Spring 2014 Issue

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FEATURES

  • Statistics
    Box scores in the National Basketball Association look far different than they did thirty years ago—or even ten, for that matter. these days, they’re canvassed in acronyms such as PER (Player efficiency rating) and 3PAr (3-Point Attempt Rate), which look more like robot names than a way to measure a basketball game. teams in the NBA have followed the paths of their Major League Baseball counterparts and now are taking a hard look at advanced analytics when it comes to most aspects of running an organization.
  • Vocal fry
    By the time you finish reading this story you will have learned the following things: Men can hear fertility status in a woman’s voice—and they like it; a big, deep “me Tarzan” voice seems to help not just men but women succeed in politics and business; the pitch and tone of a CEO’s voice in a conference call may give you information about stock performance; women have it even tougher than you knew; and there may be evolutionary value in this whole “vocal fry” trend (think Kardashian end-of-sentence croak; for a less cringe-inducing example, actress Zooey Deschanel).
  • Duke Coffeehouse
    On stage, a woman taps at synthesizers and drum boxes, creating alien noises with her fingertips. Across the room, behind the soundboard, senior Jack Tarpey listens with earphones askew. He tweaks dials that correspond to synths, drums, and vocals, transforming a tangled racket into a starry, liquid melody. The music is neither of sea nor space, but somewhere equally otherworldly: the Duke Coffeehouse, a café and show venue straddling the Duke-Durham border at the edge of East Campus.

