Durham, NC -
About 1,630 faculty and staff tested their knowledge of Duke's winter's snow and ice removal plan, but only one grand prize winner received an iPad for taking the online quiz about the plan.

Renee Vaughan, a financial management analyst with the Affective Disorders department, was randomly selected from all entrants to receive a new iPad. Six other employees who took the quiz were randomly selected during January and received Duke ice scrappers and knit winter hats.

"I recently borrowed one from the Center for Instructional Technology for a week, and I used it for taking notesand presentations," said Vaughan, who added she was thinking of buying an iPad after her experience. "I can't wait to play with it."

In all, the snow and ice quiz received nearly 20,000 page views on the DukeALERT website, where the quiz asked participants questions about the total miles of sidewalks at Duke (46) and how long it would take to remove about 3 inches of precipitation (four to six hours after the precipitation ends).

Along with the quiz, the removal plan shows Duke-owned roadways, parking lots, garage entrances, bus stops and sidewalks and which are cleared first during severe weather as priority 1 or priority 2 locations.

"I found the quiz informative because it's always good to know what the procedure is and what gets cleared first or second,"  said Vaughan, whose office is on Elder Street, near the North Pavilion and Duke Clinical Research Institute. "I work off-site, so it's always good for me to know what sidewalks are clear, what roads are clear and all that. Sometimes I'll walk through Duke South onto West Campus, so it's useful information for me."

Duke employees who received Duke knit hats or ice scrapers are:

    * Carol Alford, staff assistant in Undergraduate Admissions.
    * Amy Coppedge, project manager in the Office of Graduate Medical Education.
    * Theresa Harris, administrative assistant in the School of Medicine.
    * Claudia Lebarron, occupational health nurse with DukeWell.
    * Megan McCormick, program manager for the Duke Human Vaccine Institute.
    * Wendy Woehr, health physicist with the Occupational and Environmental Safety Office.


McCormick, the program manager for Duke Human Vaccine Institute, said the quiz compelled her to look closely at the snow/ice priority clearing map to find which sidewalks have priority status for snow removal during severe winter weather.


The map and quiz are still available online for review at the DukeALERT site. In addition to the map and quiz, faculty and staff can also review safety tips for when the Triangle receives severe weather.