Feb. 1, 2013 issue

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

XXXDAY,FEBRUARY FRIDAY, MONTH XX, 1, 2013

ONE ONEHUNDRED HUNDREDAND ANDEIGHTH EIGHTHYEAR, YEAR,ISSUE ISSUE90 X

WWW.DUKECHRONICLE.COM

Reps slam Students flock to Europe to study abroad super PACS Price, Sarbanes offer grassroots alternatives by Tiffany Lieu THE CHRONICLE

Grassroots leaders are preparing for a comprehensive effort to combat the influence of Big Money on political campaigns. The role of money in politics rose to the media spotlight in the recent elections, fueling a movement to reform the influence money wields in elections. These issues in turn fueled a discussion at the Sanford School of Public Policy Thursday, “Big Money vs. Grassroots Democracy.” The four-person panel featured authors of legislation promoting campaign finance reform—Congressmen John Sarbanes, D-Md. and David Price, D-N.C.—as well as Anita Earls, executive director of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, and N.C. state representative Larry Hall. They discussed the threat Big Money posed to the democratic process, as well as the best solutions to the problem. “Fundamentally, this movement is about protecting your franchise, to let your candidate continue to represent you in Congress,” Sarbanes said. Unrestricted private campaign donations SEE MONEY ON PAGE 2

CHRONICLE GRAPHIC BY RITA LO

Although study abroad programs all over the world are available to Duke students, an overwhelming majority continue to travel to Europe. by Raisa Chowdhury THE CHRONICLE

Despite increasing talk about a broader global focus, the numbers show European countries remain the primary destination for Duke students studying abroad.

Of a total 576 students who studied abroad in Fall 2012, 412 studied in Europe, according to data from the Global Education Office for Undergraduates. Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom are the three most popular locations, and only two non-European coun-

tries—Costa Rica and South Africa—rank in the top 10. The breakdown has stirred conversation about the different levels of cultural and language immersion available to students SEE ABROAD ON PAGE 12

Duke buys in West Uni leads in corporate Village neighborhood research funds again by Georgia Parke THE CHRONICLE

Duke expanded its footprint in Durham by purchasing part of the West Village development in an attempt to finalize a long-term revitalization project. In early January, Duke bought the Powerhouse Building on Fuller Street from the financially troubled Blue Devil Ventures for $2.275 million. This purchase is the latest step for Duke in a years-long expansion into Durham, said Scott Selig, associate vice president for capital assets and real estate for Duke. “In 2005 we had 70,000 square feet downtown,” Selig said. “Now we have 770,000. We are expanding downtown as part of a conscious effort to develop

[the area].” Blue Devil Ventures is a real estate company whose partners include former Duke basketball players Christian Laettner, Trinity ’92 and Brian Davis, Trinity ’92. Financial issues exacerbated by the recent economic downturn led the partners to owe several million dollars to other investors. Davis and Laettner both played professional basketball together for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Selig noted that there are no present plans for filling Powerhouse because of the nebulous timeline of the transactions with Blue Devil Ventures. Complications among the sellers delayed the process, SEE VILLAGE ON PAGE 4

by Adarsh Dave THE CHRONICLE

In an era of tightened government purse-strings, corporations play a central, if not controversial, role in funding research at Duke. Duke has received the most corporate research dollars out of all universities nationwide for the last 10 years—$215 million in 2011. The next highest recipient, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, received just $110 million in 2011. As the University research budget soared from $441 million in 2002 to nearly $1 billion in 2011, for-profit firms have kept pace, financing approximately 22 percent of Duke’s research annually over

that period. The increase in corporate research dollars raises questions about possible conflicts of interest influencing the scientific process. Duke responded with a structure of safeguards to protect the legitimacy of its research. The major factor behind Duke’s dominance in corporate-funded research is the Duke Clinical Research Institute, the largest academic research institute in the world. DCRI was among the first “contract research organizations” to focus on corporate clinical trials. Now, at least 75 percent of the University’s corporate-funded SEE FUNDING ON PAGE 2

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