May - Jun 2006 Issue

Carrie Largent, a second-year medical student, died in an apparent early-morning suicide March 11. She was twenty-five. A Pennsylvania native and 2002 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Largent is survived by her mother, her father, a brother, and two sisters.

The perfect waltz for Joe and Mary Bates happens on autopilot, as they surrender to every rise and fall and sway while gliding across the floor in each other's arms. Ballroom dancing is the couple's discipline, their exercise, their marriage therapy, and their scheduled date rolled into one.

Commencement buzz: banner rivalry at 1979 graduationDuke University Archives

Michael Gustafson

Four Duke students have been selected to receive Goldwater Scholarships for the 2006-07 academic year. They were among 323 sophomores and juniors chosen on the basis of academic merit from a field of 1,081 students nationwide. The scholarship program, which honors the late U.S. Senator Barry M. Goldwater, was designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering.

Blank canvas: children survey the undeveloped site of the future discove

Duke researchers have proposed a system that would give pharmaceutical companies enhanced economic incentives for developing drugs for neglected diseases such as leishmaniasis and dengue fever that primarily affect people in poor countries.

Twenty-first-century chemists may spend as much time pecking away at computer terminals as twiddling test tubes at the lab bench. They use computers to analyze data and simulate molecules, speeding their advances in molecular manipulation.

Rob Jackson's biological and environmental research explores global warming and biodiversity. But his new book of poems, Animal Mischief (Boyds Mills Press), reveals the Duke biology professor's whimsical side.

Taking center stage: ring-tailed lemurs. Duke University Photography

Among the concerns reverberating from the now notorious lacrosse incident is the subculture of college athletics. A faculty report pointed out that the lacrosse team is "small enough to have a remarkable social coherence" and large enough to be "socially prominent as a group."

In Praise of HolleyI enjoyed your short "Update" on Dr. I.B. Holley in your recent issue [January-February 2006].When I entered Duke as a freshman in 1948, his class was the first I attended on the first day of classes. What a start to college!

Joseph Conrad. © Bettmann / CORBIS

Good work in India: children in the Shankarbwan center play musical chairs. Sarah Gomez

A new breast scanner developed by scientists at Duke Medical Center will dramatically improve the ability to visualize small tumors, reduce radiation exposure to one-tenth that of normal mammograms, and cause less discomfort to women.

 Jason Strasser knows what you're thinking. Here's a kid who has made a name for himself in the world of online poker, betting and winning and turning a one-time hobby into a steady source of income. Surely he must be oily or addicted or, at the very least, living in squalor while tapping away unblinking at his computer in the dark, alone.

 The protesters were well organized and well prepared. They had long anticipated the rancorous debate on immigration reform in Congress this spring. Hundreds of thousands of predominantly Hispanic and Latino immigrants dressed in white and filled the streets of Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Washington, and any number of smaller towns across the country in April.

Late one afternoon at the end of March, just in front of the Allen Building, a Duke University Transit bus caught fire. In the midst of the smoky spectacle, a student bystander, junior Florence Noel, told The Chronicle: "I'm not too concerned. With the climate around here, it's not the first thing on my mind."

 The same merciless sun that blasted a drought-stricken North Carolina in the summer of 2002 shone like a spotlight of triumph on Mary Eubanks. The scientist says she felt vindicated, exultant even, as she gently pushed her way through the lush green foliage of thriving corn plants festooned with fat ears of corn that hung over her head.

The heart is a difficult organ to study in detail because it is such a dynamic, constantly moving organ. Now, Duke engineers have induced rat heart cells in culture to mimic some of the key electrical properties of whole hearts.

 

Copyright illustrated: detail of comic book cover. Bound by Law © 2006 Keith Aoki, James Boyle, Jennifer Jenkins

John Finan. Jon Gardiner

  Curran: prescription for career success. Megan Morr  

The department of art and art history will be renamed the department of art, art history, and visual studies. "In the past, painting, architecture, and sculpture were considered the 'elevated arts' and the others were considered minor," says department chair Patricia Leighten. "But in the past few decades there have been enormous intellectual changes.

Groundbreaking for Fuqua School of Business: President Terry Sanford, left, J.B.

Give them an inch, they'll go a mile: teachers at Forest View Elementary in Durham work clo

Cosy chat and confetti flurry at Big Dance. Chris Hildreth

A $2-million gift from Mitchell Rubenstein and his wife, Laurie Silvers, will support Jewish student life at Duke by funding Hillel programs on campus. The university's Hillel, a branch of the national student organization that supports Jewish life, culture, and programming, will be named the Rubenstein-Silvers Hillel at Duke University.

In a society where diet books perpetually top best-seller lists, television ads promote half-pound hamburgers or all-you-can-eat dinner buffets, and plus-size clothes are now fashionable instead of frumpy, obesity has become an integral part of American culture.

Out on the hustings: Margaret Rose Sanford and Terry Sanford. Still from Terry Sanford and the New South courtesy The News & Observer

Keir Beadling lies in bed at night thinking of a forty-foot wave that pummels offshore reefs and rips at jagged boulders the size of houses. The water is a numbing fifty degrees, and there happen to be a couple of great white sharks cruising through. Beadling is smiling.

When we count, we may mumble "one, two, three ..." to ourselves, but is language really essential to number perception? It's an intriguing question, because it pertains to how deeply ingrained numerical perception is in primate evolution. By testing how well monkeys compare numbers, Duke neuroscientists have found that the animals do semantically perceive numbers as we do, without language.

At its February meeting, the board of trustees approved a 4.5 percent increase in tuition, fees, and room and board for undergraduate students in the coming academic year. Duke's planning also calls for a 5.7 percent increase in undergraduate financial aid.

Team spirit: Coach Gail Goestenkors gives pep talk during NCAA championship game. Jon Gardiner

I'm a recent Duke grad who is actively seeking work. Over the past month, I've applied for more than fifty jobs through online job posting sites. To date, I haven't received any interviews, let alone job offers. What am I doing wrong?

Global circulation: map of air and wind currents. Copyright © Michael Halbert 2000