The Duke Digest - January 14, 2011

In Today's Issue:

  • Duke to Broadcast Jan 15 Men's Basketball Game in Mandarin Chinese
  • Duke Prof: How to Cut Gun Death Toll
  • Duke Alum Reaches 10 Years of Service at Republican Study Committee
  • Future of U.S. Higher Ed Focus of Spring Lecture Series at Duke
  • Duke Prof Presents Student Learning Measures Expertise to Congressional Staff
  • Program Helps Duke Students Immerse Themselves in Culture, Language of Russia, India
  • Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom to Speak at Duke Feb 3

DUKE TO BROADCAST JAN 15 MEN'S BASKETBALL GAME IN MANDARIN CHINESE
Duke University and GoDuke.com will broadcast the Jan. 15 Duke men’s basketball game versus the University of Virginia in Mandarin Chinese.

“Duke Basketball unites people around the world,” said Michael J. Schoenfeld, Duke’s vice president for public affairs and government relations. “We are excited to bring this part of the Duke experience to our Chinese-speaking students, alumni and fans, regardless of where they live. It illustrates the global nature of the university, and our aspirations for the future.”

The free broadcast will be available both live and on-demand at GoDuke.com Inside Access, and marks the first time in ACC history that a game has been broadcast in Chinese.

Read More:
Duke to Broadcast Jan 15 Basketball Game in Chinese (DukeNews)


DUKE PROF: HOW TO CUT GUN DEATH TOLL
Duke professor Philip J. Cook writes in a CNN.com op-ed that reinstating a ban on high-capacity magazines could help to cut down on the death toll in mass shootings like last Saturday's Tucson tragedy.

"The assassination attempt and mass killing in Tucson, Arizona, last Saturday was reportedly committed with a Glock 9 mm semiautomatic handgun equipped with a high-capacity magazine that held 31 bullets. ...perhaps there is now a chance for Congress, faced with this attack on one of their own, to take modest steps to reduce the ease with which psychotic individuals can shoot large numbers of victims. One such step is to reinstate the prohibition on high-capacity magazines."

Cook is the Terry Sanford Professor of Public Policy and co-editor of Controlling Crime: Strategies and Tradeoffs (forthcoming, University of Chicago Press). 

Read More:
Hot to Cut Gun Death Toll (CNN.com)


DUKE ALUM REACHES 10 YEARS OF SERVICE TO RSC
New Chairman of the U.S. House Republican Study Committee (RSC), Jim Jordan of Ohio, asked Paul Teller (T '93) to stay on as the RSC's executive director.  Rep. Jordan is the sixth RSC chairman under which Teller has served (two as executive director), and February 2011 will mark Teller's tenth year of service at the RSC.  He can be reached at paul.teller@mail.house.gov.


FUTURE OF U.S. HIGHER ED FOCUS OF SPRING LECTURE SERIES AT DUKE
American higher education is considered the best in the world, but is it losing its competitive edge? Five national experts will provide a broad critique on the future of the American collegiate experience this spring at Duke University in a lecture series, "Re-imagining the Academy."

The series, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by Duke's Bass Society of Fellows, a group of distinguished faculty who seek to develop innovative ways to connect students and faculty in an academic setting.

Read More:
Future of U.S. Higher Education Focus of Spring Lecture Series (DukeNews)


DUKE PROF PRESENTS STUDENT LEARNING MEASURES EXPERTISE TO CONGRESSIONAL STAFF
Helen “Sunny” Ladd, Edgar Thompson Professor of Public Policy Studies and Professor of Economics at Duke's Sanford School of Public Policy, presented a session on "Measuring Student Learning" to a group of Congressional staffers on Monday.  The session was a part of a seminar, "Human Capital Education: Evaluation, Effectiveness, Equity," hosted by the Aspen Institute.

Professor Ladd is an expert in education policy and can be reached at helen.ladd@duke.edu.


NEW PROGRAM HELPS DUKE STUDENTS IMMERSE THEMSELVES IN CULTURE, LANGUAGE OF RUSSIA, INDIA
Duke University students who want to spend a year immersing themselves in the culture and language of Russia or India -- and include civic engagement in the experience -- will have that opportunity through a pilot program.

The program, Duke INtense Global, or DIG, will be offered in the 2011-12 school year, with preference given to rising sophomores. Two groups of five to 10 students will take specified classes at Duke and abroad.

Read More:
Students to Immerse Themselves in Culture, Language of Russia, India (DukeNews


NOBEL LAUREATE ELINOR OSTROM TO SPEAK AT DUKE FEB 3
Elinor Ostrom, the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Economics, will present a free public lecture at Duke University at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 3.

Her talk, “Updating the Theory of Collective Action and the Environment,” will be in Love Auditorium at the Levine Science Research Center on Duke’s West Campus.

The talk is the Spring 2011 Duke Environment and Society Lecture, sponsored by the Nicholas School of the Environment.  A reception will precede the talk at 5:15 p.m. in the adjacent Hall of Science.

Read More:
Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom to Speak at Duke Feb 3 (Nicholas.duke.edu)