Sept. 13, 2012 issue of The Chronicle

Page 1

T H E I N D E P E N D E N T D A I LY AT D U K E U N I V E R S I T Y

The Chronicle

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2012

ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTH YEAR, ISSUE 16

WWW.DUKECHRONICLE.COM

The ethics of cheating

ENCODE finds use for ‘junk DNA’

Harvard scandal raises questions at other universities

by John Barker THE CHRONICLE

by Greg McKeon THE CHRONICLE

Allegations of unprecedented cheating on a recent final exam has put Harvard University, and other schools, in a difficult position. Harvard conducted an investigation into nearly 125 students accused of collaborating on a final exam last semester, making it the latest school to fall victim to a rising trend of academic dishonesty in U.S. higher education. The trend raises ethical questions about how universities, including Duke, can maintain academic integrity in an increasingly collaborative environment where students are pressured to succeed. The students, who were enrolled in Harvard’s “Introduction to Congress” course, allegedly collaborated on the class’s take-home final exam. Yet some undergraduates said the professor was unclear about the course expectations, saying they entered the course expecting an easy A. “[The professor] said ‘I gave out 120 A’s last year, and I’ll give out 120 more,’” an accused student told the New York Times. But by the time finals came around, the exam on which the alleged cheating occurred was significantly more difficult than SEE CHEATING ON PAGE 3

CHRONICLE GRAPHIC BY ELIZA STRONG

After nearly a decade of research, a group of geneticists at Duke and around the world have reported that a significant amount of information exists in swaths of the human genome that were previously referred to as junk DNA. Researchers from the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements project—known as ENCODE—published numerous papers last week that collectively assign some functionality to approximately 80 percent of the human genome. Previously, the only portions of the genome that were recognized and understood were those catalogued by the Human Genome Project, which released a list of more than 20,000 genes that code for the creation of various proteins. Those sections of the genome make up less than 2 percent of the genome’s roughly three billion nucleotides—the purpose of the rest was unknown. Now, however, ENCODE researchers have ascribed functions to a much greater portion of the genetic code. “The ENCODE project really teaches us to embrace our own ignorance,” said Huntington Willard, director of the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy. “The original ENCODE project was designed to say that this stuff

Researches from the ENCODE project—some of whom are Duke faculty—have found that some DNA strands previously thought to be “junk DNA” actually contain a significant amount of information.

SEE DNA ON PAGE 10

Fighting Irish are Main St. rebuild to cause delays ACC’s 15th member by Danli Liu THE CHRONICLE

by Andrew Beaton THE CHRONICLE

The ACC just got a little bit more fight. The conference’s council of presidents unanimously accepted Notre Dame into the ACC Wednesday. The Fighting Irish are currently scheduled to join the conference in the 2015-2016 season. “It is my distinct pleasure to announce Notre Dame as the 15th member of the Atlantic Coast Conference,” ACC Commissioner John Swofford said in a press conference Wednesday afternoon at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Fighting Irish will join as a full member in all sports except

football. Notre Dame will instead play five football games against ACC schools annually but remain independent. Notre Dame will, however, be a part of the ACC bowl lineup excluding the Bowl Championship Series games, Swofford said. In the past, the ACC has insisted that schools have full membership in all sports, Swofford said. It is “significant” that they made this exception for Notre Dame. “What was best 20 years ago isn’t necessarily best in today’s world,” he said. “Now is the time, and this partnership is a win-win.” The Fighting Irish will not be a part of any of the ACC’s football

Dylan, so much older now, spins new magic, Recess page 4

SEE NOTRE DAME ON PAGE 6

PHILLIP CATTERALL/ THE CHRONICLE

Construction along Main Street next year might cause travel delays for students and University employees—particularly those who use the Bull City Connector. The bus route will have to change temporarily due to the construction.

ONTHERECORD

“Nearly every day since my sophomore year of high school, I have carried a U.S. Constitution in my left-hand pocket...” —Daniel Strunk in “The Constitution in my pocket.” See column page 8

Students may experience travel delays as Main Street closes next summer. The North Carolina Department of Transportation plans to demolish and rebuild the bridge over Campus Drive adjacent to East Campus, a project called the Main Street Bridge Replacement Project. The construction, which will begin May 2013, comes in response to concerns regarding the structure of the bridge. Construction cannot begin until Durham completes its current waterline replacement project. “This construction is a city project that must happen,” said sophomore Derek Rhodes, Duke

Women’s soccer to take on No. 1 Florida, Page 5

SEE MAIN ON PAGE 4


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
Sept. 13, 2012 issue of The Chronicle by Duke Chronicle - Issuu