NBA lockout woes

08 Nov 2011, Posted by Andrew Luo in News, 0 Comments

Nicole Savage/The Chronicle

Don’t bother holding your breath—the current National Basketball Association lockout is probably not going to end anytime soon.

According to a recent article in the New York Times, deliberations on a new labor deal between NBA owners and players failed again Saturday night. This deadlock, which has already been going on for four months, has now been reduced to a four-day window. NBA commissioner David Stern gave the player’s union the offer of 50-50 percent split on basketball-related income and a restrictive measure on team spending and free agency. The players have been asked to respond to this offer by this Wednesday or be forced to settle for a far worse deal.

If the players union will not compromise by the said date, the owners will consequently withdraw the original offer and cut the offer down to a 47 percent share, along with a “flex-cap” system which, in actuality, imposes a hard cap on players’ payrolls.

Despite this ultimatum, union leaders appear unlikely to yield. This past Saturday’s negotiation session, the 21st of the lockout, lasted for over eight hours, but only a marginal amount of progress was accomplished.

The players’ union, which initially promised to accept no offer less than 52.5 percent of NBA revenues, reduced their proposal down to 51 percent—1 percent of which to aid retired players. The players’ proposed decrease comes within 1 percent of the NBA’s current proposal.

On the other side of the table, owners proposed a “band” that would pay the players an amount from 49 to 51 percent, depending on the league’s revenue growth. Although this proposal appeared appropriate, the union counter argued that the deal would only add up to a 50 percent offer. The range for growth is so large that the share would never get to 51 percent, according to player union’s chief negotiator Jeff Kessler.

This past Saturday’s meeting included the full negotiating committees on both parties, in addition to many big-name NBA stars. On the owners’ delegation, Michael Jordan, Paul Allen and Micky Arison pushed to make a deal. Chauncey Billups, the point guard for the Knicks, joined the players’ side.

As of now, no further negotiations have yet to be scheduled.

News of this current development in the lockout stirred a wide array of reactions from the Duke community. Some students are frustrated with the recent developments in the lockout.

“These negotiations are getting pretty ridiculous,” said freshman Jay Canarick. “Everyone should stop complaining about money and just play basketball.”

Others students, on the other hand, have found an alternative to the situation.

“Living at Duke now, I feel more connected to the Duke basketball team than the Celtics, even though I’m from Boston,” said freshman Alex Kunycky. “Even though the NBA is not in session right now, I can still enjoy Duke basketball!”

While the NBA is in shambles, Duke University basketball is looking forward to a great season. The men’s team will be facing off against Belmont, and the women’s team is scheduled to play against BYU this Friday.

Politics roundup: Herman Cain’s big scandal

07 Nov 2011, Posted by Walker Schiff in News, 0 Comments

Sophia Palenberg/The Chronicle

Cainwreck

Last Sunday, POLITICO reported that Herman Cain was accused by two women of sexual harassment during his tenure as CEO of the National Restaurant Association. In the following days, Cain kindly  clinic on what a campaign shouldn’t do when facing a controversy.

Herman Cain’s story changed every few hours, starting on Sunday night when he declared that the article was false. Then, on Monday, the media started pursuing the story and Cain’s backtrack began.

At the beginning of Monday, Cain’s campaign admitted the story was true but the sexual harassment accusations were false and he didn’t have any further information on an investigation or a settlement.

By the end of Monday, Cain had admitted that there was an in-depth investigation and that there had been a settlement though he couldn’t quite remember the details. He also magically remembered the gesture that led to the accusations, in which he compared a female employee’s height to his wife’s by telling her that the top of her head reached his chin, just like his wife.

Unfortunately for Cain, that was only the beginning.

On Tuesday night, the New York Times reported that one of the accusers was paid one-year’s salary as settlement, a number much higher than Herman Cain had suggested late Monday and early Tuesday.

Also on Tuesday, the other Cain accuser released a statement through her lawyer asking the National Restaurant Association to release her from her non-disparagement settlement so that she could tell her side of the story.

On Wednesday, a third former National Restaurant Association employee came forward to calim that she was also sexually harassed by Herman Cain.

