Nov - Dec 2007 Issue

Gospel legends: Blind Boys of Alabama.

 For well over twenty years, Duke Magazine has taken on tough issues—lately, the lacrosse incident. In its Forum pages, the magazine has represented a range of opinions, including opinions that are harshly critical of administration actions.

Calling home: Katrina survivor Alison Aucoin, now a North Carolina resident Megan Morr

Motto mistake: Baldwin's permanent typo Duke University Archives

Most new technologies go through a fairly long period of development during which the new invention is pricier and limited to wealthier consumers. Radio, however, has a different story. In its heyday, radio sets were almost immediately and widely available, says Daniel Foster, assistant professor of theater studies. As a result, national broadcasts attempted to appeal across socioeconomic lines.

Andrews: a first for Duke. Courtesy of DukeMed News

The Class of 2011 on East Campus. Chris Hildreth

William M. LeFevre has been appointed the first full-time executive director of the Sarah P. Duke Gardens, effective October 1. He replaces former director Richard A. White, University Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of biology, who retired in June.

Les Todd"I have had a sort of peripatetic life," says Zephyr Rain Teachout. This turns out to be no mild understatement.

A cross-section of the human head

Since graduation, all my jobs have come through promotions or connections. Now, I'm in the position of having to create my first professional résumé. How should it be different from the one I wrote senior year?Graduates often fall in love with the résumé that led to their first career position and just add on to it. But you're in a different market now. And that means the way you present yourself to potential employers needs to change.

In early September, Erwin Chemerinsky, Alston & Bird Professor of law and a renowned constitutional scholar, believed he'd be heading to the University of California at Irvine as founding dean of its new law school, scheduled to open in 2009.

Aurora / Ty Milford

Les Ruines des Plus Beaux Monuments de la Grèce. 

 

We marvel at modern medicine's ability to heal life-threatening injuries, prolong lives, and cure diseases. And yet, as any physician will tell you, medicine is an imprecise science. A cell undergoes permutation or an organ fails, and no number of pills or procedures can help. A full understanding of the intricacies of the human body—the fragile sack of liquids, organs, nerves, and bones that propels us through our brief, mortal existence—remains elusive.

 "Ready!" And, go. He rushes left, gobbling tiny white dots along the way. He makes a left and a quick right, maneuvering through the black labyrinth. Now he's sailing, in the clear. Seeing an orange ghost making eyes at him, he changes course and heads for an energizer, knowing that if he eats it, the ghost will be temporarily neutralized. He's keeping an eye out for drifting fruit.

Monk abides. That's Monk, as in Thelonious Sphere Monk. If the name rings with a slightly off-kilter resonance, at once elegant and a touch uncanny, it's only appropriate. The jazz composer and pianist, who would have turned ninety this October, was a singular brand of genius, an idiosyncratic marvel, and a pivotal figure in American music. Once you'd heard him, you could never forget him.

The Duke Alumni Association and the Annual Fund will present Charles A. Dukes Awards to four alumni 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.

Enduring legacy: Fou

Good measure: Ella Lig

Catalan Cowl1987-1988, by Sir Anthony Caro, welded steel41 3⁄4 x 38 x 17 inches. Promised gift of E. Blake Byrne '57, in honor of Raymond D. Nasher '43

Reacting, in part, to problems in the North Carolina legal system raised by the Duke lacrosse case, Duke Law School will establish a center devoted to promoting justice in the criminal justice system and to training lawyers to fight against wrongful convictions. Duke will contribute $1.25 million to the project over five years.

What smells awful to one person may actually strike another as pleasant, according to a new report by Duke Medical Center researchers. The difference, they say, doesn't come down to personal preferences but to genetic variants in the odor receptors of smellers.

Megan Morr

Hensen: White House efforts to maintain and restrict presidential records will have damaging and far-reaching consequences Megan Morr

Big wheel: Provost Peter Lange takes Duke Bike for a spin

Staging the street: scene from Ain't Supposed to Die A Natu

Sue Matthew

Courtesy of Center for In Vivo Microscopy

 Guy Le Deley

Working out on a treadmillResearchers have found that a moderate exercise program can do wonders for the heart, keeping a key blood marker linked to heart disease and diabetes low even after weeks of rest, in some cases more effectively than intense exercise.

 

During a legal conference held at Duke in late September, President Richard H. Brodhead responded to critics who have continued to question his handling of the Duke lacrosse incident.

The big three: the newest Devil hoopsters—King, Singler, and Smith, from left—followed similar paths to get to Coach K Court Jon Gardiner

Mark Mainz / Getty Images