From pipettes to the field

27 Feb 2013, Posted by Tony Shan in News, 0 Comments

While many pre-med students spend their research hours with pipettes and buffer solutions, some have the opportunity to pursue research internationally in the field.

Special to The Chronicle

Junior biology major Lynn Theprungsirikul is a candidate for the Global Health certificate who researched the barriers to the uptake of cataract surgery faced by eye patients in Tamale, Ghana while working as a Unite For Sight Global Impact Fellow volunteer. Her project seeked to explain why patients who have been approved for free eye surgeries tend not to show up for their appointments.

“At first I thought it might be transportation. Some people have to walk miles to get to the health clinic, but actually, most were willing,” Theprungsirikul said. “The main reason was because they are afraid that once they go to the hospital, they won’t come back the same. It’s fear and false assumptions.”

Besides spreading awareness about the clinic to quell these fears and screening patients for eye diseases using visual acuity tests, Theprungsirikul spent time with patients, gathering data for her research. Despite the language and culture competency training provided by the program, there was a huge communication barrier, Theprungsirikul said. But she added that there were still plenty of personal moments.

“I spoke to a woman who told me she had to walk barefoot for three hours to reach the clinic and stay overnight to get post-op,” she said. “But since she couldn’t leave [her family] back at home, she couldn’t get the surgery.”

Aside from her volunteer work and research, Theprungsirikul noted that simply being in Ghana was a novel experience. Since the diet there did not include many vegetables, each volunteer was asked to bring fiber supplements, which they would eat each day.

Now, nearly two years after her overseas research experience, Theprungsirikul actually does work in a lab with pipettes and buffers, studying tissue signaling. The experience, however, is a bit different, she says. Whereas her tissue signaling research seeks to discover something new, Theprungsirikul’s project in Ghana was more descriptive, trying to identify an issue that already exists.

“The purpose of the research requirement [in Global Health] is to apply what we learn in our classes—like ethics—to fieldwork,” Theprungsirikul said. “I was able to do that through my project.”

Immigration Reform and the Republican Dilemma

20 Feb 2013, Posted by Walker Schiff in Backpages, Politics Roundup, 0 Comments

The immigration reform battle has dominated the discussion policy circles over the last couple weeks and it provides an interesting look into what may be the future of the Republican Party. Of all of the items on President Obama’s 2nd term agenda, including gun control reform, climate change legislation, more taxes, and a higher minimum wage, an immigration overhaul probably has the best chance of gaining bipartisan support.

The Republican establishment, for the most part, has embraced the idea of bipartisan immigration reform that includes both higher security and a path for amnesty. Many see this as a cold and cynical calculation on their parts to earn more of the Latino vote after losing so much of it in the recent presidential election. This is likely to be true, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

The Republican Party is shrinking. Simple truths such as the fact that less people are bringing their religion into politics, the voting population is becoming more diverse, and even that less people are getting married are signs that if the parties stick to their current platforms, the Democrats are going to win more and more elections. In fact, Democrats have already won 5 of the last 6 Presidential popular votes.

Even though the establishment recognizes this and is trying to react, the extreme wing of the Republican Party, which has arguably overshadowed the establishment since Obama’s election, is vehemently opposed to any form of amnesty and they have shown over the past couple years that they don’t believe in compromise. While I call them “extreme,” they make up a big enough chunk of the Party that they can’t be ignored.

This extreme wing is made up of dedicated conservatives, the kind that vote in primaries, volunteer for candidates, and spend what they can to fund campaigns. They have strong, ideologically-influenced opinions and they want candidates who share those opinions. They have a strong presence in Congress, especially in the House, and they won’t vote for something that they don’t 100% support (AKA anything that includes amnesty).

Immigration is a microcosm of the dilemma that the Republican Party faces. They need to extend their umbrella if they hope to win a future Presidential election and maintain their grasp on Congress slip, but only part of the party sees the need to do this. Establishment candidates can vote for something like an Immigration Reform bill that includes amnesty, but it means that a far-right primary challenger will have an even stronger chance of beating them come next election.

Although it isn’t happening in a rapid fashion, the Republican Party is splitting and Immigration Reform is maybe the best example of where the two sides stand. Over time, this extreme wing of the Party is either going to have to move left or be left behind and replaced by some other group of voters.

Getting an “O”-ducation

07 Feb 2013, Posted by Jeff Cicurel in News, 0 Comments

Special to The Chronicle

The Female Orgasm talk had the laughs coming from start to finish, leaving the audience satisfied.

Wednesday, students packed into White Lecture hall to see sex educators Kate Weinberg and Marshall Miller give a lecture on “the big O” as part of Duke Sex Week. The two have talked to over 100,000 students in 37 states.

The lecture included anecdotes, scientific facts, questions and answers and movie clips. The night started when Weinberg and Miller showed a famous scene from When Harry Met Sally. As the crowd erupted in laughter, Weinberg attempted to keep the humor flowing. Her and Miller continuously used sexual puns from start to finish.

Special to The Chronicle

“We know that most of the time when speakers come to your school they probably ask you to turn your cell phones off,” Weinberg said. “But we just ask you to turn them to vibrate.”

Weinberg was not shy about relaying her history with the female orgasm. She said most people experience their first orgasm as a teenager, but that for some it happened much earlier. She said she herself had her first experience with an orgasm as a preschooler rubbing her body parts against the floor. When her parents realized what she was doing, they explained to her that it was inappropriate.

It was not until after college that Weinberg had her first orgasm with a sexual partner. She was able to do so because of long talks about what she liked with her boyfriend. Her and Miller used this experience to talk about the importance of transparency when trying to achieve the female orgasm.

