including a large contingent from India. The University’s Pratt School of Engineering is particularly popular among Indian students.

On a newly constructed web page on the school site, Mahato described himself as the “the newest person to join DUKE Computational Mechanics Lab ((DCML)” and said he is “interested in nonlinear continuum mechanics problems and developing numerical methods for them…working on large deformation two body contact problems.”

Larry Moneta, Duke’s vice president for student affairs, said the university has begun reaching out to Mahato’s friends and to his family in India, as well as to Indian and other international students on campus. It is offering counselling services and has begun considering appropriate ways of commemorating Mahato’s life.

“This is a tragic circumstance, and we are doing everything possible to assist those who may be affected by it,” Moneta said in a statement issued by the university.

In the engineering department, Laursen met with his lab team to talk about Mahato, whom he described as intellectually curious, kind and outgoing.

“He made friends very easily and always had a smile on his face,” Laursen said. “Our research team was particularly close to Abhijit. He was very well read in both poetry and literature, and enjoyed conversation with others about what they were reading.”

Mahato said on his webpage that his “upbringing was in Kolkata; the City of Joy, the city of intellectuals, and much much more.”

StitchInTime · January 21, 2008, 5:06pm

[URL</a> link to the The Times of India article](<a href=“http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Another_Indian_PhD_student_shot_dead_in_US/rssarticleshow/2716073.cms]URL”>Another Indian student shot dead in US university - US - World - The Times of India) noted in post [url=<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1059679424-post20.html]#20[/url”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1059679424-post20.html]#20[/url</a>].

Duke University - Grad student murdered last night - lived off campus

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