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.”

Renowned architect Renzo Piano under consideration to lead building efforts

21 May 2009, Posted by Eugene Wang in News, Tidbits, 0 Comments

Renzo Piano, a world-renowned architect who designed the recently opened modern wing of the Art Institute of Chicago, is considered a “person of interest” for future construction projects at Duke, President Richard Brodhead said Wednesday night at an alumni event in Chicago.

“We’ve certainly been in contact with [Piano],” said Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations. He added that he could not comment on the extent of the discussions with the architect.

In addition to designing the Art Institute’s modern wing, which was praised by The New York Times as “a work of genuinely good architecture that is also kind to art,” Piano has designed skyscrapers, bridges, parks and museums.

He won the prestigious Pritzker Prize for his work in 1997 and has been called “the world’s finest architect” by The Independent, a British newspaper.

Although Duke froze construction projects earlier this year due to the budget constraints caused by the economic downturn, construction plans for major projects such as the development of New Campus are still being fleshed out, Schoenfeld said.

“We’re continuing to plan for a number of projects, even though we have a temporary halt in construction activity,” he said. “We are conducting aggressive planning on New Campus… and certainly Renzo Piano is one of the architects we would be eager to engage in the development of that project.”

Schoenfeld added that “a number of leading architects” are also under consideration by Duke to spearhead future construction efforts, but did not provide any names.

The University’s interest in the architect may stem from the fact that several of Piano’s projects have been recognized for their environmental friendliness. The Art Institute’s new wing is expected to be considered for a silver rating in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system of the U.S. Green Building Council, the Chicago Tribune reported. Another Piano project, the California Academy of Sciences, has a platinum LEED rating.

Duke’s Smart Home program was awarded a platinum LEED rating last summer, and a new parking garage slated to open this January is expected to be considered for LEED certification.

Be sure to check out the Thursday, May 28 issue of The Chronicle for more coverage.

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.

T3 = The Terminator?

20 Feb 2009, Posted by Shuchi Parikh in News, Tidbits, 0 Comments

Executive Vice President Tallman Trask’s picture on his profile page is at first glance what you’d expect: The chief financial and business officer poses in an engineering building wearing a sharp suit and his signature round-frame glasses.

But a scroll over the image reveals a very different side to T3; in his place a picture of Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator pops up. Looks like a hacker decided to have a little fun. We’ll leave the speculation up to you all on what exactly they were getting at, but we won’t deny that the trick is entertaining. Hasta la vista, baby.

Update: Associate news editor and recess editor David Graham informed me that Trask has a full-size cut-out of Schwarzenegger as the Terminator in his office. He has also dressed up as the character at events like “Save Tailgate” and K-ville checks. What do you think–is T3 behind the bluff?