Duke in the News: Nov. 2, 2007

U.S. KIDS GET NEW TREND: MORE ACTIVE PARENTS Christian Science Monitor, Nov. 2 -- Kenneth Land, a Duke sociologist who compiles the Child Well-Being Index, discusses Census data that finds U.S. parents are reading more to their children and placing more restrictions on their TV viewing than they did 10 years earlier. (See second page.) ... Full story

IN N.C., OBAMA SEEKS S.C. HELP (Raleigh) News & Observer, Nov. 2 -- Even though North Carolina routinely votes Republican in presidential elections, it makes sense for Sen. Barack Obama to spend time in the state, says David Rohde, a Duke political scientist. ... Full story

OP-ED: CAROLINA CITIZENS NEED ACCESS TO LAWYERS IN CIVIL CASES Asheville Citizen-Times, Nov. 1 -- Associate law school dean Carol Spruill says she has "often wondered why a person facing even a minor criminal offense should have a right to an attorney when those facing the loss of their children would not enjoy a similar right." ... Full story

TINY ARTISTS MAKE BIG CARDS (Durham) Herald-Sun, Nov. 2 -- Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski takes art direction from a 6-year-old Duke Children's Hospital patient and all-occasion card artist. ... Full story

DOGGED Smithsonian, October 2007 -- Primatologist Brian Hare, who will join Duke's faculty in January, is named one of "America's Young Innovators" for his investigations into the social behavior of chimpanzees and bonobos in Africa. ... Full story

EXTREME OPTIMISM LINKED TO IMPRUDENCE UPI, Oct. 31 -- Fuqua School of Business researchers found a difference between optimism and extreme optimism for people making lifestyle choices. ... Full story

BOOK REVIEW: THE WORLD IN KITSCH (Paris) Liberation, Oct. 25 -- Duke literature professor Fredric Jameson, three of whose books have been translated for the first time into French, is said to have defined the mainstays of post-modernity: materialism and sham. ... Full story

ESSAY: STICK FIGURE Slate, Oct. 31 -- Duke professor Henry Petroski, author of a new history of the toothpick, shares the story of the Massachusetts marketing genius who popularized the handy device. ... Full story

ON THE AIR Duke professor Jennifer Groh will discuss how her research on monkeys' sensory perceptions indicate how humans are fooled by ventriloquists, on the CBC's "Quirks and Quarks" radio show Saturday from noon to 1 p.m. ET. http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/