Cross Country
Fallout: A Plunge in Duke Applicants
Things are looking a little better for two Duke lacrosse players indicted last April on charges of raping an exotic dancer at a team party. After those charges were dropped, the university last week invited both players to return to Durham, N.C., while awaiting trial on remaining charges of kidnapping and sexual assault. A third indicted player graduated in May.
But the unsung victim of the whole fiasco may be Duke itself. Applications for binding early admission were down 20 percent from last year's total of about 1,500, running counter to a rising trend among elite schools that offer early decision. In spite of the small pool, 469 of those applicants were admitted to the school.
"This story never seems to go away," says D.C.-based college admissions counselor Steven Roy Goodman, who says several of his clients specifically bypassed Duke this year.
Down on the Bayou, Slip Sliding Away
Pothole-pocked streets and sagging porches have long served as evidence that the soft-bedded state of Louisiana is sinking. If there were any doubts, Hurricane Katrina put them to rest. But now comes evidence that the Bayou State is not just sinking but slipping-sliding at a glacial pace into the Gulf of Mexico. According to a report released last month by the American Geophysical Union, the coastal bedrock is breaking away at roughly 1 inch a year. Scientists report that the southward movement is triggered by deep underground faults slipping under the weight of sediment dumped by the Mississippi River. The movement is confined to an area about 250 miles long and 180 miles wide. Engineers will have to incorporate the findings into their plans to build bigger levees to protect New Orleans and surrounding areas.
Kicked out the Big Orange Door
When Jack Welch told Bob Nardelli he wasn't likely to be chosen to replace the legendary CEO of General Electric in 2000, the former head of the conglomerate's energy business instantly became one of the hottest free agents in corporate America. Home Depot cofounder and former GE director Ken Langone spared no expense-literally-to lure Nardelli to Atlanta as the retailer's top dog. And Nardelli, a manufacturing whiz who made the numbers and then some, posted impressive numbers at Home Depot, too, as he moved into new areas like selling to the construction industry. But one number hasn't been moving much of late: the company's stock price. So while Nardelli took home bonuses and pay that ran into the megamillions, investors were feeling dissed. It didn't help that Nardelli appeared unwilling to pay much heed to their complaints. Last week, after months of dispute about his pay and the languishing stock, Home Depot's board showed Nardelli the door. But he still made the numbers: He takes with him an exit package worth $210 million, much of it from benefits promised him in the past.
A Tragic Shooting, a Beloved Victim
In Denver, no public figures are more public than members of the beloved Denver Broncos football team. So when promising defensive back Darrent Williams was gunned down following a New Year's Eve party, the shock, grief, and anger reverberated throughout the metropolitan area.
Police believe the roots of the shooting may lie in an altercation that occurred at a birthday gathering for a Denver Nuggets basketball player. Williams was part of a group that left the club in a limousine about 2 a.m. Shortly thereafter, a sport utility vehicle pulled up alongside the limo, and shots were fired. Late last week, Denver police discovered the SUV, registered to an alleged gang member, near Denver International Airport. Three alleged gang members were reportedly being sought.
The incident was the second drive-by shooting involving a Denver pro athlete. Last April, then Nuggets guard Julius Hodge was shot while driving home from a nightclub. Hodge survived. Williams was not so fortunate.
It Took Only Two Hours to Warm Up
Thousands of Americans looking to wash away their memories of 2006 did so with "polar bear" swims last week, a tradition inspired by Russian, Scandinavian, and Chinese ice swimming that involves quick dips in frigid water. About 500 people rang in the New Year by plunging into Lake Michigan with the Polar Bear Club of Sheboygan, Wis. In Coney Island, N.Y., meanwhile, about 200 swimmers raised roughly $25,000 for a camp for terminally ill children and their families by submerging themselves in the 48-degree waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
"It usually takes about two hours before my feet feel normal," Ray Kelly, who organized a dunk on Long Island Sound, N.Y., told Westchester County's Journal News. Kelly banned wet suits at his event, which raised money for Lou Gehrig's disease, "to make it more fun."
With Chris Wilson, Tim Smart, Gordon Witkin, Angie C. Marek and wire reports ?
This story appears in the January 15, 2007 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.