Duke in the News: June 13, 2005

DUKE SLOW TO FIND FLUID ERROR (Raleigh) News & Observer, June 12 -- A newspaper investigation finds that two hospitals run by Duke University Health System were slow to detect that surgical instruments were being washed in used hydraulic fluid instead of detergent. ... Full story --Also, News & Observer: Duke Health System Errors ... Full story CNN: Report -- Surgical Tools Washed in Hydraulic Fluid ... Full story

LANGUAGE MAY NOT BE NEEDED FOR 'NUMBER SENSE' Forbes, June 10 -- A new study led by Elizabeth Brannon of Duke's Center for Cognitive Neuroscience suggests that rhesus monkeys can understand and anticipate number groupings without the aid of language. ... Full story

REYNOLDS PRICE NPR's The Connection, June 10 -- Duke professor, novelist, poet and playwright Reynolds Price talks about his new novel, "The Good Priest's Son," and takes questions from callers. Listen

BETTER TO HIRE A FOOL THAN A JERK Toronto Star, June 12 -- Duke business professor Miguel Lobo talks about his survey of work relationships in five corporations and his conclusion that the lovable fool trumps the competent jerk as the favored work partner. ... Full story

PEDIATRICIAN 'AGES' TO BE DUKE STUDENT HEALTH LEADER (Durham) Herald-Sun, June 13 -- Bill Purdy, who becomes the university's director of student health on July 1, says he hopes to pursue meaningful new ways to deal with the problems many students face, including body image and sleep deprivation. ... Full story

THE MYSTERY BEHIND LIGHTNING'S PUZZLING FRIEND RedNova, June 7 -- A study led by Steven Cummer of Duke and a Colorado colleague has found more evidence that sprites -- eerie flashes of colored light -- are generated by major lightning strikes. ... Full story

BOOK REVIEW: LESSONS FROM THE HGDP? Science Magazine, June 10 -- A reviewer recommends "Race to the Finish: Identity and Governance in an Age of Genomics" by Jenny Reardon, a researcher at Duke's Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy. ... Full story

RESCUE ME Independent Weekly, June 8 -- Duke civil engineering professor Andrew Schuler details the unlikely path that led him from a listserv e-mail to a screen test in Hollywood to playing "The Professor" on the reality show "The Real Gilligan's Island." ... Full story --Also, Schuler Lab website: Beyond Academics ... Full story

FAMILIES OFFER KIDS RETREAT (Raleigh) News & Observer, June 10 -- Dr. Michael Freemark, director of pediatric endocrinology at Duke, donated a year of treatment for a Belarussian child, one of many still suffering from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster. ... Full story

VOLUMES CHASE ELUSIVE READERS Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 10 -- At the recent industry trade show BookExpo in New York, there was talk of the forthcoming "Mirror to America" (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, November) by Duke historian John Hope Franklin. ... Full story

REALTORS, THE HEART OF THE AMERICAN MIDDLE-CLASS The (London) Times Literary Supplement, June 8 -- The Realtor has been hugely instrumental in creating the modern American middle class, argues Jeffrey M. Hornstein in his Duke Press-published book, "A Nation of Realtors." ... Full story

MIND GAMES OFF THE FIELD Forbes, June 20 -- Duke business professor Cade Massey and a colleague study college draft results and conclude that team executives display an unwarranted confidence in their draft-picking ability. (Link to abstract for Duke computer users; e-mailed upon request to eduke@duke.edu.) ... Abstract for Duke computer users