Duke in the News: April 13, 2007

NIFONG APOLOGIZES AND TRIES TO EXPLAIN (Raleigh) News & Observer, April 13 -- District Attorney Mike Nifong on Thursday apologized to three wrongly accused former Duke lacrosse players, but said also that he had lacked access to important evidence. ... Full story --Also, Christian Science Monitor: Duke Case Spurs U.S. Colleges to Clean Up Campus Culture ... Full story Washington Post: Editorial -- The Duke Debacle ... Full story (Durham) Herald-Sun: Editorial -- Closer to Closure in Emotional Case ... Full story Duke News: Duke and Men's Lacrosse (special website with background information) ... Full story

THE PAINFUL LESSONS FOR DO-IT-YOURSELF GUYS (Toronto) Globe and Mail, April 13 -- The trend in Canadian emergency rooms is consistent with a Duke study showing that the annual rate of nail-gun injuries to consumers treated in U.S. hospital ERs has soared in the past 15 years. ... Full story --Also, ABC News: Nail Gun Injuries Surge (with video) ... Full story

GENOMICISTS TACKLE THE PRIMATE TREE Science, April 13 -- Anne D. Yoder, an evolutionary biologist and director of the Duke Lemur Center, discusses the importance of decoding the DNA of rhesus monkeys and other primates. ... Full story

ANALYSIS: BUSH HOLDS ADVANTAGE IN IRAQ FIGHT, DESPITE POLLS Reuters India, April 13 -- "The president is generally given a lot of leeway with the troops," says Christopher Gelpi, a political scientist at Duke. "When push comes to shove, the Democrats have to be careful that they are not perceived as interfering with his role as commander-in-chief and undermining the troops." ... Full story

SEC'S COX TIGHTENS REINS ON ENFORCEMENT DIVISION, PEOPLE SAY Bloomberg News, April 13 -- James Cox, a securities law professor at Duke, discusses the message being sent by the chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in restricting staff from setting penalties, a move that may reduce fines by the agency. ... Full story

ROSCOE LEE BROWNE, KNOWN FOR HIS DISTINCTIVE VOICE, DIES OF CANCER BlackAmericaWeb, April 13 -- Mark Anthony Neal, an associate professor of black popular culture at Duke, says Roscoe Lee Browne's talents, like many black actors of his era, were often bigger than the vehicles in which he appeared. ... Full story

STUDENTS LOVE A GOOD DEBATE News & Observer, April 13 -- Does the First Amendment protect a hate-spewing band that, in its lyrics, threatens a politician? That was the fictitious case high school students from across the country argued at the 2007 Duke Moot Court. ... Full story

ON THE AIR This Sunday on CBS' 60 Minutes, Lesley Stahl interviews the three former Duke lacrosse players and North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper. Cooper will discuss the evidentiary details that led him to declare the three men innocent. ... Details On Sunday's edition of North Carolina Bookwatch (5 p.m. on UNC-TV), veteran journalist and author Art Chansky details the colorful, revered and respected Duke-UNC rivalry. Chansky, who has seen every Duke-Carolina game since 1968, is the author of "Blue Blood -- Duke-Carolina: Inside the Most Storied Rivalry in College Hoops." ... Details