“After my first orgasm during sex, I was like, so this is why people freaking love having sex with each other,” Weinberg said.

Though the lecture advertised teaching how to have your first and better orgasms, the two did not mention specific methods until the last 10 minutes. Even then, instead of giving detailed tips, they were fairly vague saying a woman’s needs vary from person to person.

After the lecture, some of the audience was disappointed at the lack of explicit guidelines. A few female students left the talk saying, “there is much more to be said” and “I thought I was going to learn how to have an orgasm.”

But junior Sam Kebede loved the talk.

“I thought it was really engaging,” he said. “I learned a lot not only about my girlfriend’s body but also about my own.”

Though the entire room was laughing constantly, it seemed as though the students had mixed feelings about the lecture as a whole. Some were pleased and found it to be informative, while others who were looking for more detailed tips were unhappy.

Tips for Tenting

28 Jan 2013, Posted by Lucy Hicks in Health & Science, K-ville, News, 0 Comments

Chris Dieckhaus/Chronicle File Photo

Tenting for the Duke-UNC game is a Cameron Crazies tradition. Some of the challenges that come along with tenting, however, can often leave you tired, cold and sick. Especially during the last week of unpredictable weather, it’s incredibly important to keep a tent warm and cozy for its bold residents. Duke health gives some helpful pointers on keeping yourself comfortable during nights in K-Ville:

1. Change your clothes. Before going to bed, make sure you get out of the clothes you’ve been wearing, which may have accumulated moisture throughout the day. Fabrics besides cotton are best (wool, fleece) as cotton traps moisture and perspiration and can cause body heat loss over night.
2. Insulate. Sleeping directly on the ground – no, the thin tent layer doesn’t count – causes you to lose body heat through conduction (heat travels to the colder object). To prevent this, sleep on a foam pad or other surface. As an added bonus, its probably more comfortable.
3. Eat! Digestion produces warmth – make sure you’re eating every couple of hours.
4. Stay hydrated. Water helps your body temperature in check as well as delivers oxygen to cells, which prevents hypothermia.
5. Avoid excessive alcohol. The “beer blanket” is, sadly, a myth. Alcohol causes “vasodilation” or expansion of blood vessels, which increases blood flow and gives you a sensation of warmth. However, though you may feel warmer, you are actually losing more body heat, as more blood is flowing to the skin and getting cooled by the outside air. If you choose to drink, make sure you wear an extra layer.

Politics roundup: 2016 because I can

15 Dec 2012, Posted by Walker Schiff in News, 0 Comments

Sophia Palenberg/ The Chronicle

This is probably an exercise in futility but this entire article is going to be dedicated to the 2016 presidential race, specifically the Republican candidates. You might be wondering, “There is a whole midterm election in 2014, isn’t that important?” Well, yes, but not really. I’m sure many Democrats were sad to see that Republicans held the House and were hoping to gain that back in 2014 off possibly stronger economic numbers. On this subject, Nate Silver has spoken and if we have learned one thing since the election, it is that Nate Silver is god (also, I have no desire to analyze House races two years in advance). As for the Senate, Republicans are looking at picking up six core states where Democrats are vulnerable (Louisiana, North Carolina, Arkansas, South Dakota, Alaska, and West Virginia). So much can change in these elections that they are impossible to call at this point but it does look like the Senate will be very much up for grabs in 2014.

You might also be wondering, “What about the Democratic candidates?” Another reasonable thought, but Democratic candidates won’t emerge until later in the cycle due to the fact that Obama is still relevant unlike Romney. Also, don’t we all kinda know in the back of our minds that it will be Hillary? Also, Republican are picking up the pieces from a disappointing election and following their shift in position by examining their presidential hopefuls is somewhat interesting. There are three candidates that I want to mention:

Bobby Jindal

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has by far been the most vocal Republican presidential hopeful since the election. After Romney blamed his defeat on Obama’s “big gifts” for minorities, Jindal took offense in a very public way. He called Mitt’s remarks “absolutely wrong,” “completely unhelpful,” and “insulting.”

His offense could be seen as genuine concern over the direction of his party or it could be seen as his declaration of his candidacy for president in 2016. I’ll let you decide but I might be hearing the latter. The Republican Party was looking for a scapegoat after the elections and it probably would have been Mitt Romney anyway, but Jindal made sure it was.

Marco Rubio

11 days after Mitt Romney decisive defeat, Marco Rubio was giving a speech in Iowa to a group of forward-looking Republicans at a birthday fundraiser with Iowa’s Republican Gov. Terry Branstad. The speech seemingly went well as many Iowa Republicans were excited to see the Florida Senator and showed their excitement with their wallets. Branstad said the event made over $600,000, the most he had ever raised in a single event. The significance of this numbers becomes ever greater when you consider that this event was less than two weeks after a brutal and grinding election season.

Chris Christie

Unlike the other two Republicans I’ve spoken on, Chris Christie makes this list by doing completely nothing (He actually did voice opposition to Romney’s “gift’s” comments but he didn’t make a meal of it like Jindal did.). If somewhere can be a frontrunner in a race this far in advance, Christie would be it. He is incredibly popular in his relatively-blue state, but that is not why I put him in this article. I put him in the article because of how angry Republicans got after he invited Obama to New Jersey and how much approval he got from everyone else.

With one post-Sandy poll with him at 67% approval and another at 77% approval in New Jersey, Christie’s Sandy response seems to have won him so favor in his own state. It doesn’t stop there though, a Quinnipiac poll give Christie higher Sandy-approval scores than President Obama, NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo (a Democratic presidential hopeful ironically), and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg among New York City voters. A PPP poll also put him as the early favorite in New Hampshire in 2016. Let the four-year long race for the White House begin!