The Duke Digest - October 21, 2011

 

In Today's Issue:
  • Coalition Asks Appropriators to Sustain International Education Programs
  • Sixty House Democrats Urge Deficit Supercommittee to Protect Research and Education Investments
  • US Patent and Trademark Office Director Discusses America Invents Act at Duke Law
  • Duke's Fuqua School of Business Reports Significant Increase in Employment for MBA Grads
  • Secretary Napolitano Gives Talk at Duke
  • Duke Professors Preview Napolitano's Duke Visit in 'Office Hours' Webcast


COALITION ASKS APPROPRIATORS TO SUSTAIN INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS
The Coalition for International Education, a group in which Duke participates, wrote to House and Senate appropriators on October 18 asking them to fund the Department of Education’s Title VI international education programs at the Senate’s higher spending level in a final FY12 spending bill. 

The Senate bill would allocate $75.7 million for the programs, the same as the FY11 level.  The House bill would level fund Title VI domestic programs but eliminate funding for the Fulbright-Hays overseas programs and Title VI-C, the Institute for Public Policy program.

Read More:
Coalition Urges Appropriators to Sustain International Education Programs (pdf)


SIXTY HOUSE DEMOCRATS URGE DEFICIT SUPERCOMMITTEE TO PROTECT RESEARCH AND EDUCATION INVESTMENTS
A group of 60 House Democrats sent a letter to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction on October 14 urging the panel to “protect, prioritize and strengthen federal investments in education, basic scientific research, and technological development…” as it develops its deficit-reduction plan. 

The letter, led by Reps. David Price (D-NC) and Rush Holt (D-NJ), said:

“Our investments in education, research, and development—including funding for basic science and biomedical research at universities and federal labs and wise incentives for private sector research—have put our economy on the cutting edge of the world’s most advanced industries.  These investments are a powerful way to spur job growth and are a must for a country that seeks to be competitive in the 21st Century economy.”

Read More:
Price, Holt Lead Effort Urging Supercommittee to Protect Job-Creating Investments in Education and Research (price.house.gov)
Signed Letter to Supercommittee (pdf)


US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE DIRECTOR DISCUSSES AMERICA INVENTS ACT AT DUKE LAW
David Kappos, Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), delivered the 10th annual Meredith and Kip Frey Lecture in Intellectual Property at Duke Law School on Oct. 18. Kappos, who advises the Obama administration on IP policy, spoke about the America Invents Act (AIA), a sweeping patent-reform bill signed into law in September.

A key architect of the law, Kappos stressed the AIA’s potential for positive impact on the economy, saying it would enable innovation and lead to job creation. “By building the world’s first and only 21st century patent system, fit to manage the demands of a globalized economy, this new law enables a better-resourced USPTO to grant IP rights with greater speed, greater clarity, and greater quality,” he said. “It also significantly advances the president’s strategy of deploying American innovation to build businesses and to build jobs for our country.”

Read More:
US Patent and Trademark Office Director Discusses America Invents Act at Duke Law (law.duke.edu)


DUKE'S FUQUA SCHOOL OF BUSINESS REPORTS SIGNIFICANT INCREASES IN EMPLOYMENT FOR MBA GRADS
Graduates from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business are securing jobs at higher levels than in past years, despite gloomy unemployment statistics in many developed countries. Fuqua’s Career Management Center (CMC) reports that 93 percent of full-time students from the 2011 graduating class have received offers three months since their actual graduation, an 11 percentage point increase from the previous year and a 14 percentage point rise from the 2009 class.

Read More:
Duke University's Fuqua School of Busines Reports Significant Increases in Employment for MBA Graduates (fuqua.duke.edu)


SECRETARY NAPOLITANO GIVES TALK AT DUKE
Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano spoke at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy on Thursday, where she defended the deportation last month of a record 400,000 people from the U.S.

“That is 400,000 people this year out of 10 million who are here illegally,” Napolitano told a large crowd at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy. “The top priority were those who are here illegally and are dangerous to the public safety, and it is those who have been targeted.”

In a conversation with two Duke professors, the former governor of Arizona said that her department had no choice but to enforce an immigration law that “is badly in need of reform.”

Read More:
Napolitano Defends Deportations (Herald-Sun)
Napolitano at Duke: The Future of Homeland Security (news.duke.edu)


DUKE PROFESSORS PREVIEW NAPOLITANO'S DUKE VISIT IN 'OFFICE HOURS' WEBCAST

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano visited Duke Oct. 20 to hold a public conversation with Duke professors David Schanzer and Noah Pickus about her department's crucial mandates, including immigration enforcement, terrorism prevention and disaster preparedness.

Before Napolitano's talk, Schanzer and Pickus took questions on their own work on domestic security and immigration reform, during a live, interactive "Office Hours" webcast.

During a recent panel discussion, Pickus, the Nannerl O. Keohane director of Duke's Kenan Institute for Ethics, said the connection between homeland security and immigration has been especially strong since the 9/11 attacks.

"We used to have an immigration and naturalization service that was originally in the Department of Labor; then it was moved over the years to the Department of Justice," he said. "Now -- because of 9/11 -- it is in the Department of Homeland Security.

Read More:
Duke Professors Preview Napolitano Talk in 'Office Hours' Webcast Oct. 20 (news.duke.edu)
Immigration and Security 'Office Hours' Webcast (ondemand.duke.edu)