Duke parents top list of highest paid CEOs

05 May 2009, Posted by Chelsea Allison in Alumni, News, The Economy, 0 Comments

Duke parents bookend the Associated Press’s list of the top 10 highest-paid CEOs in the S&P 500 for 2008. The list is based on filings and estimates from Jan. 1 to April 20.

No. 1 Aubrey McClendon, Trinity ’81, earned $112.5 million as CEO of Chesapeake Energy. Duke parent Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, closes out the top 10 with $35.7 million. McClendon and Dimon both have daughters currently enrolled at Duke; their eldest children also graduated from the University.

Both men are big bankrollers of the University, too: McClendon has given some $16 million to his alma mater, and Dimon donated $100,000 in 2006.

Despite his distinction, it might be difficult for McClendon to break out the bubbly. McClendon is auctioning 9,000 bottles of his prized wine collection. The first group fetched $2.2 million. The second sale is expected this month.

The move came after McClendon was forced to liquidate his shares in Chesapeake. He sold 94 percent of his holdings, valued at $2 billion, in accordance with margin calls after a steep decline in the stock’s price.

Seeking Alpha crunched a few numbers, and it seems McClendon made around $2,008,928 for every 1 percent his stock dropped.

In addition to stocks dropping, there also was some list movement from 2007 to 2008, when much of the financial industry was turned on its head during the deepening recession.

Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain, father of a graduating senior, was 2007′s No. 2. (Thain was at the top of USA Today’s analysis.) He earned $83 million that year, but resigned this January after his bank was taken over by Bank of America. Trustee John Mack, CEO of Morgan Stanley, was listed at No. 9 in 2007, with $41.7 million in compensation. But Mack, who remains both a Trustee and a CEO, saw his 2008 pay drop to $1.2 million for 2008.

Know of any other Duke affiliates at the top of the pay chain? Post a comment

Duke U. Press to publish book by Obama’s mother

04 May 2009, Posted by Chelsea Allison in National Politics, News, Tidbits, 1 Comments

In December, Duke University Press will publish a dissertation by Ann Dunham, President Barack Obama’s late mother, DukeNews announced.

Dunham completed “Surviving Against the Odds: Village Industry in Indonesia,”  for the University of Hawaii in 1992, after a frequently interrupted span of 14 years. The thesis focuses Javanese craftsmen in the village of Kajar in Indonesia. Dunham examined, in 1,000 pages, how metalworking provided an economic alternative for an area dependent on rice production. Between 1988 to 1992, Dunham also worked with Bank Rakyat Indonesia to build a microfinance program.

Dunham died of ovarian cancer three years later. She was 52.

Maya Soetoro-Ng, Obama’s half-sister and Dunham’s daughter, enlisted the help of Dunham’s graduate adviser and a student who had performed research alongside her.  Alice Dewey, University of Hawaii professor emeritus of anthropology, and Nancy Cooper, adjunct professor and lecturer in anthropology, revised and edited the dissertation.

Duke curtails Mexico travel due to swine flu

01 May 2009, Posted by Zachary Tracer in Academics, Health & Science, News, Peer Institutions, student life, 0 Comments

Duke has limited travel to Mexico due to the swine flu outbreak.

The University added Mexico to its Restricted Regions List Tuesday in response to Centers for Disease Control guidelines recommending that individuals avoid nonessential travel to Mexico.

Among the programs affected by the declaration are the Duke in Mexico summer program and the Mexico portion of the DukeEngage in Tucson program.

The Duke in Mexico program was canceled Wednesday, the Durham Herald-Sun reported (Registration required).

Students who were planning to study Spanish in Mexico will now learn language and culture from afar—the program has been moved to Duke’s campus in Durham, according to Duke’s Preparing for Pandemic Flu Web site.

The DukeEngage program in Tucson will still be held, but students will not travel to Mexico during the program, DukeEngage Director Eric Mlyn wrote in an e-mail to students signed up for DukeEngage programs and their parents.

“We will continue to monitor this situation closely and will be in touch if any significant changes in programs or schedules occur,” Mlyn wrote. “Please be assured that all decisions will be guided by the latest recommendations of public health officials and by our concern for the health and safety of our participants.”

Several other universities have canceled Mexico programs in response to swine flu as well, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported. In the Triangle, North Carolina State University canceled its summer study abroad program in Mexico, News14 reported.

There are now 141 confirmed cases of swine flu, also known as H1N1, and one death from the virus in the United States, the CDC reported Friday morning. Worldwide, there are at least 331 cases, according to the World Health Organization’s Web site.

For more information about the University’s response to swine flu, visit the Preparing for Pandemic Flu Web site the University has set up.

