News You Can Use

Alleviate stress, work out smarter, volunteer for local camps and get to know your local trees in this month's assortment of tips, advice and other useful information from Duke.

Online Walking Tour of Campus Trees

Due to its mature hardwoods oaks, pines, cherries, ashes and others that grow across campus, Duke is one of the first universities to receive recognition from Tree Campus USA, a new national program of the Arbor Day Foundation. The program honors universities for promoting healthy urban forest management and for engaging the campus community in environmental stewardship. (Durham has been recognized for 26 years by Tree City USA, another foundation program.)

In celebration of spring, Sustainable Duke, along with the grounds maintenance office of Duke Facilities Management, is coordinating an "online walking tour" of some of the beautiful trees that shape the campus. Visitors can download a map to take the self-guided walk, noting familiar trees they may pass every day. Go to tinyurl.com/orbrpu and click on your favorite tree to learn about its species, height and characteristics.

(Free) Summer Help Wanted

Duke partners with several organizations to provide free services to children and teens during the summer. The organizations, many of them local, are in need of volunteers.

Enlaces, a school outreach program for Latino youth, needs helpers for its summer program. The camp provides an opportunity for Durham public school students and their families to get to know the youth coordinators they'll work with during the academic year. For more information, contact Channa Pickett at 684-6296 or by e-mail at channa.pickett@duke.edu.

The Emily Krzyzewski Center helps economically disadvantaged students achieve academic goals and more. It seeks volunteers for its summer scholars academic program. To find out more, contact Karman Kenty at 680-0308 or kkent@emilyk.org.

Walltown Neighborhood Ministries, a coalition of five churches in the Walltown area of Durham, is helping residents affected by the economy with regular food distribution at the end of every month. If you are interested in helping shop for, sort or distribute food, contact Stacey Craig at 668-1033 or stacey.craig@duke.edu.

Trimming the Fat

Gerald Endress, the fitness manager at Duke's Diet & Fitness Center, recently offered advice on what qualifications to look for when selecting a personal trainer and how to firm the abdominal muscles for swimsuit season.

He told ABC News you should look for a trainer with national certification in organizations such as the American College of Sports Medicine or the American Council on Exercise.

Endress has also dispelled some common myths about exercise, saying crunches will not help flatten your stomach.

"Basically, you can't spot-reduce your body decides where to store fat and a lot of that is based on your genetics," Endress told reporters. He says the best way to get a flat stomach is to burn calories to reduce fat overall.

A stomach-flattening exercise routine might vary by person, but Endress suggests people find an activity they can stick with. He also recommends strengthening the torso area through Pilates, yoga and muscle training.

New Location for Farmers' Market

The Duke Farmers' Market has moved to a new location in the green space beyond the Mudd Library near the Bryan Research Center. You can find a map of the new location at hr.duke.edu/farmersmarket/map.html.

Come Stay With Us

Dave Thomas, the late founder of the Wendy's fast-food chain, had several close ties to Duke. One of them is his namesake, the R. David Thomas Executive Conference Center, adjacent to the Fuqua School of Business on Duke's West campus. With more than 100 rooms and ample meeting space, the center provides inexpensive and comfortable guest rooms for visitors. It is also within walking distance of Duke's athletic fields for out-of-towners interested in attending sports events. Room rates range from $99-119 per night, breakfast included. A new executive chef offers fresh locally grown meals served in an upscale buffet, priced from $10 to $35. For more information and to reserve a room, call 660-6400 or go to meetingsatduke.com.

Take a Deep Breath In --

The next cycle of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) classes begins on July 6 and 7, with orientation at the end of June. The classes are offered at Duke Integrative Medicine. MBSR is a method of using meditation and yoga to cultivate awareness and reduce stress. It is based on the ancient practice of mindfulness, making the most of being alive and present in the richness of each moment. Practitioners can gain access to their deepest inner resources for living, healing and coping with stress.

Eight weekly two-and-a-half-hour sessions focus on different facets of mindfulness with one all-day session the Day of Mindfulness on a Saturday.

Duke employees get $25 off the registration price of $395. For more information call 660-6826 or go to tinyurl.com/qu5397.