Duke in the News: Aug. 18, 2006

AMERICA'S BEST COLLEGES 2007 U.S. News & World Report, Aug. 21 -- Duke has placed eighth in the magazine's latest ranking of national universities. Also, Duke was ranked 10th in a category called "great schools, great prices." ... Full story --Also, New York Times, AP: Princeton Number 1 in College Rankings ... Full story (Raleigh) News & Observer, AP: Old College Try Puts Chicago Up in Rank ... Full story Duke News: Duke Places Eighth in U.S. News Ranking ... Full story

EX-CIA CONTRACTOR GUILTY IN AFGHAN DEATH Washington Post, AP, Aug. 18 -- Duke law professor Scott Silliman discusses the significance of the verdict against the first American civilian charged with mistreating a detainee during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. ... Full story --Also, News & Observer: Passaro Convicted of Assaulting Afghan ... Full story

CO2 MAY HELP SOME TREES WEATHER ICE STORMS UPI, Aug. 17 -- Duke scientists say higher levels of carbon dioxide predicted for later this century might help reduce damage to some trees caused by ice storms. ... Full story

BANGALORE BOY THROWS NEW LIGHT Times of India, Aug. 18 -- An inexpensive device to treat neonatal jaundice developed by a Duke student from India could save the lives of millions of poor children across the world. ... Full story

U.S. EVANGELICALS SPEAK OUT ON CLIMATE CHANGE VOA News, Aug. 15 -- Kyle Von Houten, a Ph.D. candidate at Duke, has studied the recent involvement of evangelical Christians with the environment, and sees several reasons why these activists are turning their attention to an issue as highly technical and controversial as global warming. ... Full story

SIDES AGREE ON JUDGE FOR DUKE LACROSSE CASE News & Observer, Aug. 18 -- The lawyers and prosecutor in the Duke lacrosse rape case have agreed to have Superior Court Judge W. Osmond Smith III appointed to handle the trial. ... Full story --Also, News & Observer: Duke University Tries to Foresee What's Ahead ... Full story (Durham) Herald-Sun: Column -- The $50,000 Question ... Full story Duke News: Duke and Men's Lacrosse (special website with background information) ... Full story

YOUNG LAWYERS FLOCK TO CHERTOFF & RUMSFELD New York Observer, Aug. 21 -- Until the late 1970s law school classes on national-security law were virtually nonexistent, according to Duke law professor Scott Silliman, who heads the university's Center on Law, Ethics and National Security. Now, he said, the classes are always full. ... Full story

BOOK REVIEW: BRIEF ENCOUNTERS WITH CHE GUEVARA Boston Herald, Aug. 6 -- 1983 Duke School of Law graduate Ben Fountain's "lush, sophisticated, often very funny" stories are collected in his new book, "Brief Encounters With Che Guevara." ... Full story --Also, New York Times: Newly Released (second item) ... Full story New York Times Magazine: Lives -- The Way Back (essay by Fountain) ... Full story Dallas Morning News: Column -- Dallas Writer Finds His Muse in Haiti ... Full story Miami Herald: Review -- Hot Spot ... Full story News & Observer: The Long Path to Short Stories ... Full story

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LA Weekly, Aug. 16 -- A brief history of intellectual property and the public domain written in comic-book form and published by Duke's Center for the Study of the Public Domain is helping filmmakers navigate the "fair use" of clips. ... Full story

PROMOTING JEWISH LEARNING The (N.Y.) Jewish Week, Aug. 18 -- At a conference on the Duke campus, teachers and students ponder what it means to be "Jewishly literate." ... Full story

ON THE AIR NC Now on Friday will include a story on the DiVE virtual reality tank, which is run by Rachael Brady, a research scientist at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering. The episode, to air at 7:30 p.m. ET on statewide UNC-TV, will highlight a student project and research by neurosciences postdoctoral researcher Nicole Huff. http://www.unctv.org/ncnow/ In an ongoing series of conversations with Duke's Center For Documentary Studies, "The State of Things" on Friday talks with professor Randy Benson about his summer class, Anytown, USA, in which students documented tales of Pittsboro, North Carolina. Students Laura Hirst and Katherine O'Toole share their documentaries. Listen at noon or to a rebroadcast at 6 a.m. Saturday on WUNC Radio. http://wunc.org/tsot The U.S. men's basketball team, coached by Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, hopes to improve on its recent international showings. Round 1 of the FIBA World Basketball Championship tips off Saturday (ESPN2, 1 a.m. ET) as LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony face Puerto Rico, which beat the U.S. in Athens. Finals are Sept. 3. http://www.fiba.com/