Duke administrators consider swine flu plan, Mexico program may be affected

27 Apr 2009, Posted by Zachary Tracer in Health & Science, News, student life, 0 Comments

Updated 11:00 p.m. Monday

University officials met today to discuss plans related to the outbreak of swine flu. Among those present at the 30-person meeting were Dean of Students Sue Wasiolek, Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta and Dr. Bill Purdy, executive director of Student Health.

Moneta said the meeting allowed University officials to begin to coordinate their plans should the flu spread to North Carolina. Experts from the Medical Center also provided background on swine flu.

“We all agreed that the University’s position is to be guided by county health officials and the CDC,” he said.

After the meeting, Moneta sent an e-mail to the Duke community detailing precautions individuals can take to avoid the flu and directing students to the Centers for Disease Control Web site for further information.

The e-mail read in part:

We have engaged a comprehensive internal team  with representatives from across the University and Health System that will meet regularly to assess new information and provide updates to you regarding any new developments.

At this point, there are no changes to any campus or Health System activities, class schedules or work schedules.

Study Abroad has begun discussing contingency plans for the Duke in Mexico summer program, Margaret Riley, associate dean and director of Study Abroad, confirmed in an e-mail. No students are currently studying in Mexico, which has been most heavily affected by swine flu.

“The outbreak emerged late last week,” Riley wrote. “The University is still developing its response to the situation, but [Study Abroad] will be communicating with students planning on going on the Mexico program, and their parents, specifically, and others more generally.”

Riley said no timeline has been established for when any decisions will be made regarding the program. She declined to discuss what plans the University is considering.

“We understand time is of the essence, but want to be sure we consider the various aspects and options before making any decisions,” she wrote.

The CDC issued a travel health warning Monday night urging Americans to avoid non-essential travel to Mexico due to the swine flu.

“CDC is concerned that continued travel by U.S. travelers to Mexico presents a serious risk for further outbreaks of swine flu in the United States,” the warning says.

Forty people in the United States now have swine flu, the CDC reported Monday afternoon. The (Raleigh) New & Observer reported Monday evening that there are now some suspected cases of swine flu in North Carolina.

The outbreak began in Mexico, where at least 149 people have died from the flu, the New York Times reported today.

Meanwhile, the European Union’s health commissioner said Europeans should avoid traveling to the United States and Mexico because of the flu, the New York Times reported.

Westboro Baptist Church in its own words

17 Apr 2009, Posted by Zachary Tracer in National Politics, News, 4 Comments

Since the publication of Thursday’s article about the Westboro Baptist Church coming to Duke Monday, many people have asked me for more information about the group. While I am no expert on the group, I did spend some time Tuesday interviewing a church lawyer and spokesperson, Shirley Phelps-Roper, by phone.

Phelps-Roper said she plans to be at Monday’s protest at the corner of Erwin Road and Fulton Street, and she took about fifteen minutes to explain to me the beliefs and motivations of the group. Her tone never changed, whether she was expounding on her hatred towards gays or advising me to use Microsoft Live Maps instead of Google Maps to find the location of the Monday protest.

Portions of my interview with Phelps-Roper are below.

Shirley Phelps-Roper: The thing, the act that brings us there to start with, is the godsmack, that God sent the shooter over there by Carthage, [N.C.]…. The Lord is coming, America is doomed. The time is so short, we’re not wasting any trips right now. There are students who have been taught that God is a liar. We are running fast every day all over this country…. Everywhere we’re going, we’re hitting as many places as we can get to…

The Chronicle: Will the early time of the protest and low visibility to students limit the effectiveness of the demonstration?

SP: Limit effectiveness? Oh heavens no, hun. The little rebels are going do all that “blah blah blah” mouth running… Well you understand that we have picked a busy intersection. Just because the little rebel students aren’t going to be all up running around, theres also a whole community of people who are going to drive by that location. Those people will see the signs.

TC: Why did the Westboro Baptist Church choose to protest at Duke? Why not at another school in the Triangle?

SP: We haven’t been to Duke in a while and it’s large. Look hon, here it is. Why would we not pick Duke? I’m just saying. Are those students not entitled to have even a shot at seeing what good looks like? Those children—you guys—were taught rebellion. You are in urgent, dire need of some truth.

TC: What is the message of your church?

SP: Our message is: God hates f—s. God hates f— enablers. Therefore, God hates Duke University. Therefore, America is doomed.

TC: Do you think Duke students will be receptive to your message?

SP: [laughter] Well, that depends on what you mean by receptive. Do I think they are going to like it? No. They’re going to respond the same way they do all over doomed America—they’re going to reject the word of God…. How many drunken spewing sprees do you need in a lifetime? The prophet, the apostle, his name was Peter, and he said it kind of like this: “You’ve wasted enough of the days of your life chasing after this nonsense. The lord is coming.”