The Duke Digest - March 9, 2012
In Today's Issue:
- Infographic: A Decade of Research Growth at Duke
- Duke CFO Survey: Outlook Improves, U.S. Employment Growth to Accelerate
- Duke Study on Flame Retardants in Baby Products Named ES&T's Top Science Paper of 2011
- Debate on Health Care Economics at Duke
- Opinion: Why STEM is Not Enough (And We Still Need the Humanities)
INFOGRAPHIC: A DECADE OF RESEARCH GROWTH AT DUKE
Over the last
decade, Duke's research expenditures more than doubled as the
university rose from a rank of 20th in Fiscal Year 2000 to 7th in FY
2009, the most recent year for which national data is available.
Research expenditures, as reported by the National Science Foundation,
reflect activity from year to year and campus to campus, which is
believed to paint a more reliable picture than grants received.
Read More:
Infographic: A Decade of Research Growth at Duke (Duke.edu)
DUKE CFO SURVEY: OUTLOOK IMPROVES, U.S. EMPLOYMENT GROWTH TO ACCELERATE
According to the most recent Duke University/CFO Magazine Global Business Outlook Survey, optimism among U.S. and Asian chief financial officers jumped this quarter and the hiring outlook is strong for 2012. European CFOs also say 2012 will be an improvement over a difficult 2011.
The quarterly survey, which concluded March1, asked 873 CFOs from a broad range of global public and private companies about their expectations for the economy.
Read More:
CFOs: Outlook Improves, U.S. Employment Growth to Accelerate (fuqua.duke.edu)
DUKE STUDY ON FLAME RETARDANTS IN BABY PRODUCTS NAMED ES&T'S TOP SCIENCE PAPER OF 2011
A peer-reviewed study identifying the presence of banned or potentially harmful flame-retardant chemicals in baby products by Heather Stapleton, assistant professor of environmental chemistry at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment, has been named the top Science Paper of 2011 by the journal Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T).
Flame-retardant chemicals are found in the polyurethane foam padding used in car seats, nursing pillows, portable cribs, sleep positioners and dozens of other everyday baby products. Stapleton’s study tested 101 products and found that five of them contained a flame-retardant chemical that has been banned by eight U.S. states and the European Union due to its persistence, bioaccumulation and toxicity.
Stapleton joined the Nicholas School faculty in 2005. In 2008, she received a $2.2 million, five-year grant from the National Institute of Health to investigate children’s exposure to flame retardants.
Read More:
Study on Flame Retardants in Baby Products Named ES&T's Top Science Paper in 2011 (nicholas.duke.edu)
DEBATE ON HEALTH CARE ECONOMICS AT DUKE
Two experts in health care economics will debate ways to control health care costs at a March 14 event at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy. The talk, “What’s the Best Way to Provide Americans Affordable, High-Quality Health Care?” will be held at 7:30 p.m. in Sanford’s Fleishman Commons. The event is free and open to the public.
Don Taylor, an associate professor of public policy at Duke, and Duke alumnus James Capretta, associate director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) during the Bush administration, will discuss different strategies to bend the curve of rising costs. Christopher Wolfe, co-director of the Thomas International Center, will moderate.
Read More:
Join the Debate on Health Care Economics (sanford.duke.edu)
OPINION: WHY STEM IS NOT ENOUGH (AND WE STILL NEED THE HUMANITIES)
Cathy N. Davidson, Duke professor and member of the National Council on the Humanities, co-writes in an opinion piece appearing in The Washington Post that the current emphasis on STEM learning, while important, cannot fully succeed without incorporating the humanities into training programs.
"Science and technology are meaningful when interwoven with all of the other modes of learning. A STEM, without its bloom, quickly withers in the forest of everyday life."
Read More:
Why STEM is Not Enough (And We Still Need the Humanities) (WashingtonPost)