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

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    Less than two-thirds of doctors and teenage patients talk about sex, sexuality, or dating during yearly checkups, according to a Duke Medicine study published in JAMA Pediatrics last December. The conversations that do occur usually last just over thirty seconds, on average.
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    Nearly 5,900 natural-gas leaks have been found under the streets of Washington by a research team from Duke, Boston University, and Gas Safety Inc. Some of the leaks could have posed explosion risks, according to the team.“Repairing these leaks will improve air quality, increase consumer health and safety, and save money,” says Robert B. Jackson, a professor of environmental sciences, who led the study.
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    An Alumni Faculty Fellow, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong is Chancey Stillman Professor of practical ethics in the philosophy department and the Kenan Institute for Ethics. His current work explores moral psychology and brain science, uses of neuroscience in legal systems, and freedom and responsibility. He co-teaches a MOOC, “Think Again: How to Reason and Argue.”
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    Athletes who suffer from torn-cartilage injuries may soon be in luck. Mimicking the strength and suppleness of natural cartilage is tricky, but Duke researchers have developed a synthetic version that comes pretty close to the real thing.Articular cartilage, the tissue between bones and joints, enables us to bend body parts like elbows, hips, and knees. But overuse or injury can lead to wear-and-tear on cartilage, making movement painful and difficult.
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    Photos by Karen Webbink (top) and Robert Ayers.
  • Crowd pleaser: A mix of Duke community members and townspeople learned from student engineers, here in 1938. Courtesy of Duke University Archives.
  • In the 1930s, Sarah P. Duke expressed her hopes that a public garden would not only “be a great attraction but of distinct educational value.” Over the years, Duke Gardens have provided the setting for many stories— of courtship and marriage, exploration and exercise, and learning and contemplation. On May 2, an anniversary event will be held at the Doris Duke Center.
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    The years-long, hotly contested debate about whether Duke should add a softball team is over. Softball will become Duke’s twenty-seventh varsity team with its anticipated debut in spring 2018.In addition, Duke announced plans to increase the number of scholarships for women’s fencing, swimming and diving, and track and field to provide each program with the maximum quantity allowed by the NCAA.
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    The challenge was to come up with new ideas for improving science and math education in the U.S. and India in forty-eight hours. While all earned praise, three of those initiatives earned cash prizes that benefited nonprofit organizations.
  • Growing up, Steven Blaser gleaned from his parents the value of saving a hard-earned dollar. But he noticed a shortage of understanding about basic financial concepts among many of his peers. in February 2012, Blaser started Duke/Durham Saves, an affiliate of Duke’s Financial Economics Center. Inspired by the national America Saves campaign, Blaser’s local initiative promotes financial literacy and smart saving habits in the Durham community as well as on campus.
  • THE CATALYST: Blake Goodner ’96 believes he’s gained much from his Duke experience. As a cofounder of the investment company Bridger Capital, he also has gained financial expertise, including hedge-fund analysis. A class designed to “provide current Duke students with a real-world Wall Street experience” would be “a powerful and enduring way to give back,” he says.
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    Science guy: Wilson created a foundation that brings opportunities to grad students. Photo by Jerry Bauer.He’s twice won the nonfiction Pulitzer Prize and is the leading authority on the study of ants. Renowned scientist E.O. Wilson is teaching at Duke, and he brought his biodiversity foundation with him.
  • Wall flowers: David Lang (left) and Tony Fierro lean against the East Side Gallery, a memorialized section of the Berlin Wall. Photo by Maryana Nikolin.
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    What is a research university, and what value can it offer to society? Recently, this question has sparked discussion around the world, and Duke is in the midst of the conversation.
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    Nearly thirty years ago, D.C. Cathro was walking along a road in Frederick, Maryland, when he spotted a ring. It was a Duke Class of 1970 ring, and Cathro could make out the engraved name—J.R. Sanders—and the Greek letters Sigma Nu around the stone.Then a high-school student, Cathro handwrote a letter to Duke with the details.
  • Shortly after Kareem Cook ’94 signed on to help organize his class’ 20th reunion, he uploaded to Facebook a series of digitally scanned pages from his old “pic book,” the class directory he received as a freshman at Duke.He tagged classmates, inviting them to take a virtual trip down memory lane, and then watched their comments appear.“Haven’t seen you since graduation,” one friend wrote to a classmate. “Would love to catch up.”
  • Photo by Jon GardinerIn mid-January, Duke women’s basketball senior point guard Chelsea Gray played sixteen minutes against Boston College, tallying 11 points, two assists, two rebounds, and four steals. But something didn’t feel right. Tests after the game revealed a fractured right kneecap, sidelining the two-time All-America selection for the season and ending her Duke career.For Blue Devil fans, the news was like hitting the rewind button.
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    Bruce Rosenbaum’s imagination is a fantastic hybrid of turn-of-the-century aesthetics, punk rebellion, and futuristic design. Rosenbaum M.B.A. ’88 is cofounder of ModVic, a company specializing in Steampunk design. ModVic draws on Steampunk’s mash-up of Victorian motifs, sci-fi flights-of-fancy, and modern technology to produce one-of-a-kind functional objects for clients ranging from homeowners and interior designers to restaurants and tattoo parlors.
  • For thirty minutes each Thursday, just after the bells chime five, Duke Chapel falls under an enchanting spell. Between the looming limestone pillars and the oaken pews, a chorus begins to sing medieval hymns in foreign, ancient tongues. Wearing white surplices over red robes, they proceed in pairs down the dimly lit nave to the chancel. Each carries a small glowing candle and a songbook. The choir casts bright, reverberating notes to the stone saints, vibrant panes, and vaulted arches above—a sound at once ethereal and haunting.
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    Adam Chodikoff ’93, a senior producer and a fact-checker at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, spoke to students at Duke Entertainment, Media and the Arts Network (DEMAN) Weekend in early November. Chodikoff talked about his role in fact-checking news to help Jon Stewart prepare his jokes. “Without credibility, the jokes mean nothing,” Chodikoff said.
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    Change agent: Let Girls Lead's founder and executive director Denise Dunning, first row, second from right, leads teambuilding exercises for advocates in Guatemala. Courtesy of Denise Denning.The theme of this year’s International Women's Day is "inspiring change." It's an approach that resonates with Denise Raquel Dunning '98, who has dedicated her career to improving the health and well-being of girls and empowering them to become advocates for change in their communities.
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    Photo by Cody ClarkeSterly Wilder ’83, associate vice president for alumni affairs, talks with Ana Homayoun ’01, founder of Green Ivy Education Consulting and author of two books about helping young people find success in school and life—The Myth of the Perfect Girl and That Crumpled Paper Was Due Last Week.
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    ALUMNI GO BOWLINGAs Duke prepared to face Texas A&M in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, we caught up with alumni in Atlanta. Check Duke Today to see how Phil Ebinger ’84, chief financial officer of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks; Lisa Borders ’79, chair of the Coca-Cola Foundation; Harry Harkins ’73, lawyer and LGBT advocate; and Sue Wasiolek ’76, M.H.A. ’78, J.D. ’93, Duke’s dean of students, celebrated one of the biggest days in Duke football history.

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