Then on Thursday, POLITICO reported that one of the two original accusers received a $45,000 settlement and that the settlement the New York Times was reporting was for a woman separate from the original two.

As of now, the onslaught of new details is incessant and the legitimacy of all of the different allegations is in question. Another thing that is still up in the air is the effect that this will have on Cain’s campaign, which was rolling near or at the front of the pack up until this week.

An ABC/Washington Post poll from Friday suggested that Cain’s support was not wavering and that the scandal didn’t affect many Republican’s opinions of Cain.

On Sunday, a Reuters/Ispos poll found a much less surprising result. It showed a five point decline in Cain’s poll numbers.

Some pollsters have predicted that this scandal will trigger a drop in poll numbers for Cain and a surge for former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, but for right now, the jury is still out on how all of this will reshape the primary.

Cain might not be done yet, but this story is unresolved and will most likely dominate the media for the days, and maybe even weeks, to come.

A Week of Strange Quotes

First, Rick Perry gave a speech in New Hampshire over a week ago that had people asking whether he was under the influence. Here is a video of the highlights.

Then, on Sean Hannity’s show on Fox News, Ann Coulter claimed that, “Our blacks are so much better than their blacks.”

When she says “our,” she means Republicans’ and when she says “their,” she means Democrats’. Here is a video of her appearance on the show (the quote happens at about 5:08).

Finally, in response to the questions of whether or not he thought race had anything to do with the scandal, Cain responded, “I believe the answer is yes, but we do not have any evidence to support it.”

Basically, he makes a baseless claim regarding a scandal that was caused by what he called “baseless claims.” Here is video (the quote starts a little before 6:30).

DUPD Officer Ryan LaDuke wins award

06 Nov 2011, Posted by Nguyen Tran in News, 0 Comments

Ryan LaDuke, an officer at Duke University Police Department since 2008, has been named the Duke Crisis Intervention Training Officer of the Year.

Special to The Chronicle

The training and award highlight the need for police officers to be better equipped to handle people with mental illnesses, according to officials from the Durham Police Department.  People with mental illnesses are arrested more frequently and spend longer time in jail than the average citizens. Sending them to jail may be the legal thing to do, but it may not be the most humane course of action, as jails are not specifically designed to handle this population. DUPD would rather connect them to treatment facility than to have them incarcerated.

Officer LaDuke went though 40 hours of training with this goal in mind. According to Today@Duke, LaDuke wanted to take the training to learn new policies that could be helpful in emergency situations, including, for example, how to best communicate and create an open dialogue with individuals who could harm themselves or others.

The training paid off when LaDuke had to confront a person threatening suicide and a person walking into traffic along Erwin Road.

“There was one woman who was yelling that she needed psychological help and walking in the street on Erwin Road putting herself in danger,” LaDuke said. “So I was able to talk to her and convince her to let me take her to Urban Ministries to get her some food and find someone to help her out.”

Many Duke students are appreciative that their police officers are taking time to address what the students see as a real problem.

“It’s nice to see they are not just busting up parties, but are actually caring about those who are truly in need,” said sophomore Michael Blum.

The training may come in handy when dealing with Duke students as well, as the officers also learn about areas like suicide risk assessment and intervention, developmental disabilities and special concerns with adolescents.

“At this rate, I may be the next person walking down Erwin screaming before my midterm is over,” said junior Laura David.

One can only hope officer LaDuke will be there when David or some other Duke students start behaving that way.

Refectory: 5 things you thought were healthy but actually aren’t

06 Nov 2011, Posted by Melissa Dalis in News, 0 Comments

Thanh Ha Nguyen/The Chronicle

Not all is pure and healthy in the Divinity School.

Walking into the organic atmosphere of the Refectory located in the Divinity school, I just feel healthy. With the words ‘organic,’ ‘vegetarian’ and ‘vegan’ sprinkled onto most of the products, I feel like I can do no wrong by ordering anything at the Refectory.

That is why looking at the nutrition facts today took me by surprise.

