The Duke Digest - April 2, 2012


In Today's Issue:
  • Rep. Price Sends Dear Colleague About President Brodhead's Humanities Keynote
  • Duke Expert on Constitutional Law Testifies on Affordable Care Act
  • Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Speak at Duke
  • Student Spotlight: Duke Junior Kristen Lee Selected as Truman Scholar
  • Duke Offers Admission to 3,105 High School Seniors
  • Undergraduate Researchers Thrive in Interdisciplinary Genomics Lab


REP. PRICE SENDS DEAR COLLEAGUE ABOUT PRESIDENT BRODHEAD'S HUMANITIES KEYNOTE
Representative David Price (D-NC) sent a Dear Colleague letter last week to bring attention to the keynote address delievered by President Brodhead delivered at the annual meeting of the National Humanities Alliance.  Mr. Price encouraged his colleagues to read President Brodhead's "compelling address on why the humanities matter generally and why federal funding for the humanities is in the national interest."

Read More:
Brodhead: Advocating for the Humanities (duke.edu)


DUKE EXPERT ON CONSTITUTIONAL LAW TESTIFIES ON AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
Neil Siegel, professor of law and political science at Duke, testified on Thursday before the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee on the constitutionality of the minimum coverage provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA).

The hearing will focus on the constitutional questions surrounding the ACA’s “minimum coverage provision,” which requires most non-elderly Americans to purchase a minimum amount of health insurance coverage or pay what the law calls a “penalty” each year. The hearing also will consider the economic impact of the ACA requirement that large employers provide a minimum amount of essential coverage to full-time workers or face a penalty.

Read More:
Testimony of Professor Siegel (WaysandMeans.house.gov)
Siegel Testifies Before House Health Subcommittee (law.duke.edu)


FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE CONDOLEEZZA RICE TO SPEAK AT DUKE
Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will speak in Duke University's Page Auditorium on Tuesday, April 10. Rice will deliver the Ambassador Dave and Kay Phillips Family International Lecture at 4:30 p.m.
 
From 2005 to 2009, Rice served as the 66th secretary of state; she was the second woman and first African-American woman to hold the post. Rice also served as President George W. Bush's national security adviser (2001-05), the first woman to hold that position, and she was involved in the response to the 9/11 attacks and the decisions to go to war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The event is sponsored by the Duke Program in American Grand Strategy and co-sponsored by the Sanford School of Public Policy, Triangle Institute for Security Studies, the Duke Office of Global Strategy and Programs, and the Alexander Hamilton Society. The event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required.

Read More:
Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Speak at Duke (duke.edu)


STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: DUKE JUNIOR KRISTEN LEE SELECTED AS TRUMAN SCHOLAR
Kristen Lee, a junior at Duke University who has been actively involved in women's health and gender equality issues, is one of 54 students selected this year as a Truman Scholar.

Truman Scholars are chosen on the basis of their leadership potential, high academic achievement and a commitment to a career in public service and advocacy sectors

"With her strong interest in women's health and serving disadvantaged populations, Kristen truly exemplifies Duke's commitment to promote knowledge in the service of society," said Duke President Richard H. Brodhead.

During a summer project in Ecuador, Lee created gender-based violence and HIV/AIDS workshops for communities along the Ecuador-Colombia border. Her work has included research on racial inequalities in higher education and sex trafficking. She has worked with sickle cell patients for three years in the Sickle Cell Transition Program at Duke Children's Hospital.

Lee is currently in Beijing, with Duke's Global Semester Abroad program. She's researching conditions for women working in Chinese factories and other development and health issues.

Read More:
Duke Junior Kristen Lee Selected as Truman Scholar (duke.edu)


DUKE OFFERS ADMISSION TO 3,015 HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS
A record 31,600 students applied for admission to Duke University this year -- a 6 percent increase over last year and a 55 percent increase over just four years ago.  Only 3,105 students -- 11 percent of the Regular Decision applicant pool -- received a notice of acceptance Friday, inviting them to become members of the Class of 2016.

Duke's admissions policy is "need blind" for U.S. citizens and permanent residents, meaning applicants are accepted regardless of their ability to pay for college. Duke also meets 100 percent of demonstrated financial need for all admitted students.

Read More:
Duke Offers Admission to 3,015 High School Seniors (duke.edu)


UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS THRIVE IN INTERDISCIPLINARY GENOMICS LAB
Recent Duke graduate Nick Altemose '11 and Marshal Scholarship winner is just one of many Duke undergraduates who have benefited from the research and learning opportunities available in Duke's Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy (IGSP), run by Dr. Hunt Willard.

Altemose did work as an undergraduate that you might sooner expect of an advanced graduate student. He spent four years in Dr. Willard's lab, studying little-known portions of the genome that had been left out of the Human Genome Project -- what Altemose describes as a "final frontier of the human genome."

For his trouble, Altemose earned not only the Marshall Scholarship that would send him straight from Duke to the University of Oxford for two years of graduate study, but also a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship in science, mathematics and engineering and a Gilliam Fellowship for Advanced Study from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, which will support his pursuit of a doctoral degree after he finished up in Oxford.

Altemose's story and his research accomplishments are exemplary by any standard, yet he didn't come to campus with any research experience under his belt. He is also just one of many students who have found their way almost from the start of their college careers into one IGSP research group or another, making the interdisciplinary institute a kind of intellectual "home base" and springboard for launching them in the direction of their choosing.

Read More:
Catch the Wave (duke.edu)
Duke Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy (genome.duke.edu)