The Duke Digest - January 6, 2012

In Today's Issue:

  • General Martin Dempsey, Chair of Joint Chiefs of Staff, to Speak at Duke
  • Duke to Host Public Workshop on Hydrofracking Jan 9
  • Faculty Opinion: What Iowa Means for Republicans
  • Duke Law Prof on Balancing Intellectual Property Rights and the Public Domain
  • Debt Commission Leaders Bowles, Simpson to Speak at Duke Jan 18
  • Faculty Opinion: A Fourth "R" for 21st Century Literacy
  • Duke Research: "Love Hormone" May Break Down Normal Social Barriers, Treat Disorders


GENERAL MARTIN DEMPSEY, CHAIR OF JOIN CHIEFS OF STAFF, TO SPEAK AT DUKE JAN 12
Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, will speak at Duke University on Jan. 12.

Dempsey will deliver the 2011 Ambassador S. Davis Phillips Family International Lecture at 5:30 p.m. in Page Auditorium.

Dempsey is the nation's highest-ranking military officer, serving as adviser to the president, secretary of defense and the National Security Council. During his 37 years in the U.S. Army, he has served during times of war and peace at every level, from platoon leader to combatant commander. Both a soldier and a scholar, he earned a master's degree in English from Duke in 1984.

Those unable to attend can watch a live webcast at ustream.tv/dukeuniversity.

Read More:
General Martin Dempsey to Deliver Lecture on Jan 12 (Duke.edu) 


DUKE TO HOST PUBLIC WORKSHOP ON HYDROFRACKING JAN 9
Experts from science, government and industry will present recent findings and analysis about the environmental and social implications of hydraulic fracturing and gas drilling at a daylong workshop Monday, Jan. 9, at Duke University.

The workshop, from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Reynolds Theater in Duke's Bryan Center, is free and open to the public. Seating is limited and advance registration is required online at www.nicholas.duke.edu/hydrofrackingworkshop2012. 

Read More:
Duke Hosts Public Hydrofracking Workshop Jan 9 (Duke.edu)


FACULTY OPINION: WHAT IOWA MEANS FOR REPUBLICANS
Kyle Scott, a visiting assistant professor of political science at Duke, writes on the Iowa caucuses in an opinion piece appearing in the Oakland Tribune:

"The Iowa Republican caucuses are the most overrated, and perhaps irrelevant, event in politics. Rick Santorum's second-place finish is confirmation of this fact.

Iowa is more socially conservative than the rest of the nation, which is why it has so often failed to pick the eventual winner. Just ask Mike Huckabee from 2008. Doing well in Iowa is not necessarily a good indication of who will win the nomination because Iowa caucus-goers are not an accurate representation of the national electorate.

To win Iowa, a candidate must run to the extreme right, but to win the nomination, the candidate must be closer to the center. One cannot do both and avoid the appearance of changing positions on important issues."

Read More:
My Word: What Iowa Means for Republicans (Oakland Tribune)


DUKE LAW PROF ON BALANCING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS AND THE PUBLIC DOMAIN
Jennifer Jenkins, director of Duke's Center for the Study of the Public Domain, talks about the works that would be entering the public domain were it not for increasingly prohibitive copyright laws.

Read More:
The Not-So Public Domain (heraldsun.com)


DEBT COMMISSION LEADERS BOWLES, SIMPSON TO SPEAK AT DUKE JAN 18
Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, co-chairs of the bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, will speak in Page Auditorium at Duke University on Wednesday, Jan. 18.

The event, "Decision Time: Bowles, Simpson and the Federal Budget," is part of the Sanford School's Terry Sanford Distinguished Lecture series, which brings notable leaders to speak on Duke's campus.

Bowles, former White House chief of staff and president of the UNC system, and Simpson, former U.S. senator from Wyoming, will discuss ideas for reining in the federal budget and restoring confidence.

Read More:
Debt Commission Leaders Bowles, Simpson to Speak at Duke Jan 18 (Duke.edu)


FACULTY OPINION: A FOURTH "R" FOR 21st CENTURY LITERACY
In a piece appearing in the Washington Post, Cathy Davidson, Director of the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute, makes the case for adding a fourth "r" to the 3 R's of reading, 'riding, 'rithmetic: 'rithms, or algorithms (basic computational skills):

"Just as the last century saw a major educational initiative aimed at basic literacy and numeracy for the masses, the 21st century should be pushing for basic computational literacy for everyone, starting with kids and, of course, with adult and lifelong learning possibilities for all of us.

Algorithms and algorithmic thinking give kids of the 21st century the ability to write software and change programs to suit themselves, their own creativity, and their desire to self-publish their own multimedia work...[and]helps to end the false "two cultures" binary of the arts, humanities and social sciences on the one side, and technology and science on the other."

Read More:
A Fourth "R" For 21st Century Literacy (Washington Post)


DUKE RESEARCH: "LOVE HORMONE" MAY BREAK DOWN NORMAL SOCIAL BARRIERS, TREAT DISORDERS
In an NIH-supported study, Duke researchers have found that Oxytocin, the "love hormone" that builds mother-baby bonds and may help us feel more connected toward one another, can also make surly monkeys treat each other a little more kindly.

Administering the hormone nasally through a kid-sized nebulizer, like a gas mask, a Duke University research team has shown the inhaled oxytocin enhanced 'prosocial' choices made by rhesus macaques (rewarding another monkey with a squirt of fruit juice).

The hormone is currently being evaluated as a therapy for autism, schizophrenia and other disorders that are marked by an apparent lack of interest or caring about others, said neuroscientist Michael Platt, who headed the study and is director of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences. It seems to give patients increased trust and better social skills, but not much is known about how that process works, or whether the effects would be consistent over the long term. 

Read More
Whiff of "Love Hormone" Helps Monkeys Show a Little Kindness (Duke.edu)
Platt Laboratory (Neuro.duke.edu)