Hold on to your tents

09 Feb 2010, Posted by Zachary Tracer in Featured, News, Tidbits, student life, 1 Comments

Krzyzewskiville residents, batten down the hatches.

The National Weather Service is predicting gusts of up to 55 miles per hour tomorrow and sustained winds of 25 to 35.

The NWS warns that the winds could down trees and power lines and make tall vehicles difficult to handle.

So tenters, make sure your homes are staked down tight. And get ready to hold them down.

For photos and video from the K-ville experience, head over to The Chronicle’s of K-ville.

Duke is getting hit on

27 Jan 2010, Posted by Zachary Tracer in News, Peer Institutions, Tidbits, 0 Comments

Duke gets to hang out with the cool kids, according to a recently released college popularity ranking.

Duke comes in 13 on the list, which is based on the number of hits a college’s Web site gets.  Duke’s popularity means it gets to sit next to the U.K.’s University of Cambridge (12) and China’s Fundan University (14) at lunch.

The coolest kid in class: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The ranking was created by 4 International Colleges & Universities, which calls itself “an international higher-education search engine.”

For what it’s worth, Duke is way more popular than UNC, which at 70, will be hanging out with Kungliga Tekniska högskolan of Sweden.

(Hat tip: The Choice)

Madoff treated at Duke Hospital

24 Dec 2009, Posted by Zachary Tracer in Crime, Medical Center, News, Tidbits, 0 Comments

Bernard Madoff/The New York Times

Bernie Madoff, who was imprisoned after his multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme unraveled last year, received medical care at Duke University Medical Center last week, according to news reports.

The 71-year-old apparently fell out of bed at his North Carolina prison, ABC11 reports. In the fall, Madoff suffered broken ribs, a collapsed lung and facial fractures.

According to the station, Madoff was admitted to the hospital last Friday and discharged some time this week. He is now being treated at the medical center at the Butner Federal Correctional Complex in Butner, N.C.

Business Week reported that Madoff is now being treated for dizziness and high blood pressure.

Trustee Rubenstein gives $10M to Lincoln Center

01 Oct 2009, Posted by Lindsey Rupp in Alumni, News, Tidbits, 0 Comments

David Rubenstein, Trinity ‘70 and member of the Board of Trustees since 2003, is spreading his wealth.

Rubenstein donated $10 million to the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, the New York Times reported Wednesday.

Rubenstein added to the center’s $1.2 billion redevelopment project, and the center will name its new visitors and ticket space on Broadway the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, the Times reported. The site will offer discounted tickets and free shows, and it is scheduled to open Nov. 24.

The donation was sparked by Rubenstein’s 60th birthday last month, according to the article, which reports that Rubenstein made $2.7 billion as managing director of The Carlyle Group. Estimating that he could live to about 81 years old, Rubenstein has decided to give his money away to causes he supports before he dies.

“My view is, if you have money, you can spend it, you can save it, or you can give it away,” Rubenstein said to the Times. “I bought all the things I need to buy.”

Since Rubenstein co-founded The Carlyle Group in 1987, the company has expanded to house offices in 20 countries with more than 1,290 investors from 72 countries. The Carlyle Group manages about $86.1 billion in assets, according to its Web site.

Along with his commitment to the Duke Board of Trustees, Rubenstein  also serves on the boards of 30 other institutions—which he also supports financially, the article states.

In addition to using his wealth to underwrite scholarships and fund arts centers, Rubenstein has purchased several historical documents which he has loaned to American museums, including copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Emancipation Proclamation, according to the article.

“Being happy in life is not easy,” Rubenstien said in the Times. “I would give up all the money I have if I could be 50. You can always make money.”

Sanford professor, student push increased use of ignition-interlock devices

31 Aug 2009, Posted by Lindsey Rupp in Faculty and Staff, News, Tidbits, 1 Comments

Several people in the Sanford School of Public Policy want to help prevent people from making poor decisions when they drink.

Although they may not care whether people who imbibe keep their clothes on, Philip J. Cook, professor of public policy, and Maeve E. Gearing, a doctoral candidate in public policy, want to keep them off the roads.

Cook and Gearing co-authored an op-ed article that ran in the New York Times Monday about ignition-interlock devices. These devices are breathalyzers that attach to the ignition of a car and will prevent the vehicle from starting if the driver is intoxicated, which if widely used could save as many as 750 lives a year, according to a National Highway Transportation Safety Administration report estimate.

Currently, eight states require drunk-driving offenders to have ignition-interlock devices installed in their cars and 25 states require repeat offenders to install them, according to the article.

But in 2007, only 146,000 ignition interlocks were in use, they wrote, adding that the reasons were clear: the devices are expensive to install and there is little enforcement or oversight of their installation.

The authors suggest courts connect installing ignition-interlock devices with substance-abuse treatment requirements and only allow offenders to remove the devices when they do not try to start their cars while drunk over an extended time period.

“The ignition interlock could be an extraordinarily effective way to prevent drunk-driving recidivism,” Cook and Gearing wrote. “But it can save lives only if we make sure people use it.”