Skip to main content

Duke in the News: May 11, 2007

Brimming to the Nth Degree | Global Desertification | Blame Boneheaded Bets on Your Tired Brain, and more!

BRIMMING TO THE NTH DEGREE (Durham) Herald-Sun, May 11 -- Towers wrapped in a fabric printed to resemble the stone facade of West Campus will adorn the Duke commencement stage on Sunday as General Motors Chairman Rick Wagoner addresses the graduates. ... Full story --Also, (Raleigh) News & Observer: In Graduations' Grip ... Full story Duke News: Duke to Award More Than 4,000 Degrees During Sunday's Commencement ... Full story

GLOBAL DESERTIFICATION Science, May 11 -- Duke environmental scientist James F. Reynolds leads a panel of experts calling for applying basic sustainability principles in the world's arid and semiarid areas. ... Full story --Also, ScienceDaily: Drylands Are Not the Same as Badlands ... Full story

BLAME BONEHEADED BETS ON YOUR TIRED BRAIN MSNBC, May 9 -- Scientists at the Duke-National University of Singapore Graduate School of Medicine pinpoint why late-night gamblers lose big time. ... Full story --Also, (San Jose) Mercury News: Column -- All Bets Off: It's Nap Time ... Full story

HEARD ON CAMPUS: RESEARCH RANKINGS BusinessWeek, May 10 -- The Fuqua School of Business ranks No. 5 in research productivity in a survey of 100 business schools in North America. (See second item.) ... Full story

'MUDTRAILS' CAUSED BY TRAWLERS REVEALED (London) The Telegraph, May 11 -- Duke conservation ecologist Kyle Van Houtan and other scientists say "mudtrails" are visible evidence of the disturbance to seabed habitat caused by trawling, which they say is one of the most damaging activities on Earth, according to this week's Nature. ... Full story

OP-ED: FROM APOLOGY TO CLOSURE -- REPARATIONS FOR AFRICAN-AMERICANS Herald-Sun, May 10 -- States that have recently offered an apology for slavery and the system of Jim Crow have only taken the first step toward healing the wounds of racial inequality, says Duke professor William Darity Jr., writing with a colleague. (Article not available online; e-mailed upon request to dukenews@duke.edu.)

STUDENT TAKES ON TASK OF TWO COLLEGES (Binghamton, N.Y.) Press & Sun-Bulletin, May 6 -- Eric Emilio-Gerrit Butter is ready for a life-changing experience -- as a student at Duke and UNC. ... Full story

BOOK REVIEW: MONEY ILL SPENT The Weekly Standard, May 5 -- Duke professor Joel L. Fleishman's "The Foundation: A Great American Secret; How Private Wealth Is Changing the World" is reviewed. (Link to preview and full text for subscribers; e-mailed upon request to dukenews@duke.edu.) ... Preview/full story for subscribers