New Halftime Spot Features the Experiences of Undergraduates

What do we do at Duke?

As millions of TV viewers will soon learn, the answer is: amazing things.

The question is posed in two new 30-second televised messages that will air on national and regional basketball broadcasts this season. The spots debut during Dec. 10's much-anticipated men's matchup between #1 Duke and #2 Texas (1:30 p.m., CBS-TV).

Duke undergraduates are both the focus of the spots and among those who produced them, in collaboration with Duke Studio and the Office of News and Communications.

Each spot highlights examples of how Duke undergraduates engage their own learning on campus and beyond. Among the featured students are:

• Peter Blair '06 and Luke Stewart '06, who made presentations at a national physics conference on how gravity bends starlight in deep space;
• Nazaneen Homaifar '06, who conducted HIV-AIDS education programs at medical clinics in Senegal, West Africa.
• Billy Hwang '06, one of Duke's three new Rhodes Scholars, who organized summer camps to encourage kids' interest in science and engineering;
• Mikey Muhanna '07 and Nick Renner '07, who promoted political dialogue on campus after the 2004 Palestine Solidarity Movement Conference;
• Erica Staaterman '06, who has helped carry out cognitive research with lemurs at the Duke Primate Center;
• Brandi Stewart '06, who developed dance therapy programs for physically challenged children at Durham's Walltown Children's Theater.

Also featured in the spots are students from Josh Gibson's course, "Special Topics in Digital Video Production," who helped with the production.

"We had a very small class this semester, so everyone had a chance to participate," says Gibson, assistant director of the Film/Video/Digital Program. "The students were able to try out some interesting techniques with lighting and ChromaKey green screen backgrounds in a professional video production."

The spots will air during several other upcoming men's basketball broadcasts. These include the New Year's Eve game vs. UNC-Greensboro; Jan. 21 vs. Georgetown; Feb. 7 vs. UNC; and Feb. 14 vs. Wake Forest. In addition, the spots will run during Duke's ACC Tournament and NCAA Tournament games and may also air during selected women's games.

"One of Duke's important messages to potential applicants and others is that it's a place where students actively explore ideas and engage their own educations," said David Jarmul, associate vice president for News and Communications. "The students in these spots convey that message through their own experiences, illustrating how Duke undergraduates get involved with everything from astrophysics to international politics."