<p>Any UNC or Duke student can use the bus with Student ID. It is the way Robertson Scholars travel back and forth between the two campuses.</p>
<p>It is run by the two schools and is extremely safe.</p>
<p>Agree with eadad about the Robertson bus. You can definitely go meet your friends at Duke, but take that bus, which is very safe. It runs on a frequent schedule, even on weekends, and picks up at UNC campus and drops off on the Duke campus, at/near the Chapel. </p>
<p>Again, the Duke campus is not at issue--no safety problems there. It's downtown Durham that's the problem. Some areas are okay, but as ldmom's story suggests-- easy to get lost (lots of one way streets), and then you're stuck in some drive-by shooting area and have no idea how to get out. (Gee-- do I sound like this has happened to me before?!)</p>
<p>Gangs are a problem in Durham; somebody made a documentary a few years ago, which got wide coverage.</p>
<p>mkm: Yeah, I can imagine staying under the radar was smart. And the DA-- oops-- how quickly we forget. Durham had problems long before he ever showed up, though. :eek:</p>
<p>thanks janie blue and eadad...you guyz have been xtremely helpful...
also...abt 10-15 minutes ago...out decision from applicant unc home got taken off...
that means we are closer to find out abt the decision</p>
<p>Good luck, vickpick! Let us know how it goes.</p>
<p>Thank you. I can't describe the feeling I'm having right now. Lol. I am hungry suddenly. My heart rate went up and is still up. I had a 2 hr argument with my mother for letting me go to UNC(well me and my dad VS my mom..lol) and we finally convinced her. The thing is that my brother is in one of India's best medical schools and is away from us. Now, if i go to UNC, I'll be away too. She doesn't want herself to get alone when she gets home from work. It's like a mixed feeling. (Guilt for convincing her abt UNC and then excited for the results.)</p>
<p>Well, with all due respect to you Tar Heels, I don't see how Chapel Hill can be assumed to be "bucolic" when it is so very close to "hell on earth" Durham. We do have a little invention called the horseless carriage which makes these distances miniscule. And if you check city-data, you will see that there are a lot more dangerous places than Durm. Not that you would catch me in downtown Durham alone at night. But I wouldn't go to downtown Chapel Hill alone at night. Or just about anywhere.</p>
<p>Police have now recovered Eve's cell phone here is a quote from WRAL.com:</p>
<p>"Officers recovered Carson's cell phone about 1 1/2 miles from the scene of her death, according to search warrants. Sprint Nextel helped police find the phone near a shopping center located on the main road that runs between Chapel Hill and Durham."</p>
<p>And we were saying about Durham based gangs......</p>
<p>Yes, they're getting ready to come on the news with a press conference. Apparently, the hat he was wearing is somehow gang-related as well.</p>
<p>Okay, looks like they found some additional surveillance photos as well-- from an area convenience store-- same person as in the earlier one (the driver). The police chief feels that "any gang relation is pure speculation at this point." They are getting help from the SBI and other law enforcement agencies as well.</p>
<p>L. Fortissimo: The point is, gangs have been around Durham for as long as I can remember. I've been around since the invention of the horseless carriage, and this has not been an issue in other towns close to Durham-- either in Chapel Hill or elsewhere.</p>
<p>They're going to post the new photos online (WRAL) within the hour.</p>
<p>janieblue: i'm glad they are making progress. but my point is, chapel hill and durham are in the same metropolitan area. that's all. but i know it isn't making sense to you. i don't think it is fair to blame a city that is basically contiguous with chapel hill. unless you think for some reason that durham actively accepts and promotes a gang culture, or isn't trying to eradicate it, and i have a hard time believing that that is the case.</p>
<p>L. Fortissimo: Yes, I do believe that, for whatever reasons, Durham "promotes a gang culture." I don't mean that the Chamber of Commerce promotes it with brochures or websites; rather, there's something about Durham that seems to fuel the proliferation of gangs. I don't know why. Durham is certainly aware of the problem and is/has been trying to eradicate it, but I don't know how successful they've been.</p>
<p>Here's an article written in 2004:</p>
<p>Law</a> Enforcement Looks At Growing Gang Culture In Durham :: WRAL.com</p>
<p>Excerpt:</p>
<p>
[quote]
Durham is one of the few counties with a prosecutor dedicated solely to gang crime. Assistant district attorney John Phillips handles more than 200 gang-related cases every year.
"It runs the gamut from sex offenses to homicides to attempted murders," he said. "If we didn't have gang-related crimes in Durham, our crime rate would drop so dramatically that you wouldn't be doing this story," he said.