After discovering this summer that my crispy chicken salad at the Loop was 950 calories, I was again disappointed to learn today that my chicken caesar wrap at the Refectory has 743 calories.

Here are some items at the Refectory you may not have realized were so bad:

1. Bran muffin: 743 calories, 54g fat, 58g carbs, 11g protein
2. Breakfast scramble: 670 calories, 23g fat, 79g carbs, 36g protein
3. Grilled cheese (Law school): 743 calories, 36g fat, 31g protein (but only 483 calories in the Divinity school!)
4. Full chicken caesar wrap: 720 calories, 38g fat, 52g carbs, 50g protein
5. Peanut butter and jelly sandwich- 601 calories, 31g fat, 71g carbs, 19g protein

These are actually healthy:

1. Baked oatmeal: 255 calories, 15g fat, 24g carbs, 8g protein
2. Falafel with pita: 341 calories, 10g fat, 50g carbs 15g protein
3. Hummus veggie simple sandwich: 390 calories, 10g fat, 61g carbs, 16g protein
4. Shrimp salad: 175 calories, 8g fat, 2g carbs, 23g protein
5. Simple turkey sandwich: 264 calories, 8g fat, 25g carbs, 23g protein

Although the Refectory does have many healthy options on its menu, it is not the epitome-of-health, immune-to-calories cafe that I had imagined.

Choices may affect offspring genes

05 Nov 2011, Posted by Kristie Kim in News, 0 Comments

Special to The Chronicle

What if the choices we make during our lives altered our genes and affect our children?

Epigenetics, the study of changes in gene activity that do not involve alterations to the genetic code, may be the key to such knowledge.

Imprinted genes are similar to mutated genes, said Randy Jirtle, associate professor in the department of radiation oncology. One copy is functional while the other inherited copy is switched off by molecular markers from either parent, Jirtle added.

“These genes are controlled by the epigenome, which is the regulation of genes,” Jirtle said. With these marks, environmental factors—including malnutrition—can imprint genes that will be inherited by the next generation”

This has been a revolutionary concept in its assertion that evolutionary changes can take place rather quickly. Previous theories, including Charles Darwin’s, provided data that any effects of nurture on a species’ nature occur after many generations of natural selection.

Jirtle and other scientists have acquired enlightening data in the field of epigenetics, including Jirtle’s study demonstrating that malnutrition during pregnancy is adversely associated with the child’s susceptibility to diseases after birth.

Jirtle noted that the increased attention to epigenetics is in line with medicine’s shift from treatment to preventative measures.

“Prevention to a great degree will be nutritional. It will be significant to have nutritional departments work with medicine,” Jirtle said.

In order to carry out most experiments for epigenetics, scientists have used DNA methylation—a process in which a molecule is added to DNA to inactivate a particular DNA fragment.

“DNA methylation is a powerful mechanism used to regulate gene expression,” said Susan Murphy, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology.

Murphy is currently studying how shifts in DNA methylation, resulting from nutrition and environmental exposures during pregnancy, change the way genes function and perhaps increase the baby’s risk of developing disorders.

The exciting aspect of this research is the future possibility that simple dietary modifications may allow us to prevent or even correct possible negative outcomes, Murphy noted.

Murphy hopes that eventually epigenetic information will be used to help with risk assessment in relation to human health.  Epigenetic profiles provide important information regarding the suitability of particular drugs for treatment of diseases like cancer and better inform drug choice for tumors when performed prior to treatment, she added.

Because of the somewhat heretical nature of his work, Jirtle and others in his field have found some opposition from others.

“10 years ago, I was told that nobody at Duke is interested in epigenetics,” Jirtle said. “The degree to which those same people believe in epigenetics has improved inevitably throughout the years, but I don’t believe they are still enlightened by it.”

Murphy agrees that even though epigenetics is understudied, great strides made in recent years make the outlook hopeful.

“It has been great to see the groundswell of interest and improvements in technologies that have made it more accessible to researchers who may not have previously considered inclusion of studies on how epigenetics relates to their areas of research,” Murphy said. “With advances in technology, it is now possible-albeit still expensive- to decipher the DNA methylation profile of an entire genome, base by base.”