The Duke Digest - May 04, 2012
In Today's Issue:
- NASA Features Duke Research on Southern Appalachian Precipitation
- Duke Response OMB ANPG on Grant Reform
- DOD Minerva Grant to Fund Duke Study on Energy Costs at Root of Middle East Unrest
- Duke Announces B.N. Duke Scholarship Winners (NC and SC Students)
- Digging India: Duke's Experiments With New Approaches to Global Learning
- Student Spotlight: Duke Law Students Honored for Service
- Faculty Opinion: 3 Things Americans Don't Need to Worry About
NASA FEATURES DUKE RESEARCH ON SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN PRECIPITATION
Duke University professor Ana Barros has done extensive work studying the hydrologic cycle and precipitation patterns in the Appalachian Mountains. This week, NASA has featured one of her most surprising discoveries: the light rain associated with the low level clouds and fog in the Great Smoky Mountains is the most reliable and most frequent form of rainfall in the Southern Appalachian region, contributing to 50-60 percent of total precipitation over the year.
Why does that matter? This area is the main source of water for nearly 30 million people in North and South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee.
Read More:
On Top of the Smokies, All Covered in Light Rain (NASA.gov)
Professr Barros' Research Group (duke.edu)
DUKE RESPONSE TO OMB ADVANCED NOTICE OF PROPOSED GUIDANCE ON GRANT REFORM
James D. Luther, assistant vice president and research costing compliance officer, wrote to the Office of Management and Budget on April 30 to outline Duke's response to the Advanced Notice of Proposed Guidance (ANPG) on grant reform initiatives.
OMB issued the ANPG on February 28 as part of the Administration's ongoing effort to streamline regulations and improve oversight of federal programs, and is a follow-on to the work conducted by the Interagency Task Force on Circular A-21 - to which Duke provided recommendations last summer.
In the letter, Luther expresses "appreciation for the consideration of potential grant reform initiatives and for [OMB's] willingness to solicit input and informed recommendations from front line recipients of federal funds."
The university's response addresses the cost principles and administrative requirements associated with the reform of federal policies relating to grants and cooperative agreements.
Read More:
Duke University Response to ANPG on Grant Reform (pdf)
DOD GRANT TO FUND DUKE STUDY ON ENERGY COSTS AT ROOT OF MIDDLE EAST UNREST
A Duke University research team has received a three-year, $1 million grant from the Department of Defense Minerva Research Initiative to study the risk factors of civil unrest in countries that control America's gas prices.
"One of the main objectives of the study is to explore multiple scenarios, based on in-depth analysis of food and energy value chains, which would assist in the formulation of defensive, as well as proactive, strategies to deal with food shortage problems if they arise," said Gary Gereffi , director of Duke's Center on Globalization, Governance & Competitiveness (CGGC). He shares leadership of the project with Lincoln Pratson, a professor of energy and environment in the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke.
The Minerva Initiative is a Department of Defense (DoD)-sponsored, university-based social science research initiative launched by the Secretary of Defense in 2008 focusing on areas of strategic importance to U.S. national security policy. Its goal is to improve DoD’s basic understanding of the social, cultural, behavioral, and political forces that shape regions of the world of strategic importance to the U.S.
Read More:
Research Team to Explore Energy Costs at the Root of Middle East Unrest (duke.edu)
Center on Globalization, Governance & Competitiveness (CGGC.duke.edu)
DoD Minerva Research Initiative (Minerva.mil)
DUKE ANNOUNCES B.N. DUKE SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS (NC AND SC STUDENTS)
Fourteen incoming first-year students from North and South Carolina have been awarded the prestigious Benjamin N. Duke Memorial Scholarship, which covers full tuition, room, board and mandatory fees for eight semesters at Duke University.
The full value of each scholarship, created with funds from The Duke Endowment, is estimated to be more than $220,000 over four years. The award is given to students from the two states who have a demonstrated potential for leadership and an affinity for community service, in addition to high academic achievement.
Read More:
Duke Announces B.N Duke Scholarship Winners (duke.edu)
Related: Four NC Seniors to Receive Trinity Scholarship Awards from Duke (duke.edu)
DIGGING INDIA: DUKE'S EXPERIMENTS WITH NEW APPROACHES TO GLOBAL LEARNING
Classroom experimentation is not new at Duke, but Duke INtense Global (DIG), along with two other recent curricular innovations called DukeImmerse and Global Semester Abroad, is providing undergraduates with alternatives to traditional study abroad programs.
All three programs are less than two years old and involve team-teaching of a cluster of classes focused around a single concept. They include living or traveling abroad; two of the three programs also connect classroom learning to real-world "civic engagement" with problems discussed in the curriculum.
"These programs allow faculty and students to more fully integrate course work with real world problems," said Dean of Undergraduate Education Steve Nowicki, who seeks to encourage more faculty members to propose innovative approaches.
Read More:
Digging India (and Durham) (duke.edu)
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: DUKE LAW STUDENTS HONORED FOR SERVICE
Twenty graduating JD students and four LLM students have been honored by the Public Interest and Pro Bono Office for their extraordinary commitment to pro bono service.
At an April reception, students received pins to commemorate their pro bono service to programs such as the Refugee Asylum Support Project, the Innocence Project, the Veteran’s Disability Assistance Project, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, Guardian Ad Litem, and Street Law, among others. Many also worked in Duke Law clinics and externships that focused on legal aid. Collectively, the group contributed more than 3,000 hours of pro bono service.
Read More:
Students Honored for Service (law.duke.edu)
FACULTY OPINION: 3 THINGS AMERICANS DON'T NEED TO WORRY ABOUT
Stephen R. Kelly, a visiting professor at Duke University, writes in an op-ed appearing this week in the Chicago Tribune:
"The United States is not being overrun by illegal aliens, is not running out of oil or natural gas, and is not being sucked into the vortex of Mexican cartel violence along the border. In fact, illegal immigration is at a 40-year low, oil production is at an eight-year high and U.S. cities along the Mexican border are among the safest in the nation."
Kelly teaches courses on energy security and North American issues and served as deputy chief of mission of the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City from 2004-2006.
Read More:
3 Things Americans Don't Need to Worry About (Chicago Tribune)