Mar - Apr 2008 Issue

James Todd

 Duke Magazine

 The bird walk has started inauspiciously. As guide Cynthia Fox leads a group of binocular-toting birders through the back trails of the Sarah P. Duke Gardens, the birds seem to be sleeping in. The dozen or so people who have gathered early on a chilly April morning wonder whether they should have followed suit.

Decades of Devils: mascot manifestations from the '60s. Duke University Archives

 In a preseason meeting just before the start of classes, head coach John Rennie unexpectedly introduced his team to the newest senior on its roster: himself.

 On a pleasant October day, a multicolored archway of balloons rises like a miniature rainbow over one end of the West Campus Plaza. To one side, students are swarming a table of pork barbecue and hush puppies, and a guitarist is performing ironic versions of top-forty hits.

Clean break: Players are eager to win again. Jon Gardiner

Snakes, lizards, and frogs on a plane! With the recent addition of herpetology to the biology department, students now know why Samuel L. Jackson was yelling.

 The themes of creativity, adversity, and capturing life stories ran through this academic year's Duke Magazine Forum, held in November.

In late January, Abhijit Mahato, a Ph.D. candidate in civil engineering, was found shot to death in his apartment south of campus. Police, who have charged a nineteen-year-old man with first-degree murder in the case, believe the motive was robbery. In an e-mail message to the Duke community, President Richard H.

Brodhead: favorable reviews. Butch Usery

Bill Bamberger

Strike up the band: Band director Au, far right on trumpet, is joined by students an

Doctors may be missing prostate cancers in obese men because the telltale blood marker used to detect the disease can be falsely interpreted as low in this population, according to a new study led by Duke Prostate Center researchers.

Donna Day

 Duke treasure: Price with Rose. Les Todd

 We often chalk up unhealthy habits—our own, as well as those of others—to a simple lack of willpower. But Duke psychologist Wendy Wood suggests that those seeking, for example, to eat healthier foods, lose weight, or cut down on television time may want to instead look outward, to their environment.

Read my lips: Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthyB

Town-gown symbiosis: intertwined economies. Chris Hildreth

  Literary Trails of the North Carolina Mountains: A Guidebook By Georgann Eubanks '76. University of North Carolina Press, 2007. 440 pages. $35.

Monkey muse: Robot responds to primate brain signals.

Les Todd

Packing their bags: Pearson, left, an

 Roy Neil Graves A.M. '61. Trevor Ruszkowski/ UT-Martin University Relations

Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona

Joining the ranks: Additional faculty members will soon call

 After six years in corporate law, I have decided to go into business. I'm having a hard time getting my foot in the door. What do you advise?

St.

Pec power: members of the 1970 Ch

Vive la différence: When it comes to de

Duke Divinity School has received a $14 million grant from the Lilly Endowment Inc. for an initiative that will help Christian leaders combine theological insight with wise business practices to meet "real world" challenges.

No apologies: Rove denied U.S. sanctions. Kevin Hwang / The Chronicle

One of this issue's stories explores gay life on campus. There's a story behind that story: a national campaign that began at Duke.

Lindsey Harding '07 had her number 10 jersey retired during halftime of a women's basketball game against N.C. State in January. Harding, now a rookie guard for the Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA, is the second women's basketball player to receive the honor.John Kerr '87 has been named head coach of the men's soccer team.

Smoking and soaking: Trumbo in the tub. Mitzi Trumbo

Sandra Groover

Brownie Harris