Durham police do not keep stats on how much gangs affect the overall crime rate, but they say it has increased. Recently, the department doubled the size of its gang unit.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>My only complaint as a Carolina Parent is that the Police chief said in a news conference that they were NOT stepping up the patrols...it was a normal day. Eve's body was found a block or two from my D's dorm and before she was identified...it was very upsetting to my D. Especially when she heard and read those words. The Auburn Police Dept immediately stepped up patrols. She could not go to the library at 5:00 a.m. like usual because he did not make her feel safe anymore. There was a murderer on the loose. What part of that does he not understand. Campus and CH Police owe a duty to the public to increase the police presence on and around campus .....otherwise it is hard for us parents to reassure our children.</p>
<p>Atlmom: I had not heard that. I checked this site, which you've probably seen, but I don't remember what they said about "stepping up patrols." Is it possible that the town police weren't increasing patrols, but campus patrol/security was increased (on campus)? I agree that would be good to know.</p>
<p>The</a> University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Safety and Security Questions and Answers</p>
<p>I will add that as a young co-ed on a college campus back when I went to school (30+ years ago)-- I would not have walked to a campus library alone at 5 am in the dark. I wouldn't have done it then, and I advise any young female not to do it now (even before this latest tragedy). I think that's a sad commentary on our society, and I don't think we should have to live that way, but it seems to be reality.</p>
<p>I saw police officers EVERYWHERE on campus after we heard about the shooting...</p>
<p>This is another "Alert Carolina" letter from Chancellor Moeser, written March 7.
Chancellor</a> Message to Campus: Alert Carolina Update (03-07-08)</p>
<p>Excerpt:</p>
<p>
[quote]
For months now, we have been working on a new safety awareness campaign called Alert Carolina. Beginning next week, we will mail to your campus or local residence a brochure that includes safety information.</p>
<p>It was a difficult decision to move ahead with the mailing when all we want to do is to mourn Eve. Even though there is no information right now to indicate a link between her death and campus security issues, her senseless murder reminds us that we must be vigilant about safety. For that reason, we felt we needed to move forward with this mailing.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>...but for someone to say because the cellphone was found between Chapel Hill and Durham implicates Durham is beyond unfair.</p>
<p>I agree with the poster who commented on the CH statement about patrols. This is what initially had some people thinking the crime was not random. They may have been trying to communicate that they didn't believe they had a serial killer targeting UNC, which seems reasonable. I also agree that some people have their days and nights mixed up.</p>
<p>I heard the words come out of the Chapel Hill Police chiefs mouth on national t.v. during a called press conference in response to a question (Are you increasing patrols?) My mouth dropped when he said no, this is a normal day.
What an idiot I thought! I am sorry but that was inexcusable for such a community that requires a lot of pedestrian activity in town and on campus.<br>
Step it up, get the bike patrols out there, get out of the warm offices and cars.....let the students see you and by Golly, TELL THE WORLD you are increasing patrols....it will deter if nothing else. The person of interest is STILL on the loose.</p>
<p>The Campus police chief should say it, the CH police chief should say it .... not just do it. Let it be publicized.</p>
<p>^ I agree patrols should have been increased.</p>
<p>I also agree that patrols should have been increased. Is it possible he said that so as not to alert the killer?</p>
<p>The police have announced that they see a gang connection with her murder. The Astros hat he wore is a tip to them, apparently. Also, they think that the way she was killed suggested a gang "initiation" -- similiar to what they've seen in Charlotte. </p>
<p>Something has to be done to stop this sort of insanity. I don't know what, but hopefully, they'll catch these guys and make an example of them. This is when the death penalty makes a lot of sense to me.</p>
<p>It's beyond horrible isn't it? It makes me sick. I found an article on that gang on Wikipedia and it was eye-opening. It is nationwide, with "chapters" in many prisons and many, many cities. And that is just one gang. The article states it has 30,000 members. And that is an estimate of just one gang. </p>
<p>There are just no words to describe this crime. It is beyond belief how anyone could be so evil.</p>
<p>They have additional photos of the suspect at a convenience store at
WRAL.com</a> - Breaking News, News, Weather, Video, Traffic and Sports
The article indicates that someone used (or tried to use, as they will not say as to whether her card was used successfully) Eve Carson's bank card at that store about the time the photos of the man were taken. All these pictures seem to indicate that the attempts to use her card were before dawn--as it is all very dark outside. This all just makes me so sick--such a terrible end to the life of such a promising young lady.</p>