Nov - Dec 2006 Issue

With chief financial officers' optimism about the U.S. economy at a five-year low, many are planning for reductions in capital spending and hiring. Their sour outlook stems from concerns about consumer demand, the rising cost of labor, and high fuel costs.

The most aggressively malignant cancer cells have a "toggle switch" that enables them to morph into highly mobile forms that invade other tissues and then nest comfortably in their new surroundings. This picture of how cancer cells shift between two alternating states—travelers and nesters—represents a new understanding of how cancer metastasizes, or spreads to other parts of the body, say researchers from Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center who conducted the study.

 Phil Topa

Researchers at Duke Medical Center have demonstrated that they can grow human stem cells in the laboratory by blocking an enzyme that normally triggers stem cells to mature and differentiate into specialized cells. The discovery may enable scientists to grow stem cells rapidly and transplant them into patients with blood disorders, immune defects, and select genetic diseases.

Private Lives/Public Consequences: Personality and Politics in Modern America By William Chafe. Harvard University Press, 2005. 432 pages. $29.95.

Hour one: three of the first eleven slaves arrive in Dutch New Amsterdam, 162

Convocation formation: faculty members prepare to enter Duke

The board of trustees has approved a strategic plan for the university that will invest $1.3 billion above normal budgets over the next five to eight years in students, faculty members, programming, and facilities. Duke President Richard H. Brodhead says the plan, called "Making a Difference," has been in development for nearly two years.

Smart ape: chimpanzee. David Trood

Jon Gardiner

Performance potential: high-school runn

As she walked across campus last fall, Claire Lauterbach began to notice a disturbing pattern in the posters that adorned kiosks and bulletin boards advertising weekend parties.One pitched a "pimps and ho's" gathering; a second featured "secs and execs"; and a third "the president and the intern." Sexual themes dominated the ads.

Woman of Algiers, 2001 by Marlene Dumas. Oil on Canvas, 78 3/4 x 39 1/2 inches. Partial and promised gift of E.

The Duke Alumni Association and the Annual Fund have presented Charles A. Dukes Awards to four alumni and two parents for outstanding volunteer service to the university.The awards are named for the late Dukes '29, director of alumni affairs from 1944 to 1963, and honor individuals who reflect his dedication to the university. Dukes award winners are selected by the DAA board of directors and the executive committee of the Annual Fund.

GuantanámoYour July-August issue shows what happens to members of Al Qaeda who are captured by American forces ["Practicing Justice"].

Megan Morr

Deep thinkers: von Ahn, left, and Rich, right, pursue innovations in cryptolog

Hundreds of drugs that have been prescribed for children may not be safe or effective for pediatric use or may require different doses than currently suggested, but some of this information may not be reaching the medical community. The drugs include antidepressants, anti-seizure medications, and sedatives.

Michelle Connolly, an associate professor of economics, has been named chief economist of the Federal Communications Commission. She replaces Leslie Marx '89, an associate professor of economics in the Fuqua School of Business, who has held the position for the past year.Edward Halperin A.M.

Elliot Wolf. Megan Morr

Liz O'Kelly

Not long ago I met with the perpetually over-scheduled Peter Burian, chair of classical studies. I came to know Burian two decades ago, when I accompanied him and art historian Annabel Wharton on a study-abroad summer program. Rooted in Rome, the program was an exemplar of "interdisciplinarity" before that became an academic buzzword: It touched on themes ranging from the architecture of imperial power to the aesthetics of religious representation.

Lens on life: grouped around such themes as dreams, Durham children used p

 Gary Ybarra

I've spent the past five years trying to get my business off the ground, but I've decided I need another job to pay the bills. Everyone tells me to network, but I'm not sure how to get started.Networking probably ranks third—after public speaking and getting cavities filled—for "least favorite activity." Most graduates perceive networking as both unnatural and unpleasant. But it doesn't have to be.

Midway through our six-course meal, one of the members of our dining party paused mid-bite. Fork poised over her strip loin of beef (medium rare, served with parsnip puree) and roast piquillo pepper (stuffed with goat cheese and shredded, braised short ribs), she exclaimed with a note of wonder, "This is so good I want to cry."

Cooper: easy on the homework. Megan Morr

Last spring, Jason Strasser '07 deftly navigated four online poker games, placing hundred-dollar bets while simultaneously explaining the collegiate poker craze to Duke Magazine.

 David Hewitt has been going to class, studying French and classical music. In an apartment in the next quad, Charlotte Bartlett studies her day planner. Can she squeeze in some exercise between her committee meetings?

Duke undergraduate students report that they are cheating less in the classroom than five years ago, according to the 2005-06 survey on academic integrity at Duke. But there is still cause for concern, administrators say.

First Trinity alumnae: Persis, Mary Giles, and Theresa from left. Duke University Archives

 During the spring semester of 2002, Simon Partner, an associate professor of history, was teaching a seminar on modern Japanese history. Rather than assigning a standard research paper for the final project, he encouraged students to use historical research to weave a fictional narrative based on known facts and observations.

The Duke Endowment has contributed $527,500 to support programs of the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership. The money will help underwrite several of the partnership's priorities, including affordable-housing initiatives and extensive after-school tutoring and enrichment programs for at-risk youth.

Global Fund for Children

Before she showed up at Duke's Morreene Road Pain Clinic last year, Christy Anderson had suffered through intense migraines for more than three decades. They hunkered down in her forehead for days at a time, making her feel as if someone had planted a suction machine behind her eyebrows. During the worst attacks, all the forty-six-year-old Anderson could do was lie in the dark, motionless, hoping not to throw up. Raising her two children became an exhausting burden.

Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library

When the Duke Marine Laboratory dedicated its new Marguerite Kent Repass Ocean Conservation Center in November, it was a doubly significant occasion: The Repass Center is the first new academic building constructed at the Marine Lab in thirty years, and it is the lab's first "green" building.

Steel: fiscal responsibilities. Megan Morr

 Photos by Jon Gardiner